Now
when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.
Mark 16:9-11
Mark 16 [5.] Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’”
Mark 16 [8.] They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid. Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.
Mark 16 [14.] Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Meaning:
These verses begin the closing section of Mark (16:9-20). The PIB footnote explains that a few manuscripts omit it, but that the translators of the World English Bible regard it as reliable, based on an overwhelming majority of textual evidence. The section reads like a short summary of the resurrection appearances, and the first appearance it records is to a woman whose life Jesus had already transformed.
- “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene”
Of all the people the risen Lord could have shown himself to first, he chose Mary Magdalene. Not Peter or John, but a woman standing in tears outside the tomb. John tells the story in detail: she mistook Jesus for the gardener until he spoke her name, “Mary”, and she answered, “Rabboni!” (John 20:16-18).
The note of time, “early on the first day of the week”, ties this appearance to the women’s visit to the tomb (Mark 16:2). From then on, Christians met on the first day of the week, the Lord’s day, to remember his resurrection.
- “from whom he had cast out seven demons”
Mark reminds us who Mary was. Luke introduces her in the same way: “Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2). Seven suggests the completeness of her bondage. Jesus had set her free, and from then on she followed him, served him, stood by the cross and came to the tomb (Mark 15:40-41).
Her past did not disqualify her. On the contrary, the one who had been rescued from the deepest darkness became the first to see the light of the risen Christ.
- “She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept”
Mary did what she was told. John records, “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (John 20:18). She found the disciples in mourning. They had lost their teacher and their hopes.
Jesus had foreseen this sorrow and its end: “Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (John 16:22). Mary came with the news that would turn their weeping into joy.
- “they disbelieved”
The disciples’ response is striking. They heard that Jesus was alive and had been seen, and they did not believe it. Luke says the women’s words “seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them” (Luke 24:11). Thomas later said, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25).
This unbelief runs through the whole closing section of Mark (Mark 16:13; Mark 16:14). It also shows that the disciples were not gullible people ready to imagine a resurrection. They had to be convinced by the risen Lord himself.
The Significance of Mark 16:9-11
- Jesus reveals himself to the humble
The risen Lord appeared first to a woman with a troubled past. God delights to show his grace to those the world overlooks, and no one is too broken to become a witness to Christ.
- Grief can be turned into joy
The disciples mourned and wept, but their mourning was about to end. “Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
- Tell what you have seen, even if others doubt
Mary’s report was not believed at first, but she told it anyway. Faithful witness does not depend on how others respond; the Lord himself confirms his word in time.
Cross-References:
John 20:18: "Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her." John’s account of the same report.
Luke 8:2: "Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;" Mary’s deliverance.
Luke 24:11: "These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them." The disciples’ disbelief.
Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Sorrow turned to joy.
Conclusion: Early on the first day of the week, the risen Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, the woman he had freed from seven demons. She went and told the grieving disciples that he was alive and that she had seen him, but they did not believe her. These verses show the grace of Christ in choosing a once-tormented woman as his first witness, the faithfulness of Mary in delivering the message, and the honest unbelief of the disciples, which only the risen Lord himself would overcome.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible