Fear

So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

So ends the book of Mark. Jesus, crucified and dead, is not in the tomb. A strange man dressed in white tells Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome that he is raised and is gone. In an awful turn of events Jesus words have come true. The impossible is possible. And in that reality the response is terror. For at that moment Jesus followers can only experience the narrative. They cannot cross reference their experience with Old Testament verses or check out Matthew to remember exactly what Jesus said about his death a year ago. No. In the story, Jesus is dead. And now he is raised. And terror seizes.