“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’ 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.” (Mark 16:5-8)  You really have to hand it to Mark; he is certainly consistent. Throughout his Gospel, the disciples never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!  They are slow to hear and when they do, they are often disobedient.  Therefore, he ends his Gospel with one final act of disobedience.  The women do not do what the young man tells them to do.  Now, to be fair, at least they came to the tomb.  That is far more than one can say for the men.    Again, to be fair, it would be rather disconcerting to go to a tomb expecting a corpse and encountering a much different reality!   Nevertheless, the story ends with them running in fear.  Is that any way to end the “beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?” (Mark 1:1)  It would be if this were a story only about past events.  If that were the case, we would close the book, thinking to ourselves, ‘what a tragic story of such a good man with such poor disciples.’  However, this is not a story about the past.  Instead, it is “the beginning of the good news.”  For this is a story (the story!) about the future and you and I are now invited to answer the young man’s call.  You and I are called to go to Galilee, to go to the place of mission.  And there, you and I will encounter the risen Christ!  It is there that we will find our own fears relieved and our own disobedience forgiven.  It is there that with our risen Lord, we will invite others to trust their lives to him, the One who has overcome all manner of harm, even death itself.  Have a glorious Easter and a great week!