Home > Jesus is God in Mark's Gospel
This describes the moments immediately following the Sabbath, as the women approach the tomb. While these verses seem like a simple transition, Christian commentators have long argued that they contain a profound "cosmic reset."
The mention of the "first day" and the "rising sun" is viewed as the intentional signaling of a New Creation that supersedes the old order of the world.
The text specifies that the women came "when the Sabbath was past" and "very early on the first day of the week."
Early Fathers frequently referred to the day of Resurrection as the "Eighth Day." In the biblical pattern, seven days complete a week (the Old Creation), but the eighth day represents a move into eternity. It is the day the "new world" begins.
It is worth noting that circumcision occurred on the eighth day and many Temple rituals involved the number eight. By arising on the "first day" (the day after the seventh), Jesus is revealed as the Author of a New Covenant that is no longer bound by the limitations of the old Sabbath rest.
Mark notes the timing: "very early... when the sun had risen."
Malachi 4:2: "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings."
The physical rising of the sun was a "theological shadow" of the spiritual rising of the Son of God. Just as the first act of creation in Genesis was "Let there be light," the first act of the New Creation is the emergence of the "Light of the World" from the darkness of the tomb.
Jesus’s divinity is revealed in His role as the Source of Light. He does not just "receive" life; He is the dawn that breaks the night of human sin and death.
For centuries, commentators have used these verses to justify the shift of Christian worship from Saturday to Sunday.
The "First Day" became the new "Lord's Day" because the Resurrection is the completion of the work of Redemption. If the Father rested after the work of Creation (the 7th day), the Son rests after the work of Recreation (the 1st day).
By passing over the Sabbath in silence and acting on the first day, Jesus is shown to be the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28) who has the authority to reorient the entire religious calendar around His own person.
The women brought spices to anoint Him, expecting to find a corpse.
The women were acting out of "pious ignorance." They were still living in the "Old Creation" mindset where death is the final word.
The "First Day" reality is so radical that even His closest followers couldn't anticipate it. This proves that the Resurrection was not a "myth" developed by the disciples, but a divine intrusion that caught everyone by surprise.
The "First Day" is the ultimate proof of the Deity of Christ. Only the one who spoke the first "Let there be light" has the power to speak light back into a dead body and a fallen world.
As St. Augustine put it, the "morning" of the Resurrection is the morning that will never see an evening.