Thoughts for the Day

The Shorter Ending of Mark

[[And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterwards Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]

The Longer Ending of Mark
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

[[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

Jesus Appears to Two Disciples

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

Jesus Commissions the Disciples

Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The ending of Mark's Gospel once caused me an enormous problem. I stood up to read the lesson at Evensong in Worcester cathedral and found myself in that moment unable to remember if I should stop at verse eight or continue with the shorter or the longer ending at verse fifteen. I stopped at verse eight and left the preacher subsequently adrift as he was going to talk about the alternate endings. Luckily he was a seasoned preacher and simply started his sermon by reading the second and third versions.

So what is this all about? Well the experts have deduced that the original ending of the Gospel was at verse eight. The style of Greek is different after this and it doesn't appear in the earliest manuscripts. But even so surely the Gospel wasn't meant to end at verse eight - what happened after that? Did Mark die a martyr's death before he completed the Gospel? We simply don't know. What we do know is that the person who wrote these alternate conclusions thought that the Church had certain tasks committed to it by Jesus, for example:

1. It is the duty of the Church to pass on the good news of Jesus to others.
2. The Church has a task of healing people.
3. The Church is given power to carry out these tasks.
4. The Church is never left alone to do its duty, for Christ works within it always.

This sacred duty is passed on to each Christian (for the word 'Church' is a gathering of Christians, not a building). Whatever our age, or our understanding, we are to pass on the good news of the Easter message that Christ is risen to offer us salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray for Your Church on earth,
that through its differences we may see its similarities,
and reinvigorate our call to the world
to embrace peace and healing.
May we learn to pass on Your good news,
and look outward to a world that needs help,
rather than inwardly concerned with ourselves.
Help us to discover our core values again,
and put them into action.
Amen.