Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.
Unfailing messageThere is lively debate in the field of Biblical Scholarship concerning the original ending of the Gospel of Mark. Many scholars today feel the Gospel according to Mark ends at 16:8, the shorter and longer endings being scribal additions to bring a sense of closure to the book. If I had to be pushed into a corner I would agree with these scholars that the original manuscript ends at verse 8. So what do we do with the shorter ending and longer ending of the Gospel of Mark?
To begin with, we believe them. These endings, even if not Mark’s own writing, are in agreement with what we find in the other Gospels. We know Jesus did appear to the disciples personally (Luke 24, John 20-21, Matt. 28). We know Jesus did commission the spread of the Gospel and gave the disciples power and authority to do signs and wonders (Luke 10).
The shorter ending, our text for today, tells us Jesus sent them with the unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. This is what we have found in the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is unfailing. Debating the precise authorship of a few verses at the end of the Gospel of Mark is not life-giving. The message of Jesus Christ is.
I am grateful for the eternal life-giving power of the Gospel. If I am wrong about who penned the endings to Mark’s Gospel that is irrelevant to my faith. My faith is not dependent on who penned the ending of Mark; my faith is dependent on the source of inspiration for the writing. God is the source and object of faith. Jesus is the unfailing path and message of salvation.
My prayer today comes from the hymn No Other Plea by Lidie Edmunds.
My faith has found a resting place not in device or creed; I trust the Ever living One, His wounds for me shall plead. I need no other argument, I need no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died, And that He died for me. - Dan Jones
A Dangling ExperiencePeople have left me dangle, and I them with unanswered questions, unresolved tensions, or story endings that leave the reader to decide what happens next. Mark does this, and it drives us all nuts. No wonder scribes pulled from various traditions to bring completion.
Still, there is value in dangling. Meeting angels who insist Jesus has returned to life would have left any of us speechless like those women. I can almost hear them whisper among themselves, “Peter and the rest won’t believe us!”, “What are we going to tell them?”, and “Did we really see and angel, or was it our imaginations?”.
Some events are so overwhelming they leave me speechless and, as I collect my wits, full of questions, even doubts about the events themselves. The heart of Jesus’ Good News is overwhelming stuff. That he can single-handedly infuse full and eternal life into me and in so doing transform me into a radically love motivated and love expressing person leaves me responding with little more than an, “huh!?”. Jesus died to completely defeat sin in my life and returned to life to bring a life consistently victorious over that sin, “huh!?”.
The deeper my understanding of this Good News the more I find myself dealing with dangling experiences. Is the thing for real? If it is, what do I do with it? What are the implications for my life? How do I tell others about such an overwhelming reality?
Lord, keep taking me to the empty tomb to discover ever-deepening truths about you. Thank you for giving me time to experience the silence of amazement, even questioning how such a reality as yours can possibly be real. I’ll happily risk dangling in utter amazement for the joy of knowing you more completely. - Mike Leamon
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