He is risen! The end of the beginning
Written by Rev'd John Poole | Apr 9th, 2021
Walking with Jesus through the Gospel of Mark (Read or Watch the Video above)
Week 8: He is risen! The end of the beginning
Mark’s Easter story, the first of the Gospel accounts, may come as a surprise. It is only eight verses long and contains no information about Jesus meeting his disciples or anyone else following his resurrection. It is now almost universally accepted that verses 9 – 20, written in a different style, are not by Mark himself but were added sometime during the following century. After the other Gospels had included appearances and conversations of the risen Lord with his followers, it was presumably considered that a Gospel could not possibly be concluded without such details, although some scholars have argued that Mark’s original conclusion was somehow lost.
In Mark as in the later Gospels there are no witnesses to the resurrection itself. The narrative states that it has already happened. As an event it is naturally a mystery. It comes as a shock, certainly to the women who go to the tomb early in the morning, to discover that the large stone covering the entrance to the tomb has been rolled back. No explanation is given or any details of the women’s reaction.
In the tomb they see a ‘young man’ in a white robe and seated – not exactly who you would expect to see when going to visit the dead, any more than being able to find someone at that early hour who would be able to roll the stone from the entrance to the tomb! The women are more amazed because this is no ordinary young man. He is clearly an angel. We find angels appearing in biblical texts to explain that something supernatural has happened, something that God has done which is beyond the expectation or explanation of mortals. The news is typically prefaced by those familiar words of assurance, ‘Do not be afraid.’ The news this time is that he, Jesus, ‘has been raised. He is not here…… go and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’
It would be a distraction to speculate about the reality or identity of such messengers. The writer introduces them to enhance the report of the divine initiative that has taken place. But most of all he wants us to focus on the message itself. Here, he wants us along with the women to grasp the news that Jesus has been raised from the dead by the hand of God. We read that the women are seized with trembling and, for the moment at least, they are afraid and are unable to say anything to anyone. Perhaps we too are being encouraged to receive the amazing news of the resurrection in silence.
Leaving us somewhat in suspense, Mark concludes his Gospel. We are left with an empty tomb, from which the women and we, the readers, are asked to divert our attention. Jesus is not there; that is not where we will find him. We are not to seek for the living among the dead.
We are left with the promise that the disciples will see the risen Jesus. That promise has been repeated several times in the Gospel, in fact, each time that Jesus has predicted his execution by the authorities. And after the Transfiguration event (chapter 9), Jesus ordered the three disciples with him not to tell anyone what they had witnessed until he had risen from the dead. Several other passages also look forward to fulfilment beyond where the Gospel ends. Clearly Mark himself would have known about the appearances of the risen Lord. He would no doubt have read or heard of the early testimony of Paul (1 Corinthians 15) which lists a series of appearances to the apostles, to others and to himself, a testimony no doubt dating back to when Paul was converted, perhaps no more than three or four years after the death of Jesus. The most important fact is that without the experience of the resurrection, the Gospel would not have been written. Without the Easter event the disciples would surely have disbanded very quickly. However much they had been loyal to Jesus in his lifetime, his crucifixion would have left them disillusioned, and doubtful about his authenticity, and they would have no doubt soon returned to their old Jewish thinking and practices.
In short, the story, the proclamation and the power of the Gospel is authenticated because it is written and read through the perspective or lens of Easter. It is written because Jesus lives. He is a figure of the present, not just the past. The resurrection reveals the identity of Jesus, which would have been mostly if not completely hidden during his earthly lifetime: he is Lord and Christ. His mission and sacrifice have been vindicated by God. He is greater than the powers that put him to death, and it his way that is God’s way, rather the ways of the powers that ruled his world.
The other Gospel writers may have been somewhat embarrassed by Mark’s lack of resurrection appearance stories even if their own sources and traditions of the risen Lord may have been unknown to Mark. However, Mark’s brief and mysterious conclusion is most appealing. We are left to ponder something ordinary human reasoning cannot cope with. Like the women at the tomb we are at first moved to amazement, awe and even trembling, and to silence. And then we are being urged to seek the Lord whom death could not contain. The news of the empty tomb is calling us forward, inviting us to move from being observers to participants in the life and ministry of Jesus and his vision of the kingdom of God.
The Gospel of Mark began with these words: ‘The beginning of the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’ The sense is that the Gospel, and the career of Jesus himself, is but a beginning. We must go back and read the story again and again, and absorb its message and invitation. And then, with the Gospel in our hearts, we must go forward, into the world, into our communities, there to heal the wounds and dis-eases of troubled lives and to challenge the world’s unjust practices and muddled priorities. Wherever we go, Jesus has already gone ahead of us. Our task is to follow him, live and share his good news and help him build the kingdom of God that he lived and died and lives again for. And what is more, he lives in us. It is to be through us that others will see the risen Lord.
The real end of Mark’s Gospel has not been lost as some have thought. It has simply not yet been completed. The rest of the story is to be written by us, the participants. We have a job to do. In word and deed, we have a Gospel to proclaim.
Some questions to ponder and pray about (there may well be others!)
- What is most distinctive or memorable about the Gospel of Mark for you?
- What new insights do you have about Jesus and his ministry, and who is Jesus for you now?
- Mark’s story is ultimately our story as well. How have you felt your own experience connecting with that of the Gospel, and what difference has this made on your faith journey?