His Story Continues (…and it includes you!)
Mark 16:8-20
Introduction: Whatever
else I say today I want to encourage your confidence in the inspiration and
inerrancy of the Bible. The God who is has spoken. He has revealed Himself
in His Word. As surely as Moses went up the mountain and received the Ten
Commandments from God, “All Scripture is
God-breathed and is profitable…” (2 Tim 3:16). Or as Peter said, “Holy men of God spoke as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit…” (2 Pet 1:21). As surely as God inspired the
biblical writers to put down in writing the exact words He intended, He also
supernaturally guided His people to recognize and preserve them as Scripture. It
is through God’s Word that we know Him, and we learn what He expects of us
(read Psalm 119!). We are going to take another look at what I believe is the
original ending of Mark, 16:8, and also the “appendix” that has been preserved
in verses 9-20. The fact of the
Resurrection, and the implications of it, are the foundation and the fuel
of our faith. It is the foundation because everything else is built on it, it
is the fuel because it energizes us to be faithful. Think about what the
resurrection means! In the words of Eric Sauer, in Triumph of the Crucified…
“The present age… began with the
resurrection of the Redeemer, and it will end with the resurrection of the
redeemed. Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into new life
through faith in Christ. And so, we live between two Easters, and in the power
of the first Easter, we go to meet the last Easter…”.
So, in the light of the Resurrection we’ll see the ending of Mark…
The BIG* Idea: We are called to believe God,
taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear
witness to His grace.
First, we’ll look back to v.8… at an intentionally
abrupt ending (v.8), what it might mean, how it should impact us, then
three more “A’s”: 1) The Appearances of the risen Lord; 2) The Assignment
that is our mission in the light of the Resurrection; and 3) The Ascension
of the Lord, and the implications of it as we carry out that mission in the
world. First…
The Context:
Mark 16:8 and the ending of the Gospel… Mark abruptly ends the story, calling
us to action: How will they hear lest
someone tell them?
8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment
had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
It is after this verse that the ESV
says, “SOME OF THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS
DO NOT INCLUDE 16:9-20.” Other translations may have an asterisk or a
footnote indicating the level of confidence they have in what’s become known as
the “long ending” of Mark. Because virtually every edition of the English Bible
will make some reference to this, let me briefly explain what is going on. You
all know that the Bible was written over a long period of time, roughly 1500
years or so. It is actually, in a certain sense, not one book, but a whole
library of 66 books, written by different writers at different times to
different audiences. At the same time the Bible itself teaches that all Scripture is inspired by God… and
so, He is the Author of the whole Bible. I don’t think anyone will be
surprised when I say that we don’t have the original of any of the biblical
documents. We have copies of copies. And because these documents were
copied by hand, there are occasional, usually very small, variations… a word
spelled differently, a word substituted for a similar word, sometimes the
difference is just a letter or even a stroke, a part of a letter. Only in two
cases is there a substantial paragraph that is in question: and the so-called
“long ending” of Mark is one of them. [Someday, if God wills, we may yet look
at John 8, which seems to be an historical event from the life of Jesus, but
not an original part of John’s Gospel. It illustrates beautifully the biblical
doctrines of grace and forgiveness. So we can read it, appreciating it as a
powerful illustration, but our doctrine is only supported by it.] Today we’re
dealing with the ending of Mark.
The manuscript evidence is strongly in support of the position that v.8
was the original ending of this Gospel. The oldest manuscripts don’t have it,
and earliest of the church fathers don’t quote it. Verses 9-15 were probably an
appendix, added by someone with knowledge of the other gospels, intending to
summarize what happened next. In subsequent copies, that appendix was merged by
someone into the text. I think we can read it, comparing it with other
Scriptures, and still be edified by the doctrines we see here.
If I am right about this, why would Mark end his gospel so abruptly, at
verse 8? Remember Mark wanted His readers to know the answer to who Jesus
is. Mission accomplished! He is the Son of God, the God-Man. He was also showing
us why He came, why it was necessary for Him to suffer. He endured wrath so
that humans, by grace through faith, could be reconciled to God. So, Christ
died and rose again, finishing the work He came to do, doing for us what we
could not do for ourselves. And in ending with the word of the angel and fear
of the women, Mark is encouraging His readers to take up their cross and follow
Jesus, to be willing to risk speaking the truth with boldness. What if the
women had remained silent? What if you remain silent? How will they hear?
That brings us to…
The BIG Idea: We are called to believe God,
taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear
witness to His grace.
I. Appearances of the Risen Lord (9-14; cf. Lk 8:1-3; Jn 20:18; I Cor 15:6-8).
9 [Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first
to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had
been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by
her, they would not believe it. 12
After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were
walking into the country. 13
And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Afterward he appeared to the
eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for
their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had risen.
I see at least two important themes in these verses. First, notice the
specific reference to Mary Magdalene, one of the women who had followed Jesus
from Galilee to Judea. Here, Mark specifically mentions a detail that he
had not brought up before, which is recorded for us in the Gospel of
Luke. This woman, now a follower of Jesus, had formerly been demon-possessed!
Luke 8:1-3 reports,
“…Soon afterward he went
on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the
kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and
infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna, the wife of Chuza,
Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them
out of their means.”
So, this
Mary, along with other women, had been set free from demons, and had clearly believed in Jesus. They
followed Him, and they also provided for Him and for the disciples! John also reports that Mary was among the
first to see the resurrected Christ, and that she brought word to the
disciples…
Mary Magdalene went and announced to
the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"- and that he had said these
things to her… (Jn
20:18).
Slowness to believe, based on the
testimony of others, is a theme that shows up in various NT contexts. Perhaps
the best-known example is that of “doubting Thomas,” in John 20. He was absent
when Jesus first appeared to the other disciples. He said the unless he could
see the nail prints in His hands, he would not believe! Jesus appeared again,
this time with Thomas present, and the rest is history. The famous point that
Jesus made is the lesson here: “Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet believe!” Missouri is called the “show
me” state, the disciples were seemingly “show me” followers of Jesus at this
point. Mark wants us to receive the Word for what it is, the Word of God,
and He wants us to take God at His word. That is faith. That is the BIG
Idea I want to emphasize today… *We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, trusting in His
presence and protection, as we bear witness to His grace. So we see the
Appearances of the Lord, and secondly, in light of the resurrection, the…
II. Assignment: He is Risen! Go and Tell! (15-18; cf. Mt 28:18-20).
15 And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel
to the whole creation. 16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe
will be condemned. 17 And
these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out
demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18
they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly
poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they
will recover."
This passage, for the most part, reflects
on the Great Commission that appears at the end of Matthew, and in different
form in Acts 1:8. In Matthew we read,
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the
age." (Matthew 28:18-20).
There is no doubt that Jesus repeated
this idea in different ways over the 40 days that He appeared to the disciples
between the resurrection and the ascension. In Acts 1:8 He said,
“But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
These passages are complementary, not contradictory. In Acts Jesus emphasized the importance of
being a Spirit empowered witness. In Matthew He emphasized
disciple-making in the light of His authority and presence, while in Mark He is
teaching that the apostolic proclamation would be accompanied by attesting
miracles, and that is exactly what we see in the book of Acts. That idea is
stated clearly in Acts 14:3 with respect to the ministry of Paul: “…speaking boldly for the
Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and
wonders to be done by their hands.” We see that in the ministry of the apostles, starting
with Pentecost.
We see speaking in tongues three times
in Acts, and many miracles of healing, but what about handling snakes and
drinking poison (18)? We don’t see these
referred to anywhere else as signs accompanying the preaching of the Gospel. We
do have one scene, reported in Acts 28:3-6, when Paul was ship wrecked on his
way to Rome…
3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a
viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the
creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this
man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed
him to live." 5 He,
however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to
swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and
saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a
god.
The context in Acts gives no indication that this is something to be
imitated. Paul did not seek out a viper to handle! The point in Acts is that
God miraculously delivered Paul, because Paul was to be His witness in Rome.
There are a few snake handling churches still today in the US, but it is
literally, a dying religion (!), and it is based on a misreading of Scripture.
I’ve read testimonies, particularly of believers in third world mission fields,
who were given poison, and it pleased God to protect them from harm. That is
not promised! Nothing is too difficult for God, when it is His will to
intervene in history He still does miracles. But it is the preaching of the
Gospel, the Word of God written, and proclaimed, that evokes faith in those who
believe.
Put all this back into the
context of Mark 16:8. The women were terrified, and said nothing at first.
We know that changed quickly, that very morning. This scene made me think of
God’s question to Isaiah: “Who shall I
send, and who will go for us?” That is Mark’s question to his readers, and
God’s question to us. Will we reply with Isaiah, “Here I am, send me!” *In the light of the resurrection, we are called to believe God, taking
Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear witness to
His grace.
III. Ascension: He is at the Father’s right hand, even as He
builds His church
(19-20; cf. Acts 1:9-11; 7:56; 14:3).
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into
heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord
worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
As does Luke at the end of His Gospel
and again at the beginning of Acts, so the writer of Mark’s long ending affirms
the ascension of Christ. Luke tells us,
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he
blessed them. 51 While he
blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and
returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53
and were continually in the temple blessing God… (Lk 24:50-53).
Then again
we read in Acts 1:9-11,
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was
lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into
heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, "Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you
into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
Later in
Acts, as Stephen is being stoned, he says, "I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). The ascension encourages
suffering believers to persevere, knowing that our High Priest and Advocate is
at the Father’s right hand (cf. Ps 2, 110:1-2). Jesus is the victorious,
living, and returning Lord! Until that Day we are His ambassadors,
declaring the Gospel to the world!
What is God saying to me in this passage? That is the BIG Idea: We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, the
testimony to His resurrection gives us a basis for our faith. So, we believe
Him, the Son of God, trusting in His presence and protection, and we obey Him
as we bear witness to His grace.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1. Whether or
not Mark originally ended his Gospel at v.8, I hope you can see that the long
ending does not contradict, in fact it summarizes well, what is taught elsewhere in the
Gospels and Acts. The Bible is trustworthy, God-breathed Scripture. God has
spoken, He has given us His Word written. Take Him at His word! The just shall
live by faith!
2.
Believing Him includes trusting Him, and that means following Him, even when it
is not easy. He is our Mediator, at the Father’s right hand! Mark has given us a
transparent look at the disciples, including their struggle to believe. We have
the whole story, and we have what the disciples didn’t until Pentecost: the
indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit! Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me…”
3. Jesus is building His church. He is our High Priest, our
Mediator, our King. He has saved us for a purpose. Will we embrace the mission
He has entrusted to us? The call to be his witnesses echoes through this book. Trust
and obey, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey! Amen.
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