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16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
16:2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
16:4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
16:5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
16:8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
16:10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
16:11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
16:13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
16:20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Next Book:Luke

Everything King James Bible:Mark

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Mark
Book: Mark
Chapter: 16

Overview:
Christ's resurrection made known the women. (1-8) Christ
appears to Mary Magdalene and other disciples. (9-13) His
commission to the apostles. (14-18) Christ's Ascension. (19,20)

1-8 Nicodemus brought a large quantity of Spices, but these
good women did not think that enough. The respect others show to
Christ, should not hinder us from showing our respect. And those
who are carried By holy zeal, to seek Christ diligently, will
find the difficulties in their way speedily vanish. When we Put
ourselves to trouble and expense, from Love to Christ, we shall
be accepted, though our endeavours are not successful. The sight
of the Angel might justly have encouraged them, but they were
affrighted. Thus many times that which should be matter of
comfort to us, through our own mistake, proves a terror to us.
He was crucified, but he is glorified. He is risen, he is not
here, not dead, but alive again; hereafter you will see him, but
you may here see the place where he was laid. Thus seasonable
comforts will be sent to those that lament after the Lord Jesus.
Peter is particularly named, Tell Peter; it will be most welcome
to him, for he is in sorrow for Sin. A sight of Christ will be
very welcome to a true penitent, and a true penitent is very
welcome to a sight of Christ. The men ran with all the haste
they could to the disciples; but disquieting fears often hinder
us from doing that service to Christ and to the souls of men,
which, if Faith and the joy of Faith were strong, we might do.

9-13 Better news cannot be brought to disciples in tears, than
to tell them of Christ's resurrection. And we should study to
comfort disciples that are mourners, By telling them whatever we
have seen of Christ. It was a Wise Providence that the proofs of
Christ's resurrection were given gradually, and admitted
cautiously, that the Assurance with which the apostles preached
this doctrine afterwards might the more satisfy. Yet how slowly
do we admit the consolations which the Word of God holds forth!
Therefore while Christ comforts his people, he often sees it
needful to rebuke and correct them for hardness of Heart in
distrusting his promise, as Well as in not obeying his holy
precepts.

14-18 The evidences of the Truth of the Gospel are So full,
that those who receive it not, may justly be upbraided with
their unbelief. Our blessed Lord renewed his choice of the
eleven as his apostles, and commissioned them to go into all the
world, to preach his Gospel to every Creature. Only he that is a
true Christian shall be saved through Christ. Simon Magus
professed to believe, and was baptized, yet he was declared to
be in the bonds of iniquity: see his history in Ac 8:13-25.
Doubtless this is a solemn declaration of that true Faith which
receives Christ in all his characters and offices, and for all
the purposes of Salvation, and which produces its right effect
On the Heart and Life; not a mere assent, which is a dead Faith,
and cannot profit. The commission of Christ's ministers extends
to every Creature throughout the world, and the declarations of
the Gospel contain not only truths, encouragements, and
precepts, but also most awful warnings. Observe what power the
apostles should be endued with, for confirming the doctrine they
were to preach. These were miracles to confirm the Truth of the
Gospel, and means of spreading the Gospel among nations that had
not heard it.

19,20 After the Lord had spoken he went up into Heaven. Sitting
is a posture of Rest, he had finished his work; and a posture of
rule, he took possession of his kingdom. He sat at the right
Hand of God, which denotes his sovereign dignity and universal
power. Whatever God does concerning us, gives to us, or accepts
from us, it is By his Son. Now he is glorified with the Glory he
had before the world. The apostles went forth, and preached
every where, far and near. Though the doctrine they preached was
spiritual and heavenly, and directly contrary to the Spirit and
temper of the world; though it met with much opposition, and was
wholly destitute of all worldly supports and advantages; yet in
a few years the sound went forth unto the ends of the Earth.
Christ's ministers do not now need to work miracles to prove
their message; the Scriptures are proved to be of Divine origin,
and this renders those without excuse who reject or neglect
them. The effects of the Gospel, when faithfully preached, and
truly believed, in changing the tempers and characters of
mankind, form a constant proof, a miraculous proof, that the
Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation, of all who believe.

Before plunging into the abyss of religiosity, tangling myself in a realm where faith trumps rationality, let me state clearly my objectives, and my qualifications.

My objectives are:

1) Remind the folks perusing the E2 database just how tenuous Mark 16 becomes beyond Mark 16:8. (Tenuous is a politically correct way of stating "we know shite beyond the 8th verse.") I might even resort to citing some sources to calm some of the buttlesnuff.

2) Discuss the potential beauty of accepting the texts as they were before the buttlesnuffers decided to tag on a variety of sanctioned endings.

3) And most important, get some more writing practice on E2, once again carelessly exposing my soul on-line (a dangerous practice with national intelligence in such a tizzy these days).

My qualifications are even shakier than my objectives. I was raised Roman Catholic, and contemplated becoming a priest until adolescence hit, when girls started to smell too good to give up for Lent. My parents divorced without pretending to get an annulment. I wandered away.

During my wandering, I became intrigued with paganism, which, ironically, led me back to primitive Christianity, and now (Lord, have mercy!) I am a Methodist who suspects that Menno Simons had it right. Just to add to my confusion, I once spent a week barging down the Mississippi River with a convention of Bahai musicians, an interesting clan with phenomenal voices.

So how does this qualify me, a confused peripatetic soul? I ask a lot of questions. I read a lot. Christianity is confusing enough without Holy folks touching up Scripture to make it fit some agenda. I am an outsider looking in. We know very little about Jesus. We cannot afford to corrupt what little we know with historical additions designed to sate "official" Church positions. One "official" long version is posted on E2¹. Allow me to muddy it up a bit with a pesky historical fact: the ending was forged.²

Mark is the oldest of the four Gospels. It was likely written near 70 AD. It is the shortest of the gospels, and is action-packed, like a good comic strip. Mark may have wandered around with Peter. Many Christians are surprised to learn that the Gospels were not written by the Apostles, nor were they written immediately after Jesus' crucifixion.

Here's where I risk my own crucifixion by my gentle readers--modern Christianity spends a whole lot of time focusing on the post-resurrection Jesus and the subsequent Pentecost. The largest growing segment of Chrisitianity in the United States is the Pentecostal movement. We have people grabbing snakes, speaking in tongues, doing all kinds of fun party games that involve some appearance of risk while creating a sense of community ("Hell, the snake didn't bite me, I must be one of the anointed...")

I can understand the appeal of the post-resurrection Jesus. Once he arose from the dead, he could shimmer his way through walls. Before the Crucifixion, Jesus was all too human, and his Apostles bumbled their way without any special powers of their own. He asked us to do hard things. (Turn the other cheek? Feed the poor? Much more fun to bomb problems out of existence.) As Ghandi once said, "Oh, I don't reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Soon after Jesus was taken up to Heaven the second time, the Holy Spirit descended upon the faithful, giving them some cool powers of their own. Jesus was no longer around to remind his disciples lessons he taught just a few months earlier; humility lost its appeal. Peter even goes so far as to zap people dead (see the story of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5³); when Jesus wanted to make a point, he killed a fig tree).

(Things get even worse when Constantine decides to convert to Christianity because of some superstitious belief that God sent him a sign before doing battle--see what happens when people get a little bit of power? But that's a story for a different node.)

Back to Mark 16. It is in Mark 16 that Jesus (the shimmery, post-resurrection version)states "They will handle snakes and will drink poison and not be hurt." Somewhere in this fine land of ours some poor reptile awaits his next show. Somewhere tonight a young adult is wrestling with proving her love for Jesus by contemplating drinking some Drano.

So what's the problem? Just another cranky religion going over the top, history is full of such. The problem is this: the manuscript of Mark ends at verse 1-8. Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James went to the tomb to put spices on Jesus' cadaver. When they got there, the tomb was empty. A young man sitting there said,"Don't be alarmed...God has raised him to life, and he isn't here." He then instructed them to go let others know.

How would you respond? I know what I would do--I would freak! I would not be contemplating the wonders of God, I would be contemplating my sanity. And this is exactly what these women did. "When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened." And that's the end of the original manuscript as far as anyone has discovered. No snakes. No poison. No magical powers for the Apostles. Just faith that Jesus had arisen. A stark, simple, stunning ending to the Gospel written closest to the time of Jesus' life.

Now there are several endings to Mark. There are several theories as to why it ended as it did. Maybe some manuscript was lost. Maybe Mark died before he completed his work. Maybe, just maybe, Mark was done.

Until a manuscript proves otherwise, I will accept the text for what it is, and for what it requires. If Jesus' message loses some pizzazz without the circus acts, maybe we are focused on the wrong stories.

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¹The version displayed in the node is the King James Bible.

² A kind reader pointed out that citing a source here would be a good idea. A good start is the New Oxford Annotated Bible, which provides commentary on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.

In the earliest manuscripts, Mark ends abruptly at 16.8. This (apparently original) open ending invites the reader to continue the story of Jesus and the kingdom. In some later manuscripts Mark's story was "completed" with ressurection appearances of amalgamated elements from the other canonical Gospels, to make it conform to their common pattern.

³This is not a popular opinion, and may represent a bad misread on my part (as suggested by a gentle critic). Peter happened to be next to each of them as each met their particular fate--the popular assumption is that God (Holy Spirit) actually did the dirty deed. As far as I know, this is the only instance of God smoting people in the New Testament. Humans, however, have been smoting each other since Cain and Abel. Another interpretation is that the sudden guilt realized by Ananias and Sapphira resulted in their demise.

(Inspired by iceowl, who yesterday swore that stones could talk, one of the few things I realized before he did.)