"The Ending" 4-17-22

Overview

The Ending That Resolves: Fear, Amazement, and the Risen Christ

The Gospel of Mark ends in a way that has unsettled readers for centuries. After the women find the stone rolled away and hear the announcement, "He has been raised; he is not here" Mark 16:6, Mark closes with this unlikely line: "they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid" Mark 16:8. No road to Emmaus, no Great Commission, no ascension—just fear. The other Gospels resolve the chord triumphantly: Matthew with the commission Matthew 28:19-20, Luke with appearances and ascension, John with Mary at the tomb and Thomas's confession. By comparison, Mark's ending feels deflating, and second-century readers were so uneasy that alternative endings began to appear—endings that the manuscript evidence and Mark's own style strongly indicate did not come from his pen.

But what if Mark's ending is not broken? What if it is perfectly resolved—because it is so thoroughly Mark? Throughout this Gospel, two responses repeatedly accompany Jesus' divine activity: fear and amazement. When Jesus delivers the demonized man, the witnesses are afraid Mark 5:15. The healed woman comes "in fear and trembling" Mark 5:33. The disciples are terrified when Jesus walks on water Mark 6:50. The religious leaders fear Him because the crowds are spellbound Mark 11:18. Crowds are amazed at His authoritative teaching (Mark 1:22, Mark 1:27) and at His healings Mark 2:12. For Mark, fear and amazement are the fingerprints of God at work. So of course Mark ends with terror and amazement at the empty tomb. Of course he does. It is the signature of divine activity, and Mark is telling us: get it—this is God.

The empty tomb is God's doing. The accepted sacrifice is God's doing. The fulfillment of every prophecy and promise of Jesus is God's doing. The conquest of death itself is God's doing. Easter is good for the soul precisely because it is the deepest part of us that the risen Christ reaches—the place where guilty fear has been nailed to the cross and the wrath of God has fallen on the Son in our place. What remains for us is awe.

And so the ending invites a response that becomes our daily song: Rise, my soul. Rise, because your name is written on His hands. Rise, because you have been ransomed and redeemed. Rise, because in baptism He claimed you as His own and you can cry out, "Abba, Father" Romans 8:15, and He hears. Easter Sunday is good for the soul—and so is every day lived in the amazement of His ongoing divine activity. Rise, my soul. Rise.

Transcript

Would you open up your Bibles, please with me today to mark the 16th chapter, Mark chapter 2s

16 for our study on this Easter day. 10s

Easter Sunday, it's good for the soul, isn't it? 19s

The soul is such an interesting term in Scripture. 30s

There's a few meanings of soul, or a few different uses of the term. 35s

One of the meanings of soul is that that deepest part of us, that emotional center. 42s

That's why sometimes you'll hear the phrase that something is good for the soul, 52s

because it touches the deepest emotional parts of us. 60s

The Easter message comes. 69s

Written and proclaimed song and played. 73s

The congregation gathers. 76s

The al-alooia's return to the worship. 79s

The sanctuary dressed for celebration. 82s

The lilies signifying the trumpet of the good news. 85s

Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again Easter Sunday. 89s

It's just good for the soul, isn't it? 100s

For the soul. 107s

That's why the ending to Mark can strike you 111s

with the Father on. 118s

Look at the text with me, please. 124s

Beginning with verse 1, when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James 127s

and Cylome bought spices, so they might go and annoyed him. 132s

In very early on the first day of the week when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 137s

They had been saying to one another, who will roll stone away from us for us for the entrance 142s

to the tomb. 147s

Remember that's the stone that we studied about on good Friday. 149s

The stone that Joseph of Arimathea had placed to keep intruders out of the tomb. 153s

Text goes on. 160s

When they looked up, they saw that the stone which was very large had already been rolled 162s

back. 166s

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right 168s

side. 173s

They were alarmed. 173s

But he said to them, do not be alarmed. 175s

Do you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who has crucified? 177s

He has been raised. 181s

He is not here. 182s

Look, there is the place they laid him. 184s

It was just as Jesus had taught. 188s

Repeatedly, Jesus had taught. 194s

He's going to be mocked and scurged and crucified. 196s

And on the third day, he was going to rise again. 200s

This was not some type of glance that Jesus did among his teachings. 202s

No, this was a heartbeat of his teaching. 207s

And exactly what he said would happen is exactly what did happen. 213s

Verse 7, but go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. 220s

There you will see him just as he told you. 227s

So they went out and fled from the tomb for terror and amazement had seized them. 230s

And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. 238s

The last word in Mark's Gospel is fear. 250s

The last word is that they were afraid. 261s

Rather soul deflating. 272s

Wouldn't you say? 275s

Well, you think of what Mark could have communicated. 280s

Matthew tells us, for example, after the resurrection of the Lord, 285s

there's several different accounts that Matthew tells us. 290s

Matthew tells us of them running from the tomb to tell. 293s

He tells them of Jesus appearing to them and they're falling down in front of Jesus at his feet, 297s

holding on to him and worshiping him. 303s

Matthew tells us of Jesus meeting the eleventh on the mountain and the disciples seeing him. 306s

The Gospel of Matthew ends with the great commission to go there for and make disciples of all nations, 314s

baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 322s

And Jesus says, low, I'm with you always to the end of the age. 326s

Or how about Luke? 332s

Luke ends here with Peter witnessing the empty tomb. 335s

Jesus appearing to those walking on the road to amayas. 342s

Jesus appearing to the eleventh, the post-resurrection appearance. 347s

Jesus appearing with the disciples later and eating with them. 353s

The appearance of Jesus along the sea of tibereas. 358s

And then the glorious ascension of our Lord into heaven. 362s

How about John? 368s

John has after the resurrection of the Christ that incredible interchange of the resurrected Christ with Mary Magdalene. 372s

The appearance of Jesus to the disciples in the house huddled together out of fear. 381s

The appearance to Thomas. 387s

The reference there that says, 391s

that if all the things that Jesus did were written down, 395s

the books of the world couldn't hold them. 399s

You've got the accounts in Matthew and Luke and John. 404s

And then you come to Jesus or then you come to Mark. 409s

And at the end of Mark, how does Mark and the account? 413s

They were afraid. 418s

They were afraid. 426s

So deflating. 430s

What did you say? 436s

We're not the first to think that. 442s

In fact, the church in the second century, 446s

there were those that were really, really troubled by it. 450s

And so there were those that were saying, 456s

well, the ending to Mark's gospel, 458s

it must have been lost because certainly he wouldn't end like this. 462s

They said certainly, it must be lost. 468s

I like how one author commenting on that says, 470s

and exactly how can you say something is lost 474s

if you're not sure it ever was in existence? 477s

Good point, right? 482s

Beget it troubled them. 486s

And so what happened is you started getting endings pop up. 488s

They drew from the other gospels, 498s

but they're these alternative endings to Mark. 504s

I bet your Bible has a footnote on it. 507s

There's a shorter ending and a longer ending. 510s

Because they were just bothered by how Mark ended. 516s

They're gospel. 525s

Remind that of the great composer, Beethoven. 530s

For whatever reason, Beethoven's mother would oftentimes sit down 534s

in the morning and would play a song on the piano. 539s

But just not play the last chord. 546s

It would be as if we would sing, 550s

Jesus Christ is risen today, 553s

hallelujah. 558s

Now what do you want to do? 563s

Yaaah, right? 566s

You want to resolve it. 568s

Well, that drove Beethoven crazy. 570s

I don't know whether this was a device for the mother to get him out of bed 573s

in the morning, but she would play and then she would leave off the last 576s

chord and Beethoven couldn't stand it. 580s

And so he would come down every time she did it. 584s

He would come down the stairs, sit down on the piano, 587s

and pound the last chord to resolve it. 590s

That's why those endings popped up. 599s

Because there were those. 603s

It just couldn't stand it. 604s

They couldn't stand that the last word in the gospel of Mark 609s

is that they were afraid. 617s

And so they wanted to resolve it. 621s

But the scholars, almost to the team, 628s

that study the grammar and the style of writing that Mark used. 632s

That looks at that internal evidence, 639s

and then the external evidence of how those alternative endings were used 641s

if they were used in the early church. 648s

That look at all of the fragments put together 650s

that reconstructs the holy scripture with incredible, incredible accuracy. 654s

And they looked at all of that, and there's different weights 661s

in terms of all of the manuscripts, and almost to the team, 664s

they said, Mark didn't write the alternative endings. 669s

It didn't come from his pen. 676s

But there's this drive to resolve it. 683s

But what if what if the song that Mark sings is resolved? 694s

What if the ending of Mark is so Mark? 708s

And it's perfect. 721s

What if it is perfectly resolved? 726s

Look again, please. 734s

At Mark the eighth chapter, or Mark chapter 16 verse 8. 737s

So they went out and fled from the tomb for terror 745s

and amazement had seized them. 751s

And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. 756s

Here's the point. 766s

Fear in the gospel of Mark, 769s

fear regarding Jesus is a sign of divine activity. 775s

Let me give you some examples. 799s

Chapter 5 of Mark. 809s

Jesus has healed the man with the unclean spirit. 811s

Scripture says, they came to Jesus, saw the demonic sitting there, 817s

clothed in his right mind, the very man who had the legion, 821s

and they were afraid. 826s

Fear regarding Jesus associated with divine activity, 831s

or how about when Jesus heals the woman with the hemorrhage? 840s

Mark the fifth chapter. 845s

But the woman knowing what had happened to her came in fear and trembling, 846s

fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 851s

Fear regarding Jesus, a sign of divine activity. 857s

Mark says, let me reinforce that theme for you, some more. 863s

And so he goes on, he tells the story about Jesus walking on the water to the disciples 867s

in Mark the sixth chapter and it says, for they all saw him and were terrified. 873s

Even with the teaching of Jesus, Mark 11, 880s

and when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him 883s

for they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. 888s

In Mark's gospel, Mark keeps doing it over and over again. 896s

That fear regarding Jesus is a sign of divine activity. 902s

Here's the second thing that Mark does. 912s

He associates amazement with Jesus. 917s

For example, Mark 11, they were amazed at his teaching for he was teaching them as one having authority 934s

and not as the scribes. 942s

Again, in Mark 11, they were all amazed and they kept asking one another, 944s

what is this? 949s

A new teaching with authority. 950s

Mark the second chapter, Mark 11, 953s

and he stood up immediately, took the mat and went out before all of them so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, 953s

we've never seen anything like this. 963s

Mark, fear regarding Jesus, a sign of divine activity in Mark, 966s

amazement continually is attached with Jesus. 976s

And how does Mark and they were afraid and amazed of course, 986s

Mark would end that way? 1005s

Of course, he would. 1009s

It's almost as if Mark is saying, get it? 1013s

What we have in the resurrection is divine activity. 1024s

And it is amazing. 1030s

Easter is good for the soul, because the soul rises as the word affects us. 1041s

The tomb is empty. 1057s

That's God's doing. 1061s

The sacrifice for sin has been accepted. 1062s

That's God's doing. 1066s

Everything that the Lord Jesus said would happen has happened. 1069s

That's God's doing. 1073s

All of the prophecy with regarding to the Messiah, that has been fulfilled. 1075s

That is God's doing. 1079s

The fact that death has been overcome that is God's doing. 1082s

The fact that there even is an Easter day that shapes then our lives and all of history that extends into all of eternity. 1088s

That is God's doing. 1098s

And we are amazed. 1102s

Of course, Mark would end with fear. 1111s

Of course, Mark would end with amazement. 1119s

It is just so Mark. 1126s

Isn't it? 1136s

It's just so Mark. 1138s

Easter Sunday. 1145s

It's good for the soul. 1149s

And every day, as God keeps coming to us with His promises, with His divine activity. 1152s

And He keeps birthing in us that amazement every day. 1166s

It's good for the soul. 1175s

All of our guilty fear has been nailed to the cross as the Lord Jesus Christ. 1184s

And the wrath of God fell upon the sun instead of us. 1192s

And God comes with that incredible word of absolute. 1205s

And that word does something. 1209s

And it turns into words. 1212s

And we say, O rise, my soul. 1215s

The bloody sacrifice. 1222s

The bloody sacrifice. 1227s

Oh, how he loves us. 1229s

Rise, my soul. 1234s

The fact that our names are written on His hands. 1240s

Rise, my soul. 1244s

The fact that we have been ransomed and redeemed. 1249s

Rise, my soul. 1254s

Rise. 1256s

The fact that He owns us as His child, claimed in the waters of baptism. 1257s

Rise, my soul. 1265s

Rise, the fact that we can cry out to the Father, Abba. 1267s

And He hears and answers. 1277s

Rise, my soul. 1282s

Rise. 1286s

Easter Sunday. 1290s

It's good for the soul. 1293s

And every day, every day, living in His divine activity, we're amazed, 1299s

arise, my soul. 1316s

Rise, arise. 1321s

My soul. 1327s

Rise. 1332s