Mark 16

The Resurrection According to Mark

This is the second account of the resurrection that I have read, and the details of this one are so different than Matthew's that I can't help but notice them after only the briefest first glance.

I hate to always seem so critical,
and I am certainly no expert on literary comparisons,
but here's why I make the statement:

Matthew tells us that two Marys come to see the tomb
Mark tells us it was those two and another, named Salome

Matthew mentions a great earthquake, and the stone is rolled back
Mark doesn't mention it. The women find the stone already moved

Matthew describes an angel sitting on the stone.
Mark describes a young man sitting inside the tomb.

Matthew tells of fearful guards who become like dead men.
Mark misses this observation or ignores it.

and finally, after being informed that
"He is risen"
and instructed to
"Go tell the disciples"

Matthew has the women running to share the news
Mark has the women trembling in fear and telling no one.

These discrepancies seem too contrary to ignore.

-=-=-

When I was reading Matthew for the first time
I didn't really notice how abruptly it ended.

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,
All authority is given to Me in Heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19 Therefore go and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you.
And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world.
Amen.

That is a FABULOUS ending.

But doesn't it make you wonder
what happened after that?

I mean, Jesus said these encouraging words
and then what?
Where did he go?

It just leaves him sitting with eleven men
on a mountain in Galilee.

The reason I mention this is because
there is one more thing about this final chapter of Mark
that I feel compelled to mention.

After reading this verse:

Mar 16:8 And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb.
For they trembled and were amazed.
Neither did they say anything to anyone, for they were afraid.

...I came across a very interesting sentence in a commentary (VWS)
which said:

"By a large number of the ablest modern critics
the remainder of this chapter
is held to be from some other hand than Mark's.
It is omitted from the two oldest manuscripts."

hmmm?

Yeah.

So in some manuscripts the story just ends right here,
with a young man in the tomb talking to three women,
and they run away in fear.

-=-=-

Okay, so I don't necessarily believe commentaries,
but I went on to learn a few interesting things
about the next few verses:

Mar 16:9 And when Jesus had risen early the first day of the Sabbath,
He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,
out of whom He had cast seven demons.

The first day of the week (#4413,#4521;)
A phrase which Mark does not use.

Out of whom he had cast seven devils
With Mark's well-known habit of particularizing,
it is somewhat singular that this circumstance was not mentioned
in either of the three previous allusions to Mary
(Mar_15:40, Mar_15:47; Mar_16:1).

Out of whom (#575,#3739)
An unusual expression.
Mark habitually uses the preposition (#1831,#1537,#846) in this connection
(Mar_1:25, Mar_1:26; Mar_5:8; Mar_7:26, Mar_7:29; Mar_9:25).

Moreover, "from" is used with "cast out" nowhere else in the New Testament.

[i]Mar 16:10 She went and told those who had been with Him,
as they mourned and wept.[/i]

Mar 16:10 -
She (#1565)
An absolute use of the pronoun which Mark has never used, but appears here
and again in verse Mar_16:11,
and again in verse Mar_16:13.
It would imply an emphasis which is not intended.
Compare Mar_4:11; Mar_12:4, Mar_12:5, Mar_12:7; Mar_14:21.

Went (#4198)
and again in Mar_16:12,
and again in Mar_16:15.
This verb for "to go" occurs nowhere else in this Gospel except in compounds.


Them that had been with him (#1096,#3396,#846)
A circumlocution foreign to the Gospels.

Here are a few more:

Mar 16:12 -
After these things (#3326,#5023)
An expression never used by Mark.

Mar 16:14 -
Afterward (#5305)
Not found elsewhere in Mark. Often in Matthew.

Mar 16:20 -
The Lord working with them (tou kuriou sunergountos). Genitive absolute.
This participle is not in the Gospels elsewhere

So it seems possible that Mark didn't write these verses?

-=-=-

but

Maybe the point is to ignore the details.
and focus instead on the miracle
of life after death.

If so,
then I am content to ponder on just that fact.
That Jesus died and rose again.
It is the core of my belief.

-=-=-

So here I am at the end of another Gospel.

Boy, this one certainly took longer than the first,
although it is much shorter.
At this rate I should be finished with my first pass
in about 8-9 years?

meet me in Luke....