An Unusual Ending

Most Bible scholars believe the Gospel of Mark was the first of the Gospels to be written. It's also the shortest, and it ends in a sudden manner that often raises questions and debates. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg considers the abrupt ending of chapter 16 in light of Mark's typical pace, pattern, and purpose. I imagine that all of us have had the experience either in the reading of a book or in the seeing of a film of being taken aback by the abruptness of the ending. We've been sitting there expecting it to go on for another five or ten minutes, and suddenly the credits have come up, or we've turned the page, and we realized that the rest of the book that we thought we were about to read is actually footnotes, and we've now turned to the final page. And we've perhaps said out loud, but it can't possibly end like this.

Or it can't possibly end like that. Now, if your Bible is open—and I hope it is, if you're using the English Standard Version—you will notice that in between verse 8 and 9, there is a statement put there by the translators, by the publishers, some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16, 9, to 20. So, presumably, 16, 9, to 20, an appendix, a postscript, was placed at the end of Mark's Gospel, because when people read the end of Mark's Gospel at verse 8, they found themselves saying, But it can't end like that. How can the Gospel of Mark, how can any Gospel end with the phrase, They were afraid? Now, since we're not going to be dealing with the appendix or the postscript—that is, verses 9 to 20—but concluding with the eighth verse, it's important for me to say something by way of explanation.

And the first thing that we need to affirm is this. The Bible's absolute authority as the Word of God. To make sure that we are affirming together that the Bible is God's speech in written form, that what the Bible says, God says.

The Bible is completely true in what it says, and it makes no claims that are not true. We understand why Paul wrote to Timothy to affirm for him the necessity of being a proclaimer of the good news and reminding him along the way that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching and for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness. What is Timothy to proclaim? In the first century, he is to proclaim the good news of God. What are we to proclaim in the 21st century?

The exact same thing. And what Paul says in 2 Timothy, Peter says in his second letter, reminding his readers that people didn't just come up with this stuff but rather, to quote him, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. And we have in the past taken time to understand at least a little of what we mean when we talk about the dual authorship of Scripture—that God has breathed out, and by the use of human means, as spokesmen, he has provided for us that which we now have here to consider this morning. Now, for most of church history, Mark 16 has included 9–20. What has happened is that with the discovery of older manuscripts, Orthodox and evangelical scholarship has concluded that verses 9–20 were not in the original manuscript. Now, I think it would be obvious to us that we do not have the… The Christian church does not have the original manuscript of the Gospel of Mark.

We only have copies. Now, don't look quizzically at me here. Don't be alarmed in any way. Don't be unsettled by this. Don't be unsettled by it. As elders, we've been going through a book by Christopher Ash, and we've been greatly helped by this book.

It's quite challenging. It's called Hearing the Spirit, Knowing the Father Through the Son. And at our last elders' meeting, we paid particular attention to a brief statement that he has on this very subject, interestingly, concerning manuscripts and translations. Let me read it to you. Since we do not have access to any of the original manuscripts, this means that the scholarly work of what is called textual criticism is necessary.

Textual criticism is the discipline of examining all the manuscripts we do have and working back from those to the best approximation we can manage to the wording of the original manuscripts. It is an honorable skill and one that has been well honed over the years. Thank God we have excellent and strong manuscript evidence and that it is not difficult to be very confident indeed about the very large majority of the Bible's words.

Now, here's an important sentence. No Christian doctrine depends on those parts where there are residual uncertainties. There's nothing that is introduced in it that gives to us doctrine that we would otherwise not have. And so, we can rest confident that what we have with this shorter ending takes care of things. Now, with a good study Bible, you can discover the scholars' reasons for this.

In fact, if you have a study Bible for the ESV, there's a tremendous amount of helpful information that you can peruse at your home and while you're having a coffee. But let's just be absolutely clear that what we're saying when we say that is not somehow eternal, that we're excising people or things from the Bible. The man who taught me New Testament, Donald Guthrie, says, verses 9–20 is like an independent summary composed from the other Gospels and used for catechetical purposes—not part of Mark's Gospel but still an authentic account of resurrection appearances.

Okay? So that's very important to understand. So, number one, then, we affirm the absolute authority and inerrancy of the Bible. Number two, we recognize what scholarship says—namely, that the oldest manuscripts—and you're going back to the oldest, the earliest—the oldest manuscripts do not have this as an ending. However, we're still left to determine why this is so.

Why is it so? Had Mark written a longer ending and it was lost or destroyed? Is the sudden ending at verse 8 accidental or intentional? Some argue that something happened to Mark.

If you like, he went out for a coffee and intended to come back and pick it up when he came home, but he never, ever came home. Others have suggested that in actual fact Mark was planning on doing what Luke did—namely, writing a second volume a la the Acts of the Apostles—but in fact, he never got round to it. But these kinds of suggestions are only needed if we conclude that this ending is unintentional. These suggestions are only necessary if we can't bring ourselves to accept the fact that Mark purposefully ended by telling us that the woman fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them, they said nothing to anyone, they were afraid.

Right? So you don't think that Mark would end his gospel in that way? Let me tell you that I do. You may not care about that unduly, but I want to take my stand with those who believe that Mark ends his gospel at verse 8, and he does so purposefully. Now, why, then, would I conclude as I do?

And let me tell you. First of all, because this kind of ending fits with Mark's pace and his pattern. Come back with me to the very beginning of the gospel. Go back to chapter 1, verse 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Straight into it. And we noted then—and I'm pointing it out to you again now purposefully—that Mark doesn't use up any time in beginning his gospel with preliminaries. You read Matthew, you read Luke, you have birth narratives. You have the record of some of the earlier life of Jesus. You read the Gospel of John, and it begins in eternity past.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So we start in eternity with John. But look at how Mark begins.

He gets off immediately to a flying start. And as we've gone through the gospel, we've noted that movement, pace, seems almost to be more significant for Mark than discourse. So you do not have in Mark the big blocks of teaching that you have in the other two gospels of Matthew and Luke, what we refer to as the synoptic gospels along with Mark, nor do you have the material that is present much of it in John. The biggest pause you really have, we noted in chapter 13, in the Olivet Discourse. So Mark is moving directly through his gospel. He's hardly finished one part, then he's moved on to the next.

Let's get on now. Let's make clear. Let's—we're right in the gospel here.

Some have even suggested that he wrote it backwards, that he started at the end and worked forward. It's an intriguing idea. We'll leave that aside. I don't mean to unsettle you by that.

So, that's the first thing. It fits with his pace, but it fits also with his pattern. And the pattern to which I'm referring is what I might regard as the fear factor. The fear factor. Chapter 4. And Jesus calming the storm, remember?

Let's go over to the other side. The waves break into the boat, the boat's filling, he's in the stern. They wake him up to let him know that we're all perishing. He awakens, rebukes the wind, said to the sea, Peace, be still. The wind ceased, and there was great calm. And they began singing, I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice.

No. It says, And the wind ceased, and there was great calm. And he said to them, Why are you so afraid?

What's up with you guys? Have you still no faith? Verse 41, And they were filled with great fear.

They were filled with great fear. That was their response to this demonstration of the power of God in the Son of God, about whom we've been singing, this fearless Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man. That's what Mark is doing. He's saying, I'm writing down for you the story of who Jesus is, what Jesus did, why Jesus has come. And as we go through it, we discover that this recurs again and again.

One more. The woman who had the hemorrhage touches the hem of Jesus' garment. Jesus says, Someone has touched me. The disciples say, A lot of people have touched you.

What are you talking about? Look at the crowd that's here. And Jesus looked around to see who had done it. And the woman, knowing what had happened, verse 33, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him. Therefore, I suggest to you that we should not be surprised that Mark would end his gospel with the phrase, They were afraid. Because the unusual ending not only fits with his pace and with his pattern, but it is entirely in keeping with his expressed purpose.

Pace, pattern, purpose. What is his purpose? From the very beginning to declare the good news of who Jesus is. You have immediately entered John the Baptist, straight out of John the Baptist into Jesus, and Jesus says, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.

Mark is immediately at that. The kingdom is present, because Jesus is present, and Jesus is the King. And Jesus is inviting people to enter into the kingdom, and the entry into the kingdom is by way of repentance and faith. Turning from sin, turning to trust in this one who is moving towards the cross. Some of you are actually here this morning, and you're looking for the kingdom of God.

If you don't know that, you wouldn't use that terminology. If somebody said to you, You know what you're looking for? You're looking for the kingdom of God.

You would have said, You've lost your mind. You said, No, I'm looking for justice. I'm looking for freedom. I'm looking for meaning. I'm looking for forgiveness.

Well, that's exactly right. And where are all these things found? They're found in Jesus, who is the King. We live at a period in history where it is cool to be searching for these things. It isn't cool to say, We've found them.

Isn't it interesting? Let me tell you how to stop the conversation in its tracks. Do not go in and tell them that you're searching. Go in and tell them that you have found. Go in and tell them that you have found that Jesus is the King, and you've entered his kingdom by repentance and by faith.

You've discovered that Jesus is the only Savior and that he has forgiven you of your sins, and he's made you a new person. No, it's cool to be searching. It isn't cool to be finding. That's why some of you remain outside of Christ, because you're too cool. You're too cool.

You want to be cool in the office, cool amongst the other attorneys, cool amongst the other guys that go out on Fridays. You don't want to be one of the weird ones. You want to live in the secrecy of Joseph of Arimathea.

You don't want to come out into the open. And until you come out into the open, Jesus cannot truly be said to be your King. Now, let's think about this as we draw to a close. Instead of rounding out his gospel in the way that Matthew and Luke and John do with the resurrection appearances, Mark determines to finish in such a fashion as to cause us to say, Oh, you can't finish like this.

You can't finish here. But yes, he can, and yes, he does, forcing the reader to recognize that the resurrection freaked these ladies out. These ladies were not expecting a resurrection. Even Martha, when Jesus explains to her that her brother Lazarus will rise, recorded for us in John 11, she says, Oh yeah, I know that he will rise at the last day.

We know there's gonna be something somewhere way out there. Jesus says, Oh, where do you see what happens this afternoon? I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, even though he dies, shall he live, and whosoever lives and believes in me will never die. And then he says to her, Do you actually believe this?

That's the question. Do you actually believe this? And these women didn't really believe that. No more than the disciples. The men believed it. If they believed it, they should have all been standing out there waiting for the resurrection. Hey, hey, any time now, Jesus will be coming out, we're ready to go, hit Jerusalem with the news. No, they're hidden away, hiding with the doors locked, in case they get crucified as well.

See what Mark's doing? He's making it absolutely clear that these people were overwhelmed by the reality of the resurrection. It stunned them. They were dumbstruck. They couldn't even say a word when they walked away from the tomb. They fled. They were overwhelmed. They were fearful. They were afraid.

They said nothing. I think that's exactly what he's doing. I think he knows exactly why he finished at verse 8. I understand also why people would want to clean it up for him. Well, let's have a little resurrection appearance.

Come on now. We know what else would happen. Of course he knows everything else that happened.

But he's doing this. You see, what he's doing at this point in Jesus' life is what Luke tells us at the very beginning of Jesus' life. And there were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the LORD appeared to them, and the glory of the LORD shone around them. And they were sore afraid. They didn't go, Oh, that makes a lot of sense! This must be the incarnation! Look at that!

Isn't that amazing? No, they were totally overwhelmed. And when the hymn writer puts it for us as children, you know, while shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, an angel of the LORD came down, and glory shone around. Second verse. Fear not, said he, for mighty dread had seized their troubled minds. The revelation of God, the encounter with God, the fact that God is God, the Godness of God, the holiness of God, the majesty of God, the eternity of God, in relationship to our finitude—goodness gracious, wouldn't it be surprising if they weren't dumbstruck, if they didn't find themselves saying, Now, let me finish.

Their reaction—their reaction—forces us to say, What is my reaction? I've gone through the Gospel of Mark. We've gone through the Gospel of Mark. Here we are. Jesus has died for sin. Jesus has been resurrected.

What are we gonna do with it? It's the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom, not terror. Terror of God is the reaction of guilt in the face of his holiness. Terror only desires to run away from God and hide in despair. But when we think in terms of this kind of God-engendered fearfulness, to fear God and to know God and to love God and to serve God are really one and the same thing. That's why when John Newton, who was a blasphemous slave-trading captain of ships, discovered God.

What does he write? It was grace that taught my heart to fear. To fear. And at grace my fears relieved. You are God. You are risen. I am weak.

Wow! Let me ask you. We're done.

Mark's over. God looks at Newton, and he says, Newton, I intend to eradicate everything in you that is sinful, and the reason that I'm going to do this is because I love you so much. That's why I've pursued you in your miserable boat with your horrible slave-trading and your horrible, ugly, filthy, swearing mouth. Because I loved you.

From eternity, I loved you. Now, does that make you sing, or does that make you fearful that the God of the universe comes down out of eternity into time to seek us out and to save us? No, it makes perfect sense to me. His ending is unusual. His ending is abrupt. His ending is purposeful.

It's ending with the question mark. Since Jesus is King, have I come to be entering his kingdom by repentance and faith? Since Jesus is Savior, have I come to him and confessed my sin? Since Jesus is Lord, have I come out from the secrecy and declared boldly that I am prepared to do what he says and to go where he goes, even if my very life is taken from me? Which, of course, it was for Peter, who was the source for Mark in writing his gospel and in finishing in such an unusual manner.

You're listening to Truth for Life with Alistair Begg. We've been studying the closing chapters in Mark's gospel throughout April. These chapters focus on the arrest, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And today's message wraps up our study in Mark. But if you've enjoyed this study, you can hear Alistair's teaching through all 16 chapters. The complete series is available to stream for free on our website at truthforlife.org. It's simply titled A Study in Mark. And if you'd prefer a hard copy, you can own the entire study on a USB for just $5.

That's more than 50 hours of solid Bible teaching you can listen to on your daily commute or your road trip. You'll find the USB in our online store at truthforlife.org slash store. Tomorrow we begin a series in the book of Acts. And if you'd like to take your study of this book to a new level, our team has put together a free corresponding study guide. Visit truthforlife.org slash acts to find the free download. And if you haven't yet requested a copy of Nancy Guthrie's brand new book, Saved, Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Acts, give us a call today.

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You can go to truthforlife.org slash donate. Thanks for listening today. Tomorrow we'll explore the trials the Apostle Paul endured on his final missionary trek. We begin our series by considering 12 almost Christians. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life where the Learning is for Living.