Hello
Handkerchiefs at the ready, hope you’re wearing waterproof mascara, … because it’s our final day of Mark’s Gospel! Yes, it’s (drumroll please) Day 30! With no explanation of ‘Jesus: the Nappy Years,’ Mark’s Gospel has taken us from Jesus in the desert to Jesus on the cross and yesterday we reached the whole point of the story: Jesus bursting out of the grave to prove once and for all that death will always be the runner-up. Mark hardly lets you stop for a quick blast of your inhaler: in sixteen chapters he’s covered the universe’s greatest ever event. But are you ready for the bombshell? Most experts don’t think Mark even wrote today’s ending. Er, awkward…
Read
Today’s reading is from Mark 16:9-20.
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Think
First, let’s deal with the whole ‘who wrote what?’ fiasco. It’s thought that Mark’s original ending has been lost. Perhaps the last page of his scroll was accidentally torn off, or maybe he intended to end it as abruptly as it starts, or who knows, his dog ate it, honest Miss. Mark 16:9-20 seems to be the work of somebody else’s laptop – more than likely added on by early Christians who thought the reader needed to know more about what happened next. So, what did happen next? Well, we read in the other Gospels (and this ending looks pretty much like a greatest hits compilation from Matthew, Luke, and John’s ending) that Jesus is quite clear the gospel needs to go viral. Death is defeated. Sin is wiped clean. Life’s purpose is unlocked. Heaven is touching earth. These are the headlines! Throw in a few healings and miracles along the way- and you’ve got the makings of a great story. The greatest ever told. One that needs to be shouted to the ends of the earth.
Pray
If you had the cure to every sickness and disease in the world, wouldn’t you want to pass on that cure? Well, Jesus has the cure to life’s meaninglessness, and he wants you to help get that good news out. Ask God to help you be brave in sharing what you believe about Jesus.
Live It
Today tell somebody about what you’ve discovered about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection during the last 30 days of Mark’s Gospel. Go on… get the good news out!
Repeat
Well, that’s Mark’s Gospel done. You’re now an expert. You can close your Bible and expect the Archbishop of Canterbury to text you for advice. Er, not quite. Reading the Bible is not like reading a DM. You don’t read it once and then press delete. The Bible is one of the main ways God reveals himself to us – so to get a fuller picture of God we need to carry on reading. Making it a regular habit like you’ve made it for these last thirty days will set you up for life. The Word of God calls itself ‘alive’, which means you can keep coming back to bits you’ve read before and keep seeing something different. Not a fan of reading? Fine, head over to YouTube and there’s plenty of people who’ll read it for you.
We’ve loved having you along for the ride and we’d love you to keep on reading. You might want to check out the Gospel of Matthew, Luke, or John next. Or for whatever happened to those disciples, try the book of Acts. Joining a local church will help you in all of this. As for us? This is Mark’s Gospel signing off. It’s been emotional. Au revoir!