GOSPEL OF MARK - CHAPTER 16
The Resurrection 16:1-8
v1 When the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary, the mother of James, went out. And they bought spices (substances that have a beautiful smell). They wanted to put them on Jesus’ body. v2 Very soon after dawn on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, they went to the grave. v3 They were discussing who would roll the stone from the entrance. v4 But they looked up. And they saw that someone had already rolled back the very large stone. v5 So they went into the rock grave. There was a young man, who was sitting on the right side. He was wearing a long white coat. They were astonished. v6 He said, ‘Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, whom they killed on a cross. He is not here. He has risen. Look at the place where they laid his body. v7 Now go. And tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, as he told you.’ v8 The women ran away from the grave. They were trembling and astonished. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.
Commentary
Verse 1
The women went out to buy special substances as soon as the Sabbath ended at sunset on Saturday.
Verse 2
The first opportunity to see what they were doing was at dawn on Sunday morning.
Verses 3-4
They remembered that there was a heavy stone at the entrance to the rock grave. It would be too heavy for them to push back. But they arrived at the grave. Then, they discovered that there was no problem. Someone had already rolled the stone aside.
Verses 5-6
They were astonished to find a young man in white clothes who was sitting on the right side of the cave. He was an angel. He told them that they were looking in the wrong place for Jesus. He had risen. They could see for themselves the empty place where his body had been.
Verse 7
They must tell his disciples ‘and Peter’ that they would see him in Galilee. The special message for Peter was to show that Jesus still included him in his love. Peter had said that he did not know Jesus. ‘And Peter’ would have given him the first sign of hope after he had said that. Jesus had said that he would go to Galilee (14:28).
Verse 8
This verse is a rather sudden end to Mark’s Gospel. Mark might have written about how Jesus kept his promise to meet His disciples in Galilee. So later writers added other ends for the book. There is a short one, and a longer one. Mark may not have had time to complete his Gospel. Perhaps he became ill. Perhaps he died, or the Romans killed him. If he had finished it, perhaps the end of the scroll wore out. Then perhaps it tore off. Or, perhaps his book had the same shape as a modern book, and the last page became separated. (The first Christians were among the first people to use such books.)
It is possible, however, that Mark intended to end at verse 8. All through his Gospel, he had described how Jesus astonished people by his words and actions. Jesus’ disciples, too, had a feeling of fear. And they greatly respected Jesus for his power (4:41). The resurrection was the most astonishing event of all. Mark perhaps thought that it was not important to write about Jesus’ appearances to his disciples. He had given the most important fact, ‘He has risen.’ The fear of the women was a suitable reaction to such an astonishing act of God. The reaction of all Christians should be similar. Verse 8 therefore can be a suitable end to Mark’s Gospel.
The Short End
This was an effort by a writer to make Mark’s Gospel complete.
‘The women went to Peter and those who were with him. They gave them a brief account of all that the angel had told them. Afterwards Jesus himself sent them out from east to west. He sent them with the holy and always living message about how God will save people. Amen.’
‘From east to west’ means that the disciples had a message for the whole world. Their message was that belief in Jesus would give people eternal life. This message would never change.
The Long End 16:9-20
This was an account that was not in the early copies of Mark’s book. It is a list of Jesus’ resurrection appearances that Luke and Matthew record. The writer also refers to details from Matthew’s Gospel and from Acts. The author may have written it early in the second century AD.
However, it is possible that Mark himself actually wrote these words at the end of his book. In those days, people had to copy books by hand. So, people would copy the complete book until the loss of its last page. Then people would have to copy the book without its last page
The copies that have the long end are later copies than those without it. And the copies without the long end are good copies. But Mark wrote the original book over 200 years before the earliest copies that still exist. So, perhaps the people who wrote the copies with the long end had accurate copies of the end section.
v9 Jesus rose from death early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven evil spirits. v10 She went. And she told those who had been with him. They were very sad and they were weeping. v11 They heard that Jesus was alive. And that she had seen him. But they did not believe it. v12 After that, Jesus appeared in a different way to two of them. They were walking into the country. v13 They went back and they told the other disciples. But they did not even believe them. v14 Afterwards, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples themselves as they were eating. Jesus blamed them for their lack of faith. They had refused to believe those who had seen him after his resurrection. v15 Jesus said to them, ‘Go into the entire world. Preach the good news to everyone. v16 I will save anyone who believes and receives baptism. God will punish anyone who does not believe.
v17 These are the miracles that believers will do. They will force out evil spirits in my name. They will speak in new languages. v18 They will pick up snakes. If they drink anything poisonous, it will not hurt them. They will place their hands on those who are ill. And the people will be well again.’ v19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking to them, he went up into heaven. He sat down at the right-hand side of God. v20 Then the disciples went out and they preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them. He showed that the message was true. He showed it by the miracles that happened with it. Amen.
The writer refers to three appearances of Jesus. In each one, he emphasizes the disciples’ lack of faith to believe that he was alive.
Commentary
Verses 9-11
Luke mentions that Jesus had made Mary Magdalene free from ‘seven evil spirits’ (Luke 8:2). John describes how Jesus appeared to her in the garden (John 20:11-18).
Verses 12-13
The two people on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus at first. They only realized who he was at supper. This was when he blessed and broke the bread. They returned to Jerusalem at once in order to tell the other disciples (Luke 24:13-34).
Verse 14
The third appearance may have been when Thomas was among the 11 disciples. It was Thomas especially whom Jesus encouraged to have more faith (John 20:26-29).
Verse 15
Matthew records Jesus’ command to preach the gospel everywhere. They should baptize people as a sign of their faith.
Verses 17-18
The new powers that the disciples will have include the power to send evil spirits out of people. They also include the power to cure sick people. They had already been able to do this (Mark 6:13). Acts 2:4 describes how they spoke in other people’s languages on the day of Pentecost. Paul escaped without injury when he picked up a snake (Acts 28:5). The reference to snakes and poison means that God will protect his disciples. He will protect them in dangerous situations that they cannot avoid.
Verse 19
Mark had not used the title ‘the Lord Jesus’ in his Gospel. But Jesus had now gone back to heaven to the place of honor with God. So Lord is a suitable title to describe Jesus. Jesus referred to Psalm 110:1, while he was teaching in the Temple (Mark 12:36). It describes the great honor that God would give to the Messiah. Luke describes how Jesus went back to heaven in Acts 1:11.
Verse 20
The author of verses 9-20 ends with an account of how the disciples obeyed Jesus’ command. The Acts of the Apostles describes how they preached the gospel. It records how the Lord worked miracles by them. He was with them wherever they went.
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