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Gospel Of Mark
Lecture 10: Short Or Long- The Ending Of Mark
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Hey, everybody, here we are again, as we finish our study of the Gospel of Mark. I hope that you have more than enjoyed this study. Certainly, I hope that you've enjoyed the study. But I hope that you learned more.
I hope that you have learned more of your Savior, the Lord Jesus. I hope that through this, you have a greater love for him, a greater appreciation of what he's done, and that you have, by faith, determined to follow what he has commanded us in his word.
You know, those things that Jesus tells us to do,.
They may not be easy,.
But that's what he wants from his disciples. And so I hope that this has helped you understand a little bit more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, not just professing faith in him, but seeking to obey all that he has commanded.
Now, in this session, I want to explain to you why the Gospel of Mark ends at verse eight and does not go through verses nine through 20. You will look in your Bibles, and you will see that all of our Bibles have that added ending.
If you'll allow me, I will just read it. I will just read it, and we can get an understanding of what this is. So after verse eight, it says, "'Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, "'he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, "'from whom he had cast out seven demons.
"'She went and told those who had been with him "'as they mourned and wept, "'but when they heard that he was alive "'and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. "'After these things, he appeared in another form "'to two of them as they were walking into the country, "'and they went back and told the rest, "'but they did not believe them.
"'Afterward, he appeared to the eleven themselves "'as they were reclining at a table, "'and he rebuked them for their unbelief "'and hardness of heart, because they had not believed "'those who saw him after he had risen.
"'And he said to them, go into all the world "'and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. "'Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, "'but whoever does not believe will be condemned. "'And these signs will accompany those who believe.
"'In my name, they will cast out demons, "'they will speak in new tongues, "'they will pick up serpents with their hands, "'and if they drink any deadly poison, "'it will not hurt them. "'They will lay their hands on the sick "'and they will recover.
"'So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, "'was taken up into heaven "'and sat down at the right hand of God. "'And they went out and preached everywhere "'while the Lord worked with them "'and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.'".
Now, this is the longer ending to Mark, and yet, I don't believe it's part that Mark wrote. It was added later. So how do we explain this ending to Mark? Well, first of all, we have to take into consideration the text, the text.
You notice the brackets in your text that started verse nine and go through verse 20, and you will notice the note in your text. It says, some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16, nine through 20.
That is to say that this is not part of the gospel of Mark, that somehow it was added later. Some of you might be saying, wait a minute, how do you know that? How do you know that's what happened? Well, in order for us to understand this, we have to understand something about the history of our Bibles, okay?
The history of our Bibles. That is to say, how did we get the scriptures? How did we get these words, these texts? And the answer is, they're all written down in manuscripts. All scripture is based on ancient manuscripts.
These manuscripts, these writings are what our Bible is made of.
Now, all the scripture then.
Is based on these ancient manuscripts. That is to say, these texts that make our Bible were copied over and over and over through the centuries. You need to recall that the printing press was not even invented till nearly 1500.
In the late 1400s is when the movable printing press was first invented. You know what that means, don't you? That means that you didn't, people just didn't have lots of books. All books were hand copied.
They were copied by hand, okay? Scribes would copy them carefully and they would have one manuscript and they'd copy it all out. And that's how we got all these manuscripts that composed our Bible. Now, listen now.
Right now, we know that we have 25 ,000 manuscripts of the New Testament. That is to say, there's all kinds of manuscripts, not of the entire New Testament. There may be this old manuscript of John and then here's another manuscript later of John.
And then there are some other that collections, some have all of the New Testament, some don't have all of them, but we have 25 ,000 manuscripts of New Testament texts. Now that is unbelievably, that is fantastic because you can compare all of them and see where the variants are and where the manuscripts can agree with one another.
And sometimes you'll find a little bit of a disagreement. Now, I've just mentioned the word variant. What is a variant? Well, one text of Mark, let's say, one text may have, everything will be the same, but there'll be a word here that's different from this word.
Maybe the, or there's a word missing in this manuscript as opposed to that one. Maybe the scribe who was writing out it missed that word or he missed a letter. And so he forgot to write a one letter in or he, there's a stroke of the pen that's missing.
There are these little variants throughout those manuscripts. But when you compare them all,.
When you get all these manuscripts,.
All these manuscripts, you look at them and say, this is the original, this is the original right here. Look at these earlier manuscripts have this and these later ones don't, remembering that the earliest manuscripts are probably more accurate.
So you compare all the manuscripts and you can pretty much figure out what the original was. Now those 25 ,000 manuscripts show wonderful uniformity.
And consistency.
And there is no variant anywhere in all those manuscripts that will ever change anything we believe that will ever make a major dot-count change, nothing like that. Like I say, it's a missing of a stroke of a pen.
It's leaving a letter out. It's maybe not putting down one particular word, but those 25 ,000 manuscripts show an incredible uniformity.
And consistencies.
Now, again, one of the key ideas of studying ancient texts is that the earlier manuscripts are probably the most accurate since they're closer to the original and there's less opportunity for copying errors because it's so close to the original.
We actually have manuscripts of parts of the New Testament going all the way back to about 100 to 150 AD. Now hear what I'm saying. Keep in mind, the apostle John was writing in the 90s. Okay, he was alive in the 90s, okay, 90 AD.
And we have manuscripts going back all the way to about 100 to 150. That's unbelievably close. That is really good manuscript evidence. Now think about this. Compare the New Testament manuscripts with some other pieces of ancient literature.
Let me give you two examples. Some of you read Homer's Iliad when you were in high school, maybe some of you in college. You read that to me, Homer's Iliad, okay? Homer probably wrote, was alive in writing probably around 700 years before Jesus was born, okay?
So we're talking about 700, maybe 600 years before Jesus was born. Now, of that ancient work called the Iliad, we have 643 manuscripts, okay, 643 manuscripts. The earliest manuscript that we have goes back to the year 1200 AD.
Do you see, you see what I'm saying?
This venerable, respected piece of literature, the earliest manuscript we have, the earliest manuscript we have of Homer's Iliad is a copy that came 1800 years after he wrote the Iliad. And we only have to compare, we only have 643 manuscripts.
You see, 25 ,000 of the New Testament compared to 643, 25 ,000 that go all the way back to within decades of when the writers wrote, you see? Here's another one, Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who wrote around 400 years before Jesus was born.
So he's writing his history 400 years before Jesus was born. We have eight manuscripts of that work. Again, a venerable ancient piece of literature, okay? We have eight manuscripts of it, and the earliest one, the earliest manuscript we have is dated 1300 years after Herodotus lived, you understand?
That's the earliest, so there's 1300 years between the original and this copy, okay? Not so with the New Testament. So we have a great amount of text from the New Testament that will give us great accuracy, you see?
Now, A .T. Robinson, one of the New Testament's foremost scholars of the last century wrote this. The vast array of manuscripts has enabled textual scholars to accurately reconstruct the original text with more than 99 .9 accuracy.
So we can say with confidence that we have the word of God in our hands, that we have the originals here. The originals, our translation of the originals. So on the basis of what we know, it appears that those verses, verses nine through 20, do not belong to the original work of Mark.
First of all, when you look at the earliest manuscripts, the ones closest to when Mark composed this gospel, none of them have the longer ending. The earliest ones, remember, the closer you get, the more accurate you'll probably be.
And those earliest manuscripts do not contain the long ending. It ends at verse eight. We know that manuscripts dating from 325 to 350, okay? So 350 AD, 350 years approximately, give or take a year or two, 350 years after the birth of Jesus now.
The manuscripts that we have 300 years later do not contain this longer ending. It does not appear in manuscripts before it, all the way up for 300 years, this doesn't appear in Mark. In fact, the church fathers, Jerome and Eusebius, from the fourth century, even write that almost all the Greek manuscripts of that day end at verse eight.
The church fathers who lived in the second and third centuries, long before this, quote extensively from the New Testament, just quote tons from the New Testament. And some have said that you can take all the quotations of the first 200 years of church fathers, you could just about put the whole New Testament together just from the quotes that they make from the New Testament as they quote the New Testament.
And what's interesting is they make no references to this longer version. Only one church father says something about verse 19, okay? But other than that, there is absolutely no reference to those verses from the longer version.
Well, some folks say, okay, I get that. Okay, so it doesn't appear to be in the original that Mark wrote, but please, come on. You're gonna end the gospel by saying, and they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.
And is that the way it ends? That doesn't make sense. Why would it end like that? That's a crazy ending. It just seems incomplete. It seems inadequate. It doesn't seem like that's no way to end the gospel, which is why maybe this longer ending kind of crept in.
Not that someone purposely said, that's not good enough. I'm gonna write to it.
I'm gonna write to it.
But slowly but surely from different sources, maybe people just saying, well, I think this is what happened. Whatever the case may be, we don't know how that got in there. We don't know the origin of that longer ending.
But part of the reason why people question as to why that should be part of it, why maybe that is part of Mark is because when you come to verse eight, that's just a wacky way of ending the gospel. It doesn't seem right.
Most folks seem to think that this gospel ends in verse eight but it just doesn't make any sense. None of the other writers of the gospels end this way. It seems too abrupt. It just doesn't seem like a good way to end the gospel.
Surely an ending must have gone missing somewhere because that's really bizarre how he ends. That's not necessarily true if you understand how Mark wrote this gospel. Look how Mark emphasized fear and amazement.
It says, and they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid or the word may mean bewildered, amazed. They were in wonder.
Mark is emphasizing the amazement, the wonder of it all. But you know something, as you look through the gospel of Mark, he does this all the time. Now I'm gonna tell you that I am indebted to John MacArthur for this as he preached through the book of Mark and as he understood it.
And it makes entirely good sense to me. And that's why I think he's right in his explanation. And I'm sure he's not the only one who said this. There are many, many others who have said this. But the point I want to make simply is this.
It shouldn't surprise us that Mark ends the book in such an abrupt, what to us seems like a crazy manner. When you go back and you look over the entire book and you see how he wrote, I want you to follow along carefully.
Let's look at the whole book of Mark very quickly. And I want you to hear certain things. In chapter one, verse 22, it talks about Jesus teaching in the synagogue. And it says, and they were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.
Chapter one, verse 27. When in that synagogue, he deals with an unclean spirit. Here is the people's reaction.
And they were all amazed.
Chapter two, verse 12. Remember the paralyzed man who's lowered through the roof and before Jesus and Jesus heals him. Here's what it says. And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all.
So that they were all amazed.
In chapter four, verse 41, Jesus stills the raging waters of the lake. And here's what we see. And they, that is the disciples, were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
And that's the end of that story. It ends with fear. Chapter five, verse 15. Jesus sends the legion of demons from a man into a herd of pigs. And it says about the people of the region, and they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man knowing what had happened, demon -possessed man, the one who had the legion sitting there clothed and in his right man, and they were afraid.
They were afraid. In chapter five, verse 33, same chapter. He heals the woman with the bleeding problem. Here's what it says. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth.
Same chapter, verse 42. After raising Jairus's daughter from the dead in the midst of this household, we read this. And immediately the girl got up and began walking, and they were immediately overcome with amazement.
So these, Jesus does these things, teaches and does these miraculous things. And it always says, it almost always ends with the idea.
They were trembling.
They were fearful.
They were overcome with amazement, right? Let's keep going. Chapter six, verse 51. Jesus walks on the water and meets his disciples.
In the boat.
And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. Chapter nine, verse six, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Remember, Peter just kind of starts spouting off.
Why?
For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Chapter nine, verse 15, same chapter. Coming down from the Mount, he and these three disciples see that the scribes and the disciples are arguing about something.
And here's what it says. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him.
Okay?
In chapter nine, verse 32, same chapter. Jesus predicts his death to his disciples. And it says,. But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him.
All right?
In chapter 10, verse 24, after the rich young man leaves, Jesus comments that those with wealth are gonna have a hard time entering the kingdom of heaven. And the disciples were amazed at his words. And again, same chapter.
Chapter 10, verse 32, on the way to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking ahead of them and they were amazed and those who followed were afraid. In chapter 11, verse 18, Mark tells the story of Jesus cleansing the temple, not quietly and rather violently.
And it says this, and the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. Chapter 12, verse 17, Jesus is talking about paying your taxes to Caesar.
And it says, Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's. And they marveled at him. Chapter 15, verse five, Jesus stands silent before Pilate, but Jesus made no further answer so that Pilate was amazed.
And then finally, in this very same chapter, chapter 16, verse five, in entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. Now, what's the point?
The point is, this is what Mark does. Mark is always talking about amazed. And by the way, how many times does he say, immediately? And then they're amazed, they're astounded, they're afraid, they're terrified.
They're in wonder, all these things are happening. This is the way Mark writes, all the way through this book, all the way through, he's trying to make the point. What's the point?
Jesus is amazing.
He just astounds people with what he says and what he does.
You see?
And so this ending, if it ends in verse eight, where they're just totally astounded, afraid, amazed, in wonder, is consistent with the way Mark ends everything.
This is his pattern.
This is his style of writing. He's used this all the way along in this book to punctuate everything, to make it clear that Jesus is this one who's amazing. He moves from one point of amazement to the next.
And so it ends where it ought to end. It's not incomplete. It's not inadequate. It's not weird, not if you understand the way Mark writes. It ends where he wants to end it, with amazement and wonder at the resurrection.
One statement John MacArthur makes, I wish I could, I wish I could have said this, but I'll give credit where credit is due. He says, we could almost title this gospel, the amazing Jesus, because that's what Mark does all the way through.
That's what he does all the way through. So it does make sense that the gospel ends in verse eight, because that's the way Mark writes. Mark wants us always to end up being amazed at what Jesus has done.
And so here we find these people, they've heard of the resurrection of the son of God, and they are amazed.
End of story.
The son of God is amazing in every way. Everything about this gospel is amazing. So I hope that helps you. I hope that helps you understand a little bit about what's going on in the text that you have in front of you.
I hope this helps. And I hope now that you'll go back and read through the gospel of Mark, and again, gain something from it. Well, this is the end of our series in Mark. It's been a pleasure to do this.
I'm so thankful for the opportunity to do this. If you enjoyed it, thank Lon Ganz. This was his idea. And so there it is. Anyway, well, let's pray. We'll close out now. And I hope once more, I hope that this has helped you understand a little bit more of the Lord Jesus through this gospel.
Let's pray.
Thank you, Father, once more for your marvelous grace to us in the Lord Jesus. We find him to be amazing, astounding. Help us to understand that and help us to live in light of the amazing things, of the amazing person that Jesus is.
Thank you now. I pray, Father, you would use this in the lives of your people. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name, amen.
