A good story leaves you wanting more. “Happily ever after” never satisfies.  Even our children know this and ask, “but what happened next?” The suspense does not end when the narrative does.  Like our own stories, a tale continues to unfold beyond its telling.  And we want to know how.  What became of the hero?  And the villain?  Did the cast of characters find love, peace, redemption, prosperity, or despair? 

A good ending leaves lots of questions.  Questions about the story’s characters.  And questions about ourselves. Movies sometimes ease this tension, providing closure through a postscript of silent, black and white slides before the credits roll.  They give snapshots of the ‘rest of the story.‘  And tease us with the ‘other’ stories begun in the chapter just finished.

The Gospel of Mark concludes in the same way with a postscript to the Resurrection of Jesus.  The narrative of the Resurrection ends with the women fleeing from the tomb in terror.  We are left hanging.  Will they believe?  Will they tell the disciples?  Will they see the risen Jesus?  Will they be like the shepherds of old who “made known the saying they had been told concerning [Jesus] … all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them?”  Or will shock and grief drive them to hiding and despair?  Will faith or fear triumph with Jesus most devoted followers?

Copious ink has been spilled in the scholarly debate over the ending of Mark’s gospel.  Mark 16:9-20 seems like an abrupt shift from the rest of the story.  Thematically, literarily and textually, this Markan postscript seems to intrude on the story that ends in such a dramatic fashion in Mark 16:8.  An ending that asks both writer and reader, “will they believe?” 

Yet ending the story in uncertainty also seems wrong.  In God’s Providence the “long ending” provides a postscript of slides to show us how the abiding presence of the Risen Lord Jesus transforms stunning unbelief into a gospel mission that would turn the world upside down. 

Did Mark write it?  We cannot know.  Does it have apostolic authority?  Yes!  Does it in any way add to or contradict anything, theologically or practically, found in the rest of the New Testament?  No.  Appearing very early in the textual history of the church and affirmed in the process of canonicity, this ‘long ending’ of Mark gives remarkable encouragement and focus to believers struggling to live in the light of the Resurrection. And if we fail to listen to it or dismiss it, we forfeit great encouragement to our fledging faith.

Join us this Lord’s Day as we examine Mark 16:9-20 and consider how we move from fear to faith.  We meet Sundays at 10:30 am on the square in Pottsville, Arkansas right next to historic Potts’ Inn for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join our livestream on YouTube.