Consider these questions as we close up the book of Mark with chapter 16:

1. The ending of the Gospel of Mark, specifically the uncertainty surrounding verses 9-20, prompts reflection on the response of the women to the news of Jesus' resurrection. How does their initial fear and silence resonate with the reader, and what does it convey about the profound impact of encountering the resurrected Christ?

2. The urgency portrayed in Mark's Gospel, often emphasizing immediate action, culminates in the final verse where the women are initially silent due to fear. How does this conclusion challenge believers to consider the urgency of sharing the message of Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension? What steps can individuals take to actively engage with and share this life-changing message?

3. Reflecting on the significance of the message of Christ's resurrection, how can believers overcome fear and boldly proclaim this transformative truth? What role does the power of the Holy Spirit play in equipping individuals to share the good news and lead others to faith in Christ?

Transcript:

When you get to the end of Mark, you get some of these brackets here. You can see them here in the middle of the screen if you're watching a video. It says some of the earliest manuscripts do not include verses 9-20 of Chapter 16. Well, what has happened here? Well, the earliest manuscripts we have, so therefore, the ones that are closest to when it was written, they do not have this information about the appearances after the resurrection. Now, there is some questioning whether or not they were meant to be there, whether they were added by copies after the fact, because if you look at the end of Mark that we have in the oldest manuscript, the last verse is different, right? And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. How is that to end a book? There are some people who say that later on, not sure how much later on, but later on, because these would have been distributed separately, it wasn't in a Bible at the time, that the copyists put an ending on from some other sources because they wanted people to understand what had happened, not just leave it hanging on for were they afraid?

And we don't know exactly what it is. There's people discussing this far beyond what we have time to discuss here today. But I want to treat it today as though verse 8 is the end because I think it leaves us with something important because we do know the rest of the story. We don't need the information afterwards to know that Jesus ascended. We look at this, and we see this last verse, And, they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling, and as signage had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Now, we saw last time that we knew for sure that they were dead. They went to anoint the body. They were... They were surprised that the stone was rolled away. They would have needed it rolled away to anoint the body, all this stuff. But Jesus is resurrected. And so, what happens? We see that they are afraid. Now think about this a little bit. If you want to do what these women were going to do, would you be afraid? Yes. Yes, you would be. An angel appears to you, a body is gone, claiming that he's been risen, you wouldn't know what to do either.

And so, the question that this stopping at verse 8 brings up in our minds is, what are we going to do with Jesus? We've seen that throughout the Gospel of Mark. When it talks about things happening immediately, the idea is that this is happening, and there's an urgency to this. And this is a great urgency here, too. They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. What are you going to do with the message of Jesus? When you are reminded that Jesus has died and is resurrected for you, what are you going to do with that good news? Are you going to be afraid? Or are you going to understand the urgency and make sure that we raise our children with the knowledge of that truth? Are we going to share it with our friends? Are we going to value what God values? This message that we have been saved by grace through faith. And so, may we not be like the women. They went away and they were terrified. They were terrified. And like I said, as well they should be. Who knows what you and I would have done if we would experience what these blessed women experienced.

But the question we walk away with today, will we be afraid? Will we be afraid to share the message of Christ's life, death, resurrection and ascension? What will we do with that message? And so, as we've heard about Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, may we remember the importance and the urgency of that message because it is the only means by which we can be saved. And it's not just us, it's others. If people are going to be saved from sin, death and hell, it's going to be through this message, this message of the resurrected Christ, the one who is crucified to pay the wrath of God for our sin. And so, may we not be afraid of this message. May we proclaim it boldly, boldly that others may hear and believe the good news and come to faith through the power of the Holy Spirit working within them.