INTRODUCTION:

            This morning’s message will be a little different from how I usually preach.  The reason is due to the final verses of Mark’s Gospel, which we must decide why these verses are here, are they the inspired word of God, are they Mark’s words and if they are not why are they tacked onto the end of his Gospel.  We will explore all of this this morning and also look at the reliability of our copies of the Bible.  Before we do anything else, let’s pray and seek the Spirit’s wisdom as we tackle some difficult questions today.

--PRAY--

 

THE ENDING OF MARK’S GOSPEL:

            Turn in your Bibles to Mark 16:9-20.  Please follow along as I read these verses.

     Mark 16:9-20,

            [“Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’  So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received 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 word by the signs that followed.”] (Mark 16:9–20, NASB95)[1]

RELIABILITY OF SCRIPTURE

            This final section of verses that I just read is missing from the most reliable, ancient manuscripts that we have of Mark’s Gospel.  This has caused a lot of unnecessary distress among some groups of people.  Those who are careful students of the Word of God and have made a serious study of the transmission of the biblical text would almost unanimously agree that Mark 16:9-20 are what is called a gloss, which simply means that these verses are a later uninspired scribal addition added to the original inspired text. A closer look at these final twelve verses shows signs of an attempt to cover up a perceived imperfection.  The style and structure of these verses do not fit the style and structure of the rest of Mark.  Mark’s gospel seems to end hurriedly and early without these verses.  This would mean that Mark ends in verse eight where he describes the women’s fearful flight from the empty tomb.  The angel they had seen and who had spoken to them is the only one who even mentions the resurrection.  The closing words of verse 8 tells that these women “said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8b, NASB95)[2]  Without the addition of verses 9-20, Mark’s ending sounds abrupt and incomplete.  We know that is not the end of the story.  Why does Mark stop there?

            Before discussing the answer to that question, we must first look at the reliability of the biblical text and why the existence of variations in some biblical manuscripts is no threat to the authority, reliability, and inerrancy of the Bible.

            No ancient book has been better preserved throughout history than the Bible  Just as a comparison the ancient book History by Herodotus has only eight surviving manuscripts, the oldest dating to about thirteen hundred years after the original.  Caesar’s Gallic Wars has only ten manuscripts copies have been discovered, the earliest of which is a thousand years after the author’s original.  I could go on and give other similar examples, but the point is when it comes to the preservation of ancient manuscripts, no other text comes close to the writings of Scripture.  Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce wrote, “There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys such a wealth of good textual attestation as the New Testament.”[3]

            The second most well-attested ancient work is Homer’s Iliad; there are 643 surviving copies that have been found.  But even this falls far short of that of the Bible.  Ancient Greek manuscripts of the New Testament number more than five thousand, ranging from small fragments of papyri to complete volumes containing all 27 books of the New Testament.  A few of those manuscripts are only 25 to 50 years after the original autographs (the original author’s book).  When ancient translations  (such a Latin and Ethiopic) are included the number of manuscripts explodes to nearly 25,000 copies.  In God’s sovereign providence, His Spirit preserved a myriad of ancient manuscripts and witnesses to the biblical text so that, after more than two thousand years, we, as believers, can be assured of the trustworthiness of our copies of the Scriptures.

            Because we have so many manuscripts the science of textual criticism came about which analyzes and compares ancient biblical manuscripts to determine the contents of the original works (autographs).  Before the invention of the printing press in 1450, biblical manuscripts were entirely copied by hand, sometimes resulting in scribal errors.  But through the careful process of textual analysis such errors and embellishments can be identified and corrected by comparing the manuscript in question with other, earlier manuscripts.  Because so many New Testament manuscripts have survived, biblical scholars are able to determine the original text with an extremely high degree of accuracy.  Such scholarship gives us great confidence in the integrity of our Bibles because it not only identifies what was original to the text but also exposes any errors, changes, or additions.

            All of this has direct bearing on Mark 16:9-20 because it demonstrates that these verses known as the “longer ending” of Mark, were most certainly not part of the original God inspired text.  Both external evidence (from the early versions of the Greek manuscripts and from early church fathers) and internal evidence (from the passage itself) call the authenticity into question, which is why most modern translations place these verses in brackets.

            When we look at the external evidence, the earliest and most important New Testament manuscripts do not have verses 9-20.  Added to that is the fact that some manuscripts contain a different ending, known as the “shorter ending.”  The fact that multiple possible endings for Mark’s gospel circulated in the early centuries of the church cast further doubt on the authenticity of the longer ending.

            Evidence from church history and the church fathers also points to the verses not being authentic.  The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340) along with the Bible translator Jerome (347-420) both explain that almost all the Greek manuscripts available in their day did not have verses 9-20.  Some church fathers show an awareness of the longer ending and others seem unaware of its existence.

            When we begin to look at the internal evidence from the verses themselves, there are several things that cast doubt on the authenticity of the passage being a part of Mark’s original gospel.  First, the transition between verses eight and nine is awkward.  The word translated “now” in verse nine implies continuity with the preceding narrative, but the focus of verse nine abruptly changes to Mary Magdalene rather than continuing the narrative of the women referred to in verse eight.  Also, it would be strange for Mark to wait until the end of his narrative to introduce Mary Magdalene as if for the first time by introducing her as the woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons, when Mark had already mentioned her three times earlier.  Another glaring detail that is missing is the fact that Peter, who is singled out in verse seven, is never mentioned again in verses 9-20.  The shorter ending attempts to fix that issue as an alternate ending or by adding it to the longer ending.  It mentions both the other women and Peter.  It states, “And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions.  And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”  But this shorter ending has even weaker manuscript evidence to support it than the longer ending.  The commentator R. Alan Cole wrote concerning this shorter ending, that it, “reads like an early attempt to tidy loose ends; that last clause in particular does not sound Marcan in its expression.”[4]

            Second, the vocabulary, style, and structure of the longer ending is not consistent with the rest of Mark’s gospel.  There are eighteen words in this section that are not used elsewhere in Mark.  These verses use the title “Lord Jesus,” but that title is not used anywhere else in Mark.  The obvious differences in these verses from the rest of Mark’s account have led most biblical scholars to agree that these verses in style and vocabulary do not belong to Mark.

            Third, the inclusion of apostolic signs does not fit the way the other three gospels conclude their accounts of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  Though many of the signs mentioned in these verses parallel portions of the book of Acts, some are clearly without Biblical support, such as being able to pick up venomous snakes or to drink any deadly poison.

            Both the external and the internal evidence clearly show us that verses 9-20 are not originally part of Mark, nor were they penned from his hand.  And though they generally summarize truth taught elsewhere in the New Testament, they should always be evaluated in the  context of the rest of Scripture.  No doctrines or practices should be established solely on these verses.  The snake-handling preachers of the southern states provide a prime example of the errors that can arise from accepting these verses as authoritative.

            Knowing that Mark 16:9-20 is not original should give us as believers more confidence in the accuracy of the New Testament, not less.  As already stated the science of textual analysis makes it possible for biblical scholars to identify the very few passages that were not part of the original .  Such places are clearly marked in modern translations, making it easy for students of the Bible to identify them.  Believers can then approach the rest of Scripture with a settled assurance that the Bible they hold in their hands accurately reflects the original.

            This information that these verses are not a part of Mark’s original gospel should raise at least two questions that must be answered.  First, since Mark did not write this section, where did it come from?  Second, if Mark’s Gospel ends at Mark 16:8, why did he conclude his gospel so abruptly?

 

WHERE DID THE ENDING COME FROM (Mark 16:9-20)

            Because Mark’s gospel ends abruptly in verse 8, and because it did not contain the post-resurrection history found in the other three gospels, some early Christians must have felt that Mark’s Gospel was incomplete.  Because of this, at some point in the early mid-second century, the content of verses 9-20 was added to give Mark’s account a more fully developed conclusion.  No one knows who the scribe or scribes were who added these verses to Mark’s gospel.  A survey of the longer ending shows us where the material for these verses was found.  Most of it is summarized or borrowed from other places in the New Testament.  I have included in your bulletin insert this morning a verse-by-verse comparison so that you can see where most of the information in Mark 16:9-20 was summarized or borrowed from.

            Because of this summarizing and borrowing Mark 16:9-20 is a patchwork drawn from various New Testament texts (most are from the other gospels and Acts).  For the most part as you will see as you read through the handout the content of the longer ending reflects biblical truths, with the notable exceptions of snake handling and drinking deadly poison (Mark 16:18), which have no scriptural backing and are only mentioned here.  I also want to direct your attention to verse 16, which says, “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:16, NASB95)[5]  This verse does not teach the necessity of baptism for salvation, this is clarified in the second half of the verse when it says that condemnation is for unbelief, not because someone has not been baptized.  Beyond those points of clarification, an exposition of these verses is not needed since they are not original to Mark’s inspired account.  These verses do reflect traditions from early church history, but they are not part of the inerrant and authoritative Word of God.

MARK’S ABRUPT ENDING (Mark 16:8)

            As I have already stated, most biblical scholars agree that verses 9-20 are not original to Mark’s gospel.  Where these scholars differ is in regard to Mark’s ending, did he intend to end with verse 8?  There are some who believe Mark wrote more beyond verse 8 but that it was and is still lost.  This claim, however, is entirely speculative, since we have no historical evidence to suggest that any such ending ever existed.  I believe a better approach is to see verse 8 as the true ending to Mark’s gospel.  In the first place, this is the ending that the Holy Spirit chose in His sovereign providence to preserve for all the following generations of Christians to read.  So, no matter what Mark intended, it is clearly God’s plan to end this gospel with verse 8.  Mark 16:8 says, “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mark 16:8, NASB95)[6] 

Mark uses four descriptive statements to describe for us the intense trauma these women experienced on that early Sunday morning.  First, Mark writes that they were trembling, meaning that they were visibly shaking in response to the empty tomb, the encounter with an angel and the news given to them from the angel.  Second, Mark writes that they were gripped by astonishment, the Greek word translated here is the word from which we get our word ecstasy.  Dictionary.com defines ecstasy as rapturous delight or an overpowering emotion or exaltation, a state of sudden, intense feeling.  Third, Mark writes that they said nothing to anyone, they were stunned into silence.  Fourth and finally, Mark writes that they were afraid.  Overwhelmed by the shocking and wonderous reality of the resurrection, the empty tomb and the encounter with angels left the women shaking and speechless.  It seems it had the same effect of the author.  How fitting that the end was so intense and powerful that neither the women nor the narrator could speak.

            Mark’s ending to his gospel is abrupt, but it is not incomplete.  The tomb was empty; the angelic announcement explained that Jesus had risen; and multiple eyewitnesses confirmed those events.  If you remember, the purpose of Mark’s gospel was stated in the first verse, his purpose was to demonstrate the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  From the first chapter on, Mark clearly and concisely made that point, no further proof was necessary.  By the end of Mark’s narrative, the declaration by the centurion standing at the cross should truly be the echoed words of the reader of Mark’s gospel, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39, NASB95)[7]  Mark’s abrupt ending is no different than his abrupt beginning, where he skips the birth of Jesus Christ and begins directly with the ministry of John the Baptist.  It also fits his quick and concise style and his repeated use of the word “immediately” to drive the narrative along at a fast pace.

            Verse 8 ends by stating that the women fleeing from the empty tomb were afraid.  They were not fearing for their safety, rather their fear was caused by the bewildering astonishment mixed with profound joy at the thought of the risen Savior, a complete turn of events, their fear was brought about in wondering if this news was too good to be true. Mark’s gospel then, ends on a note of wonder, awe, and amazement about the Lord Jesus Christ.  This same theme runs all the way through Mark’s gospel account.  In Mark 1:22, the crowds responded to Jesus’ teaching by being “amazed at His teaching.”  After He cast out an unclean spirit, “they were all amazed.” (Mark 1:27) When He healed the paralyzed man, those who witnessed the miracle “were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this.’ ” (Mark 2:12) Jesus’ disciples “became very much afraid” (Mark 4:41) of Jesus after He instantly calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee.  When the residence from the region of the Geresenes came out and saw the calm demeanor of the man whom the Lord delivered from the legion of demons, “they became frightened.” (Mark 5:15)  The woman who was healed of her twelve-year hemorrhage fell down before Jesus , “fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her.” (Mark 5:33) Jairus and his wife, upon witnessing the resurrection of their daughter, “were completely astounded” by Jesus. (Mark 5:42)  After Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm, the disciples in the boat “were utterly astonished” by what He had done. (Mark 6:51) At His transfiguration, Peter, James, and John “became terrified.” (Mark 9:6)  The crowds “were amazed” by His presence. (Mark 9:15)  Jesus’ disciples were “afraid to ask Him” about the suffering He had predicted. (Mark 9:32)  They “were amazed” when Jesus confronted the rich, young ruler. (Mark 10:24) As they made their final trek to Jerusalem, “Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful.” (Mark 10:32)  Even His enemies were amazed by Him, including the chief priests and scribes. (Mark 11:18; 12:17) and even the Roman governor was amazed by Him. (Mark 15:5)  With the amazement, fear, and astonishment surrounding Jesus’ life as referenced here, it is hardly surprising that the women would be in the same way “amazed” and “afraid” when they found the empty tomb (16:5) and encountered heavenly angels and heard the astounding news of Jesus resurrection. (Mark 16:8)[8].

 

CONCLUSION:

            Mark in writing his gospel account consistently highlighted key events in the life of the Lord Jesus by emphasizing the wonder He evoked in the hearts and minds of those who encountered Him.  Mark throughout his account simply moves from one point of amazement about Christ to the next.  With that in mind, the gospel ends where it ought to end.  It climaxes with amazement and bewilderment at the resurrection of the crucified Savior.  By ending this way, it leaves the reader in a place of wonder, awe, and worship, centered on its glorious subject, the Lord Jesus, who is the Christ, the Son of God.

 

[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[3] Bruce, F. F., The Books and the Parchments. Old Tappan, NJ : Revell, 1963, pg. 178.

[4]Cole, Alan R., The Gospel According to Mark. Grand Rapids, MI : Eerdmans, 1989, pg. 334.

[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

[8]All references from: New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.