Back to the Start

A sermon on Mark's cliffhanger ending.

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” (Mark 16:1–8, NIV)

Mark is a master of surprise.¹ The big surprise in this passage though is not Jesus's resurrection. Jesus predicted it no less than four times earlier in the gospel.

The surprise is not that the risen Jesus is giving his failed disciples a second chance by inviting them to meet him back in Galilee. He told them he was going to do that back in chapter 14.

The surprise is how the women respond to the news that Jesus has been raised from the dead.

I can't prove this scientifically, but my guess is that this is the least read account of Jesus's resurrection in churches on Easter Sunday.

Now is as good a time as any to call your attention to a note you have in your Bible after verse 8.

"The earliest manuscripts do not have verses 9-20."

What that means is the consensus among textual scholars is that verses 9-20 are not a part of the original story Mark is telling in his gospel. The earliest copies of Mark we have end after verse 8.

It's possible Mark wrote a longer ending, but it was lost, so we don't know how he intended to end his story. It's also possible Mark, ever the crafty storyteller, intentionally ended his story at verse 8. If so, then it's understandable why someone would come along decades later and feel compelled to add a more complete ending.

For our purposes today, I'm gong to assume this is the way Mark wanted his story to end. Even if it's not his original ending, it is still, providentially, the best ending we have to his gospel.

Even so,It doesn't fit with the Easter vibe does it? Is this really the appropriate text to read when more people than usual show up at church to hear some good news? I guess it depends on how afraid we are.

James Tissot,

The women's response is a surprise, because Mark sets us up to expect a bit more from these women. At the end of chapter 15, we learn that they didn't abandon Jesus the way his male disciples did. They watched his crucifixion from a distance. They stick around long enough to see where he's buried. They are the ones the risen Jesus entrusts not only with the good news of his resurrection, but also with the message  to the other disciples to meet him back in Galilee.

Earlier in Mark's Gospel, when Jesus heals someone, he tells them to be quiet about it. They almost always disobey Jesus and tell so many people that crowds often overwhelm him.

Now when the women are commanded to go and tell, they do the opposite. They run away and remain silent. They allow their fear, at least initially, to get the best of them, just like all the other disciples in the story do.

Fear plays a prominent role in Mark's gospel. It's one of the more common forms of resistance to Jesus's mission.

In Mark 5, after Jesus casts a legion of demons out of man, his neighbors beg him to leave their region because they are afraid.

In Mark 11, the religious leaders resolve to kill Jesus because they were afraid.

When Jesus is arrested Peter and the other disciples desert and deny him because they are afraid.

And now these women, faithful to Jesus til the end, flee the tomb and tell no one, because they are afraid.

Mark's cliffhanger ending leaves  us with a nagging question:  Will fear overcome the good news of Jesus's resurrection? Is fear going to get the last word in this story?

The answer is, well, it depends.

It depends not on what the women do and not on whether the disciples rendezvoused with Jesus in Galilee.

We know the women eventually told the other disciples the good news. We know the disciples took advantage of the second chance Jesus offered them.

The question is not did they overcome their fear and meet Jesus back in Galilee? The question is will we overcome our fear? Do we have the courage to meet Jesus back in Galilee? What comes next in this story is up to us. Mark leaves the ending in our hands.

The resurrection of Jesus is both an of announcement of good news and an invitation. Invitation is not a strong enough word. The resurrection is an announcement and a summons to meed the risen Jesus in Galilee.

But why Galilee?

Why does Jesus want to meet original disciples in Galilee? What does it mean to say Jesus wants to meet us in Galilee?

Galilee is where Jesus began his ministry of announcing the good news of the kingdom of God. It's where he called his first disciples to follow him while they were fishing or collecting taxes or whatever else they were doing. Galilee is where they first said yes to Jesus.

To say Jesus is waiting for us in Galilee is to say he wants us to go back to the start and begin again, but this time, he wants us to actually listen to him and do what he says, to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and become great by serving others. He wants us to follow his example, which is what faithful disciples are supposed to do.

The summons to meet Jesus in Galilee is in itself an announcement of good news. To be summoned back to Galilee by the risen Jesus means that no matter how badly we've failed, Jesus has not given up on us. He still has a purpose and a plan for us. He's ready to use us, all of us, including our mistakes and failures, to spread the good news and make a difference in this world.

I love how the young man singles out Peter who three times denied Jesus on the night he was arrested. Tell the disciples, and Peter, especially Peter.

As the women's response shows, the good news of Jesus's resurrection doesn't inject instant courage into our system. It doesn't immediately solidify our weak faith. There will always be a struggle between fear and faith until we see Jesus face to face.

Until then, Mark's cliffhanger ending challenges us let go of (or at least manage) our fear.

Our fear of rejection that keeps us from seeking out someone who desperately needs to hear a word of encouragement and hope. 

Or our fear of how Jesus will respond to our latest failure.

Or our fear of failing again.

Or our fear of what others will think of us when we tell them our primary allegiance is to Jesus above all others.

Or our fear of what outrageous thing the risen Christ might call us to do if we go back to Galilee and surrender ourselves to him.

And yes, it challenges us to let go of our fear of death, which keeps us from really living.

Does fear get the last word in this story? Is fear bigger than Jesus's resurrection?

We don't need Mark to answer these questions for us. Not when we have the opportunity to answer them with our lives.

May we celebrate the good news of Jesus's resurrection and all that it means, including giving us the opportunity to meet the risen Christ back in Galilee where we can rededicate ourselves to following him.

1. Donald Juel’s A Master of Surprise is a great read.