Recently I came across a collection of the best last lines of books ever written:
“Tomorrow, I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.” –Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind (1936)
But I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me and I can’t stand it. I been there before. –Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
I never saw any of them again—except the cops. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them. –Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye (1953)
‘It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.’ – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing. –A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner (1928)
It’s often the final few words of a book that linger on. On the ofther hand, there’s nothing worse than a good book which is spoiled by a lousy ending. Yet the Gospel of Mark risks such an accusation. The book ends very suddenly and the reader is left to decide whether or not the abrupt ending is a fitting conclusion to such an INTRIGUING story.
Mark describes the events of the resurrection in a MERE eight verses. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and SALOME go to the tomb with spices in their hand. Clearly they were expecting to see a corpse. Instead they see an angel who says that Jesus has risen and they ought not be alarmed by this turn of events. The angel’s not terribly convincing, for according to Mark 16:8, ‘trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid’ (Mk 8:8). And the book ends.
It’s a strange way to end an account which wants us to believe in the resurrection. We are not told that the women believed, we are not told that they threw their spices away and jumped for joy. They didn’t even want to tell anyone what they had seen. It’s an BLUNT ending to a provocative book.
Such a bizarre set of circumstances has led others to add another ending which is probably printed in your Bible. But this addition is not in the earliest documents. The NIV inserts a comment after verse 8, ‘The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20’. Most Bible have a similar notation. The extended might tidy up a few loose ends, but it also creates more problems than it solves—demons, tongues, snakes and healingonly add to the mystery.
What sort of ending would YOU write? ‘And they lived happily ever after’ DOESN'T work too well. Surely MARK could have said that ‘the women eventually pulled themselves together and realised what had happened. And they spread the news that Jesus is alive’. Other suggest tacking the last few verses of the Gospel of Matthew to the end of Mark.
But we have none of these things. What we do have is this: 'Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid' (John 16:8). We must contend that Mark chose to end his gospel at verse 8 and on this rather surprising note.
The commentaries are equally perplexed. ‘The note of panic is in itself a surprising way for Mark to continue the story, and still more to conclude his whole work. But much more inexplicable is his comment that the women, who have just been given a message of supreme importance to deliver, remained silent’ (R.T. France). Another comments, ‘It certainly seems very odd that Mark’s good news about Jesus should end with the blunt information that the women said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid’ (Donald English, BST series).
To add the intrigue, historian John Dickson says, ‘If you were making up a story about the resurrection and you wanted your fellow first-century Jews to believe it, you would not include women as the first witnesses, unless, somewhat embarrassingly, that really was the case’ (Dickson, Life of Jesus, 118).
It’s a testimony to the accuracy of Scripture that we are given such inconvenient truths. Why do you think MARK ends his gospel this way? Fear in the presence of the supernatural is not uncommon. Although Mark says the angel looks particularly human, it was enough to alarm the women who choose to opt out as quickly as possible. At a deeper level, Mark has already told us that signs and miracles do not produce faith (Mk 8:11–13) and the women confirm this observation.
So perhaps its not such an unnatural ending after all. But the tension remains and we, as readers, are meant to feel this tension: ‘Isn’t there more to come’? ‘Surely that can’t be the end of the story’? ‘The victory of the resurrection deserves much more than this’! These questions take us to the heart of the Easter story. How do you respond to Jesus? What do you do with the resurrection? Are you overjoyed that Jesus is risen? Or are you perplexed and confused like the women?
As we follow the history of the early church we see that fear soon turns to persecution. In Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested and jailed for proclaiming in JESUS the resurrection of the dead. A little while later, the Apostle Paul is in Athens talking to the Greeks and his his speech is going well. He appeals to the Athenians to repent for God has set a day when he will judge the world by the man he has appointed. All good! But when it comes to the resurrection, ‘some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject”’ (Acts 17:32).
In more modern times, James Shelby Spong has written about the resurrection. He describes the resurrection as ‘literal nonsense’. Spong goes onto say that ‘we must seek the truth that lies beneath the mythology of the distant past so that we might experience that truth’ (Spong, Rescuing the Bible, 237).
So plainly the resurrection has always attracted a mixed response—even on that first resurrection morning. So what is it about the resurrection? Mark ends his gospel, certain about the facts, but referring us to the frightened and silent women. The Jewish authorities arrest Peter and John. Paul is sneered and ridiculed for speaking about the resurrection. A modern day clergyman tells us that the resurrection is a make-believe story. Isn’t it about time we stopped talking about the resurrection? Is the resurrection really that important?
Professor CARROLL, a sociologist from La Trobe University, last year was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying that Bible stories about children, especially about the baby Jesus, still have resonance in the non-church community. ‘It's the adult Jesus story that's in trouble’, Professor Carroll says. ‘The story of Good Friday and resurrection is floundering badly. If we lose the tragic Jesus story from the culture, we lose a lot. That symbol of the cross sits on top of Western civilisation’ (SMH April 17, 2011).
The resurrection has left a firm imprint upon history. It’s an event that cannot be ignored and has not been ignored by most historians. Of course all the WITNESSES to the resurrection have well and truly died, and there are no clips of the resurrection on You-tube. But we do have the sort of evidence a resurrection leaves behind: an empty tomb and the testimony of eye-witnesses who saw the risen Jesus, many of whom died for their claim. Even most secular scholars agree that something very strange happened. As one scholar puts it, ‘there is a resurrection-shaped dent in the historical record. And its quite a puzzle working out how it got there’.
Mark thinks the resurrection is important because he tells us about it—he makes a tight link between the resurrection and the crucifixion. The death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus go hand-in-hand. Mark makes it very clear that we are examining a resurrection and not a resuscitation, which is why he refers to the testimony of the centurion in verse 45 who confirms that Jesus is really dead. Matthew, Mark and John also share the view that the resurrection is an historical fact.
So the resurrection is important because historically it is true and it has left a resurrection-shaped dent in human history.
Next point. The resurrection is important because it represents the CLIMAX of God’s plans to restore fallen humanity. In a rather tight summary, Paul says in 1 Cor 15:17, ‘And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’. Paul, like Mark, CONNECTS the resurrection to the cross.
For without the resurrection, the death of Christ has no liberating effects for us. The sin-problem is not fixed if Jesus did not rise from the dead. All the talk of Christ dying for our sins in accordance with the scriptures is meaningless if he stayed dead. Without the resurrection the cross is neutralised, it is ROBBED of its life-giving power!
This is very important for us to understand. The Scriptures are quite clear that the ‘wages of sin is death’ (Rom 6:23). Now if Jesus stayed dead, it can mean one of two things: Jesus was not a sinless person and therefore not the Son of God. In this case he was no different to us and his death was a JUST punishment from God. Therefore his legacy is one of a great leader who has nothing more to offer us.
Jesus staying dead could also mean that Jesus died a sinless death but God did NOT approve of his actions. Jesus did what the Father did NOT want him to do. And so the Father did not raise him to new life. This claim is outrageous. There was no conflict within the Trinity. In the garden the Son prays to his Father, 'Yet not what I will, but what you will' (Mark 14:36).
The resurrection is important because without we still remain under the judgment of God. Without the resurrection, the victory achieved on the cross is WITHOUT substance. Without the resurrection there is no falling asleep in Christ and waking up to see his smile of welcome into the Father’s house. Without the resurrection, death is hard confirmation that we are all doomed to perish without hope and without God.
So the challenge of the resurrection isn’t just an historical one. The cross and the resurrection represent the climax of God’s plan to fix our broken world. The cross and the resurrection are the means whereby the universe will be restored to a condition that honours and glorifies God. This world will not be allowed to waste away. God has promised to bring all things to account, and the proof of this, Paul says in Acts 17:31, is that he raised JESUS from the dead.
This brings us to our last point. The resurrection invites us to consider our convictions about the world and our preferences for life.
The resurrection challenges us to examine our view of God, ourselves and this world. The first Christians didn’t go out into the world as journalists with an unusual event to report. They went into the world calling people to acknowledge the divinely appointed King. It was a mission that UTTERLY transformed the world.
The early Christians said that God’s mercy was not automatic simply because the MESSIAH had died and risen. It came only to those who experienced what Jesus called ‘repentance’. The forgiveness of sin and the reurrection to new life are conditional upon people repenting to God.
So what is this word, repentance'? The idea conjures up all sorts of strange thoughts today. Images of old fashioned pulpit thumping and fire and BRIMSTONE preaching. For the truth we have to do a little bit of digging.
The word ‘repent’ is a very ancient Jewish term. It’s found in the language of the Old Testament prophets. These prophets pleaded with Israel to take God more seriously, and the word they used was ‘repent’. Then much later on when John the Baptist appeared in the early days of Jesus, his message was a simple one, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’ (Matt 3:2). JESUS himself went on to use this word, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Lk 5:32).
The word ‘repentance’ means ‘changed mind’. It means a change of heart, a desire to change direction. This takes us to the heart of what Jesus expects of his HEARERS and what was later preached throughout the ancient world. People were to change their minds about God, themselves and about Jesus himself.
For many people ‘repentance’ is no more than a call to improve your behaviour—to start being nice, honest and pure. But the word does not mean this—it means changing your deepest thoughts and attitudes. It means changing who runs your life. It means allowing the resurrected Jesus to run your life.
When Jesus runs your life this will result in a change of behaviour But fundamentally ‘repenting’ is a shift of ownership. ‘It is no longer I that live’, the Apostle says, ‘but Christ who lives in me’ (Gal 2:20). God rose Jesus from the grave and he made him King of creation and so he is King over me. Repentance is a call to submit to the lordship of Christ and that brings with it life in all its abundance. The joy of having sins forgiven, the reception of the life-giving Spirit, the certain hope that death is not the end—for I am his and he is mine.
There’s no question that Jesus wanted more from his hearers than improved morality. As John Dickson says, ‘He wanted a revolution deep inside the minds and hearts of every man and woman.’. The most important part of what Jesus called ‘repentance’ is humbly asking God for forgiveness—laying yourself BEFORE his feet. Asking for forgiveness because the Lord Jesus has paid the price for your sin.
I was in a minor car accident last year. As I was sliding across the yellow lines it occurred to me that life can vanish at any time. We live like we’re immortal and we hope the end will be quick. If someone were writing the final words of your life story, how would you like it to read?
Some people request odd inscriptions on their tombstone.
‘I told you I was sick’;
‘Mary Lass missed the brake and hit the gas’;
‘Here lies Vlad the Impaler. He bit off more than he could chew’.
Will you finish your life trembling and bewildered—scared of what comes next? Or will the angel declare, ‘He has risen’. In the Gospel of Mark, the resurrection story gives us not only the facts, but it tells us why Jesus was able to say to the criminal hanging next to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:43).
But like the criminal, we must declare our confidence in Jesus. We must give up our small ambitions. We must ask God for forgiveness because we have rejected his rule over us. ‘Dear God, please forgive me ignoring you. Please forgive me for running my life my way’. Because of what Jesus had done for you on the cross, God will forgive you—and he does.
And like Jesus you will rise from the tomb, ‘today you will be with me in paradise’. Easter is about sins forgiven and new life. So ask God to forgive your sin, accept Jesus as your Lord, be assured of the resurrection to new life. For ‘salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).
