SERMON OUTLINE:
• Important question: who penned these words?
• Important question: why do we keep them?
• Important question: why are they there?
• Important question: why are they not accepted?
• Important question: what is an apostle?
• (1). Apostolic belief (vs 9-14)
• (2). Apostolic preaching (vs 15-16)
• (3). Apostolic witness (vs 16-20)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• You may not know the name, but you will have all heard his voice.
• Mel Blanc has been called, “The man of 1,000 voices”.
• Some of those voices you will instantly recognise.
• ‘Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Sylvester & Tweety Pie’
• On his gravestone, just under the Star of David (he was Jewish),
• Is the inscription, “That’s all folks!”
• Because Mel Blanc was the voice for the end picture on those Warner Brothers cartoons,
• TRANSITION: Many people view life that way,
• When you are dead, you are dead - “That’s all folks!”
• Yet, Easter is a reminder that ‘death is not the end” - there is more to follow!
As leaders we thought this Easter, we would look at Easter topics slightly different - Three unusual aspects to the Easter story.
• Last week was. ‘A strange man on the beach’ (John chapter 21 verses 1-14)
• Which is perhaps the most familiar study of the three.
• Today, ‘A strange ending to a great gospel’ (Mark chapter 16 verses 9-20).
• Question: When did you last here a sermon on these verses?
• Answer: Me neither, they are often neglected or ignored.
• Next week, ‘A strange exit from this world’ (Luke chapter 24 verses 50-53)
• The ascension of Jesus is once again an under studied doctrine,
• And this study should help prepare us as we start to studies in the book of Acts.
Today we will look at, A strange ending to a great gospel (Mark chapter 16 verses 9-20)
• Many Christians may not even realize there is a strange ending to Mark’s gospel!
• But if you witness to a Muslim or a clued-up atheist,
• They will point these verses have been added to the gospel of Mark.
• They will then argue that you cannot trust Mark’s gospel.
• Because if this chapter is wrong, then what else is wrong with the Bible?
Ill:
• In most modern versions of the Bible,
• You will find a footnote for these verses at the bottom of the page.
• Or like the NIV a statement in brackets saying,
[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]
And it might surprise you to know,
• That some Bible translations, such as the Good News Bible,
• Even add a second ending, on top of verses 9-20, they add another two verse.
• Again, with a disclaimer that some manuscripts contain these verses as well.
(1). Important Question: Who Penned The Words?
• Short answer is not Mark!
• That is the most common answer of Bible scholars.
• And nobody knows who composed these additional verses.
• Question: Does that discredit his gospel – absolutely not!
• Answer: because we are able to recognize this addition,
• Gives credibility to the manuscripts we do have and that validates them.
• Also, worth pointing out,
• These verses do not contradict any previously revealed events or doctrine in the gospel.
(2). Important Question: Why they there?
Answer: A few suggestions.
• FIRST: Because to many people both in the past and the present,
• Verse 8 seems a funny place to conclude this gospel.
• Especially if you compare it to Matthew, Luke and John,
• Those thee gospels give us so much more information on the resurrection story.
• SECOND: These verses are not in any of the great Greek manuscripts,
• Quote William Barclay: “…only later and inferior manuscripts contain them.”
• So as the gospel of Mark was copied by hand,
• Someone added in these additional verses, this new ending.
• Maybe at first it was separate to the gospel text and came with the codex,
• And in time it was copied into the text.
Ill:
• Now this happened in a few places.
• For example In the King James Version (1 John chapter 5 verses 7-8),
• Someone added the words,
"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one”.
• But the words are recognized as a gloss [an added note],
• And modern translations of the Bible rightly omit them.
• TRANSITION:
• Now the fact we can detect these additions gives credibility to the rest of the text,
• If we ignored it or pretended it wasn’t there, that would discredit the text.
• But by being honest scholars can tell what is the genuine text and what has been added.
Remember this is an inspired book not a magic book,
• God used human authors to pen it,
• And human copiers to preserve it,
• We have today well over 5,000 handwritten manuscripts,
• Of the New Testament in the original Greek.
• Some of these are complete New Testaments or even complete Bibles.
• Others contain collections of New Testament books,
• (the four gospels, the letters of Paul, the writings of John, etc.) or copies of individual books.
• Still others are damaged fragments,
• Containing only a few pages or even a small portion of a single page.
• Most of our manuscripts contain quite substantive portions of the New Testament,
• And all of these copies represent a wealth of evidence,
• For the reliable preservation of the New Testament.
• However, some of the copies are slightly different in spelling,
• Punctuation, and a few other minor issues.
• These are called textual variants.
• e.g. Mistakes like spelling a word differently,
• e.g. Accidentally skipping a word or a line, copying the same line twice,
• e.g. And other normal mistakes in handwriting,
• Can be found throughout the manuscript tradition.
• TRANSITION: Because of the wealth of manuscripts,
• Scholars can confidently tell what was the true text and what is a variant.
Note: The most important thing about these verses.
• The most important thing about these verses is not the verses themselves,
• But the fact they do not offer any new information,
• These verses do not contradict any previously revealed events and/or doctrine,
• So, if we studied them or not it will not change or add anything to this gospel.
• But the verses may complement or summarize for us Mark’s gospel.
• For example, the theme of Mark’s gospel is witnesses telling the good news of Jesus,
• With this extended ending, that theme carries on,
• It tops and tails the gospel.
(a).
• e.g. Mark starts his gospel (chapter 1 verses 1-8) with John the Baptist,
• People are COMING to hear the good news.
• e.g. Mark’s gospel finishes (chapter 16 verses 9-20) with disciples GOING,
• To share the good news.
(b).
• e.g. In the introduction the witnesses are Mark,
• The Old Testament prophets and John the Baptist.
• e.g. In the conclusion the witnesses are some disciples,
• The eleven apostles and anyone (including us) who believe the message.
• So, these verses are a nice add on,
• A nice conclusion to the gospel.
• Again let me stress they do not contradict any previously revealed events and/or doctrine.
(3). Important Question: why are they not accepted?
• Let me give you a few reasons why these verses are rejected,
• Why I believe these verses have been added,
FIRST:
• The oldest of the Greek manuscripts do not contain these twelve verses,
• e.g. The oldest and most respected manuscripts, the Codex Sinaiticus & Codex Vaticanus
• They are called a Codex, because it is a bound volume,
• It is more like a book than a scroll.
• The first one that is very important is called Sinaiticus,
• It dates about 350ad and it's the whole New Testament.
• The second important one is called Vaticanus,
• It dates about 325 and it's the whole Bible.
• Note:
• Both these (Sinaiticus & Vaticanus) end Mark chapter 16 at verse 8.
Ill:
• These are the oldest manuscripts and are therefore known to be the most accurate,
• Because there were fewer generations of copies from the original autographs.
• (i.e., they are much closer in time to the originals),
• And the oldest manuscripts do not contain verses 9-20,
• So that would strongly suggest that these verses were added later.
SECOND: These last verses (9-20) do not read like the rest of Mark’s gospel.
(a).
• Every writer has his or her way of writing, and so does Mark.
• The other endings are not in Mark’s style.
• e.g. The vocabulary is not consistent with Mark’s Gospel.
• There are eighteen words here that are never used anywhere else by Mark,
• That suggests a different writer, a different vocabulary and a different style.
(b).
• e.g. The structure is very different from the familiar structure of his writing.
• In this section you will note one immediate change from the rest of the gospel:
• These verses are not in narrative form.
• Up to this point,
• Mark has been describing in sequence the events as they happened,
• From the appearance of John the Baptist to the events of the crucifixion and resurrection.
• This last section, however, does not narrate events.
• Rather it summarizes in brief order the events that occurred over a period of about forty days,
• And that change to summary form again indicates a different writer,
• That someone other than Mark penned these words.
(c).
• The descriptive language is different,
• e.g. Mark never calls Jesus, “the Lord Jesus” as found in verse 19, this is distinctive,
• It is never used anywhere else by Mark in the gospel.
THIRD: The Church Fathers.
Quote: In A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, Bruce Metzger writes:
“Clement of Alexandria and Origen [early third century] show no knowledge of the existence of these verses; furthermore Eusebius and Jerome attest that the passage was absent from almost all Greek copies of Mark known to them.”
Question: Did these Church Fathers know those other endings existed?
Answer: Yes, they did.
• They knew these endings existed and testify they were not part of the original gospel.
• "The Greek manuscripts do not include these endings...the originals”.
• We know that these last twelve verses are absent,
• From the oldest Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and Armenian manuscripts,
• And that in other manuscripts asterisks or obeli mark the verses as doubtful or spurious.
Fourth: Many scholars believe Mark simply ended his gospel at verse 8.
• Mark’s final words in his gospel are verses 1-8,
• They are about the resurrection.
• The final information Mark shares with his readers is the resurrection.
• Now Mark may not be very expensive regarding this,
• But that is Mark style all through the gospel.
Ill:
• It has been said that if Mark was describing a beautiful sunrise and sunset he would say,
• “The sun rose and the sun set”
• He doesn’t waste words!
Ill:
• Remember the beginning of his gospel,
• He omitted the first thirty years of the life of Jesus.
• He starts his account of the life of Jesus with his baptism – that is 30 years into the story.
• No mention of the nativity and all that surrounded it - at all!
• Mark has a deliberate short start,
• So why not a deliberate short finish?
• Mark has been trying to prove a point that Jesus is the Son of God,
• And he proves it by concluding with the empty tomb and the message of verse 6,
• “He has risen!” - Mark makes his point, and then he is done.
(4). Important Question: what do these verses say?
• These verses have been described as a patchwork collage,
• They are verses pulled out of the other gospels and sown together,
• In an attempt to help Mark get a better ending.
• e.g. Verse 9 is taken right out of Luke 8:1 to 3.
• e.g. Verse 10 is taken from John 20, verse 18.
• e.g. Verse 12 is taken from Luke 24:13 to 32, the road to Emmaus account.
• e.g. Verse 13 is taken from Luke 24.
• e.g. Verse 14 is taken from Luke 24:36 to 38;
• e.g. Verse 15 is taken from Matthew 28:19,
• e.g. Verse 16 is taken right out of John 20:23,
• e.g. Verses 17 and 18, with all the signs and things, are drawn from a lot of sources.
• Matthew chapter 10, Mark chapter 6, Luke chapter 10.
• The one reference we don’t know about refers to, ‘drinking poison’,
• As far as I am aware that does not appear elsewhere in the New Testament.
• e.g. Verse 19: summarizes the ascension of Christ,
• Greater detail being given in Acts chapter 1.
• e.g. Verse 20: seems to be a one verse summary,
• Of the whole book of Acts of the apostles.
(5). Important Question: What is an Apostle?
Ill:
• Let me give you a 2min break and we will watch the answer via YouTube (edited clip),
• YouTube: https://youtu.be/UgnYrxTvPo0
____________________________________________________________________
• What is the difference between apostle and disciple.
• Every apostle was a disciple, but not every disciple was an apostle.
• Every person who believes in Jesus is called his disciple.
• (Matthew chapter 28 verses 19–20)
• Disciple refers to a follower and student of a teacher.
• The Greek word for “apostle” literally means “one who is sent”
• And can refer to an representative or ambassador, one sent on a mission.
• An apostle is given the authority of the one who sent him.
• The qualifications for being an apostle included,
• Having personally witnessed Jesus after His resurrection
• (Acts 1:21–22),
• Having been empowered by the Holy Spirit to perform miracles or signs
• (2 Corinthians 12:12)
____________________________________________________________________
Note:
• As we briefly look at these verses,
• I have deliberately used the word apostolic in my three headings,
• Because it seems to me from verse 14&15,
• These were instructions primarily given to the eleven apostles,
• And not the broader group of disciples.
• Verse 14: “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven”
• Verse 15: “He said to them…” (the ‘them’ being the eleven!)
(1). Apostolic unbelief (vs 9-14)
In these five verses Jesus makes three resurrection appearances:
• He appears to Mary Magdalene (vs9-11).
• (fuller account is found in John chapter 20 verses 10-18)
• He appears to the two disciples walking in the country (vs 12-13)
• (fuller account is found in Luke chapter 24 verses 13-32)
• He then appears to the eleven disciples (vs 14)
• (fuller account is found in John chapter 20 verses 26-29)
The key factor to note here is the word, “believe.” or rather the disciples unbelief!
• Verse 11:
• “When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.”
• Verse 13b:
• “These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”
• These disciples must have their lives impacted by the living Christ,
• Before they can go out and impact anyone else!
• These disciples must move from unbelief to belief,
• If they are to impact change the world for Jesus!
Ill:
• You cannot light a flamed torch (Olympic style) if your torch is unlight.
• It takes fire to light a flamed torch.
• TRANSITION: It takes genuine belief, genuine faith to convert others.
(2). Apostolic preaching (vs 15-16)
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”
Three instructions are given in this command:
• First: we are told to “Go”
• We must go to people we cannot expect people to come to us!
• This is a lesson we are constantly forgetting as a Church!
• Second: we are told to “Preach”
• The Christian faith is a taught religion,
• The gospel needs to be both proclaimed and explained.
• Third: we are told to “Baptise”
• Notice it is those who do not believe who are condemned,
• Not those who have not been baptized.
• Baptism will not save a person, but every saved person ought to be baptized.
• It is not an optional extra, it is a sign of our faith in Jesus Christ.
(3). Apostolic witness (vs 17-20)
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on people who are ill, and they will get well.’”
In the Book of Acts we see the apostles performing four out of these five signs:
• e.g. Paul drove out a demon (Acts 16:18)
• e.g. Peter and other apostles spoke in tongues/different languages (Acts 2:4)
• e.g. Paul was unharmed after a snakebite (Acts 28:5)
• e.g. Paul healed many who were sick (Acts 28:7)
• The only exception in this list,
• As there is no New Testament example of Christian drinking poison and surviving.
These verses conclude:
• With Jesus ascended back to his place of authority.
• The implication being the story goes on!
• This is not the end.
• The risen Lord is still working through his people.
• Both then and now!
Ill:
• Some missionaries are known for their great fruit, their many converts,
• Churches they started, or hospitals they helped build.
• Samuel Zwemer is not known for these things.
• After 38 years of missions work throughout Arabia,
• The Persian Gulf, Egypt and Asia Minor,
• Samuel had seen his efforts produce fewer than 12 conversions to Christianity.
• Yet he is known as the Apostle to Islam,
• J. Christy Wilson, Zwemer’s biographer, makes the astonishing claim,
• That Zwemer, together with Robert Speer (1867–1947),
• Of the Student Volunteer Movement,
“probably influenced more young men and women to go into missionary service than any two individuals in all of Christian history.”
• On one occasion he spoke at a student convention on the needs of the Islamic world,
• And closed his appeal by walking over to a great map of the Muslim lands.
• Spreading his arms over it, he said,
• “Thou O Christ, art all I need, and Thou O Christ, art all they need”
The great commission of Mark, Matthew and Luke is, “Go”
• And as we go, remember whoever we encounter,
• “Thou O Christ, art all I need, and Thou O Christ, art all they need”
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=udNAxM7pjZp9eTsRK4t3rAumWFumSXuA
SERMON VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/FyAi5LH08mo
