Today and next week, we will look at the last passage in the Gospel of Mark, which is chapter 16:9-20. If you notice, most English translations of the Bible, except the “King James Version,” note that verses 9 through 20 are additions. So, this section was not written by Mark but was added later. How did they know this? To answer this question, I need to explain this first.
The original writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, and Paul are no longer extant. Therefore, translations of the Bible into various languages are based on Copies of their original writings. How do we know that these Copies are accurate and reliable?
The PowerPoints compare the Bible with other ancient writings, showing their numbers, earliest existing copies, and the time from the original writings. For example, the writings of Caesar were written in 100 BC. The earliest copies were written in 900 AD. This means the time gap between the original writing and its copy is 1000 years and there are only 10 copies exist.
Now let's look at the New Testament. It was written between 50 - 90 AD. The earliest copy is around 325 AD. This means that the distance between the original writing and the copy is only about 250 years. Then how many copies of the NT are there? In total, there are more than 39,000, 25,000 copies in Greek and the rest in Latin, Coptic, and Aramaic.
Surprisingly, when tens of thousands of NT copies are compared, the accuracy level reaches 99.5%. This fact shows the truth of our belief that the Bible is not just a historical record or spiritual writing by humans but is the word of God, so its authenticity and accuracy have been maintained for thousands of years.
Now I will explain why Mark 16:9-20 is considered an addition or not written by Mark. The oldest NT copies, namely Codex Vaticanus (325–350) and Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) did not include verses 9–20. A codex is an ancient book made of stacked, hand-written pages.
So where do we get verses 9–20? They are from the copies of Codex Bezae (400), Codex Alexandrinus (400–440), and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (450).
In addition, some church fathers, such as Papias quoted Mark 16:18, in 100 AD Justin Martyr quoted Mark 16:20, Arrhenius in 180 quoted Mark 16:19, the 7th Council of Carthage in North Africa in 256 AD quoted verses from Mark 16:9-20. At that time, of the 87 bishops present, none questioned the quotation.
So, the church fathers accepted Mark 16:9-20 as part of the Gospel of Mark, even though it may not have been written by Mark. This is like Deuteronomy chapter 34 about the death of Moses. That chapter was not written by Moses but was included in Moses' writings. In addition, if we pay attention, the news recorded in this section is like the end of the Gospel of Matthew.
Now let's look at verse 9: "After Jesus rose early in the morning on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene. From her, he cast out seven demons." The resurrection of Jesus is an extraordinary event, which declares Jesus' victory over death so that whoever believes in Him can receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Interestingly, the person Jesus chose to reveal Himself after His resurrection was not John, Peter, or any of the apostles. Nor was it Joseph of Arimathea who buried Him. Not even Pilate who sentenced Him to death. Imagine if that happened, Pilate, who knew for sure that Jesus was truly dead, suddenly appeared before him alive again. Surely all of Rome would be in an uproar. But Jesus didn't do that. He appeared to a woman named Mary Magdalene. Who is she?
She was a woman, who Jesus cast out seven evil spirits from (Luke 8:2). The name Magdalene probably indicates that she was from Magdala, a town on the southwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus cast seven demons out of her, she became one of His followers. Some have associated Mary Magdalene with the “sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet” (Luke 7:36-38). But there is no biblical basis for this view. Mary Magdalene is never described in the Bible as a prostitute or immoral woman.
Mary Magdalene is also often associated with the woman whom Jesus saved from being stoned after she was caught in the act of adultery (John 8:1–11). The movie The Passion of the Christ shows this. However, again, there is no clear biblical basis for this.
The fictional novel "The DaVinci Code" claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. This is based on several ancient Christian writings that suggest a special relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus. However, these writings have been refuted and considered heretical by early Christians. What is certain is that this view is contrary to biblical truth.
Mary Magdalene was one of the women who served Jesus and His disciples with her belongings in their ministry of spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:1–3). She witnessed most of the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion from the time Jesus was unjustly tried until Pontius Pilate sentenced him to death. She saw Jesus being beaten and humiliated by the crowd. She was one of the women who stood by Jesus during the crucifixion to try to support Him. It was Mary Magdalene, the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus, who was sent by Jesus to tell the other disciples (John 20:11-18). Although this is her last mention in the Bible, she was probably among the women who gathered with the apostles to await the promised coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14).
The choice of Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the resurrection of Jesus is interesting. In those days, the Jews gave little credibility to women's testimony in court. They classified women's testimony with that of slaves and criminals. They did not think that women could be reliable witnesses.
So, is it not surprising that the New Testament account of Christ's resurrection is first witnessed, at least initially, by a woman? If, as many have claimed, the resurrection of Jesus was a myth, then the Bible writers would not have made a woman His witness. But, because that was the reality, the Gospel writers wrote it as it was, even though Mary Magdalene's testimony was not appreciated in the community then.
Verses 10 and 11 tell us: “Then she went and told it to those who had been with him, mourning and weeping. But when they heard that Jesus was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.” When Mary Magdalene told the other disciples about Jesus’ resurrection, they did not believe it.
Verse 13 also tells us: “Then they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe it either.” The fact of Jesus’ resurrection is indeed hard for the human mind to accept. However, the disciples should have believed what Jesus had told them several times that He would rise again after His death. That is why when Jesus appeared to the eleven, He rebuked their unbelief – “Finally He appeared to the eleven while they were eating, and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after His resurrection” (verse 14).
The appearance of Jesus after His resurrection to Mary Magdalene shows that Jesus' death and resurrection not only brought salvation or eternal life to those who believe in Him but also restored the position and honor of women in a society that had denigrated them for thousands of years. That is why, the Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 3:28 – "In this there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
