The Resurrection Of Deliverance-3

The RESURRECTION Of DELIVERANCE-III—

—Mark 16:9-10a(:1-20)

Need:

?From What do you need to be delivered?

People struggle to answer that question. And depending upon the individual, they may see themselves as needing ‘deliverance’ from a huge variety of things.

We desperately want to be freed from any problems or difficulty in our lives.

HOWEVER, we would all be much BETTER served, if we would only see our personal & societal ‘problems’, thru God’s eyes! God has equipped all of us with an ability to live above & beyond the scope of what ‘problems’ bring into our lives. Thru God’s leading, each one of His people(Christians) is empowered to approach any trouble, any problem, any difficulty, any trial, with confidence! And along with the confidence that God’s people have thru Christ Jesus, we also see the world very differently than do those without Jesus.

People without the resurrected Jesus, are left to make sense of the obvious ‘incompleteness’ of everything around them.

Their attempts to ‘make sense of’ the damage caused by a sin-sick world, are limited to what is created. And so, they live limited & limiting lives. They are willfully unaware of the fullness of life, by & in which they are surrounded & immersed!

Those without Jesus, may they elevate their work to the point of making work their ‘god.’ They convince themselves that the ‘work’ they’ve chosen is of vital importance, even though they chose it themselves, without any direction from God. People do that, in order to avoid any personal responsibility for helping to sustain the world’s sin-sickness. Their being busy offers only a ‘temporary’ postponement from reality, & only ‘seemingly delivers’ them from wrestling with the fact of eternal death. They construct & live for & by ‘shadows’, rather than for & by the real substance of ‘life.’

True deliverance, comes thru the actuality of & the tangible substance of ‘eternal life’, that has been attained for each of us by the resurrected & living Lord Jesus!

Mark records some of the historical events that surround the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And that is because:

True ‘Deliverance’ is found only in the resurrected Jesus of historical reality....He IS our Deliverance!

But:

?How” or “Why? is true deliverance found in Jesus’ resurrection?

So far, we have found that:

The Resurrection of Deliverance informs your...

1. ANTICIPATION(:1-4)—What you expect.

2. COMPREHENSION(:5-6)—What you perceive.

3. RESPONSE(:7-8)—How you respond to what you expect & perceive.

Today, before we continue with our study, a ‘caution’ is in order about these last verses of the Gospel According To Mark....

**Cautions regarding Mark 16:9-20**

The following background cautions are gleaned & adapted from 3 authors: James A. Brooks in NAC(1991); & Walter W. Wessel in EBC(1984); & Ralph P. Martin in ‘New Testament Foundations: A Guide For Christian Students--Vol. 1--The 4 Gospels’(1975)

*Adapted from: James A. Brooks in NAC(1991):

"With verse :8 “thus ends the gospel according to Mark. At least it does in the two earliest & generally regarded most reliable Greek manuscripts, in one inferior Greek manuscript, in most Greek lectionaries(apparently because the lectionaries reflect older texts), in one Syriac manuscript, in one Coptic manuscript, in some Armenian manuscripts, in the two oldest Georgian manuscripts, & in several Christian writers, including Clement of Alexandria(d. cir. AD 215) & Origen(d. AD 254).”[& so Wessel]. Especially important is the testimony of both Eusebius(d. AD 339) & Jerome(d. AD 420), who stated that most of the Greek manuscripts they knew(but have not survived) had nothing after v. 8.”[& so Wessel]

“...A fair case can be made for the long ending(vv. :9-20) because of its widespread attestation.”

“It is virtually certain that Mark wrote nothing after v. 8, i.e., he did not write the long ending(vv. :9-20) or the short ending.”

An “accidental loss” of what follows verse :8, is “improbable.” And likewise, ‘deliberate suppression’ of what follows verse :8, would be “improbable.

It may seem “inappropriate to end a Gospel—an account of the good news—on a note of fear & without any resurrection appearances.”.....However, such a consideration is not decisive.”

The abrupt ending of v. :8, leaving the women terrified, bewildered, & fearful, should not be unexpected or suspect.

Fear, trembling, astonishment, & amazement are continually noted in & among those who encountered Jesus’ teaching, healing, driving out demons, walking on the water, His transfiguration, etc..

“The abrupt ending is quite in harmony with the abrupt beginning of the Gospel. Just as Mark recorded very little that preceded the ministry of Jesus, so he recorded very little that followed it.”

“Mark has a definite purpose in his ending. He apparently wanted an open ending to indicate that the story was not completed but was continuing beyond the time he wrote.”

“The prevailing view in contemporary scholarship is that Mark intended to end his Gospel with v. 8.”