Mark 16:9-20. Yesterday I told you we were at the end of Mark’s story of Jesus and I also mentioned that you might notice and object because there are twelve more verses in most Bibles.  I also told you that I believe that Mark’s writing ends with verse 8 and most Bible scholars agree.  So here comes the hard part of all of this. First I absolutely believe that the Bible is God’s word to us, that it was absolutely perfect as it was written by each of the original authors (there were at least 8 for the New Testament:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, James, and Jude plus the author of Hebrews which may have been one of theses guys).  If you have read “The New Testament Dissection” you know that the New Testament existed as several different writings that were passed around by the early believers and often copied.  There were other writings but in the year 397 the early believers called together leaders form their churches at a council in Carthage in Northern Africa and that council decided that the twenty seven “books” we have in our New Testament were the ones God had communicated to his church (a word that means chosen ones or picked ones).

There are lots and lots of old manuscripts in  existence which are parts of the New Testament.  In fact there are more pieces of the New Testament in museums and private collections around the world that several of the most popular ancient Greek documents quoted and studied today; the writings of Plato, Caesar, Aristotle, and others.  If we take the 17 that we have the most copies and pieces of there are about 418 different manuscripts (all together by one experts count).  When it comes to the New Testament there are are at least 4000 manuscripts (and that’s just in the Greek language.  Remember that Rome ran the world at the time and Latin was their official language so many the original writing were eventually translated into Latin as well).  Of these copies some are believed to be as close to the events as 90 years (we have a copy of part of the New Testament from 130 AD).  The next closest thing in ancient literature is a guy named Livy who wrote in about 500 BC.  We have about 20 old manuscripts (copies) from as early as the time of Jesus or 500 years after Livy wrote.  So we see that, although we do not have the original piece of paper or whatever that Mark (or his secretary) wrote on we have a lot of copies that we can compare to figure out what Mark actually wrote.  And for the most part that job is not that difficult because most of the manuscripts are very very close to each other, maybe 2-3% variation, and most of the differences are things like spelling of a name.  And remember that these were hand copies, no printing presses, no copy machines or scanners.  That’s a pretty good record.  In fact by the standards of ancient documents it is stellar, A+++, at least.  And remember that these copies belonged to churches or individuals.  Some of the variations may have been notes that they made on their copy, maybe while preparing for a sermon or a personal memory that they wrote on the margin that a later copyist mistakenly stuck into the original writing.

Mark 16:9-20 seem to fall into this category.  Those verses do not appear in some of the oldest and best copies that we have of Mark.  Additionally we also get clues from the writings of early church leaders, and at least two of them seem to indicate that Mark ended with verse 8.  Many later manuscripts have the longer ending though some have a medium ending too.  Out of respect the translators of our English Bibles still include these verses but s you will notice they usually put some sort of brackets around them and have foot notes explaining that these verses are suspect.  Part of that respect goes back to the efforts mad buy translators in the days of King James of England.  Those men gave us the original King James translation.  They were working from manuscripts that were later in date and did not have several of the ones we have now.  If they had had them they might have come to the same conclusions that more recent scholars have come to and never even included verses 9-20 or possibly put them in a foot note or brackets too.

So where do we go from here?  There are at least two more things to think about in order to answer that question.  First is, “Why would someone way back in the day add these verses?” and second, what do we do with these verses if we want to accept them as part of God’s word?”  I think the answer to the first question involves something I have been covering in several, if not all, of the posts on Mark, the original readers of Mark and Mark’s purpose in writing to them.  Remember that these were believers under extreme pressure about their faith in Jesus.  The Jews hated them, the people around them hated them, and the Roman government hated them.  They were in a bad situation and I’m sure more than one of them failed spiritually; ran away, hid, skipped church, didn’t stick up for Jesus or a fellow believer, denied Jesus, offered a sacrifice to a false god.  In other words they were afraid like the original disciples and the women at the tomb.  Since these Roman believers knew the ultimate end of the story (that the women did go back and tell the others and that the others did eventually speak up for Jesus) ending the book at verse 8 would have been a way for Mark (and God) to say< “It’s ok that you are afraid, it will be alright, you don’t need to worry just move forward like they did.”  But later some one with one of these copies became embarrassed by this ending, missing the point they wanted to make the disciples look better, or maybe they just wanted to make sure others got the point too, that the disciples did not stay in hiding and they did tell the world about Jesus, so they added some or all of the last twelve verses.  After that those verses just kept getting copied.

So what do we do with these verses? After all they just might be part of God’s word (even though it is pretty obvious that they were added and almost as obvious that they were written by a different author).  First we need to notice that most of what they say can be found in other places in the New Testament, we know the women went and told the disciples (eventually), we know that at least some of the disciples didn’t believe them, we know that Jesus appeared to at least some of them personally after his resurrection and he did appear to all of them together.  We know that he told them to go tell the world about him.  And we know that the early disciples did at least some of the miracles described in these verses.  So most of this doesn’t change much for most of us.

There is one thing to be careful about though.  There are some groups of believers that take these verses and build whole doctrines (their own rules and traditions, like the Jewish leaders in the rest of the book) on them.  There are groups of believers that over emphasize baptism, or others that teach that if you have faith that you can play with poisonous snakes and not be harmed.  Like the Sadducees who didn’t believe in a resurrection or after life because they didn’t understand the Scriptures or the power of God (Mark 12:24).  We need to be careful to look at the whole Bible and not just pieces when we figure out what it is saying about a topic (like the Sabbath and work, or baptism and eternal life and like miracles).  WE need to be careful to start with what is clear and let it help us understand what is hard in the Bible.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and His word does not change, we need to be careful to get the whole story (including the “back story” or history) as we live out what the bible teaches.  If, in the course of honoring him and telling the world about him we need a miracle God will do it, not for our personal glory or comfort or need but so that the message will be made more sure.  We need to follow what is clear and leave the rest up to God.  Bottom line don’t play with poison snakes, living your life day to day with Jesus is more impressive anyway, it’s a hard thing to do especially when the word is against you and Jesus.

God thank you for the short ending of this book, it shows me that you love in spite of our failures.  The truth bout the disciples that is in the long ending is no secret.  They changed their world in spite of hiding in fear after you crucifixion and even after your resurrection.  Help me change my world too, by honoring you each day in my life.  And let me leave the miracles up to you, after all your words were that we needed to be servants not spectacles.  Let my service to you and others proclaim to the world that you wee the ultimate servant who came to give his life a ransom for many. 

Mark 15:42-16:8. So Jesus is dead. The women who had followed him saw it.  By Mark’s account the eleven disciples were no where around.  According to John though, one was, the disciple whom Jesus loved (a reference to John himself) and Jesus instructed him to take care of his mother (Jesus’ mother).  There is no other indication that any of the others were at the crucifixion, and certainly not in any public way, just the women.

In today’s reading we see that it is close to the end of the day.  We are told it was the “preparation day, the day before the Sabbath”.  The Sabbath was and is Saturday in Jewish practice so it is Friday.   Earlier in the chapter when Mark is describing the crucifixion he uses the Roman method for reckoning time.  In the Roman mind the day started at 6 AM and time was measured from that point.  The third hour would be 9 AM (v. 25) the sixth hour would be noon (v. 33) and the ninth hour would be 3 PM (v.34).

According to Mark Jesus died around the ninth hour or sometime after 3 PM.  Now it was evening, a couple of hours before sunset.  In the Jewish mind the day started and ended at sunset, so the Sabbath would begin at sunset.  As we have seen in earlier posts no work was to be done on the Sabbath, and remember they were very strict about that.  In modern Judaism one group of Jews, the Orthodox, are strict too.  They will not drive a car on the Sabbath, will not operate switches or button (like in an elevator or on a stove), and will not walk more that a certain distance from their homes.  In our story the important Sabbath rule actually comes from the Bible.  In Deuteronomy 21:22-23 we are told that if a person has been convicted of a capital crime and is “hung on a tree” that it shall not be left there over night, but it shall be buried on the same day.  If it is left out all night it is considered an offense to God by the nation.  Very interesting law since capital punishment in the Law of Moses was to be carried out by stoning, a practice where the individual was surrounded by people and the people threw large stoned onto the person until they were burred and died in one way or another (from the blows of the rocks or from the crushing weight).  Also many historians believe that crucifixion was invented by the Assyrians (no earlier than 800 BC) several centuries after the Law of Moses (about 1440 BC) was written.  That has led some to suggest that the Law in Deuteronomy was about hanging with a rope (the kind we think of.  In Esther Haman was preparing to use this form of execution on Mordecai, about 45 BC).  Still that doesn’t fit with the prescribed method of execution in the Law.  In Galatians 3:13 Paul uses the same description of hanging on a tree to describe what happened to Jesus.  Although the meaning of the rule in Deuteronomy may have been a reference to rope hanging it also could have been prophetic in God’s omniscient (all knowing) preparation for the death of the Messiah; a setting of the stage for the event in our reading today.

What ever the case a dead person was not to be left out all night, so a guy named Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the body.  The Romans liked to leave the bodies out to be eaten by birds and animals and rot.  The image would then be a deterrent to others who though to stir up the wrath of the Roman government.  Clearly Joseph was very serious about his Jewish religion and so he worked up the courage and went to Pilate.  We are also told that Joseph was a member of the Jewish Council of leaders.  We are also told he was looking for the “kingdom of God”.  He was clearly a man who took the Old Testament seriously and literally.  He may have thought or hoped that Jesus was the promised coming king, but now that hope was ended, or so he would have though.

But Jesus was still on cue fulfilling all of the predictions made about the Messiah.  Mark tells us that Joseph was a “prominent” member of the council.  That word in Greek (the original language Mark wrote in) can mean several things including noble, graceful, influential or even rich.  In Matthew’s telling of the story he tells us that Joseph was rich and that he was a disciple of Jesus.  Although we usually think of the disciples as the close and serious followers of Jesus but the root meaning of the word is learner or student.  Joseph was somewhere on that path.  According to John Nicodemus helped bury Jesus.  Some scholars think that the fact that he was buried in a rich mans tomb was part of the prediction in Isaiah 53:12 which told us that he would be counted with law breakers (a reference to him being crucified with the two criminals).  That verse in Isaiah also tells us he would have a “portion with the great”, a possible reference to being buried in Joseph’s tomb.  If that is the case we have another fulfilled prophecy about the Messiah.  Regardless Jesus was still on cue, he had died for the sins of many.

There probably wasn’t time before sunset to properly prepare Jesus body for the grave but John tells us that it was “bound with linen wrappings” Some think that that contradicts what Mark tells us here but that is not necessary.  Mark does say he was wrapped in the linen cloth.  Jesus was then placed in the rock tomb (a little cave, in this case one that was actually carved out of the rock) and a large stone was rolled over the entrance.  The rocks were usually quite large to prevent grave robbers from easily entering the tomb.  Often the rock was a carved disk and it was rolled down an incline in a track or groove in the dirt.  That would make it even more difficult to reopen the tomb.  Finally we are told that the women watched to see where Jesus was buried.

In verses 1-8 of chapter 16 we see the same women back at the tomb on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath.  They had with them spices to finish the burial preparation that they felt was incomplete on Friday.  It is now the third day from Jesus’ crucifixion.  As they approached the tomb that were thinking about the large stone, that it would be too much for the three of them to move.  Mark makes no mention of the guard that had been placed at the tomb by Pilate at the request of the religious leaders.  According to Matthew the guard was requested and sent on the “day after the preparation day”, that would be the Sabbath.  Hmmm!  I guess putting a guard on the tomb wasn’t work!  So the women would have not expected a guard to be there.  When they arrived they saw that the rock had been moved.  Mark comments that it was very large, clearly an indication that everyone should be surprised that it had been moved.  So the women peeked in the tomb, pretty gutsy if you ask me, and to their surprise they saw what they considered a young man sitting in the tomb in a white robe.  According to Luke the women saw two men and they bowed down before them.  The description and reaction tells me that these guys were angles.  I think one of them was there waiting for the women to give them the message and the other one appeared (like Luke tells us as the women were there).  The message that the women received was that Jesus was not there, he had risen from the dead.  According to Luke (Luke 24:5) the women were also told they would find Jesus with living people not in a graveyard.  According to Luke the men or angles also reminded the women that Jesus had predicted that he would be killed and come back to life on the third day (Luke 24:6-7, see also Luke 9:22, Mark 8:31).  So Jesus was still fulfilling the plan God had laid out before the world began.  The angle then told the women to go tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead and that he would meet them in Galilee.  Again we are told that this to was predicted before hand.  We find this promise from Jesus in Mark 14:28 9see also Matthew 26:32).  We need to be careful that we don’t ignore this prediction because it was made by Jesus just before his death.  It is no less a prophecy just because it was made close to the time of it’s fulfillment.  I could make the same sort of prediction before my death and it would never ever come true.  I just cannot resurrect myself and I doubt God would do such a crazy thing for no purpose either.

Verse 8 brings us to the end of Mark with the women fleeing the tomb.  They were shaking and afraid and they didn’t even deliver the message (at least not right away).  You may be thinking, “No there are twelve more verses in Mark.”  We will get to that tomorrow.  But for now let me just say I think this is where Mark’s original story ended. You may also be thinking, “What a sucky ending!” and it is but it is not the end of the story just the end of Mark’s story.  Tomorrow I’ll tell you more.  For today we need to see what those early believer in Rome would have seen and that is Jesus continually fulfilling predictions.  The plan of God and his promises were true and secure.  And Jesus was not dead he was alive, he had not only conquered physical death as proven by the resurrection but he had conquered spiritual death by the cross.  He had given his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45) and the resurrection proves that he was God and that his death was good enough.

This week I was talking to someone about Heaven and Hell and death and the fact that Jesus had promised one of the two guys being crucified with him that they would be in Paradise that day together.   Paradise is a way of describing Heaven, the place where we live together with God (I think the original Paradise was an example of that truth).  Unlike believer from the Old Testament who could not go to Heaven immediately (See Luke 16:19-31) the thief could.  Why?  Because after the death of Jesus the penalty, fine, or cost had been paid; sin had been formally and legally dealt with.  The last thing Jesus said before he dies was, “It is finished”.  In Greek that is one word “tetelestai”.  That word was stamped on the list of charges of a criminal after they had served their jail time.  Jesus was declaring that his death had finished our sentence for us.  Legally we can all be free (though many reject his offer).  The cross is what sets us free the resurrection is the proof to us that the job was finiishe dnd that Jeus had the authority to do it.  It is also our hope that we too will one day share in the resurrection, eternal life both spiritual (with God) and physical (in a new body).  So those early Roman believers had something to believe in as they went through all tht the world had to throw at them.  I also think it is important that we see the last hold outs in the story, the women, shaking with fear.  Of course we know from the rest of the story and the other “gospels” that their fear wasn’t the end of the story, but is was there and it stopped them, at least for a time.  But then they and the disciples went on to start a movement for God that will continue into eternity.  But it stopped them.  Perhaps some or many of those Roman believers were afraid, had been stopped in serving God.  But their story didn’t need to end there either, they too could be effective for God.  God would not reject them.  He didn’t reject the eleven and he won’t reject us today either.  If (when) we make mistakes in our relationship with God, when we hide out or deny him we need to realize it is not the end of the story; it is not the end of our story with him.  We need to remember his promises and meet back up with him wherever he has told us he would be and continue along the path with him.  Our God is a great loving and forgiving God and we need to accept his continual forgiveness and walk with heim today.

God thank you for your mercy.  Thank you for your promises.  Thank you that it’s about you and not me.  I’m a failure too much of the time and when I do walk with you it’s only because you are there helping me.  Let me get better at it though and be honored in the world by my life.  Thank you again for your patience with me.