Daily Double: Markin MarkSample

He Is Risen!

By Christena G

This chapter gives a clear insight into a very human reaction to a very big miracle.

While it seems quite morbid that the two Mary’s were visiting Jesus’ body to anoint it with burial spices, it was a custom of the time for them to do this.

But what wasn’t normal was that His body wasn’t even there!

I love that Mark shares that they were speechless when the Angel gave them the news that Jesus was risen from the dead - I would be too! But these two women were given a very special task: to go tell the disciples of the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection.

Imagine being sent as the messenger with that news. It feels like something that no one would believe without seeing - and the disciples didn’t believe them!

But the Mary’s did what they were asked, and Jesus did the rest. -He showed up to the people who needed to see the proof to believe.

It’s kind of like the homework that Jesus gives us in verse 15 “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”

This sometimes feels like an impossible task. Would people even believe what you say? Would people just think you’re crazy for believing something that they can’t see for themselves?

Probably! But we have to believe and pray that Jesus will show up when needed; that if we take a step of faith, he will show up and do the rest.

One thing you may have noticed though is that Mark has multiple endings!

To address the elephant in the room, you would have noticed that there are 3 endings to the book of Mark. One that ends at verse 8, a “short” ending, and a “long” ending.

Nearly all scholars agree that Mark didn’t write these short and long endings. They actually think that the ending that Mark wrote was torn off, lost or was never finished. So, the early readers of Mark must have written these endings based on the events in the other gospels.

So, what do we do with these endings?

The Bible translators of this version have chosen to include the text even though they are confident Mark didn't write it because the accounts in these longer endings align with other Gospel accounts.

We should feel a sense of confidence that Bible translators have identified the differences between Mark and others... while also helping us trust the rest of Mark's account.

I personally love that the long ending still includes the Great Commission - our homework. “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”