the concluding chapter of mark is troublesome because there are several different versions of its ending. in some the chapter ends after verse eight, without recounting any appearance of jesus after his resurrection, and the women who have seen the empty tomb and the young man clothed in white inside it keep what he has told them secret. in others it continues with a shorter ending in which the women go and tell peter and those around him what they have seen, after which jesus appears and sends them out to proclaim "the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation." still others have a longer ending in which the resurrected jesus appears "in another form" to two disciples who are walking in the country and then to all eleven of the remaining disciples before being "taken up into heaven [where he] sat down at the right hand of God." there is yet another ending that contains a conversation between jesus and the disciples concerning "this [present] age of lawlessness and unbelief [that] is under Satan" and a statement about the purpose of jesus' crucifixion.
which is the "authoritative" version? there is no way of knowing for certain. if we accept the conclusions of most scholars, the "shorter" and "longer" endings of mark were later additions, though they came very early in the common era, and read mark as concluding with verse eight, the resurrection of jesus is not corroborated by the appearance of jesus to anyone after his death. we have only the statement from mark that jesus will appear to the disciples in galilee, suggesting that the disciples are being instructed to leave jerusalem and return to galilee. it is interesting that mark says the women are to tell "peter and the disciples," and so one wonders if peter, after his denial of jesus, is out of favor with the others. what do we make of the statement that the women "said nothing to anyone" about what they had seen at jesus' tomb? it makes no sense that they would have kept quiet about their amazement at finding the tomb empty when they returned to the followers of jesus, and so the shorter ending is a logical conclusion to the chapter.
at any rate, the writer of mark does not seem concerned about trying to convince his readers that jesus was resurrected by citing various witnesses to the risen jesus, just as he didn't include elaborate details about the birth of jesus. it seems that his chief purpose was to record what he knew of the life of jesus during his ministry on earth in order to preserve the oral traditions that had been passed down. perhaps the details of jesus' birth and the accounts of his appearances after his crucifixion were unclear because there were many conflicting oral traditions about these events, and the writer didn't want to choose some accounts over others.
i have been puzzled about how much of this first gospel is consumed by the miracles of jesus and how little there is about the teachings of jesus, as i've picked it apart chapter by chapter. when i first began reading and writing about the gospel, i intended to concentrate on only the words jesus spoke, but i soon discovered that the words of jesus made little sense without the context in which they were spoken. here's what i have concluded from this reading of the gospel and writing about it: jesus believed that he was a messenger whose mission it was to alert the common people to a coming cataclysmic end to the rule of rome in which he and his disciples were to be elevated to rule in righteousness over the world, jesus had great compassion for the suffering of the people among whom he lived, jesus thought that women were deserving of great respect and were maltreated by society, jesus was angered by the use of religion to enrich some at the expense of others, jesus insisted that his purpose and that of his followers was to serve others, jesus loved children and thought that they were worthy of care and respect. this is the jesus that i follow, and all else obscures that jesus. his belief in a coming kingdom where righteousness will prevail is a natural outcome of his desire to see an end to the oppression of those with whom he surrounded himself. i'm not concerned about miracles, atoning death, or resurrection. the essential jesus for me is the jesus who is great because he serves others.
may we become more like this jesus. may we oppose injustice and exploitation. may we care for those who are unable to care for themselves. may be share love, respect, tolerance, and forgiveness with those around us, and may our intention be to make the world a better place because we have lived. shalom.
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