He has risen: the empty tomb and the endings of Mark

Mark 16 ends the Gospel of Mark, whose author is not named in the text. Tradition, reported by Eusebius from Papias, says that Mark was Peter's interpreter and wrote down what Peter taught, and he is usually identified with John Mark (Acts 12:12; 1 Peter 5:13). Critical scholars question how closely Peter lies behind the book. Most date it to about AD 65 to 70, with a minority arguing for the 50s or for just after the fall of the temple in AD 70. The Gospel was written for readers who were largely Gentile, with Rome the traditional place, and its purpose, stated in 1:1, is to present Jesus as Christ and Son of God. Mark ends by turning the reader from the empty tomb to Galilee, where the disciples are to see him.

The chapter raises a well-known textual question. The two oldest great manuscripts of the Greek Bible, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, both from the fourth century, end the Gospel at verse 8. Eusebius and Jerome in the fourth century both knew that many Greek copies lacked verses 9 to 20. But Irenaeus, in the late second century, quotes 16:19 as from Mark, so the longer ending was known early. A 'shorter ending' also appears in some manuscripts, and some have both. Verses 9 to 20 draw on material found in Luke, John and Acts, and their vocabulary and style differ from the rest of Mark. Most scholars conclude that Mark did not write them. This class treats verses 1 to 8 as Mark's own ending and verses 9 to 20 as early and widely received Christian text that the church has long read as Scripture.

The other Gospels give the resurrection with differences. Matthew 28 has an earthquake, an angel and an appearance to the women and to the Eleven on a mountain in Galilee. Luke 24 has two men at the tomb and appearances in and near Jerusalem. John 20-21 has Mary Magdalene, Peter and the beloved disciple, and appearances in Jerusalem and Galilee. The names of the women and the number of the heavenly figures vary, but all four place the discovery on the first day of the week, and all name women as the first witnesses. Paul's list of witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, written in the mid-50s and passing on what he had received, is earlier than any Gospel.

Mark 16 is narrative, and its rules are those of Gospel narrative: attention to what is said, to repeated phrases, and to how the ending connects to the beginning. The first thing to read is verses 1 to 8 as a story. Women who have watched the burial (15:47) come at dawn with spices, with a practical worry about a heavy stone. The scene moves from their expectation of a dead body to a message that he is alive. The announcement is brief and exact, and it ends with a command, 'go, tell', that the women do not obey.

The ending at verse 8 has caused much discussion. The Greek sentence ends with the word gar, 'for', which is unusual but possible in Greek. Three explanations are given. One is that Mark meant to end here. The silence of the women would then be a deliberate stroke that leaves the reader to answer the angel's message and carry it on, since the promises of 14:28 and 16:7 that the disciples will see him stand unrevoked. A second is that the original ending was lost, perhaps from a damaged last page. A third is that Mark was prevented from finishing. Scholars hold each view, and no one can prove it. This class follows the first, with respect for the second.

For the longer ending, the rule is to read it as a summary of resurrection appearances and a commission, and to compare what it says with the clearer parts of Scripture. Where it says that believers will handle snakes and drink poison without harm (16:18), the reader should consider that no other New Testament passage gives this as a command, and that Acts 28:3-6 narrates a single incident of a snake that did not harm Paul.

Verses 1–4

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome buy spices to anoint the body. Jesus was buried on the eve of the Sabbath (15:42-47), and the women now come to do what could not be done then. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they go to the tomb. They are asking one another who will roll away the stone. They look up and see that the stone has been rolled away, although it was very large.

Verses 5–6

Entering the tomb, they see a young man in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they are alarmed. The figure is a messenger of God, and Matthew 28:2 calls him an angel. He says, 'Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.' The verb for 'has risen' is passive in Greek (egerthe) and means 'he has been raised', which points to God as the one who acts. The title 'the Nazarene, who was crucified' puts the two facts side by side: the same man who was executed is the one raised.

Verse 7

'But go, tell His disciples and Peter, "He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you."' The words 'and Peter' single out the disciple who denied Jesus (14:66-72), and show that he is not cast off. 'Just as He told you' goes back to 14:28, where Jesus said that after he was raised he would go ahead of them to Galilee. The women are not told to wait. They are sent.

Verse 8

The women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. In their fear they did not say a word to anyone. Their silence is not the end of the story, since the church that preserved this Gospel knew the news. The ending leaves the reader with the question of what to do with it.

Verses 9–11

In the longer ending, Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. She tells those who had been with him, who were mourning and weeping. They did not believe it.

Verses 12–14

He appears in a different form to two of them walking in the country, a summary of the Emmaus story in Luke 24:13-35. They report to the rest, who do not believe. Later he appears to the Eleven at table and rebukes them for unbelief and hardness of heart.

Verses 15–18

He sends them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, and whoever does not believe will be condemned. Signs will accompany those who believe: they will drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes, drink deadly poison without harm and lay hands on the sick, who will be healed.

Verses 19–20

After speaking to them, the Lord Jesus is taken up into heaven and sits down at the right hand of God. The disciples go out and preach everywhere, and the Lord works with them and confirms the word by the signs that follow.

Mark 16 stands at the centre of Christian belief, the resurrection of Jesus. Paul writes that if Christ has not been raised, faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:14), and he gives the creed he had received: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day and appeared to Cephas, the Twelve, more than five hundred at once, James, and last to Paul himself (15:3-8). Mark's short account shows the first stage: an empty tomb and a message. The appearances are told in the other Gospels and, in summary, in the longer ending.

The chapter also teaches the continuity of the earthly and the risen Jesus. The one who was crucified is the one who has been raised, as in Luke 24:39 and John 20:27. The resurrection is also the vindication of what Jesus claimed. It confirms his predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:34), and it begins the new creation, which Paul calls the 'firstfruits' (1 Corinthians 15:20).

The commission in the longer ending states the mission of the church to every creature, in line with Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved. Christians differ on baptism, and the verse names belief first and condemnation falls on unbelief. The sitting at the right hand of God is the doctrine of the ascension and session, which Hebrews 1:3 and Ephesians 1:20-21 develop.

The chapter presents Jesus as the crucified one who has been raised, and the opening and closing show it. At the tomb the title 'Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified' is kept. The resurrection does not erase the cross; it declares the cross to have been the way of the Son of God. Mark began the Gospel by calling Jesus the Son of God (1:1), the centurion confesses it at his death (15:39), and the empty tomb confirms it. The angel's words 'just as He told you' look back to Jesus' predictions of his rising and to his word on the way to the Mount of Olives that he would go ahead of them into Galilee (14:28). This is fulfilment of his own word, spoken first in Mark 8:31.

The longer ending adds the picture of Jesus seated at God's right hand. That fulfils Psalm 110:1, which Jesus quoted himself in Mark 12:36 and again at his trial (14:62). Peter preached the same verse on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:34-36). The Lord who was condemned for saying he would sit there is now there.

The promise that Peter will see him shows what kind of Lord he is. The one who was denied three times sends word to the denier first by name. The reader of Mark sees that the risen Christ is the same Jesus who called fishermen in Galilee, and that failure does not end discipleship. The call goes forward from Galilee to all creation, and the Lord who is seen there is the Lord who works with his messengers.