Why didn’t Mark finish his gospel? As readers of most any modern Bible translation discover, the second gospel, like a movie out on a bonus DVD, has a couple of alternative endings. But neither of those endings has much manuscript support for authenticity. It’s likely that Mark did not actually write either one of them.
Just check it out and you will find that Mark 16 ends abruptly at verse 8, with alternative endings set off in brackets or whatever. So our Easter text for this Sunday is just Mark 16:1-8.
One solution to this problem says that the true ending of Mark’s gospel is lost to us. That seems likely. But I prefer the more tenuous but intriguing suggestion that Mark actually left the story unfinished. And whether it was Mark’s intention or not, God’s providential care for His Word has allowed the real ending, if there was one, to remain lost.
What I find intriguing is the suggestion that the unfinished ending of Mark invites us to put ourselves into the end of the story. The women who discover the empty tomb react with fear and uncertainty. How will you and I respond to the good news that Christ is risen? That’s the question I believe Mark puts to everyone who hears that news.
So, in a sense, you and I are the ones who end Mark’s story of Jesus. It’s in our lives and the lives of all believers that the significance of the risen Savior is played out and completed. The question is not how did the story end, but how will we end the story?
“Just check it out,” indeed. Have you carefully investigated the evidence pertaining to Mark 16:9-20? If Mark 16:9-20 does not have much manuscript support for authenticity then NO passage of Mark has much manuscript support for authenticity, inasmuch as Mark 16:9-20 is attested by every undamaged Greek copy of Mark (over 1,500 copies) except two, and every undamaged Latin copy of Mark 16 except one (which has an anomalous text throughout Mark 16), and every Syriac copy except one. Mark 16:9-20 is supported by over 40 Roman-Empire-era patristic writings, including writings from three individuals in the 100’s — Justin, Tatian, and Irenaeus — whereas the two Greek copies in which the text of Mk 16 stops at v. 8 are from the 300’s.
For more information on this subject, see my research-book. Write to me and I’d be glad to share a copy with you.
Yours in Christ,
James Snapp, Jr.
James, it’s nice to see someone is actually reading this. I appreciate you sharing your extensive research. I read the discussion on your church web site and see that you have examined this question far more than I. You have made me aware that I need to be more tentative and cautious in asserting the conclusion that Mark ends at 16:8. However, I believe I understand your own conclusion still to be that it’s likely that Mark’s own hand does end there, and that 16:9-20 is an addition with ancient credentials, perhaps approved by Mark and/or Peter. Without the time or knowledge to investigate further myself, all I can say is that I find the huge weight of current scholarly opinion seems to be against regularizing Mark 16:9-20 as normative along with the rest of the Gospel. Part of that contrary opinion, as far as I can make out, comes from considerations of internal evidence, language, theology, borrowing, etc. You deal with the matter of borrowing from the other Gospel endings quite a bit in what I read on your web site, but the language and theology issues much less so. Perhaps it’s there in your book. In any case, I think there are interesting questions to pursue about why Mark’s own hand leaves off at 16:8. In my sermon, I’m planning to draw a parallel with Charles Dickens’ unfinished final work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It also has had a number of endings written by others attached to it, including one by a confidant with whom Dickens had discussed the plot upon setting out to write. Though certainly of a different character from the Word of God, the Dickens example shows how an abrupt stopping point generates passionate and creative response, which I believe the Gospel does call for in Christian living. Thanks again for your thought provoking comment. May God bless you and your congregation with a joyful celebration of our Risen Lord.