Easter                                          Mark 16:1-8                                          4/16/06

                                               “The Real Thing”

 

Second on the New York Times Best Seller list, over 40 million copies sold worldwide and over 500,000 paperback copies sold the first week – The Da Vinci Code.  First on the New York Times Best Seller list of non-fiction books and selling more copies everyday – The Jesus Papers.  Subject of front page stories in nearly every newspaper last week and sure to be on the best seller lists very soon – The Gospel of Judas.

 

The Da Vinci Code is, of course, a novel, a work of fiction – though a troubling number of people seem to treat the story as if it was actual history or maybe even the word of God.  Sadder still the other two books mentioned, that have become popular reading are claimed to be the result of scholarly research rather that the heresies they are.

 

It’s just fascinating how people are drawn to these stories that seek to undermine belief in the resurrection.  They inspire such excitement, are the subject of so much conversation and get such attention in the media.  How sad that “The Real Thing”, the story of God’s unimaginable love for us, demonstrated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only true Son of God is of interest to just a relatively small number of people today.

 

When is the last time someone asked you if you’ve read the Gospel of Mark?  When have you seen a TV special on the subject of how the four gospel differ in their telling of the resurrection and what this means for us? 

 

If we give God half a chance, the true story of Jesus is far more exciting and spectacular than any book or movie.  Furthermore, if we give ourselves to the experience of reading it, the Holy Spirit will work wonders in our lives and in the world.

 

I purposely chose the less familiar Gospel of Mark lesson for today.  Talk about controversy, the writing of the Gospel of Mark. particularly the ending, will be a subject of research and discussion long after the Gospel of Judas is forgotten again. 

 

Most Bible scholars agree that the Markan gospel originally ended at chapter 16, verse 8.  The rest of the gospel – verses 9-20 with resurrection appearances, a great commission of the disciples and Jesus’ ascension – seem to have been added at a later date by a different writer. 

 

Why was this done?  Who added those last verses?  Who, for that matter, was the writer of Mark?  Why are there differences in the gospel accounts?  If we want mystery and a good story, we should seek out the answers to those questions.

 

We don’t know why the writer of Mark ended his gospel so abruptly.  Some think the rest of the manuscript may have been lost or it’s even been suggested that the writer was interrupted in his work by soldiers and dragged off to martyrdom.  We’ll probably never know.  I read one analysis this week though that makes great spiritual sense as well as avoiding the temptation to make up a story behind the story.

 

 

Some of my internet colleagues suggest that the writer of Mark intended to leave the gospel unfinished.  They see the Gospel as still unfolding.  The story didn’t end with the empty tomb; it continues through our day and will continue until Jesus return in glory.

 

The exciting thing about this view is the implication that we are vital participants in the story.  We carry the story forward in our lives and the story carries our lives forward in hope and faith.  The open ending can inspire us in three ways.

 

Contrary to the reports in later gospels of Jesus appearing to select followers immediately after the resurrection, they are told that He is going ahead of them into Galilee .  We could have some interesting arguments about the difference here, but spiritually this is a much more exciting epilogue to the resurrection. 

 

Since we also are disciples hearing the good news, we learn that Jesus has gone before us in all of the challenging, joyful and painful events of our lives.  As we travel down the road to the heavenly Jerusalem, sometimes singing praises, but more often feeling lost, stumbling over obstacles, seeking healing for wounds and even grieving those we think we’ve lost along the way, but who have simply joined Jesus before us, we can move with confidence because we know that Jesus, having gone this way before us, knows and empathizes with our troubled walk.

 

We have assurance too, as we consider the whole promise to fulfillment theme of Mark, that Jesus truly will be waiting for us at the end.  He really will be there with His arms open, ready to welcome us into the Kingdom.  And we know this, not just because it is a clear theme of the Gospel of Mark, but also because as we look back on our individual journeys, we can see where Jesus kept promises to us all along the way.

 

The continuing gospel teaches us to also look for Jesus as we journey toward that final meeting in Jerusalem .  Since we don’t get a nicely wrapped Jesus package of post-resurrection appearances, we need to keep our minds open to possible appearances throughout our lives.  It could be Jesus in the person who needs help in a crisis.  It could be Jesus in the elderly person who tries to share wisdom with us.  It could be Jesus in the friend who stands by us in a time of trouble.  It could be Jesus sitting in the pew next to you.

 

Just think of how exciting and fulfilling our lives would be if we thought each person we meet might be Jesus, that the next place we go might be Jerusalem.  There is a story of a monastery where the brothers had become contentious – constantly arguing over the smallest things, nearly destroying the peace that had been the greatest quality of the monastery for hundreds of years. 

 

The abbot consulted a wise old rabbi who was a friend.  The rabbi’s response was, “I will give you a teaching, but you can only repeat it once.  After that, no one must ever say it aloud again."  The rabbi looked straight at the abbot and said, "The Messiah is among you."  When the abbot got home he called the brothers together and told them what the rabbi had said, emphasizing that they must never speak of the rabbi’s word again.  From that day on everything changed at the monastery and it became known for its atmosphere of peace and love.  You see, each monk was left to wonder if his brother monk was the Messiah.

 

And this leads us to perhaps the most exciting implication of the Markan unfinished gospel:  We are invited to be a part of the story and to help write the ending.  Oh, to be sure, Jesus has risen from the dead and fulfilled all that was necessary for the salvation of the world.  But, like the monks, we don’t know what the Messiah looks like, how long the journey to the heavenly Jerusalem will be or even where exactly its borders begin.

 

This opens to us opportunities no human authors could offer.  The future is wide open and full to the brim with promise. We are invited to share in shaping that future and into a relationship with “The Real Thing” – the real person of the Son of God.  Knowing Him opens up the future to love, joy and peace beyond even the best story writers imagination.

 

The women may have been stunned into silence, fiction authors may think they can write better endings and heretical scholars can try their best to challenge the truth, but we, along with all who celebrate the resurrection today can proclaim, “He is risen... He is risen indeed.”