Plymothian

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Mark:  The End

So what do you do with a passage that is probably a later addition?  It tries to tie up all the loose ends.  Some people say that the end is missing.  Some people say that verse 8 is the end.  Most agree that this passage is not the ending.  Jesus was raised and he did send the disciples out, but only after he had rebuked them for continued disbelief. The lack of faith seems plausible considering their lack of understanding whilst he was discipling them.  There were miraculous signs reported in Acts, so we can say this passage is not untrue, even if it is made up.

In fact, it is an overview of what we might do with Mark’s account.  We have a choice.  Do we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?  Then we should experience his power and authority in our lives and take that power and authority into the community.  Do we disbelieve the gospel?  If we do, we are condemned.  To be condemned is horrific.  Look at your life, is it marked with triumph, courage, and proclamation or is it marked with cowed doubt and fear?

The original recipients were persecuted to the point of death.  They received an account that would have encouraged them.  Part of the account was the empathy of seeing Jesus struggle with suffering.  However, he endured and was raised in such a way that he empowers all of us to endure suffering.  I had a difficult day today.  I wasn’t covered in tar and used as a firelighter.  I wasn’t dragged behind a chariot until dead.  I just had a student become defensive and combative with me when I was clumsy with my words.  I was triggered when an application to start my doctorate became confusing.  When I feel defeated because of a little discomfort, I should see Jesus who endured scorn and beatings before being crucified.  The strength that was available to him is available through him.  As we assume more responsibility and stand for the truth, we will make mistakes and we will be persecuted.  Will we follow in the footsteps of our Master and have the Lord work with us?

Prayer

Jesus, I was discouraged today because I did not have the resources to respond to difficult circumstances.  Now I am reminded that I did not look to you and follow you in power as I should.  Your power is shown in weakness and submission.  Help me to submit to you and find the path of wisdom and strength when it is not clear to me.

Questions

1. What do you do with a passage that is not in the oldest manuscripts?
2. What can you learn about Jesus from the account that is given here?
3. Why were the disciples (or Thomas at least) so slow to respond?
4. How is Jesus’ power available to you?
5. How does the suffering Messiah of Mark encourage you?

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 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.’”

⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The Resurrection

The credibility of the account here is stronger in our eyes than it may have been to some ancients.  The reason is that women were often seen as poor witnesses of events.  In Islamic cultures today, often two female witnesses are needed to verify an event as opposed to one man.  The reasoning is that a woman has children and forgets the pain of child birth.  If she forgets something so excruciating to the point that she will desire to have a second child, her memory is deficient.  However, in the west we accept the accounts given by women as being equal with the accounts given by men.  The fact that the ancient writers of the gospels attest to female witnesses, actually supports their historicity.  The reason is that no-one would have made up a story where women witness the resurrection, they would have invented male characters.

The young man in white is obviously an angel who is declaring what has happened.  Then the women are commissioned with telling the disciples, but especially Peter.  This is probably not because of his leadership status, it is more likely because of his denial.  The impetuous Peter is probably considering himself unworthy of discipleship, but Jesus is restoring him through his request.

This is probably the end of Mark, though others have written endings like the one included in the NIV.  However, the manuscript evidence would say that there are a number of endings that were added because either the story finished abruptly at verse 8 or the ending was lost or damaged.  An abrupt ending falls in line with the opening of Mark which states that this gospel is just a beginning.  I believe the point of this passage is to raise the question of what we will do with an empty tomb.

Prayer

Let us be the bearers of good news.  Let us proclaim that although our saviour was dead and buried, he was raised again.  Jesus, through your Holy Spirit raise us to new life.  Let us live a life free from sin and death as a sign that we have accepted the truth of the resurrection.

Questions

1. Who found the empty tomb?
2. Who was there?
3. Why does the book probably end at verse 8?
4. What do you do with Jesus’ resurrection?
5. How does your life proclaim good news?

⁴² It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. ⁴⁴ Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. ⁴⁵ When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶ So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

The Burial of Jesus

Joseph of Arimathea baffles me.  Why would s leader who was a member of the council bury Jesus?  It’s not that he couldn’t be a believer, but why didn’t he speak up?  Perhaps he did, but his voice was buried at the trial.  Perhaps he didn’t speak up because of fear, but now he repents and his commitment to the dead Jesus is going to make up for his lack of commitment to the live one.  I tend to think that, being a kangaroo court, certain members like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were intentionally left out.  It did take great courage to approach the Roman leader and as for the body of one who had been killed for sedition.  Joseph’s commitment to the Kingdom of God was genuine.

his passage seems to have been included to counter revivalist theories.  Maybe Joseph of Arimathea stole the body of a swooning Jesus and then, after Jesus was revived, Jesus walked among the witnesses who subsequently saw him.  Also, Mark guards against another fallacy, that the women went to the wrong tomb.  The tomb that they visit, which is empty, must be that of Jesus.  They saw him laid there.

Prayer

We believe you were buried.  We believe that you were dead.  In joining you in your death, we renounce the sin that you carried.  We declare ourselves dead to it and that we will embrace it no more.

Questions

1. Who takes Jesus’ body for burial?
2. What do you think motivated him?
3. Why are the women included at the end of the burial narrative?
4. Do you believe Jesus was dead?
5. What is the significance of Jesus’ death as opposed to his new life?

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.

²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. ^{[28] [a] 29} Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[b]

³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”

³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.

³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^[c] he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰ Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,^[d] and Salome. ⁴¹ In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Crucifixion

Jesus was naked.  He was stripped bare and lashed, punched and brutalised until he was hardly recognizable as a man.  Romans would have delighted in humiliating a supposed King of the Jews.  They were an occupying army and occupying armies love to get at those who despise their occupation.  Jesus was naked.  He wore a cloak of purple mocking his true status as the true king.  He was verbally insulted but even a centurion confessed that he was the son of God.  He had no loincloth to clothe his shame.  Jesus was naked.

In his nakedness is something disclosed?  He hid nothing from the world.  He had revealed everything to his disciples.  He did not hide himself.  He loved us fully.  Before us he hung naked and bore the shame that was rightfully ours.  Yet in our art and sculpture we clothe him quickly.  We can’t stand that level of exposure.  A body or a soul that is truly exposed in some way exposes us.  It exposes our hidden hearts, our shrouded minds, our darkened souls.  A man that has nothing to hide sends us running for cover.

He bids us come.  Come and see.  Embrace a maturity that can cope with full disclosure.  Be naked.  Expose your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Share the pain and the suffering of the cross.    Take up a cross daily and follow him.

Prayer   

Exposed and alone you hung for a time.  Nowhere to hide.  Nothing to hide behind.  I keep myself hidden, even from you.  There are no lengths you would not go to.  Excrutiating.  I shun pain.  I fear exposure.  Cleanse me with the blood that you shed.  May walk in the paths you walked, following my King enthroned on a cross.

Questions

1. How would you describe Roman treatment of Jesus?
2. Why does Jesus say the things he does?
3. Why is Jesus clothed in our art when there is no indication he was clothed in the text?
4. What does the cross mean to you?
5. How do you take up your cross daily?

³² They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴ “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵ Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ “Abba,^[f] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴³ Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ The men seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁴⁷ Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁴⁸ “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ Then everyone deserted him and fled.

⁵¹ A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, ⁵² he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Gethsemane

I picture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane with his soul overwhelmed.  How does God have a soul that is overwhelmed?  The soul that what overwhelmed is an aspect of being human.  Jesus was not infinite at that moment.  His soul was limited and it was pushed to its limits.  We all have a capacity for grief, anxiety, stress and anger.  We use phrases like, “I have had about as much as I can take!”  Jesus had developed the human soul as much as is humanly possible, but even he is saying, “This is as much as I can take.”  He does not lose his wits, but he is at his wits’ end.  He asks whether he can get relief from his Father, but the heavens seem silent.  Jesus is at the end of his rope, he has no-one on his side.  He is writhing in the dust.  His soul is in anguish.  However, he takes steps forward and resolutely hands himself over to his betrayer.

As our model, it is reassuring that Jesus was pushed to his limits.  He had developed an immense capacity to handle abuse and suffering by cultivating his relationship with the Father.  However, the source of his strength was about to be stripped away so that for us it would never have to be.  His shoulders would be broad enough to carry the sin of the world and his love for us would be strong enough that he would endure estrangement from the Father.  In the light of such an example, we must develop our capacity and enter into stressful and anxiety inducing situations in order to minister to those who are lost and to one another.  In this way spiritual growth happens and true community is formed.

Prayer

I hear another friend of mine has cancer.  We are made of glass and we shatter.  I wish we were made of stronger stuff.  Jesus, you endured the limitations of what it means to be human.  How do we thrive in a world so full of darkness?  We throw ourselves into the dust.  We would like cups to be taken away from those who have to drink bitterness.  We remember how you struggled with moving forward in the Garden.  Help us to push forward with each other and develop a life that shows your grace in the midst of the darkest places.

Questions

1. How many times does Jesus withdraw to pray?
2. Describe Jesus’ condition.
3. Why did 1st Century believers need to remember their saviour this way?
4. How do you feel seeing Jesus struggle?
5. How does the combination of Jesus’ struggle and resolve change how we should live today?

 “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:

²⁸ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

²⁹ Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”

³⁰ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice^[e] you yourself will disown me three times.”

³¹ But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Falling Away

I don’t think a person can lose their salvation, but I do think a person can fall away in a couple of different ways.  I do not think that a true follower of Jesus can fall away and be happy they have done so.  There is a discomfort and a chill in knowing Jesus and then living as though he did not exist.  It is just a principle of relationship.  To deny that you know someone who you have claimed to love is not a comfortable place to be.  If you have let the relationship slip in importance, you constantly know that you need to address the condition of that relationship and I believe someone who truly belongs to Jesus may have a season of estrangement, but it could never be permanent.  The second way for a person to fall away, is for the facade of a false relationship to fall away.  We can see all the time people who claimed to have ‘been’ Christian because they prayed a prayer at some point in childhood live now as though Jesus does not exist.  Such people do not have a prick on their conscience because the truth is that they never really had anything qualifying as a daily relationship with Jesus at all.  They had Jesus as an idea or they accepted Jesus so that he would grant them all the things that they wanted in life.  Jesus was never meant to come cap in hand to us, or to serve as merely an idea.  It is easy for relationships based in selfish ends and false relationships just to melt away like the morning mist in the rising sun.

Despite their many protestations of friendship, the disciples’ relationship had not been sealed by the Spirit.  They had a misguided view of Jesus and still believed him to be a revolutionary king who would serve each of their needs.  Some would fight for Jesus for a moment in the Garden of Gethsemane, but ultimately no-one was yet connected to Jesus with a cord that could not be cut or taken away.  It would take the resurrection and the coming of the Spirit to create martyrs.  Each of us does not know how we would fare in the ultimate test.  Would our faith be shown as a shallow affair or would it be shown to be deep and enduring?  We should pray that we would have the faith to endure persecution and hardship for the sake of our relationship with Jesus, but the surest defence against deserting Jesus is to embrace him with a deeper and searching understanding; to submit to him with a selfless obedience and a self-denying devotion.  Then, like any lover whose love demands the ultimate sacrifice, we may have the strength of relationship required to give our all.

Prayer

I can’t say that if all fell away on account of you I would be there.  There are uncomfortable times when I have lived as though I didn’t know you.  I didn’t know how to develop a relationship that would endure because I did not know how to develop a relationship at all.  Now I pray that you would not let me go.  I pray that you would not let me be one who falls away in times of trial.  May my faith be cultivated so that it is eternal.

Questions

1. What does Jesus claim will happen after this moment in the story?
2. What do all the disciples claim?
3. Why do suffering disciples of Jesus in the first century need to hear these words?
4. Have you see sincere followers of Jesus struggle in times of trial?  How did they endure?
5. How can you cultivate a relationship that has a chance to endure the worst hardships?

¹² On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹³ So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. ¹⁴ Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”

¹⁶ The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁷ When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

²⁰ “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴ “This is my blood of the^[c] covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

The Last Supper

I have been to Jerusalem and sung in the upper room where Jesus is purported to have had his last supper.  It is strange how we don’t associate it with the Passover celebration, but in this passage it is closely connected.  We see, then, that Jesus takes elements that already have significance and he gives them a new meaning.  It helps, if you get a chance, to attend a Passover Seder and see a Messianic Jew (Jewish follower of Jesus) explain the connections.  I grew up loving the Brethren Lord’s Supper service.  We sat in rows facing a good English loaf and a cup of wine.  The loaf was ripped in two by a member of the congregation and then passed along the rows of seated people.  The wine was passed as one cup among many.  In the original context Jesus would have used a loaf that looked much more like a cracker and he would have snapped it in two with a crack, I believe.  He would have also had his own cup of wine and would have already drunk various cups at subscribed points.  This would have been the second to last of those cups and he left the last one untouched because it would be consumed upon his return some time in the future.  I don’t think that the Brethren service lost Jesus’ intent, though.  I was glad that we broke bread every Sunday and not just on Passover.  I could sense the tearing of Jesus’ body in a tortuous death.  It helped me as a child to be thankful – to develop a pattern of gratitude.  I saw the deep red wine as truly indicative of the blood.  The wine we used was rich in colour and potent to taste.  I understand why we use grape juice these days, but something about the taste of the wine stays with me.  It left a slight burning in my nose and I think I have always associated red wine with blood.  Again, as I remember those days, I have gratitude toward a man who was God and gave us a dramatic reenactment to remember his sacrifice.  It was a great act of love, but it purchased so much; it covered so much.

We should eat broken bread and drink wine until he comes back.  However, we have often tagged it onto other services.  We don’t have a whole meal like Jesus did, we don’t even have a whole service.  It is worth reflecting upon what he has done.  What his sacrifice once did, it is still doing in the life of his faithful disciples.

Prayer

Jesus, I thank you for your blood.  I hate seeing blood.  I hate pain.  I think in many ways I might prove to be a coward.  However, your love creates in me a desire to be bold.  I wish to be strong and your Last Supper reminds me so clearly of the one I follow.  When my church remembers you, help me to remember you with the depth that I do when I am with the Brethren.

Questions

1. Where did Jesus send his disciples?
2. What does a Passover Seder look like?
3. How did Jesus change the Seder?
4. How do you celebrate communion?
5. What do you think is Jesus’ desire for you in celebrating the communion?