End of Mark, and next assignment
Mark's Gospel is striking in that the oldest version contains no account of meeting with the risen Christ. The women encounter the young man in the white garment and run away afraid.
The next verses about appearing to Mary Magdalene and the disciples are clearly tagged on. It's anyone's guess if it's because a further Marcan resurrection narrative was simply lost or if later writers said, "That's no way to end a story!"
Bishop Spong would say that this is the actual and correct ending, that no one saw Jesus again and that the last line, with a non-present Jesus working through the disciples (my King James says "with") is what really happened.
One question always put to me was, "Do you really think people would be willing to spread the word, and die for that word, for a rumour spread by a few women in a time where women weren't considered reliable witnesses?"
While I take great comfort in the idea of the Resurrection and so choose to believe it, I don't agree with St. Paul in that if the resurrection had not happened that we believers would be the deadest of the dead. I think that the Gospel message itself, showing the royal road to a Kingdom of God we ourselves build or destroy, would be enough. But then, I am a heretic.
It's now time for less unsettling territory. Everybody loves Luke Chapters 1 and 2!
The next verses about appearing to Mary Magdalene and the disciples are clearly tagged on. It's anyone's guess if it's because a further Marcan resurrection narrative was simply lost or if later writers said, "That's no way to end a story!"
Bishop Spong would say that this is the actual and correct ending, that no one saw Jesus again and that the last line, with a non-present Jesus working through the disciples (my King James says "with") is what really happened.
One question always put to me was, "Do you really think people would be willing to spread the word, and die for that word, for a rumour spread by a few women in a time where women weren't considered reliable witnesses?"
While I take great comfort in the idea of the Resurrection and so choose to believe it, I don't agree with St. Paul in that if the resurrection had not happened that we believers would be the deadest of the dead. I think that the Gospel message itself, showing the royal road to a Kingdom of God we ourselves build or destroy, would be enough. But then, I am a heretic.
It's now time for less unsettling territory. Everybody loves Luke Chapters 1 and 2!