Second Reading 1 Corinthians 15:12-28
9Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
14Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.
This is the longer ending of Mark. We don’t know how exactly or when it was added. Maybe some scribe was dissatisfied with the mystery or the resurrection of Jesus—following him into the world as the shorter ending suggested, he remained attentive to the presence of God gathered stories from others. You can see the genesis of a tradition here: Jesus appearing to two disciples on the road (maybe the road to Emmaus); an appearance to the disciples where he chastises them for their like of faith (perhaps like the Gospel of John); and then, ultimately, an ascension: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” The additional information is helpful and completes our picture of Easter. But it ends up in the same place as the shorter ending. The job of Jesus’ disciples is to go out into the world, trusting that he has gone on ahead of us. This is the news that turns the grieving women at the tomb into amazed witnesses to the resurrection. This is what turns faithless and feckless disciples into ones who preach and do signs and wonders beyond what they might otherwise comprehend. Easter has happened; the world has changed; and we are a part of it.
Let your word speak to us anew, gracious God, as we wait on the news that you are at work in the world, making a way through death, and redeeming all things in the fullness of your love. We pray in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Get Social