In Mark 16 Jesus’ Resurrection is recorded. The thing that stands out to me in reading this passage this morning is the instructions the young man sitting in the tomb gives to the two women who had come to anoint Jesus. In verse 7 he says to them, “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.” It is that last phrase that stands out to me – “just as He told you.” Jesus promised the disciples that He would rise again and that they would see Him. He kept His promise. Jesus also told them that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them. This would happen on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. Jesus also told them that they would be persecuted. This would happen as recorded throughout the book of Acts. Anything Jesus promised them came to pass. Jesus is trustworthy and all that He promised came to pass and will come to pass. He also promised that one day He would return for those who are His by faith. I look forward to that day. All those who have repented and placed their faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord are recipients of His promises. Lord, by Your grace, help me live in light of Your promises.
– Bryan McKenzie
Pastor Bryan, I was wondering, on verses 9-20 that “some of the earliest manuscripts did not include”. Why did they add them to the Bible? And are they still scripture or they just added them for historical evidence? Also, if my questions get annoying feel free to say somthing.
Daycie, I love the fact that you are being very observant when you are reading God’s Word. Concerning verses 9-20 – the important thing to note is that there are no contradictions with any major teaching in Scripture. Personally, after much study on this subject, I do not think that vv. 9-20 were part of the original manuscript of Mark. I am copying a good summary from the MacArthur Study Bible concerning the issues with Mark 16:9-20. Here it is, “The external evidence strongly suggests these verses were not originally part of Mark’s gospel. While the majority of Gr. manuscripts contain these verses, the earliest and most reliable do not. A shorter ending also existed, but it is not included in the text. Further, some that include the passage note that it was missing from older Gr. manuscripts, while others have scribal marks indicating the passage was considered spurious. The fourth-century church fathers Eusebius and Jerome noted that almost all Gr. manuscripts available to them lacked vv. 9–20. The internal evidence from this passage also weighs heavily against Mark’s authorship. The transition between vv. 8 and 9 is abrupt and awkward. The Gr. particle translated “now” that begins v. 9 implies continuity with the preceding narrative. What follows, however, does not continue the story of the women referred to in v. 8, but describes Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene (cf. John 20:11–18). The masculine participle in v. 9 expects “he” as its antecedent, yet the subject of v. 8 is the women. Although she had just been mentioned 3 times (v. 1; 15:40, 47), v. 9 introduces Mary Magdalene as if for the first time. Further, if Mark wrote v. 9, it is strange that he would only now note that Jesus had cast 7 demons out of her. The angel spoke of Jesus’ appearing to His followers in Galilee, yet the appearances described in vv. 9–20 are all in the Jerusalem area. Finally, the presence in these verses of a significant number of Gr. words used nowhere else in Mark argues that Mark did not write them. Verses 9–20 represent an early (they were known to the second-century fathers Irenaeus, Tatian, and, possibly, Justin Martyr) attempt to complete Mark’s gospel. While for the most part summarizing truths taught elsewhere in Scripture, vv. 9–20 should always be compared with the rest of Scripture, and no doctrines should be formulated based solely on them. Since, in spite of all these considerations of the likely unreliability of this section, it is possible to be wrong on the issue, and thus, it is good to consider the meaning of this passage and leave it in the text, just as with John 7:53–8:11.”
John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1502.
Oh, I see, that makes a lot more sense now. Thank you!