"Unfinished Easter"

Pastor Laura Guy

April 16, 2006

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We remembered some of the characteristics of the Gospel of Mark that we have discovered over the last 7 weeks. Mark is a very fast-paced Gospel; Jesus is always moving quickly from one scene to the next. Mark also portrays the disciples as bumbling and fumbling, never quite figuring out who Jesus is or what his ministry is all about.
We read Mark 16:1-8 and discovered the strangest thing about the book - it has two endings. Most Bible translations have inserted a phrase in parenthesis after verse 8 that says something like "the most ancient copies of Mark end here." Then they include verses 9-20. How could we have a Gospel with two endings?
We learned that most biblical scholars believe Mark originally ended at verse 8, and someone else included verses 9-20. Since the Holy Spirit inspires all the writing of Scripture, it isn't really a problem. But it does make one wonder, what was Mark thinking?
We saw how Mark left Easter unfinished. He left us standing next to the empty tomb, watching the women run away in fear. It is the ultimate cliffhanger. But maybe Mark did that on purpose so that we would finish Easter ourselves. If the women won't go tell people (although obviously they eventually did or Mark wouldn't have known what happened when they went to the tomb!), then maybe we are the ones who need to go tell others, finishing the story of Easter.
We realized that this is so important because people don't know that there is a risen Savior, one who will never die. As humans, we live with a fear of death, a fear of being erased from the memory of humanity. But when Jesus remembers us, we can never be forgotten. He gives our lives real meaning, and there are so many hurting people who would love to know that this risen Jesus loves them and remembers them.
We shared communion with this risen Jesus, thanking him for the feast of love he offers us.