The Marcan Resurrection Narrative
The first thing you need to demonstrate to the examiners, dears, is that you are aware that the Marcan Resurrection Narrative ends at verse 8. You should state two reasons for this. 1. There are linguistic and stylistic differences in the Greek. 2. Verses 9-20 do not appear in the oldest manuscripts. If you choose a Resurrection question which involves Mark, do not discuss verses 9-20.
Instead you should discuss other aspects - the literary and theological connections to the rest of the gospel, and the reasons why Mark appears to end mid-sentence, and doesn't include any appearances by Jesus.
There are several theories, which fall into two categories as follows:-
Category 1 - Mark's gospel is for some reason, unfinished.
- Mark might have died before completing it, possibly in the persecution of Christians carried out by Nero in the wake of the fire in Rome in the 60s AD.
- The original ending of the Gospel might have been lost, for many reasons, before it was copied.
Reasons for supporting this view are:
- Verses 9-20, which summarise resurrection appearances of Jesus, appear in quite early manuscripts, suggesting that the Early Church felt very early on that the Gospel as it originally stood was incomplete without Resurrection Narratives.
- Why, then, should the author of the Gospel not have felt the same?
- The feeling, then, is that either the ending has been lost, or that the author would have 'finished it' if he could.
- 14:28 and 16:7 seem to point the reader towards a resurrection appearance in Galilee, which is omitted.
- The gospel appears to end in mid-sentence (with the word 'for'), suggesting that there was something intended to follow it. As it stands, the grammar is, to say the least, idiosyncratic!
- Possibly the most powerful argument in favour of a lost ending - that 'If St Mark did intentionally end his gospel with this paragraphs, he was certainly behaving with considerable literary sophistication and making great demands on the understanding of his readers, whom he expected to find the whole of the resurrection gospel in his eight allusive and enigmatic verses.' D Nineham 'St Mark' p442 Nineham refers to W L Knox whose work, he says, show that this type of ending, although it would suit 'the technique of a highly sophisticated type of modern literature', is quite without parallel in the literature of the time.
Category 2 - Mark intended to complete his gospel at verse 8. The 'unfinished' feel is no mistake
This is by far the most fashionable and popular view today, espoused by such scholars as Morna Hooker, Magnus, Dennis Nineham et al.
Here are some of the answers people who subscribe to Category 2 give to the arguments put forward in Category 1
- if the ending of one copy of the gospel was lost, why was it not completed from another copy.
- if it was the original copy that was unfinished for whatever reason, why did not the author, or one of his colleagues, complete it.
- the bad grammar at the end of the last verse echoes the bad grammar all the way through the gospel.
There are various interesting theories as to why Mark should intentionally have ended his gospel in this way. I will summarise some of Morna Hooker's, from 'The Message of Mark' pp 118-121
- the gospel ends on a note of fear, awe and amazement. This theme brings to an end certain other sections of the gospel, for example, the Stilling of the Storm., the Transfiguration, etc. This reaction indicates lack of understanding, another Marcan theme.
- The women with whom the story ends act as links between the Passion and Resurrection narratives. The Messiah cannot be risen without the ignominy of the cross. The glory cannot come without the suffering.
- the lack of what Hooker refers to as 'cast iron evidence' forces the reader into the position of active discipleship - another Marcan theme. Mark's message, she insists is "'Go and you will see him. Not "You will see him, and then you must go."' p119
- the invitation to his failed followers demonstrates that in spite of all their disloyalty and fear, they are still disciples, even Peter.
- Galilee is the place of discipleship, 'where Jesus called the disciples, trained them, taught them and sent them out.'
Hooker's analysis ends with the suggestion that Mark's Message is summed up with "Follow Jesus; that is the only way in which you will find him."
Very rousing, dears. But convincing? That is a matter on which you will have to make up your own mind.