Hi friends, today we come to the end of the Gospel of Mark as we face Jesus' death and resurrection once more. If we study the gospel of mark purely as literature we can see that it is what's known as a "tragic comedy." (Think Romeo and Juliet, Othello, or Dante's Inferno) the reason for this is because Jesus tells everyone throughout the gospel to not tell anyone what happened but they run off and immediately tell everyone they see. The gospel ends with a messenger of God (angel) telling the women to go off and tell everyone and it is this time that they freeze and say nothing. I love the original ending of the text and it makes me laugh nearly every time I read it. However, early church leaders did not like the original ending as it was vague and didn't leave much in terms of "what next?" So the alternative endings were added on much later. More information on this can be found here: https://bibleproject.com/blog/missing-end-mark-gospel/ Let's finish up Mark and prepare ourselves next to jump into the Gospel of Symbolism, better known as John.
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about Jesus?
Which ending do I prefer and why?
If you had to summarize the Gospel of Mark into a single word or sentence what would it be?
Praying the Hymns
Our hymn today is another one that is completely new to me but maybe you've heard it before. It is 257 in our hymnal - We Meet You, O Christ. I invite you into song as we ourselves are invited to meet Christ and follow him.
1 We meet you, O Christ, in many a guise;
your image we see in simple and wise.
You live in a palace, exist in a shack;
we see you, the gardener, a tree on your back.
2 In millions alive, away and abroad;
involved in our life you live down the road.
Imprisoned in systems, you long to be free;
we see you, Lord Jesus, still bearing your tree.
3 We hear you, O man, in agony cry;
for freedom you march, in riots you die.
Your face in the papers we read and we see.
The tree must be planted by human decree.
4 You choose to be made at one with the earth; the dark of the grave prepares for your birth. Your death is your rising, creative your word; the tree springs to life and our hope is restored.