Lord God, heavenly Father, who didst deliver Thy Son for our offenses, and didst raise Him again: We beseech Thee, grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may rule and govern us according to Thy will; graciously keep us in the true faith; defend us from all sins, and after this life raise us unto eternal life, through the same, Thy beloved Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
The Ending of Mark Is Real
Background
I just ran across an Internet article which claimed, in the name of archeology, that the "earliest and best" sources did not have an ending for Mark's Gospel. That was the proof, those unnamed sources, serving as a demolition of Mark in the Majority Text, and the King James Version.
There are only two problems with this assertion. One is that Codex Sinaiticus (correctly dated about 1840 AD) is a forgery, not "the earliest and best." The other source is Codex Vaticanus (with no precise date or origin), which was kept under wraps until Tischendorf, who found Sinaiticus as if by magic, promoted the Church of Rome's bound volume, modestly named Vaticanus. Neither one of these major "sources" have a certified date or "descendants" copies of their work, said to be so pure and good.
The author's tone reminded me of the astronomer who was angry that planetarium managers used the Star of Bethlehem as a draw to visit their expensive and elaborate display of the sky when the Star of Bethlehem appeared. He could not deny the facts, but he disliked the suggestion that the story was real, that it appealed to Christians.
As someone wrote, "When no evidence is provided, no refutation is needed." However, the LCMS printing press, Concordia Publishing House, has rejected the original ( or "long") ending of Mark through its massive Gospel of Mark commentary. The author stated clearly that his two-volume attack is based on Codex Vaticanus. No wonder LCMS pastors become Roman Catholic priests.
KJV Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
We have four clear apostolic accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and a fifth - Mark - which is used as an attack against His resurrection. Basic to the Resurrection are the women going to the tomb, the appearance of angels and one speaking, the disciples' scepticism!, and His appearance to them in the upper room. Instead of fogging over the scene with angry repudiations of the Gospel of Mark, the scholars without faith should note that Simon Greenleaf, a noted scholar in evidence (Harvard Law), became a Christian believer while trying to refute the evidence of the empty tomb.
Why is St. Paul included as one who saw the risen Christ? He was on the road to Damascus when the Son of God appeared to Him, appointed him an apostle, and trained him. Jesus Christ planted faith in his heart, because Paul was not only an unbeliever but also fierce opponent of the Christians.
So we have five accounts, with the details varying but in harmony with each other. From that point, the cloud of witnesses grew as the risen Messiah established the Christian Church to 500 before His Ascension. The apostles trained pastors and the Christian Church grew enormously, without worrying about demographics and the felt needs of the various countries where they worked. (Fuller Seminary is all about measuring the population, dangling answers for the worries of people - such as time management.) Luther wrote - Wherever the Gospel is preached, eternal life springs up.
3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
The women were so eager to finish their work, assuming Jesus was lost to them forever, that they never considered moving the stone placed over the entranced. Given the upper body strength of most women, they had no chance of moving it at all. Then they looked as they approached, they saw it was no longer blocking the entrance. Those stones were more like a very large lid rolled into place, and they could be moved by rolling them to the side, given enough muscle power.
5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
I had no less than two LCA New Testament professors emphasize the "contradiction" of one or two angels, because only one angel talked. One professor was a Harvard ThD, and the other was a Princeton ThD. This comes from listening to the university authorities, who were against the divinity of Christ and His resurrection. They carried that unbelief around with them, teaching hundreds of college and seminary students.
As I have written before, the details overlap, and they fit together quite well if one does not start out with bias. One foolish statement, often repeated, can influence a generation. For example, saying that the original New Testament texts are lost (a lie), opens up every verse to scrutiny. The Greek Christian Byzantine Empire outlasted the Western Roman Empire and protected the Greek treasures, including the New Testament. The Jewish scholars protected the Old Testament books. How bizarre, to think the Christian Church was so careless that they let the New Testament fall into contradictory and false versions. The 5,000 copies of the Majority (Traditional) Greek New Testament agree with each other, but five items were used by the modern rationalists to overturn the basic text of the King James Version.
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
Notice how poetic this is, a series of brief descriptive phrases. This makes me think the Holy Spirit intended it to be a confession and catechism, easily memorized by adults and children. In contrast, we are used to long, subordinated sentences, where the the words are so complicated and numerous the average writer or reader gets lost. (I tell students to chop those sentences into halves - or even thirds.)
8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
In the Greek lectionaries and even today, this part was marked by "telos" - the end of the reading for the day. In ancient and Medieval times, the celebration of Easter lasted for days and the Sundays following, to establish the basics of Jesus Resurrection and Ascension. The Christian Church had readings for Easter Monday and so forth.
The sceptics want us to believe that all the accounts of the Resurrection were mythical. That is because denying the God in God's Word neuters all the mysteries (treasures) of the Gospel. After all, an unbelieving PhD in theology can always teach world history. A pastor told me, "You are the only world religion teacher I know who is a believer."
9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
In fact, no one believed the great Resurrection at first. The women ran away. When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, she believed and told the disciples, who were weeping and mourning His death. It is good to remember, when we have doubted, that the followers were stunned and disbelieving at first, even though they were taught in three separate addresses that Jesus would be arrested, tortured, and killled, and rise again. God conquers death with eternal life, and Jesus Christ is the proof. The entire Bible is one great Book of the Holy Spirit teaching us the revealed truths of the Holy Trinity.
12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. 14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Most people are aware of the Emmaus appearance in Luke (Easter Monday reading), but it is here in Mark as well, in abbreviated form. There are two agreeing examples for the sceptics, but they brush it aside. The grief-stricken disciples rejected what the women and Emmaus disciples had witnessed, and they were all together in the upper room when Jesus appeared before them, risen from the dead.
As Luther and Lenski like to say, Jesus upbraided His disciples often and primarily for their lack of faith in Him. After all, they did not even believe eye witnesses to the empty tomb and to Jesus Himself. And finally, as John records, Doubting Thomas did not believe his fellow disciples because he was not there for the first appearance in the upper, locked, bar the door room.
Why not pray for all things needed, no matter how trivial? If God can conquer death with the Word, then anything else is trivial in comparison. Prayer is asking, not demanding, and God answers according to His wisdom and loving determination.
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
As Lenski says in Mark, p. 770, the part about serpents is not snake-handling, as a few do as their weird kind of sacrament, daring and defying God. There were deliberate poisonings in those days as the death penalty and also accidental because of scorpions and dangerous snakes. As one sainted member said, "Any excuse will do" in rejecting the Gospel.
For those fooled and seduced by Fuller Seminary, this Great Commission in Mark does not feature "making disciples" (which is typical of the sociological method) but preaching the Gospel, the only way to plant faith in unbelievers.
The disciples were given the miracle powers evidenced by the Son of God in His ministry, to establish the Gospel and its power. Miracles have not stopped. The power belongs to God and should be the object of our prayers. Doubtless many angels do their work without a hint of gratitude from us. When considered after a remarkable turn of events, God and His holy angels should receive the thanks and praise.
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs [miracles] following. Amen.
And we also have the Ascension in Mark
(and Luke-Acts), which should make all the pastors have a separate event on the calendar, for three proofs - Mark, Luke, and Acts
KJV Luke 24:50 And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. 51 And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.
This is a great passage to read, mark, and inwardly digest.
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