Bursting To Tell
A reading for Easter Monday, April 13, 2020: Mark 16:1-8.
If it's been a while since you read the ending of Mark, you might notice there are three different endings. Most scholars agree the shortest ending, verse 8, is the original intended by Mark. The others were added later by scribes and others that wanted more of a resurrection account. But why did Mark want it to end at verse 8?
Mark was a true evangelist, in that he told the story of Jesus for the purpose. He wanted his readers to take action, to tell others about Jesus. But wait, verse 8 says the women left the tomb and told nobody? I thought you said Mark wanted people to tell others about Jesus...
What's the best way to motivate people to share something important? Tell them not to tell anybody! Right? Think about some of the most important things you have been told. Maybe you even had to hold a secret for a while before being allowed to tell. When it was time to tell others, you were bursting to get it out.
That's what Mark it doing. Over and over again through the entire gospel of Mark, we hear Jesus tell those he heals and those he teaches not to tell. The ending at verse 8 is kind of a big don't tell, because of fear.
But then, when Mark write this gospel and it starts to circulate in the early church, the time has come to tell everybody. His early readers would have been bursting to go out and share the good news of Jesus, having read so often not to tell. They spread the news far and wide.
It's Easter Monday! Today is the day we too might be bursting to tell about Jesus. It's not a secret, but still exciting. He is Risen. He's alive. Go tell somebody what that means to you in your life.
Mark is the ending that is really a beginning. Go tell someone right now!
If it's been a while since you read the ending of Mark, you might notice there are three different endings. Most scholars agree the shortest ending, verse 8, is the original intended by Mark. The others were added later by scribes and others that wanted more of a resurrection account. But why did Mark want it to end at verse 8?
Mark was a true evangelist, in that he told the story of Jesus for the purpose. He wanted his readers to take action, to tell others about Jesus. But wait, verse 8 says the women left the tomb and told nobody? I thought you said Mark wanted people to tell others about Jesus...
What's the best way to motivate people to share something important? Tell them not to tell anybody! Right? Think about some of the most important things you have been told. Maybe you even had to hold a secret for a while before being allowed to tell. When it was time to tell others, you were bursting to get it out.
That's what Mark it doing. Over and over again through the entire gospel of Mark, we hear Jesus tell those he heals and those he teaches not to tell. The ending at verse 8 is kind of a big don't tell, because of fear.
But then, when Mark write this gospel and it starts to circulate in the early church, the time has come to tell everybody. His early readers would have been bursting to go out and share the good news of Jesus, having read so often not to tell. They spread the news far and wide.
It's Easter Monday! Today is the day we too might be bursting to tell about Jesus. It's not a secret, but still exciting. He is Risen. He's alive. Go tell somebody what that means to you in your life.
Mark is the ending that is really a beginning. Go tell someone right now!
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