Unfolding Scripture: Mark 16

Mark 15 ended with Jesus being laid in the tomb, and this chapter begins with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome heading for the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body (Mark 16:1-8). These women have no idea how they will roll the stone away – they simply act out of love for Jesus and go to the tomb. These women show incredible faith – seemingly more faith than the apostles – by making this trek. What they discover at the tomb is something completely unexpected: the stone has been rolled away already, and the body of Jesus is gone. In spite of the angel’s explanation that He has been raised from the dead, these women remain afraid and unsure of what has happened. So Jesus appears also to Mary Magdalene on her own (Mark 16:9-11), and though she begins to understand – and tries to explain things to the Apostles – they don’t believe her. Mark also gives a summary of the events which occurred to two disciples on their way to Emmaus (Mark 16:12-13, described in greater detail at Luke 24:13-35) – but their account doesn’t seem to convince the apostles either. One item of note is the fact that Mary is to tell the Apostls And Peter (Mark 16:7), having been singled out as the leader of the eleven.

What can we learn from the doubt of the apostles? St. Gregory the Great comments that “The reason why the disciples were slow to believe in the resurrection was not so much due to their weakness as to our future firmness in faith; what other purposes does this have than that our faith should be strengthened by their doubt?” In other words, the fact that Jesus’ closer followers struggled to comprehend what had happened and what it meant to them was so that our own doubts and anxiety might be relieved. If they could trust God, so can we.

Once Jesus appears to them (Mark 16:14), He leaves them with a commission, the “Universal Apostolic Mandate” of Mark 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation.” Along with this, the apostles are to Baptize and perform similar miracles to those Jesus performed (Mark 16:16-18). Having passed His mission on to us, Jesus ascends to the Father (Mark 16:19), and the Apostles are left to answer Jesus’ commission and carry on His work (Mark 16:20). It is this mission which has been passed on to us believers today – to preach the Gospel to all creation and to carry on Jesus love and care for those in need. Perhaps St. Teresa of Avila put it best:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

 

*One note about Mark 16 – depending on your translation of the Bible, you may notice that it has two different endings – a long one and a short one. This is due to the fact that in the fourth century, several important manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel offered these different endings, some ending at verse 8, and others including verses 9-20. The “official” translation – what we believe is inspired in the Gospel – includes the entirety of verses 9-20.

**In case you’re wondering, I’ve used two commentaries to help me explain this Gospel: the Navarre Bible and the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. A good commentary like these is good to help understand translation issues, to look at a passage from a different direction, and to integrate it into the whole of our faith. There is no reason any of us should ever feel like we are interpreting scripture on our own – we have 2000 YEARS of scholars, theologians, teachers, priests, and saints who have all met and shared Christ through the pages of the Bible. Just make sure whatever commentary you’re reading is a good Catholic one… I certainly recommend either of the above as they have been very easy to work with.