It's been a few weeks since I've written here. I still think about Mark's gospel almost every day. To say I've been obsessed would be an understatement. I think it's been almost two years since I really started digging in to it. I still read and listen to the book once in a while. David Suchet's reading of Mark on Spotify is a fantastic listen! I have also been reading bits of different commentaries on Mark's gospel, and listening to audio book commentaries as well. Many different people have fascinating insights about Mark's mysterious book.
I don't remember which commentary I got the idea from, but some scholar pointed out a foreshadow that Mark placed in chapter one. It bears similarities to the scene at the empty tomb in Chapter 16. Let's have a look:
Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” 39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
Now, notice the similarities with the end of the gospel:
Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
I've written before about this ending, and why I believe Mark ends his book in this mysterious way. I think he wants to inspire the reader to take action from here. It's up to the reader to "go to Galilee", to "look for him", to "go and tell".
I believe Mark's Jesus wants the reader to seek him out. Maybe that's why the story ends without an actual resurrection appearance? He wants you to look for him. Maybe that's why Jesus in Mark's gospel is so elusive and mysterious? He wants you to find him. He wants you to know know him; that he is the Messiah whose mission was to suffer and die on a cross.... AND rise again.
Let's go back to that foreshadow in Ch.1 again, and have a look at something that I have recently begun to think is signifigant.
Mark 1:37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
He wants everyone to look for him<---that is why he came.
And I believe Mark wrote his book the way he did so that you also would go looking for Jesus.
Look for him.
"There you will see him, just as he told you."
Thanks for reading!
-matt
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