The Good News of Jesus
05/23/2010 - The End is Here...or is it?
Well, today's an historic day for Valley View Community Church. Today we finally finish the gospel of Mark. This is the 60th teaching we've done in this epic series which shattered the previous record of 15 teachings which is what it took to get us through the book of Revelation a few years ago.
We've taken this long journey with Jesus together and believe it or not Mark is the shortest of the four gospels. When we started the series back on October 12, 2008, George W. Bush was still the President of the United States, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped under 10,000 points for the first time in 5 ½ years ending that week at 8,451, the Phillies were on the verge of winning their first World Series title since 1980, and believe it or not the New York Giants were the reigning Super Bowl champions. That seems like ages ago!
But today we finally come to the end. And perhaps if Mark were here himself he would say we came to the end last week, because as you can see in most of your Bibles the gospel appears to end with Mark 16:8 which says,Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Now to me that seems like an odd way to end the story. The women said nothing to anyone because they were afraid? That's it? That's how the good news ends? That seems rather abrupt and anti-climactic to me. Although some would argue, "Hey, that's Mark's style. That's the way he writes. Throughout the entire gospel he moves quickly from scene to scene. So he finishes, some say, the same way he began - abruptly, without comment, or any further explanation."
Remember how he starts in Mark 1:1,The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah. Very abrupt and to the point. Mark doesn't waste any words. So maybe this is the way he wanted his story to end. That's very possible.
But others aren't satisfied with that answer. They believe that the gospel ends with the passage we're going to look at today. So if you have your Bible turn to Mark 16:9-20.
Now the reason there's even a question about this passage is because it's not contained in some of the earliest Greek manuscripts. In fact, in the Bibles that we give out you have a line under Mark 16:8 and then you have a bracket that says, [The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.]
So let me just take a minute to give you a brief lesson on the science of textual criticism. I hope you had an extra cup of coffee this morning! Textual criticism is the method that scholars use to try to determine what the original manuscripts of the Bible actually said. Remember, we don't have the original documents of any book of the Bible. We don't have the original scroll that Mark wrote or anybody wrote.
But we do have copies. And we have a ton of them. There are over5,600 manuscripts containing all or part of the New Testament. And they agree 99% of the time on everything they say which I think is amazing! And when they don't agree often the differences are very minor like word order or missing the article "the" or finding a name spelled differently. And so in these cases textual criticism tries to determine what the original document actually said.
And there are basically two schools of thought. One gives priority to what's contained in the oldest manuscripts which produces a version of the Greek New Testament called theCritical Text. And one gives priority to what's contained in the majority of manuscripts which produces a version called theMajority Text.
The Majority Text was the basis for the King James Version of the Bible, the Bible I grew up reading. And if you have one in front of you today Mark 16:9-20 is in there because this passage is found in the majority of those 5,600 manuscripts.
But it's not found in two of the oldest manuscripts, Codex Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, that were copied in the 4th century. So if you have a New International Version or Today's New International Version (TNIV) like the one we give out here this passage is in italics, because these versions are based on the Critical Text which gives priority to the oldest manuscripts. So some believe that Mark 16:9-20 wasn't written by Mark, but added later by a scribe who probably thought the ending was too abrupt!
And there's a lot more we could say about it like maybe Mark never got to finish his gospel, or the original ending was lost, or what the early church fathers thought, but I think that's enough for now. I told you that you needed an extra cup of coffee!
So all of you who hold to the Critical Text position can leave because you don't think this is Scripture. But those of you who hold to the Majority Text position can stay because for you this is the Word of God. I think it is so let's take a look at it.
Look at Mark 16:9, When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
We know from verse one that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early on Sunday morning. She came with Mary the mother of James and Salome to anoint the body of Jesus. But when they arrived they discovered that the stone was rolled away. They saw that the Roman seal was broken and that the guards were out cold and thought they had stumbled on to a crime scene.
And when they entered the tomb they saw a young man dressed in a white robe who tried to calm them down by saying, "Don't be alarmed. Jesus isn't here. He has risen from the dead!" And he sent them on their way to tell the good news to the disciples and to Peter.
And so they did that and went back to those who were mourning and weeping, but they didn't believe them. We know from John's gospel that John and Peter took off when they heard the news and ran to the tomb to see for themselves. They saw it was empty, but they didn't see Jesus so they went back home.
But apparently Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb after Peter and John and when she did Jesus appeared to her personally. She was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus. What a privilege Jesus gave this woman and what a wonderful way to validate the role of women in general.
John says she was actually crying outside the tomb still in disbelief thinking that someone had taken her Lord away when Jesus asked her in John 20:15-16,"Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher").
And then John says she gave Jesus a huge hug and wouldn't let him go, which just might be what you do the first time you hear Jesus call your name and you see your resurrected Lord face to face. I can only imagine, right!
Look at verse 12,Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
Luke is the one who gives us more detail about this event. Apparently Jesus appeared to two men who were walking from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus about seven miles away. He came in a "different form" from what these two men were used to seeing and so they didn't recognize him right away either.
Jesus walked along the road with them and asked them to tell him what happened to Jesus of Nazareth over the weekend. And after they did he began explaining all that the Scriptures had to say about Messiah beginning with Moses and going all the way through the prophets.
And then he had dinner with them and we read in Luke 24:30-32,When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
That must have been quite a Bible study on the road to Emmaus. It certainly gave them a good case of heart burn as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. I would love to have been there!
And so they reported to the rest of the disciples what they had seen and heard but they still didn't believe that Jesus was alive. One author I read this week pointed out that, "By hearing about Jesus' resurrection before seeing him they learned what it was like to believe the testimony of eyewitnesses. That would be necessary for all those to whom they would preach in the coming days."
One reason I'm convinced of the authenticity of the gospels is because they're so brutally honest. The disciples were not an easy sell. It took a lot to convince them that Jesus had come back from the dead. They weren't ready to buy into a myth. And their stubborn unbelief certainly doesn't paint them in a good light. In fact, Jesus rebukes them for their lack of faith.
Look at verse 14,Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
"Come on guys, get with the program! You gotta' believe! Even the Pharisee's remembered that I might come back in three days and convinced Pilate to seal the tomb and post a guard. I'm here! I'm back, just like I told you! Let's get on with the mission!"
And he said to them in verse 15,"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Go into all the world and announce the good news to all creation? And what is the good news? The good news is that the liberating King has come and the kingdom of God has begun and we can all be part of it by believing that Jesus is the King who died on the cross for our sins and rose again. That's the gospel. That's the good news that saves us from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin and one day from the presence of sin itself. We will not be condemned if we believe in Jesus.
And we display that faith in baptism. Baptism is the outward sign of our inward commitment to Christ. I like to say that baptism is like a wedding ring. Putting on a wedding didn't marry me. My vows to Jennifer are what married me. But my wedding ring is the outward sign of my commitment to her.
And so it is with the act of baptism. Baptism doesn't save us. Our faith in Jesus saves us. Instead, the act of baptism outwardly displays our commitment to Christ. In a few weeks I'll be teaching on baptism and then on Sunday, June 27, you'll have a chance to baptized if you've never followed Jesus in that very significant way. I hope you'll give it some serious thought.
And that good news, Jesus says, will be authenticated by all kinds of signs and wonders that the apostles themselves performed. Look at verse 17, And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
When you read the book of Acts you see many of these things happened, not in every case and not with every believer, but demons were driven out in the name of Jesus to demonstrate his power over the evil one and sick people were healed, miracles similar to the ones that Jesus himself had performed.
When Philip preached the good news in Samaria we read in Acts 8:7-8,With shrieks, evil spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8So there was great joy in that city.
They will speak in new tongues. The first example of that occurred on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the apostles were given the ability to speak in languages that they had never learned before in order to get the gospel message out quickly to those who had gathered in Jerusalemfor the feast from all over the world.
And so we read in Acts 2:7-11,Utterly amazed, they asked, "Aren't all these who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 8Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretan and Arabs - we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
They speak in new tongues, an amazing confirmation of the authenticity of gospel. Simple fisherman from Galileesuddenly fluent in a plethora of foreign languages. Why? So the good news could get out quickly to all these nations represented in Jerusalemfor that one week Festival of Pentecost! In many ways it was a reversal of what had happened at the tower of Babel where everyone's language got confused, now the gospel is untangling the confusion and putting the world back together again.
And apparently there were other signs as well that most likely took place when persecution came and they were forced to pick up snakes and drink deadly poison. I don't recommend that you try that today and hopefully you'll never be forced to do it!
Verse 19, And after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.
The book of Acts tells us that for forty days after his resurrection Jesus spoke to his disciples about the kingdom of God and then he was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives. He went back to be with his Father and sat down at the right hand of God, a place of honor and authority, and a sign that his mission was complete. And that's where he remains to this day until he gets up and comes back again to establish his kingdom here on this new earth.
Verse 20, Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Jesus' mission was complete, but that was just the beginning for his disciples and for us to go and proclaim the good news everywhere that the liberating King has come and the kingdom of God has begun and we can all be part of it by believing that Jesus is the King who died on the cross for our sins and rose again. We proclaim the good news of that kingdom individually and together in both word and deed.
I'd like to summarize this journey with Jesus through the gospel of Mark with a quote that I've read to you before, but always find refreshing and inspiring and now it means even more to me after our study in Mark. It's called "One Solitary Life" and it goes like this.
"Here was a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another town, worked as a carpenter until he was 30, then for 3 1/2 years was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book, never owned a home, never had a family, never went to college, never held an office, never went more than 200 miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things we usually attribute to greatness. He had no credentials but himself. And while he was still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies, went through the mockery of a trial and was hung upon a cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had on earth while he was alive, and that was his coat. And when he was dead, he was taken down from that cross and laid in a borrowed tomb through the pity of a friend. Twenty-one wide centuries have come and gone and today he is the centerpiece of the human race, the leader of the column of progress. And I stand far within the mark when I say that all the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that have ever been built and sailed, all the parliaments that have ever sat, and all the kings that have ever reigned put together, have not affected the life of humankind upon this earth as has that one solitary life."