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Sermon Notes

Mark–the Right Now Gospel
Chapter 16
Part 25
“He Is Risen!”

Let’s begin with where we left off last time:
15:40 “There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, 41 who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.”
Notice, we read of no man here. It is a group of women “looking on from afar” at the crucifixion and death of Christ on the Cross. Yet John’s gospel sheds a bit more light by telling us that Jesus “saw his mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by,” and, “He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple (John), ‘Behold your mother.'” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:25-27). To the end, Jesus took care of His mother, thinking of others even while dying on a Cross!
Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb
42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.”
Once again we have here a fulfilled prophecy out of Isaiah 53:9, “He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”
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Now we come to the final chapter of Mark’s gospel:
16:1-20 “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”
Thus our Lord rose on the third day; having lain in the grave part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of the following First day.
3 “And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”
So the women encountered an angel. In Mt 28:2 he is called “the angel of the Lord”; but here he is described as he appeared to the eye. In Matthew he is shown sitting on the stone outside the sepulchre; and says, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (Mt 28:6). So he seems to have gone in ahead of them, and had only been awaiting their arrival to accompany them into the sacred spot, and then give them instructions.
8 “So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
Now, if you have an NIV translation, you will note that it says following verse 8, “The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]”
• Revised Standard Version (RSV) – places the verses in a separate section with a note: “Most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9–20.”
• New American Standard Bible (NASB) – earlier editions bracketed the verses; updated NASB (1995) moved them to a separate section.
• New King James Version (NKJV) – includes a footnote: “Verses 9–20 are bracketed as not original.”
• English Standard Version (ESV) – places the verses in double brackets with a note.
• American Standard Version (ASV) – includes a note but keeps the verses in the text.

So what is going on here? When they say, “The earliest manuscripts don’t have these verses,” what are they referring to? Well, let’s first look at what a manuscript is.

• A biblical manuscript is any handwritten copy of a portion of the Bible made by scribes in ancient times.

Before the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, every Bible was produced by hand, letter by letter, word by word, and page by page. These manuscripts are our primary evidence for what the biblical authors originally wrote.

Early biblical manuscripts were written on:

• Papyrus – a paper-like material made from the papyrus plant, common in Egypt.
• Parchment – prepared animal skins, more durable than papyrus.

They could be:

• Scrolls – rolled pieces of papyrus or parchment, the original form of the Bible.

• Codices – bound books made of parchment, papyrus, or later paper.

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Now, when it comes to ancient manuscripts, no book of antiquity has more manuscript evidence than does the NT. There are approximately 5,800 Greek New Testament manuscripts, ranging from small fragments to complete codices, with additional manuscripts continually being discovered and catalogued.

For comparison, there are about 8 extant (still in existence) manuscripts of the Greek historian Herodotus.

Depending on your source, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato’s surviving manuscript count ranges from about 7 to 250.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle has about 1,000 extant manuscripts,

Homer’s Iliad is survived by around 1,757 manuscripts, and is the closest in number to the New Testament’s Greek manuscripts, though the New Testament’s copies are much closer in time to the originals.

So the NT is the clear runaway winner for surviving manuscripts.

• There is more manuscript support for the NT than for any other body of ancient literature!
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Let’s look at how translations happen:

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek–the Greek of the common man. While we have none of the surviving original manuscripts (no work of antiquity does), we have almost 6,000 copies and fragments. They have been compiled into complete Greek texts, which are what translators use to translate the NT from Greek into another language, in our case the English language. There are several options for translators to choose from.

For instance, The King James Bible published in 1516 was translated from what is called the Textus Receptus, sometimes called the Received Text.

Then, since the 1880’s most contemporary translations of the NT have relied on a few other manuscripts–primarily two–the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, because of their greater age. These two manuscripts together are part of what is called the Alexandrian Text. They date back further than any other mss that we have. This is what gives them their value to translators.

Yet many NT scholars now prefer that the best text for translation is based on the consensus of the majority of all of the existing Greek manuscripts. This text is called the Majority Text. The Majority Text is a Greek New Testament text reconstructed by selecting the readings found in the majority of surviving Greek manuscripts. Many translators choose to use the Majority Text.

So we have the Textus Receptus, the Majority Text, and the Alexandrian Text which is Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus combined.

But there’s one more, and it’s called the Critical Text. The Critical text was compiled by scholars with the conviction that the best method would seem to be taking into account all factors: majority, age, and location, where the mss was found.

Other than the King James Version, the New King James Version, and the World English Bible, all of the modern English translations are based on the Critical Text. The ESV, NASB, NIV, CSB, NLT, NRSV, and others were translated from the Critical Text.

Now, here’s where the controversy arises. In the Alexandrian Text, which is the oldest, Mark 16:9-20 is not found. Other early manuscripts from the 4th and 5th centuries also often omit these verses. This matters much to translators because, the older the manuscript, the closer it is to the original autographs or writings. So to a translator, the older the better! Thus, vs 9-20 have been held in doubt as to whether Mark actually wrote them, or they were inserted later by an uninspired author.

Those that hold to vs 9-20 not being written by Mark argue that these verses didn’t appear until the 5th century. Here’s the facts in a nutshell:

• Earliest Greek manuscripts (4th century): Absent (end at 16:8)

• Later manuscripts (5th century onward): Commonly included.

In short, while the longer ending was widely circulated in later centuries, its first clear appearance in the manuscript record is from the 5th century, and it was not part of the earliest known Greek copies.

So what do we do with this? Did Mark put down his pen after the 8th verse? Or did he continue with vs 9-20?

Let’s look at those controversial verses!

Vs 9-11 involve Mary Magdalene:

9 “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.”
Luke 8:2 confirms that, “…some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out;”
John 20:18 confirms that she had told the disciples about the risen Lord. “18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord,”
So 9-11 are confirmed elsewhere in Scripture.
Jesus Appears to Two Disciples
12 “After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.”
These two verses are also confirmed in Luke 24:13-33.
The Great Commission
14 “Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
The Great Commission is found in some form in all 4 gospels as well as the Book of Acts.

Then we come to the ‘signs following’ verses of 17-18
17 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Every one of these signs was fulfilled according to Scripture, except for the drinking of poison. Tradition has it that John was offered a poison cup, apparently coerced, and it did not harm him.
Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand
19 “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.”
Verse 20 tells us of all those signs following the disciples after Jesus had ascended back to heaven. So I have to lean toward 9-20 being genuine!