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| The Risen Christ |
Lectionary: Easter Sunday (B)
Text: Mark 16:1-8
Introduction
Most current scholars conclude that the gospel of Mark ends
at verse 8 (where our reading ends). The two endings that are found added on
past verse 8 have very little evidence to suggest that they belong there. But
what it shows is the discomfort, even among the early Christians, to have a
gospel account end in such a seemingly abrupt manner.
One of the common explanations for accepting the abrupt
ending is to describe how the gospel of Jesus spread, and so the ending is not
really and ending. After all, the very first sentence of the gospel account
explains that what you are about to read and hear is “The beginning of the good
news about Jesus Christ, God’s Son…” (Mark 1:1 CEB) And the very fact that you
are reading and hearing it means that it didn’t end with the women being silent
about the empty tomb.
What do we make of this strange ending then? Did the ending
of the gospel get lost, as is sometimes suggested?
Translations
In her commentary on Mark, Reopening the Word: Reading
Mark as Theology in the Context of Early Judaism, Marie Noonan Sabin
suggest an alternate explanation. She provides details on how many of the words
and images found in the final eight verses of Mark have ties that go into the
rest of the gospel account. When those earlier themes are used as lenses to
read the final verses, a different image appears. One that is both consistent
with the gospel’s themes and one which allows the gospel to end at 16:8.
All translations are interpretations, and some translations
are better than others. And not infrequently, the better translations depart
from traditional ones as scholars become better informed about literature,
history, religion, politics, and social practices of antiquity.
Echoes and Allusions
Mark 16:1
When the gospels were written, they would likely have been
read in their entirety in a short span of time such that the audience would
have fresh in their minds narrative what came earlier. But with our interrupted
readings, we need to take frequent pauses to remind ourselves of what came
before. Let’s once again go through Mark 16:1-8, but this time pause to look
for major connections to passages that are found earlier in the gospel text.
1 When the Sabbath was
over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so
that they could go and anoint Jesus’ dead body.
The central characters in all the gospel resurrection
accounts are women. A key point to raise is that they are named in these accounts.
In a time when women were devalued and literature frequently omits their names,
the gospel accounts raise them up to be seen as full human beings.
The next point to note is the stated purpose of the women to
go and anoint Jesus’ body. Just a few days earlier, probably about Wednesday in
Bethany, Jesus was at the house of Simon. It was here that a woman had poured
out outlandishly expensive perfume on Jesus’ head. When others who were there
criticized this “waste” Jesus defended the woman and gave the act an
interpretation that she had anointed him beforehand in preparation for his
death.[1]
There was, then, two anointings that bookend the final four
or so days of Jesus’ Passion account in Mark. One was for burial, but the
second anointing never takes place. Rather, Sabin writes that this might
correspond to the closing of the Jewish Sabbath liturgy “where the distribution
of spices accompanies a prayer that the Sabbath-time will continue to hallow
and sweeten the ‘ordinary time’ of the week. The liturgy for death has become a
liturgy of for hallowing ordinary life.”[2]
Mark 16:2-4
Next, we read 16:2-4.
2 Very early on the
first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb. 3
They were saying to each other, “Who’s going to roll the stone away from the
entrance for us?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone had
been rolled away. (And it was a very large stone!)[3]
The presence of the tomb and stone recollects the story of
the man possessed by an evil spirit encountered in Mark 5. Here the man is said
to be living among the tombs, coming out of the tombs to meet Jesus, and said
to cut himself with stones. We will return to this story in just a bit.
Mark 16:5-6
But first, let’s continue to 16:5-6.
5 Going into the tomb,
they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right side; and they were
startled. 6 But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking
for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He isn’t here.
Look, here’s the place where they laid him.
There are several points to observe with this verse. First,
the mention of a “young man” who is wearing “a white robe”. Sabin notes that in
the account of Jesus’ arrest, a young man is specifically mentioned who is almost
captured but leaves his linen cloth behind and flees naked.[4]
She suggests that although the two are different individuals, this might
metaphorically represent the rehabilitation of the disciple(s) that ran away.
The white robes also remind the listener of the appearance
of Jesus during the transfiguration event.[5]
We now return to the story of the man possessed by demons.
Towards the end of this narrative, he is described as fully dressed, fully
sane, and sitting.[6]
The kind of transformation seen in the man formerly possessed by a demon but
transformed may be representative of the kind of change that occurs when people
witness and experience the resurrection.[7]
Finally, we come to the reaction of the women when they see
the empty tomb and the young man. They are “startled”. This same word is found
in the reaction of the crowd when they witness the first exorcism by Jesus that
Mark records in chapter 1. In the CEB, it uses the phrase “everyone was shaken”
to describe the reaction.[8]
The same word is also found when Jesus comes down from the mount of
transfiguration and encounters the crowd below. The CEB uses “overcome with
excitement” to translate their reaction.[9]
Here the crowd has been witnessing the failure of Jesus’ disciples to deal with
an unclean spirit that had possessed a boy. Based on these usages, it might be
suggested that this idea of startled, shaken, and excited has something to do
with overcoming dark and supernatural powers. There is also, however, a degree
of uncertainty about the nature of the power that can exorcise unwanted
spirits. Perhaps that is why in 16:6 the young man needs to assure the women
that all is well.
Mark 16:7
Moving to verse 7 we read,
7 Go, tell his
disciples, especially Peter, that he is going ahead of you into Galilee. You
will see him there, just as he told you.”
As many recent commentators have noted, it is the women who
are the first apostles, the ones sent to bear witness to the resurrection. A
key takeaway is that the resurrection affirms the equality of all peoples: in
being, in purpose, and in function.
The apostle Paul would later write to the Galatians, “All of
you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28
There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there
male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”[10]
This saying may have been a part of a very early baptismal formula.[11]
Mark 16:8
We now reach what is probably the most problematic verse,
verse 8.
8 Overcome with terror
and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they
were afraid. (CEB)
A more literal translation renders it this way.
8 They went out and fled
from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said
nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (NASB)
“Seized”
The words “overcome” and “gripped” are found in other
translations as “seized”. This same word occurs in the story of the boy
possessed by an unclean spirit. He “has a spirit” is how the word is
translated. One commentary observes that,
Many readers have written on the
Gospel of Mark as a series of exorcisms… Jesus commands demons and spirits and
illnesses to “come out” of those they have possessed, but Jesus’ baptism reads
like the reverse of an exorcism. At the beginning of his ministry, while he is
watching and listening and coming up out of the water, he is possessed by the
Spirit and a divine “occupation” begins.[12]
When the entirety of Mark’s gospel account is considered,
perhaps one of its messages is that every person is “possessed” or “has” kind
of spirit or the other. No one can be entirely free of possession: the choice
is of what kind.
“Trembling”
Next let’s briefly consider the word we see as “terror” or
as “trembling”. This same word is found in the context of the healing of the
woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.[13]
It is used in describing the reaction of the woman when Jesus discovers that
healing power had gone out from him. She is described as “full of fear and
trembling”.
“Ecstasy”
The next word to consider is “dread” or “astonishment”. The
Greek here is ekstasis. As you might guess, the English words ecstasy
and ecstatic have origins in this Greek term. When we hear “ecstasy” we
generally associate somewhat more positive ideas into it than dread or
astonishment. The term ekstasis has some of these connotations:
Ecstasis (also spelt ekstasis) is a
moment of insight; it is a moment of total immersion in being. Your inner
critic goes quiet and you are dissolved in a state of awe and wonder when
everything seems to click… We seek ecstasis because it is transformative.[14]
Places in Mark where this word ekstasis or a related
word is utilized include: what his family thinks about Jesus, the disciples’
reaction when they see Jesus walking on the water, the crowd’s response after Jesus
heals a paralyzed man, and the reaction of the people when Jesus resurrects
Jairus’ daughter.[15]
It is also the word used in the Greek LXX translation of Genesis 2:21 where it
reads that God put Adam into a “deep sleep”. How interesting to think of the
creation of woman as occurring in an ecstatic state!
“Awe”
The final word to examine is what is translated to “they
were afraid”. This same word is found in the reaction of the disciples after
Jesus calms a storm, the reaction of the woman who is healed from twelve years
of bleeding, and the reaction of the disciples when they see Jesus
transfigured. “Awe” is probably a better translation to convey the meaning of
this word in these places, including in 16:8. It is not terror, but a kind of
fear that inspires awe, reverence, and even silence as one tries to apprehend
and comprehend what they have just witnessed.
Conclusion
Mark 16:8 combines all these ideas, which are rationally
indescribable, but still tries to describe them. And I think that is one reason
why literal translations have difficulties making sense of the words here. The
resurrection is beyond anything that can be described rationally, using human
words.
Sabin takes a stab at translating it using her own words:
“And going out they fled the tomb, for trembling and ecstasy possessed them,
and they said nothing to anyone, for they were filled with awe.”[16]
She continues with an explanation,
So translated, this verse
represents a climax in the motif of transformation. Each part of it, in
fact, bears symbolic weight. The women’s fleeing from the tomb not only mirrors
the change in the healed demoniac but also Jesus’ own release from the tomb.
Their sense of being possessed by holy ecstasy is the reverse of possession by
the devil. The word ekstasis points to the trance-like state of a new
creation. Their silence is not a dumb of fearful silence; their speechlessness
comes from being “filled with awe”.[17]
The gospel account is “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ”. The resurrection ushers in the beginning of a group of transformed
believers of Jesus Christ. Mark’s gospel doesn’t have a strong closure because
the gospel story is still ongoing. With every celebration of Easter, we are
reminded that resurrection and transformation is an ongoing process. We can be possessed
by divine ecstasy yet simultaneously be silent in divine awe. The empty tomb is
just that: empty. It is not where we are meant to be. We are to flee from the
power of death and embrace the living Christ.
Christ is risen!
He is risen!
In the name of God who Creates,
In the name of God who Lives,
And in the name of God who Breathes life into us,
Amen.
References
Cussen, J. (n.d.). Ecstasis & Catharsis: The
Makers of Meaning. Retrieved from The Living Philosophy:
https://www.thelivingphilosophy.com/ecstasis-and-catharsis/
Garcia Bashaw, J. (2022). Scapegoats: The Gospel
through the Eyes of Victims. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Jarvis, C. A., & Johnson, E. E. (2014). Feasting
on the Gospels: Mark (A Feasting on the Word Commentary). Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press.
Sabin, M. N. (2002). Reopening the Word: Reading
Mark as Theology in the Context of Early Judaism. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press.
[1]
Mark 14:3-9.
[2]
[3]
I find it quite curious that this observation was left in the text. Just so
future readers know that three women could not have possibly moved it by
themselves…?
[4]
Mark 14:50-52.
[5]
Mark 9:2-3.
[6]
Mark 5:15.
[7]
[8]
Mark 1:27.
[9]
Mark 9:15.
[10]
Galatians 3:27-28.
[11]
[12]
[13]
Mark 5:25-34, specifically v. 33.
[14]
[15]
Mark 3:21, 6:51, 2:12, 5:42.
[16]
[17]
Ibid.
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