The Two Endings of the Gospel of Mark

When I read Mark during church we would read the long ending, at the time I didn’t know the difference between the endings. I was confused to why there were three different parts to it and they were broken up as if they were supposed to be a new verse. When I asked the leader of the class she couldn’t give me an explanation. With the research I have done I feel that I have come to a conclusion as to which ending is the most correct and why there are multiple endings.

Mark’s gospel begins with Jesus’ ministry, leads up to, and ends with His crucifixion. The gospel stresses the importance of Jesus’ divinity and discipleship. There are different examples throughout the gospel of this. Discipleship is shown on Mark’s gospel when Jesus first calls his disciples to repent and believe. In chapter two verses twelve to seventeen Jesus calls sinners to repentance when he has supper with tax collectors. This calls the sinners to follow Him. The best example of discipleship is in chapter eight verse thirty-four when Jesus says take up your cross and follow me. He is asking people to live as He does and commit their whole lives to Him even if it means dying in order to deliver God’s message. He says whoever loses their

Starting with differences, in the Gospel of Matthew 15:21-28, Matthew seems to have actually referred to Jesus in the text a few times, whereas in the Gospel of Mark 7:24-30 Jesus is continually referred to as “he” by Mark. Not once is Jesus’ actual name mentioned anywhere throughout the text in which Mark is describing the events of what was going on. Although it might be worthy to note that in other portions throughout Mark’s Gospel Jesus is indeed mentioned by Mark.

While both books of Mark and Matthew portray Peter as one of the most important followers of Jesus, Mark seems to emphasize Jesus' spiritual career unlike the broad, more in-depth pursuit of Jesus' life that Matthew embellishes on. As both Jesus' student and friend, Peter is the one disciple most commonly referred to in the stories. Yet the two passages seem to draw different pictures of Jesus' distinguished disciple. In Matthew, Peter seems to play a larger role in Jesus' teachings and seems more significant to Jesus throughout the book. In Mark, he is still important, but to a lesser extent in the eyes of the author. Mark leaves Peter out of a few of the stories altogether and only touches

When comparing how the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Thomas view the kingdom of God, the writings have some similarities, but have two opposing main views are how you get to the kingdom. In the Gospel of Mark, it talks more about how one has to repent in order to enter the kingdom of God. It’s portrayed as more of a place one has to earn the right to enter through various doings. In the Gospel of Thomas, it has written that the kingdom is inside and all around. It’s not a specific place, but rather the kingdom is present at all times. However, both Gospels describe the actual kingdom in such a similar way, both comparing the kingdom to a mustard seed.

In Matthew 26:25 and Mark, 14:21, during the Last Supper, Jesus talks about someone betraying him. Matthew states that it was Judas whom betrayed Jesus, however Mark did not state any disciple who betrayed him. While the disciples were eating during the last supper in Matthew 26:28, Jesus gives thanks and declares that the wine is his blood and is poured out “for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Mark and Matthews gospel were very similar except Matthew altered and added in the “forgiveness of sins”, while Mark does not. Matthew leads into the death of Jesus with quoting the words of the chief priest who mocked him saying, “He trusts in God, let God deliver him now, if he wants to” (27:43), which is not found in Marks gospel.

There are many different gospels that tell a similar story. Matthew and Mark are two Gospels written in a similar way but have different audiences. The story is the Last Supper and is about the last meal that Jesus experienced with his Apostles before his Sacrifice. There are many similarities, but not very many differences. Overall, the same story is told, but from two different perspectives.

In the Gospel of Mark, Mark discloses the life of Jesus and his embodiment of God’s Kingdom. Throughout his Gospel, Mark focuses on accurately revealing Jesus’ identity to his readers, and explaining why Jesus was destined to die on the Cross. Mark uses his role as an arranger by employing a diverse array of literary tactics to highlight the lessons of his narrative. One of the most effective of these devices is intercalation—the process of sandwiching one story between the beginning and ending of a separate story. For most people, this tactic would at first appear as impractical or senseless; however, through this process Mark is able to convey a deeper meaning in the lessons he is hoping to share through the life of Jesus, and what it infers about the nature of God’s Kingdom. One of the most notable examples of intercalation in the Gospel of Mark is seen in Mark 5:21-43: the story of the raising of Jairus’ twelve-year-old daughter and the woman who suffered from hemorrhages. Through the intercalation of these two passages, Mark is able to express that the boundaries of God’s Kingdom expand beyond social status and wealth, and that faith alone is all that is needed to be a part of His divine realm.

The gospel of Mark is a short recollection of Jesus life, it has many details but is missing pieces or additions to his life. The Gospel of mark was said to have lost pieces, and also the first account of Jesus life. Although it is not as detailed in some areas as it is in others, it tells many accounts of Jesus life on earth and what kind of a person he was, the life he lived, his struggles and his ending.

The roles of disciples play a very important part in developing the message of the gospels due to their close relation to Jesus throughout the stories. To start to understand the importance of the disciples first you have to understand the main purpose of the Gospels. The Gospels are written in order to describe Jesus’s life on earth before Heaven. They give people insight to who Jesus was and create a stronger basis of belief in Jesus and God. In order to bring the Gospels to life they use the students of Jesus or Disciples to project his teachings and stories. The disciples take on many different roles in the varying gospels. They are students, friends, witnesses, observers, and worshipers of Jesus. Disciples come in many different forms of people as well. During the stories of the Gospels, Jesus is essentially walking along picking up new followers and experiencing new things with them. Throughout the experiences, Jesus teaches the disciples and they grow and learn and as a result the reader grows and learns as well. That is why the disciples play such a pivotal role in the comprehension of Jesus and him as a person. It becomes evident when analyzing the different Gospels that Jesus’ relationship with the Disciples is slightly changed in the varying texts. A noticeable difference in the development of the disciple 's relationship to Jesus is present specifically in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Thomas.

Bible Scholar David Garland points to two possibilities as to why Mark’s Gospel is written in a narrative style or form. Garland believes the Gospel of Mark either came from an oral story circulating in the Jerusalem church or it came from a firsthand account of the Apostle Peter. Some bible scholars point to the idea that the Gospel of Mark was narrativized, so it could be heard rather than be read silently. Bible scholar Robert Tannehill believes the Gospel of Mark may even have been collected and delivered orally before it was ever written down. Michael Licona believes if a certain text appears in all three Synoptics, the Gospel of Mark is the most likely source for Matthew and Luke’s accounts. Licona notes that this rule should not be held hard and fast, since Mark may also have been using an oral story while Matthew and Luke choose another source or omitted material where it differs in each of their Gospel’s. The Apostle Peter seems to be the eyewitness account which Mark narrates into a single unified story, which centers around a single central figure Jesus and a group of His closest companions. If the author of Mark was using an oral story to write his gospel from, this would definitely explain its narrative style.

A lot about the gospels remains unknown to scholars. But the similarities help understand what texts were available to who. The “two-source hypothesis” already depicts and early Christianity where some gospels, such as the Gospel of Mark and the ‘Q’ scroll were easily accessible to enough people that the other synoptic gospels could be based on them. There may be many similarities in the gospels that help pin together the life and death of Jesus, but many of the differences prevent a crystal clear

After reading the Gospel of Mark, I was most surprised when Jesus wanted the people to keep some of His healings a secret. For example, in Mark 5:21-43, Jesus brings a girl back to life. This girl had just died minutes before Jesus arrived, but when He got there He said, “the child is not dead but asleep” (Mark 5:39). After she was revived, Jesus gave strict orders to the spectators to not let anyone know about this. Another example where Jesus keeps His healing a secret is in Mark 3:7. He had healed many people, but the crowd was getting larger and larger so He asked his disciples to get a boat for Him. The people who had been possessed by impure spirits fell on the ground before him and cried, “you are the Son of God.” Again,

Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).

The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament in the Bible, and is a Gospel narrative. The narratives provided by the Gospels in the New Testament are here to provide us with descriptions of the life, death, and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ, as well as to share His teachings. Like any other narrative, it is important to understand the historical and literary contexts surrounding the Gospel of Matthew, as well as the importance and significance of Matthew itself. As a Gospel, Matthew is here to present us with the narrative of Jesus Christ as our Messiah, as promised in the Old Testament Prophesy. While it is important to evaluate the extensive context surrounding the narrative of Matthew, the meaning behind the narrative can be found through relating it to the various events that are described in the other Gospels. By comparing the Gospels, it is easy to evaluate the underlying meaning and significance, within the context of the Gospels. Because the Gospels were written as narratives to provide us with information on the life and death of Jesus Christ, and all that happened in between, it is important to compare the different accounts described in the Gospels whenever possible. In doing so, it is possible to examine the Gospels within the appropriate context. With 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), it is important to compare them with one another in order to further evaluate the importance of Jesus Christ, as he is the