Format of the Final Exam and A Reflection on the Longer Ending of Mark

Format of the Final Exam in Synoptics II

A Reflection on the Longer Ending of Mark (16:9-20)
by: R. C. Flores, SVD
published in Word in Other Words: SVD Bible Diary 2013 (May 20, Ascension)

May  20

Sunday

The Lord’s Ascencion

World Communication Sunday

white • Proper

The Word

Ac 1,1-11 / Eph 1,17-23 / Mk 16,15-20

Jesus said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.  These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages.  They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.  They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.  But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.

In southern India, the Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu is known for snake catching.  One can admire the magical talent of the members of the tribe for finding and catching snakes.  They have only to see a slight track in the sand, stoop down to study it, and can confidently say that it was a small cobra which slithered that way.  They follow the track and a hundred meters away come to a rat hole.  They dig it until the cobra’s tail appears; then skillfully pull out the snake now furious and hissing angrily; and finally place it in a sack.  Later on, the snake’s venom is extracted to make an anti-venom serum.

It is a little bit strange that one of the five signs that accompany those who believe in Jesus is the ability to a catch a snake.  Were the early Christians snake catchers too?

Mark 16:15-20 belongs to what scholars say as the Long Ending of Mark’s Gospel (vv. 9-20). Major ancient manuscripts do not have this part.  The Gospel could have ended in verse 8 (Original Ending) – the part where the women, after hearing the Easter message, fled from the tomb in fear.  Other manuscripts, however, contain further information about the women and the risen Jesus (Shorter Ending).

The Longer Ending is a combination of the resurrection and ascension stories taken from Matthew, Luke and John and was most likely added to the Gospel of Mark a hundred years after it was composed.  The narrative begins with the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene (vv. 9-11); next he appears to two disciples (vv. 12-13); then he commissions them to go to the whole world to proclaim the good news to the whole creation and will be accompanied by these five signs: (1) casting out of demons in Jesus’ name; (2) speaking in new tongues; (3) picking up snakes in their hands; (4) drinking poison but will not be harmed; and (5) they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.  Finally, the risen Jesus was taken up to heaven.

All the five signs that will accompany the believers after Jesus’ ascension are found elsewhere in the Scripture.  The third sign—snake catching—has a resonance in Luke 10:19 and Acts 28:1-10. In the former, Jesus speaks of giving to his seventy disciples after coming back from mission the authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and they will not be harmed.  In the latter, Paul is in the island of Malta and while gathering firewood, a viper fastens itself on his hand but he is not harmed.  The locals who see this are amazed and even call Paul a god.

What do these stories tell us?  The mission to preach the Good News which the risen Jesus has commanded (at his ascension) is seen as being executed not only by his disciples but also by later believers—the early Christians.  There are indications that they too had performed miracles (“signs”) and these were necessary to authenticate their mission (see the study of James A. Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission: The Authentication of Missionaries and their Message in the Longer Ending of Mark [Mohr Siebeck, 2000)]).

Missionaries today, like the SVDs and SSpS, preach the Good News to the world accompanied by these signs albeit in modern form: they learn new languages and at times help preserve the local language; they help to bring in cures for deadly viruses (like malaria, HIV, etc.), they build hospitals to care for the sick; they put up schools to educate and thus eradicate the venom of illiteracy; they help cast out the demons of poverty; and so on.

Fr. Randy Flores, SVD

Divine Word Seminary – Tagaytay City