This a fair question and an interesting one as well. I chose not to engage it in this morning’s Easter sermon only because of time constraints, so I’m glad to post some thoughts and resources.
First of all, among the pastors and scholars who hold to a
“high view of inspiration,” I am one of many – perhaps most? – that do not
consider this “longer ending of Mark” – Mark 16:9-20 – to be part of Mark’s
original gospel.
This is a matter of “text history,” and simply means that this passage is NOT included in what we believe are the earliest physical copies of Mark’s Gospel found so far. I say “so far” because matters of archaeology are always only as certain as the last thing unearthed and analyzed. For an example, CLICK HERE to read my post “Freshman Humanities Class and the Book of Daniel.” There are resources below that get deeper into this question for you to pursue as well.
With regard to this specific passage in Mark, it helpful to realize that one our best manuscripts – the Codex Sinaiticus – was not available for study until it was “discovered” by Constantin Tischendorf in 1844, over 200 years AFTER the King James Version translation of the Bible. Irony alert: our “newer” Bible translations are now based on “older” manuscripts than our traditional translations!
Secondly, it is important to be clear about our understanding of “inspiration”– “our” meaning the body of believers and churches across centuries and multiple cultures, especially as articulated by various Reformed branches of Protestant movement where I would identify myself. Namely, what is intended by calling the words of the Bible “inspired by God.”
What is NOT meant by “inspired” is that we have golden tablets of divinely chiseled and unchanging words dropped into the world untouched by any human agency. That is essentially what our Mormon and Muslim neighbors believe about their books, but it is not the historic Christian view.
Christians – and our Jewish “cousins-in-the-faith” – have always believed that the LORD communicated THROUGH humans to the world. Another name for the Pentateuch, for example. is the “Books of Moses.” The LORD spoke through the prophets rather than give them something and then removed Himself.
This means that the physical manuscripts of the 66 books that comprise the Bible are significant, important and unique. But not that they are devoid of human imprint. They are always pointers – singularly unique and authoritative pointers – but pointers all the same. They are not God. They are where God speaks and makes Himself known.
John Calvin in his Institutes (1:13:1) has a marvelous illustration of how the “Beyond-Human-Capacity-LORD-of-the-Universe” makes himself known to the mere mortals He loves: God is wont in a measure to “lisp” in speaking to us? Thus such forms of speaking do not so much express clearly what God is like as accommodate the knowledge of him to our slight capacity. In the Scriptures, the LORD “condescends” to make Himself known to us. And it always depends on Him, and not on us OR the books He uses.
From my Presbyterian tradition:
- This authority does not depend on the testimony of any man or church but completely on God, its author, who is himself truth. – Westminster Confession of Faith 1:4
- We are completely persuaded and assured of the infallible truth and divine authority of the Bible only by the inward working of the Holy Spirit, who testifies by and with the word in our hearts. - WCF 1:5
- The Holy Spirit speaking in the Bible is the supreme judge of all religious controversies, all decisions of religious councils, all the opinions of ancient writers, all human teachings, and every private opinion. We are to be satisfied with the judgment of him who is and can be the only judge. - WCF 1:10
- CLICK HERE for the “Modern English” WCF that we use in my own denomination: the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Look to Chapter 1 "On Holy Scripture."
The Dutch churches - CRCNA, RCA denominations and Harderwyk as a congregation - are more connected to the historic Belgic Confession which expresses this same thought in Articles 3 thru 7. CLICK HERE to see that.
So, as a community of faith across centuries and cultures, we come to the written words of the Bible with care and respect – even a degree of awe – but we look to the God the Spirit who through various human agency spoke to and through human authors, preserved and now continues to superintend our translation and study to finally illuminate our hearts with the knowledge of the true God.
Finally, as many commentators point out – look below for some examples - there is nothing expressed in Mark 16:9-20 that is not recorded or expressed elsewhere in the Scriptures. We neither loose nor gain any understanding or hope by sticking with our best determination of the earliest manuscript.
Additional Resources - BlogPosts
Preacher’s Toolkit: Should I Preach the Longer Ending of Mark?
And thus Mark’s Gospel comes to an end, and an abrupt one at
that. Verses 9–20 are not found in the oldest and most reliable manuscripts.
Mark’s sudden ending is what he wanted. It makes clear that the disciples were
stunned by all of this [e.g. the empty tomb and the angel’s appearance]. They
did not expect the resurrection. They did not know how to respond. How would
they respond to all this? How will you? CLICK HERE for entire post.
Was Mark 16:9–20 Originally Part of Mark’s Gospel?
If you would like to get some first-hand contact with more
depth in the study of text history and manuscripts (it can be pretty detailed
and arcane!) this is a good first encounter. CLICK HERE
From The Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes:
- This “longer ending” of Mark, missing from many of the earliest Greek manuscripts and unlikely a part of the original Gospel account, contains reports of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. It also narrates his Great Commission and speaks of faith, miracles, and evangelism. Though these verses were likely added to Scripture, the underlying message fits with what we see elsewhere in Scripture: our God will enable the followers of Christ to fulfill his purposes in their lives.[1]
From The ESV Study Bible Notes:
- “Longer Ending of Mark.” Some ancient manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel contain these verses and others do not, which presents a puzzle for scholars who specialize in the history of such manuscripts. This longer ending is missing from various old and reliable Greek manuscripts (esp. Sinaiticus and Vaticanus), as well as numerous early Latin, Syriac, Armenian, and Georgian manuscripts. Early church fathers (e.g., Origen and Clement of Alexandria) did not appear to know of these verses. Eusebius and Jerome state that this section is missing in most manuscripts available at their time. And some manuscripts that contain vv. 9–20 indicate that older manuscripts lack the section. On the other hand, some early and many later manuscripts (such as the manuscripts known as A, C, and D) contain vv. 9–20, and many church fathers (such as Irenaeus) evidently knew of these verses. As for the verses themselves, they contain various Greek words and expressions uncommon to Mark, and there are stylistic differences as well. Many think this shows vv. 9–20 to be a later addition. In summary, vv. 9–20 should be read with caution. As in many translations, the editors of the ESV have placed the section within brackets, showing their doubts as to whether it was originally part of what Mark wrote, but also recognizing its long history of acceptance by many in the church. The content of vv. 9–20 is best explained by reference to other passages in the Gospels and the rest of the NT. (Most of its content is found elsewhere, and no point of doctrine is affected by the absence or presence of vv. 9–20.) With particular reference to v. 18, there is no command to pick up serpents or to drink deadly poison; there is merely a promise of protection as found in other parts of the NT (see Acts 28:3–4; James 5:13–16).[2]
[1]
Hans F. Bayer, “Mark,” in Gospel
Transformation Bible: English Standard Version, ed. Bryan Chapell and Dane
Ortlund (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 1351.
[2]
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1933.
