Day 16: Death and Resurrection, short and long endings

Didn't we just start reading Mark?  And today we are coming to the end of this shortest of Gospels.  Jesus didn't "hang around" much, if you read Mark's gospel; he was always on the go, healing people, helping people, celebrating.  His teachings were short and pithy (not like in the Gospel of John, but, I'm getting ahead of myself).

The story of Jesus' crucifixion is told simply as well.  Though to me, it seems as if time does finally slow down.   The Jesus who has been on the go, going from place to place "immediately", now walks slowly, dragging a cross.

So Jesus is handed over to Pilate, who tries to hand him back.  The shouts of "crucify him!"  Ring in the air.

It's the small things that I notice:  There's Simon of Cyrene, forced to carry Jesus' cross.  It is only in Mark's gospel that Simon is named as the "father of Rufus and Alexander":  a small detail not carried over to the later gospels of Luke and Matthew.  Even though we don't know anything about Rufus and Alexander, it's interesting that Mark includes their names, as if he is saying to his readers, "You know, Simon:  Rufus and Alexander's dad!"  Possibly these two men were well-known to Mark's community.

As in Matthew, Jesus' only words from the cross are of abandonment:  "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"   

And a roman centurion sees Jesus hanging dead from a cross and says, "Surely this was God's Son."  He tells the truth.  But is he speaking sincerely?  Or derisively? 

In Mark, chapter 16, we have the shorter ending (most certainly the genuine one) and the longer ending.  Both present problems.  If we end with verse 8, we have no appearnce of Jesus after the resurrection, and the women run away, afraid, saying nothing to anyone.  (Although this does beg the question, if they really didn't say anything, how do we know?) 

In the longer ending, Jesus does appear, but one of the things he does is scold the disciples for their lack of belief.  (In the longer ending, Mary Magdalene does spread the news, but  the other disciples don't believe her.)  In the longer ending you have all these weird signs associated with the disciples:  drinking poision, snake handling, as well as speaking in new languages and healing people.

And oh, in the last two verses of the longer ending, there are these lovely words, "But they went out and proclaimed the message everywhere.  The Lord worked with them.."

I don't know how your translation puts it, but I love these words, "the Lord worked with them..."

I hope it still is true today.  "The Lord works with us."

What strikes you most in these last two chapters of Mark?  And what is your overall impression of this gospel?  What do you think of Jesus after reading the Gospel of Mark?