Mark’s because
The strange but hopeful end to the book of Mark.
The philosophy exam question was, simply, “Why?” Many students pondered long and wrote much, but one student aced the exam quickly with the answer, “Because.” Why is a profound human question; is because a sufficient answer?
The Gospel of Mark ends with the Greek word gar. “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” In Greek, the sentence ends, “they were afraid because” (Mark 16:8).
This is a strange ending to a strange story. The women are heading to a sealed tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, but they do not know how they will remove the stone. They see the stone rolled away, but they do not know how. They see a young man in the tomb dressed in white, but he is not identified. He tells them not to be afraid, that Jesus is not here but is risen, to go tell the disciples and to go to Galilee to see Jesus. The women are afraid, flee, and tell no one “because.”
Others’ because
This ending is so strange that later editors and copiers of Mark added twelve verses to the Gospel. These seem to be borrowed from later Gospels: the Mary Magdalene summary from John; the Emmaus, Upper Room, Ascension and mission stories from Luke; the commissioning story from Matthew; and the strange verses about snakes and poisons.
Some scholars have speculated that the original ending to Mark was lost from the outside of the scroll. Others think Mark was a master rhetorician purposely leaving his Gospel unfinished. This was to stimulate his readers to continue the story in a new way; because the readers know what happened they don’t need to be afraid and can go and tell. The other Gospel writers give us “the rest of the story” (any Paul Harvey fans?).
Our because
We should recognize the strangeness of Mark’s ending because it points out the strangeness of the gospel. The word “strange” comes from the Latin extraneus, which can mean “extra, unnecessary, irrelevant,” or “external, from the outside.” Is the gospel too strange to be believed or so strange that it changes the whole story? Does life end in death, the tomb, fear and failure or does it continue in hope and mission?
On campus, I often pointed out that the university could answer questions of who, what, when, where, how and why (in terms of cause and effect), but it had a closed world. Historians can argue the likely historical facts of the resurrection and consequent belief in it, but nothing strange is allowed. The university gives no answer to the ultimate “why” of meaning or purpose. To understand life and death we need the extra of God and the strangeness of resurrection.
We can be like the white-robed young man in the tomb telling the world, “Don’t be afraid. Jesus is risen. Life conquers death. You have a mission now. There is hope.”
Bill and Gloria Gaither sang:
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone, Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!”
Why? Because. . .
Love the “Why” / “Because” story. Here’s another.
The question on the exam: “Would World War I have been prevented if the League of Nations had been established already, if the Christian churches had denounced the arms race of the time, had human rights groups been successful in spurring the abrogation of the African and Asian colonial empires in a peaceful way? Make your answer as brief as possible.”
Student A: “Yes.” (He failed the exam.)
Student B: “No.’ (One letter shorter; he received an A.)