One of the most interesting facts found in the Gospels is that the Gospel of Mark does not have one good ending to the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, while the Gospel of John has TWO.
The true end of Mark is found in Mark 16:8 which says…
1 And after the sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought spices to come and anoint him. 2 And early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves: Who will roll the stone for us from the door of the tomb? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white robe; and they got scared. 6 And he knows them: Fear not: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, he who was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: here is the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they rushed out and fled from the tomb; because they trembled and were astonished, and said nothing to anyone; because they were afraid.”
Scholars agree that the rest of Mark was added later to correct this obvious problem that there is no really good ending that reflects the events in the Gospel of Mark. There is no actual account of the resurrection, women telling it to anyone, and certainly no story of the disciples meeting Jesus for the first time after the resurrection in Galilee. There also appears to be a missing story about Peter, but it is interesting that the angel insists on telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to be there. Since Peter was a disciple, it is obvious that Mark needs Peter to be there specifically. Why and why doesn’t Mark’s Gospel have a story that ends this way with Peter specifically needing to be in Galilee to meet Jesus? There are none.
Mark 14:27 notes…
27 And Jesus says to them: All of you will be offended by me tonight; for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. 28 But after I am risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. 29 But Pedro said to him: Although all are scandalized, I will not do it. 30 And Jesus said to him, Truly I tell you, today, tonight, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me. three times.”
So here we have, in Mark, Jesus telling them that they will all be scattered but that he will meet them for the FIRST time in Galilee after he is resurrected. Peter is told that despite his bravado, he will deny knowing Jesus three times before the cock crows twice.
What’s going on here. A story that promises the disciples that after being resurrected, Jesus will meet them in Galilee, not Jerusalem, for the first time, and yet does not include such an ending with the women arriving at the tomb, not finding Jesus’ body , panic. and run away from telling ANYONE. Not much resurrection inspiration here! Mark is clearly missing an ending. Where is the?
First of all, the idea that Jesus would meet the disciples for the first time after his resurrection is not unique to Mark. Mateo also has this tradition but also has an ending that includes it.
Matthew 28 says…
8 “And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy; and they ran to tell his disciples. 9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Hail! And they came and 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
So, as in Mark, there is no sighting in Jerusalem, but the women here, at least scared, told the disciples that Jesus said they were going to Galilee to meet him for the first time, except for Judas. Remember that Mark said that he would make sure to bring Peter.
Matthew keeps saying…
16 “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had pointed out to them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.”
So, in fact, Matthew has a story of all these things that happened as Mark said as well, but Mark didn’t say how it all ended as Matthew did. Mark did not have a positive ending to his Gospel.
Luke edits the story a bit because he wants his story to take place immediately after the resurrection in Jerusalem and not in Galilee as Mark and Matthew said.
Luke 24 says…
5 “And when they were afraid, and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them, “Why do you seek among the dead the one who lives? 6 He is not here, but has risen: remember what he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee.” .
So here we see how Luke cleverly said in effect, not that Jesus said he would meet them in Galilee after he was resurrected, but that the disciples should remember that Jesus told them in Galilee that they would see him risen in Jerusalem. Luke had stories in Jerusalem that others didn’t and that clearly needed to be told and going straight to Galilee wouldn’t help him do it.
Now the interesting part. Mark has no ending to his Gospel, but John’s Gospel has TWO.
John’s first ending is in chapter 20.
24 “This is the disciple who bears witness to these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were all written, I suppose that even the The world itself could not contain the books that must be written. Amen.”
The “Amen” means the first ending, as does the ending theme which could be said more, but it would take too many books.
But then we start again in John 21 with…
“After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way he showed himself. 2 Simon Peter was together, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter knows them: I am going to fish. They say to him: We also go with you.
Here we have a story, a second ending of John that begins “after these things.” After what things? Certainly not the things in John 20 since they don’t fit. The “again” in verse 1 I think was added to make it seem like a second or third occurrence when in fact it is the real first meeting, but not in John, since John doesn’t need it. I believe that the 21st chapter of John is the missing original ending of Mark. “After these things” are really the women who come out of the tomb perplexed and fearful, without telling anyone that Jesus has risen. John 21 shows a discouraged group of men who just went back to fishing without having seen Jesus at all! How soon they forgot the events and sightings of Jesus in John 20! The reason is that this ending is Juan’s second nonsense ending which is actually Mark’s missing ending!
Juan doesn’t have any fishing motive until this last chapter, where Marcos is nothing more than a fishing motive. John already had an ending and he doesn’t need this second one. Mark needs this chapter to make sense of his endless Gospel!
Do you remember how the angel made sure to tell the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to report to Galilee? Well, of all things, this second ending of John has a story about Peter being restored by Jesus to the fold. Three times he denied Jesus and now three times, PETER, he is sent to feed the sheep, that is, the Church and the followers of Jesus. This also fits nicely as an ending to Mark’s story, since Mark made sure that Peter was in Galilee, where John didn’t need him.
John 21 says…
15 “When they had supped, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lamb.” In other words, Peter is forgiven and restored. It was important for Peter to be here in Galilee as Mark said, but he never reported it.
Let’s see how it fits.
Mark ends…
16:2 And early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves: Who will roll the stone for us from the door of the tomb? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white robe; and they got scared. 6 And he knows them: Fear not: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, he who was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: here is the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they rushed out and fled from the tomb; because they trembled and were astonished, and said nothing to anyone; because they were afraid.”
Now add John 21 and continue…
1 “After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way he showed himself. 2 Simon Peter was together, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going to fish.” They said to him, “We are also going with you…” 15 And when they had supped, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, Do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
John, the editor, makes this an event that happens “again” or “the third time”, but they are added so that it solves the problems that are added to the causes of John, since it shows the disciples discouraged, despondent, depressed and just regressing. fish as if Jesus weren’t resurrected and they forgot about the John 20 sightings.
In all probability, Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John is the missing ending of Mark! Now Mark, as a Gospel without a good ending, has one that fits and John, who needs only one ending and not two, is restored to normal. The reason this was added will be addressed soon.
