- 9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalena, out of whom he had cast seven devils. 10 And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
- 12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
- Compare: John 20:11-18, Luke 24:13-35
Jesus’ First Post-Resurrection Appearance
The oldest manuscripts of Mark end with verse 8 while the rest of the chapter contains language and symbolism which strongly suggest that they were taken from other, later sources. There appear to have been several efforts to end Mark differently because the verse 8 is not only abrupt, but ends the gospel on a note of fear and silence — hardly an appropriate message for the early Christian community.
The description of Mary Magdalene, for example, as someone from whom Jesus cast out “seven devils” is drawn from Luke 8:2. Readers have to wonder why Mark doesn’t mention the fact that Mary had already been instructed to inform others about his resurrection and she failed. This time, though, she does as she is supposed to — yet there is no explanation for the change.
Jesus’ appearance to the unnamed “two” (disciples probably, but it’s not certain) draws from Luke 24:13-35. It’s not surprising that no one they inform believes their story about Jesus appearing to them, just as they didn’t believe Mary. And why should they?
Aside from this long addition from verses 9 through 20, there is also in some manuscripts a shorter ending that reads:
- “But they reported briefly to Peter and to those with him all that they had been told. And after this Jesus himself sent out by means of them, from East to West, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”
The only point of this ending seems to be to relieve the tension of the abrupt finish at verse 8 — nothing new in terms of characterization or theology is added. All we have are the very obvious facts that the women must have told someone what they saw and Jesus must have met his disciples as he promised.
The existence of this shorter ending is one piece of evidence against the authenticity of the longer one. If the longer ending was known and existed to any widespread extent, what scribe would bother creating this one? The only reasonable explanation is that there was no obvious ending past verse 8, at least none that were well known.
