Recently when a Bible teacher finished a lecture on the Gospel of Mark, someone in the gathering raised a question. This woman wondered why Mark’s gospel ends the way it does, at 16:8, with the women fleeing from the empty tomb, afraid. Is it possible, she asked, that the original ending of Mark had been lost?

            It was an interesting question, and one that people ask from time to time. But in light of our reading from Mark today, another question is, why does the Gospel of Mark begin as it does? It begins so abruptly. Is it possible that someone lost the opening portion? Or is there a reason why Mark begins as hastily as it does?

How the Gospels tell the story

            Here’s what I mean: The Gospel of Matthew begins by giving us the ancestry of Jesus — which was very important for Jewish readers and for anyone interested in Old Testament prophecy. Matthew then tells how Jesus was miraculously conceived and born, and then how he was worshiped by wise men who came from a great distance because they wanted to see the new king that God was sending into the world, the king of the Jews. The Gospel of Luke also begins with the miraculous story of the birth of Jesus, prefaced by another miracle story, the birth of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus. The Gospel of John begins like a mystery story, not simply with the birth of Jesus on this planet, but with the story of his existence before coming to this planet, as the One who was with God from the beginning.

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