Is your name in the credits?
An entertaining movie usually wraps up all the loose ends and leaves us feeling good before the credits roll. But in the second book of the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark, the credits roll while we are left wondering what is going to happen next!
The story so far: We pick up the action when Jesus was about 30 years old and follow him through his travels, parables and more than an occasional miracle. Then the story gets darker. Jesus is betrayed by one of his disciples. The authorities stage a sham trial and send him off for a brutal execution. It seems weird, but his death is what we celebrate as Good Friday.
This is where Mark’s retelling of events ends so abruptly in the oldest manuscripts. Very early on Sunday, some of the women who were followers of Jesus arrived at his tomb to look after the ritual anointing of the body, but found Jesus gone. Then an angel told them he had risen from the dead, but they would see him later just as he’d promised. Not surprisingly, this really rattled them, and they didn’t want to tell anyone.
But hold on. These were devoted followers of Jesus. How could these three women possibly keep the resurrection quiet? How could they possibly be afraid, after all they had seen Jesus do? It seems ludicrous to think that they wouldn’t shout this news from the mountain tops. This is not how it should end. This is not how you write a script!
But just as we get worked up about this crazy ending, we realise that the story has caught us off guard. An unwritten question starts to take shape. “What are you doing with the news of the Son of God who died on your behalf?”
The good news of Jesus conquering death does not need a chocolate bunny with a big bow, a long ending, and a neat conclusion.
As you celebrate Easter Sunday consider your part in this story. The real ending is still being written … and is your name in the credits?
– Rev Mark Wilson, National Ministries Director
Australian Baptist Ministries
