It’s a cliché I know, but it’s not a coincidence that so many stories end with “and they all lived happily ever after”. Writers know how important it is that the story they are telling ends well. When we read a book, we want to know all the loose ends are tied up, all the character story arcs are completed, and that we are satisfied that the story has come to its end. I remember a few years ago that there was outcry after the TV series “Game of Thrones” ended with fans angry at how the story concluded. There was even a petition to have the ending remade such was their frustration with being dissatisfied with it! The issue of how the writer ends the story is at the forefront of my mind as our gospel reading this Easter comes from Mark’s account.
While there are two different endings to this gospel in our bibles, many scholars believe that Mark stopped writing after verse 8. There, the women have discovered the empty tomb and have been told that Jesus is risen and is waiting for the disciples in Galilee. They are told to tell the disciples this, but the account ends with the women fleeing in terror, too afraid to tell anyone what they have witnessed. To finish at this point means there are no accounts of anyone meeting the risen Lord. It’s even more strange when we realise that when Mark wrote his gospel, there were plenty of other accounts of people meeting the risen Lord such as our other reading from 1 Corinthians. Why does Mark leave us with the image of an empty tomb, a promise that Jesus is risen and a statement that Jesus is waiting for the disciples?
Maybe it’s because Mark doesn’t intend to end telling the story of Jesus. He began his account with a messenger from God, John the Baptist, telling us what God was about to do. He ends his account with another messenger of God telling us what God has done. An invitation is given to take it on faith that Jesus is risen and is out in the world continuing His mission of building the kingdom of God. Easter is a new beginning, a time of renewal and rebirth, a new creation where there is no more poverty or hunger, no more disease and death. In every act of compassion and love, in every act of forgiveness and grace, we will see the risen Lord at work. When we participate in His ongoing mission, we show the same risen Lord to others. This Easter, I invite you to step out in faith into this new world where the risen Lord Jesus is king. The story of Jesus continues in our time and in our lives when we seek Him and follow where He has gone before us. It’s now up to us to continue telling the story so others can hear it as well.