Unshaken: Chapter a Day

Mark 16 Discussion

• Pastor Plek

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The empty tomb is not a tidy epilogue; it’s a jolt that turns fear into a mission. We unpack Mark 16 with clear-eyed curiosity, moving from the women’s shock at the tomb to the disciples’ unbelief, and then to the explosive call to preach the gospel everywhere. Along the way we tackle one of the New Testament’s most debated questions: does Mark end at verse 8 or continue through verse 20? We lay out the manuscript evidence, explain why major codices omit the longer ending, and show how other witnesses include it and how the church received it—without turning this into an academic fog or a crisis of faith.

From there, we map the heart issues the text exposes. Why did no one expect a resurrection countdown when Jesus promised it? What does Christ’s rebuke of unbelief teach us about correction and growth? We highlight the courage of the women, the honesty of the disciples’ doubts, and the surprising kindness of a Savior who sends flawed people anyway. The conversation also traces the meaning of the ascension and Christ’s session at the right hand of God, connecting the clouds to the throne and grounding our mission in a finished victory rather than frantic striving.

If you’ve ever wrestled with doubt, wondered how textual criticism impacts trust, or needed a fresh push to open your mouth about Jesus, this is for you. You’ll leave with a sharper grasp of Mark’s endings, a bigger view of the risen King, and simple steps to live and speak your faith with courage today. If this helped you see the resurrection with fresh eyes, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it.

Text us at 737-231-0605 with any questions.

Pastor Plek:

And welcome back to a chapter a day. Keeps the devil away. We're gonna have an unshaken time with Mark 16. We're gonna first outline it. We're gonna find some observations. We're gonna make some interpretations and finally get to some application for you to take with you on your day. All right, so Mark 16 starts out with verses 1 through 8, where the women visit the tomb. Now, in some of your Bibles, it well, in fact, many of your Bibles, it says, after this, there's no other manuscript, or the earliest manuscripts only have verses one through eight, and they end with them fleeing in fear and amazement, saying nothing. And then verses nine through eleven, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, and then no one believes her testimony. Then Jesus appears to two disciples, they report to the others, but they don't believe. That's verses 12 through 13. And then the Great Commission, Jesus appears to 11, and then rebukes them for their unbelief. He promises signs will accompany those who believe, casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, and healing the sick. And then verses 19 through 20, they are uh Jesus taken up to heaven, seat at the right hand of God, the disciples go out, preach everywhere, and the Lord works through them, confirming all those signs. Now, can we get to the biggest question that I know I have? Big question. Holland, why is verses nine through twenty there if it wasn't in the original manuscripts?

Pastor Holland:

Well, it wasn't in a lot of original manuscripts. So, okay, manuscripts. We don't have um original. You said original, actually. We don't have original. We don't have no originals. We don't have a lot of graphs. But if by original you meant the earlier manuscript copies. That's all we have is copies. All copies of copies. And um the copies are trustworthy and reliable. We got thousands upon thousands upon thousands of copies of manuscripts more than any other ancient historical document in existence by and it's not even close. Not even close. And you can cross-reference them and compare them, and where you have this part missing, you know, from this, you have it present over here, and you, you know, you put them together and you get uh, you know, a um thoroughly clear and reliable copy of New Testament manuscripts. But um a lot of the earliest ones don't have verses nine to twenty. Uh specifically, some of the ones that are like so Codex uh Cyaniticus and Codex Vaticanus.

Pastor Plek:

Um is that because it's stored in the Vatican?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. Or, you know, found in and Sinaticus is found in Mount Sinai? Uh no. Oh. I don't think it's found in Mount Sinai. It's a good question though. I just know they're uh generally associated with those areas. Yeah, yeah, sure. Um, but yeah, good thing to look up. Um but there are two, you know, codices, meaning like kind of the predecessor of the books that had like um uh you know complete copies of um the New Testament. And in those, you know, the the codices, you don't have verses nine to twenty. You don't have um references to these verses in a lot of like um early church fathers' writings and stuff like that, but you do have it in the Textus Receptus, the you got it in the King James Version.

Pastor Plek:

King James Bible, also known as Textus Receptus, which means the most text we have received, we kind of go with it.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, and so it's like you have and you have acceptance by you know, some you have some early manuscripts with it, and you have great acceptance of it by the church, and so it's kind of a perplexing thing of like, what do you do with this? Is this was this in the original manuscripts, or was it a later edition?

Pastor Plek:

All right, how about this? This might help us. If verse 8 ends with, I mean, let's just read verse eight again, it's sort of wild. And they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment, had to seize them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. The end. Yeah, that seems like a wildly weird ending, however, uh, I think that's a very palatable ending. It makes you go, Well, what are you gonna do? Are you afraid too? Are you gonna say nothing to anyone? Or yeah, exactly. Are you gonna spread the message that they did not with the book that they have given you?

Pastor Holland:

Um yeah, yeah, I love the ending. Personally, I love the verse eight ending. It's just this kind of Mark has been the whole book has been action, action, action, just like boom, boom, boom, very fast-paced, action-oriented. And then you get this stark drop off at the end of just like Jesus is live, they're trembling, they're astonished, um, and they're afraid. Boom. Nice. What are you gonna do about it? Okay, so yeah. Let's talk about some well, let me say this one other thing. Yeah, I think it's important. Uh, number one, uh, I did just look it up to check it. Conex Sinaticus was discovered and preserved for centuries at the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. So not just in the general area, but actually the monastery that was there. So there you go. Listen, I kind of had a feeling it was there. I knew you did. And so that's why I looked it up. I had to, you know, make sure everyone knew that you were right. Um, but okay, so 9 through 20, I think it's important to point out um there's nothing in this that's like, oh, this goes against some other scripture, or you know, it's like it doesn't really um whether it was in the original manuscript or not is not going to change any major part of doctrine. Right.

Pastor Plek:

So it's not like something you need to be worried about. Base your whole faith on the snake handling portion. Like you're not a real Christian unless you don't handle snakes.

Pastor Holland:

Well, do you guys do handle snakes here at most brands? Of course. I mean, like, you know, but who doesn't handle snakes? No, yeah. So what I think, you know, when I read that, you think of like um Paul when he, you know, lands on the island of uh Malta, right? And gets bit by a snake and he doesn't die. And it's just kind of like God's protection on his life. Yeah. I I I go with that.

Pastor Plek:

Yeah. I we definitely don't handle snakes, but I've heard of people who do.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah. They speak in new tongues. You think of Pentecost. Um, so you just see some things where you're like, nothing in here is like radical departure or introducing a new doctrine or anything like that. Um, and so you I guess I bring that up to say you don't need to worry about this. You can be interested and look into it, but it's nothing like that should trouble your soul.

Pastor Plek:

Theologically shifting things. Yeah. All right, how about this? Why did the women go to the tomb not expecting Jesus to already be alive? Because he he said over and over, I'm gonna die, be raised again. Why were they not? I mean, like nobody was sitting there for a countdown. I mean, if they were smart people, they'd be like, Hey, didn't he say he'd be raised from the dead on the third day? So you would have a, you know, you gather all the people and like 10, not you know, you time out whenever sunrise would hit, and you'd like, bam! Like, why was nobody there? Yeah, that's a good question. Um, can I can I give you a pun? Go ahead. Because nobody expected nobody.

Pastor Holland:

Oh man. Now that let's just end the podcast right there. That's I don't know how we go up from there. Um, yeah, I you know, maybe they were like, okay, he he was a crazy man. Um, or maybe they were like, maybe it was a metaphorical third day. Right. And or maybe they were like, you know, they just didn't know and they were come ready to expect anything. Hey, if he rises, we want to come and see, but if not, we're gonna be ready to honor his body with spices and ointments.

Pastor Plek:

All right, what about this? What about this? Why didn't the disciples believe? Like so, first Mary Magdalene, then uh the the two, they're still not believed, and then they comes, then Jesus has to go to the eleven and be like, what is wrong with you people? Yeah, would you have believed? What do you think? I want to say that I would have believed. I want to say I was one of the two on the road to Emmaus. I would have appreciated that. Really? Yeah, because that way I wouldn't have to worry about not being part of everybody else who didn't believe.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, it seems like, I mean, because you're right, Jesus told them three times I'm gonna suffer, I'm gonna die, on the third day, I'm gonna rise.

Pastor Plek:

Could have been more than three times, we just have three recorded times.

Pastor Holland:

Perhaps. Yep. Um, but at least three times they heard, and still they're just like, dang, he died. How did this happen?

Pastor Plek:

It's like Yeah. Okay, how about this? Why does Jesus ascend to heaven instead of just going invisible? Um well because I mean it's not like if you get to outer space, you're in heaven, but rather the kingdom of God is the invisible kingdom that's all around us, right? Yeah, he could have like been like you know, and then like Jesus is gonna come again on the with the clouds, right?

Pastor Holland:

So he has to. So that's what we read. That's Daniel 7. And so there's a very close association with heaven, God's realm where God lives, and the heavens, the sky, the stars, space, the sun and the moon. Um, and so it's not saying God lives in space somewhere, but rather there when you look up to the heavens, there is this like, wow, something beyond me. That God connects those things literarily in the scriptures a lot.

Pastor Plek:

When I was like eight years old, riding on airplanes and in the clouds, I always look out the window to see if I could see God. Try to spot him sitting on his throne. Kind of like you know, yeah.

Pastor Holland:

All right. So, all right, let's talk. So I think it's important. Um, the symbolism of it, Jesus ascending up um into the clouds, uh, that that is a kind of a metaphor for God's throne in heaven, like the the realm of God's dwelling in heaven, and that he'll return again on the clouds from that place. Okay. That's my take.

Pastor Plek:

Let's get to some uh truths about the nature of man. How about this? Man struggles to believe God and his promises. Very good. Yeah, very clear here. And no one is thinking, I'm like, why is nobody there for the countdown? Right. Like, I mean, wouldn't now granted, if you would look like a complete fool if you went there for a countdown and like Jesus didn't show up there. Like, oh well, you know what? I'm like, Noah would have. Yeah, Noah would have.

Pastor Holland:

He he looked like a fool building the ark. There, there you go. I think he would have showed up. Yeah, Noah would have. What about Abraham? Abraham would have showed he was ready to sacrifice Isaac, you know, and he was like, I don't know, this seems really dumb and crazy. And God promised me that I would have you know all these descendants, and this is my only son. But I guess God can raise the dead. Unless like Abraham would have showed up. What about David? He probably would have gone for it, yeah. David, uh Daniel would have showed up. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They definitely would have showed up. Definitely would have showed up. I'm kind of just like, what is with these disciples? I mean, they were kind of like the worst of the worst, actually, when I think about it.

Pastor Plek:

Man, they were pretty much faithless.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah.

Pastor Plek:

Huh. All right.

Pastor Holland:

Maybe that's really good news for us.

Pastor Plek:

That's good news. That's good news. Like Jesus chose them. He chose some pretty pathetic people who didn't even show up for the resurrection. Yeah. Hey, what do you got going? I got dinner plans.

Pastor Holland:

I can't make it. And but then, you know, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they become these emboldened, um, faithful uh martyrs. Yeah, that's true. So they become pretty good. Yeah, we can change.

Pastor Plek:

How about man can change? Man can change. Praise the Lord. By the grace of God, we can change. All right, how about we need correction? How about human beings need correction for their unbelief? We need to be told stop not believing and believing. Stop unbelieving.

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, uh, verse 14, he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. That's good.

Pastor Plek:

Um, how about here's a simple one? Uh, people fear in the presence of supernatural. Like whenever the women show up, Mary Magdalene is the only one that hangs around. The rest bolt. Yeah. A bunch of girls that go out there, and then only Mary Magdalene's left, and then Jesus' like, hey, it's me. So when you're running from a place of God, you might miss out on some serious Jesus.

Pastor Holland:

That's good. I love, I love, I want to encourage the women listening. Uh be women of courage who want to honor Jesus with your life. Yeah. Don't be fearful, be courageous. Don't run away from it. Here's my example to follow for application here is these women who came to the tomb.

Pastor Plek:

Nice. Mary and Mary. We need some, before we get to that, we need some truth about God's character. Okay. How about uh God triumphs over death? He he defeated death. Um, what else? He uses really weak people and turns them into redeemed people.

Pastor Holland:

That's amazing. That's really good news. Um okay, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. Ooh, I like that. Why uh why do you think it matters that he sat down? Boom. That's what you do. Because if he was standing, he'd be like a guard. Right. Uh he does stand in honor of Stephen when he's stoned. Acts chapter. So we'll get there eventually. Yeah. But um, the idea of him sitting, his session, theological term for it, his session, is that he has taken a place of ruling and judging. And so he's already there, but we don't yet experience it fully. There you go. He's sovereign, he's judge, he's a ruler, he's the king of kings. All right, all right. Let's get to some applicacion.

Pastor Plek:

Okay, I gave mine.

Pastor Holland:

Your turn.

Pastor Plek:

Cindy void, don't doubt God's promise or remain silent out of fear. That's good. Speak up for Jesus.

Pastor Holland:

Speak up for Jesus. Um I like that.

Pastor Plek:

How about simply verse 15? Go into all the world, preach the gospel. Yeah. Like shit, where can you share the gospel today?

Pastor Holland:

Yeah, preach the gospel, proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Everywhere, all the time. Um, believe the gospel. Maybe you're listening and you're not yet a Christian and you're just kind of kicking the tires, scoping it out. And your application today is believe the gospel, get baptized, join a church, follow Jesus.

Pastor Plek:

That's it. Hey, thanks so much for watching. We'll see you next time for another day to be unshaken with a chapter a day.

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