I was rummaging around underneath the bathroom sink, and re-discovered a bottle of prescription pain medication I had filled from a minor surgical procedure. It turned out I didn’t need to take any pain pills, but I kept the bottle of Oxycodone none the less. Oxycodone is a powerful pain killer. I understand it has a street value, but I kept it in case I was really in pain and couldn’t get in to see a doctor immediately. However, when I looked at the bottle, the prescription fill date was 2006. I realized there was a problem. After 2-3 years, the pills deteriorate and lose their shelf life. By now, they are probably worthless. I should have sold them on the street! They only last for so long, just like everything else… except, except.
Turn with me to Mark, 16:9 – 20. If you were here last week for Easter, you thought we had finished the Gospel of Mark. After all, our church Bibles rightly draw a line after verse 8 and mention that the oldest copies of Mark do not include verse 9 – 20. So, why look at these verses? Well, we can find value in what they tell us about Christians who came after the first disciples. The New Testament was written by the first generation of Christians. What did the second and third Christians think and believe who came after? Let’s see what we learn from this later addition to Mark’s gospel, verses 9 – 20 (Read)
Did you notice anything familiar about these verses? They start off with Jesus appearing to Mary, verse 9. Why that’s just like in John’s gospel, but, when she later tells the disciples, they didn’t believe her; and, that’s just as Luke tells us. Then, Jesus appears to two disciples as they were walking in the country, verse 12. Here’s a clear reference to what takes place in Luke’s gospel. Then Jesus appeared to the group of disciples and rebukes them for their lack of belief (verse 14) Can anyone say, “Doubting Thomas?” This comes right out of John’s gospel. All these pieces from different gospels are added to the end of Mark. They combine to form a summary of some of Jesus’ resurrection appearances.
We can figure out from this summary that later generations of Christians felt it important to affirm there were people who saw Jesus alive he rose from the dead. We know from history that the standard Jewish denial of Jesus’ resurrection was that the disciples stole his body by night. (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho; chapter 108) These added verses in Mark show us that the witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were an important part of combating the false claim that his followers simply stole and re-buried the dead body of Jesus. And, if anyone might claim the witnesses lied about Jesus and simply re-buried his body without telling anyone, then why would they have allowed themselves to be killed for their faith. No one dies for a lie.
Now, when Jesus rose from the dead, he had specific words for the disciples, verse 15; “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” The word, “Gospel” means good news. Good news! After the first generation of disciples all died, the gospel still was good news to the second and third generations of Christ-followers. Have you ever seen the bumper sticker, “Jesus is the answer.”? Another bumper sticker cropped up in response to that one. The new sticker said, “If Jesus is the answer what is the question?” – poking a little fun at the saying, “Jesus is the answer.”
But, Jesus is the answer. Jesus is Good News. Jesus was Good News when he ministered to people. He was Good News to the first disciples. He was Good News to the second and third generation of believers. Jesus is still Good News today. He answers the deep questions of our time. Jesus is the answer to the deep needs of our friends, our neighbors, and ourselves. If the bumper sticker challenges the Good News of Jesus by sarcastically asking, “If Jesus is the answer what is the question?” then they need to hear the question- and the answer!! Think with me of people’s deep questions. They ask:
“Is my death the end of my life? What a great question. Jesus’ answer: No.
People ask: “Then what or who can possibly rescue me from death?” Answer: Jesus. It is by his substitution in our place for the results of our sin that we can live, and after death, to live for ever.
Others ask: “Is there anything worth living for besides things that wind down, wear out, and are ultimately worthless?” Jesus’ answer: Give up your self-direction and give yourself to Jesus who will direct you towards what lasts.
Question: “How do I overcome guilt and sin?” Jesus’ answer: I remove guilt and can even redeem the hurt.
Question: “Why do I wonder if there is something more that I might be missing?” Jesus’ answer: “We are made for a friend relationship with God to feel and know the bond between us and God – all through Jesus Christ.
It is Jesus who moves us towards love, the possibility of forgiving others, and seeking the best for others. Jesus is the answer and he still is Good News. What was true then is still true today!
Not only does this passage remind us that Jesus is still Good News. Jesus still has the Great Commission on his heart. (Read verse 15) Jesus sends out his people. This has been called the Great Commission. The Great Commission is also repeated at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel and John’s Gospel. What was first on Jesus’ heart, and the last thing he said to his disciples continued to be the first thing in the hearts of those who followed. Now, the later ending to Mark’s gospel first is quoted by writers about 150 AD. If we give a few years for the added ending to Mark to circulate before it is first quoted in 150 AD, then we can speculate that it was written around 130 AD. That means that at least 100 years after Jesus placed this commission on his follower’ heart, go and tell was still the priority of the Church. 100 years later! There isn’t much in our world that lasts 100 years, but Jesus’ commission to go and tell lasted. And, it still lasts today. The Great Commission of Jesus is: Go and tell others the Good News. Jesus’ words have lasted all this time because sharing the Good News is still most important on God’s heart and God’s people have obeyed.
There are many priorities for a church today. We must educate our youth and children, we must engage our adults in discipleship, we must provide care and fellowship, we must serve others. Worship, financial stewardship, property – all are important. But, Jesus’ final Great Commission was first to share the Good News. Once a person comes to know Jesus Christ, then the worship, discipleship, education, serving others, etc. can take place.. The priority hasn’t changed. The Great Commission hasn’t changed. It still is our priority.
Jesus has given us the Good News. The added ending to Mark tells us that enacting the Great Commission is still a group activity. Now, we have to be careful here, because it’s easy to miss. The newer ending of Mark tells us that Jesus’ disciples “went forth and preached everywhere….” (verse 19) When we hear the word, “preach,” we think of people going out onto street corners and shouting at people. I was in the New York City subway this week and noticed a woman in the middle of a corridor up ahead of me. One look told me what she was doing. As I got closer I heard her saying loudly to those who passed by, “Do you know where you will spend eternity? Turn to Jesus.” I gave her a smile that tried to communicate I agreed with her; she just went right on preaching. For most of us, the idea of getting up in front of strangers and speaking out at them gives us the shudders. However, that is what we think of when we hear about the disciples preaching.
But, hang on a minute. When Paul went into a new city, he stayed there only briefly. He was not going to buy a house and take up residence. He wasn’t putting kids in school, or putting his resume out to look for a career. No, he was there for a few weeks, just enough to gather a few converts and establish a church that could meet in someone’s home, then he was off again. Without knowing anyone in the city, without any relationships, preaching out loud to a group of people was the way he chose to get a church started from nothing.
It’s like Macy’s. I’ll bet you’ve received advertising from Macy’s in the mail – probably over and over again. Macy sends out hundreds of thousands of mail pieces. If it’s a good advertisement and good products are advertised, marketers tell us they might expect 1% of the people who get the ad might actually come to their store. 1% – that’s all. However, because they mail out so many, 1% becomes a lot of people.
Here’s what we forget. Paul, like a marketer today, cast his net wide, trying to preach to the greatest number of people so that a few might convert to Christ. He used this method because he knew no one in the city, had no contacts or relationships. He wasn’t expecting hundreds to change their life direction and follow Jesus. He was looking for a few, say the 1% and build a church from them. Here’s the thing; after he left, the new Christians did not preach. They didn’t try to gather a crowd and preach. No, instead, they lived a Christian life and they spoke of Jesus, not to the crowds, but to their friends and family.
You see, speaking to others about Jesus Christ is not something that only a few do. It’s something we all do, not by preaching or doing something unnatural. It is very natural. We speak during the normal stuff of relationships: while we’re having a barbeque together, while we’re walking our kids jointly to school, while we’re outside working on the lawn and say hi to our neighbor, during our break at work… wherever, whenever, by us all. It’s all our activity, just as it was for the first generations of Christians. And, just as back then, when we are authentic and share Jesus through relationships, people are willing to listen. They still are receptive.
Catherine Brandt writes, “A mother with two young children waited in a doctor’s reception room. Her little boy picked up a Bible story book from the table and climbed into his mother’s lap and asked her to read. She started to read the story of Jesus asleep in a boat with the disciples when a great storm lashed them. The disciples panicked and awakened Jesus. ‘Don’t you care that we drown?’ they asked? All at once the mother felt the quiet in the reception room. She looked up to find everyone listening to her. ‘I didn’t mean to read so loud,’ she said. ‘Go on,’ one woman said. ‘I want to hear how the story comes out.’” (You’re only Old Once)
People are still receptive. All of us have a part to play in helping our friends and family members know Jesus personally. It’s all our activity. The Great Commission with Great News is still a group activity. And, when we are faithful, people listen and God responds! Let’s end with the final words from extended ending from Mark’s Gospel: “And they went forth… while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.”