One of the most interesting facts found in the Gospels is that Mark’s Gospel has no good ending to the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, while John’s Gospel has TWO.
The true ending of Mark is found in Mark 16:8 which says…
1 And after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought aromatic spices to come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves: Who will make us roll the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white tunic; and they got scared. 6 And he knows them: Fear not: you seek Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: here is the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they came out quickly and fled from the sepulchre; because they trembled and were amazed, and said nothing to anyone; because they were afraid.”
Scholars agree that the rest of Mark was added later to correct this obvious problem that there is no really good ending that reflects the events in Mark’s Gospel. There is no actual account of the resurrection, women telling it to anyone, and certainly no story of the disciples meeting Jesus for the first time after the resurrection in Galilee. There also seems to be a missing story about Peter, but it is interesting that the angel insists on telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to be there. Since Peter was a disciple, it is obvious that Mark specifically needs Peter to be there. Why and why doesn’t the Gospel of Mark have a story that ends this way with Peter specifically needing to be in Galilee to meet Jesus? There are none.
Mark 14:27 notes…
27 And Jesus said to them: All of you will take offense at me tonight; for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter. 28 But after I have risen, I will go before you to Galilee. 29 But Peter said to him: Although everyone is scandalized, I am not. 30 And Jesus said to him: Truly I tell you that today, tonight, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me. three times.”
So here we have, in Mark, Jesus telling them that they will all be scattered but that he will meet them for the FIRST time in Galilee after he rises. Peter is told that, despite his bravado, he will deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice.
What’s going on here. A story that promises the disciples that after he is resurrected, Jesus will meet them in Galilee, not Jerusalem, for the first time, and yet it does not include such an ending with the women arriving at the tomb, not finding Jesus’ body. , panic. and run away from telling ANYONE. Not much resurrection inspiration here! Mark is clearly missing an ending. Where is the?
First, the idea that Jesus would meet the disciples for the first time after his resurrection is not unique to Mark. Matthew also has this tradition but also has an ending that includes it.
Matthew 28 says…
8 “And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And as they were about to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, Hail! And they came and 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
So, as in Mark, there is no sighting in Jerusalem, but the women here, at least scared, told the disciples that Jesus said they were going to Galilee to meet him for the first time, minus Judas. Remember that Mark said that he made sure to bring Peter.
Mateo keeps saying…
16 “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had pointed them out. 17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.”
So, in fact, Mateo has a story of all these things that happened as Marcos said too, but Marcos didn’t say how it all ended like Mateo did. Mark did not have a positive ending to his gospel.
Luke edits the story a bit because he wants his story to take place immediately in Jerusalem after the resurrection and not in Galilee as Mark and Matthew said.
Luke 24 says…
5 “And when they were afraid, and bowed their faces to the ground, they said to them: Why do you seek among the dead the one who lives? 6 He is not here, but has risen: remember what he spoke to you when he was still in Galilee.” .
So here we see how Luke cleverly said in effect, not that Jesus said he would meet them in Galilee after he rose, but that the disciples should remember that Jesus told them in Galilee that they would see him risen in Jerusalem. Lucas had stories in Jerusalem that the others didn’t and clearly needed to be told, and going straight to Galilee wouldn’t help him do that.
Now the interesting part. Mark has no ending to his Gospel, but John’s Gospel has TWO.
John’s first ending is in chapter 20.
24 “This is the disciple who bears witness to these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were all written, I would suppose that even the The world itself could not contain the books that must be written. Amen.”
The “Amen” signifies the first ending, as does the ending theme which could say more, but it would take too many books.
But then we start again in John 21 with…
“After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples in the Sea of Tiberias; and in this manner he revealed himself. 2 Simon Peter was together, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter knows them: I am going to fish. They say to him: We are also going with you.
Here we have a story, a second ending to John that begins “after these things.” After what things? Certainly not the John 20 stuff as it doesn’t add up. The “again” in verse 1 I think was added to make it sound like a second or third occurrence when in fact it is the true first meeting, but not in John as John does not need it. I believe John chapter 21 is the original ending missing from Mark. “After these things” are really the women who come out of the tomb perplexed and fearful, without telling anyone that Jesus is risen. John 21 shows a discouraged group of men who simply went back to fishing without seeing Jesus at all! How soon they forgot the events and sightings of Jesus in John 20! The reason is that this ending is Juan’s nonsensical second ending which is actually Marcos’ missing ending!
Juan has no reason for fishing until this last chapter, where Marcos is nothing more than a reason for fishing. John already had an ending and he doesn’t need this second. Mark needs this chapter to make sense of the whole Gospel of him without end!
Remember how the angel made sure to tell the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to show up in Galilee? Well, of all things, this second ending of John has a story about Peter being restored to the fold by Jesus. He denied Jesus three times and now three times, PETER, he is sent to feed the sheep, that is, the Church and the followers of Jesus. This also fits very well as an ending to the Mark story, as Mark made sure that Peter was in Galilee where John didn’t need him.
John 21 says…
15 “When they had supped, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lamb.” In other words, Peter is forgiven and restored. It was important for Pedro to be here in Galilee as Marcos said, but he never informed.
Let’s see how it fits.
Mark ends…
16:2 And very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves: Who will make us roll the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white tunic; and they got scared. 6 And he knows them: Fear not: you seek Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: here is the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they came out quickly and fled from the sepulchre; because they trembled and were amazed, and said nothing to anyone; because they were afraid.”
Now add John 21 and continue…
1 “After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples in the Sea of Tiberias; and in this way he revealed himself. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Galilee, were together. of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going to fish.” They said to him, “We too are going with you…” 15 And when they had supped, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonas, Do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
John the editor makes this an event that happens “again” or “the third time” but they are added so that it solves the problems that are added to John’s causes as it shows the disciples discouraged, despondent, depressed and just regressing. fish as if Jesus did not rise and forget about the John 20 sightings.
In all likelihood, Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John is the missing ending of Mark! Now Mark, as a Gospel without a good ending, has one that fits and John, who needs only one ending and not two, is restored to normal. Why this was added will be addressed soon.