Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS024039S
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00:10 [uplifting music] 00:13 >>Eric Flickinger: Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:15 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 Well, this is it. 00:19 This is the 13th lesson of a 13-week journey. 00:24 We are coming to the end of the book of Mark. 00:27 We hope that this will not be the last time you visit the book 00:29 of Mark, but for this series of "Sabbath School" studies, 00:33 this is where it all comes together, 00:34 and we're glad that you have chosen to join us. 00:37 If by any chance you have missed any of the episodes, 00:40 you can still find them. 00:41 They are archived at itiswritten.tv, 00:45 or you can also find them 00:46 on the It Is Written YouTube channel, 00:49 just in case you missed one. 00:50 But this is what we've been leading up to, week number 13, 00:53 lesson number 13, and we're going to begin with prayer. 00:58 Father, we are grateful to be able to be here, 01:00 to study once again Your Word, 01:02 to learn more about the gospel through the book of Mark. 01:05 And we ask that You will bless our time together. 01:07 We thank You, 01:08 in Jesus' name, [both] amen. 01:11 Well, for one final time, this quarter anyway, 01:13 we're delighted to have Dr. Tom Shepherd with us. 01:16 He is the senior research professor of New Testament 01:20 at the Theological Seminary, Andrews University. 01:23 Tom, thanks for joining us again. 01:25 >>Dr. Thomas Shepherd: Joy to be here. 01:26 >>Eric: So week number 13, "The Risen Lord," 01:29 this is what we've been building to. 01:31 This is where the journey has been leading, 01:33 the pinnacle, if you will. Let's dig into this. 01:36 Jesus was crucified. 01:38 That's where we left off last time. 01:41 But He rises again. We are in Mark, chapter 16. 01:44 What's the significance of Jesus rising from the dead on Sunday? 01:48 >>Tom: Okay, well, so, He does die on a Friday. 01:51 He says, "I will be"-- not in the Gospel of Mark, 01:55 but elsewhere He says He would be-- 01:57 well, He does say in Mark He would rise on the third day. 01:59 Now, that kind of surprises some people, 02:01 because He died on a Friday afternoon, 02:04 He was in the tomb on the Sabbath, 02:06 and He rose early on a Sunday morning. 02:09 That doesn't sound like the third day to us. 02:13 But for them, it was 02:15 because they counted the days inclusively. 02:17 So they would say, all right, so Friday would be the first day, 02:22 and Sabbath would be the second, 02:25 and then Sunday would be the third. 02:26 And of course, they reckoned time from sunset to sunset, 02:30 all the days. So if He dies on Friday afternoon, 02:33 even just that part of the day, that's the first day. 02:35 So even though it's little more than maybe 48 hours or less, 02:39 it still counted as the third day. 02:42 Now, He rises on the first day of the week. 02:45 The Bible, of course, never calls it Sunday. 02:48 And we have the story of these women. 02:51 We want to read verses 1 through 8 of Mark 16. 02:55 >>Eric: "Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, 02:58 "Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, 03:01 "that they might come and anoint Him. 03:03 "Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, 03:05 "they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 03:08 "And they said among themselves, 'Who will roll away the stone 03:11 "from the door of the tomb for us?' 03:13 "But when they looked up, 03:14 "they saw that the stone had been rolled away-- 03:16 "for it was very large. 03:18 "And entering the tomb, they saw a young man 03:20 "clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; 03:23 "and they were alarmed. 03:25 "But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. 03:27 "'You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. 03:30 "'He is risen! He is not here. 03:32 "'See the place where they laid Him. 03:34 "'But go, tell His disciples-- and Peter-- 03:37 "'that He is going before you into Galilee; 03:40 "there you will see Him, as He said to you.' 03:43 "So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, 03:46 "for they trembled and were amazed. 03:48 And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." 03:52 >>Tom: All right, so here's the report of what happens. 03:55 Now, the one day of this experience that is not narrated, 04:00 that is not, just nothing described, is the Sabbath. 04:04 So He dies on a Friday. 04:06 He's buried in the tomb. It's evening. 04:09 It's, you know, probably close to sunset. 04:12 The sun would be setting at that time in that area of the world, 04:15 probably somewhere around 6 o'clock, 04:19 so it didn't take real long for the sun to go down. 04:24 And so it says, "When the Sabbath was past." 04:28 Now, that means Saturday night at sunset. 04:31 So the hours of the Sabbath are un-narrated. 04:34 Why? Because everybody rested on the Sabbath. 04:37 You know, it was what they did. 04:39 And Luke 24 tells--23, I think it's verse 56, tells us 04:44 that they rested "according to the commandment," right? 04:47 Now, so when the Sabbath passed, 04:49 then they buy the spices so that they might go and anoint Him. 04:53 They didn't have time to finish the job. 04:55 And now, very early on the first day of the week, 04:58 when the sun had risen-- 04:59 now, I've made a joke about this a little bit. 05:02 I'm an early riser. 05:03 I usually get up at 4:30 in the morning. 05:06 And for me, when the sun has risen, it's not very early. 05:11 So maybe Mark was not a morning person, 05:13 like, you know, maybe some of our listeners 05:16 are not morning people, and they can associate with Mark. 05:19 They went to the tomb, and they're saying, 05:22 "Who's going to roll away the stone for us from the tomb?" 05:25 Now, Jesus is not there. 05:29 The stone is rolled away, and they come into the tomb, 05:33 and there's a young man sitting there on the right. 05:36 He's not named, we don't have the description, 05:39 but he's in a white robe, and he knows why they're there, 05:44 and he knows what happened, and he tells them what to do. 05:47 Okay, so this is a typical 05:52 what we would call "theophany" or "epiphany," 05:56 where a divine being or a heavenly messenger comes. 05:59 There are five steps in a theophany or epiphany; 06:03 all right, so the first step is the appearance of glory, 06:06 all right? The second step is human fear. 06:10 The third step is the heavenly visitor says, "Don't be afraid." 06:15 The fourth step is the revelation, 06:18 what's--why the heavenly messenger has come. 06:21 The fifth step is the human reaction, okay? 06:24 So we have all of those here, okay? 06:26 So the signs of the glory is 06:29 the big stone is rolled away, okay? 06:32 And there's a young man in a white robe 06:36 who is in there telling them all that they know. 06:39 So, but especially the stone is rolled away, 06:42 and Jesus isn't there. 06:43 All right, so this is like, boy, what's happened? 06:45 What's happened, right? 06:47 The second thing is fear, yes, and it's there. 06:50 It says they were alarmed. 06:52 Then the heavenly visitor says, "Do not be alarmed. 06:56 Don't be afraid," okay? 06:57 Then comes the revelation, all right? 07:00 And the revelation is found in verse 6: 07:05 "He said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. 07:07 You seek Jesus of Nazareth.'" 07:08 So he knows why they came. 07:10 "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. 07:13 He has risen"-- 07:15 this is the best news in human history. 07:18 "He has risen; He is not here. 07:21 See the place where they laid Him." 07:22 So, the tomb is empty, right? 07:25 Now, here's the message: 07:27 "But go, tell His disciples and Peter 07:29 "that He is going before you to Galilee. 07:32 "There you will see Him, 07:33 just as He told you," all right? 07:34 And then this leads to our, the human reaction. 07:40 They run away, and they don't say anything to anybody 07:42 because they're afraid. 07:43 Well, we'll come back to that and think about, 07:47 you know, what's going on here. 07:49 But first we want to think a little bit about this idea 07:53 of the resurrection and Sunday. 07:55 Now, our Sunday-keeping friends maintain 07:58 that they keep Sunday 08:01 because Jesus rose on Sunday. 08:04 And there's no doubt about it, Jesus rose on Sunday, 08:07 but the question is, what is the New Testament's memorial 08:14 of the resurrection of Jesus? 08:16 And to answer that question, 08:17 I'd like to turn to Colossians 2. 08:20 Colossians, chapter 2, I'm going to put my marker here 08:23 in Gospel of Mark so we get back here, 08:25 but Colossians, chapter 2, verses 12 to 13-- 08:30 12 to 15, I'm sorry. 08:32 Colossians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 08:36 Colossians. Colossians 2:12-15, 08:39 maybe you could read it. 08:40 Now, the apostle Paul here is describing 08:43 five different pictures of salvation, 08:45 ideas that salvation brings to us and what its meaning is. 08:50 And so we're kind of in the midst of that. 08:52 So chapter 2, verses 12 through 15. 08:56 >>Eric: "Buried with Him in baptism, 08:58 "in which you also were raised with Him 09:01 "through faith in the working of God, 09:03 "who raised Him from the dead. 09:04 "And you, being dead in your trespass 09:07 "and the uncircumcision of your flesh, 09:09 "He has made alive together with Him, 09:11 "having forgiven you all trespasses, 09:14 "having wiped out the handwriting of requirements 09:17 "that was against us, which was contrary to us. 09:20 "And He has taken it out of the way, 09:21 "having nailed it to the cross. 09:23 "Having disarmed principalities and powers, 09:26 "He made a public spectacle of them, 09:28 triumphing over them in it." 09:30 >>Tom: Okay, well, this is an interesting passage, and it 09:34 also troubles some people, but we notice in verse 12, 09:38 "Having been buried with Him in baptism, 09:40 in which you were also raised," all right? 09:43 So, actually, the New Testament memorial 09:46 of the resurrection of Jesus 09:48 is not Sunday sacredness; it's baptism. 09:51 It's how we link in to the death, burial, 09:55 and resurrection of Jesus 09:57 and link in to His power working in our life. All right, 10:00 so he says in verse 13, "You who were dead 10:04 "in your trespasses, the uncircumcision 10:06 "of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, 10:08 having forgiven us all our trespasses." 10:12 Now, verse 14 is a verse that kind of troubles people 10:16 because it talks about-- mine says, 10:18 "By canceling the record of debt 10:20 "that stood against us with its legal demands. 10:22 This He set aside, nailing it to the cross." 10:25 I think your version says it a little different. 10:27 >>Eric: "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements 10:31 that was against us." I know the King James says, 10:33 "Ordinances that was against us." 10:35 >>Tom: Yeah, so actually, this word, the Greek word 10:39 is "hierographon," and it means, actually, a bill of debt. 10:43 When you go to a restaurant and you eat, and you pull out 10:46 your credit card, and you send it in, and then you come back, 10:50 and you give them a good tip, and you sign your name, 10:53 when you sign your name, that's a bill of debt, see? 10:57 That's a handwriting of ordinances, or handwriting-- 11:00 it's a bill of debt. 11:02 So really, the--what was nailed to the cross was not the law 11:07 of God; it was the record of our debt, our debt in sin. 11:11 The only thing actually that was nailed to the cross was Jesus. 11:14 And as we said in one of our previous lessons, when Christ 11:17 was nailed to the cross, He took--He became sin for us. 11:21 He took on our debt. 11:23 He became the One to forgive us our sins. 11:26 And so here it says that that debt is canceled. 11:30 And I really like verse 15, and we'll probably have to close 11:33 with this in this segment, but it says that "He disarmed 11:36 "the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame 11:39 by triumphing over them in it." 11:42 All right, so He disarmed them. 11:44 That word "disarmed" can also mean "to strip away clothing." 11:48 When they crucified people, they usually crucified them naked. 11:53 So they stripped away their clothes to shame them. 11:55 So what Paul is saying is actually that in 11:58 the crucifixion, when Jesus was being stripped of His clothes, 12:01 actually Satan was being stripped of his clothes. 12:05 They saw his shame that he had tried to kill the Son of God 12:09 and tried to, you know, usurp the throne. 12:12 And so he was stripped, he was put to open shame, 12:16 and Christ triumphs over him in the cross. 12:20 The cross becomes His victory chariot over the evil forces. 12:25 >>Eric: So, a powerful picture here from 12:26 the book of Colossians, again, 12:28 paralleling what we're reading over in the book of Mark. 12:30 Tom, we're in the last episode, 12:34 the last lesson of our study together. 12:36 We still have a half a program to go. 12:39 But tell us one more time about that companion book, 12:42 just in case somebody for one reason 12:44 or another hasn't picked it up yet, is it too late? 12:47 >>Tom: Well, it's not too late. 12:48 Of course, there's one more chapter, chapter 13. 12:50 And actually, in the last chapter of this book, 12:54 I delve into, much more than in the quarterly, 12:57 I delve into the ending of Mark. 13:00 The ending of the Gospel of Mark is disputed, 13:03 and there I talk more about the textual evidence 13:06 and, you know, where does Mark really end, yeah. 13:09 >>Eric: Fantastic. So, 13:10 if you want to pick that up, and I would encourage you 13:13 to do so, do it before we run out of copies. 13:17 And you can pick it up at itiswritten.shop. 13:20 Again, that's itiswritten.shop. 13:22 It will help you to delve much more deeply 13:25 into the Gospel of Mark. 13:26 You'll pull so much more out of it, 13:28 and it will be a blessing to you. 13:31 So itiswritten.shop, the book is called "The Gospel of Mark" 13:34 or "The Book of Mark" by Thomas Shepherd. 13:36 We're going to be back in just a moment 13:38 for the last half of the last lesson. 13:40 You don't want to miss it. 13:41 We'll see you back in just a moment. 13:43 [uplifting music] 13:47 >>John Bradshaw: Disease, terrorism, pandemics, suicide. 13:52 Around the world, 65 million people die each year. 13:56 That's 120 human lives ending every minute. 13:59 Death is a problem, a problem humanity can't solve. 14:03 Many have tried. 14:05 And while people are living longer these days, 14:07 everyone still dies. 14:10 But even though we cannot solve the problem of death, 14:13 there is a solution. 14:15 There is hope. 14:16 The Bible shows us a vivid picture 14:18 of how this world is going to end. 14:21 But it also gives us a view of what will come next: 14:24 a world where death is destroyed, 14:27 where pain, suffering, and injustice will be behind us. 14:31 And through the death and resurrection of Jesus, 14:34 God has provided a way for anyone who chooses Him 14:37 to receive eternal life. 14:40 Join me for "The Blessed Hope," 14:42 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 14:47 [uplifting music] 14:51 >>Eric: Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 14:53 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:55 We are looking at the very last tail end of the book of Mark. 15:00 Tom, I want to ask you this question 15:01 to launch us into this last section. 15:04 Jesus has risen. 15:06 What are some of the key facts about Jesus' resurrection 15:09 that we want to make sure we don't miss? 15:10 >>Tom: Sure. 15:11 The key facts are, first of all, that the tomb was empty. 15:15 Everybody agrees. 15:16 Even the enemies of Jesus agree that the tomb was empty. 15:19 Now, the explanation for the tomb 15:20 is what people disagree about. [chuckles] Why was it empty? 15:24 The report that circulated among the Jewish people 15:29 was that the disciples had stolen the body. 15:31 Now, the problem with that explanation 15:34 is that there were soldiers guarding the tomb. 15:36 And of course, the story is that the soldiers all slept. 15:41 Well, that's a little hard to kind of accept 15:43 that they all slept. 15:45 The disciples would have had to come, 15:47 they would have had to roll away the big stone 15:49 while all the soldiers slept, go in, 15:53 take the body, and, you know, run away, 15:56 and nobody woke up? 15:57 That seems very unreasonable, okay? 16:00 So that doesn't seem to be a good explanation. 16:03 The disciples also were never arrested 16:06 for having stolen the body. 16:08 All that had to be done to show that Jesus had not risen 16:11 from the dead was to show His body, 16:14 and they never showed His body, all right? 16:17 The other thing that's interesting is over 16:19 in the Gospel of John, there's this reference 16:22 that there was one of the cloths folded, that had been 16:26 on His face, was folded and set by itself. 16:29 Now, if grave robbers had come and stolen the body, 16:33 then you would expect that they would run away 16:36 with the expensive stuff, like, you know, spices and things 16:39 that were there, but they would not take the body. 16:41 That's very unlikely. 16:44 Furthermore, grave robbers are in a hurry because they 16:47 don't want to be caught, and they wouldn't have taken time 16:49 to fold up a cloth and set it aside, right? 16:53 So all these point in some kind of different direction. 16:55 Now, the other thing is we have most of the people who saw Jesus 17:00 after He rose from the dead, at first didn't believe it. 17:04 The disciples didn't. 17:05 It took them some time to be convinced. 17:07 Thomas, of course, a famous example, and even one 17:11 of His biggest enemies came to believe in Jesus as risen; 17:14 that's the guy who became the apostle Paul. 17:16 We also have the report 17:18 that more than 500 people saw Him at one time. 17:22 One person might have a hallucination or vision 17:26 or something, but not 500 people. 17:28 Furthermore, the apostle Peter became a leader 17:32 of the early Christian church. 17:33 Now, how does that prove that Jesus rose from the dead? 17:36 Well, of course, he had fallen flat on his face 17:39 by denying the Lord three times. 17:41 And if he had seen, you know, a "vision" of Jesus and said, 17:46 "Oh, Jesus forgave me. 17:48 I can be a leader again," the others would say, 17:50 "Sure, sure, sure. 17:52 Brother, why don't you go fish someplace?" you know. 17:55 But no, he was one of the leaders 17:57 of the early Christian church. 17:59 Why? Because Jesus restored him to ministry. 18:02 We have that story in John 21, and that's the most likely 18:05 explanation of why he would be one of the early leaders. 18:08 So we have lots of good evidence that points towards Jesus 18:11 having risen from the dead. 18:13 >>Eric: So it looks, I think, 18:15 convincingly like that did indeed happen, 18:17 unless one doesn't want to believe the evidence. 18:20 But I think we've got plenty of it. 18:21 So, let me pitch something your direction 18:24 and see how you swing at it and hit it. 18:28 You've got many modern versions of the book of Mark 18:33 that end at verse number 8. 18:35 Why is that? What's going on? 18:38 >>Tom: Okay, so I'm looking at the English Standard Version 18:42 here and after verse 8 it says, "Some of the earliest 18:44 manuscripts do not include 16:9- 20," okay? 18:49 So a lot of people wonder like, "What? 18:51 How can that be?" 18:54 So, most of the manuscripts, we have thousands of manuscripts 18:58 of the New Testament, thousands, and it is the best by far, 19:03 by far, the best attested document from the ancient world. 19:07 Nothing else compares. 19:09 And so, we have lots of manuscripts, 19:11 and lots of them have verses 9 to 20. 19:13 However, our earliest manuscripts that have 19:17 the ending of Mark do not have verses 9 to 20. 19:21 And some of the early church fathers indicate that many 19:26 of the manuscripts that they had available to them in their day 19:32 did not--it ended at verse 8 and did not have verses 9 to 20. 19:37 So how do you explain this? 19:39 All right, so if we look at verse 8, 19:42 this is the response of the women. 19:45 It says, "They went out and fled from the tomb, 19:47 "for trembling and astonishment had seized them, 19:50 and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." 19:54 This seems like no way to end the gospel, right? 19:59 No way at all. It's like, what? 20:02 They went away, and they said nothing to anybody? 20:06 Much more pleasing to most folk is that, you know, it goes on: 20:09 "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week," 20:11 verse 9, "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, 20:14 "from whom He had cast out seven demons. 20:16 "She went and told those who had been with Him, 20:18 as they mourned and wept." 20:20 And then you have more references 20:23 to the appearances of Jesus. 20:25 And He comes and He talks to His disciples, 20:27 and He sends them out as missionaries. 20:29 Now, of course, the problem is, if you read verse 8 20:33 and then you read verse 9, they don't fit together real well. 20:36 You know, they went out and they didn't say anything to anybody 20:38 because they were afraid. 20:40 Then it seems, verse 9 seems to go back all the way 20:44 to almost, like, verse 1. 20:46 "Now when He arose early on the first day of the week, 20:48 "He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, 20:50 "from whom He had cast out seven demons. 20:51 She went and told those who had been with Him." 20:55 And so, well, did she tell or not? 20:59 You know, verse 8 said they didn't say anything to anybody, 21:01 and verse 9 says, oh, well, she told the disciples. 21:04 So, verses 9 to 20 have a vocabulary that doesn't seem 21:09 to fit as much with the rest of the vocabulary of Mark. 21:14 It doesn't seem to fit well with the ending in verse 8. 21:18 And actually, it seems to be a conglomeration of reports 21:22 from all the other gospels and some other places 21:27 in the writings of Paul or the book of Acts 21:30 and even the book of Hebrews. 21:32 There's all these different verses that seem to, 21:35 you know, fit together with that statement. 21:38 So here's the take of most scholars today. 21:42 The take of most scholars today 21:43 is that the book ended at verse 8. 21:47 And then in the second century, somebody wrote this longer 21:51 ending and attached it on there. 21:53 There's actually another ending, one that's a shorter one 21:57 than this long ending, a little shorter one, 22:00 which was probably written after the longer ending was, okay? 22:04 It troubles some people that this is what, you know, 22:09 that somebody would add this on to the Word of God. 22:12 I try to encourage people, "Well, don't be discouraged. 22:15 "You know, almost everything that's said in verses 9 to 20 22:18 "appears somewhere else in the New Testament, 22:21 you know, almost everything that's said." 22:23 But it still leaves people with the question, 22:28 so if it ends at verse 8, 22:32 how can you end the gospel that way, you know? 22:36 It would be like going to a symphony orchestra, 22:39 and, you know, you hear them playing this music. 22:42 And usually they're playing some symphony by Haydn 22:45 or Beethoven or something. 22:46 You can tell when they're coming to the end, a minute or two 22:49 beforehand, they start making these things we call arpeggios. 22:51 Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum-- 22:56 now, what if they stop there? 23:00 Somebody in the back of the room would go, 23:03 "Daah," you know, sing it out. 23:05 You have to have the proper ending. 23:08 Or I like to tell it this way, too. 23:11 If you're reading a book to your grandchild or your child, 23:16 you know, before it's bedtime, and you say, 23:18 "Well, go choose the book you want me to read." 23:21 And lo and behold, the child picks the same book, 23:25 always the same book. 23:27 And you say, "Wouldn't you like to read--" 23:29 "No, I want to hear this story." 23:31 So you start reading it, and, you know, maybe you miss a page. 23:34 The child will turn the page back. 23:36 I've had this happen. 23:38 They'll turn the page back so that you read the whole thing. 23:41 And if you're getting a little, I don't know, tired 23:44 of the ending and then, you know, get a little twinkle 23:47 in your eye and you change the ending of the book, 23:50 the child will say to you, 23:52 "Daddy, that's not how the story ends. 23:55 Tell it the right way." 23:57 Now, I think that's what's happening here 23:59 in the Gospel of Mark. We call this an open ending. 24:03 We've talked about the revelation secrecy motif 24:06 that runs through the whole book. 24:07 The revelation aspect of the revelation secrecy motif 24:11 found its culmination at the cross. 24:13 There's all these Christological titles that show up. 24:16 The religious leaders are saying this. 24:18 He's called the King of the Jews above the cross. 24:20 All of that, like, shows up. 24:21 And you're like, "Whoa, this is the King of the Jews 24:23 dying on the cross," you know. 24:26 The secrecy motif aspect finds its culmination 24:31 in verse 8, right? And that is this. 24:36 Throughout the book, Jesus has been saying, 24:39 "Shh, don't tell, don't tell," right? 24:43 And what do they do? 24:44 They go tell. [laughs] 24:47 They don't do what they're told. 24:49 When it comes to the end of the book, it's reversed. 24:53 The angel says, "Go tell." 24:55 What do they do? 24:57 They don't go tell. 24:59 The only thing that is consistent is people 25:01 don't do what they're told, which hasn't changed. 25:05 Okay, so what does that mean? 25:07 Well, what it means is Mark has put you, 25:12 as the reader, at the top. 25:14 He has you above all the people in the book. 25:16 At the beginning of the book, you know that Jesus 25:19 is the Messiah, the Son of God. 25:20 And you're watching the disciples, who are kind of 25:22 like bumbling Keystone cops who sort of stumble over themselves. 25:26 You're like, these guys don't get it. 25:27 What's wrong with you guys? Don't you see He's the Messiah? 25:31 So the reader feels a bit superior, you know, 25:34 but at the end of the book Mark throws you a curveball, 25:38 and he says, "The women didn't go and tell." 25:41 That's not right. You can't end the gospel like that. 25:44 And so what happens? 25:45 He says, "Well, somebody's got to go tell." 25:47 Who is it? 25:49 It's you. 25:51 You must go tell, the reader. 25:53 See, it's an appeal to the reader. 25:55 Now, he did such a good job of an open ending that has 25:58 an appeal to the reader that somebody in the second century 26:01 is like, "No, that's no way to end the gospel." 26:03 And they pen--they put together verses 9 to 20 26:07 and attached it on there. 26:09 So Mark was a really good storyteller. 26:13 And the secrecy now brings the appeal to you and to me 26:16 that we must tell this gospel story. 26:19 It's a wonderful ending. 26:21 >>Eric: So we're down at the end of the book of Mark. 26:23 Give us some big takeaways, big takeaways from Mark. 26:26 >>Tom: Jesus is the Messiah. 26:27 Number one, Jesus is the Messiah. 26:30 The cost of discipleship: 26:31 Take up your cross and follow Jesus. 26:34 Christ is risen, and He's coming again. 26:37 And we must tell the story. 26:41 You must tell the story. I must tell the story. 26:44 That's the call of the Gospel of Mark to you and to me. 26:48 >>Eric: Tom, thank you for leading us along this journey 26:50 through the book of Mark. 26:52 It has been a privilege and a wonderful opportunity 26:55 for us to get to know the gospel and to get to know Jesus 26:57 just a little bit better. 26:59 And we want to thank you 27:00 for joining us on this journey as well. 27:03 The journey would not have been the same without you. 27:06 And we hope that just as Tom mentioned, you're not going 27:09 to let this settle into your heart but not share it. 27:13 Take this message to someone else. 27:15 Give them some encouragement. Give them some hope. 27:18 Help them to get to know Jesus just a little bit better 27:22 because you have had the opportunity to get to know Jesus 27:25 just a little bit better. 27:26 God's going to give you those opportunities 27:28 if you ask for them. 27:30 And if you ask for them, 27:31 be prepared when He delivers them to you. 27:34 Thank you once again for joining us 27:36 on this journey in the book of Mark. 27:38 Next week, we're going to be back starting a brand new series 27:41 of studies on the book of John. 27:44 And we are looking forward to having you join us as well. 27:47 God bless you, and we'll see you 27:48 next time here on "Sabbath School," 27:50 brought to you by It Is Written. 27:52 [uplifting music] 28:23 [uplifting music] 28:26 [Captions provided by Aberdeen Captioning www.abercap.com] |
Revised 2024-09-13