The Gospel of Mark is probably my least favorite. It lacks
flow. It lacks poetry. Jesus did this. Jesus did that. The disciples went here.
It reads like a historical account, which is good, but not always entertaining.
The concluding chapter ends with the women discovering the empty tomb, with a
sentence that the disciples went on out to proclaim the Gospel. Easter’s here:
The End. Now, the Longer Ending of Mark probably wasn’t written by Mark, but it
was a manuscript being passed around early on, and with Mark’s brief ending,
people decided to just tuck it in there. It's a bit more narrative, but it's still a historical account.
The Longer Ending includes meeting with the disciples after
the Resurrection. Just before the Ascension, Jesus commissions them to spread
the Gospel, adding, “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name
they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up
serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm
them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18).
Then he ascends into heaven. Mic drop, end of book. The last word of the Gospel
of Mark is the forewarning that things are about to get weird.
So we skip ahead 10 days, to the beginning of Acts. The
disciples and Mary and other believers have been hanging around Jerusalem, per
Jesus’ instructions, waiting for a sign. They’ve elected Matthias as a
replacement for Judas (poor Justus). Then things get weird.
The Holy Spirit descended, loudly. I guess I’m so accustomed
to the images of Pentecost—a dove, rays of lights, floating flames—that I never
much paid attention to the noise: the sound of a rushing wind and a babble of
people speaking in various languages, loud enough that it draws an even bigger
crowd. It’s noisy and chaotic, and people are justifiably confused by it all.
It’s the start of the Church.
Then Peter gets up to speak to the crowd, and what’s the
first thing said to them? That God said that people would prophesy, have visions,
and see signs. It’s pretty clear that signs accompany believers in the Bible.
When you’re close to God, you’re not limited by materialism. And yet, it’s
difficult for us 21srt century types to trust signs, especially if we
weren’t raised in a charismatic culture that embraced faith healings, speaking
in tongues, or even snake handling. Those groups seem delusional from the
outside, and yet, signs were promised.
I don’t have to believe every story of a faith healing to
believe that faith healings happen. But I probably should believe that they do
happen. Why does my trust of the supernatural end at the Ascension, when at the
Ascension Jesus said that supernatural signs would happen after? I attest that
God spoke to prophets in ancient Israel but is now silent? It’s very difficult
for me to believe that glossolalia is real, even if I think it’s sincere. I’m
trying to find that balance between faith and reasonable doubt.
Interestingly, when thinking about the signs listed in Mark,
the only one that really stood out was the poison drinking. Snake handling is
rare, but I know of churches that do it. I don’t know of churches that drink
any deadly thing without harm. But then I remembered the one apostle who didn’t
die of martyrdom—John. People tried to kill him, but he survived and died
peacefully. The assassination attempt? Poisoning.
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