The Sacred, Imperishable Gospel

The Sacred, Imperishable Gospel

I’m not sure what your feelings are regarding the longer ending of Mark (and if you have no idea what that means, well … you might be better off). This really isn’t the point of this post, but to give you a very brief understanding, the basic idea is that there are some ancient manuscripts that include additional material in this last chapter of Mark. And to be clear, none of this additional material has any real bearing on the authenticity and reliability of Scripture. It simply means that some of the copies include some additional commentary that some of the scribes decided to include and others did not. Some may have accidentally overlooked it, or some may have thought that it helped close the book with a little more clarity and cohesiveness.

Regardless of your opinion, there is, indeed, truth to be found in these additional verses. (And my point is not to argue for or against additional biblical material anyway). One of my favorites is the verse that follows verse eight in some latin manuscripts and is included as a footnote in many translations (including the ESV and NASB). It says,

“And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”
I can’t stop thinking about that verse this morning. And there are several points from this verse that stick out to me that we need to remind ourselves of today:
1. Jesus sent sent out the proclamation of the gospel through His disciples. –
The disciples were His mouthpiece. He actually went through them. It was His voice. His hands. His feet. His heart that was going.
2. It’s a sacred proclamation. –
It’s a holy message. A sacred proclamation because it’s the most important message in the world. Christ’s message. His life, death, burial and resurrection. It’s holy. It’s sacred. It is the words of eternal life.
3. It’s an imperishable proclamation. –
It’s imperishable because it’s eternal. It’s never ending. His word endures forever. It cannot be destroyed by any Bible-burning regime, or Christian-killing empire. It will last forever. It’s imperishable.
Remind yourself today of the greatness of this gospel that we live and proclaim. As Jerry Bridges says, “Preach the gospel to yourself everyday.” And this is an amazing verse to help you do that.

4 Responses

  1. James E. Snapp, Jr. says:

    Greetings in Christ,

    The end of the Gospel of Mark is a somewhat complicated issue. Our two earliest Greek copies of Mark with chapter 16 extant both end at the end of 16:8, followed by the closing book-title. But, they are the *only* extant Greek copies that end that way. And there are several earliest patristic writings in which the author uses material from Mark 16:9-20, showing that in those authors' copies of Mark, these verses were present. (Irenaeus, for example, quoted Mark 16:19 in about the year 184, in "Against Heresies," Book 3, ch. 10.)

    The "Intermediate Ending," also known as the "Shorter Ending," upon which you commented, was not written by Mark, or by anybody who knew Mark. It originated in Egypt, and was written by someone who wished to round off the otherwise abruptly-ending text after 16:8.

    Only six Greek manuscripts contain the Intermediate Ending, and they all also support the usual ending, with scribal notes explaining that some copies said one thing and some copies had the other ending. The Intermediate Ending was fairly extensively used in Egypt, and forms an extra verse in a large percentage of Ethiopic copies. But it does not deserve to be treated as part of the original Greek text, or even as a possibly original part of the text. Its contents, whether they be true or not, are not inspired Scripture.

    Also, the Intermediate Ending is found in only one Latin copy (Codex Bobbiensis), not "some" Latin manuscripts.

    There is nothing wrong with meditating on this material, just as there is nothing wrong with meditating on a sermon or a devotional essay. Just bear in mind that the Intermediate Ending is not Scripture.

    Yours in Christ,

    James Snapp, Jr.

  2. James E. Snapp, Jr. says:

    Greetings in Christ,

    The end of the Gospel of Mark is a somewhat complicated issue. Our two earliest Greek copies of Mark with chapter 16 extant both end at the end of 16:8, followed by the closing book-title. But, they are the *only* extant Greek copies that end that way. And there are several earliest patristic writings in which the author uses material from Mark 16:9-20, showing that in those authors' copies of Mark, these verses were present. (Irenaeus, for example, quoted Mark 16:19 in about the year 184, in "Against Heresies," Book 3, ch. 10.)

    The "Intermediate Ending," also known as the "Shorter Ending," upon which you commented, was not written by Mark, or by anybody who knew Mark. It originated in Egypt, and was written by someone who wished to round off the otherwise abruptly-ending text after 16:8.

    Only six Greek manuscripts contain the Intermediate Ending, and they all also support the usual ending, with scribal notes explaining that some copies said one thing and some copies had the other ending. The Intermediate Ending was fairly extensively used in Egypt, and forms an extra verse in a large percentage of Ethiopic copies. But it does not deserve to be treated as part of the original Greek text, or even as a possibly original part of the text. Its contents, whether they be true or not, are not inspired Scripture.

    Also, the Intermediate Ending is found in only one Latin copy (Codex Bobbiensis), not "some" Latin manuscripts.

    There is nothing wrong with meditating on this material, just as there is nothing wrong with meditating on a sermon or a devotional essay. Just bear in mind that the Intermediate Ending is not Scripture.

    Yours in Christ,

    James Snapp, Jr.

  3. James E. Snapp, Jr. says:

    Greetings in Christ,

    The end of the Gospel of Mark is a somewhat complicated issue. Our two earliest Greek copies of Mark with chapter 16 extant both end at the end of 16:8, followed by the closing book-title. But, they are the *only* extant Greek copies that end that way. And there are several earliest patristic writings in which the author uses material from Mark 16:9-20, showing that in those authors' copies of Mark, these verses were present. (Irenaeus, for example, quoted Mark 16:19 in about the year 184, in "Against Heresies," Book 3, ch. 10.)

    The "Intermediate Ending," also known as the "Shorter Ending," upon which you commented, was not written by Mark, or by anybody who knew Mark. It originated in Egypt, and was written by someone who wished to round off the otherwise abruptly-ending text after 16:8.

    Only six Greek manuscripts contain the Intermediate Ending, and they all also support the usual ending, with scribal notes explaining that some copies said one thing and some copies had the other ending. The Intermediate Ending was fairly extensively used in Egypt, and forms an extra verse in a large percentage of Ethiopic copies. But it does not deserve to be treated as part of the original Greek text, or even as a possibly original part of the text. Its contents, whether they be true or not, are not inspired Scripture.

    Also, the Intermediate Ending is found in only one Latin copy (Codex Bobbiensis), not "some" Latin manuscripts.

    There is nothing wrong with meditating on this material, just as there is nothing wrong with meditating on a sermon or a devotional essay. Just bear in mind that the Intermediate Ending is not Scripture.

    Yours in Christ,

    James Snapp, Jr.

  4. James E. Snapp, Jr. says:

    Greetings in Christ,

    The end of the Gospel of Mark is a somewhat complicated issue. Our two earliest Greek copies of Mark with chapter 16 extant both end at the end of 16:8, followed by the closing book-title. But, they are the *only* extant Greek copies that end that way. And there are several earliest patristic writings in which the author uses material from Mark 16:9-20, showing that in those authors' copies of Mark, these verses were present. (Irenaeus, for example, quoted Mark 16:19 in about the year 184, in "Against Heresies," Book 3, ch. 10.)

    The "Intermediate Ending," also known as the "Shorter Ending," upon which you commented, was not written by Mark, or by anybody who knew Mark. It originated in Egypt, and was written by someone who wished to round off the otherwise abruptly-ending text after 16:8.

    Only six Greek manuscripts contain the Intermediate Ending, and they all also support the usual ending, with scribal notes explaining that some copies said one thing and some copies had the other ending. The Intermediate Ending was fairly extensively used in Egypt, and forms an extra verse in a large percentage of Ethiopic copies. But it does not deserve to be treated as part of the original Greek text, or even as a possibly original part of the text. Its contents, whether they be true or not, are not inspired Scripture.

    Also, the Intermediate Ending is found in only one Latin copy (Codex Bobbiensis), not "some" Latin manuscripts.

    There is nothing wrong with meditating on this material, just as there is nothing wrong with meditating on a sermon or a devotional essay. Just bear in mind that the Intermediate Ending is not Scripture.

    Yours in Christ,

    James Snapp, Jr.

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