The Book of Mark

No warm-up. No introduction. No family history. Mark opens with a proclamation — "The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God" — and immediately introduces John the Baptist. Wild-looking, camel-hair clothing, locusts and wild honey. A voice shouting in the wilderness: "Prepare the way for the Lord."

John baptises crowds in the Jordan. Then Jesus arrives — from Galilee, from nowhere important. John baptises him. As Jesus comes up out of the water, the heavens tear open. The Spirit descends like a dove. A voice: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Mark's word for the heavens opening is schizomenous — literally, tearing. It's violent and irreversible. Something is being broken open. The barrier between heaven and earth.

Immediately (there's that word), the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. Forty days. Tempted by Satan. Wild animals. Angels attending him. Mark doesn't describe the three temptations the way Matthew does — he just tells you it happened. There was a fight. Jesus came through.

Then John is arrested. Jesus moves north to Galilee and begins preaching: "The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news."

He walks along the Sea of Galilee. Simon and Andrew are casting a net. "Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people." They leave immediately. A little further on: James and John, mending nets in a boat with their father Zebedee. He calls them. They leave their father in the boat and follow.

No interview. No explanation. Just: follow. And they do.

Jesus and his four disciples arrive in Capernaum. It's the Sabbath. Jesus goes to the synagogue and begins teaching. Mark notes something immediately: the crowd is amazed because he teaches "as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law." The teachers quoted other rabbis. Jesus spoke as if the words came from inside him.

Then, mid-sermon: a man with an impure spirit shouts out. "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebukes the spirit sharply: "Be quiet! Come out of him!" The spirit shrieks and leaves. The crowd is stunned. "He gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him."

Word spreads fast. Jesus leaves the synagogue and goes to Simon's house. Simon's mother-in-law is in bed with a fever. Jesus takes her hand and helps her up. The fever leaves. She begins to serve them.

That evening, the whole town gathers at the door. He heals many who are sick with various diseases. He drives out many demons — but he does not let the demons speak, because they know who he is. This is the beginning of what scholars call the "Messianic Secret" in Mark — Jesus repeatedly instructs people not to tell others who he is. He is not yet ready to be defined by a title. He wants people to see what he does before they decide what they think.

Early the next morning, before daylight, Jesus slips away to a solitary place to pray. Simon and his companions search for him. "Everyone is looking for you!" Jesus: "Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."

A man with leprosy approaches. Falls on his knees. "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus is moved with compassion. He reaches out his hand and touches him. No one touches lepers. "I am willing. Be clean." The leprosy disappears immediately.

Then the famous moment: a paralysed man is brought on a mat by four friends. The house is so crowded they can't get through the door. They climb to the roof and lower him through a hole they dug in it. When Jesus sees their faith — all four of them — he says to the paralysed man: "Son, your sins are forgiven."

This scandalises the teachers of the law. "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Jesus reads their thoughts: "Which is easier — to say, your sins are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." He turns to the man: "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." The man gets up and walks out. Everyone is amazed and praises God.

Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) the tax collector — same scene as Matthew's Gospel, but told faster. A great crowd follows. Jesus eats at Levi's house. Pharisees see this and complain to the disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus hears. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Then: questions about fasting. Why don't your disciples fast? Jesus answers in images: you don't put a new patch on an old garment. You don't put new wine into old wineskins. Something new is happening. Old categories won't contain it.

Sabbath controversies. The disciples pluck grain as they walk through fields — this is permitted by Jewish law if you're hungry, but the Pharisees object to doing it on the Sabbath. Jesus quotes David eating the consecrated bread when he was hungry. Then: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

A man with a shrivelled hand is in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The Pharisees watch to see if Jesus will heal him — looking for grounds to accuse him. Jesus asks: "Which is lawful on the Sabbath — to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" Silence. He looks around at them in anger, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts. He heals the man. The Pharisees immediately leave to begin plotting with the Herodians how to kill Jesus. Chapter 3, verse 6. We are barely getting started, and they are already planning his death.

Jesus withdraws to the lake. Enormous crowds follow from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond the Jordan — even from Tyre and Sidon. He heals many. He appoints the twelve — so they could be with him, and to send them out to preach.

Then his family comes to take charge of him. Word has reached them: people are saying "He is out of his mind." His mother and brothers arrive, standing outside, calling for him. Someone tells him. His response is striking: "Who are my mother and my brothers?" He looks at those seated around him. "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Jesus sits by the lake. Such a large crowd gathers that he gets into a boat and pushes off from shore. The crowd stands on the beach. He begins to teach in parables.

The Sower — seed scattered on four soils: the path (birds eat it), rocky ground (quick growth, no roots, scorched by sun), thorny ground (choked), and good soil (multiplies 30, 60, or 100 times). Later, in private, Jesus explains: the seed is the word of God. The soils are different conditions of the human heart. He says something that will haunt this Gospel: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Then a parable unique to Mark — not found anywhere else in the Gospels. The Growing Seed: a farmer scatters seed and then sleeps. Gets up. Days and nights pass. The seed sprouts and grows — "though he does not know how." The soil produces grain all by itself. When the grain is ripe, the farmer puts the sickle to it.

This parable says something extraordinary: the kingdom of God grows on its own. The farmer doesn't manage it. He doesn't manufacture it. He doesn't understand it. He just scatters the seed and trusts. The growing is God's work.

The Mustard Seed: the smallest seed in the garden becomes the largest plant, so that birds nest in its branches.

Jesus spoke the word to them "as much as they could understand." In private, he explained everything to the disciples.

Evening. Jesus says: "Let us go over to the other side." They take him in the boat. A furious squall comes up. Waves break over the boat. It is nearly swamped. Jesus is in the stern, asleep on a cushion. The disciples wake him: "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

He gets up, rebukes the wind, and says to the waves: "Quiet! Be still!" The wind dies. Complete calm. He turns to them: "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They are terrified and ask each other: "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

On the other side — Gentile territory. A man comes from the tombs to meet them. He lives among the tombs. He has been cutting himself with stones. No one can bind him. He shouts night and day. He runs to Jesus and falls on his knees: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!" Jesus asks his name. "My name is Legion, for we are many." He begs not to be sent out of the area. A large herd of pigs is feeding on a hillside nearby. The demons enter the pigs. About two thousand pigs rush down the steep bank into the lake and drown.

The people of the town come and see the man who had been possessed sitting there — dressed and in his right mind — and they are afraid. They ask Jesus to leave their region. Jesus gets in the boat. The man begs to come with him. Jesus says no: "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you." This man becomes the first missionary — sent to the Decapolis, a region of ten Gentile cities. He tells everyone. Everyone is amazed.

Back on the other side: Jairus, a synagogue leader, falls at Jesus' feet. His little daughter is dying. Please come. They go. A woman in the crowd who has had bleeding for twelve years — who has spent everything on doctors, grown worse, not better — reaches through the crowd and touches his cloak. Immediately the bleeding stops. Jesus stops. "Who touched my clothes?" The disciples are baffled — the crowd is pressing against him. "Who touched me?" The woman, trembling, falls at his feet. She tells him everything. Jesus: "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Word comes from Jairus' house: "Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher any more?" Jesus hears and says: "Don't be afraid; just believe." He allows only Peter, James, and John to come. They arrive at the house — wailing, chaos. Jesus says, "The child is not dead but asleep." They laugh at him. He puts them all out, takes the parents and his three disciples, goes to the child, takes her hand and says: "Talitha koum!" — Aramaic for "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" She stands up and walks. She is twelve years old. He gives strict instructions not to tell anyone, and tells them to give her something to eat.

Jesus goes to his hometown, Nazareth. He teaches in the synagogue. The people who grew up with him are offended. "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son?" They know his family. They know his hands. They cannot reconcile what they see with what they know. Jesus says: "A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home." He could not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. He was amazed at their unbelief.

He sends the Twelve out two by two, giving them authority over impure spirits. They preach repentance, drive out many demons, anoint many sick people with oil and heal them.

Meanwhile: King Herod hears about Jesus. Herod had arrested John the Baptist on Herodias's request — John had told Herod it was unlawful to marry his brother's wife. Herod liked to listen to John, was perplexed but fascinated by him, and kept him safe. But at a birthday party, Herodias's daughter dances. Herod is so pleased he offers her anything up to half his kingdom. She consults her mother: "The head of John the Baptist." Herod is distressed — but because of his oath and the guests watching, he cannot refuse. John is beheaded. His head is brought on a platter.

The Twelve return. Jesus says: "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." They go by boat to a solitary place. But people see them leaving and run on foot from all the towns to get there first. When Jesus lands and sees the large crowd, he has compassion on them because "they were like sheep without a shepherd." He begins teaching. It grows late. Five loaves. Two fish. He looks up to heaven, gives thanks, breaks the loaves. Everyone eats. Twelve basketfuls left over. About five thousand men.

That evening, Jesus sends the disciples ahead by boat and dismisses the crowd. He goes up to a mountainside to pray. The disciples are straining at the oars — the wind is against them. Between 3 and 6 in the morning, Jesus walks toward them on the water. He was about to pass by them. They cry out in terror. He climbs into the boat. The wind dies. "They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."

The Pharisees observe that Jesus' disciples eat without washing their hands the ceremonial way. They challenge him. Jesus quotes Isaiah: "These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." He then says something radical: "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them." In private, the disciples ask what this means. Jesus: "Don't you see? Whatever enters a person from outside cannot defile them." He is, as Mark notes, "declaring all foods clean" — dissolving one of the central boundary markers between Jews and Gentiles.

He travels to the region of Tyre. A Syrophoenician woman — a Gentile — falls at his feet. Her daughter has an impure spirit. She begs him to drive it out. Jesus says something that sounds, at first, harsh: "First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." She answers without flinching: "Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Jesus: "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."

She goes home and finds her daughter healed.

Back in the Decapolis. People bring a deaf man who can barely speak. Jesus takes him away from the crowd privately. He puts his fingers in the man's ears, spits, touches the man's tongue, looks up to heaven, sighs deeply, and says "Ephphatha!" — "Be opened!" The man's ears are opened and he begins to speak plainly. This moment is found nowhere else in the Gospels — it is uniquely Mark's.

Another large crowd. Another feeding — four thousand people this time, seven loaves, seven baskets of leftovers.

The Pharisees demand a sign from heaven. Jesus sighs deeply. No sign will be given to this generation. He gets back in the boat.

A blind man is brought to him at Bethsaida. Jesus takes him outside the village, spits on his eyes, and asks if he can see anything. The man says: "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Jesus puts his hands on the man's eyes again. Now he sees clearly. This two-stage healing is unique to Mark — and it mirrors what is about to happen spiritually with the disciples: a partial seeing, then a fuller clarity.

The most important question in the Gospels. Jesus and his disciples are on the road to Caesarea Philippi. He asks: "Who do people say I am?" The disciples report the options — John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets. Then: "But what about you? Who do you say I am?"

Peter: "You are the Messiah."

Jesus immediately tells them not to tell anyone. Then, for the first time, he begins to teach them what being the Messiah actually means: rejection by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the law, death, and after three days — resurrection. He says this plainly.

Peter pulls him aside and rebukes him. The idea of a suffering Messiah is incomprehensible. Jesus turns and — looking at the disciples, not just Peter — says: "Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns."

Then he calls the crowd: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

Six days later. Peter, James, and John go up a high mountain with Jesus. He is transfigured before them — his clothes become dazzling white, brighter than anyone in the world could bleach them. Elijah and Moses appear, talking with Jesus. Peter, not knowing what to say, offers to build three shelters. A cloud overshadows them. A voice: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" They look around. Only Jesus is there.

Coming down the mountain, Jesus tells them to say nothing about what they saw until the Son of Man rises from the dead. They keep it to themselves but discuss what "rising from the dead" could mean.

At the bottom: a large crowd, a heated argument, a father with a boy who has been possessed since childhood — thrown to the ground, foaming, gnashing his teeth, becoming rigid. The disciples could not drive out the spirit. The father: "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus: "'If you can'? Everything is possible for one who believes." The father: "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Jesus heals the boy.

In the house, the disciples ask why they couldn't do it. "This kind can come out only by prayer."

Jesus leaves Galilee. Crowds gather. Pharisees test him with a question about divorce. He takes them back to creation: "God made them male and female... what God has joined together, let no one separate." In the house, disciples ask more. He explains.

People bring children to Jesus. The disciples rebuke them — trying to keep the children away. Jesus is indignant. "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." He takes the children in his arms, places his hands on them, and blesses them.

A man runs up and kneels before Jesus: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus lists the commandments. The man says he has kept them all since he was young. Jesus looks at him and loves him. "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The man's face falls. He goes away sad, because he has great wealth.

Jesus: "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples are astonished. "Who then can be saved?" Jesus: "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Third passion prediction. They are on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus is walking ahead of them. The disciples are astonished — they're following him but afraid. He takes the Twelve aside and tells them again: handed over, condemned, mocked, flogged, spit on, killed. Three days later, risen.

James and John approach. "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." Jesus: "You don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptised with the baptism I am baptised with?" They say yes. Jesus says they will — but the seats at his right and left are not his to grant. The other ten are furious. Jesus gathers them: "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Blind Bartimaeus is sitting by the roadside outside Jericho. He hears it is Jesus of Nazareth. He cries out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The crowd tells him to be quiet. He shouts louder. Jesus stops. "Call him." They tell Bartimaeus: "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Bartimaeus throws off his cloak, jumps up, and goes to Jesus. "What do you want me to do for you?" "Rabbi, I want to see." Immediately he receives his sight and follows Jesus along the road.

Jesus approaches Jerusalem and sends two disciples for a colt. "If anyone asks, tell them the Lord needs it and will send it back shortly." They find it. People spread cloaks and branches on the road. The crowd shouts: "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

Jesus enters Jerusalem and goes straight to the temple. He looks around at everything — and then, because it is already late, he leaves with the Twelve to Bethany.

The next morning, on the way back, Jesus sees a fig tree with leaves. He approaches, looking for fruit. Nothing — only leaves. He says: "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." His disciples hear him say it.

They arrive at the temple. Jesus drives out those buying and selling, overturns the tables of the money-changers, won't allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. He teaches: "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" The chief priests and teachers of the law hear this. They start looking for a way to kill him.

The next morning: the fig tree is withered from the roots. Jesus uses it as a teaching on faith and prayer — "Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." And: whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it. And: when you pray, forgive, so that your Father may also forgive you.

The confrontations come one after another. By whose authority are you doing these things? He answers with a question about John's baptism — they can't answer without condemning themselves. He tells the parable of the tenants — they hear it is about them, and want to arrest him, but fear the crowd.

Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar? He asks for a coin. Whose image is on it? Caesar's. "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." The Sadducees pose a resurrection riddle — a woman married seven brothers, all died. Whose wife will she be at the resurrection? Jesus says they are badly mistaken: at the resurrection, people will be like angels. And God is not the God of the dead but of the living.

A teacher of the law asks which commandment is the most important. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength... Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." The teacher agrees. Jesus: "You are not far from the kingdom of God."

Sitting across from the temple treasury, Jesus watches people putting in their offerings. Many rich people throw in large amounts. A poor widow puts in two very small copper coins — worth less than a penny. Jesus calls his disciples over. "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything — all she had to live on."

Leaving the temple. One of the disciples marvels at the huge stones and magnificent buildings. Jesus: "Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." This happened in 70 AD when Rome destroyed Jerusalem.

On the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John, and Andrew ask privately: when will this happen, and what will be the sign?

Jesus warns them about what is coming: false messiahs, wars, earthquakes, famines — these are "the beginning of birth pains." They will be handed over to councils and flogged in synagogues. Brother will betray brother to death. "The one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

He describes the "abomination that causes desolation" — a reference to Daniel, pointing to a future defilement of the temple. When you see it, flee. Don't go back for anything. Pray it doesn't happen in winter. Those will be days of distress unequalled from the beginning of creation. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive.

Then cosmic signs: the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, stars will fall, heavenly bodies will be shaken. And then: the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory, sending his angels to gather his elect from the four winds.

And then the honest acknowledgment that Jesus himself doesn't know the day or the hour — "not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." No one who claims to know the timing of the end should be trusted.

The conclusion is not fear. It is readiness. "What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!"

Two days before Passover. The chief priests and teachers of the law are looking for a way to arrest and kill Jesus — but not during the festival, in case the people riot.

Jesus is in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper. A woman comes with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She breaks it and pours it over his head. Some of those present are indignant: "Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold for more than a year's wages and given to the poor." They rebuke her harshly. Jesus: "Leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."

Judas Iscariot goes to the chief priests and offers to hand Jesus over. They are delighted and promise to give him money.

The Last Supper. Jesus sends two disciples to prepare. They find everything just as he has described. While they eat, he says: "One of you will betray me — one who is eating with me." They are distressed, begin to say one by one: "Surely not I?" He says it is one of the Twelve — one who dips bread with him in the bowl.

He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks it: "Take it; this is my body." He takes a cup, gives thanks, offers it: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."

They sing a hymn. They go to the Mount of Olives. Jesus tells them they will all fall away. Peter insists he will not. Jesus: "Truly I tell you, today — yes, tonight — before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times." Peter: "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." All the others say the same.

Gethsemane. He takes Peter, James, and John. He begins to be deeply distressed and troubled. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch." He goes a little further, falls to the ground, and prays: "Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will."

He returns. They are asleep. "Simon, are you asleep? Couldn't you keep watch for one hour?" He prays again. Same words. He returns. Asleep again. He doesn't know what to say to them. A third time. "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come."

Judas arrives with armed crowd, sent by the chief priests, teachers of the law, and elders. A prearranged signal: the one I kiss is the man. "Rabbi!" and kisses him. They seize Jesus. One bystander draws a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant. Jesus says nothing. They all flee. One young man, wearing only a linen garment, follows. They seize him. He flees naked, leaving the linen behind. Most scholars believe this embarrassing detail is Mark inserting himself into his own account.

Jesus is led to the high priest. All the chief priests, elders, and teachers of the law assemble. Peter follows at a distance. He sits with the guards and warms himself by a fire.

The Sanhedrin seek testimony against Jesus to put him to death. They can't find consistent witnesses. Some give false testimony — two testify that Jesus said he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. Even this testimony doesn't agree. The high priest stands and asks Jesus: "Are you not going to answer?" Jesus remains silent. The high priest asks directly: "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?"

Jesus: "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

Blasphemy, says the high priest, tearing his clothes. They condemn him to death. Some spit at him. They blindfold him and hit him: "Prophesy!" The guards take him and beat him.

Meanwhile, Peter is in the courtyard. A servant girl: "You also were with that Nazarene." Peter denies it. He moves toward the entrance. The servant girl tells those standing there. Peter denies it again. "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean." Peter calls down curses and swears: "I don't know this man you're talking about." Immediately a rooster crows a second time. Peter remembers. He breaks down and weeps.

Very early in the morning, Jesus is bound and handed to Pilate. Pilate asks: "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus: "You have said so." The chief priests level many accusations. Pilate is amazed that Jesus says nothing. It is the custom at the festival to release one prisoner. A man named Barabbas is in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder. The crowd asks Pilate to give them what he always does. "Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?" — Pilate knows the chief priests handed him over out of envy. But the chief priests stir up the crowd to ask for Barabbas. "What shall I do with the one you call the king of the Jews?" The crowd: "Crucify him!" "Why? What crime has he committed?" The crowd shouts louder: "Crucify him!"

Pilate releases Barabbas. He has Jesus flogged. He hands him over to be crucified.

The soldiers take Jesus inside the palace, call together the whole company, put a purple robe on him, twist together a crown of thorns. They strike his head with a staff, spit on him, bow in mock worship: "Hail, king of the Jews!" Then they take off the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him, and lead him out to crucify him.

Simon of Cyrene — coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus — is forced to carry the cross. They bring Jesus to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull. They offer him wine mixed with myrrh. He refuses. They crucify him. They divide his clothes by casting lots. It is nine in the morning.

The charge against him is written: THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two rebels are crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those passing by hurl insults: "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!" The chief priests and teachers of the law mock him: "He saved others, but he can't save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heap insults on him.

At noon, darkness comes over the whole land and lasts until three in the afternoon. At three, Jesus cries out in a loud voice: "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" — "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Some think he is calling Elijah. Someone runs and offers a sponge soaked in wine vinegar. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down." With a loud cry, Jesus breathes his last.

The curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom.

The Roman centurion, standing facing Jesus, sees how he dies and says: "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

Some women are watching from a distance — Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. They had followed Jesus in Galilee. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem are also there.

Evening. Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, goes boldly to Pilate and asks for the body. Pilate is surprised he is already dead and confirms it with the centurion. He gives the body to Joseph. Joseph buys linen cloth, takes down the body, wraps it in the linen, places it in a tomb cut out of rock, rolls a stone against the entrance. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph see where he is laid.

When the Sabbath is over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome buy spices so they can go and anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they are on their way to the tomb. They are asking each other: "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance?" It is very large.

When they look up, they see that the stone has been rolled away.

They enter the tomb. A young man dressed in a white robe is sitting on the right side. They are alarmed. He says: "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

And that is where the original Gospel of Mark ends.

There is a longer ending added by later scribes — verses 9–20 describe appearances of the risen Jesus, the Great Commission, and signs that will follow believers. Most scholars believe these were added to soften what felt like too abrupt an ending. But Mark's original ending is the ending he chose, and it is worth sitting with.

They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. This is not a failure. It is an invitation. The tomb is empty. Jesus has gone ahead. He is not behind you in the past; he is ahead of you in Galilee. And the story — the story that was supposed to end on a Friday afternoon — is still going. Mark ends mid-sentence so that you can finish it.

The resurrection is not primarily a fact to believe. It is a direction to move in.