The Unfinished Story of Easter Mark 16:1-8 Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter who had an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. He was considered to be the greatest living artist in his lifetime - and certainly is remembered as one of the greatest artists who ever lived. Michelangelo’s greatest works of art include the painting on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel in Rome called The Creation of Adam – a sculpture called the Pieta - the fresco of the Last Judgment - and of course, the sculpture of David. Interestingly, Michelangelo is not only remembered for the extraordinary art he produced – he’s also famous for the art he never finished. Among his uncompleted work are a series of sculptures that are on display in the Galleria in Florence, Italy. The statues are called Unfinished Slaves. They line the corridor in the Galleria leading to the sculpture of David. There is the story behind these unfinished statues: In 1505, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt 30 statues. They were to be a part of an elaborate tomb the Pope envisioned for himself when he died. But when Pope Julius II died in 1513, Michelangelo had only finished two sculptures. Several others were started, but were never finished because the Vatican dropped the funding for this ambitious project. In a similar way, there have been a number of number well-known musical compositions that were left unfinished - either because the inspiration of the composer ran dry or they died before finishing their work. Many composers have tried to finish Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8 in B Minor - more commonly known as The Unfinished Symphony. There have been multiple attempts to finish Bach’s Art of the Fugue and Gustav Mahler’s Unfinished Symphony No. 10. Often, when these works are played – the orchestra will abruptly stop where the original composition left off. Conductors do this to honor the original composition. Such endings are jarring - but they have a ring of authenticity to them. This is how many Bible scholars feel about the strange ending of Mark’s gospel. Many scholars are convinced that Mark ended his gospel, for whatever reason at verse 8 of chapter 16. If you have a Bible open, you’ll notice that after verse 8 there’s probably a superscription in your Bible stating something to the effect that the earliest, most reliable manuscripts 2 do not contain verses 9-20 of this chapter. Some scholars have postulated that it’s possible ancient Scribes added verses 9-20 because they thought Mark’s conclusion was too abrupt. They believe these verses were added in order to make the ending of Mark’s gospel more polished - like the other gospels: Matthew, Luke and John. But if Mark’s gospel does, in fact, conclude at verse 8 - the Easter story seems unfinished: An angel in a white robe has just told the women that Jesus isn’t in the tomb - that He has been raised - and that He has gone before them to Galilee – and they will see Him there. The angel then tells the women to go and tell this good news to the disciples and to Peter. Then Mark writes in verse 8: Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. It’s a strange way to end to the story. But I wonder if this was Mark’s intention - that others would finish the story he left unfinished? Back in the very first verse of this gospel, Mark says that what he’s presenting is “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Quite possibly, verse 8 of chapter 16 is the end of that beginning - and the rest of the story was yet to be told? Whatever side you take on the conclusion of Mark’s gospel, it doesn’t alter the fact that when the women saw the stone rolled away - and when they saw the angel and the empty tomb - they were afraid! The Greek word speaks of the kind of discovery that stops you in your tracks and makes your jaw drop! Consider the account of what happened on that first Easter morning in light of the gruesome crucifixion that took place just two days prior. That, too, was terrifying to these women - so much so, that Mark says in chapter 15, verse 40 that they watched the events of the crucifixion “…from a distance.” They watched from a distance as Jesus hung on the cross, His life ebbing away. They watched from a distance when our Lord breathed His last. They watched from a distance when His body was taken down from the cross and Joseph of Arimathea had it wrapped in linen and laid in a rock-hewn tomb. They watched from a distance as the 3 large stone was rolled in front of the doorway of the tomb and it was sealed. They watched everything from a distance. I’d like to suggest that’s a powerful picture of how many people prefer to deal with death, myself included. We do all we can to keep our distance from it! Of course, we’re people of faith and we believe we have a heavenly home - and yet, we do our best to keep death at a distance! We exercise. We try to watch what we eat. We try to lower our cholesterol. We take our vitamins. We try to manage stress. Call me paranoid if you like, but I read the obituaries in the paper every day with careful attention. I not only notice the names, I also take note of the age of the decedents. I find myself becoming more and more like Woody Allen when he said, “I’m not afraid of death. I just don’t want to be there when it happens!” But try as we may to keep death at a distance - it eventually catches up with someone we love - and we’re forced to deal with it up close and personal - just like the two Mary’s and Salome had to! Now, when Jesus died on Friday afternoon, no one made provision for His burial. The Sabbath was at hand and the Jews didn’t want to see the grisly sight of the three corpses hanging on crosses during the Sabbath. So they pressured Pilate - and he hastened the deaths of the two thieves by having their legs broken. It’s likely that Pilate intended to dispose of the bodies by having them tossed into a common grave in a potter’s field. But Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, requested permission to bury Jesus. He was granted permission - with the provision that Roman soldiers would inspect the site, place a seal on the tomb, and then guard it. The body of Jesus was wrapped in a linen cloth and He was laid to rest. The tomb was closed and sealed and the guards were stationed. The last verse of chapter 15 says, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.” At the beginning of chapter 16, Mark tells us that the women returned to the grave in the early morning after the Sabbath to add their personal touch of love and respect and properly anoint the body of Jesus for burial. For what it’s worth, most folks believe this post-mortem anointing of Jesus was for the purpose of embalming His body. Not so. The Jews didn’t 4 practice embalming the dead – and they still don’t today. The purpose of this anointing was, in fact, to hasten decomposition. The women went to the tomb of Jesus with burial spices to finish anointing His body. It seems they were well prepared for this task - except for one major oversight. The women asked in verse 3: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they arrived at the tomb, they were startled to discover that the stone had already been rolled away! What do you suppose ran through their minds at that moment? Surely, they thought that someone stole the body. I assure you, what they didn’t think was that Jesus got up and walked out! Dead people don’t get up and walk out of tombs! Mark tells us in verse 5 that the women summoned the courage to look inside the tomb - and they saw someone. But it wasn’t Jesus. Mark says it was “….a young man dressed in a white robe.” It was an angel of the Lord who said, “Don’t be alarmed…” By the way, in the Bible whenever angels appeared before people, they always said, “Don’t be alarmed!” Yeah right! How can it not be alarming to see an angel!? The women quickly discovered, however, that the messenger wasn’t nearly as alarming as the message they were about to hear! The angel said, “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him…..” Mark goes on to say in verse 8: “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Have you ever noticed that there’s nothing subtle about Easter? We love those familiar images that often appear on most Easter church bulletins - a peaceful sunrise, lilies in full bloom and dew on the roses in a garden.