Catholic Commentary on Mark 16

"He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." (Mark 16:6)

The Empty Tomb

Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had just risen, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome come to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of Jesus. They are worried about the stone. They look up and see it has been rolled away. A young man in white is sitting inside: You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. The women flee from the tomb, trembling and bewildered. In the earliest manuscripts, the Gospel of Mark ends here: They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

This ending has troubled readers for centuries. It seems incomplete, anticlimactic, almost unfinished. But scholars and saints have come to see its brilliance. Mark began his Gospel with the word "beginning," and he ends it with the women fleeing in silence. The story does not end because it has not ended. The reader is left standing at the empty tomb, invited into the same fear, the same trembling, the same question: what will you do with this? The Gospel of Mark does not close. It opens into the life of every person who reads it.

Go Into All the World

The longer ending of Mark, affirmed as canonical by the Church, records appearances of the risen Jesus and his great commission: Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved. Signs will accompany those who believe: driving out demons, speaking in new tongues, healing the sick. These signs are not the Gospel's destination; they are its confirmation. The Gospel itself is the proclamation of the risen Christ. The Catechism grounds the Church's missionary mandate precisely in this commission: the Church is missionary by her very nature because Christ commanded it (CCC 849).

He Was Taken Up into Heaven

After the Lord Jesus speaks to them, he is taken up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. The Ascension is not an absence. It is the glorification of the human nature of Christ, now permanently united to the divine nature, seated at the Father's right hand as our eternal advocate and high priest. St. Leo the Great preached that what was visible in Christ has now passed into the sacraments: we can no longer see him with the eyes of the body, but we receive him in the Eucharist, we meet him in the poor, we hear him in the Scriptures. His going is, as he promised, for our benefit.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, the women came with spices to anoint a corpse. They found an empty tomb and a commission. The disciples were sent into all the world with the news that the one who was crucified is not here, he has risen. That commission has reached you and me, in Nigeria, in the Philippines, in Ireland, in Argentina, two thousand years later. He has risen. Go and tell it. The Gospel of Mark ends, but the Gospel does not.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you rose from the dead on the first day of the week and you send us into all the world with the good news. Fill us with the joy of the Resurrection and the boldness of the first witnesses. Make us unafraid to say in every place: he is not here, he has risen, and he is Lord. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

16
The Resurrection
(Matthew 28:1–10; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–9)
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint the body of Jesus. 2 Very early on the first day of the week,* 16:2 Literally And very early on the first of the Sabbaths, just after sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They were asking one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.
 
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7 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.’ ”
 
8 So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.† 16:8 Early manuscripts end the Gospel of Mark after verse 8. Other manuscripts contain only a short ending, a version of the following: 9 But they quickly reported all these instructions to Peter’s companions. Afterward, Jesus Himself, through them, sent out from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
(John 20:10–18)
 
9 Early on the first day of the week, after Jesus had risen,‡ 16:9 Or After Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had driven out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping. 11 And when they heard that Jesus was alive and she had seen Him, they did not believe it.
Jesus Appears to Two Disciples
(Luke 24:13–35)
 
12 After this, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them as they walked along in the country.
 
13 And they went back and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
The Great Commission
(Matthew 28:16–20)
 
14 Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
 
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;§ 16:17 WH in tongues 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be made well.”
The Ascension
(Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:6–11)
 
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
 
20 And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.

*16:2 16:2 Literally And very early on the first of the Sabbaths,

†16:8 16:8 Early manuscripts end the Gospel of Mark after verse 8. Other manuscripts contain only a short ending, a version of the following: 9 But they quickly reported all these instructions to Peter’s companions. Afterward, Jesus Himself, through them, sent out from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.

‡16:9 16:9 Or After Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week

§16:17 16:17 WH in tongues

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