One of the most interesting realities found in the Gospels is that the Gospel of Mark does not have a good ending to the story of the crucifixion of Jesus, whereas the Gospel of John has TWO.
The true ending of Mark is found in Mark 16: 8 which says …
1 And after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought aromatic spices to come and anoint him. 2 And early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white tunic; and they were scared. 6 And he said to them, Fear not; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified; He has risen; it is not here: here is the place where they put it. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they went out in haste and fled from the tomb; because they trembled and were amazed; nor did they say anything to anyone; because they were afraid. “
Scholars agree that the rest of Mark was added later to correct this obvious problem of an ending without a good ending reflecting the events in the Gospel of Mark. There is no actual account of the resurrection, women telling them to anyone, and certainly no story of the disciples meeting Jesus for the first time after the resurrection in Galilee. There also seems to be a story related to Peter missing, but it’s interesting that the angel makes sure to tell the women to tell the disicples AND PETER to be there. Since Peter was a dissident, it is obvious that Mark needs Peter to be there specifically. Why and why doesn’t Mark’s Gospel have a story ending this way with Peter specifically needing to be in Galilee to meet Jesus? There are none.
Mark 14:27 notes …
27 And Jesus said to them, You will all be offended by me tonight; for it is written: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. 28 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee. 29 But Peter said to him, “Although all will be scandalized, but I am not.” 30 And Jesus said to him: Truly I tell you that today, tonight, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times. “
So here we have, in Mark, Jesus telling them that they will all be scattered but that he will meet them for the FIRST time in Galilee after his resurrection. Peter is told that despite his bravado, he will deny knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crows twice.
What’s going on here. A story that promises the disciples that after he is resurrected, Jesus will meet them in Galilee, not Jerusalem, for the first time, and yet it does not include such an ending that women come to the tomb, do not find the body of Jesus, panic. and run away without telling ANYONE. Not much resurrection inspiration here! Mark clearly has a missing ending. Where is?
First, the idea that Jesus would meet the disciples for the first time after his resurrection is not unique to Mark. Mateo also has this tradition but he also has an ending that includes it.
Matthew 28 says …
8 And they came quickly out of the tomb with fear and great joy; and they ran to bring the word to his disciples. 9 And as they were about to inform his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. at the feet, and worshiped it. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; Go, tell my brothers that they are going to Galilee, and there they will see me.
So, like in Mark, there is no sighting in Jerusalem, but the women here at least fearful, they did tell the disciples that Jesus said they were going to go to Galilee to meet him the first time, except Judas. Remember Marcos said make sure to bring Peter.
Mateo goes on to say …
16 So the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain that Jesus had indicated to them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
So, in fact, Matthew has a story of all these things that happen like Mark said as well, but Mark didn’t say how it ended like Matthew did. Mark did not have a positive ending to his Gospel.
Luke edits the story a bit because he wants his story to take place immediately in Jerusalem after the resurrection and not in Galilee as Mark and Matthew said.
Luke 24 says …
5 And as they were afraid and bowed down to the ground, they said to them, “Why do you search among the dead for the one who lives?” 6 He is not here, but has risen; remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee. “
So here we see how Luke cleverly said in effect, not that Jesus said that he would meet them in Galilee after he was resurrected, but that the disciples should remember that Jesus told them in Galilee that they would see him resurrected in Jerusalem. Luke had stories in Jerusalem that the others did not have and that evidently needed to be told and going directly to Galilee would not help him do that.
Now the interesting part. Mark has no end to his Gospel, but the Gospel of John has TWO.
John’s first ending is in chapter 20.
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if each were written, I would suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that should be written. Amen “.
The “Amen” highlights the first ending as does the closing theme which could be said more but would take too many books.
But then we start again in John 21 with …
After these things, Jesus again showed himself to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and thus revealed himself. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They tell him: We are also going with you.
Here we have a story, a John ending second that begins “after these things.” After what things? Certainly not the things of John 20 as they do not fit. The “again” in verse 1, I think, was added to make this look like a second or third appearance when it is actually the first actual meeting, but not in John, since John does not need it. I believe that chapter 21 of John is the original ending that was missing from Mark. “After these things” are really the women who come out of the tomb perplexed and fearful, without telling anyone about the resurrection of Jesus. John 21 shows a group of discouraged men who simply went back to fishing without having seen Jesus at all! How soon they forgot the events and sightings of Jesus in John 20! The reason is that this ending is John’s second nonsensical ending which is actually Mark’s missing ending!
John doesn’t have any fishing motive until this last chapter, where Mark is nothing more than a fishing motive. John already had one ending and he doesn’t need this second. Mark needs this chapter to make sense of all of his Endless Gospel!
Do you remember how the angel emphasized telling the women to tell the disciples AND PETER to show up in Galilee? Well, of all things, this second ending of John has a story about Peter being restored by Jesus to the fold. Three times he denied Jesus and now three times, PETER, is sent to feed the sheep, that is, the Church and the followers of Jesus. This also fits very well as an ending to Mark’s story, as Mark pointed out that he was certain that Peter was in Galilee, where John did not need him.
John 21 says …
15 And when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him: Yes, Lord; You know that I love you. lambs. “In other words, Peter is forgiven and restored. For Peter it was important to be here in Galilee as Mark said, but he never reported.
Let’s see how it fits.
Mark finishes …
16: 2 And early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at sunrise. 3 And they said among themselves, Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, because it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a long white tunic; and they were scared. 6 And he said to them, Fear not; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified; He has risen; it is not here: here is the place where they put it. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. 8 And they went out in haste and fled from the tomb; because they trembled and were amazed; nor did they say anything to anyone; because they were afraid. “
Now add John 21 and continue …
1 After these things, Jesus again showed himself to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and thus revealed himself. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. Son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you, and he said to him: Feed my lambs.
John, the editor makes this an event that occurs “again” or “the third time”, but these are added to solve the problems that John causes, as it shows the disgruntled discouraged, dejected, depressed and just coming back . to fish as if Jesus did not get up and they would forget the sightings of John 20.
In all likelihood, Chapter 21 of the Gospel of John is Mark’s missing ending! Now Mark, as a gospel without a good ending, has one that fits and John, who needs only one ending and not two, is restored to normality. The reason this was added will be addressed soon.