The culmination of Mark’s Gospel is a battle of the will. In this final chapter, the Disciples’ displayed such unbelief they nearly rivaled the Pharisees. Thanks be to God, His Sovereign will is more powerful than any man’s “free will.” God’s immutably predetermined plan to commission the Disciples also included their reproof.

Many scholars doubt the authorship of the final twelve verses of the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel According to Mark. While the manuscript evidence points to a different author, the source of that author’s inclusion was Scripture itself. The truth of the matter is, the Disciples refused the Gospel. Thanks be to God, His will is more powerful than “free will.”

Mark begins to bring his Gospel to a close. These eight verses record the resurrection of Jesus Christ; while Mark’s sense of immediacy comes through, he nevertheless gives us plenty to chew on. However, the brevity of Mark’s ending has sometimes drawn questions of the verity of the resurrection.

Jesus has died and a bunch of women and a secret disciple are the ones left to see His body tended. The old saying is correct, “truth will out.” Likewise, true faithfulness will always manifest; sometimes in big ways, but most often in little ways.

Jesus’ agony and mockery continues as He’s strung up between two criminals, scoffed by religious leaders, and scolded by the crowds. In the final minutes of His earthly life, Jesus experiences the fullness of God’s wrath. Something not unnoticed by an unlikely convert.