GOSPEL OF MARK NOTES

BASIC FACTS

The book of Mark is the second Gospel in the New Testament, after Matthew and before Luke.
The book contains sixteen chapters.
Historians and exegetes place St. Mark’s Gospel as the first Gospel to have been written.

Date: AD 60-75, most likely between 68-73.

Author by Traditional Attribution: John Mark (St. Mark the Evangelist), cousin of Barnabas and
companion of St. Paul. He is mentioned in several NT passages (Acts 12:12, Col. 4:10, 2 Tim. 4:11, 1 Pet.
5:13, ff.)
Intended Audience: “Tradition agrees that … the Gospel was written in Rome for Gentile Christians”.
Author Detectable from Contents: Greek speaker, not an eyewitness of Christ’s ministry. Drew on pre-
shaped traditions about Jesus and addressed himself to a community.
Theme (Baker):
● Jesus, the Son of God and the promised Messiah, is a SUFFERING MESSIAH.
-Baker: “So the Jesus of Mark is the Jesus of the Passion. In order to be true to him and
to understand him, one must see his glory in his suffering and his crown in and through
his Cross.”
-In a sense, Mark tells us that Jesus can only be fully understood if we understood the
message of the Cross, as to why he had suffered and why each one of us has to make
sense of our own “Passion”.
● He uses the term “SON OF MAN” in order to dissociate himself with the prevalent thought
of being a POLITICAL FIGUREHEAD (prevalent at that time because calling someone as the
‘Son of God’ was tantamount to placing all political hopes and dreams on them).
-Jesus orders silence/quiet from those who witnessed/received his healings or miracles
-It is interesting that those who are not believers are the ones who recognize Jesus as
the Son of God: demons, the centurion, etc.
● Only after His resurrection from the dead does he use the term Messiah to signify his being
the Anointed One.

What the Gospel of Mark is?

Baker: Mark is writing a Gospel, which is “preached history” or a story of faith directed to those who
have faith. (It is not meant to be a chronological history, but rather a narrative of faith that will guide
new Christians in knowing Christ, in strengthening the faith of those already in the Church, and to serve
as a text that will be used in the liturgical assembly).

Navarre Bible: The Second Gospel is basically a detailed development of St Peter’s discourses in the Acts
of the Apostles (cf. Acts 2:22-26; 3:12-26; 10:36-43). (Some scholars even suggest that the Gospel is
taken from the perspective of Peter)

Tim Gray: as compared to Matthew’s Gospel (teaching), John’s Gospel (contemplation), and Luke
(feeling/emotion), Mark is a Gospel of action: he is focused on giving us a blow-by-blow action account.
 ● Gospel of Mark is an abbreviated version of the Gospel of Matthew (St. Augustine)

● Mark is the simplest writer of the four Gospel writers; not a rhetoric but clumsy

● Shortest of the 4 Gospels, hence share with John in Cycle B of Church’ Readings

● Has fewest commentaries from early Church to the middle ages and has fewest citations
from early Church Fathers
● “HOLLYWOOD GOSPEL” – action-packed compared to a more laid-back and organized ways
of Matthew, Luke and John
● Began his Gospel Accounts with John the Baptist’ teaching

● Assumes that Mark’s audience has already been catechized; hence less on teaching

● His emphasis is more on “LIVING OUT” Jesus’ Teachings

● Mark is saying since you have been catechized, Pick up your Cross and follow Jesus (The Cost
of Discipleship)
● Of the 16 Chapters, almost half of it speaks about the last week of Jesus – passion, death
and resurrection but “lips and tips” heavily towards the Passion (some scholars don’t agree
with the short and long endings)

THE STRUCTURE OF THE GOSPEL

We will use the divisions made by Fr. Brown in his reference. But we will also take the commentaries of
other authors which we have already cited in the earlier parts.

1:1-8:26- Ministry of Healing and Preaching in Galilee

1. Introduction by John the Baptist; an initial day; controversy at Capernaum. (1:1-3:6)

Baker: The basic outline of the story of Jesus as told by Mark is quite simple when
compared to Matthew and Luke. The book begins with the preaching of John the
Baptist, the baptism of Jesus, and his temptation by the devil. Next comes a period of
ministry in which Jesus visits the town and villages of Galilee, preaches, and performs
miracles (1:14-7:23).

Brown: The beginning of the Gospel is a parallel from Malachi and Isaiah, where John
the Baptist is likened as the voice in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. He is
tasked to announce who will baptize the Holy Spirit, namely Jesus.

(This is why in liturgical symbolism, Mark is symbolized by the lion, as it represents the
voice of John the Baptist at the beginning of the Gospel- “a loud voice in the desert’’)

In the Baptism- a voice from heaven speaks to him as God’s beloved Son, the Spirit
descends like a dove.
 The reader will easily understand that this dignity of divine sonship does not come easy:
the temptation of Jesus by Satan and the arrest of John the Baptist will make it clear
that the Kingdom will face a lot of obstacles.

Next comes a period of ministry in which Jesus visits the town and villages of Galilee,
preaches, and performs miracles (1:14-7:23). From the very beginning he is greeted with
envy and hostility on the part of the Jewish religious leaders. So he departs for the
Gentile districts of Tyre and Sidon, which are west and north of Galilee; then he goes to
the Ten Cities over near the present Golan Heights, east of the Sea of Galilee and
Caesarea Philippi, which is at the headwaters of the Jordan River, which flows into the
northern end of the Sea of Galilee.

Teaching and an exercise of divine power in healing and driving out demons are united
in the proclamation of the kingdom, implying that the coming of God's rule is complex.
Those who claim to be God's people must recognize that some of their attitudes stand in
the way and must change their minds; the presence of evil visible in human affliction,
suffering, and sin must be contravened; and the demonic must be defeated. Jesus can
teach with authority unlike other people, and even the demons must obey him-all this is
related to his being Son of God. Yet Mark never describes Jesus being given such
authority and power; he simply has it because of who he is.

Paradoxically the unclean spirit that opposes him recognizes that he is the Holy One of
God, while the disciples who follow him do not understand him fully despite his teaching
and powerful deeds.

2. Jesus chooses the 12 and trains them as disciples by parables and mighty deeds;
misunderstanding among his relatives at Nazareth. (3:7-6:6)

Navarre: In the meantime he gathers a group of disciples around him. His popularity
provokes envy on the part of Pharisees and Herodians, who begin to plot against him.
This fact, and his rejection by people of his hometown, Nazareth, decide him to make a
number of evangelical journeys into border areas.

Jesus now concentrates on training the Twelve. He initiates them into their mission of
evangelization. He leads them north and then east, away from the borders of Galilee —
to where the multiplication of the loaves and other miracles take place.

Parables of Mark’s Gospel (notable)

1. The Seed Parables
a. the Sower (4:3-8)- In it, a farmer spreads seed over a hardened path, rocky
ground, land filled with weeds, and fertile soil. He is not stingy with his seed, but
spreads as much as he can to ensure the biggest harvest. This emphasizes the
preparation of our soul.
b. the Seed growing secretly (4:26-29)- talks about the process which the seed
of God’s word undergoes. God makes things grow and flourish gradually and in secret.
c. the Mustard Seed (4:30-32)- talks about the result. God sows small seeds, but
when sown in fertile soil, with trust, it will grow to such a large extent.
 Brown: Only some have accepted the proclamation of the kingdom, and even
among them there are failures. Yet the seed has its own power and will ripen in
its own time; it is like the mustard seed with a small beginning and a large
growth. Those who heard/read Mark were meant to see these parables as
explaining failures and disappointments in their own experience of Christianity
and as a sign of hope that ultimately there would be tremendous growth and
abundant harvest.

2. Other Parables
a. Wicked Tenants- An image of the rejection which the Prophets (with JBap
being the latest) and that of Jesus himself.
b. Fig Tree- Jesus uses the fig tree as a simile to the Jewish leaders who are
unfruitful.
c. Doorkeeper-- (A) The owner gave the slaves power (b) gave the gatekeeper
the command to keep watch. (c) Jesus demands vigilance from us until He returns.

Miracles in St. Mark’s Gospel

Four miraculous actions follow in 4:35-5:43.
a. Calming of the storm at sea
b. Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac
c. Jairus’ Daughter
d. Woman with the Hemorrhage
Miracles are intertwined into the proclamation of the Kingdom. It also subtly reveals to
people that the Son of God/the Son of Man has control over the powers of nature and
even that of evil, which even the Jews weren’t able to master.

Return to Nazareth
Brown: Here the action begins with Jesus' relatives, who do not understand this turn of
life where he is not even taking the time to eat (3:20-21) and want to bring him back
home. The time it requires to move from Nazareth where they are to Jesus' new "home"
at Capernaum is filled in by scribes who come from Jerusalem (3: 22-30). The relatives'
objection "He is beside himself" is matched by the scribes' "He is possessed by Beelzebul
[Beelzebub]," the one expressing radical misunderstanding and the other antagonistic
disbelief. At the end of the intercalation (3:3 1-35), the mother and brothers of Jesus
finally arrive; but, now that the proclamation of the kingdom has begun, they have been
replaced: "Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother."

(This is a point of concern for many Catholics as regards with this event and the practice
of the veneration of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints. If Jesus was misunderstood by his
own family, should veneration be then paid to them?)

3. Sending out the 12; feeding 5,000; walking on water; controversy; feeding 4,000;
misunderstanding (6:7-8:26)

Brown: Mark closes the previous section and begins this section with a summary showing that
Jesus' ministry was attracting people from an ever-widening region beyond Galilee. Amid this appeal to
many, Jesus goes up to the mountain and summons the Twelve (3: 13-19), whom he wants to be with
him and whom he will send forth (Gk. apostellein, related to "apostle") to preach. The next chaps. show
what he does and says when they are with him, presumably to train them for being sent forth (6:7).

The disciples' mission to preach a change of mind, drive out demons, and cure the sick is an extension of
Jesus' own mission; and he gives them the power to accomplish this. The austere conditions (no food,
money, luggage) would make it clear any results were not effected by human means; and probably
Marcan Christians had come to expect such austerity of missionaries.

Similar to all four Gospels is the double account of feeding the 5,000 and the walking on water. On the
most direct narrative level the multiplication represents Jesus' divine power put to the service of a
hungry multitude whose predicament touches his heart. It also evokes OT echoes Elisha’s miracle of
loaves and the manna rained down during the time of Moses.

In the second miracle, the walking on the water, Mark offers a type of theophany or epiphany; for the
divine identity of Jesus is suggested not only by the extraordinary character of the miracle but also by
Jesus' answer in 6:50, "I am." It is all the more poignant, then, that the disciples understood neither this
miracle nor the multiplication, for their hearts were hardened (6:52).

8:27-16:8 +16:9-20- Suffering Predicted; Death in Jerusalem, Resurrection

Baker: Many scholars find a major dividing point in Mark 8, approximately halfway through the
account of Jesus' ministry. There, after having been consistently rejected and misunderstood
despite all he has said and done, Jesus starts to proclaim the necessity of the suffering, death,
and resurrection of the Son of Man in God's plan. This development, which serves to reveal the
christological identity of Jesus, is meant by Mark to teach a lesson.

Navarre: Jesus revealed himself gradually, preparing his disciples to recognize him as the
Saviour who would redeem men and reconcile them to God, not through force of violence or
political power, but through his Sacrifice on Calvary, “for the Son of man also came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45). (This is something that
they would find hard to understand, as it meant breaking through their preconceived notions of
who the Messiah is and what He would do for the people).

Brown: A narrative change of pattern is observable in this second half since relatively few acts of
power (miracles) take place, almost as if Jesus recognizes that miracles will not lead his disciples
to understand.

1. Three passion predictions; Peter’s confession, the Transfiguration, Jesus’ teaching. (8:27-
10:52)

Navarre: Jesus heads towards Syria, via the Golan region; in Caesarea Philippi a significant event
occurs: Peter, speaking for the Twelve, acknowledges Jesus’ divinity (8:27-30). This episode
constitutes, as it were, a central point dividing St Mark’s Gospel into two parts. Then Jesus
foretells his death for the first time: from this point onwards he prepares his disciples for his
Passion, though they fail to understand him; Peter is severely reprimanded (8:31-9:1).

Brown: Peter's confession (8:27-30) comes amid more positive evaluations of him as JBap,
Elijah, and one of the prophets. This spokesman of the disciples who has been with him since 1:
 16 goes even further by proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah, but Jesus greets this with the same
command to silence with which he modified the demons' identification of him as God's Son (3 :
11-12). The two titles are correct in themselves, but they have been uttered without including
the necessary component of suffering.

Jesus now commences to underline that component more clearly with a prediction of his own
passion (8:31). 3 1 Peter rejects this portrait of the suffering Son of Man; and so Jesus
categorizes his lack of understanding as worthy of Satan. Not only will Jesus have to suffer but
so too will those who would follow him (8:34-37). In 8:38 Jesus warns that those who are
ashamed of him will be judged with shame when the Son of Man comes in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels.

The transfiguration (9:2-13) produces a reaction that is another example of the inadequate faith
of the disciples. At the beginning of Part One the identity of Jesus as God's Son was proclaimed
during his baptism by a voice from heaven ; but the disciples were not present at that time, and
thus far in the public ministry no follower of Jesus has made a believing confession of that
identity. Now at the beginning of Part Two, as the hitherto hidden glory of Jesus is made visible
to three of his disciples (n. 1 8 above), the heavenly voice reidentifies Jesus. The scene echoes
the greatest OT theophany, for it takes place on a mountain amidst the presence of Moses and
Elijah who encountered God on Sinai (Horeb).

The discussion on the way down from the mountain brings up echoes from the passion
prediction (namely, that the Son of Man must suffer and will rise from the dead), but now in
relation to Elijah. The implicit identification of Elijah as JBap who came before Jesus and was put
to death (9:13) may represent the result of early church reflection on how to relate the two
great Gospel figures in the light of the OT.

In Capernaum and eventually as he sets out on a portentous journey to Judea ( 1 0: 1 , 1 7),

Jesus gives his disciples a varied instruction pertinent to the kingdom (9:33-10:31). Mark has
gathered here what he envisions as important last communications before Jesus arrives in
Jerusalem to die. In 9:33-35 Jesus warns the Twelve not to seek to be greatest in the kingdom
but a servant.

In the third prediction of the passion (10:32-34)-more detailed than the others as the
anticipated events come closer. Caught up in this immediacy, James and John raise the issue of
the first places in the kingdom (10:35-45). The challenge by Jesus to imitate him in drinking the
cup and being baptized is symbolically a challenge to suffering.

Although there are distinguished places prepared (by God), the disciples must learn that the
Gentile pattern where kings lord it over people is not to be followed in the kingdom that Jesus
proclaims. There service is what makes one great. "The Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many" (10:45) is a fitting summary of the spirit of
this kingdom, a spirit anticipated in Isa 53: 1 0-12.

2. Ministry in Jerusalem: Entry; Temple actions and encounters; eschatological discourse (11:1-
13:37)
 Brown: The narrative gives the impression that everything described in these chaps. takes place
on three days (11: 1, 12,20). On the first day Jesus enters Jerusalem (11: 1-11). Two disciples are sent
from Jesus' base of operations on the Mount of Olives, and all is as he foretold. He sits on the colt that
they bring back (perhaps an implicit reference to Zech 9:9 about the coming of Jerusalem's king); and he
is acclaimed by a hosanna cry of praise, by a line from Ps 118: 26, and by the crowd's exclamation about
the coming of the kingdom of "our father David." Thus Jesus is being proclaimed as a king who will
restore the earthly Davidic realm-an honor but another misunderstanding. A Marcan intercalation
("sandwich") governs actions on the next day and the beginning of the following day: cursing the fig
tree, cleansing the Temple, and finding the fig tree withered (11:12-25).40 To curse the tree because it
had no fruit seems to many irrational since, as Mark reminds us, this time just before Passover was not
the season for figs. However, the cursing is similar to the prophetic actions of the OT whose very
peculiarity attracts attention to the message being symbolically presented (Jer 19: 1-2, 10-11; Ezek. 12:1-
7). The barren tree represents those Jewish authorities whose failures are illustrated in the intervening
action of cleansing the Temple, which has been made a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer for
all peoples (Jer 7:11; Isa 56:7). In particular, the chief priests and the scribes seek to put Jesus to death,
and their future punishment is symbolized by the withering of the tree. The miraculous element in the
cursing/withering becomes in 11 :22-25 the occasion for Jesus to give the disciples a lesson in faith and
the power of prayer.

Most of Jesus' activity in Jerusalem thus far has been in the Temple area; and it is after reflecting on the
magnificent Temple buildings that, seated on the Mount of Olives, he delivers the eschatological
discourse (13: 1-37) the last speech of his ministry that looks to the end times. The discourse is a
collection of dire prophetic warnings (demolition of the Temple buildings; forthcoming persecution of
the disciples; need to be watchful) and apocalyptic signs (deceivers; wars; desolating abomination
standing where it should not be; phenomena in the sky). Interpretation presents many problems.
Assuming that it is sequentially arranged and that Jesus had a detailed knowledge of the future, some
have attempted to identify from our point of view what has already happened and what is yet to come.

The “bottom line" from reading through the discourse is that no precise timetable is given: On the one
hand Jesus' followers are not to be misled by speculations and claims that the end is at hand; on the
other hand, they are to remain watchful.

3. Anointing, Last Supper, Passion Narrative, Resurrection (14:1-16:8)

Brown: His activities in Jerusalem are appreciated by the multitude, but hated by the chief
priests and the scribes. Finally, they hatch a plot to kill him; and with the cooperation of Judas
they are able to arrest him after he has eaten a Passover supper with his disciples. He is brought
before the chief priest and the Roman governor and condemned to be crucified. After his death
a Roman centurion recognizes Jesus' identity as God's Son. On the third day after this, the tomb
in which he was buried is found empty; and a young man (angel) there proclaims that Jesus has
been raised and will be seen in Galilee.

Another Marcan inclusion is formed by Judas ' treachery and the anointing of Jesus (14: 1-11)
since the anointing is sandwiched in the time between the plot of the authorities to arrest Jesus
and Judas' coming forward to give him over to them. That the anointing is for burial tells the
reader that the plot will succeed. For the unidentified woman who does the anointing, see
Chapter 9 below, n. 33. The preparations for Passover (14: 12- 16) not only supply a ritual
context for Jesus' action at the Last Supper but also exemplify Jesus' ability to foretell what will
happen. The latter theme will continue when Jesus predicts what Judas, the disciples, and Peter
will do. The Last Supper (14: 1 7-25), narrated very briefly in Mark, provides the context for the
first of those predictions; and the idea that Judas will give Jesus over offers a dramatic contrast
to Jesus' self-giving in the eucharistic blessing of the bread and wine as his body and blood.

The Gethsemane section (14:26-52) begins the suffering portion of Mark's passion narrative,47
as Jesus moves from the supper to the Mount of Olives. In that transition the predictions of the
disciples' flight and of Peter's denials set a tragic tone, and in what follows the element of failure
and abandonment is stronger in Mark than in any other passion narrative. The isolation of Jesus
is dramatized in three steps as he moves away from the body of the disciples, from the chosen
three, and then falls to the earth alone to beseech the Father three times to take the cup from
him-a cup of suffering that in 1 0:39 he had challenged his disciples to drink! When the Father is
silent and the disciples are found asleep three times, Jesus accepts God's will and proclaims that
now the Son of Man is to be given over to sinners-as he had three times predicted. The first step
in a long sequence of giving over is when with a kiss (a dramatic touch) Judas gives him over to
the crowd that comes from the chief priests and the scribes.49 Not only do all the disciples flee,
but a young man who was following Jesus runs away naked. Attempts to identify the young men
are probably in vain (BDM 1 .294-304); he symbolizes failure: Those who had left everything to
follow him have now left everything to get away from him.

The Jewish trial: Jesus is condemned by a Sanhedrin and mocked while Peter denies him (14:53-
15:1). The arresting party gives Jesus over to the chief priests, elders, and scribes who meet as a
Sanhedrin 5° to determine his fate. Switching back and forth to depict simultaneity, Mark
recounts two contrasting scenes: In one Jesus bravely confesses that he is the Son of God; in the
other Peter curses him and denies knowing him. Ironically, at the very moment Jesus is being
mocked as a false prophet, the third of his prophecies about his disciples is being fulfilled.
Although the authorities do not believe that Jesus can destroy the sanctuary or that he is the
Messiah, the Son of the Blessed (God), 5 1 there will be a verification of both themes at his
death. Here Marcan readers were probably hearing anticipations of debates of their own time,
for ultimately Christians saw the condemnation of Jesus as what moved God to allow the
Romans to destroy Jerusalem, and the identity of Jesus as the Son of God became a principal
point of division between Christians and Jews.

The Roman trial: Jesus is handed over to be crucified by Pilate and mocked (15:2-20a). The
Jewish authorities give Jesus over to Pilate. Mark draws a clear parallel between the two trials in
a way that effectively highlights the main point of each. In each a principal representational
figure, respectively the chief priest and Pilate, asks a key question reflecting his interests: "Are
you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed?" and ''Are you the King of the Jews?"52 There are false
witnesses in the Jewish trial; and Pilate knows that Jesus was handed over out of envy. Yet Jesus
is condemned at the end of each trial, spat on and mocked-as a prophet by the Jewish Sanhedrin
members, and as the King of the Jews by Roman soldiers. Rejected by all, Jesus is given over by
Pilate to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

The crucifixion, death, and burial (15:20b-47). Before the crucifixion, on the way to the place
called Golgotha, Mark highlights the help rendered by Simon of Cyrene, and after Jesus' death
on the cross, that rendered by Joseph of Arimathea-ironically the only ones who assist him are
those who, so far as we know from Mark, had no previous contact with him. The crucifixion
details that Mark mentions are redolent of OT descriptions of the suffering just one, e.g., the
 two wine drinks, with myrrh at the beginning and vinegary wine at the end (Prov 31 :6-7; Ps
69:22); the division of the clothes (Ps 22: 19) . Three time periods are indicated: the third, sixth,
and ninth hours (9:00 a.m.; noon; 3 p.m.), with an increasingly tragic coloring. In the first period,
three groups are given a role at Jesus' cross: passersby, chief priests and scribes, and co-
crucified criminals. All of them mock him, indeed by reviving the issues from the Jewish trial
(destruction of the sanctuary, identity as the Messiah). In the second period darkness comes
over the land. In the third period Jesus speaks from the cross for the only time. Mark began
Jesus' passion in 1 4:36 with his prayer in transcribed Aramaic and Greek, "Abba, Father . . . take
away this cup from me." Mark closes Jesus' passion in 15:34 with another prayer, citing in
Aramaic and Greek the desperate words of Ps 22:2, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani . . . My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?" Feeling forsaken and no longer presuming to use the intimate
family term "Father;' Jesus is reduced to a form of address common to all human beings, "My
God." Still, no answer comes before Jesus dies. Yet in a stunning reversal, the moment he
expires, God vindicates him in terms of the very issues raised at the Jewish trial: The veil that
marked off the Temple sanctuary is torn, depriving that place of its holiness, and a Gentile
recognizes a truth that the chief priest could not accept, "Truly this man was God's Son."

Women who had ministered to Jesus in Galilee and followed him to Jerusalem are now
introduced as having observed the death of Jesus from a distance. Since they also observe the
place where he is buried, they serve as an important link between the death and the discovery
of the empty tomb that reveals the resurrection. The burial is done by Joseph of Arimathea, a
pious member of the Sanhedrin, who presumably wanted to observe the law that the body of
one hanged on a tree should not remain overnight.

The empty tomb and the resurrection (16: 1-8). Jesus' body was buried hastily; and so early
Sunday morning, after the Sabbath rest, the women buy spices to anoint him. The dramatic
rhetorical question about moving the stone underlines the divine intervention in the scene: The
tomb is open; a young man who is almost surely to be understood as an angel is there, but not
the body of Jesus. The ringing proclamation, "He has been raised . . . he is going before you to
Galilee where you will see him;' represents the triumph of the Son of Man predicted three times
by Jesus (8:31; 9:31; 10: 34).55 The reaction of the women in 16:8 is astounding. They disobey
the young man's command to report to the disciples and Peter; they flee, and out of fear say
nothing to anyone. 56 Mark's theology is consistent: Even a proclamation of the resurrection
does not produce faith without the hearer's personal encounter with suffering and carrying the
cross.

4. Later Resurrection appearances (16:9-20)

Scripture scholars are divided as to whether these verses were the work of Mark or not. But the
Church, as late as the Council of Trent (insofar as it also declared which books are canonical scripture),
included these parts as part of the Scripture.

Brown: The best attested ending, discussed here, is called the Marcan Appendix or the Longer
Ending and is printed as part of the text of Mark in many Bibles. It records three appearances of the
risen Jesus (to Mary Magdalene to two disciples in the country, to eleven at table) and an ascension.
Despite the later origins of this Appendix, the ordinary reader today reads it in sequence to 16: 1-8. The
women were afraid to speak in 16: 8; now, however, the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene brings
her to belief. She shares the news with Jesus' disciples, but they do not believe her. Nevertheless, when
Jesus appears to two of them, they too come to believe. They tell the others who refuse to believe.
Finally, Jesus appears to the eleven, rebukes them for not having believed, and sends them into the
whole world to proclaim the gospel: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." The three
examples of those who wrongly refused to believe on the basis of others words are meant to admonish
those who have to believe on the disciples' word. The Appendix ends on the consoling note of the Lord
working with missionary disciples and confirming them through miraculous signs.