Ascension Of The Lord
MARK 16:15-20 (Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; Ephesians 1:17-23)
The Gospel of Mark originally ended very abruptly and on a disappointing note. The faithful women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem knew where the body of Jesus had been hurriedly buried. Once the Sabbath rest was over, on the first day of the week they brought spices to enclose in Jesus’ burial shroud. As they approached the tomb, they noticed that the heavy circular stone which sealed the opening had been rolled back. They entered the now empty tomb and were greeted by a young man in white. He announced to them the Easter proclamation, “He has risen!” He commands them to announce the Good News “to his disciples and to Peter,” that “he will go before you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Did they obey the command?
Not in Mark’s gospel! Mark writes, “They exited the tomb and fled, for trembling and astonish-ment had come upon them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid!”
For his own catechetical reasons Mark penned this abrupt end. It was too abrupt for people who were aware of other gospels that ended very differently – Matthew, Luke, John. There are at least nine attempts to attach “better” endings to Mark’s gospel. The gospel reading for the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord is part of an attempt to revise the Gospel of Mark, and is known as “the Long Ending.” Instead of ending the gospel at Mark 16:8 with the desertion of the women, an author or editor composed this ending which we now call Mark 16:9-20. Whoever did this knew the other gospels, some of the Letters of St. Paul, and the Book of Wisdom. The material used to construct this ending was taken from those sources.
Verses 15-20 constitute the gospel reading for the Ascension. Jesus had just reproached his disciples in Galilee “for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.” Jesus gives a final command which the author/editor based on Matthew 28:19 with some changes, “Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Then these words, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Whoever does not believe will be condemned.” This echoes John 3:5,18, 36. Next a group of sayings attributed to Jesus. The first saying: “These signs will accompany those who believe, in my name they will cast out demons.” This sounds much like the other gospels and is actually based on what Mark had written in 6:7 and 9:38. Exorcisms have always been part of Christian practice and seem to be experiencing a resurgence in our time. Some dioceses have appointed official exorcists. At one time any man ordained to the priesthood first received the Minor Orders, one of which was the Order of Exorcist.
After the power of exorcism was bestowed by Jesus on his disciples, on the Church, the “gift of tongues” is also bestowed, “They will speak in tongues.” The inclusion of this gift in Jesus’ final instructions was pulled out of Acts 2 and the writings of St. Paul. The latter has much to say about the gift of tongues in 1 Corinthians 12 & 13. Speaking in tongues, that is, speaking in unknown languages, has seen a rebirth in the twentieth century and continues to this day. Paul however considered speaking in tongues a minor gift. This consideration gave birth to his beautiful hymn of praise of AGAPE (selfless love) in 1 Corinthians 13. Next the author/editor of Mark’s gospel adds statements to which he would have done well to attach this warning, “Don’t try this at home!”
First, “They will pick up serpents with their hands.” Anyone who reads the news or watches and listens to the news knows of the recent death of a snake-handling minster of a religious sect in which this saying attributed to Jesus is taken literally. Either minister or members of the congre-gation handle poisonous reptiles during their worship services. Some participants come through unscathed. Some get bitten. Some die! For the unfortunates who succumb to the deadly poison the verdict is not kind, “They did not have sufficient faith.” Easy for the living to say and must remain without proof. The source of this strange saying is a recasting of Luke 10:19, a legend about Paul in Acts 28:3-6, and from the Old Testament, Wisdom 16:10. Some Christians do strange things being unaware of the first rule of interpretation, COMMON SENSE!
The peculiar instruction continues, “If they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.” The closest biblical source for this strange saying may be 1 Kings 4:38-41. A slave of the prophet Elisha gathered herbs and cooked a soup. When the prophet’s disciples tasted it, “They cried out, ‘There is death in the pot!’” Elisha threw some cornmeal into the soup, “and there was no harm in the pot!” This may have been no more than very bad cooking. A final word, “They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.” This practice has been with the Church since its origin in imitation of the Lord. “Then the Lord Jesus…was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” The meaning of the metaphors “taken up” and “sat at God’s right hand” is best expressed in the second reading of today’s liturgy: “He (Jesus) is above every principality, authority, power, dominion, and every name that is named. He (the Father) put all things beneath his feet and made him head over all things for the Church which is his body….”
