Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Two days after the crucifixion, two women took spices to anoint Jesus’ body. “How will we move the stone that seals the tomb?” they asked. 

But someone had already moved it. Instead of Jesus’ body, they found a man in a white robe who said, “Jesus isn’t here. He rose from the dead. Go tell his disciples to meet him in Galilee” (v. 6-7). 

Trembling and bewildered and afraid, the women fled, saying nothing to anyone.

And that’s the end of Mark’s gospel, in the earliest and best manuscripts.  

It’s an incredibly unsatisfying ending. Why weren’t the women excited that Jesus was alive? Who told the disciples about the change in plans? Did anybody actually see the risen Jesus? 

Mark’s ending has been a problem for Gospel scholars for 18 centuries. There are a couple popular endings that tell the rest of the story, but no one knows who wrote them.

Instead of trying to solve the problem of how Mark ought to end, I think I’ll just make some comments.

1. In spite of an abrupt ending, Mark’s gospel is never confused about who Jesus is. The first verse calls him “the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). At his baptism, a heavenly voice says , “You are my son” (Mark 1:11). At the transfiguration, that voice again: “This is my son whom I love” (Mark 9:7). And after the resurrection, an angel in the empty tomb, “He is risen”. Mark trusts the voices that said Jesus was the son of God. 

2. Mark describes most of those who interacted with Jesus as confused. His family thought he was insane, the religious leaders saw him as a fraud, the disciples argued about who would be greatest, and Pilate? He didn’t care if Jesus was king or criminal. “Flog him. Crucify him. Next case!”

Many things Jesus did surprised and confused people. He rejected the Pharisees’ take on Old Testament law and practices, he drove money changers out of the temple, he walked on water like a ghost, he claimed to forgive sins. He was a complex character. Nobody really understood him.

So I’m not surprised that Mark’s story ends with confused women and a missing body. You would be confused too if you’d watched a brutal crucifixion on Friday and two days later found the body inexplicably missing. Too much information to process in one weekend.

3. I like an ending that leaves us with questions. Like, what happened next? Did the women get past their confusion and start talking? How did the disciples hear that Jesus was alive? 

I think Mark knew his readers would hear the rest of the story in their Christian community. And that they would experience the risen Christ in their own lives.  

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, Mark’s ending invites us into the story. The tomb that was empty for the women is still empty for us. 

Risen, you entered Mark’s life, inspiring him to write your story.
Risen, you entered the women’s confusion, changing their lives.
Risen, you found the disciples and inspired their witness.
Risen, you find me in my confusion and weave my story into yours.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

Mark 15 talks about Jesus’ crucifixion. After being tortured, he was forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, crucifixion hill. 

Beaten and whipped by Roman soldiers, Jesus was too weak and slow, so a passer-by was conscripted to help. 

Pilate nailed a sign to the cross that said “The King of the Jews”. What a sneering and cynical statement, expressing Pilate’s loathing for the endless religious and political squabbling in this backwater of the Roman empire. 

Jesus was not a real king like Caesar. He had no path to power, he showed no strength against enemies, he found no guards or wisdom to protect himself. 

Jesus’ trial and crucifixion was a public spectacle, a bit like reality television today. A chance for voyeurs to watch people scheming and arguing and airing dirty laundry. An opportunity to be fascinated and disgusted and entertained by human foibles and gratuitous cruelty. 

Some watchers said to Jesus, “Did you say you would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days? What’s your plan now?” (v. 29). 

The religious leaders said, “He posed as messiah and king. He saved others. Can he save himself?” (v. 32). 

The soldiers threw lots to decide who got his clothes. 

Jesus was naked and alone on the cross. 

Let’s pray. 

O father, Jesus’ story is full of irony. 

John’s gospel tells us that the temple Jesus would destroy and rebuild was his body. But after the crucifixion, that body was soon buried.

The religious leaders maneuvered the king of the Jews onto a cross, proving he had no credible claim as a religious leader, that he had no special relationship to God, burying any hope he had of starting a new religion. 

Despite coming to build your kingdom, God, Jesus perished under Jewish conspiracies and Roman politics. 

A few women who loved him and disciples who had abandoned him watched him die. What else could they do? 

O father, Pilate and the religious leaders are long gone. Jesus’ cross has turned to dust. Archeologists excavate Roman ruins and ancient Jewish garbage dumps. But Jesus lives.

The sign under which he died is the sign under which we live. We meet and serve him. We pray to him for forgiveness and salvation. We trust his kingship in our lives, our churches, our world. We wait as he builds your kingdom, O God.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 15, the Passover didn’t pass over Jesus, it targeted him. Here’s what happened. 

The religious leaders had a problem with Jesus and wanted him dead. Since only the Roman occupiers could execute prisoners, they took Jesus and their complaints about him to Pilate, the Roman governor. 

Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you king of the Jews?” 

Jesus says, “If that’s what you want to call me, feel free.” 

Then the religious leaders pile on with their complaints and accusations. But Jesus doesn’t defend himself. Pilate exclaims, “Don’t you have anything to say?” 

Jesus didn’t. 

Pilate wasn’t keen to execute Jesus. He was leery of the religious rivalry and endless tribal arguments among the Jews. So he said, “Hey, every year I set a prisoner free to help you celebrate Passover. How about Jesus this year?” 

“Whoa, not him!” the religious leaders said. “How about Barabbas the murderer?” 

“Okay, if that’s what you want,” said Pilate. “But what about the king of the Jews?” 

“Crucify him!” they demanded. 

Some comments. 

1. Jesus didn’t look like a commanding king of the Jews. His followers abandoned him, the religious movement he started failed him, he sat silently through false accusations and unjust sentencing. 

2. Passover holiday celebrated the first passover, where God’s angel of death targeted Egyptian firstborn, and spared the Israelites. At Jesus’ New Testament Passover, Pilate is the angel of life and death. He offered to pass over Jesus. 

But the religious leaders desperately wanted Jesus out of the picture, so they convinced the angel of death to pass over Barabbas and target Jesus. It was a real Passover weekend for Barabbas. Not so for Jesus. 

3. The world Pilate and the religious leaders inhabited sounds like the world we live in. Corrupt religion making alliances with politics. Power protecting the powerful, and ignoring the weak. We see truth and human life sacrificed for religious and political outcomes. 

Let’s pray. 

O Jesus, you were hated by religious leaders and abandoned by friends.

The Jewish religion that nurtured you turned its back on you. 

You were targeted and imprisoned during a celebration of freedom.

You were silent before your accusers. 

You were a puppet in the religious leaders’ machinations and a pawn in Pilate’s game. 

You were wrongly convicted and harshly sentenced. 

But somehow in the disaster, you were king. King of the Jews, ruler of creation, savior of the church, judge of the world. 

Help us not to be like the religious leaders. May your strong name demolish our narrow ideologies, our questionable religious views, our corrupt political systems. 

Help us see the truth, and speak the truth, and worship you who are the way, the truth, and the life.

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube

Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 14, vigilantes kidnapped Jesus and dragged him to the religious leaders for trial–a kangaroo court ready to pervert justice. Mark’s gospel says, “Many people testified falsely against him, but their testimony did not agree” (v. 55). 

Finally, the high priest asked “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” (v. 61).  

“I am,” Jesus said, “and one day you will see me sitting at the right hand of God and coming on the clouds of heaven” (v. 62). 

The high priest immediately pronounced a GUITLY verdict, saying, “You blasphemer!” 

The crowd spit on him, blindfolded him, and hit him saying, “Prophesy! Tell us who hit you!” The guards took him away and beat him. 

Meanwhile, Peter was hanging around outside, trying to blend in. But a servant girl asked him twice, “Weren’t you with Jesus?” (vv. 66-70). Peter denied it. 

Someone exclaimed, “Hey! You have a Galilean accent, just like that guilty man. You must be his disciple!” But Peter cursed and said, “I don’t know him. Back off!” (vv. 70-71).  

Then a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered that Jesus had predicted his denial. Peter broke down and wept (v. 72). 

Some comments. 

1. That’s what the prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane were about. Jesus expected the bad times, but Peter didn’t. He wasn’t ready for Christ to become a hapless victim in a court that cared nothing for justice. 

If I were Peter, Jesus’ helplessness would surprise me too. Jesus had skills. He upended the money changers’ tables. He walked away from a crowd trying to push him off a cliff. Couldn’t he shut down the kangaroo court? Or walk away? But something changed, and Peter didn’t get it.    

2. The witnesses at Jesus’ trial produced nothing but lies and confusion. So when the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Messiah, why did Jesus bother answering? Did he need to testify against himself to help the court find him guilty?

3. What a huge claim from Jesus, saying he would sit at God’s right hand and come on the clouds of heaven. But after that bold statement, he remained silent. Why didn’t he back up his words with proofs or miracles or or even by escaping? 

Let’s pray. 

O father, Jesus was silent before his accusers, except to confirm that he was the Messiah. Is this the strong Jesus who cast out demons, excoriated the Pharisees, walked on water, and raised the dead? 

Why is Jesus unaccountably weak . . . silent before his accusers, mocked and beaten, meekly accepting a guilty verdict?  

O father, we want to imitate Jesus’ ministry of healing and teaching and preaching. We want to be his light in dark places. But we don’t want to follow him into the heart of darkness, into condemnation, torture, and death. 

O father, help us be faithful disciples in the sunlight and in the dark night, on paths of serving and paths of suffering, when we are strong and when we are weak. 

Jesus is our Messiah, seated at your right hand. We welcome his presence on our journey, and we for his appearing in the clouds of heaven. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

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Hello, I’m Daniel Westfall on the channel “Pray With Me”.

In Mark 14, Jesus said to his disciples, “You will all abandon me, but when I rise from the dead, meet me in Galilee” (v. 27). 

Peter said, “I won’t abandon you. Even death threats don’t scare me” (v. 29, 31). 

Jesus replied, “Whatever! Within 12 hours you’ll disown me. Three times” (v. 30).  

In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked Peter, James, and John to keep watch, praying their own prayers while he prayed his. But they fell asleep, not once, nor twice, but three times while Jesus prayed.  

Jesus prayer was, “Father, please, don’t let me be tortured to death. But I will follow wherever you lead, even there” (v. 35-36).

Then the police came to arrest Jesus. Or were they vigilantes? Mark calls them “a crowd armed with swords and clubs.” Not exactly a proper arrest, but an extra-judicial kidnapping that spirited Jesus away to a kangaroo trial. 

That spirited him away all alone, because all the disciples, even Peter abandoned him.

1. A comment on Peter’s confidence. As Satan said to God about Job, “Job only serves you because you make him rich. Take away his money and his good times, and he’ll curse you to your face” (Job 1:9-11). Peter followed Jesus in the good times: miracles, healings, story-sermons, feasts. How will Peter behave in the bad times? 

And what will we, comfortable western Christians, do when bad times come for us? 

2. A comment on Peter’s sleepiness. Jesus said, “Watch and pray so you won’t fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (v. 38). 

I think I share weak flesh with Peter. Do I pray enough, and at the right times? Should I stay up late to pray? How can I overcome my weak flesh? I am often too tired, too much in love with cozy comfort, too strongly attached to food and sex, too distracted by trivial news and social media. 

3. A comment on Jesus’ prayer in the garden. He knew his future held torture and death. What gave him the courage that Peter didn’t have, to face the worst and keep on believing? 

Let’s pray. 

O father, this story takes us to the edge of human prayer and motivation. Jesus prayed his way into a future full of torture. Peter slept his way into a night full of denial. 

Show us where the trajectory of our lives will take us. Are our prayers sufficient to help us through difficulty and temptation? Are our spirits strong enough to overcome the weakness of our flesh? 

O father, renew in us the spirit of Jesus, that we may pray with him, and stand with him, and die and live with him. 

Amen. 

I’m Daniel, on the channel “Pray with Me”.  

YouTube channel: Pray with Me – YouTube