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The longer ending of Mark

Absent from the earliest manuscripts; its snake-handling and poison verses and its commission are read differently across traditions.

Mark 16:9-20

9Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.

10She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

11When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.

12After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.

13They went away and told it to the rest. They didn’t believe them, either.

14Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

15He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.

16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.

17These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;

18they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

19So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

20They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

What each tradition says

Rabbinic / Midrashic

The Jewish Encyclopedia states that he was first seen by Peter and the other apostles in Galilee, six days after his death. It cites Mark xvi. 7, compares Mark ix. 2 and John xxi. 1-29, and identifies John xxi as the continuation of Mark xvi. 8.

Executive Committee of the Editorial Board, in Isidore Singer (ed.), The Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. 'New Testament' (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901-1906)New Testament, section on the Gospel of Mark (resurrection appearances)

Patristic

Irenaeus cites the conclusion of Mark’s Gospel, where Mark says that after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sits at the right hand of God. He presents these words as part of Mark’s Gospel account.

Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-c. 202), Against Heresies, Book III (trans. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson), in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885)Book III, ch. 10, §6

Catholic

Reid names three formerly disputed passages: the closing section of Mark's Gospel (16:9-20), the verses about Jesus' bloody sweat in Luke (22:43-44), and the Pericope Adulterae (John 7:53-8:11). Since the Council of Trent, he writes, a Catholic is not permitted to question the inspiration of these passages.

George J. Reid, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, s.v. 'Canon of the New Testament' (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908)Article, on the disputed passages settled by Trent

Orthodox

No sourced position found. Checked: John of Damascus, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (NPNF 2-09 — Mark cited once, xvi. 6, in a footnote; no treatment of the ending); NPNF Chrysostom (no homilies on Mark; the Matthew and John series never cite Mark 16:9-20); the 1672 Synod of Jerusalem (full text — silent); Andrew of Caesarea (Revelation only, no PD English). No public-domain Orthodox statement on the longer ending was found; modern Orthodox works are copyrighted.

Reformed / Protestant

Calvin says Mark purposely added this to inform us that Christ was taken up into heaven. He was not taken up to enjoy blessed rest at a distance from us, but to govern the world for the salvation of all believers.

John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 3 (trans. William Pringle, Calvin Translation Society, 1846)Harmony, on Mark 16:19-20

Evangelical

In his note on Mark 16:18, John Wesley says that drinking any deadly thing is not by one’s own choice. He states that God never calls us to try any such experiments.

John Wesley (1703-1791), Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on Mark 16Note on Mark 16:18