A good mystery

Who doesn’t love a good mystery?

The fun comes from trying to figure out how the story ends.

When I was a kid, our family used to make one or two trips to Tennessee every year. Mom always brought books to read aloud on the long drive from northern Ohio. As my sisters and I got older, Mom started bringing mystery books on those trips. We became a family of detectives, working together to solve the mysteries Mom read aloud to us.

One series of mystery stories for kids–I don’t recall the title–was our favorite. The author ended each short story without solving the mystery for us. It was up to our family to figure it out on our own. After we talked it over, we could turn to a page in the back of the book to find out if we solved the mystery.

Those are some of my favorite memories now: Dad, Mom, my sisters, and I working together solving mysteries as we rolled down I-71 in our old Chevy station wagon.

One book of the Bible qualifies as a literal mystery. It’s the Gospel of Mark and it ends just like those mystery stories Mom used to read on our family trips.

The climax of the Gospel of Mark is the the shocking betrayal, trial, execution, and death of Jesus the Nazarene. We see Jesus die. We see the Roman authorities certify his death. We see Joseph of Arimathea take the corpse off the cross and bury it in a tomb. The author leaves no doubt that Jesus is dead.

Then, the mystery.

The Gospel of Mark in its original form–that is, the form the author wanted–ends with three women who go to the tomb to embalm Jesus’s body.

You can read it for yourself in Mark 16:1-8.

On their way to the tomb, the three women wonder how they will remove the stone that seals the entrance. The author makes it a point to tell us that the stone is very large–too large for three women to move.

When the women get to the tomb, however, they see that the stone is no longer blocking the entrance. Who moved the stone?

The author doesn’t tell us.

The mystery deepens when the women enter the tomb. They expect to find the body of Jesus. Instead, they find a “young man dressed in white” sitting where the body should be resting. Who is the young man?

Again, the author doesn’t tell us.

The young man speaks: “Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the one they nailed to a cross. He’s been raised up! He’s no longer here. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty. Now, on your way. Go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going on ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there just as he said.”

What happened to the body of Jesus the Nazarene?

The young man said he’s been “raised up.” What does that mean, exactly? How did it happen?

Where is Jesus now?

The young man said he is going to Galilee. How? Is he walking the country roads? Why is he going to Galilee? What will he do there? How will his disciples know where to find him when they get to Galilee?

We want to know: What happens next? What will Jesus do now that he’s been “raised up”?

The Gospel of Mark does not tell us.

The women flee the empty tomb and say “nothing to anyone.”

That’s how the story ends!

The author leaves us with more questions than answers…a real mystery!

Why he does this is itself a mystery.

But, who doesn’t love a good mystery?

The fun comes from trying to figure out how the story ends, right?

I think the Gospel of Mark is exactly like those mystery stories Mom read to us in the old station wagon. It’s up to us to work together to write the end to the story.

What happened to the body of Jesus the Nazarene? Where did he go? What did he do next? What does it all mean?

It’s up to you to solve the mystery for yourself.

Grace and peace.