Mathetes

I have read somewhere (possibly in a discussion board) that the phrase of the young man, "He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see him, just as he told you" could be referring not to appearances as we know them today, but to his second coming, that for Mark is supposed to be imminent.

Roland

Wow, what a cool idea! I wonder if your namesake realized that when he sat down to write HIS gospel? LOL

Roland

Could Mark also be the naked young man who goes fleeing the night Jesus is arrested?

Amaleq13

Why would they need to go to any specific location for the End Times?

Seems like every place would be ringside.

Mathetes

Not sure if I get your point. If you are saying that this is a reason why the young man could not be referring to the second coming, it is also applicable to the earthly appearences. I don't know much about resurrected glorified bodies, but I suppose they can appear pretty much wherever they want.

I am not defending this position, however. I think it adds an interesting twist to the story, but I do not know of any way to find out whether it is reasonable or not.

Vorkosigan

The reason for the abrupt ending of Mark is that the original ending was removed and stuck on the end of John. See Evan Powell's The Unfinished Gospel. See David Ross's pages on Mark; scroll down to the middle, "the Missing Ending of Mark." Speculation like Prices, Raynal's, or Daughty's assertion that the end refers back to the beginning are certainly interesting, but Powell's arguments have the advantage of being based on actual evidence.

Vorkosigan

Matthew_Green

I tend to think that they are one and the same. I think Mark's author wants to present himself as someone who was there and didn't abadon Jesus like the disciples did. The disciples fled when Jesus was arrested and yet the young man didn't. He was following Jesus and only fled when one of the guards grabbed him (Mark 14:51-52). It seems as though "Mark" wants this young man to be seen as the one who was brave enough not to abadon Jesus and was the first one at the tomb the next morning to be there for Jesus when he rose.

Matthew

Amaleq13

The "second coming" takes place at the End Times which is a worldwide event. I'm questioning why Jesus would feel it necessary to have the boys specifically gather in Galilee give the global nature of the occasion.

An individual appearance as a Resurrected Christ, on the other hand, does seem to require a specific location. Mark and Matthew depict this location as Galilee while Luke and John favor Jerusalem.

I understand this is not your argument. My comments are addressed at the idea, not the messenger.

Magdlyn

Resurrecting this thread:
Just having reread GMark in the New Oxford Annotated, I have just seen that the editors of that tome agree with this idea. New to me! Blimey, I had assumed this young man in white was an angel til now. Color me indoctrinated!

Vinnie

Why did someone remove the original ending? How do we know that a secondary ending wasn't attached to Mark that was later removed? We already know of several endings that were created for Mark's Gospel? Why not another?