Everyone loves a good ending where all the loose ends are neatly tied up, the characters find redemption, and everyone lives happily ever after! Yep, whether it’s a book series, a beloved TV program, or a movie saga – we just love a good ending!

But what happens when we get to the last page of a book or scene of a movie, and we’re just left hanging with little resolved, the characters still struggling, and the future just one big question mark? We’re unsettled! We struggle! And we think: “We could do better than that!”

Such is the case with the Gospel of Mark. It ends in such an awkward, unsatisfying and distressingly incomplete way. There are no great resurrection appearances of Jesus! Mary doesn’t encounter her Risen Lord in the Garden. And Peter and the disciples – they don’t even show up!

Instead, we find the women frightened and overwhelmed after hearing the incredible news that Jesus has been raised from the dead. All they can do is return to their homes and not say anything to anyone! Dah dah dah dum! (drum roll!) And that’s that!

Did Mark mess things up with his Gospel? Did he somehow forget the resurrection appearances? Or, did he have something else in mind? Could it be he believed that the story of Jesus wasn’t really over yet, and he writes an open ending to his gospel in order to invite us to jump in and take up our part in continuing it? What if, instead of thinking of Jesus’ empty tomb as an ending, that he made it as only a beginning?

Intriguing thought, isn’t it? In fact, it’s an invitation – for us to live the ending and prove to the world that Jesus is indeed alive and well in this world! Wow! That’s a different kind of an ending and one that includes you and me. So, come and join us as we celebrate this Easter – It’s only a Beginning!