How many of you are familiar with the TV show "24?" How many of you are fans of 24? I hesitate to recommend it to you because it sometimes goes over the top in violence, but it is an interesting show. Much of its attraction—some call it an addiction—is its format. The title, 24, comes from the "real time" format of the show. Each hour long episode is an hour in a tense day for Jack Bauer (played by Kiefer Sutherland) and the rest of the agents of "CTU," which stands for Counter Terrorism Unit. Certainly the show plays on our concern today over terrorism. A large part of its popularity, however, is in its genius of suspended endings. Each episode leaves you with a "what’s next?" Not just a season finale—like the old "Dallas" shows (Who shot J.R.? Is Bobby really dead?), or even the more recent "West Wing" (Will the president survive an assassination attempt? Will the president run for another term despite his disclosure he has MS?), shows that left you with a summer of discussion and speculation—24 leaves you hanging with suspense at the end of each episode, each "hour" in the story. Each twist and turn in the story leaves you wondering, "What’s next?" in CTU’s effort to stop a terrorist attack. No doubt it leads to much Tuesday morning water cooler conversations.

I think that is something like Mark’s method in his Gospel. Mark’s Gospel is a kind of rapid-fire narrative, much more brief and concise than the other three Gospels. The difference is clearly evident on this Easter Sunday as we consider Mark’s account of the resurrection. The ending is a bit of a surprise. In fact, in some ways, it is no ending at all. There is no resurrection appearance of Jesus. Just an empty tomb—empty except for an angelic-like messenger who tells the women who have come to anoint Jesus’ body with burial spices that "Jesus is risen! He is not here!" He also tells the women to "go and tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee…they will see him there." But, the additional surprise is that the women don’t do that. They flee from the scene "trembling and bewildered" and say nothing to anyone "because they were afraid." Mark’s ending to his gospel is so unsettling, in fact, that someone (or some ones) later added more to it. Verses 9-20 are universally understood to be a later addition to Mark’s Gospel—as most Bibles, including the ones in the pew racks, make clear. Accepting the end of Mark’s gospel to be at verse 8 still raises a lot of questions: Did Mark intend to end it that way? Was his original, complete ending somehow lost? If so, what did the lost ending say? If not lost, why did Mark choose to end his gospel this way? There are even grammatical questions. In the original Greek for Mark’s Gospel, verse 8 ends with a preposition…the word "for." A literal reading of the Greek for verse 8 sounds something like Yoda from Star Wars, "…and no one nothing they told; they were afraid for." Did Mark really intend to end his gospel like that?

I think he did. I think part of the genius behind Mark’s gospel is that he leaves us hanging with the suspense. It is left to us to complete the story. What happens next? Do the women ever tell anyone? Is the risen Jesus left alone in Galilee, waiting for others who don’t know to join him there because no one told them? We like closure. We want Mark to fill in the details. But, he leaves that to us.

Now, to be sure, we know the answer to many of those questions, thanks to the other gospels and other witnesses. We get the closure we want with Matthew, Luke and John. In Matthew, the risen Jesus meets the women as they flee from the empty tomb. Then, Jesus meets with the disciples in Galilee where he delivers the Great Commission—"Go and make disciples of all nations…" In Luke, the women immediately tell the disciples—in fact, Peter then runs to the tomb to check it out for himself. Later, the risen Jesus walks with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, but they don’t recognize him. Later still, Jesus meets with all the disciples and shares a meal with them. Finally, Luke’s gospel ends with Jesus ascending into heaven before their very eyes! Now, there’s an ending with closure! In John’s gospel, the "other disciple" (generally thought to be John’s description of himself) joins Peter in the race to the tomb (we learn from that that John was faster than Peter because John arrives there first!). They find an empty tomb with only the burial cloths inside. Later, the risen Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene who, at first, thinks he is the caretaker for the tombs. Mary then tells the other disciples what she has experienced. Later that evening, Jesus appears to all the disciples, except for Thomas who is not there. But Thomas has his doubts about the reality of Jesus’ resurrection answered by a later appearance of Jesus. And John’s gospel ends at the Sea of Galilee with Jesus performing another miracle of a miraculous catch for his fishermen disciples, plus he offers Peter redemption and renewal for Peter’s denial of Christ. Pretty good closure there as well!

Not so with Mark! No appearance of Jesus. Bewildered women who disobey the messenger’s instructions because of their fear. And a dangling preposition to boot! We want closure. Mark gives us a dangling preposition! But that, I believe, is Mark’s intent. The genius of Mark is that he leaves it to his readers to make the crucial step of faith. Did Jesus rise from the dead? The tomb is empty, but Jesus doesn’t appear. What do you think? We have the testimony of other gospels and other witnesses to help us answer those questions, but Mark leaves it to his readers to bring the closure we seek. Did Jesus rise from the dead? Furthermore, do you want to see Jesus? Well, he’s gone out ahead of you. If you want to see Jesus, it won’t be at the empty tomb of Mark’s gospel. Mark invites us to take a step of faith to bring the closure we seek.

This, however, is no fanciful pursuit. The facts available to us don’t support the speculative musings of those who create fanciful stories to meet their need to control Jesus. Lord knows there’s been enough of that lately. "Jesus didn’t really die on the cross." "Jesus was never crucified, in fact, he and Mary Magdalene got married, had a child and lived happily ever after…that is, until they died at which time their bones were placed in a burial box which, by the way, we’ve just discovered." All of that is fanciful speculation that is fueled by…God only knows. An opportunity to make money with books and documentaries? No doubt. A way to mold Jesus into a story I can understand, perhaps even control? Probably. But the facts don’t support such wild speculations. A tomb and a heavy stone couldn’t contain Jesus…and neither can our fanciful speculations contain or control Jesus. Yes, we want closure to the story, but legitimate closure will be based on facts, not speculation.

But, again, Mark’s gospel doesn’t bring us that closure. The ending to his gospel isn’t an ending! The story continues! The crucifixion appeared to be the end of the story. But, it wasn’t. The resurrection would seem to be an ending to the story. But, Mark doesn’t leave us with that. The story’s not over. The story continues, but it is Jesus who leads the way. You want to see Jesus? In Mark’s gospel, the disciples must go to Galilee for that. Jesus is "going ahead" of them to Galilee—as he told them he would, by the way (cf. Mark 14:28). That phrase, "going ahead," means more than traveling ahead of someone. It is most often used to describe military commanders leading their troops. Jesus is leading his disciples…and he is leading his church. So, you want to see Jesus? You have to leave the empty tomb and go to Galilee. I think the metaphor for us, keeping true to Mark’s gospel, is that the Easter celebration is not where we come to see Jesus. Easter is not a once-a-year shrine to which we come to see Jesus. He is risen! He is not here! He has gone out ahead of us and we must go to where Jesus leads in order to see Jesus.

Or, perhaps this metaphor might help us grasp the invitation Mark gives us to take a step of faith and complete the story in our lives. A few years ago, the staff and some of our elders and deacons attended a Leadership Summit that was broadcast via satellite. The live location of the summit was in Chicago, but we were able to attend via a host church in the Denver area. One of the speakers spoke about leadership that is, first of all, guided by Jesus’ Spirit "going out ahead" of us. He used the analogy of a rhinoceros in his description of what that might look like. His description of a rhinoceros, first of all, was more colorful than the description given by Wikipedia, the internet encyclopedia site. Wikipedia describes a rhinoceros, or rhino, this way: "Any of five surviving species of odd-toed ungulates in the family." Odd-toed ungulates? I liked the Leadership Summit speaker’s description better. "A rhinoceros is an animal that can weigh up to one ton, yet can run at speeds up to 30 mph. However, a rhino can see only 30 feet in front of them! One ton. 30 miles per hour. Visibility of 30 feet. When a rhino is on the move, whatever’s in front of them better get out of the way!" And the speaker went on to describe what a wonderful picture that is of a Christian, or of the church—a large, powerful force moving along at a good rate of speed…but able to see ahead only a limited distance. It is Christ who leads the way, who "goes ahead" of us, who holds the key to what the future looks like!

I love that image—and I think Mark would too! In fact, I enjoyed that image so much that some of the attendees later bought me some rhino mementos. A Rhino head cover for a golf club! This wood carving of a rhino sits on my desk as a reminder of that image. Occasionally, someone will refer to me as "Rhino Ron"…and I don’t take offense at it! I consider it a compliment!

That image of a rhinoceros is a good description of what life is like with Christ "going ahead" of us, leading the way. You want to see Jesus? You have to go to Galilee. What will happen in Galilee? "I don’t know, but I’m going!" What will happen after Galilee? "I don’t know, but I’m charging ahead wherever Jesus leads!" 30 mph, 30 feet visibility.

Here’s a few other things I’ve learned about what life is like with Jesus "going ahead" of us. One, that’s an exciting life! And, two, that’s a life with meaning and purpose. People think being a Christ-follower is boring or irrelevant. In fact, the first session of our Alpha course is entitled, "Christianity: Boring, Untrue, Irrelevant?" And the speaker for Alpha, Nicky Gumbel, tells of how he used to think that about Christianity—it was boring, untrue and irrelevant. Since coming to Christ, however, and seeking to follow where Jesus leads, he’s found it anything but boring, or untrue, or irrelevant. It’s exciting, it’s life with meaning and purpose. Like 24, it’s life with drama in every episode. What’s next? I don’t know, but I’m going to keep charging ahead wherever Christ leads! It’s life where every ending is not an ending. There’s always more to the story in a life with Christ. It’s life with a dangling preposition!

So, do you want that kind of life? Do you want to experience the excitement and meaning of a life with Christ? Do you want to see Jesus? Well, you won’t find him at a shrine of an empty tomb. He is risen, he is not here, he is out there—leading the way ahead of you! That’s where you’ll see Jesus!

He is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) So…what’s next?