Journeying into the Future

Preached by Michael Cheuk
April 12, 2009, Easter Sunday, Year B
Mark 16:1-8

On June 10, 2007, the much awaited finale of the award-winning drama The Sopranos aired on HBO to a frenzy of anticipation and speculation.  Fans that had followed this show for eight seasons couldn’t wait to find out the fate of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano.  Would Tony and his family live or be killed?  Would he be indicted and convicted?  Would the family enter into a witness protection program?  In the final sequence, as the tension mounted and as the audience braced for tragedy, the showed suddenly blacked out in total silence for eleven seconds, causing millions of viewers to frantically reach for their remotes or to call their cable company.  And then the final credits rolled, signifying the end of not only that episode, but the end of the whole Sopranos saga.  That “fade to black” ending was the buzz around water coolers and internet blogs for the days that followed.  Many people were furious at creator David Chase for cheating them out of a satisfying ending.  They were left hanging literally right in the middle of a scene.  Some hoped that there were alternate endings filmed.  But all were left wondering about the future of this family.

In our Gospel Lesson this morning, Mark the Evangelist also pulled a “fade to black” ending to his Gospel.  “What?” you say, “in my Bible, Mark ends in verse 20.”  Yes, but in most modern translations, there’s a disclaimer after verse 8.  In our NIV pew Bibles, it says, “The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.”  Most Biblical scholars agree that verses 9-20 were not part of the original text of Mark.  In the original Greek language, the story ends literally in the middle of a sentence with a proposition.  In school, we’ve all been told by our English teachers that a preposition ain’t a grammatical way to end a sentence with!  But if it is indeed the case that Mark intended to end his Gospel in verse 8, then he left us with no resurrection appearances by Jesus, no commission to his disciples and no ascension.  What we’re left with is only an empty tomb and frightened women who said nothing to anyone.  Is that any way to end a Gospel?  Is Mark such a clumsy Evangelist that he would lead us on a journey with Jesus for fifteen chapters only to leave us at a dead end?

Well, very early on that first day of the week, it certainly felt like a dead end to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. 

Journeying Into Jerusalem

Preached by Michael Cheuk
April 5, 2009, Palm/Passion Sunday, Year B
Mark 11, 14:17-36, 15:1-39

It was a most amazing week filled with drama, exhilaration and dejection as Jesus, the Son of God journeys into Jerusalem. “As they approached Jerusalem,” says Mark, throngs of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the arrival of this charismatic leader.  It was an inaugural of sorts, where the hopes and dreams of a whole nation were placed upon this one man, riding into town on a donkey.  “Hosanna!” they shouted, which originally meant, “Save us!” and later came to represent an enthusiastic burst of praise.  “Hosanna!  Here’s our savior!” they cried, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”  In their audacity of hope, these crowds were screaming out for a change they could believe in.  ”Save us!” they said.  “Save us from the Roman Empire!  Blessed is the conquering hero who comes to kick out the occupying Romans!”  If this were to happen today, it would not be a far stretch to witness the crowd lining up alongside Constitutional and Pennsylvania Avenues waving their flags and crying out:

Hosanna!  Save us from terrorism!  Blessed is the one who comes to wipe out the terrorists!

Hosanna!  Save us from bankruptcy!  Blessed is the bailout to revitalize the economy!

Hosanna!  Save us from our pain!  Blessed is the drug that can dampen our distress!

Hosanna!  Save my failing marriage!  Blessed is the one who comes to change my spouse!