“On with the show”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, April 28, 2025
Mark 16:15-20 (Forward, p. 89) CEV p. 1052
Today’s short account from Mark’s Gospel reminds me of several murder mysteries that we have viewed lately. In each of these, there has been a terrible tragedy that has fallen upon a cast member, and in each of them the rest decided that ‘the show must go on. Such and such would have wanted it.’ And so it was, ‘on with the show’.
In today’s account, Jesus has been taken from the disciples, but even so, ‘the show must go on.’ They are to continue with His work and ministry, preaching the good news, healing, and doing all sorts of wonderful things. Indeed, they will be immune from certain things that would otherwise be deadly (for instance, handling snakes and drinking poisons). They, like the remaining cast members in our murder mysteries, must step up to the plate, assume roles and responsibilities that they weren’t accustomed to and had never fulfilled and pull together. And, incredibly, in each case, ‘it worked’.
Well, those were fined scripted dramas, and our situation is real life. Yes, ours is real life, but herein there is a different. As depicted in our account in Mark, the Lord is with us and will help us with our appointed tasks. This is promise to all who put their faith and trust in Him. And so, most truly, we can take up our respective roles and continue ‘on with the show’, even if He is no longer physically with us.
Forward notes: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation” (verse 15b).
“It’s a surprise that the writer of Mark didn’t have Jesus say, ‘Immediately go!’ to the apostles here at the end of his ministry. After reading the rest of the gospel, it’s obvious the author was in a hurry to spread the good news of Christ. The word ‘immediately’ is used in the gospel 41 times, propelling the narrative forward with speed and urgency. The writer skips all
genealogy, beginning this gospel with John the Baptizer, another person in a hurry. The author gets straight to the point: the good news of Jesus Christ, Son of God, is here!
“Good news is hard to hold back. Who wouldn’t want to shout with joy and hurry to spread that word from the mountaintops? Our world needs more of us to be zealous in spreading the good news.”
Moving Forward: “Where do you need to hurry to spread the good news?”
A concluding note: I’m afraid that I missed something in terms of what our author says in her first sentence. Didn’t Jesus say to ‘go into all the world’. I don’t read here that He said to sit and wait around for a while, as Luke intimates. No, with today’s passage I sense a kind of urgency, an immediacy, a call to immediate action.