At the end of the book of Mark you’ll find the account of Jesus appearing to his disciples after his death and resurrection. He leaves them with a motivating speech to preach the gospel to all creation (Mark 16:15). At first glance, quite satisfying. Jesus is alive and the way forward is clear.

But there’s a problem. Most scholars agree that this happy ending was a later addition, since it was not present in the earliest manuscripts. It seems that later scribes were uncomfortable with Mark’s inconclusive ending, so they provided an appropriate conclusion with what they knew had happened. (additions like this are extremely rare, and can easily be discerned from comparison with earlier manuscripts). So what’s the real conclusion to Mark’s Gospel—and does that change how we respond to it?