New and Old in Mark 16:1-8

One of the most difficult pericopes in the New Testament is the Easter Gospel, Mark 16:1-8, because it reports no appearance of the risen Lord, and ends with the strange words, ... and they said nothing co any one, for they were afraid. In this article, the author summarizes and evaluates the chief solutions chat have been proposed, and then offers his own solution. On the basis of his study of the message of the Gospel and of other pertinent Biblical materials, he finds that the conclusion reflects a real appreciation of the joyful Gospel message. He also argues that in a sense the ending is incomplete, for Mark used the incomplete ending to say to each reader that it was up to him and to her to carry on all that Jesus had begun both to do and to teach