Mk 16,1-8 als ursprünglicher Schluß des Markusevangeliums – ein neuer Blick auf ein altes Problem

In his Gospel Mark extends the idea of the sonship of God and its related authority to the earthly Jesus and his deeds and words. Against this background the gospel can be interpreted as a new aspect, which complements and emphasises the kerygma of Christ already found within Mark’s community. In this respect the Gospel of Mark provides a theological interpretation of the life of Jesus by integrating a kerygma of the risen Christ as υἱὸς θεοῦ that amongst his recipients already existed. Mark finished his Gospel in 16:8 without providing accounts of the Epiphany of Christ for two reasons. Firstly, in order to avoid impact on the integration and readjustment of the kerygma of Christ he intended to achieve with his gospel; secondly, he assumed that his readers both believed in the risen Christ to be the υἱὸς θεοῦ and already knew about his return to his disciples. The evangelist intended 16:1-8 to be a connecting passage between the new aspect of the kerygma of Christ as implied by his work and the kerygma known by the community receiving the gospel because he was not able or did not wish to display the latter explicitly in his work due to the fact that by doing so would have run contrary to his actual theological and literary intentions.