Is there anything more frustrating than to be reading an interesting article in the newspaper, only to find that the article is “continued on page 7, section C”....  and then turn to page 7, Section C., only to find that someone has either torn off that page or cut an article from the other side and thereby wiped out the conclusion of the story?  That’s sort of the way it is with the Gospel of St.  Mark. 

I.  SCHOLARS HAVE KNOWN FOR A LONG TIME THAT MARK’S GOSPEL IS CUT SHORT AT THE END OF VERSE 8.  They know this for a number of reasons: the primary one being that the oldest and most reliable ancient manuscripts end there.  In fact, the Gospel ends in mid-sentence with the Greek word “gar”...which means “for...” Obviously, that’s no way to end a book!!  “Gar” is a particle which normally…