Endnote 1 – Thinking About Easter

The exception is Mark. In 16:1–8, Mark reports the promise that Jesus will appear in Galilee, but has no stories of appearances. (Note that Mark 16:9–20, which does report appearances, is a later addition to Mark.) It is interesting that two very early layers of the gospel tradition (Q and early Thomas [see, respectively, Stephen J. Patterson, “Q—The Lost Gospel,” BR 09:05; and Helmut Koester and Stephen J. Patterson, “The Gospel of Thomas—Does It Contain Authentic Sayings of Jesus?” BR 06:02]) do not refer to the resurrection or Easter at all. Is this evidence for forms of early Christianity whose central message was not about death and resurrection? Thomas, it should be noted, begins by speaking of the words of the living Jesus; thus Thomas may paint to a community that affirmed the living Christ without mentioning (or emphasizing) resurrection/Easter.