The main aspect of the resurrection story that is missing in Mark’s shorter narrative is the fact that Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of James go to tell others what they have discovered. When the shorter narrative ends with “they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid,” it makes the two Mary’s seem almost less devoted to Jesus for they were portrayed as too scared to share the news of Jesus’s resurrection to his disciples. When verses 9-20 are also taken out of Mark’s narrative, there is also the lack of Jesus’s reappearance to other disciples and his affirmation of his own rising from the dead. This part of the narrative is integral to creating a similarity between the different gospels, and more specifically the synoptic gospels. This aspect of the story also relates to the disciples and to the readers the importance of faith for one last time. Even though the disciples had been told by Jesus himself that he would rise from the dead, they did not believe Mary Magdalene when she told them of this news. Later Jesus reprimands them for not believing. This again goes to show the readers why there is an importance in faith and why they should blue vein and follow what Jesus says.
Blog Post 7:
It is plausible that Mark chose the end the account this way because it portrayed all the information from this story that he knew of; but it is likely that this ending was there to give the message of Jesus triumphing over death. He had died, but he had then risen and essentially had “beaten” death. By extending the story, Jesus becomes directly involved in worldly woes rather than the larger troubles he would deal with after his resurrection.
A Glimpse at Theology from the Mind of Sara 
Exactly! Mark’s shorter ending has no appearances of the risen Jesus, and the women who discover the empty tomb are never reported as sharing their findings. Obviously someone must have said something at some point or the Gospel of Mark wouldn’t exist, but this note of fear and lack of understanding among the disciples is consistent with Mark’s overall portrayal of Jesus’ followers. The addition of the material in Mark 9:20 does make the final ending of Mark more similar to the other Gospels, where Jesus gives some final words to his followers and the appearances of the risen Jesus seem to strengthen their faith. For Mark, such faith in Jesus as the Messiah was impossible before Jesus’ death and resurrection (since the whole idea of a suffering Messiah was so at odds with peoples’ expectations) but becomes possible afterward.
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