It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger to me. It felt like the resolution to the storyline that began with “Luke Skywalker has vanished”.
I agree with this. I have a feeling they debated over it, but, ultimately, if you start your film with the words “Luke Skywalker is missing,” he better be found at the end of the film.
By deleting the journey of Luke’s first lightsaber, the through-line of the film became Luke Skywalker himself. And, to not solve it would damage the film as a whole.