Mark 16:18

Verse 14 comes after two reports that the disciples had refused. Mary Magdalene told them she had seen the risen Lord, and “they believed not” (Mark 16:11). Two more disciples told of meeting him on the road, and “neither believed they them” (Mark 16:13). “Afterward”, hýsteron, Jesus came to them himself. He “appeared”, phaneróō, making himself plainly seen, to “the eleven”, héndeka, the apostles who remained after Judas Iscariot. They “sat at meat”, anakeîmai, which means they were reclining at a meal, lying on couches around a low table in the way people ate in that day. The place was probably Jerusalem, perhaps the room where they had eaten the Last Supper or another place where they felt safe. The risen Lord met them at an ordinary meal, right in the middle of their doubts, and his presence there was real and plain to see.

He “upbraided” them. The verb oneidízō means to reproach, chide or even taunt, and it is a sharp word for a strong rebuke. He named two faults. The first is “unbelief”, apistía, which means faithlessness, both disbelief and unfaithfulness, and here it is their refusal to credit the people who had seen him. The second is “hardness of heart”, sklērokardía, literally hard-heartedness, which Strong’s describes as a lack of spiritual perception. A hard heart stays unmoved by truth even when the evidence is in front of it. Mark tells how Jesus was “grieved for the hardness of their hearts” when his opponents watched him in the synagogue (Mark 3:5), and now the same charge falls on his closest friends.

The verse gives the reason in so many words: “because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” “Believed” is pisteúō, which can mean simply to credit what someone says, and that is its sense here. They had refused the word of eyewitnesses. “Had seen” is theáomai, to look upon, and “was risen” is egeírō, the verb Scripture uses of Christ being raised by God. Jesus treats the word of those who had seen him as enough to be believed. These eleven would soon be the chief witnesses to the resurrection themselves, asking the world to believe what they had seen, so their refusal to believe other witnesses was a serious matter.

Their failure belongs to a pattern in Mark. In the storm Jesus asked them, “how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40), and later he asked why they still failed to understand (Mark 8:17–21). The other Gospels tell the same story of the first days after Easter. Jesus calls two disciples slow of heart to believe (Luke 24:25), and he invites Thomas to touch his wounds and believe (John 20:27).

The rebuke is sharp because so much rests on the resurrection. Paul says, “if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:17), and that the apostles’ preaching would be vain as well (1 Corinthians 15:14). Christ “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25). So the Lord’s rebuke was an act of grace. He corrected the men he was about to send, and in the very next verse he gave them the gospel to carry.

Jesus answers the disciples’ unbelief by trusting them with his mission. “Go ye” is poreúomai, the ordinary verb for going, travelling or setting out. “Preach” is kērýssō, to herald or proclaim, and in the New Testament it is used chiefly of preaching the gospel. The picture is of a public crier announcing news openly to all who will hear. What they announce is the “gospel”, euangélion, the good message or good news. It is the news of salvation through Jesus Christ, his life, his death for sins and his resurrection, and the offer of eternal life to all who believe. Paul sums it up as Christ dying for our sins, being buried and rising again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). The disciples are sent to proclaim a person, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The one who gives this command is the risen Lord. Matthew records the same commission, where Jesus says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” and sends his disciples to teach all nations (Matthew 28:18–20). Luke records that repentance and forgiveness were to be preached among all nations (Luke 24:47), and in Acts the disciples are to be his witnesses to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised as the Comforter (John 14:26), would give them the power to do it. Paul gives the reason why someone has to go: people cannot believe in one they have never heard of, and they cannot hear without a preacher (Romans 10:14–15).

“All the world” was a large step for these men. Until now they had worked almost entirely within Israel, and the command sent them to Gentiles as well as Jews. The book of Acts tells how that began, from its first chapter onward (Acts 1), and how the church came to include many peoples. The Roman Empire’s roads and routes of travel helped the message spread quickly, though the world it reached was full of other gods and beliefs. The end of the story is the great multitude of all nations, kindreds, people and tongues standing before the throne (Revelation 7:9).

Verse 16 gives the two outcomes of the preaching. “He that believeth” uses pisteúō, the same verb as in verse 14. It can mean to credit what someone says, and it can mean to trust and rely on a person, and here it is trust in Jesus Christ himself, as in John’s words: “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Paul says the same in another way: if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9–10).

“And is baptized” is baptízō, which means to dip, immerse, sink, overwhelm, wash or baptize, and in the New Testament it is used of the washing that became Christian baptism. Washing with water was already known in that world as a rite of cleansing and of entry. Jewish practice included the baptism of Gentiles who became Jews. In the early church a person who believed was baptized promptly, as Peter told the crowd at Pentecost to “repent, and be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Baptism was a public declaration of faith in Christ. It pictured cleansing from sin and union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, as Paul writes: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God” (Colossians 2:12). In a world of many gods, it marked a person as belonging to Jesus alone.

“Shall be saved” is sṓzō, to save, deliver or protect. Here it is rescue from sin and from judgment, and entry into eternal life with God. Paul describes it as God delivering us from the power of darkness and bringing us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13).

The second half turns on “but”, dé, the small connecting word that marks a contrast here. “He that believeth not” is apistéō, to refuse belief, and “shall be damned” is katakrínō, to judge against, to pass sentence, to condemn. In the English of the KJV “damned” means condemned under sentence. John gives the same warning: “he that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18), and “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). The salvation offered and the sentence warned of both depend on Christ, the one who died and rose to save.

“Signs” is sēmeîon, a sign, mark or token, an indication of something. The word can be used of an ordinary token, but the signs listed here are miracles, and like all signs they point beyond themselves. Verse 20 states their purpose: they confirm the word. “Shall follow”, parakolouthéō, means to accompany or attend, and the signs follow “them that believe”, the people who receive and carry the gospel. In the days of Moses and Elijah, God’s wonders showed that he was present and that his messengers spoke for him, and Jesus’ own ministry was full of such signs.

“In my name” means by Jesus’ authority and power, which he has received from the Father (Matthew 28:18–20). The power belongs to him and is exercised by those he sends.

“So then after the Lord had spoken unto them” ties the ascension to the commission. Jesus finished giving his instructions, and then he was taken up. Mark calls him “the Lord” here, the title of the one who now reigns. “He was received up” is analambánō, to take up, and the verb is passive. God the Father took his Son up and received him into glory. Luke tells the event at greater length in Acts, where Jesus is taken up and a cloud receives him out of sight, and the disciples are told that this same Jesus will come again in like manner (Acts 1:9–11).

He “sat on the right hand of God”. “Sat” is kathízō, to sit down, to seat, and also to appoint or to settle in a place. “Right hand” is dexiós, which means simply “right” or “right hand”, and its meaning of honor and power comes from where it is used. At a king’s side, the right hand was the place of highest favor, trust and delegated authority. At God’s right hand it is the highest place there is. This fulfils the psalm Israel knew well: “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). Daniel had seen one like the Son of man brought before the Ancient of days and given dominion. For a man to sit at God’s right hand is a claim to share in God’s own rule, and it declares Jesus to be the Son of God, the Messiah and the rightful King.

Scripture ties his sitting down to a finished work. Hebrews says that “when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). From that seat he goes on working for his people. He makes intercession for us (Romans 8:34), and he ever lives to make intercession for those who come to God by him (Hebrews 7:25). God raised him and set him far above every power, and gave him to be head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:20–23). He has gone to prepare a place for his people and will come again to receive them (John 14:2–3). His going up also made way for the Holy Spirit, who would give the disciples power for their witness (Acts 1:8). Mark leaves the Spirit unmentioned here, though the rest of the New Testament makes much of it.

“And they went forth, and preached every where.” The eleven obey the command of verse 15, and “preached” is kērýssō again, the same verb. Their preaching began in Jerusalem and Judea and spread outward, as Acts records. This one verse sums up the years that followed and closes Mark’s account with a mission under way.

“The Lord working with them” is synergéō, to be a fellow-worker, to co-operate, the word from which English gets “synergy”. The ascended Lord is in heaven, and he is also at work alongside his servants on earth. This is how he kept his promise, “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). The fruit of their preaching came from his presence and power.

“And confirming the word with signs following.” “Confirming” is bebaióō, to make firm, to establish, to make sure. “The word” is the gospel they preached, and the signs promised in verses 17 and 18 now follow and make it sure to those who hear. Hebrews says the same: the salvation first spoken by the Lord was confirmed by those who heard him, God also bearing them witness with signs and wonders (Hebrews 2:3–4). When the early church was threatened, it prayed for boldness to speak the word and for God to stretch out his hand to heal, with signs and wonders done in Jesus’ name (Acts 4:29–31). Paul told the Corinthians that his preaching came “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”, so that their faith would stand in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:4–5). God still confirms his word, whether through miracles or through changed lives, deep conviction of sin and answered prayer.

“Amen” is a Hebrew word meaning firm or trustworthy, used to say “so be it”. It seals Mark’s Gospel with a word of certainty, as the whole Bible closes with a prayer for the Lord’s coming and an Amen (Revelation 22:20).

Mark 16:9–20 is missing from two of the oldest Greek manuscripts of the Gospel, Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, which end at Mark 16:8, and some manuscripts have a different, shorter ending. Most of the later manuscripts include these verses, and early church fathers knew them. The church has read them for centuries, the King James Version prints them, and most modern translations include them with a note. Believers differ on where they came from. Some hold that Mark wrote them. Others hold, with most students of the manuscripts, that they were added very early, and many of these still receive them as true and inspired. On either view, what these verses teach agrees with the rest of the New Testament: the commission in Matthew 28:18–20, the ascension, and the preaching and signs of the book of Acts.

The Lord who rebuked the eleven for their unbelief is the same Lord who, in the next breath, trusted them with the gospel. Their hardness of heart was real and he named it, yet he chose these very men as his witnesses. Doubt answered by the risen Christ became the start of a mission to the whole world.

The gospel these verses send out is meant for every creature, and its terms are plain: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” The good news is about a person, the Lamb of God who died and rose again, and it is offered to every nation and every person in it.

The one who sent them reigns now at the right hand of God, with all power in heaven and earth, interceding for his people and ruling over all things for the good of his church. From there he worked with those first preachers and confirmed what they said, so the success of the gospel rests on him. The last word of the Gospel is “Amen”, and it stands over his promise: he is with his people always.