After the Resurrection
TRANSLATION [NOTE: Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include this passage but end the Gospel at verse 8. For this study, I will include these verses with the caveat that many scholars do not consider them to be part of the inspired text.]
(9) Now when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had driven seven demons. (10) She went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. (11) And when they heard that he was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
(12) Afterward he appeared in a different form to two disciples as they were walking into the country. (13) And they returned and told the others, but they did not believe them either.
(14) Later Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. (15) And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. (16) Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (17) And these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons. They will speak in new tongues. (18) They will pick up serpents, and, if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
(19) So the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. (20) And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
OBSERVATIONS
Several repeated terms help us discern the thrust of this closing passage of Mark’s Gospel. “He appeared” was mentioned twice, referring to Jesus’ resurrection (vss. 9 & 14). The phrase, “went and told,” also appeared twice, first describing Mary Magdalene’s response (vs. 10) and then the activities of the two who met Jesus while leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus (vs. 13). The phrase, “not believe,” occurred four times. The first three describe the response of the disciples to the news of his resurrection (vss. 11, 13, & 14). With the final use we find Mark’s version of the Great Commission (vs. 16). One more repeated term, “signs,” is found (vss. 17 & 20). In each case the word was modified by “accompany/accompanying.”
While many are reluctant to accept this portion as an authentic part of the inspired text of Scripture, there is really only one statement that raises serious questions about its validity: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (vs. 16). If we understand this to refer to water baptism, we must question the statement’s validity based on what is taught in the rest of the New Testament about salvation by faith alone, not by works. However, if we understand “is baptized” to refer to the baptism of the Holy Spirit which other passages teach occurs simultaneously with saving faith, then we face no problem with the verse. No other statement in the passage seems to contradict what we find in the rest of the New Testament. Throughout the Book of Acts Luke described a variety of signs and wonders performed by the Apostles and other leaders in the early church: casting out demons, speaking in tongues, surviving poisonous snake bites, as well as healing the sick.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus appeared several times to his followers after his resurrection. (9-14)
II. Jesus gave his followers a mandate called “The Great Commission.” (15-18)
III. After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples carried out his commands. (19 & 20)
IDEA STATEMENT
After appearing to the disciples and convincing them of his resurrection, Jesus gave them (and us) the mandate to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world.
APPLICATION
Why were the disciples so reluctant to believe that the tomb was empty and that Jesus had been raised from the dead? His rebuke (vs. 14) gives us a specific answer. They were struggling with unbelief coming from hardened hearts. Even though Jesus had repeatedly told them that he would be executed by the Jewish leaders and then be raised to life, they still could not grasp the significance of the events of that final, climactic week. So crushed and demoralized were they by the loss of their master that they were unable to process the news of his resurrection when it reached them, first from Mary Magdalene and then from the two who met him on the Emmaus Road. Only when he had appeared to them personally did they finally believe that he had been raised from the dead.
We should ask ourselves, “Do we really believe he rose bodily from the grave?” Such faith should transform the way we live, particularly in terms of the Great Commission that Jesus gave us: “Go...and proclaim” (vs. 15). The disciples had been spiritually transformed after spending time with their risen Lord just as we should be. The Gospel is the best good news that those who live in darkness can possibly hear. Those whose lives have been transformed by that Gospel should, like the disciples in the early church, be ready to share it with everyone with whom they come in contact.