Title Mark 16:12-20
Today's text also records what happened between Jesus' resurrection and ascension, just like last week's text, Matthew 28. The content of the text can be divided into four sections. The first is the disbelief of the disciples about the fact that Jesus is alive and Jesus' rebuke for this. The second is Jesus' command to preach the gospel. Third is the promise of the power that those who believe and preach will receive. The fourth is the fulfillment of the Lord's promise.
Verse 15 tells us that the resurrected Jesus said to his disciples, "Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Jesus not only commanded us to believe in His resurrection, but He also commanded us to preach His resurrection and the good news of salvation that it confirms to all peoples in the world. He said that believers have a responsibility to spread what they believe.
Verses 16-18 speak of the things promised to those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, he said, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved" (16). He also revealed that "he who does not believe will be condemned." He clearly stated that if you believe in Jesus Christ, you will surely be saved, and there is no way to be saved except through this faith.
Verses 17-18 tell us that those who believe in Jesus Christ will be given many powers as well as salvation while they live in this world. “And these signs shall follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.”
However, these abilities are not just given without purpose. We must not forget that these powers are the power given by Jesus for the preaching of the gospel, the command he gave to his disciples. For the ultimate purpose of preaching the gospel, they will cast out demons, speak new tongues, pick up snakes, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them, and they will have the power to lay hands on the sick and heal them.
We can also find the broader meaning of evangelism in these words. Evangelism is not simply about proclaiming the gospel with words. Evangelism must go hand in hand with healing the sick and liberating the suffering and afflicted by all kinds of evil spirits in this world.
Verse 20 tells us that when the disciples followed Jesus' command and went out to preach the gospel and did the work of healing, all kinds of power were actually manifested as Jesus promised. “As the disciples went out and preached throughout, the Lord was at work with them, and by the signs that followed, he testified to the word.” The Lord did not leave it alone to the disciples, but worked with them according to his words, showed them faithfulness to his promises, and confirmed the truthfulness of his words.
We can confirm that all the promises that the resurrected Jesus made to His disciples to believe and preach were actually fulfilled in their evangelism. Find some examples of this in the book of Acts.
Everyone knows that the Holy Spirit filled the disciples who were gathered together on the Day of Pentecost, and the amazing things that the disciples spoke in various tongues happened (Acts 2:1-13).
Peter and John were going up to the temple in Jerusalem to pray, and when they were born, they became crippled and begged at the temple gate called the Beautiful Gate, saying, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." It is very famous that he caught the man and made him walk and jump and praise God (Acts 3:1-10).
It wasn't the only thing that fixed a person who couldn't walk. While Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Iconium, they fled because of the Jews who were trying to protect them, and they went to Saint Lystra in Lycaonia to preach the gospel, but when they were born, Paul and Barnabas became paralyzed and had never walked before. Stand up immediately." When he said, the man got up and started walking (Acts 14:8-10).
Of the twelve, when Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to the people, the crowds heard Philip's words and saw the signs he performed. (Acts 8:5-8).
When Paul and his companions had a vision from Troas that they had come to Macedonia at night and asked for help, they went to Philippi, the first city of Macedonia, to stay and preach (Acts 16:6-12). After many days of continuous torture, Paul was in great pain, and when he commanded the demon who was holding the slave girl, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of him,” and the demon went out immediately (Acts 16:16-18). ).
When Paul was living and preaching in Ephesus, God made his hands work wonderfully, so that even people would take a handkerchief or apron from Paul's body and put it on the sick, and the disease would go away and the evil spirits would go out (Acts). 19:11-12).
When Paul was transported to Rome, the ship ran aground in a storm and landed on an island called Melide, where a viper came out of a bonfire that the natives who had welcomed Paul and his companions gave special sympathy to them and bit Paul's hand. When the natives saw the serpent hanging from Paul's hand, they said, "Truly, this man is a murderer, and he was rescued from the sea, but justice did not keep him alive." But Paul threw the snake into the fire and was not hurt. I did. The natives, who waited for Paul to swell or suddenly collapse to death, and then saw that there was nothing wrong with him even after waiting for a long time, completely changed their minds and came to consider Paul a god (Acts 28:1-6).
In addition, the highest man on the island of Melide, named Boblio, welcomed Paul and his companions and kindly stayed for three days. When he saw his father lying in bed with fever and dysentery, Paul went into the house to pray and laid his hands on him. He healed them and also healed other sick people living on the island (Acts 28:7-10).
In this way, the Lord has done everything He will do on this earth for our salvation. And he gave the command to preach the good news of salvation, promised that he would give amazing power to those who believed and preached, and he proved the truth of that promise in the works of his disciples. Now the ball is in our hands. It is our turn to make a decision. All that remains is to fulfill the mission received from the Lord as believers in the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, salvation and eternal life.