The final verses of the gospel of Mark are controversial.
There is a lot of speculation and mystery around the closing verses of Mark. Scholars have debated their authenticity for centuries. At issue is the simple fact that the verses in Mark 16:9-20 have not been found in two of the earliest biblical manuscripts. Some speculate that Mark ends his gospel in Mark 16:8, with the women fleeing the tomb in terror. Others speculate that the original ending of Mark was forever lost, and that early Christians fabricated Mark 9-20!
Personally, I agree with Warren Wiersbe. There is nothing in these verses that runs contrary to scripture! Their central message is that Jesus has risen, that Jesus has ascended to the right hand of our Father in heaven, and that Christ has entrusted his mission to his Church.
Mark begins his gospel with accounts of preaching.
Think of it this way. The gospel of Mark begins with John the Baptist preaching repentance and baptizing converts in Mark 1:4. It continues in Mark 1 with Jesus eluding the desperate crowds. The disciples confront Jesus in Mark 1:37 (NIV) by saying, "Everyone is looking for you!" But Jesus replies in Mark 1:38-39 (NIV) saying, " 'Let us go somewhere else-- to the nearby villages-- so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
Very early in Jesus' ministry, Jesus goes up on a mountain and appoints the twelve disciples in Mark 3:14-15 (NIV), "...designating them apostles-- that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." Don't be distracted by the title apostle. It means, "one who is sent".
In Mark 6 Jesus sends the twelve disciples out on their first mission. Mark 6:12-13 (NIV) says, "They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them." Preaching wasn't just a priority of Jesus' ministry-- it was the priority of his ministry. It shouldn't surprise us then, that Mark would end his gospel the same way. Mark ends with Christ appearing to his disciples. Mark's gospel would end with Jesus commanding believers in Mark 16:15 (NIV), "Go into all world and preach the good news to all creation."
The closing verses of Mark vindicate Jesus' identity.
The closing verses of Mark are inspiring! Jesus was utterly humiliated, crucified by savage Romans. He was buried in a tomb, but God raised Jesus from the grave, just as Jesus promised he would! Remember Mark 8:31 (NIV)? "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." Jesus predicted his own resurrection. His resurrection would vindicate his identity. It would prove his divinity and it would showcase his sovereignty-- his authority over sin and demons, even his authority over death itself!
Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene, and take careful note of this in Mark 16:9 (NIV), "out of whom he had driven seven demons." Then he appears to two others, then to the eleven remaining disciples (after Judas' betrayal). And then in Mark 16:15 (NIV) Jesus says, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!" What else would you do in the wake of his death, burial, and resurrection? Choke?
What gospel do we preach?
For fun, I looked up the word preach in the dictionary. You know what it said? To preach is to give advice in an irritating or overbearing way! I suppose that is what I do! To preach is to make an opinion or attitude known to others and to urge others to share it. The truth is that we are always preaching. We're just not preaching about anything consequential!
Our gospel is, "Did you hear there is a sale this weekend at Macy's? Did you hear the latest from wiki-leaks?" We surely have something more to preach about than that! For Christ's sake, literally, for Christ's sake, we need to preach because we know the cure for sin! We know the cure for evil! We know the cure for death! It's Christ Jesus our Lord! I'm sorry if that is irritating. I'm sorry if that sounds overbearing. Wait! I'm not sorry at all! Friends, we have the words of life! We are witnesses to the resurrection! Move over wiki-leaks. Move over Macy's.
Jesus' final instructions.
Mark 16:15-16 (NIV) says, "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.' "
Our mission is fully authorized by God. He gives us permission to preach, to persuade, and to irritate if necessary! And our mission isn't passive. Jesus says, "Go!" It's the world that wants us to stay cooped up in church buildings and keep our faith private. Jesus says, "Go!"
The scope of our mission is that we are to, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to every creature on earth!" Jesus went into all of Galilee, and Judea, and Samaria. He went to the tax collectors and sinners. He preached to the faithful Jews in their synagogues. He preached to chief priests in the temple. He preached to Pilate in his palace. Jesus went to obscure villages. Jesus preached on a cross.
The stakes are high!
And here are the stakes of our mission. Mark 16:16 (NIV) says, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." John 3:35-36 (NIV), "The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
John 3:16-18 (NIV) tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
It's irritating, but true. He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son does not have life. Are we bothered that there are so many around us who don't have the life of God? They've got everything else this Christmas, but they don't have eternal life! It's our mission, our God-ordained mission, to proclaim Christ to every creature under heaven.
Christ was sent that he might preach. Jesus sent out the twelve disciples that they might preach. Christ's hope this Christmas is that you and I might preach. There is no greater purpose. This needs to be our mission, our heartbeat. Go! Preach!
The power of our mission.
Let's talk for a moment about the power of our mission. In Mark 16:17-18 (NIV) Jesus says, "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
A lot of believers get hung up on these verses. I mean, how many of us have driven out demons? Spoken in tongues? Picked up deadly snakes? Drunk poison and lived to tell about it? How many of us have laid hands on sick people and made them well?
The purpose of a sign is to point to a greater reality. The other night we were driving back from St. Louis, and on I-55 there was a flashing sign that said, "Watch out for deer." Signs always direct our attention to a greater reality, or greater truth. Once we know that truth, we no longer need the sign except maybe as a reminder.
This was the problem with the Pharisees. They kept asking for a sign from heaven (Mark 8:11). How stupid! They wanted a sign when the reality was standing right in their midst!
We obsess about demons and spiritual powers, but what is the reality? The reality is Christ, who triumphed over evil. We obsess about speaking in tongues, but what is the reality? The reality is Christ, who poured out his Holy Spirit on all men! We obsess about snake handling, what is the reality? The reality is that Christ Jesus has crushed the head of the serpent, Satan has been defeated, and we have nothing to fear! Satan can fill us with his venomous poison but it's us who can shake the serpent off our hand, into the fire, and declare, "Where O death is your sting? Where O death is your victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) We obsess about healings in this life, but what is the reality? The reality is Jesus Christ who stands in our midst and declares, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die!" John 11:25-26 (NIV). Do you believe?
Don't get me wrong, signs are great. I'd love for God to heal my body, and heal your body, and heal everyone's body. But I'd much rather have the reality; the resurrection and the life! I'd love to impress you by handling deadly snakes every Sunday, but I'd much rather see the head of Satan be crushed, and his grip on your life and my life broken all day long, every day, by Christ!
All signs point to a simple truth, a simple reality. It's that we serve a powerful God who has conquered sin and conquered the grave. Matthew 12:39-40 is interesting. When the Pharisees ask for a miraculous sign, Jesus sighs! "...none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Check it out! In Luke 2:12, the birth of Jesus was a sign. Check it out! In John 12:17-19 (NIV) the resurrection of Lazarus was to be a sign! "Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, 'See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!' "
The question isn't whether you've seen a sign. The question this Christmas is whether you've believed on Jesus. It's whether you have the reality, which is Christ Jesus our King.
By the way, if you want to experience the reality of Christ, go! Go preach! The closing verses of Mark in Mark 16:19-20 (NIV) are a fitting end to this year-long series of Mark's gospel. "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."
Can you imagine anything greater this Christmas than preaching Christ? Can you imagine letting Christ work on your family, and your loved ones, and your not-so-loved ones? We preach, we irritate, and we live in the reality. The signs, we leave up to God! He'll confirm his own word!