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Mark 16:9-20 - The Disputed Ending
If you've got your Bibles and want to turn, even if you don't have a Bible and don't want to turn, we're still going to be in Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, I'm going to read verses 9 through 20, the end of the book.
Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
After these things, he appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterward, he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen.
And he said to them, Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
Textual Issues with Mark's Ending
Well, if you do have your Bible in front of you, your text there that we just read is probably set off in brackets. And you might ask, why are there brackets? And we talked about that a couple of weeks ago, but if you weren't here or if you were here and your eyes glazed over as we spent 15 minutes talking about textual criticism, I would understand that. So I'm just gonna give you the short version this morning.
The end of Mark's gospel is disputed. Most biblical scholars do not believe that Mark, the author of this gospel, wrote verses 9 through 20. Some folks suggest that he wrote a different ending, which was lost at some point. Others, that he simply ended abruptly with verse 8, which is the position that I take. I think Mark intentionally ended with verse 8. And then this later ending, verses 9 through 20, were attached sometime in the first two centuries of the church.
The earliest manuscripts that we have don't include these verses. And early church testimony suggests that these verses weren't there in the earliest copies of Mark's gospel. Nonetheless, early on they were attached. But I think Mark intentionally left us with verse 8. The women are running away from the tomb in fear. They haven't seen Jesus yet. They've just heard the angels who have given the message that Jesus is alive. And I think Mark does that to leave us with this question of what are you going to do with the good news that Jesus is alive? Are you going to believe or are you going to doubt. There's no more important question for you to answer is what are you going to do with the good news of the resurrection of Jesus?
But then we still do have these verses, verses 9 through 20, and they have been around for a long time. Again, second century probably is the first time we see these start getting attached to Mark's gospel, and you can understand how that would happen. Now, if you were in the early church and you're reading copies of the gospel and then you're making copies by hand, right? This is before the printing press, before typing. So you're writing these out by hand to send to your friends that live in different parts of the world or who are in new churches that don't have copies of the gospel yet.
You might get to the end of Mark and think, I would like them to have some more information than just, oh, there's news that Jesus is alive. The other gospels have things like, you know, Jesus actually visibly appearing to people or giving more instructions to the disciples, ascending to heaven, the church starting to go out and obey what Jesus told them. These are important details that Mark didn't include. And you could see if you were sending a copy of this gospel out to a friend or to someone else who needs this news, you might go, I'm just going to add some details here to fill in the blanks for them. And then God in his providence for 1,800 years has preserved this as attached to the gospel of Mark.
So the caveating there, done. We're still going to walk through these verses because with one exception, which we'll get to, all of the things that are mentioned here do come up elsewhere in scripture. And so I think they're still important. These events are attested to elsewhere in scripture, and they point to us over and over again.
Post-Resurrection Appearances (Verses 9-14)
So verses 9 through 14 give us the immediate post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. First to Mary Magdalene, then to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then to the 11. And the reference to Jesus here, appearing to Mary Magdalene includes the fact that he had cast seven demons out from her. That's, again, if this had been written by Mark, this seems like a weird place for him to bring that up. He would have brought it up earlier. He's talked about Mary several times over. But it's backed up by Luke chapter 8 and verse 2, where it says that Mary Magdalene is someone from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons.
We do see him appearing to Mary in John chapter 20 and verses 11 through 18. I'm going to read those for you real quickly. John chapter 20 beginning in verse 11 says,
Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary. Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher. And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.
Now, if you go back a little further in John's gospel, in John chapter 20, it would seem that putting this together with what we read earlier in Mark, the women... the group of four women, at least, who came to the tomb. They had met one angel there, and he had told them to go back and tell the disciples. So they go back and tell the disciples, who don't believe them. But then John and Peter sprint out to the tomb, and they don't see Jesus. They just see an empty tomb. And it seems like Mary has followed them back out here, and she's standing at the tomb weeping.
And you can kind of see where she goes, Did I miss something before? I've got to look. And so she looks back down into the tomb and where one angel had been before, now there are two angels. And I said, what are you looking for? Why are you weeping? And she gives an answer that's number one, obvious. And number two tells us that she didn't listen to the first angel very carefully. She says, they have taken away my Lord. And I do not know where they have laid him. Well, obviously she doesn't know where he is. She's standing here weeping. But the first angel had already told her that he was alive. But she still sees no body and just assumes somebody has taken this body away.
And then she turns around and there's this man standing here. And she assumes this man is the gardener. And he asks her the same question. Why are you weeping? And then he adds this second question. Whom? Are you seeking? And she says, you know, if you're the one who moved the body, if you've taken away my Lord, please tell me. I'll move him. I'll put him where he can stay. And Jesus replies to her with one word. He simply says her name. And when Jesus says her name, his voice is recognized by her. He is now recognized by her. And she clings to him and says, Rabboni, teacher, And then she does the only reasonable thing that she can do after he says, don't cling to me now. He sends her back to the disciples and she goes. Verse 18 tells us she goes back to tell the others.
And then here in Mark, it tells us that Jesus afterwards appeared to two of them in the countryside. And that story is recorded for us in the gospel of Luke chapter 24. There are the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus. They've left Jerusalem and they're heading to this little town that's about seven miles away from Jerusalem. And they're walking along the road and this man appears beside them and starts to ask them, what are you guys talking about?
And they say, have you not heard? Are you the only one who's been in Jerusalem the past week and doesn't know what's happened? You don't know about this teacher who we thought was the one who was going to save Israel, but then they crucified. You don't know what's going on? And he says, well, explain this to me. And they're incredulous that he doesn't know, but they explain it. And then he kind of turns the incredulity back around on them and he says, oh, foolish ones. And slow of heart to believe everything that the prophets had spoken.
And after that, Jesus, walking along the road with them, explains from Moses and from all the prophets why it was that the Messiah had to suffer before he could enter his glory. The disciples were expecting the Messiah, the Savior, to come to liberate them from Roman rule, to bring in the kingdom of God on earth at that time. And Jesus says it was all written down in the Old Testament in Moses and all the prophets that suffering had to come before glory. And so he corrects them.
And then after that, he appears to the 11. The 11, of course, is the 12 minus Judas. And they're gathered around the table. These men have heard from Mary and the other women that Jesus is alive. They haven't believed it. The two who had been at Emmaus had run back after Jesus revealed himself to them at dinner. They run back and tell the eleven they don't believe him. And Jesus shows up.
And it tells us in Luke and in Matthew that even seeing Jesus, some still doubted. You know, sometimes you'll talk to someone, they'll say, well, if Jesus were here today, then I could believe. Or it would be easier for me to believe if Jesus would just show up today. But literally, these guys saw the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes and looking on, some still doubted. Seeing is not the same thing as believing. But Jesus rebukes them for their hardness of heart. And Luke 28, 34, 24, 38, sorry, says, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
The Evidence of Jesus' Appearances
So the first thing we see in this collection of stories and sayings here in Mark chapter 16, verses 9 through 14, is a reiteration of what we learn from Matthew and Luke and John, that Jesus appeared after the resurrection. And the importance of these appearances, the reason that they would be in this addendum to Mark's gospel is this... Jesus' appearances served as evidence to his disciples that his word was true.
Jesus had promised three times. We've talked about this a number of times as we've walked through Mark's gospel. Jesus promised three times that he would be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, that he would be crucified and buried, and on the third day, rise. Now, Jesus being alive would show that, yes, he was alive, but it also validates that his word is always true. Even if he says something so improbable as, I will be killed and raised on the third day. If Jesus says something that impossible, it still comes true. Jesus's word can always be trusted.
And that's something we need to know. as Christians today, that no matter what we read in this book, as impossible as it may seem, all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. All things? Really? That's what he said. And Jesus' word is always true.
The Great Commission (Verses 15-16)
That trustworthiness comes into play when we read the next couple of verses. Mark 16, verses 15 to 16, where he tells them, "'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'" Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
You can compare that with Matthew 28, 18 through 20, where the more well-known Great Commission passage,
Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
Now this version of the commission in Mark's gospel isn't identical to what we just read from Matthew. Matthew, his emphasis is make disciples, whereas here in Mark's gospel, it says go and proclaim the gospel. What's the difference? Well, the technical difference is making disciples is a lifelong process. A disciple is a follower and And as Jesus elaborates that in Matthew 28, he breaks it down into pieces. Making disciples involves going, going to where they are, going to all the nations, baptizing them, teaching them to obey.
So you go into all the world, baptizing, teaching to obey assumes. that those who are going are proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and his lordship. So disciple-making is the process of leading someone through the proclamation of the gospel to humble themselves before Christ and receive him as their savior and sovereign lord, and then teach them to live their whole life in conformity to his whole word.
But here in Mark, it says proclaiming the gospel and announcing the good news. That means to proclaim is to preach. It doesn't mean necessarily like standing in front of a crowd and preaching, but it just means to announce the news of the good news of Jesus' life, death, and victorious resurrection in the place of sinners. Again, that can take place in public preaching. It can take place in private conversations through other activities.
So we might be, if we're going to be like, Andy says, I'm pedantic. If you're going to be pedantic, you could say that narrowly speaking, proclaiming the gospel is a subset of discipleship. It's a piece of it. But it's worth noting that in Mark's gospel, good news is broader than just the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the center of the good news. That's the core of the good news. But In Mark, the emphasis on good news includes the kingship, the lordship of Jesus Christ as well. And so proclaiming Jesus as the risen king as well as suffering savior makes these two commissions synonymous.
A king's commands must be obeyed and they must be taught before anyone can obey them. And so... The idea in proclaiming the gospel to the whole creation is that we are to go and the church is responsible to go and tell everyone that Jesus died in their place for their sins. And now as the resurrected and ascended Lord rules over all of heaven and earth, that's what he says in Matthew 28, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. And we are called to respond in faith, receiving the gift of his salvation and And in obedience, submitting our whole lives to him. That's the commission that Jesus gives to the church in both Matthew and in Mark.
The Role of Baptism
Now, both Matthew and Mark tie into that baptism. And depending on like what tradition you grew up in or what your level of theological knowledge is, that idea that baptism being tied to salvation might make you kind of nervous, right? Right. Isn't faith what saves us, not works, including baptism? And the technical answer to that is actually it's Jesus who saves, not our faith or our works. It's Jesus who does the saving. We receive that salvation through salvation.
An analogy I've always found helpful is that faith is the conduit. It's the pipe through which the living water of salvation through Jesus Christ flows. We have faith in Christ, and he pours his salvation into us through that faith. And Ephesians 2 tells us that even that faith is a gift. We do receive Jesus' work on our behalf by faith alone.
Now, having said that, we shouldn't pull the punches that Scripture throws. And here in Mark, as well as Matthew, the command is that believers are to be baptized. It's not an optional add-on to the Christian life. Baptizing is the naming ceremony whereby your personal allegiance to Jesus is proclaimed and the church affirms your confession of faith and pledges to help you walk in his ways as you visibly become a member of Christ's body.
So there's no saving power in baptism itself. Baptism doesn't save anyone. 1 Peter chapter 3 says, where Peter says, he's talking about the ark, and he says, baptism in the same way now saves you, not as removal of dirt from the body. That is, it's not the action of baptism that brings salvation. but as a pledge to God from a good conscience. That is, if you've placed your faith in Christ, you have a cleansed conscience. Visibly, baptism brings you in to the ark of the church that carries us through life.
And so it's faith in Christ that brings salvation. But then the mark of that faith, the visible mark of it, is baptism. The New Testament doesn't have... any category for an unbaptized Christian. It just doesn't. So if you're here today as someone who believes in Jesus but hasn't been baptized as a believer, I'd encourage you, come talk to me. After the service or sometime in the near future. We're having a baptism service on the 17th. But if you won't be here that Sunday, we can make another time work too.
Don't hide your faith under a bushel. I've talked to a lot of Christians over the years who are afraid to get baptized. And it's a fear. Well, one guy was like a literal fear of water. He just had like an actual phobia of water. But most of the time, it's usually a fear of being publicly identified with Christ. Jesus is bigger than your fears. He's worth being identified with.
The way the text frames it is this. Those who believe and are baptized are saved. Those who do not believe are condemned. So belief is followed by baptism, but it's never that you're condemned for not being baptized. It's condemned for not belief. John chapter 3 has the same kind of framing. John 3, 16, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. And then John 3, 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.
It's believing that brings salvation, but that always works its way out into obedience. If you've trusted Jesus as your savior, then obey him and start with his command to be baptized. Jesus is the faithful king over all the earth. And so we are to proclaim it with our lives and collectively the church takes this message to the whole creation and we should let the nations hear and so be glad. That's what the psalmist says.
The Signs That Follow (Verses 17-18)
So while we have to carry out that mission by obedience to Jesus, it's still him that's really at work. And we see that in verses 17 and 18. Almost immediately, as soon as Jesus is ascended, it's just a short time later. And then the day of Pentecost comes and he sends the spirit upon his followers.
Verses 17 and 18 of Mark 16 say this,
And these signs will accompany those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.
Now these signs, that's what Mark calls them, signs, they might seem strange to us, but four of the five have direct attestation in the New Testament. The first sign and the fifth, casting out demons and the healing of the sick, are something that we see even earlier in Mark's gospel. Chapter 6, Jesus gave the disciples authority as he sent them out two by two. And then in verse 13 of that same chapter, it says they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
That wonder-working power continued to move through the disciples into the book of Acts, chapter 5 and verse 16 of Acts, says the people gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they all were healed. In Acts 19, verses 11 and 12, sum up the ministry of the apostle Paul, saying that God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that touched his skin Like God was doing miraculous things through those first apostles. Jesus gave them the ability to heal and to cast out demons.
But what about the weirder stuff? Those are miraculous and strange enough to us, right? But what about the even weirder stuff we see here? First, speaking in tongues. The first instance that we see of speaking in tongues is in chapter two of Acts. And there a group of disciples are gathered in that upper room as the Holy Spirit is poured out upon them as Jesus had promised. And it says in Acts chapter two, verse four, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in the tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
This first occurrence of tongues in the book of Acts is clearly the Holy Spirit enabling those gathered to speak in existing, distinct, known human languages. There's two other instances where this occurs in the gospel, or not the gospel, in the book of Acts. In the house of Cornelius, he's not a Jewish man, he's a Gentile, but he's familiar with the Old Testament. Acts chapter 10, verse 46. And then there's a, when he and his family receive the spirit, they speak in tongues. And then there's a small gathering of men in Acts chapter 19 and verse 6 where the same thing happens.
Both instances, the sign of tongues is associated with the Holy Spirit being poured out on those who were gathered there. And we have no reason from the text to assume it's anything different than that first instance in chapter 2 where they're speaking in distinct, known, existing human languages.
Why would Jesus give this as a sign of his continuing work through the disciples? tied with the Holy Spirit coming upon them. Like, why? That's a weird sign. What's the point of it?
I was helped reading an article on this by S. Lewis Johnston, who was a longtime professor at Dallas Theological Seminary in the 20th century. He points out Paul's argument about tongues in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians 14, verses 21 to 22. I'm going to turn there and read those verses. They say this.
In the law it is written, by people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people. And even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Thus tongues are assigned not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is assigned not for unbelievers but for believers.
And the argument that the Apostle Paul is making in that text, he cites Isaiah chapter 28 verse 11. And he says that sign tongues are a sign for unbelievers, specifically unbelievers who are. Jewish, either in their ancestry or who are familiar with the Old Testament Jewish scriptures, familiar with Isaiah's prophecy. And what God is doing with the sign of tongues is illustrating to them that God really is at work through the Lord Jesus Christ and his church.
Speaking in tongues had a clear purpose of validating the work to the Jewish people of that day and those who were familiar with their scriptures.
What about handling serpents and drinking poison? Are we going to move to Appalachia and start snake handling? Is that what it's talking about?
The reference to serpents seems to be a repackaging of a promise Jesus gave in Luke chapter 10, verses 17 to 20, where the 72 had been sent out and they returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
Now, if it's the case, as I think it is, that the meaning of Jesus' promise is primarily about spiritual authority, serpents and scorpions being cast out, They were frequently associated with demonic powers all the way back to the Garden of Eden, Genesis chapter 3. Nonetheless, we do have at least one instance in Acts of someone being bitten by a poisonous snake and it not having any effect on them. In Paul's travels, he gets shipwrecked onto the island of Malta and he gets bitten by a snake. And the locals assume this guy must be evil for something like this to happen to him. And they assume that he is going to die almost instantly. But then he doesn't die.
And so they assume then, well, he must be a god if he can survive this kind of a snake bite and live through it. No ill effects. He must be a god. That's how shocked they were by his being unaffected.
As for the poison drinking, this is the one instance in these 12 verses where we have no corroboration outside of this verse in Scripture. No other statements from Jesus in the Gospels, nothing from Acts. My best guess, again, this is probably written in the late second century. There were probably stories in the early church where God had miraculously saved someone who had drank poison. And this is probably being preserved for us here.
But the point of all of these signs... is one clear thing. That Jesus was divinely at work through the ministry of the early church. He was validating this transition in salvation history, this transition from temple worship centered in Jerusalem on with at its core the sacrifice of bulls and goats and sheep and pigeons, like all this blood and this transition period to Jesus Christ is the once for all sacrifice and you receive salvation through faith in him. This is a big shift in history. And so God is giving validation to these first apostles and those who are with them that this work really is true.
That's not to say that God can't do the miraculous today. I'm going to be the last person in the world who's going to try to shove God's power in a box. But I don't think we should expect to see these things as normative. So, I mean, there are lots of folks in the Pentecostal tradition, brothers and sisters in Christ, who believe you have to speak in tongues in order to show evidence of the Spirit in your life. That would be bad news for me because it's never happened to me.
I think what we see in scripture is that in this era of history, the Holy Spirit is still absolutely at work, but most of the miraculous things that he continues to do are less visible and less flashy because they're serving a different point now than they were initially in the early church. The Holy Spirit is still present and active in the continued growth of the church, the miraculous conversion of dead souls to living faith in Jesus Christ. Through this and the many other things that the Spirit continues to do, whether the signs are visible to us or not, the work of the Spirit is a testament to the faithfulness of Jesus to his people. The fact that the Spirit comes and dwells within every believer in Jesus Christ is a seal, the Apostle Paul tells us, of his faithfulness to his followers.
Jesus' Ascension and the Apostles' Response (Verses 19-20)
The final two verses of our text remind us what we saw in Hebrews chapter one earlier this month, that Jesus having finished his work of redemption is now ascended. That is he went back, ascended visibly back into heaven and is now seated at the father's right hand, the place of power and authority as described in Psalm 110.
How did the apostles respond to Jesus ascension? Well, We know initially, again, from the book of Acts, that before the coming of the Spirit, there was all kinds of confusion and fear, and they're like hiding in the upper room. But once the Spirit fell, once the Spirit came in and dwelt those believers, they went out, and they went out with the message and changed the world.
It is remarkable that something that started with 120 people in that upper room in Jerusalem in about 33 A.D., By the year 312, less than 300 years later, the mightiest empire in the history of the world to that point becomes officially Christian. How? It's the power of the living God working through his church.
They went out, and God worked signs and wonders through the apostles, not for the sake of shock and awe, but in order to confirm the message. The message that Jesus is Lord, the message that he died, was buried, is raised, and is now ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high, and one day he will return.
In short, the same Jesus who commissioned his followers was faithful to them as they obeyed his command to proclaim the gospel.
Application for Today
Is there anything more important for us to know today? The same Jesus who was faithful to his early followers will be faithful to us today. We too, if we've believed in him, have the same gift of the spirit and the same commission to share the good news. And we can be sure that this mission will succeed. Jesus says in Matthew 16, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And he will provide for our needs in the midst of that obedience. and he will be faithful to the end.
So let us obey him and take his message to our community and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Closing Prayer
Let's pray. Father God, we ask for your help to continue to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for any here who do not know you personally as their Savior, Lord, that they would submit to you, that they would trust in what Jesus did in their place, that they would be transformed by the power of your Spirit working in them.
Pray for us as a church, Lord, that we would be faithful, that everything that we do would be filtered through. Are we being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ? And are we trusting that he will be faithful to us? We thank you that we can have confidence, rock-solid confidence, that the risen Lord of the universe is at work for our good. And it's in his name we pray. Amen.
