All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. --2 Timothy 3:16-17
Some people like to collect the dying words of celebrities. Bob Marley, before his untimely death, told his son, "Money can't buy life." Winston Churchill, before slipping into a coma and expiring nine days later, said, "I'm bored with it all." And Ludwig von Beethoven is said to have uttered these words just prior to his passing: "Friends applaud; the comedy is over."
The last recorded words of Jesus were not just prior to His death, but were spoken after His resurrection, and just prior to His ascension into heaven. Many of us can quote by heart the Great Commission as told in Matthew 28:18-20: "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."
The events leading up to this final utterance are seen in our final passage of the book of Mark.
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 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. --Mark 16:14-20
Last week we discussed the evidences of the resurrection of Jesus. In this passage Jesus rebukes the disciples for their initial disbelief, when the Old Testament Scriptures had foretold it, the teachings of Jesus during His ministry had prophesied it, and then there were witnesses testifying of it. The reproof of Jesus is seen further in Luke's gospel:
As they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!" But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Touch Me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate before them. Then He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." --Luke 24: 36-49
In Mark's account, a progression can be seen: the Lord appeared to one (Mary Magdelene), then two (the disciples on the road to Emmaus), then to the Eleven. When He appeared to the Eleven, he chided them for not believing the two, or the one. In Luke's expanded account, the rebuke was extended to include their disbelief of the Scriptures. Matthew 28:17 says, "And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted." Perhaps that is why Luke gave the details of Jesus showing the nail scars in His hands and feet, and His encouraging them to touch Him, to prove He was flesh and blood, and His even going so far as to eat a piece of fish in their presence.
When you look at all the accounts together, the command to to and tell is more organic. When an elected official is administered the oath of office, that is a turning point: from this point forward, you will swear to uphold the Constitution, or to protect and serve the people. In this case, Jesus seems to be saying, "As you go, tell; and when you tell, explain." He further seems to be saying that the explanation should meet people at their point of disbelief--if they doubt the Scriptures, then explain the Scriptures to them; if they doubt the physical resurrection, remind them that He was with them in flesh and blood, and that He ate in their presence. Then, once they believe, disciple them as Jesus did--walking beside them, teaching them His words, showing them His power.
The last few verses of Mark seem to summarize the book of Acts: the Apostles did in fact cast out demons, and speak in tongues, and handled serpents, and drank poison without being hurt. These are thankfully not signs that show repentance, so it is not necessary that you and I handle snakes or speak in tongues. These signs did accompany the spread of the Gospel so that some would believe, and that the church would grow in its infancy.
The good news of the Gospel is found in John 3:16, but the message is expanded further in the verses penned by John just following the most quoted verse in the New Testament.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be save through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. --John 3:17-21
Better to suffer a light rebuke by the Son of God for disbelief than to experience eternal condemnation and separation from Him. Repent, and believe the evidence He has shown you, so that you may live; and in living, you may walk in the Light, as He is in the Light.
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