MARKAN MEDITATIONS

Meditations in the Gospel of St. Mark

St. Mark 16:19-20

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THESE TWO verses specially have the flavour of a report of what was believed and known to be true in the church, rather than an eye-witness report. It is interesting that the ascension is only reported by Luke, except for this reference in Mark. Luke, being a Gentile, was not an eye-witness of it either. However Luke's two accounts plainly are told from the direct testimony of the apostles, where as here the account is more of what was known to be true in the church.

In these verses we are told fact and truth about Jesus, and of his activity and of the activity of the church. These two verses are very instructive, and we cannot but be grateful to the Holy Spirit for inspiring them to be written. The two accounts given by Luke in his Gospel and in the Acts do not have the truth embodied here. This is the only Gospel reference which tells us that Jesus ascended to reign. It is from the epistles that this truth and fact is told.

Firstly we have truth about Jesus. We are told the truth of his ascension into heaven, which was witnessed and testified to by the Apostles. This is another essential historical fact of the Gospel. It is because our faith is built on these historical facts, and not mere religious understanding, that our faith is so sure. Christ's ascension was a necessary culmination of his incarnation, death and resurrection. He became incarnate in order to work salvation for sinners. This he completed in his death. His resurrection was God's affirmation that Jesus had fully atoned for the sin of the elect. So having finished all the work he came to do, Jesus ascended back to the glory he had left in order to save us. He went back to heaven to take his proper place, and to receive from the Father the reward of his labours, which was to reign until he had brought all his enemies under his feet. Paul tells us this in 1 Corinthians 15. He reigns in heaven at the right hand of the Father in order to order all things so that the benefits of his work of salvation may be dispensed to all whom God has chosen. As Paul tells us in Hebrews, Christ lives to make intercession for us. That is to gain our acceptance before God on the ground of his perfect work of atonement.

This is what we are told here in verse 19. Jesus ascended to reign. He took his place at the right hand of God. We are told his activity now as king in verse 20. We are told that the Lord worked with the disciples confirming the word they preached, which was his word, by signs accompanying the preaching. The signs were the evident conversion and new birth of those who received the message, demonstrated in their lives by the evident change which had taken place, and by the gifts of the Spirit that they manifested. Thus we see Jesus' activity now is to gather in all his elect from the four corners of the earth. Nothing of his saving work here on earth will he waste.

These verses make clear that this was the truth and fact that the church believed, accepted and was the mainstay of their confidence in the work of preaching that they did. They could not have gone to preach without this assurance of the Lord going before them in power. It showed that the church worked in witness and preaching on the basis of this truth. They went forth in the power and certainty of this truth, and their confidence of success was founded on the truth of Jesus ascended and reigning.

So we come to the other facet of these two verses which is the activity of the church. They obeyed, as their chief activity and priority, the great commission of Jesus, which was to preach the Gospel. Notice this great truth that preaching is not a work the church engages in on their own. The church is going forth as the mouthpiece of Jesus, and it is his work. The success and blessing is simply because of this fact. Jesus is using his people to proclaim the message by which Jesus saves all for whom he died. The success in preaching is simply because Jesus confirms his word. He will only confirm his word if the church preaches true doctrine. He does not confirm false doctrine. When true doctrine is preached then Jesus will go before confirming the word but only when it is true doctrine. The church may obtain members but they will not be members of Christ and his kingdom if the word they receive is not Christ's word.

We have the greatest encouragement here when we preach the truth as it is in Jesus. Jesus always goes before. He gives the words to speak and the understanding in order to speak. He blesses the word to the hearers so that they believe and are nourished. Every one who preaches and everyone who witnesses faithfully has this assurance, and it should make us look for the blessing from the Lord.