[But] later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. 15 He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. 20 But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
This passage comes from the longer ending of Mark’s Gospel. Ancient manuscripts do not all end Mark in the same way, but the Church receives this passage as part of the inspired Gospel. It gathers important truths that are also found elsewhere in the New Testament: the risen Jesus appears to His disciples, sends them to preach, connects faith with baptism, ascends into heaven, and continues to work with those He sends.
Jesus appears to the Eleven while they are at table. These are the apostles, now called “the eleven” because Judas is no longer among them. The risen Jesus rebukes them for unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He was raised (v. 14). The first witnesses had already reported that Jesus was alive, but the apostles had not accepted their testimony.
Jesus does not send perfect men who already understand everything. He corrects them, strengthens them, and gives them a mission. Their authority does not come from their own spiritual strength. It comes from the risen Lord who calls them and sends them.
Jesus then says, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (v. 15). The word “gospel” means good news. Here it means the saving message about Jesus Christ: His teaching, His death, His resurrection, and the life God gives through Him. Earlier in Mark, Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God and called people to repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Now, after His resurrection, He sends His disciples to carry that message beyond Israel to the whole world.
This mission is universal. Jesus does not send them only to one people, one place, or one culture. He sends them to “the whole world” and to “every creature” (v. 15), meaning that no part of humanity is outside the reach of the gospel. Matthew gives the same mission in similar words when Jesus tells the apostles to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). Luke also says that repentance for the forgiveness of sins is to be preached “to all the nations” (Luke 24:47). The risen Lord wants the saving message to reach all people.
Jesus then says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (v. 16). Faith is the response of trusting and accepting what God has revealed in Jesus. Baptism is the act Jesus commands through which a person is joined to Him and enters the life of the Church. Jesus does not present faith as a private idea only. He joins faith to baptism, because salvation is received through a real union with Him.
The second half of the verse warns: “whoever does not believe will be condemned” (v. 16). To reject the risen Lord is to reject the salvation He brings. This does not mean that Christians can judge the hidden state of another person’s soul. It means that the Church must proclaim faith in Christ as necessary for salvation, because this is the message Jesus gives His disciples to proclaim.
Jesus then describes signs that will accompany the mission of those who believe. These include victory over demons, new languages, protection from deadly harm, and healing of the sick (vv. 17-18). They show that the risen Lord is active in the Church, but they are not presented as abilities every believer should expect to possess. They are not the center of the gospel. The center is Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. The signs serve the preaching of the gospel by showing that the Lord is truly active among those He sends.
The Acts of the Apostles shows several of these signs in the early Church. At Pentecost, the apostles speak in different languages as the Spirit enables them (Acts 2:4-11). Paul survives the bite of a viper on Malta (Acts 28:3-6). The apostles heal the sick in Jesus’ name (Acts 3:6-8). These signs are not magic or human power. They happen in the name of Jesus and point back to Him.
After Jesus speaks to them, He is “taken up into heaven” and takes His seat “at the right hand of God” (v. 19). This is the Ascension. Jesus enters heavenly glory body and soul. He remains true man and true God. His place at the right hand of God means that He shares in divine authority and reigns with the Father. Psalm 110:1 prepares for this when it says, “Sit at my right hand.” Jesus Himself had spoken of the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power (Mark 14:62). Now that promise is fulfilled.
The Ascension does not mean that Jesus has abandoned His disciples. The final verse makes that clear. The apostles go forth and preach everywhere, “while the Lord worked with them” (v. 20). After the Ascension, the disciples no longer see Jesus visibly before them as they did during His earthly ministry, but He remains truly active in guiding and strengthening their mission. The mission of the Church depends on His command and His continuing help.
Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen our faith in Your resurrection. Help us to receive the gospel with trust, to live our baptism faithfully, and to bear witness to You with humility and courage. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 97-98.
- Casciaro, José María, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008, 228-229.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 629, §109.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. London: Bloomsbury; New York: T&T Clark, 2022, 1287-1288.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1028-1029.
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