And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15-18; all Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible).

Although not in the earliest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ teaching here parallels and expands upon the Great Commission as He presented it in Matthew 28:18-20:

And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

He told His disciples to teach the new disciples to follow all that He commanded. This includes the call to make disciples, an instruction He repeated frequently when He appeared to the apostles after His resurrection. The world still needs the message about salvation. People still need to know Jesus. He is sending us, and He promises to empower and protect us. Let us go forth in His name.

With whom can you share the Gospel today?

Copyright © 2023 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.