Verse of the Day 11-21-22

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all 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 drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:9-20

The earliest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel do not include these verses, so these verses are probably not original to the author when he wrote his Gospel. In other words these last 12 verses were added at later date to help fill the gap caused by the strange way that Mark’s Gospel would have ended, if it were ended at verse 8 (“Trembling and bewildered the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”). However, this does not make the content any less true, it just simply means the words here are Mark’s own words. The content that we see in verses 9-20 overlaps with the kinds of post-resurrection activities and instructions that we find in the other three Gospels. There are five points of contact that are worth noting in this last section of Mark’s Gospel.

1. There are appearances to individuals and groups (vv. 9, 12 and 14).
2. There is an initial reluctance from the disciples to affirm that the risen Christ was now appearing to them (vv. 13 and 14).
3. Jesus gives a commission to his disciples, both present and future, to proclaim the Gospel (vv. 15-16).
4. Jesus promises that the disciples will perform miracles in his name (vv. 17-18).
5. Jesus ascended to heaven, from where he will return in power and glory (v. 19).

Today’s Bible Readings:

Ezekiel 42-43, James 5, Psalm 119:1-16 and Proverbs 28:6-7