Mark 16:15-18

Context

These verses appear in Mark 16:9-20, the section commonly called the "Longer Ending." The risen Jesus appears to the eleven disciples and rebukes their unbelief. He then commands them to preach the gospel and declares that whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. He goes on to list the signs that will follow those who believe: casting out demons, speaking with new tongues, taking up serpents, drinking poison without harm, and laying hands on the sick so that they recover.

Interpretation

• As a missionary mandate: Together with Matthew 28:19-20, this passage is regarded as one of the accounts of the Great Commission given to the church. The phrase "to every creature" in verse 15 is understood to mean that the gospel's audience has no boundaries.
• As a present-day promise of signs: Pentecostal and charismatic churches hold that the signs did not cease with the apostolic age but still follow believers today, and they cite the passage as a basis for divine healing and speaking in tongues.
• As confirmation of the apostolic ministry: Those who hold to cessationism maintain that these signs were given to confirm the apostles' preaching of the gospel (v. 20; Hebrews 2:3-4), and they do not read them as a promise that applies unchanged to every believer today.

Debates and Issues

The chief issue is textual. The oldest manuscripts, including the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, end at 16:8, and some manuscripts append a Shorter Ending. For this reason a majority of biblical scholars regard verses 9-20 as a later addition, and many modern translations set the section off with brackets or marginal notes. Others emphasize that the passage appears in many manuscripts and in quotations by early church fathers, and that the church has long read it as canonical Scripture. On either view, it is commonly noted that most of the passage's content also appears in other texts, such as the Acts of the Apostles.

A small number of groups in the mountainous regions of the southern United States are known to take the words "They shall take up serpents" (v. 18) literally, handling venomous snakes in worship. The major denominations regard this practice as tempting God (Matthew 4:7) and instead read the verse as a promise of protection in unforeseen danger, as when Paul was bitten by a viper yet suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6).

The words "He that believeth and is baptized" in verse 16 are also cited in the baptism debate over whether baptism is necessary for salvation. Some point out that the latter half of the same verse names only unbelief, not the absence of baptism, as the ground of condemnation.

In the Korean Church

Verse 15 is frequently read at missionary commissioning services and on Mission Sunday, while verses 17-18 are cited at healing meetings.

Related Passages

• Matthew 28:19-20
• Acts 1:8
• Acts 28:3-6
• Hebrews 2:3-4