Mark 16:20 “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.”Throughout the book of Mark, the writer, Mark, explains the purpose of Jesus’ life. He was the prophesied Messiah to come to save the world from their sins, and give life to them by dying on the cross to take the penalty of their sins and then rising from the dead. This was God The Father’s plan to reestablish the relationship that was broken in the garden of Eden by Adam and Eve. Mark demonstrates that Jesus was not only prophesied as The Messiah, but also, the Son of God. He was God in the flesh. In Mark chapter 16, we come to the end of this wonderful proclamation of salvation for those who believe in Jesus as The Messiah. Here Jesus has already been raised from the dead and is telling His disciples to go into the world and proclaim this salvation message that He died for their sins and arose to give them life eternal if they believe in Him. Today, we will be focusing our attention on the last verse, verse 20.
A quick glance through chapter 16. Jesus is risen from the dead and not found in the tomb. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, two disciples walking in the country, and to the 11 disciples at the table. He tells the disciples to share the gospel with the world. He tells of signs that will accompany those who believe. He was received in heaven and the disciples went out and preached the gospel.
Acts 1:1-11 shares that Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days after His resurrection. He showed them many convincing proofs that He was alive, spoke to them about the kingdom of God, that they were going to be baptized in The Holy Spirit soon, and that they were to be His witnesses to the world. Then he was lifted up into the sky. Mark tells us in 16:19 that “The Lord Jesus was received into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.” So we know that Jesus is in heaven at this point when we arrive at verse 20. Lets take a closer look at this verse.
The participle “exerchomai” or “went out/went forth” is in the Participle Aorist Active Nominative Plural form. The word “they” or “the disciples” is the subject doing the action of the participle. This is followed by the verb of the sentence “kerusso” or “preached, which is better understood as publically proclaimed”. It is in the Indicative Aorist Active 3rd person Plural form and has an adverb following “pantachou” or “everywhere” to give emphasis to the action of the verb.
What the participle and verb forms show us is that the disciples are doing the action of them and there is no specific nature to the time but that they did the action. They went out to the people of the nations and publically not privately told the people of the world in all locations about salvation through Jesus Christ the risen Savior. They did not hold back the speaking of the gospel to those who they came across. The disciples were obedient to The Lord Jesus with the responsibility given to them to share the gospel. In the second part of the verse, we see an important change in the following three participles. Unlike the prior participle and verb, they take the present tense form. This subtle but important switch of tenses is too important to overlook or neglect.
The first two participles are Genitive Absolutes in the Present Active Genitive Masculine Singular form and the third is in the Adjective Present Active Genitive Neuter Plural form. A Genitive Absolute will function separate and a part from the sentence in which it is entailed. The subjects of the participles will be doing the action in the present. Lets take a closer look.
The Lord is the subject of the participle “sunergeo” or “working together with”. The Lord is also the subject of the second participle “bebiaoo” or “confirmed”. A better translation would be “confirming” since it is in the present tense with the idea of validating. The direct object of the sentence is “the word”. The preposition “dia” or “by or through” has the idea of manner or agency in which something is done. This preposition will connect what The Lord is doing with how He is doing it.
What we can understand from this is that even though Jesus is sitting at the right hand of The Father in heaven, He is still actively involved in the work of His disciples here on earth now, today. Because the tenses switched from the past to the present, it demonstrates a shift from what the disciples did to what Jesus did and is still actively doing. This is a truth that the writer, Mark, wants the reader to understand and realize. Not only is Jesus actively involved in the work of sharing the gospel, but He is also The One Who is confirming the word with the signs and wonders. It isn’t the disciples backing up the word of God by performing signs by their strength, power, or will. It is God Himself, performing the signs that demonstrate the validity of His truth spoken by His disciples. As well as, He not only did it then, but is doing it now when the gospel is being shared.
How exciting to know that The Lord Jesus will not let us go out into this world alone, but with Him working through us. He will perform the miracles that are needed to prove that He is real and alive to those who doubt. May we have confidence in knowing that we are responsible for sharing the gospel and He will take the responsibility for affirming it to others. It will be up to those who hear the gospel to receive Him as Lord and Savior or to reject Him.
Lord, grow us in this truth that we may understand this in our minds and accept it in our hearts to the glory of Your name, amen.
love Daniel