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Bible Question: I
wish to know what you think of Mark 16:15-20? Jesus gave His disciples
instructions. If we truly believe, then will we obey His instructions.
He who loves Me obeys My commandments! What do you think about what
Jesus our Lord and Savior instructs here?
Bible Answer: The
passage you refer to reads as follows:
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And
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been
baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall
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 hurt them; they will lay hands
on the sick, and they will recover.” So then, when
the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into
heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went
out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them,
and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. [And
they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and
his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through
them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation
of eternal salvation.] (NASB) Mark 16:15-20 |
This
passage of scripture actually starts with verse 9. We should note
that the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International
Version Bible (NIV), and the New King James Version Bible indicate
the Mark 16:9-20 passage does not occur in the oldest and best manuscripts.
While the Bible is 99.9
percent accurate, there are some passages in the New Testament
that appear to have been added as the Bible was copied over the years.
The translators of both of these Bibles have included this questionable
passage for completeness but they have also indicated that the passage
should not be here. Consequently, no one can complain about its being
left out. We would encourage you to read the study titled, "How
Accurate Is The Bible?"
The following quote from Norman L Geisler and William
E. Nix provides a great summary.
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These
verses are lacking in many of the oldest and best Greek manuscripts
(Aleph, B, Old Latin manuscript k, the Sinaitic Syriac,
many Old Armenian manuscripts and a number of Ethiopic manuscripts).
Many of the ancient Fathers show no knowledge of it (e.g.
Clement, Origen, Eusebius, et al.). Jerome admitted that
"almost all Greek copies do not have this concluding portion."
Among some of the [copies] that have these verses, there
is also an asterisk or obelus to indicate it is a spurious
addition. |
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Geisler,
Norman and Nix, William. A General Introduction to the Bible.
Moody Press. Chicago, 1973. p. 372. |
Conclusion: Since
it is doubtful that this passage was written by the Holy Spirit,
we should not draw any conclusions about what we should believe -
doctrine
- or how we should conduct ourselves. The passage is highly questionable.
Some of the statements found in this passage can be found in
other parts of the New Testament, but that does not make Mark
16:15-20 scripture.
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