And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. -- Mark 16:20 (KJV)
The eleven are eating when Jesus confronts their refusal to believe those who had seen Him risen. Mark names the trouble: unbelief and hardness of heart. These disciples need correction before they have anything to say to the world.
Jesus gives it. He also commands them to preach the gospel to every creature. The men who had rejected the witnesses must now bear witness themselves. His rebuke is serious, and they have to receive it. Yet He still entrusts them with His message.
Mark records both the Lord's ascension and His continuing work with the disciples. Being received into heaven did not mean He had abandoned them. They went out preaching, and He confirmed the word with signs following.
Receiving Correction
It can be painful to discover that we have resisted something God has made plain. The eleven cannot offer anyone a history of faultless belief. They can tell what the risen Jesus has said and submit to Him now.
That gives a humbled believer reason to return to obedience. Confess what needs confessing. Let Scripture correct the explanation you have been protecting. You do not need to make your past sound better before you can tell the truth about Christ.
The message itself remains definite: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16). Jesus sends them to preach a gospel that requires a response. Their gratitude for being sent cannot reduce it to general encouragement.
As They Preached
The signs that followed their preaching direct attention to the truth being preached. The passage gives us reason to believe God acts; it gives us no commission to arrange a spectacle or demand a miracle on our terms.
When you picture speaking about Jesus, what failure of your own makes you hesitate? Bring it honestly to Him. Receive His correction, and prepare to explain the gospel faithfully. The Lord who sent those corrected disciples was still working with them when they went.
