Rightly Understanding Mark 16 Will End All Doubts as to Its Authenticity

[JD731]

The chapter begins very early in the morning on Resurrection day and it ends with events of ascension day forty days later.

In this chapter we have the apostolic commission to Israel.

Jesus had told these disciples, and it is recorded in John 20, that he was giving them his Spirit (by breathing on them) to dwell in them and they would have his authority on the earth to forgive or to retain sins.

He instructed them to whom they were to preach and what they were to say.

He said they were to preach to every creature and he told them they, the creatures, were in the world.

He instructed them to preach that he had risen from the dead and said that those who believed and were baptized in water would receive the Holy Ghost.

Later, in Acts 2 when Peter preached this gospel to Israel and they asked him what they must do, he said the exact thing that Jesus told him to say, which was "repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Receiving the Spirit into ones body as a permanent resident is the definition of being saved.

This commission is in the context of the kingdom gospel, whose beginning is Israelitish.

Faith, logic. and reason are our friends when considering these things.

 

[JD731]

You are right there, JD731. These same apostles are preaching a brand new message now. It is that Jesus whom you crucified is now risen from the dead and is ascended to heaven to his Father's Throne. These 12 apostles and 70 elders are the structure of the kingdom after the pattern of Moses in the wilderness. This comparison is not original with me but I read it in the KJV. You might want to read it. Here it is;

12 ¶ And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, a[did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, [that] every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

The men with the scholarly reputations who write the books denying the faith and casting doubt on Mark 16 cannot figure these simple truths out.

 

[JD731]

The simple truth of the command to be baptized in water to "be saved." First by our Lord Jesus. Mark 16:16. then by Peter in Acts 2:38.

Some sanity applied to this command.

God is a trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Three in one and one in three. Co equal and co the same.

Israel, the nation, was baptized in water in connection with their national birth by the Father;

1 Cor 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
______________________

In connection with the son when he came;

John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
___________________

In connection to the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is doctrinal as it applies to salvation of the nation. Seventy eight times in 77 verses in the KJV Bible the phrase "in Christ" appears. The baptism by these men who have been given the authority of Jesus Christ himself completes the visual for Israel that God intends by this act of baptism. One would expect the number seven to be associated with this completion. Another number that is associated with national Israel is the number eleven. This is the number that falls short of God's perfect government, represented by the number twelve. Because of this falling short of every one of the nation to come, there is going to be a need for a purging, which is a baptism of fire that is scheduled for this people as prophesied here; See note below:

Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you (#1) with the Holy Ghost,and(#2) with fire:

Note:
Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

If there is a lack of one being converted it will not work and the picture is not complete. The nation is pictured as the son of God. Ex 4:22 The son must be in the water and the water must be in the son.
John 4:14
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

There have been 3 water baptisms for the nation Israel, one each by each member of the Godhead. There are visuals for the fire baptisms as well but that is for another post.

 

[Charlie24]

The simple truth of the command to be baptized in water to "be saved." First by our Lord Jesus. Mark 16:16. then by Peter in Acts 2:38.

Some sanity applied to this command.

God is a trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Three in one and one in three. Co equal and co the same.

Israel, the nation, was baptized in water in connection with their national birth by the Father;

1 Cor 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
______________________

In connection with the son when he came;

John 1:26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
___________________

In connection to the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is doctrinal as it applies to salvation of the nation. Seventy eight times in 77 verses in the KJV Bible the phrase "in Christ" appears. The baptism by these men who have been given the authority of Jesus Christ himself completes the visual for Israel that God intends by this act of baptism. One would expect the number seven to be associated with this completion. Another number that is associated with national Israel is the number eleven. This is the number that falls short of God's perfect government, represented by the number twelve. Because of this falling short of every one of the nation to come, there is going to be a need for a purging, which is a baptism of fire that is scheduled for this people as prophesied here; See note below:

Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you (#1) with the Holy Ghost,and(#2) with fire:

Note:
Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.

If there is a lack of one being converted it will not work and the picture is not complete. The nation is pictured as the son of God. Ex 4:22 The son must be in the water and the water must be in the son.
John 4:14
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

There have been 3 water baptisms for the nation Israel, one each by each member of the Godhead. There are visuals for the fire baptisms as well but that is for another post.

This is confusing for me, seeing that Mark 16:16 can be interpreted 3 different ways.

I can't see in the OP which one of the 3 ways you have favored.

But it wouldn't surprise me that I've missed the entire point of the OP.

 

[JD731]

This is confusing for me, seeing that Mark 16:16 can be interpreted 3 different ways.

I can't see in the OP which one of the 3 ways you have favored.

But it wouldn't surprise me that I've missed the entire point of the OP.

Mark 16:16 can be, and often is interpreted in many different ways depending on who is doing the interpreting. My point for the op is not to interpret it but to believe the words are those given to Mark and then to believe what they clearly say. But. if interpretation is still needed then allow the historical record of what the apostles said and did to interpret the meaning according to that.

If these scholars are right and the last twelve verses of Mark are not from God, then I cannot be sure that God himself put the condition of being baptized in water in order for this nation of Israel to receive the Holy Ghost at that particular time.

You do understand the everlasting Abrahamic Covenant and God's investment in the people and the land, don't you? This covenant is brought up by the preacher in Acts 3 as the motivation for the actions of God.

 

[Charlie24]

Mark 16:16 can be, and often is interpreted in many different ways depending on who is doing the interpreting. My point for the op is not to interpret it but to believe the words are those given to Mark and then to believe what they clearly say. But. if interpretation is still needed then allow the historical record of what the apostles said and did to interpret the meaning according to that.

If these scholars are right and the last twelve verses of Mark are not from God, then I cannot be sure that God himself put the condition of being baptized in water in order for this nation of Israel to receive the Holy Ghost at that particular time.

You do understand the everlasting Abrahamic Covenant and God's investment in the people and the land, don't you? This covenant is brought up by the preacher in Acts 3 as the motivation for the actions of God.

I've heard all my life of those who believe it's a write in but that has been disclaimed by so many I just disregard it.

I was getting more into the interpretation, but I see that's not your direction, that's fine.

 

[JD731]

I've heard all my life of those who believe it's a write in but that has been disclaimed by so many I just disregard it.

I was getting more into the interpretation, but I see that's not your direction, that's fine.

Well, consider. Christianity is about faith. The claim is that God inspired the words in our Bibles and our knowledge and understanding of God and his ways can be known and proven by those words. The Bible then is for believers. It is not for unbelievers. People who deny it are by default, unbelievers. They do not believe it is the words of God. That is your position. You have three positions for just one chapter in the scriptures. You are believing unbelievers who are commenting on something they readily admit they do not believe and are trying to prove by scholarship is not true and should be doubted. Now, they present these arguments to you and you are faced with either believing what is written by someone who says he is God and inspired Mark 16 and someone who says he did not. They offer words to prove it that were not written by God but man, or men.

If you are on record claiming that you do not believe the Bible I am just going to believe you are telling me the truth. I am sure God understands what you are saying and accepts the fact you are lining yourself up with other unbelievers. This of course is your choice.

Jesus said this once, if you believe it: He that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Here is another cut and dried statement: He that hath the son hath life, and he that hath not the son of God hath not life.

Jesus said to the Father once: Lu 10:21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.

Think about that kind of believing. This is not the kind of believing the critics are doing. The critics are not babes.