ACC ~ Mark 16 v14 - 18

OVERVIEW:

Jerome was aware of textual difficulties associated with the longer ending of Mark (JEROME). Early exegetes of this concluding passage in Mark focused largely upon the ironies of the text: Those who at first did not believe became fathers of the faith for all who would later believe (AUGUSTINE). What the apostles themselves had seen and not believed, the Gentiles would later believe without seeing. Thus the reproof of the apostles was justified and was required before their commissioning (AUGUSTINE, NOVATIAN). The unity of the whole body of Christ derives from its continuity with the teaching of the apostles (TERTULLIAN). The gifts of speaking in tongues and casting out demons were given not exclusively to the first apostolic generation but also to the continuing apostolate (AMBROSE, GREGORY THE GREAT). The command to witness is addressed to the apostles and the continuing apostolate that follows after them (AUGUSTINE). Those who hold fast to the faith of the apostles themselves participate in the gifts of the apostolate, whose signs and wonders may convict unbelievers even when words fail (APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS). God the creator, whose guiding providence is running its course throughout all nations, seeks to be known as loving Father (JUSTIN MARTYR, NOVATIAN). Each believer receives gifts from the Father and Son through the Spirit according to each one’s capacity to receive (AMBROSE). Those who study Scripture with good judgment may read and even memorize poisonous, heretical texts without harm provided they remain faithful to the rule of faith learned at their baptism (AUGUSTINE).

16:14a | Afterward He Appeared to the Eleven Themselves As They Sat at Table

IN SOME COPIES

JEROME: In some copies, and especially in the Greek codices, it is written according to Mark at the end of his Gospel: “At length Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were at table.” [1] AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.15. [2]

[1] Mk 16:14.

[2] Cetedoc 0615, 2.15.1; FC 53:317. Jerome’s phrase “in some copies” shows that by the end of the fourth century Christian scholars were aware of textual difficulties associated with the ending of Mark.

NO EATING WITHOUT TEETH

JEROME: As he showed them real hands and a real side, [1] so he really ate with his disciples; [2] really walked with Cleophas; [3] conversed with men with a real tongue; [4] really reclined at supper; [5] with real hands took bread, blessed and broke it, and was offering it to them. [6] … Do not put the power of the Lord on a level with the tricks of magicians, so that he may appear to have been what he was not, and may be thought to have eaten without teeth, walked without feet, broken bread without hands, spoken without a tongue, and showed a side which had no ribs. TO PAMMACHIUS AGAINST JOHN OF JERUSALEM 34. [7]

[1] Cf. Jn 20:27.

[2] Cf. Mk 16:14.

[3] Cf. Lk 24:13-35.

[4] Cf. Lk 24:17-27.

[5] Cf. Mk 16:14.

[6] Cf. Lk 24:30.

[7] Cetedoc 0612, 34.404.27; NPNF 2 6:442*. There is no magic here. He rose from the dead, with his actual teeth and with no false ribs.

HIS PRESENCE IN THE BREAKING OF BREAD

BEDE: He appeared in the breaking of bread to those who, supposing that he was a stranger, invited him to share their table. [1] He will also be present to us when we willingly bestow whatever goods we can on strangers and poor people. [2] And he will be present to us in the breaking of bread, when we partake with a chaste and simple conscience in the sacrament of his body, the living bread. [3] EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.8. [4]

[1] Cf. Lk 24:29.

[2] Cf. Mt 25:31-46.

[3] Cf. Jn 6:51.

[4] Cetedoc 1367, 2.8.173; HOG 2:75. Whenever we offer bread to the poor or care for the stranger, the risen Lord is present.

16:14b | He Upbraided Them for Their Unbelief and Hardness of Heart

WHY HE CHIDED THEM

AUGUSTINE: The Lord Jesus himself chided his disciples, his earliest followers who remained close to him, because they did not believe that he was now alive, but grieved over him as dead. [1] They were the fathers of the faith, but they were not yet fully believers. They did not yet believe, although they were made teachers so that the whole world might believe what they were destined to preach and what they were going to die for. They did not yet believe that he, whom they had seen raising others from the dead, had himself arisen. Deservedly, then, were they rebuked. SERMON 231.1. [2]

[1] Cf. Mk 16:14.

[2] Cetedoc 0284, 231.116.244.3; FC 38:203-4*.

THE GREAT COMMISSION

AUGUSTINE: He also showed himself on one final occasion to the eleven as they sat at table together [1] —that is, on the fortieth day itself. He was now on the point of leaving them and ascending into heaven. [2] He was minded on that memorable day especially to reprove them for their refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen, until they had seen him themselves. For when they would preach the gospel after his ascension, the nations themselves would be ready to believe what they did not see. … If, therefore, they were charged to preach that those who do not believe will be condemned, when they themselves had not believed what they had just seen, was it not fitting that they should themselves first be thus reproved for their own refusal to believe those to whom the Lord had shown himself at an earlier stage until they should have seen him with their own eyes? HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.25.76. [3]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:16-20; Mk 16:14-15.

[2] Cf. Mk 16:19-20; Lk 24:51; Acts 1:9; Eph 4:8-10.

[3] Cetedoc 0273, 3.25.76.379.24; NPNF 1 6:220*.

16:15a | Go into All the World

COMMON MEN WHO TESTIFIED OF THE UNCOMMON GRACE OF GOD

JUSTIN MARTYR: A band of twelve men went forth from Jerusalem, and they were common men, not trained in speaking, but by the power of God they testified to every race of humankind. FIRST APOLOGY 39. [1]

[1] TLG 0645.001, 39.3.1-4; LCC 1:266.

THE CHURCH REMAINS ONE IN ITS COUNTLESS CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

TERTULLIAN: Then in this same way the apostles went out to found churches in every city possible. It is from these apostolic churches that all the subsequent churches, one after the other, derived the rule of faith and the seeds of doctrine. Even to today they continue to derive from the apostles that which is necessary in order that they be churches. Indeed, it is for this reason only that they are able to deem themselves as apostolic, as being the offspring of apostolic churches. As in science, every genus reverts to its original for its classification, so with the apostolic church. However many or great these churches may be, they comprise but one primitive church, founded by the apostles, from which they all spring. In this way all are primitive. All are apostolic. They all are one, by means of their unbroken unity, peaceful communion, title of descent, and bond of hospitality. These are privileges that no other rule directs than the one tradition of the same mystery. PRESCRIPTION AGAINST HERETICS 20. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0005, 20.18; ANF 3:252**.

16:15b | Preach the Gospel to the Whole Creation

THE GOSPEL PROCLAIMED TO ALL CREATION

NOVATIAN: He willed that the apostles as spiritual progenitors of the new humanity would be sent by his Son into the entire world, [1] so that all human sufferers might come to the knowledge of their creator. Insofar as any choose to follow him, they have One whom they now address in their prayers as Father, [2] instead of God. His providence has run and at present runs its course not only among individuals but also through whole cities and states, whose overthrow he predicted by the words of the prophets. His providence indeed runs its course through the whole cosmos itself. THE TRINITY 8. [3]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:19; Mk 16:15; Eph 4:11-12.

[2] Cf. Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2; Rom 8:15.

[3] Cetedoc 0071, 8.24; ANF 5:617**; cf. FC 67:39.

THE UTTERMOST PARTS OF THE EARTH

AUGUSTINE: The command to the apostles to be witnesses to him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth [1] was not addressed exclusively to those to whom it was immediately spoken. They alone would not be the only ones who would carry such an enormous task to completion. Similarly he seems to be speaking to the apostles very personally when he says: “Behold I am with you even to the end of the world,” [2] yet who does not know that he made this promise to the universal church which will last from now even to the consummation of the world by successive births and deaths? LETTER 199, TO HESYCHIUS 49. [3]

[1] Cf. Acts 1:8.

[2] Mt 28:20.

[3] Cetedoc 0262, 199.57.12.287.14; FC 30:396-97**.

16:16 | He Who Believes and Is Baptized Shall Be Saved

WHY THE CATECHETICAL PRÉCIS OF BAPTISMAL FAITH IS SO BRIEF

AUGUSTINE: The ecumenically received faith is taught in the creed and committed to memory in a form of the utmost possible brevity, so as to frame an expression in few words of that which was intended to be explained at large afterwards to persons in a state of formation and advancement in knowledge of God. OF FAITH AND THE CREED 1. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0293, 1.1.3.13; GMI 450*. The rule of faith provided at baptism summarizes the faith.

WHETHER BAPTISMAL FAITH ASSURES SALVATION

AUGUSTINE: We know that the dead who die in the Lord are blessed, [1] and they have no concern with what they would have done if they had lived a longer time. [2] We know that those who believe in the Lord from their own heart do this of their own will and free choice. We who now believe act rightly when we pray to God for those who refuse to believe, and pray that they themselves may in time freely will to believe. LETTER 217, TO VITALIS. [3]

[1] Cf. Rev 14:13.

[2] It is a speculative question about which the faithful need not fret as to whether if they had lived longer they would have continued in faith.

[3] Cetedoc 0262, 217.57.5.416.1; FC 32:87**. Those living in faith are right to pray for unbelievers that they themselves may freely choose to believe.

16:17a | These Signs Will Accompany Those Who Believe

THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO EMBODY THESE GIFTS

GREGORY THE GREAT: Is it, my brethren, because we do not have these signs that you do not believe? These were needed at the church’s beginning. The new faith needed to be nourished by miracles to grow. When we plant a vineyard, we must water the plants till we see they have begun to grow in the earth, and when they have once taken root we cease to water them constantly. … But true life cannot be obtained by means of these outward signs by those who perform them. For although corporeal works of this kind sometimes do proclaim an inner holiness of life, they do not bring it about. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 29. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 1711, 2.29.4, 5, 4.39; SSGF 2:428*; PL 76.

THE PURPOSE OF ACCOMPANYING SIGNS

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: With good reason did he say to all of us together, when we became fully aware of those gifts that were given from him by the Spirit: “And these signs will accompany those who believe; in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” [1] These gifts were first bestowed on us the apostles when we were about to preach the gospel to every creature. Later they of necessity were afforded to others who had by the apostles come to believe. These gifts were not given for the advantage of those who perform them, but for the conviction of the unbelievers, that those whom the word did not persuade, the power of signs might put to shame. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 8.1.1. [2]

[1] Mk 16:17-18.

[2] PG 1:1061; ANF 7:479*. Those who hold fast to the faith of the apostles themselves participate in the gifts of the apostolate, whose signs of exorcism, healing and tongues may convict unbelievers even when words may fail.

16:17b | And They Will Speak in New Tongues

WHETHER ALL APOSTOLIC GIFTS ARE RECEIVED BY ALL BELIEVERS

AMBROSE: See, God sent apostles, and sent prophets and teachers, gave the gift of healings, which as we have found are given by the Holy Spirit, and God gave many kinds of tongues. But yet all are not apostles, all are not prophets, all are not teachers. Not all, says he, have the gift of healings, nor do all, says he, speak with tongues. [1] For the whole range of divine gifts cannot exist in each particular individual. Each, according to his capacity, receives that which he either desires or deserves. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.13.150. [2]

[1] Cf. 1 Cor 12:30.

[2] Cetedoc 0151, 2.13.150.146.67; NPNF 2 10:134*. Each believer receives not all but some gifts according to his or her capacity to receive.

THE FATHER AND SON AS GIVER OF CHARISMATA

AMBROSE: As the Father gives the gift of healings, so too does the Son give; as the Father gives the gift of tongues, so too has the Son also granted it. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 2.13.151. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0151, 2.13.151.146.85; NPNF 2 10:134.

HOW THESE GIFTS ARE DISTRIBUTED IN THE CHURCH TODAY

GREGORY THE GREAT: There is something to be said of these signs and powers of a more veiled nature. [1] The holy church is even now doing spiritually, every day, what she then did through the apostles corporately. For when priests, by the grace of exorcism, lay hands on believers and forbid evil spirits to inhabit their minds, what are they doing but “casting out demons”? And any believers whatever who henceforth abandon the profanity of the old life, and utter holy mysteries, and rehearse, as best they can, the praise and power of their maker, what are they doing but “speaking in new tongues?” Moreover, when by their good exhortations they remove evil from the hearts of others, are they not “taking up serpents”? Aren’t these miracles the greater because they are spiritual, because they are the means not of raising up bodies but souls? These signs then, beloved, you do if you will. [2] HOMILIES 29. [3]

[1] He is poised to raise the question: In what sense do believers today speak in tongues and cast out demons?

[2] Cf. Ps 91:13; Jn 14:12-14; 1 Cor 13.

[3] Cetedoc 1711, 2.29.4.14; GMI 455*;

16:18 | If They Drink Any Deadly Thing, It Will Not Hurt Them

WHETHER THE FAITHFUL MAY SAFELY READ THE WRITINGS OF HERETICS

AUGUSTINE: For what else are hearing, reading and copiously depositing things in the memory, than several stages of drinking in thoughts? The Lord, however, foretold concerning his faithful followers, that even “if they should drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.” [1] And thus it happens that they who read with judgment, and bestow their approval on whatever is commendable according to the rule of faith, [2] and disapprove of things which ought to be repudiated, even if they commit to their memory heretical statements which are declared to be worthy of disapproval, they receive no harm from the poisonous and depraved nature of these sentences. ON THE SOUL AND ITS ORIGIN 2.23. [3]

[1] Mk 16:18.

[2] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5

[3] Cetedoc 0345, 2.17.23.358.17; NPNF 1 5:342*.