Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 16:17
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
17. And these signs ] For this word applied to Miracles see note, ch. Mar 6:2.
shall follow ] Literally, shall proceed along with. The same word in the original is used by St Luke, Luk 1:3, “It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things” (literally, having carefully followed up).
them that believe ] i. e. those that shall have believed, shall have adopted the Faith and been baptized.
In my name shall they cast out devils ] As is afterwards recorded to have been done by Philip the deacon in Samaria (Act 8:7), by St Paul at Philippi (Act 16:18) and Ephesus (Act 19:15-16).
they shall speak with new tongues ] as all the Apostles did on the day of Pentecost, and the Gentile friends of Cornelius (Act 10:46), and the twelve disciples at Ephesus (Act 19:6), and many afterwards in the Church of Corinth (1Co 12:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And these signs – These miracles. These evidences that they are sent from God.
Them that believe – The apostles, and those in the primitive age who were endowed with like power. This promise was fulfilled if it can be shown that these signs followed in the case of any who believed, and it is not necessary to suppose that they would follow in the case of all. The meaning is, that they would be the result of faith, or of the belief of the gospel. It is true that they were. These signs were shown in the case of the apostles and early Christians. The infidel cannot say that the promise has not been fulfilled unless he can show that this never occurred; the Christian should be satisfied that the promise was fulfilled if these miracles were ever actually wrought, though they do not occur now; and the believer now should not expect a miracle in his case. Miracles were necessary for the establishment of religion in the world; they are not necessary for its continuance now.
In my name – By my authority, and using the power that I would in such cases, if bodily present. This was done; and in this they differed essentially from the manner in which Jesus himself wrought miracles. He did it in his own name, and as possessing original, underived authority. See the account of his stilling the sea (Mat 8:26, etc.); of his healing the sick Mat 9:5-6; of his raising Lazarus, John 11. The prophets spoke in the name of the Lord. The apostles did likewise, Act 3:6, etc. There was, therefore, an important difference between Jesus and all the other messengers that God has sent into the world. He acted in his own name; they in the name of another. He wielded his own power; they were the instruments by which God put forth the omnipotence of his arm to save. He was therefore God; they were men of like passions as other men, Act 14:15.
Shall they cast out devils – See the notes at Mat 4:24. Compare Act 16:16-18.
Shall speak with new tongues – Shall speak other languages than their native language. This was remarkably fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, Act 2:4-11. It existed, also, in other places. See 1Co 12:10.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mar 16:17
And these signs shall follow.
New tongues
New, because strange to the natural man, because acquired not by nature, but by grace. As the world of old was divided by the confusion of tongues, so by the renewing of our nature, and by the oneness of our speech, shall all be united into one people, having one heart and one seal. This new tongue must be given as the special gift of God to His children, for the tongue can no man tame of himself. This new tongue we have if-
(1) in the midst of adversity we refrain from murmuring, and are able to submit truly to the will of God, rendering Him thanks even in the midst of our sufferings;
(2) we can make full and unreserved confession of our sins to God, without seeking to excuse ourselves in His sight;
(3) we restrain ourselves from the censure of others, and use our tongue for the edification of our brethren. (W. Denton, M. A.)
Disappearance of miraculous powers accounted for
Probably Gods sliding scale-by which supernatural aid increases and decreases inversely according to our strength-may explain how, in the course of time, the supernatural aids of the Church have merged into the more ordinary aids of grace. (R. Glover.)
Christs presence in the Church continual
The cooperation of Christ was promised, not for the apostolic age alone, but for all time. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were withdrawn, and the third generation, at the latest, buried the last of The Twelve; but other men entered into their labours, and the office has been perpetuated by an unbroken lineage, so that those who minister in Christs Church today can feel that the voice which sent them forth was but the echo of that which spake on the Galilean hill to the first in the ministerial line. That Presence, which arrested the attention of an unbelieving age by startling manifestations, has been vouchsafed to the Church through all its chequered history in the power of an unseen but undiminished cooperation. In the Church at large it is borne witness to by the influence of Christianity upon the evil spirits of oppression and cruelty, of greed and profligate living. It has shown itself in a thousand ways in the alleviation of sickness and disease, and the tenderer care for the bereft of reason; while in a later age at least, the Pentecostal gift of tongues has been virtually repeated, by the translation of the gospel of glad tidings into well-nigh every spoken language. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. These signs shall follow] Or rather, accompany; this is the proper import of the original word , from with, and , I follow.
Them that believe] The believers, as we express it; i.e. the apostles, and all those who in those primitive times were endued with miraculous powers, for the confirmation of the doctrines they preached.
In my name] That is, by the authority and influence of the almighty Jesus.
Cast out devils] Whose kingdom Jesus Christ was manifested to destroy.
Speak with new tongues] This was most literally fulfilled on the day of pentecost, Ac 2:4-19.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
17, 18. And these signs shall followthem that believe . . . They shall take up serpentsThese twoverses also are peculiar to Mark.
The Ascension and TriumphantProclamation of the Gospel Thereafter (Mar 16:19;Mar 16:20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And these signs shall follow them that believe,…. Not all of them, but some; and not always, only for a time; and which were necessary for the confirmation of the Gospel, and the establishment of Christianity in the world; and not only believing hearers, but believing ministers of the word, are chiefly designed; and this is said, for the encouragement both of those that preach the Gospel, and of them that hear, believe and obey. The Persic version, contrary to all others, reads, “ye shall show signs and wonders to them that believe not”; see 1Co 14:22.
In my name shall they cast out devils; so the Apostle Paul dispossessed the damsel, that had a spirit of divination; commanding the spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her, and it did; and evil spirits also went out of others, through his means, by the power of Christ, Ac 16:18; and this power continued for a considerable time among the saints: the phrase “in my name”, is in the Arabic version, joined to the word “believe”, in the preceding clause; and is omitted in the Persic version, but is rightly retained by all others in this place; for by the power and authority of Christ, and not their own, and by calling upon, and making use of his name, such miraculous operations were wrought by the apostles:
they shall speak with new tongues: or languages, not such as were new made, and had never been heard and known before; but foreign languages, such as they had never learned, or were able to speak, or understood before; and this not only did the apostles on the day of pentecost, but even common believers at other times, Ac 2:4
Ac 10:45.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They shall speak with new tongues ( []). Westcott and Hort put (new) in the margin. Casting out demons we have seen in the ministry of Jesus. Speaking with tongues comes in the apostolic era (Acts 2:3; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1Cor 12:28; 1Cor 12:14).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Shall follow [] . The preposition para, alongside of, gives the sense of accompany.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And these signs shall follow,” (semea de tauta parakolouthesei) “Then these signs shall accompany and follow,” the signs referred to were: 1) The accurate records of the miraculous ministry of Jesus, Joh 20:30-31; Joh 20:2) the gifts and miraculous signs He empowered His church with on Pentecost, till the New Testament was completed, Luk 24:48-49; Act 2:1-4; Eph 4:8; Eph 4:11-16; 1Co 12:1; 1Co 12:4; 1Co 12:11; 1Co 12:28-31; 1Co 13:9-12; Jas 1:25.
2) “Them that believe; (tois pisteusasin) “Those who believe,” as these disciples had believed and been baptized, committing soul and life to do His bidding, Joh 15:16; Joh 15:27.
3) “In my name shall they cast out devils; (en to onomati mou daimonia ekbalousin) “in my name (by my authority) they will expel or cast out demons, unclean or mentally deranged spirits, as Jesus had done, and as Philip did Act 8:5-8; and as Paul did, Act 16:18; Act 19:11-12.
4) “They shall speak with new tongues; (glossais lalesousin kainais) “They will speak with new tongues, or new languages,” and they did, as attested, Act 2:4-18. They were enabled to witness of Jesus in new languages on the following Pentecost, as here recounted in some seventeen different languages and dialects. These gifts were given, for the furtherance of the gospel, and the edification of the Saints, for a restricted time, “till” the New Testament was completed, the Bible was finished, and became man’s perfect rule, compass, and guide, for his faith and practice, 1Co 13:9-13; 1Co 14:27-33; 1Co 14:39-40; Eph 4:13-17; 2Ti 3:16-17.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17 And these signs shall follow them that shall believe. As the Lord, while he still lived with men in the world, had ratified the faith of his gospel by miracles, so now he extends the same power to the future, lest the disciples should imagine that it could not be separated from his bodily presence. For it was of very great importance that this divine power of Christ should continue to be exerted amongst believers, that it might be certainly known that he was risen from, the dead, and that thus his doctrine might remain unimpaired, and that his name might be immortal. When he says that believers will receive this gift, we must not understand this as applying to every one of them; for we know that gifts were distributed variously, so that the power of working miracles was possessed by only a few persons. But as that which was bestowed on a few was common to the whole Church, and as the miracles performed by one individual served for the confirmation of all, Christ properly uses the word believers in an indefinite sense. The meaning, therefore, is, that believers will be ministers of the same power which had formerly excited admiration in Christ, that during his absence the sealing of the gospel may be more fully ascertained, as he promises
that they will do the same things, and greater, (Joh 14:12.)
To testify the glory and the divinity of Christ, it was enough that a few of the believers should be endued with this power.
Though Christ does not expressly state whether he intends this gift to be temporary, or to remain perpetually in his Church, yet it is more probable that miracles were promised only for a time, in order to give luster to the gospel, while it was new and in a state of obscurity. It is possible, no doubt, that the world may have been deprived of this honor through the guilt of its own ingratitude; but I think that the true design for which miracles were appointed was, that nothing which was necessary for proving the doctrine of the gospel should be wanting at its commencement. And certainly we see that the use of them ceased not long afterwards, or, at least, that instances of them were so rare as to entitle us to conclude that they would not be equally common in all ages.
Yet those who came after them, that they might not allow it to be supposed that they were entirely destitute of miracles, were led by foolish avarice or ambition to forge for themselves miracles which had no reality. Thus was the door opened for the impostures of Satan, not only that delusions might be substituted for truth, but that, under the pretense of miracles, the simple might be led aside from the true faith. And certainly it was proper that men of eager curiosity, who, not satisfied with lawful proof, were every day asking new miracles, should be carried away by such impostures. This is the reason why Christ, in another passage, foretold that the reign of Antichrist would be full of lying signs, (Mat 24:24😉 and Paul makes a similar declaration, (2Th 2:9.)
That our faith may be duly confirmed by miracles, let our minds be kept within that moderation which I have mentioned. Hence, also, it follows that it is a silly calumny which is advanced by those who object against our doctrine, that it wants the aid of miracles; as if it were not the same doctrine which Christ long ago has abundantly sealed. But on this subject I use greater brevity, because I have already treated it more fully in many passages.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) They shall speak with new tongues.This is noticeable as being the only distinct reference in the Gospels to the form of the Pentecostal gift. The promise of the Spirit itself had been prominent, however, throughout our Lords teaching (Luk. 11:13; Joh. 14:17; Joh. 14:26), and appears from Act. 1:8 to have been specially renewed between the Resurrection and Ascension. On the nature of the gift itself, see Notes on Act. 2:4; Act. 10:46; Act. 19:6; 1Co. 12:10; 1Co. 14:4-26.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Follow them that believe This promise is general, but not universal. It does not affirm that all in all ages who believe shall be followed by these signs. In fact, if each sign is once, twice, or thrice fulfilled in the case of any who believe, it is completely fulfilled. All over that is surplus fulfilment. So that those are very foolish who cavil that, according to this text, all believers must perform signs, and that none that work not miracles can be true believers.
The signs here mentioned do not include the raising of the dead. That great miracle, by which the soul is recalled from its departed state, has perhaps never been unequivocally and completely performed since the resurrection of our Lord.
In my name cast out devils As Jesus cast out devils in his own original power, so the apostles must perform the same miracles in his, and not in their own name. Their first miracle should be that signal work which typified the great work of Christ in expelling evil and its author from the soul of man, and from the world, namely, the casting out of devils. This phenomenon of possession existed through the apostolic age; and the fathers of the early Church bear ample testimony that the true believer expelled demons through faith in Jesus’s name.
Speak with new tongues Tongues by them not hitherto possessed. Here is an intimation of the Pentecostal miracle. This miracle remained with the early Church (1Co 12:10) as a symbol of the power of Christianity to pervade all the tribes and languages of the babbling earth, and as a means of arresting the attention of the unchristian and unheeding world.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out devils, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them in any way. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.’
‘Signs.’ That is signs that the Kingly Rule of God has now come and that Jesus has taken His place of authority at the right hand of God. Note that the casting out of devils come first. It is always in Mark a sign of the Kingly Rule of God and demonstrates Jesus’ power over Satan (Mar 3:23-27; Mar 1:27; Mar 3:14-15; Mar 6:7).
‘Those who believe.’ Believers are seen here as one whole. These are special gifts given to some, but because of the unity of all believers, and the ministry of these specially gifted ones to believers and in their name, they are seen as gifts to the whole church.
‘Speak with new tongues.’ The other examples are miraculous and not everyday problems. Thus we must see this as the same. There may be here the idea of special help at crucial times in their ministry when faced with a crisis with people whose language they did not know and who did not speak Greek. Compare Act 2:4; Act 2:6; Act 2:8; Act 2:11. But there they are ‘other tongues’ with a special, unique purpose, and intended to be recognised by hearers who spoke those languages as a symbol of the universality of the message. It does however demonstrate the possibility. Tongues are not elsewhere called ‘new’. The glossolalia of 1 Corinthians 12-14 may be in mind but they were a supernatural phenomenon not intended to be understood, only interpreted, and were more for personal use. And if such tongues were mentioned we would also expect mention of prophecy, the greater gift. Thus they do not fit the pattern here.
‘They will take up serpents.’ Jesus had already promised this special protection for His disciples (Luk 10:19). Paul experienced it in Melita (Act 28:3)
‘If they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them in any way.’ This was protection against poisoners. Eusebius cites an example from Papias of how this happened to Justus surnamed Barsabbas. It has been experienced by missionaries of my acquaintance in the present day resulting in the conversion of the poisoner who confessed to his attempt, and to his astonishment that they had survived.
‘They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover.’ The disciples had already experienced healing in their ministry through anointing with oil (Mar 6:13), and would now also through raising them up (Act 3:7) and laying on of hands (Act 9:17-18; Act 28:8). See also Act 5:16; Act 7:8; Act 8:7. Others too would experience this power. Notice the certainty. We do not read of those who had this gift failing to heal, unlike modern day ‘faith healers’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mar 16:17. These signs shall follow, &c. It is very evident, that the word believe, in this place, must signify something different from that faith which in the preceding verse is required as indispensably necessary to salvation, namely, that faith of miracles whereof we spoke on Mat 17:20. Besides his promise of his perpetual presence and succours, Mat 28:20 our Lord here assures his disciples, that through the faith of him they should work most astonishing miracles, which he here particularizes; a circumstance, which not only contributed greatly, but was highly necessary, to the propagation of the gospel, while at the same time the performance of it is an irrefragable proof of the truth of Christianity. That the signs here specified were rendered illustrious in the days of the apostles, appears sufficiently from the book of the Acts, and the several epistles; and that they were not confined to their times, but continued in the two first ages of the church, there is the most sufficient and undoubted proof. How much longer these extraordinary gifts were exerted, has been in our times a matter of great controversy. Perhaps there is nothing on this subject which will better repay a careful reading, than Dr. Whitby’s General Preface to the 2nd Volume of his Commentary, proving the truth and certainty of the Christian fa
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mar 16:17 . ] marvellous significant appearances for the divine confirmation of their faith. Comp. 1Co 14:22 .
] those who have become believing , generically. The limitation to the teachers , especially the apostles and seventy disciples (Kuinoel), is erroneous. See Mar 16:16 . The adduced indeed actually occurred with the believers as such, not merely with the teachers. See 1Co 12 . Yet in reference to the serpents and deadly drinks, see on Mar 16:18 . Moreover, Jesus does not mean that every one of these signs shall come to pass in the case of every one , but in one case this, in another that one. Comp. 1Co 12:4 .
.] shall follow them that believe, shall accompany them, after they have become believers. The word, except in Luk 1:3 , is foreign to all the four evangelists, but comp. 1Ti 4:6 ; 2Ti 3:10 .
] which follow . See Krger, Xen. Anab. ii. 2. 2; Khner, ad Anab. ii. 5. 10.
] in my name , which they confess, shall the ground be, that they, etc. It refers to all the particulars which follow.
. .] Comp. Mar 9:38 .
. . ] to speak with new languages . The ecstatic glossolalia (see on 1Co 12:10 ), which first appeared at the event of Pentecost, and then, moreover, in Act 10:46 ; Act 19:6 , and is especially known from the Corinthian church, had been converted by the tradition with reference to the Pentecostal occurrence into a speaking in languages different from the mother-tongue (see on Act 2:4 ). And such is the speaking in new languages mentioned in the passage before us, in such languages, that is, as they could not previously speak, which were new and strange to the speakers . Hereby the writer betrays that he is writing in the sub-apostolic period, since he, like Luke in reference to the Pentecostal miracle, imports into the first age of the church a conception of the glossolalia intensified by legend; nay, he makes the phenomenon thereby conceived as a speaking in strange languages to be even a common possession of believers, while Luke limits it solely to the unique event of Pentecost. We must accordingly understand the . of our text, not in the sense of the speaking with tongues , 1 Corinthians 12-14, but in the sense of the much more wonderful speaking of languages , Act 2 , as it certainly is in keeping with the two strange particulars that immediately follow. Hence every rationalizing attempt to explain away the concrete designation derived, without any doubt as to the meaning of the author, from the Acts of the Apostles, is here as erroneous as it is in the case of Act 2 , whether recourse be had to generalities, such as the newness of the utterance of the Christian spirit (Hilgenfeld), or the new formation of the spirit-world by the new word of the Spirit (Lange), the ecstatic speaking on religious subjects (Bleek), or others. Against such expedients, comp. Keim in Herzog, Encykl. XVIII. p. 687 ff. The ecstatic phenomena of Montanism and of the Irvingites present no analogy with the passage before us , because our passage has to do with languages , not with tongues. Euthymius Zigabenus: , .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Ver. 17. In my name they shall, &c. ] This promise was peculiar to the primitive Christians and to such as lived immediately after Christ’s ascension. That was an extraordinary providence, that when Squier, that traitor, A. D. 1597, had poisoned the pummel of Queen Elizabeth’s saddle when she was to take horse; albeit the season were hot, and the veins open to receive any malignant tainture, yet her body thereupon felt no distemperature, her hand felt no more hurt than Paul’s did when he shook off the viper into the fire. (Speed’s Hist.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] This promise is generally made, without limitation to the first ages of the Church. Should occasion arise for its fulfilment , there can be no doubt that it will be made good in our own or any other time. But we must remember that are not needed where Christianity is professed: nor by missionaries who are backed by the influence of powerful Christian nations.
There are credible testimonies of miraculous powers having been exercised in the Church considerably after the Apostles’ time.
. . ] The Lord Himself has declared how weighty a sign this was, Mat 12:28 . For fulfilments of the promise, see Act 5:16 ; Act 8:7 ; Act 16:18 .
. . . ] See 1Co 14:22 ; Act 2:4 alli [63] . On the gift of tongues, see notes at those places.
[63] alli= some cursive mss.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 16:17 . Here also we find a great lapse from the high level of Mt.’s version of the farewell words of Jesus: signs, physical charisms, and thaumaturgic powers, taking the place of the spiritual presence of the exalted Lord. Casting out devils represents the evangelic miracles; speaking with tongues those of the apostolic age; taking up venomous serpents and drinking deadly poison seem to introduce us into the twilight of apocryphal story. Healing of the sick by laying on of hands brings us back to apostolic times. is a . .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
these signs shall follow = these signs shall attend, or follow close upon. See App-167and Heb 2:3, Heb 2:4, and the fulfilment in Act 3:7, Act 3:8; Act 5:16; Act 6:8; Act 9:34, Act 9:40, &c. They were limited to the dispensation covered by the Acts of the Apostles. See Heb 2:3, Heb 2:4; Heb 6:1-6; and compare 1Co 13:8-10.
them that believe. Not merely the Apostles, therefore. See App-168.
In = Through. Greek. en. App-104.
In My name. Note the Figure of speech Asyndeton, App-6.
shall they cast out devils. See Act 8:7; Act 16:18; Act 19:11-16.
speak with new tongues. See Act 2:4-11 (as foretold by Joe 2:28, Joe 2:29); Mar 10:46; Mar 19:6. 1Co 12:28; and Mar 14.
new = different in character. Greek. kainos, not neos. See notes on Mat 9:17; Mat 26:28, Mat 26:29,
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] This promise is generally made, without limitation to the first ages of the Church. Should occasion arise for its fulfilment, there can be no doubt that it will be made good in our own or any other time. But we must remember that are not needed where Christianity is professed: nor by missionaries who are backed by the influence of powerful Christian nations.
There are credible testimonies of miraculous powers having been exercised in the Church considerably after the Apostles time.
. .] The Lord Himself has declared how weighty a sign this was, Mat 12:28. For fulfilments of the promise, see Act 5:16; Act 8:7; Act 16:18.
. . .] See 1Co 14:22; Act 2:4 alli[63]. On the gift of tongues, see notes at those places.
[63] alli= some cursive mss.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 16:17. , in the case of them that believe) by the instrumentality of that very faith, of which Mar 16:16 treats: comp. Heb 11:33, etc. The state of mind [faith] whereby Paul was saved, was not different from that whereby he performed miracles. Even in our day, faith has in every believer a hidden power of a miraculous character: every effect resulting from our prayers is really miraculous, even though that miraculous character be not apparent; although in many, both on account of their own feebleness, and on account of the unworthiness of the world,-not merely because [as some say] the Church, being once planted, needs not the continuance of miracles, though no doubt the early miracles of the New Testament have made for the Lord Jesus an everlasting name (comp. Isa 63:12),-that power does not exert itself in our day. Signs were in the beginning the props and stays of faith: now they are also the object of faith. At Leonberg, a town of Wirtemberg [A.C. 1644, thirteenth Sunday after Trinity], a girl of twenty years of age was so disabled in her limbs, as hardly to be able to creep along by the help of crutches; but whilst the Dean [Raumeier was his name] was, from the pulpit, dwelling on the miraculous power of Jesus name, she suddenly was raised up and restored to the use of her limbs.[12]-, these) Miracles are here alluded to of a most palpable kind, and such as are altogether removed from every suspicion of trickery.-, shall follow in the train of) The word and faith precede the signs, Mar 16:20.- , in My name) which believers call upon.-, new) Such as they themselves had not previously known: or even such as no nation had previously spoken: 1Co 12:10. For in Act 2:4, the tongues of the Parthians, Medes, etc., are called other tongues, not new tongues. , other tongues, were such as were used before, viz., by the various nations: but , new tongues: for instance, as at Corinth, where one spake in the tongue, and another had to interpret it, although there was no one present who used the foreign tongue; a proceeding which was as it were a kind of prophetical exercise.
[12] This happened in the presence of Duke Eberhard III. and his courtiers, and was committed to the public records, which are above all suspicion. However D. Ernesti, Bibl. Theol. T. ii. 416, regards the whole affair as not worthy to be dignified with the name of miracle. The very words of the Dean are given by E. B. in his Ed. of Beng. Gnom., which the curious reader can consult. The girl had been for nine years continuously disabled. E. B. tells a marvellous tale in addition. At Lavingen, in the year 1606, Nov. 26, Joseph Jenisch was born of the noble stock of the Kellers; he was destitute of a tongue from his birth, but in consequence of the earnest prayers of his parents and family, when he had not yet finished his first year, he was able to name distinctly the several members of the family, and was, therefore, dedicated to the service of the ministry, which for forty years he discharged at Bblingen and Mnchingen: he died on the 10th of April 1675.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
these: Joh 14:12
In: Luk 10:17, Act 5:16, Act 8:7, Act 16:18, Act 19:12-16
they: Act 2:4-11, Act 2:33, Act 10:46, Act 19:6, 1Co 12:10, 1Co 12:28, 1Co 12:30, 1Co 14:5-26
Reciprocal: Dan 6:27 – and he Mat 10:1 – he gave Mat 12:28 – I cast Mar 6:7 – power Luk 4:36 – What Luk 9:1 – gave Joh 17:22 – the glory Act 2:43 – many Act 3:6 – In Act 3:16 – through Act 5:12 – by Act 8:13 – miracles and signs Act 19:11 – General 1Co 14:22 – for a 2Co 13:8 – General Heb 11:6 – without Jam 5:15 – the prayer
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
Them that believe are the believers of the preceding verse. It cannot be restricted to the apostles on the ground that “believe” is in the present tense, for _verse 14 says that even the apostles did not believe at the time Jesus was speaking. Follow means to attend or accompany one, and refers to the spiritual gifts that were bestowed upon Christians in the first years of the Gospel age (Act 6:8; Act 19:6; 1 Corinthians chapters 12,
13, 14; Eph 4:8-14; Jas 5:14-15). Matthew then names some of the miracles that Christians were enabled to perform in that period.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 16:17. And these signs shall follow them that believe. This promise is to be taken literally; but is it to be limited to the Apostolic times, or is it to be extended to all Christians? In favor of the limitation may be urged: the reference to the founding of the Church which runs through the whole passage; the cessation of the necessity for such signs as proofs of the truth, and the cessation of such miraculous gifts as a fact in the history of the Church. Yet it is highly probable that the promise is more general. Alford: Should occasion arise for its fulfillment, there can be no doubt that it will be made good in our own or any other time. But we must remember that signs are not needed where Christianity is professed; nor by missionaries who are backed by the influence of powerful Christian nations. Fanatical and superstitious use of the promise is due to a failure to understand the nature of these things as signs.
In my name. This presents the power by which all the succeeding miracles should be wrought.
Shall they cast out demons. Comp. Mat 12:27 on this sign. It is characteristic of Mark to emphasize this form of miraculous power.
They shall speak with new tongues. See Act 2:4; Act 10:46; 1 Corinthians 13, 14. This was literally fulfilled. A symbolical meaning, such as new forms of spiritual truth, is unnecessary. As the whole was written after the manifestation of the gifts of tongues in the Apostolic times, this clause is no proof of a later origin of the section. These tongues were the most striking signs for the first success of the gospel, hence we might expect to find such a promise.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here we have a gracious promise of Christ, that in order to the spreading and propagating the gospel, as far as may be, the Spirit should be poured forth abundantly from on high upon the apostles, and thereby they should be enabled to work miracles, to cast out devils, to speak strange languages, which we read they did, Acts 2.
And this power of working miracles, continued in the church an hundred years after Christ’s ascension, until Christianity had taken root in the hearts of men. Iraeneus, lib. 2. chap. 58. says, that many believers, besides the apostles, had this power of working miracles; as new-set plants are watered at first, till they have taken fast rooting, so, that the Christian faith might grow the faster, God watered it with miracles at its first plantation.
Yet observe, That all the miracles which they had power to work, were healing and beneficient; not terrifying judgments, but acts of kindness and mercy. It was our Saviour’s design to bring over persons to Christianity by lenity, mildness, and gentleness, not to affright them into a compliance with astonishing judgment, which might affect their fear, but little influence their faith: for the will and consent of persons to the principles of any religion, especially the Christian, is like a royal fort which must not be stormed by violence, but taken by surrender.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mar 16:17-20. And these signs shall follow them that believe Bengelius subjoins, That believe with that very faith mentioned in the preceding verse. (Though it is certain a man may work miracles and not have saving faith, Mat 7:22-23.) It was not one faith by which Paul was saved; another, by which he wrought miracles. Even at this day, in every believer, faith has a latent miraculous power: (every effect of prayer being really miraculous:) although in many, because of their littleness of faith, and because the world is unworthy, that power is not exerted. Miracles in the beginning were helps to faith; now also they are the objects of it. At Leonberg, a town in Wirtemberg, in the memory of our fathers, a cripple, that could hardly move with crutches, while the dean was preaching on this very text, was in a moment made whole. See note on Mar 11:22; where many similar instances are referred to; the number of which might easily be increased on the most certain evidence. Shall follow them that believe The gospel word, and faith therein, must precede, and then the signs shall follow. In my name they shall cast out devils, &c. That is, by my authority committed to them, and by my power attending them. Raising the dead is not mentioned here; so our Lord performed even more than he promised. If they drink any deadly thing But not by their own choice: God never calls us to try any such experiment; it shall not hurt them. They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover Immediately, without the use of any further means. Such was the purport of our Lords discourses with his disciples till his ascension, as is more largely related by Luke and John. And after he had spoken unto them In this and a similar manner, time after time, for forty days; he was received up into heaven While they were steadfastly beholding him; and sat on the right hand of God That is, was invested with the highest dignity and authority, there to reign in all the glory of his mediatorial kingdom: And they went forth and preached everywhere Through all parts of the Roman empire, and even to divers barbarous nations, and that with amazing success; the Lord working with them, according to his promise, and confirming the word with signs following Which were at once the most solid, as well as the most obvious and popular demonstration of those divine truths which they delivered. Amen So may the presence of the Lord be always with his faithful ministers! and may his gospel be attended everywhere with success, as well as with convincing evidences of its divine authority!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE RESURRECTION TO BE CONFIRMED
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. 19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
The book of Acts records illustrations of some of these signs, the snakes, tongues etc. God did indeed confirm the resurrection with these signs later in the early church. This is not to say that they are still confirmations today. The south of our country has many graves full of snake handlers that were killed by the snakes that they were supposedly protected from in their church services.
This passage is useful to the charismatic that is involved in tongues. Just have them read the passage and ask them if they want to test the whole package of items that are part and parcel with the tongues. You will find few takers.
This concludes the study of Mark in this work but is admittedly only a starting place for the serious student that would like to know their Lord in a more personal manner. The book has only been surveyed and a detailed study should be quite beneficial to the serious student.
I think that one last application might be appropriate. Pastors and teachers, please consider the following possibility. I have heard so many times from pastors and teachers that they don’t feel they are getting through to their students, or that the students don’t seem to change their lives when the Word is preached.
Now, this is not to give excuse to non-listening and non-responsive congregants, but it may explain some of the problem. If the apostles who followed the Lord for three years and watched Him, listened to Him, and observed His many miracles did not get that He was going to die and be raised again how can we expect congregants to hear a lesson/sermon and automatically conform to its exhortation. Some will and some will not. The response is up to the individuals relationship with God and the ability of the Holy Spirit to work within the life. If the person has no desire to change, why would they? There is no compulsion to do so if the Spirit is not allowed to work in the life.
It is our job to proclaim the Word and it is our job to encourage change, but the individual via the Spirit is the real key to change in the believers life.
Do not spend your time twisting peoples arms to do what is right, simply give them the Word and encourage them to give God freedom in their lives. Just remember, if the Holy Spirit almighty God, cannot change the life what in the world are you thinking when you think that you can? Impossible. God is the mover and shaker in a believers life, not you. Do not take on that terribly difficult task when it is not yours and when you cannot hope to fulfill it.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with {e} new tongues;
(e) Strange tongues, ones which they did not know before.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
These verses also support the primary importance of believing. Those who believe, not just the Eleven, would continue to perform supernatural acts. Throughout Scripture such "signs" always signified that something of supernatural origin was happening, and they authenticated the message that the witness bore (cf. Mar 16:20).
"The signs authenticated the faith the early believers proclaimed, not the personal faith that any one of them exercised." [Note: Grassmick, p. 196.]
The Twelve had already cast out demons and healed people in Jesus’ name (Mar 6:7; Mar 6:12-13). They would continue to have these abilities (cf. Act 5:16; Act 8:7; Act 16:18; Act 19:12; Act 28:8). This is the only reference to the disciples speaking in tongues (i.e., languages) in the Gospels (cf. Act 2:4; Act 10:46; Act 19:6; 1Co 12:10; 1Co 12:28; 1Co 12:30; 1Co 13:1; 1Co 14:2; 1Co 14:18-19). There is no textual basis for distinguishing the unlearned languages spoken in Acts from the gibberish that some claim the epistles refer to. Tongues in the New Testament were evidently always languages. [Note: See S. Lewis Johnson Jr., "The Gift of Tongues and the Book of Acts," Bibliotheca Sacra 120:480 (October-December 1963):309-11.] Immunity from the bite of poisonous snakes was another privilege the disciples would enjoy (cf. Act 28:3-6). There are no examples of disciples drinking something deadly and surviving in the Book of Acts.
Jesus did not say how long the disciples would be able to do these things. Previous periods of miracle-working had all been fairly short (cf. Exodus 7-14; 1 Kings 17 -2 Kings 10). Therefore that is what the disciples could expect (cf. 1Co 13:8). Church history has confirmed that the period of miracle-working that existed in the first century passed away about the same time as the completion of the New Testament canon (cf. 2Co 12:12; Heb 2:3-4). Some Christians claim these promises are valid today, for example the snake-handling and poison-drinking sects of Appalachia. However these were mainly promises of divine protection when the disciples’ persecutors would compel them to do these things.
God still sometimes convinces people of the truth of the gospel or confirms the truth of His Word to people with supernatural experiences. Nevertheless these are not the same experiences as what Jesus promised here. Some of the early Christians could perform miracles whenever they wanted to do so in God’s will (e.g., Act 3:6; Act 16:18). That is not the case today, though God still performs miracles today.