Go into all the world and preach the gospel - Mark 16: 14-18
(Mr 16: 14-20)
"Finally he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table, and reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen." And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them, they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. "
"He finally appeared to the eleven themselves"
Although the Lord had already appeared to other disciples after his resurrection, he still had not met the eleven apostles. This took place in the last place, as Marcos points out. Perhaps these previous apparitions were intended to prepare the way for the unbelief of the apostles to be changed before their final encounter with the Lord. And although our gospel only includes one of those occasions, we know that during the forty days that Jesus remained on earth before ascending to heaven, he was still with them on many other occasions.
(Acts 1: 3) "To those who also, having suffered, appeared alive with many indubitable proofs, appearing to them for forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God."
As we said, these apparitions had the purpose of overcoming "their unbelief and hardness of heart," because we must not forget that the apostles were not the kind of gullible people who are willing to accept anything, as they have often been. Accused by unbelieving critics. Therefore, the appearances of Jesus were not isolated incidents that lasted only a few seconds, but they were long and slow meetings in which Jesus could show them the traces of their wounds and invite them to touch them, eat with them, or instruct them concrete about his future ministry ... All this created in them a conviction so strong that it would remain unchanged in time despite all the trials and difficulties that later had to pass.
However, this disbelief had reached levels that were not reasonable, and therefore when the Lord finally found them he had to reprimand them. The cause of this rebuke was that "they had not believed those who had seen him resurrected." This underscores the importance that the Lord gives to believing the witnesses of the resurrection. Evidently he hoped that the disciples would have believed this testimony since the witnesses were trustworthy, and also, they had verified during the three years that they had accompanied Jesus that his whole life was extraordinary, so why not believe in his resurrection after all they had seen of him?
The proofs of the truth of the gospel are so complete that, even in our day, those who do not accept them will be justly reprimanded for their unbelief. And in the same way, those who believe in them will enjoy the bliss of the Lord.
(Jn 20:29) "Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me, Thomas, you believed: blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed."
"And he said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel."
The book of Acts gives us more details about this last commandment of the Lord to his disciples before his ascension. There we see that they thought, not without some reason, that the kingdom of Israel could be restored immediately, but the Lord told them that the time had not yet come to sit and reign with him, but that it was time to bear witness to him. all over the world, for which they would receive power when the Holy Spirit descended upon them.
(Acts 1: 6-9) "Then those who had assembled asked him, saying," Lord, will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time? "And he said to them," It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, that the Father put in his sole power, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, and having said these things, seeing them , he was lifted up, and received a cloud that hid him from his eyes. "
There is no doubt that we have here an important mission that the Church must fulfill at this time until such time as it is taken up to heaven. For this reason, we must stop to consider its characteristics in some detail.
1.- Defining the "mission"
With the authority of the risen Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit they were to expose with words and deeds the salvation that Christ had obtained through his death on the cross and his subsequent resurrection for all those who repent and receive him as their Savior, and obediently they serve him as their Lord. They would also have to baptize and teach them all the things that Jesus had commanded them so that their lives would resemble his. And all this should be carried out in communion with your church. Therefore, to carry out this mission they would have to search for the lost souls and preach the Word to them.
2.-The foundation of the mission: The universal authority of Jesus.
Before Jesus sent the disciples into the world to preach the gospel, he justified that he had the authority to entrust this mission to them. We can see it in the Gospel of Matthew.
(Mt 28: 18-19) "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father. , and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. "
Jesus pronounced these words after he was resurrected. And as we already know, this glorious fact was the answer by which God declared that Jesus was really his Son (Rom. 1: 4). It is true that the Jewish authorities had rejected him, and that the Roman government had condemned him to the cross, but God invalidated that sentence by raising his Son from the dead. In this way it was beyond any doubt that everything Jesus had said during his earthly ministry was true and counted on the full approval of the Father.
For example, the Jews had accused him of blaspheming because he said he had authority to forgive sins, and they were wrong (Mark 2: 7-12). He affirmed that he had the authority to judge all men, and it was true (Jn 5:27). Actually, either he had full divine authority, or it was impossible to explain the incomparable power with which he taught the Scriptures (Mark 1:22), he expelled the unclean spirits (Mark 1:27), he dominated the forces of nature (Mr 4: 39-41), and overcame the same death (Lk 7: 14-15) (Jn 11: 43-44). All this showed that he was someone extraordinary and that he had a unique authority. Many realized this and thought that he was a great prophet (Mt 16: 13-14), but his resurrection made it clear that he was much more than that. As the apostles had previously confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16).
But his resurrection not only served to demonstrate his divine authority, but it was also the decisive step for his enthronement as the supreme ruler of the world, as it had been described by the prophet Daniel.
(Dan 7: 13-14) "I saw in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one came as a son of man, who came to the Ancient of Days, and they made him come before him. And he was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages might serve him: his dominion is everlasting dominion, which shall never pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. "
Therefore, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus have made it clear that he has authority over the entire world at the highest level we can imagine. The apostle Paul expressed it this way:
(Phil 2: 9-11) "God also exalted him to the utmost, and gave him a name that is above every name, so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow to those who are in heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father. "
Now Christ is seated at the right hand of God and has authority to save and also to demand submission. As the Apostle Peter very well expressed in his address before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is Lord and Savior:
(Acts 5:31) "To him God has exalted with his right hand for Prince and Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins."
It is on the basis of this universal authority that Christ has, that he now sends his disciples throughout the world to preach the gospel. He is the only one who has the legitimate right to be recognized by all men as Lord. And anyone who rejects him as the eternal Son of God will suffer eternal damnation.
(Acts 4:12) "And in no one else is there salvation because there is no other name under heaven, given to men, whereby we must be saved."
So, when Jesus said to his disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," he was doing it on the basis of his sovereign authority. For this same reason, if we have a weak vision of the sovereignty of Christ, we can never carry out this mission with fidelity.
3.-The encouragement to carry out the mission: A vision of the glory of Christ.
There is no doubt that winning people for Christ is a heavy task, widely despised and unpopular, and often provokes active opposition. Therefore, the believer who wishes to carry it out must have powerful incentives not to falter. And without a doubt, the resurrection of Christ and his exaltation at the right hand of the Father to the position of supreme honor will provide us with the strongest of all motivations to persevere in evangelization.
In the book of Acts we can see how the resurrection of Jesus was the great motive of the missionary activities of the apostles. For example, Peter and John had seen the glory of Christ after his resurrection and could not stop telling the people despite all the opposition they had to face from the Sanhedrin. Let's see how they answered the leaders of the nation:
(Acts 4:20) "... We can not stop saying what we have seen and heard."
It was so important to have seen the risen Christ and ascended to heaven, that this became an essential condition for accepting the new apostle who was to replace Judas.
(Acts 1: 21-22) "It is necessary, then, that of these men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus entered and left among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which we were received upstairs, one being a witness with us, of his resurrection. "
And in the same way, although in a special way, the apostle Paul also had a "heavenly vision" of the glory of the risen Christ before being sent to preach the gospel.
(Acts 26: 19-20) "Therefore, O king Agrippa, I was not rebellious to the heavenly vision, but I first announced to those who are in Damascus, and Jerusalem, and throughout the land of Judea, and to the Gentiles , that they would repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. "
There can be no doubt, therefore, that all those who were sent to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ had previously had a vision of his glory that was clearly seen in his resurrection and ascension. And something similar we can see also in the great prophets of God in the Old Testament. We remember, for example, that Moses before beginning his ministry saw a manifestation of the glory of God in the bush that burned without being consumed (Ex 3: 1-6), also Isaiah saw the Majesty of God on his throne (Is 6: 1-7), and the same could be said of Jeremiah (Jer 1: 4-10) or Ezekiel (Ez 1: 1-28).
And likewise, if we look at the history of the great missionary advances of our time, we will realize that they arose when Christians came to have a renewed sense of majesty, power, sovereignty, love, grace and compassion. of Christ.
It may be necessary to revisit the current studies on "missiology", in which more and more importance is given to issues such as strategies, growth, methods, statistics, culture, contextualization, responsibility social of the church ... And without the spirit of denying that some of these things may have some value, what is really essential is that the people of God have a clear and complete vision of the glory of Christ. Because apart from this, the church lacks the necessary motivation and direction, and easily our spirits decline and the mission disintegrates. Only by looking to Christ do we have the inspiration, the incentive, the authority and the power that we need to carry this work out.
There is no doubt that if our evangelization focuses on the need of men, we will quickly become frustrated when we do not see "results". But if on the contrary we have a clear vision of Christ incarnated and crucified, risen and reigning, imparting the Holy Spirit and returning to seek his church, our spirit will be strengthened, we will have a permanent motivation and the passion and courage necessary for evangelization of the world in our days.
4.-The purpose of the mission: to give glory and honor to Christ in this rebellious world.
We have already seen that Christ has all the legitimate authority to reign in this world, and that the Father has given him a name that is above every name, consequently, God's desire is that all men honor him, and of course, This same feeling should be shared by his people.
The prophet Elijah is a good example of this "zeal" for the glory and honor of God in a rebellious world. When in his days the Israelites abandoned God and worshiped the Baals, the prophet felt deeply distressed. Listen to his lament:
(1 Kings 19:10) "He answered: I have been zealous for Jehovah, the God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, cut down your altars, and slew your prophets with the sword, and only I I have stayed, and they are looking for me to take my life. "
We should also feel this same pain every time Christ is despised, and our zeal for him should lead us to ardently desire to be given all the honor that corresponds to him in this world. We should hope that all human beings, whatever their culture or their religion, bend their knees before Jesus and submit to him as their Lord.
Our evangelization must first of all be a proclamation of who Christ is and what he has done for men so that God may be glorified. Therefore, by preaching the gospel we not only seek the salvation of people, but above all the recognition of God's sovereignty in a world that rejects him.
In this sense, we must not lose sight of the close relationship that exists between evangelization and adoration (Mt 28: 17-19). In both cases the goal should be the search for the glory of God and the aggrandizement of his name. This forces us to reflect to what extent our worship will be pleasing to God if on the other hand we do not give importance to what others do with their Son.
We must not forget that the reason we have been redeemed by God is for us to announce the virtues of Christ. And evidently this should not be limited exclusively to our cults, but also to our contact with the world.
(1 Pet. 2: 9) "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people purchased by God, so that you may proclaim the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
When we announce the name of Christ to the sinful world, God is glorified, even among those who reject Him. Paul was aware of this fact when he preached the gospel, going so far as to affirm that God perceived a pleasant smell even when his name was announced among those who opposed it. Let's see how he expressed it when he wrote to the Corinthians:
(2 Cor 2: 14-16) "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus, and through us he manifests in every place the odor of his knowledge. those who are saved, and those who are lost, to these certainly smell death to death, and those smell life to life, and for these things, who is enough? "
The apostle describes here the triumphal entry of a Roman general who returned to the metropolis with the booty and the prisoners of the conquered territories. Among the people there were two groups: the kings or chiefs of the conquered peoples who had voluntarily surrendered to the demands of Rome, and those who had resisted. The first group had been spared their lives and marched ahead of the victor's car, then returned to their lands, and perhaps to their posts, already in the service of the Empire. The second group was behind the car loaded with chains and sentenced to die. On those occasions there was no lack of pagan priests who moved their censers in thanksgiving to their gods. And although in all cases the perfume was the same, according to the attitude of each group towards the winner it meant two radically different things; for some it was the smell of life and for others the smell of death. Paul uses this analogy to point out that every time the gospel is proclaimed, regardless of whether men accept or reject it, Christ is the victor and receives glory and honor.
Therefore, evangelization is clearly a way to exalt and glorify God. And it is important to highlight this, because in some modern Christian movements the exercise of the gifts given by the Holy Spirit has made the church grow, but the glory has fallen on many occasions in the evangelists, who have come to achieve much fame and money . The test that we must apply to know if a movement really comes from the Holy Spirit has to do with its determination to glorify Christ, and if it contributes effectively to transform people in his image.
After all, any believer who has applied himself to the task of soul-winning knows that he himself can do nothing, and that all resources come from the Lord. For this reason, if we see some people saved by our ministry, all the glory and merit must be attributed in justice only to God. The same apostle Paul, who was a great evangelist, was fully aware of this fact:
(2 Cor. 4: 7) "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the excellence of power may be of God, and not of us."
5.-The purpose of the mission: to win souls, make disciples and form a people for Christ.
The Gospel of Luke describes the mission of Christ on this earth with the following words:
(Lk 19:10) "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
And with the same purpose he sent his church to the world. Our function is to be ambassadors for Christ, presenting his rights as Lord and explaining what he has done to save us from our lost condition and thus be able to restore our relationship with God.
(2 Corinthians 5: 20-21) "So, we are ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God were pleading through us, we pray in Christ's name: Be reconciled to God. sin, so that we would be made the righteousness of God in him. "
It is evident that winning souls is not only about achieving certain intellectual conviction of the people on a series of doctrinal propositions. Necessarily it has to imply a surrender of our own will to God, for which we will have to sincerely repent of our sins, which will be demonstrated by a radical change in our whole way of life.
For all this, the mission that the Lord entrusted to his disciples can not conclude when the person makes the decision to be reconciled with God.
6.-The motivation for the mission: The love of God and lost men.
We have seen that the main purpose for which we must evangelize must be to give honor and glory to Christ in this rebellious world, and that it is impossible to do this if we have not previously recognized and seen his honor and glory in our own lives. Now we are going to consider that to fulfill the mission entrusted by the Lord there are two reasons that should motivate us.
The first is that the Lord commands us to do it. It is not optional. His last words before ascending to heaven were: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Of course, we must not fulfill this commandment in a cold way, as a religious duty, but as the expression of our love for God. We obey him because we love him (Jn 14:21), because obeying him without loving him is nothing more than mere religiosity that does not please God.
In any case, this love does not arise in us naturally, but must be awakened and motivated by God's own love for us. The apostle John expressed it this way: "We love him, because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19).
So, when we preach the gospel to lost souls we must do it out of love and obedience to Christ. Paul said that we are compelled and compelled to preach the gospel of reconciliation because of the love of Christ (2 Cor 5:14). And it is important that when we evangelize the people with whom we speak they can perceive our love for the Lord in the enthusiasm we show in doing so.
And the second reason why we must evangelize is out of love for lost men. This was the reason why God sent his Son into the world: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost, but may have eternal life. "(Jn 3:16). And if the Spirit of Christ is in us, we will begin to feel the same compassion that he felt for the lost. Although surely we will have to recover much of this sensitivity to see the souls as Christ saw them in their condition of condemnation. Because it is easy to get to live with the lost and not think of them as people who walk towards an eternity without Christ and without hope.
The apostle Paul gives us a living example of this sensitivity and love he felt towards the lost of his own nation:
(Ro 9: 1-3) "Truly I say in Christ, I do not lie, and my conscience bears witness to me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual pain in my heart, for I myself wish to be anathema, separated from Christ, for my brothers' sake, those who are my relatives according to the flesh. "
7.-The resources to carry out the mission: the preaching of the Word.
The way to reach the world is still the same as Jesus described in the parable of the sower:
(Mr 4:14) "The sower is the one who sows the word."
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he insisted on the importance of preaching the Word:
(2 Tim 4: 1-2) "I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead in his manifestation and in his kingdom, that you will preach the word, that you will instruct in time and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience and doctrine. "
This is so important because the only one who can impart eternal life is God, and he does it through his Word:
(1 Pet 1:23) "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God who lives and abides forever."
The Word of God is the means by which the Spirit implant in us the seed of new life. She, and only she, is the effective instrument of the Spirit to effect our new birth.
(Jas 1:18) "He, of his will, made us be born by the word of truth, that we should be the first fruits of his creatures."
But in order that this Word may be effective in the hearts of men, it has to be preached.
(Ro 10:17) "So faith is by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Therefore, the Bible is the basic tool for evangelization. There is no other method to attract the sinner to the Savior than the preaching of the gospel and teaching.
8.-The resources to carry out the mission: prayer.
At the same moment that we try to carry out the fulfillment of the mission we realize that we are immersed in a spiritual war. This is why Paul exhorted the believers in this way:
(Eph 6: 10-12) "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his strength, put on the whole armor of God, that you may stand firm against the devil's schemes. we fight against blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. "
The apostle was aware that in this spiritual struggle against satanic forces, human techniques are completely useless. And in that same passage, after describing the various components of the Christian's armor, Paul concludes by asking the prayers of the believers in his favor as an effective weapon in this struggle:
(Eph 6: 17-19) "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching over it with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, and for me, so that when I open my mouth it will be given a word to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. "
Prayer is vital because it opens opportunities to witness.
(Col 4: 2-4) "Persevere in prayer, watching over it with thanksgiving, also praying at the same time for us, so that the Lord opens the door for the word, in order to make known the mystery of God, for whom I am also a prisoner, so that he may manifest it as I should speak. "
9.- Resources for the mission: "be with Jesus"
The effectiveness of any service we perform for the Lord depends on our fellowship with him. Let's listen again to the words of Jesus:
(Jn 15: 5) "I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing."
For a Christian to bear fruit that glorifies God, he must have his spiritual roots well buried in the stream of life that is Christ. And although we know this, it is important to remember it, because it is easy to launch into a frantic race to do many things for the Lord without having previously necessary communion with him. And unless the tickets exceed the exits, we will quickly go bankrupt.
When the Lord called his disciples he said the following: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Mark 1:17). Remember that at that time they were fishermen in the Sea of Galilee, but if they followed Jesus, he would turn them into "fishers of men" and they would be sent as apostles to the nations. There is no doubt that it was not at all likely that humble fishermen would become competent preachers of the Word who would flood the Roman Empire with the Gospel. The only possible explanation is that Jesus really turned them into what he had told them, since they in turn left their networks to follow after him.
Surely many of us aspire to be useful in the Work of the Lord and seek the way to achieve it. Many times we think that maybe some training courses will enable us to do this, but the truth is that if this does not lead us to have a closer communion with the Lord, they will not serve us at all.
10. Resources for the mission: the Holy Spirit.
We have already considered that the evangelistic work carried out by the first Christians could not begin until the Holy Spirit had descended upon them (Acts 1: 4-8). This fact alone should be enough to consider the fundamental importance that the Holy Spirit has in evangelization. Such is the case, that the book of the Acts of the Apostles, where the great advances of evangelization are gathered worldwide, some scholars prefer to call it the book of the "Acts of the Holy Spirit", and surely they are absolutely right.
We must not forget that the church that emerged as a result of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ lacked political, social or economic power. Under these conditions, many Christians today would think that little or nothing can be done. However, the result was just the opposite. In very few years the gospel had reached the very heart of the Roman Empire, making itself present everywhere. It may be strange to the modern mentality that those early evangelists, who were not supported by any great missionary organization, and who also suffered continually from strong opposition in most of the places they came to, could nonetheless come to form local churches by all the important cities of that time. What was his secret? The book of Acts makes it clear to us: The Holy Spirit was in charge of carrying out this work, and the evangelists were freely used by him.
This was exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ himself had taught his disciples. When they were in the upper room, he announced that in his absence he would send them the Holy Spirit, who in addition to comforting them, would do two very important tasks. First he would take his place in the teaching, reminding them of what they had already heard and completing what they still lacked (Jn 14:26) (Jn 16: 12-13). And secondly, the Holy Spirit would not only do an important work among believers, but also in the world:
(Jn 16: 8-12) "And when he comes, he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, of sin, because they do not believe in me, of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. and of judgment, because the prince of this world has already been judged. "
The Holy Spirit convinces the world of three moral and spiritual realities: First of all the seriousness of his sin against God, and especially of his sin of unbelief in rejecting Christ. Second, it convinces the world of the possibility of justice, because God has accepted the sacrifice of Jesus and has exalted him at his right hand in heaven. And third, the inevitability of judgment, since Satan, the promoter of the rebellion against God has already been judged.
Therefore, the "main actor" in the mission of the Christian church is the Holy Spirit. It is he who testifies of Christ, although of course, this does not in any way nullify the responsibility of the church itself (Ez 3: 18-19), but without his testimony, ours is useless.
(Jn 15: 26-27) "But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me, and you will also bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. "