Jesus Gives 5 Traits Believers Will Have
Today’s passage: Mark 16:15–18
Focus verse: “And these signs will accompany those who believe . . .” (Mark 16:17)
Mark also records Jesus’s parting remarks to his disciples. This passage is not well known. It’s mostly ignored. I don’t recall ever hearing a sermon about it.
The likely reason is that Jesus’s final instructions to his followers ends with a list of signs that those who believe in him will have. It’s a list that confounds many people today. Therefore, it’s easier to ignore it than to believe it.
Like Matthew’s version, Mark writes that Jesus tells his followers to go throughout the world and preach the gospel, baptizing those who believe. Those who believe will be saved, but those who don’t believe will be condemned.
Jesus then lists five traits that those who believe in him will have.
First, they will drive out demons. Regardless of how we perceive demons or the way they manifest their afflictions on people today, as followers of Jesus, we’ll drive out demons.
Next, Jesus’s followers will speak in tongues. We don’t know if this means they’ll speak in human languages they don’t know to others or in spiritual languages to God.
Regardless, they’ll speak in tongues (Acts 2:4). We see Peter do this when he addresses people in their native languages at Pentecost. And Paul teaches about the other type of tongues in 1 Corinthians 14:5–6.
Third, they will pick up snakes with their hands. Implicitly, the serpents won’t hurt them. This happened to Paul on the island of Malta (Acts 28:3–5).
Fourth, they’ll drink deadly poison, but it won’t hurt them at all.
Last, they’ll lay their hands on sick people and heal them.
This list gives me pause, as it does for many followers of Jesus. Though I believe each one of these items is possible, I’ve only had personal experience with the fifth one, of using Jesus’s authority to heal people. And this doesn’t occur as often as I’d like.
Personally, I want to stay as far away as possible from snakes and poison. Yet I have confidence that if I inadvertently encounter either, Jesus will protect me. As far as driving out demons and speaking in tongues, I’m open to both. But so far, I haven’t experienced either.
Like me, most people have varying degrees of acceptance and revulsion over these five items that Jesus says all who believe in him will possess. The easy response is to ignore these words, and pretend Jesus never said them. But he did.
Therefore, we should consider them, too, even if it takes a lifetime to do so. This is because Jesus promised that “these signs will accompany you.”
Questions:
What is your response to these five items?
What can you do to seek a better understanding of this passage that confounds many?
Prayer: Holy Spirit, teach us what this passage means and how we should best live it out.
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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