Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.
But they went forth and preached everywhere,
while the Lord worked with them
and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
This is the story of the great commission, the last instruction that Jesus Gave us before He ascended into heaven. So what is God telling His apostles, and by proxy all us today as well? The great commission is one of the most important things He ever told us to do. If you had a secret to happiness, and peace, and it made your life so much better, you would want to share it with those you love, and if you could the whole world. Well, Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him.
The secret to happiness IS the “way”. If you believe it, and live it, it will bring you true peace, and eternal happiness. I ask, why arent you sharing it with the world. Do you not believe it? do you not think that it is not worth sharing? Do you not think that others will not be interested to know more? This is the point of todays reading and the “great commission”…, it does not matter what you think, Jesus is commanding you to go out and share it with the world, and do the things that He said we will all do in His name. It is your duty as His disciple.
And in fact, all of the things that Mark mentions we will do, not only happened in the early church, but they are all still happening today. Mark said we will perform Exorcisms, and infact this is happening more than at anytime in history. Most diocese employ at least 2 or 3 full time exorcists, because the demand is so high. Mark said we will speak new languages, and infact the gospel has been translated into every known language, and missionaries have preached that word to the whole world. Mark said that we will pick up serpents without fear . While this may not be litterally happening in churches all over the world, it is a direct reference to to the church’s authority over evil in this world, and the primary reason why the catholic church is hated more than any other world religion, and under constant attack. Mark says we will drink deadly things and not be harmed. Again this is metaphor, that is referring to the church’s ability to withstand false teaching. And in fact, the church stands 2000+ years later, teaching and proclaiming the same doctrine that Jesus gave us in His ministry. Yet another reason the world hates us so much. Finally Mark says we will heal the sick. This is the most obvious of all of these proclamations, The prevalence of catholic hospitals, catholic social services, catholic orphanages, and catholic street ministries, all over the world attest to this fact.
The book of revelation states that Jesus will not return until several signs have come to pass, and one of those is that the whole world will have the gospel preached to them. In other words the great commission will be fulfilled. You might think that that has already happened, but the Lord has not returned yet, so that means we still have work to do. Jesus died with perfect faith and impells us to strive for the same. We are to be lions of faith and roar the good news to the world. So lets start today.
