And these signs shall follow those that have believed in my name they shall cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mark's Gospel closes with the risen Jesus sending His disciples out to preach. He attaches a list of visible signs to that sending. Two questions still divide readers: who are the signs promised to, and how long were they to last?
The power carried in His name
Casting out demons comes first, and it happens in the name of a Master who has gone away. One writer shows why His absence would leave His servants stronger, not weaker.
"In My name they will cast out demons." He begins with power over Satan. They were to go out in the power of His resurrection. He was going away, but that would not cost them power. They would gain instead… The Jews thought that all the great works were to be done while the Messiah was on earth. Not so. In His name, while He is absent, His servants would cast out demons. "They will speak in new tongues." What a wonderful testimony of God's grace towards all men! They were now to speak of His wonderful works in the languages by which God had confused men at the tower of Babel. This was fulfilled first on the day of Pentecost to the Jews, then to the Gentiles in due time.
Why demons come first
Demons come first on the list for a reason. One writer points to what stood behind the religions of the ancient world.
Satan had taken the world for himself, largely through the religions of men… "What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God," says the apostle (1 Cor. 10:20). In Egypt, when God brought His people out, the judgments that freed them fell on Egypt's gods. It is the same now in Christianity. "In My name they will cast out demons" proclaims Christ's supremacy over the religious rulers of the pagan world.
Two things the whole list says at once
Taken together, the five signs are not a random assortment. They make one double announcement.
The first sign should be their dominion over evil spirits, the second, the proof of that grace which went beyond the narrow limits of Israel, addressing itself to all the world. They should speak various languages… In a word, it should be the overthrow of the power of the enemy over man, and the proclamation of grace to all men.
Promised to believers, not to preachers
The verse ties the signs to believing, not to any qualification in the preacher.
Second, the Lord states that these signs will follow, with no conditions to be met first by the preacher. There is no requirement that he must have a special "baptism of the Spirit," as people often insist. If men believe, these signs will follow. That is what the Lord says. All you could conclude from their absence is that no one has truly believed.
That last line is deliberately absurd, and the same writer answers it. The promise never said what readers add to it.
Some people seem to read words into this statement that are not there. It does not say that these signs will follow all who believe, in all places, and for all time. If it did, we would be forced to conclude that hardly anyone today has believed the gospel — and that we have not even believed it ourselves!
No time limit on the signs
One writer works from an older translation, which reads "those that have believed" where the ESV has "those who believe." He compares Mark's ending with Matthew's.
There is not a word here about time. It is not all who believe, but "those that have believed." And it is not said of those who believe right on to the end of the age. Nothing of the kind is hinted at. In Matthew it is different. There the Lord tells them to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them, and He promises them His presence to the end of the age… Our Lord's word came true to the letter in the particular period when these signs were given. But nothing bound them to last forever.
Why they are not seen now
Commentators differ on why the signs faded. Some say the signs had finished their work:
They had miraculous gifts to give them credentials with the people they preached to. But the main thing was not these gifts. It was what God placed in people's hearts through them. The miraculous gifts served the spiritual part of their work — evangelizing, pastoring, teaching — the way scaffolding serves a building. The scaffold comes down once the building is finished.
Others blame the failure of Christians, and read the open wording as a test:
Why is the power in the church now not the same as in the days of the apostles? Clearly because of man's unfaithfulness. The promise in Mark is not made to the apostles, but to those who believed through the apostles' ministry. It did follow those who believed, and that promise was fulfilled. It is left vague, because it was to be the proof of the church's faithfulness with what God entrusted to it — and the church failed.
Summary
- Name. The signs work in Christ's name. His going away cost His servants no power. They went out in the power of His resurrection.
- No rivals. Demons are cast out first. That announces Christ's supremacy over the powers behind the world's religions, just as God's judgments in Egypt fell on Egypt's gods.
- Nations. New tongues undo Babel. They carried God's works to the Jews at Pentecost and then to the Gentiles — a testimony of His grace towards all men.
- Not the preacher. The promise is tied to believing, not to a special experience first. And it was never given for all places and all times, so missing signs today prove nothing about anyone's faith.
- No clock. In Matthew the Lord promises His presence "to the end of the age." In Mark He sets no such limit on the signs. Writers differ on why the signs stopped: some say they had finished their work as credentials, others blame the unfaithfulness of Christians.