Mark 16:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But there were some there who did not believe; when these then were sitting at meat, (as Mark says,) and were still speaking, (as Luke relates,) The Lord stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you; (Luke 24:36) as Luke and John say. (John 20:19) The rebuke therefore which Mark here mentions, must have been amongst those words, which Luke and John say, that the Lord at that time spoke to the disciples. But another question is raised, how Mark says that He appeared when the eleven sat at meat, if the time was the first part of the night on the Lord’s day, when John plainly says that Thomas was not with them, who, we believe, had gone out, before the Lord came in to them, after those two had returned from the village, and spoken with the eleven, as we find in Luke’s Gospel. But Luke in his relation leaves room for supposing that Thomas went out first, while they spoke these things, and that the Lord entered afterwards; Mark however from his saying, for the last time he appeared to the eleven as they sat at meat, forces us to believe that he was there, unless indeed, though one of them was absent, he chose to call them the eleven, because the company of the Apostles was then called by this number, before Matthias was chosen into the place of Judas. Or if this be a harsh way of understanding it, let us understand that it means that after many appearances, He shewed Himself for the last time, that is, on the fortieth day, to the Apostles, as they sat at meat, and that since He was about to ascend from them, He rather wished on that day to reprove them for not having believed those who had seen Him risen before seeing Him themselves, because after His ascension even the Gentiles on their preaching were to believe a Gospel, which they had not seen. And so the same Mark immediately after that rebuke says, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. And lower down, He that believeth not shall be condemned. Since then they were to preach this, were not they themselves to be first rebuked, because before they saw the Lord they had not believed those to whom He had first appeared?

10:5) But now it is said, Preach the Gospel to every creature, so that the preaching of the Apostles which was thrust aside by Judæa, might be an assistance to us, since Judæa had haughtily rejected it, thus witnessing to her own damnation.

After considerable effort, he finally managed to unscrew the base. To his surprise, a large ladle of dark greenish liquid was released. The copper material evidently stained the wine with its cupric oxide. What should he do? After all, this was the Divine Blood of Christ, which needed to be consumed. Yet, how could they dare to drink it, given that it was a deadly poison—copper oxide, highly toxic and harmful to health? The faithful servant of God, unwavering in his trust, poured boiling water into the mixture, made the sign of the cross, and consumed every drop. And behold, glory be to God! He suffered no adverse effects. Truly, the Lord stated: ‘According to your faith it shall be done for you.’ Through kind-hearted individuals, God then provided him with funds to acquire a new, suitable silver chalice for the church, rendering the old one unfit for its sacred purpose.

Here, He breaks the silence about the glorious transformation that was to be withheld until after His resurrection (Matt. 17:9), declaring that He now possesses all authority given to Him as the Redeemer of humanity both in heaven and on earth. He is no longer merely the King of the Jews but also the sovereign of heaven and earth. Thus, what they executed among the Jewish people must extend to all nations. Here, they preached repentance and baptized those who believed in the Messiah, an obligation that must now be fulfilled globally. Previously, they baptized in anticipation of the coming Messiah; now, they would do so in the name of God Himself. Until now, they had focused on preaching repentance without fully articulating the teachings they received from the Savior; with His departure imminent, they were tasked with declaring to the world the truths they had learned from Him, thereby continuing His ministry in their own work. To motivate them for this commission, He assured them of His eternal presence with them in His church, enduring throughout the age until the kingdom of God is fully established on earth. He promised salvation and the ability to perform miracles to those who embraced their message in faith and entered His church through baptism, thus empowering the apostles for the glory of God’s kingdom and the well-being of their brethren (Mk. 16:17, 18).

This authority is exclusively promised to the Apostles, to be granted when the Spirit of truth is sent from the Father. Thus, in discussing this power and the signs that would follow the Apostles, Christ concluded His remarks with the assurance: "And I will send the promise of My Father upon you; but you shall remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high."

The apostle Paul, for instance, shook off the venomous snake that had latched onto his hand without suffering any injury (Acts 28:5), to the astonishment of those from the ancient world who expected him to perish instantly. Additionally, the experiences of the New Testament saints provide significant evidence of the tangible ability to attain this remarkable advantage in interacting with the animal realm.

- "Deadly things shall they drink, it shall not hurt them": all toxins will not only be harmless but also will not injure them. The perfection of nature, restored by their faith, will not be adversarial towards them according to their belief. The early Christian Church particularly recounts various instances in which poisons did not just fail to be lethal but did not even cause any harm to believers. Tradition holds that the Apostle John the Theologian consumed a poisoned cup without any adverse effects. - "Lay hands on the sick," etc.: this refers to the miraculous healing of illnesses through the simple act of laying hands and prayer, which has many historical examples. Here, the power of utterance or promise is genuinely found in the miraculous healing of sicknesses; thus, the laying on of hands serves merely as one visible means or sign of the extraordinary healing power. Furthermore, this gesture encompasses all actions of believers through which the miraculous healing might be revealed, whether it be a spoken word, a glance, or a touch.