About His Business

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

ABOUT HIS BUSINESS

Mark 16:19 - Luke 1:1

19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

NIV

This is the conclusion of Mark’s gospel and it is fitting he ends his account of the life of Christ with Jesus ascending into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God. But Mark also includes some facts about those men who followed Jesus those years he was here on earth. They went out and preached everywhere. Now of course Mark does not include the acts of the Apostles which Luke covers quite well, and thus we are not sure if this going out and preaching everywhere was before or after the day of Pentecost. We do know that God confirmed his word which they preached by signs that accompanied their preaching. Are we to assume those signs and the working of the Lord with them stopped at their deaths? Does God still work with those who preach his word and confirm their preaching with signs? It seems that most often there are absolutely no signs whatsoever which accompany those who preach his word today. Could that be due to those preachers are simply paid staff of a church and preach exclusively to the members and attenders, who we would expect to be believers? Could it be due to the fact they only preach how believers should behave, rather than going everywhere and preaching the gospel message, the good news, the fact that people can be saved from death, and experience eternal life through accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Maybe that is why there are no signs which accompany those who preach today. Certainly if we asked them why there are no signs accompanying their preaching, they would say it is because that was only for the disciples, who saw Jesus ascend into heaven. We have to wonder why there are no signs. Is that true, it was only for then and not now? Or is it for now and there are no people really preaching the gospel everywhere? Maybe the right question we should be asking is about the kind of signs that accompanied them. Maybe we should also be asking if those who preach have the Lord working with them. Maybe the church today has made preaching into a business rather than what God intended. Maybe with the requirements denominations have in order for a person to be ordained to preached, to pastor, has overshadowed the call of God on people to go everywhere preaching the good news having the Lord work with them and signs accompanying them. Maybe we just should be about our Fathers business.