Mark 16:17

And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

SIGNS WHICH WERE PROMISED TO THE BELIEVING APOSTLES

In this passage lies the probable explanation of why the unknown scribe of the Vatican manuscript omitted to write these words, yet left a space for them. Having read it, and knowing it to be untrue in the sense in which he read it, he skipped these verses, intending to put them in as soon as he could be sure they belonged. This is speculative, of course, but it is only one-hundredth as speculative as the wild reasons alleged by radical critics. What that ancient scribe thought he read in this place was exactly what some moderns are reading into the passage, understanding it as a promise that ALL BELIEVERS in Jesus Christ shall be empowered to cast out demons, take up serpents, drink deadly poison without harm, and recover the sick by the laying on of their hands. There was one significant difference: that ancient scribe knew that such a reading of the passage is a lie, that it was not true then, nor was it ever true that all Christians can do such things. What a pity it is that some present-day readers of this place are not so perceptive. What, then, does this passage say?

These signs shall accompany ... The word "accompany" here is significant, meaning to "go along with one on a journey," the journey in view here being the travels of the apostles in the carrying out of the great commission just spoken. There was nothing in the use of this word to be construed as an endowment of permanent settlers not going anywhere, and provided merely for their benefit and comfort.

Them that believe ... The antecedent of "them" is "the eleven themselves" (Mark 16:14); and the only way this can be avoided is to change the singular pronouns in Mark 16:15-16 into plural pronouns contrary to the Greek text. There is nothing difficult in this interpretation, since it is simply basic English.

They shall cast out demons, etc. ... The antecedent of "they" is likewise "the eleven apostles themselves," determined by the primary allusion to "them" in the same clause. There is no grammatical device by which this word may be understood as reference to any persons whomsoever except the eleven apostles.

From these observations it is clear that the utmost importance must be attached to the preservation of the singular pronouns in Mark 16:15-16; because, once these are changed, whether by alteration of the text or by a subjective projection into the passage of "them that shall be saved" through the preaching of the commission, the denotation of Mark 16:17-18 is thereby perverted and contradicted.

Note the following example of such a perversion:

Those who believe it and receive baptism will find salvation; those who not believe will be condemned. Faith will bring with it these miracles: believers will cast out devils ... speak in strange tongues, etc. - New English Bible (1961).

Take another example:

Those who believe and are baptized will be saved, and those who refuse to believe will be condemned, etc. - Living Word Bible (a paraphrase).

The tragedy of such corrupt renditions of the sacred text is that they so pervert the Word of God as to make it teach a lie. In either of the two examples here cited (and there are many others), the Gospel of Mark is made to say categorically that every believing Christian shall be able to do the signs mentioned in this passage. The proof that such a thing is untrue lies in the obvious fact that the truest Christians in our whole generation cannot do these things. The news media, this very week (at the time of this writing), are carrying another story of a preacher in Tennessee who was killed by a large rattlesnake while attempting to demonstrate his ability to do these signs. But why not? Any one of a dozen so-called translations of the New Testament assured him that he could do so; but they "lied unto him" (1 Kings 13:18). Any translation of the New Testament that substitutes PLURAL for singular pronouns in Mark 16:15-16 is false. There is no Greek scholar who ever lived who could justify such a rape of the sacred text!

Churches that pass out these "translations" to their young people, or read them from their pulpits, should not be surprised at all to see their youth swept away in some charismatic movement, relying on the perverted text here as their "authority" from God. May God open the eyes of the elders of his churches!

The Book of Acts affords many examples of how most of the signs mentioned here were indeed "accompanying" gifts of the apostles. Peter even raised the dead; Paul shook off a poisonous viper into the fire; and the eleven spoke with new tongues on Pentecost. There is no Scriptural report of their being unharmed by poison; but the Saviour's word in this passage is sufficient for assuming that this sign was also fulfilled in the apostles.