Mark 16:20

However, Jesus’ work on earth also continued through His disciples. It was a continuation of Jesus’ work on earth in a real sense because He continued to work with them and confirmed their preaching with signs (cf. Acts 1:1-2). These first disciples provided a positive example for all succeeding generations of disciples to follow. Thus the Gospel ends on a positive note.

This task of evangelizing continued in Rome among the disciples who first received this Gospel. This account of the good news about Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1) would have been a particular encouragement to those disciples. They faced the choice of whether to take a public stand as Christians and suffer the loss of real estate, personal property, employment, and even their lives, or to lay low. They had to offer a pinch of incense in worship of "divine" Caesar as Roman citizens. Doing so compromised their exclusive commitment to Jesus as Lord. To fail to worship Caesar cost them dearly. This Gospel is particularly helpful for disciples who face similar challenges in their own time and place in history.

Wiersbe pointed out that the Gospel of Mark parallels Paul’s great servant passage in Philippians 2. Jesus came as a servant (Mark 1-13; Philippians 2:1-7), He died on a cross (Mark 14-15; Philippians 2:8), and God exalted Him to glory (Mark 16; Philippians 2:9). Both Mark and Paul stressed the need for Jesus’ disciples to carry the gospel to all nations (Mark 16:15-16; Philippians 2:10-11). And both of them gave assurance that God is at work in and through us (Mark 16:19-20; Philippians 2:12-13). [Note: Wiersbe, 1:168.]