So
then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Mark 16:19-20
Mark 16 [14.] Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn’t believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16 [19.] So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
Meaning:
These are the last verses of Mark’s Gospel. In two sentences they describe two movements: Jesus goes up into heaven to take his throne, and his disciples go out into the world with his message. The story that began with “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) ends not with a full stop but with a mission that continues.
- “So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them”
Mark rarely calls Jesus “the Lord” in his narrative, but here, at the moment of his exaltation, the title fits. (The PIB footnote notes that the NA text adds “Jesus”.) Peter would soon proclaim “that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36). Jesus did not leave until he had spoken to them: the commission to preach to the whole creation (Mark 16:15) was given first.
- “was received up into heaven”
Luke describes the ascension in more detail: “When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Two men in white then promised that “This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.” The ascension is not Jesus’ absence from his people, but his enthronement, and it carries the promise of his return.
- “and sat down at the right hand of God”
The right hand is the place of highest honour and authority. This fulfils Psalm 110: “Yahweh says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet’” (Psalm 110:1), a verse Jesus himself had quoted in the temple (Mark 12:36). Before the council he had declared, “You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power” (Mark 14:62). The prisoner they condemned is now enthroned above them.
Sitting down also means a finished work. Priests in the temple always stood because their work was never done, but Christ, “when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12). God raised him and “made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority” (Ephesians 1:20-21).
- “They went out, and preached everywhere”
The disciples who had fled from Gethsemane and doubted the first reports now obey. The book of Acts tells the story: from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and “to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Within a generation the Good News had reached Rome.
- “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.”
Though Jesus is in heaven, he is not far away. He works with his messengers, as he promised: “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The signs he had promised (Mark 16:17-18) confirmed the word. Paul could speak of what “Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders” (Romans 15:18-19). The final “Amen” means “so be it”: what God has done and promised is true.
The Significance of Mark 16:19-20
- Christ reigns now
The crucified Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. Whatever happens in the world, he holds the highest authority, and his enemies will be put under his feet.
- We are not alone in the mission
The Lord works with those who carry his message. Christian witness is not our own project but a partnership with the risen and reigning Christ.
- The story continues
Mark’s Gospel ends with the disciples going out. Every believer who shares the Good News today is part of the same story, until the Lord returns as he went.
Cross-References:
Acts 1:9: "When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight." Luke’s account of the ascension.
Psalm 110:1: "Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”" The promise fulfilled when Jesus sat down.
Hebrews 10:12: "but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;" A finished sacrifice.
Matthew 28:20: "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." The Lord working with his people.
Conclusion: After speaking to his disciples, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, fulfilling Psalm 110 and his own words before the council. His disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them, confirming the message with signs. Mark’s Gospel ends with Christ enthroned and his people on the move, and with a final “Amen” that invites every reader to join the mission of the reigning Lord.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible