LIFE SCRIPTS

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Mark 16:9‭-‬20 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.16.9-20.NIV.

Jesus is risen. This is the story of Easter. But not everyone believed in it. It took Christ to appear before men for them to believe that He had risen from the dead. It took Him to appear before men as they went about their business for them to believe. They not only saw Christ crucified but Him resurrected and walking among them. Today, He might not be with us physically but is risen in our lives. Can others see the Christ in us? Can others testify that He’s among them courtesy of His work through us? In verse 15, Christ gives a charge to His disciples… Go ye…and preach the good news…making disciples of ALL nations. He goes on to say…and these signs will FOLLOW all who believe…they’ll cast out demons, they’ll heal the sick, they’ll drink poison and it’ll not harm them… Christ was giving a charge to us. The great commission. He was sending us into the whole world to preach the gospel. Our primary responsibility is to preach the gospel. It starts with belief…then we preach…then these signs will follow all who believe. We are custodians of the good news which we must not hoard and hide but share openly. When’s the last time we shared Christ with another person? When’s the last time we showed His love actively? Our belief in Him is activated by us going out to share His truth with others. And as we do so, all these other signs will follow us. Remember in the book of Acts… Wherever Peter and John walked, people sought for their shadows to place sick people so that they may be healed. They did their job of sharing the gospel and the signs followed them. They delivered them from demons, they healed the sick. This is confirmed in verse 20. After the ascension of Christ, the disciples went and preached all over and the Lord confirmed His word by signs that accompanied them.