Now What?

14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

When Jesus began his public ministry, he did so by proclaiming the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). Gospel means "good news." He came proclaiming the good news that his Father’s kingdom was at hand. Anyone and everyone could enter into and take part in this kingdom through him. The kingdom which was now at hand would be a foretaste of a future kingdom where God’s desires were only and always executed all the time by everyone. He prayed, healed, fed, loved, taught, delivered, rebuked, encouraged, and called people to follow him and experience this kingdom.

Jesus was impossible to ignore. Some loved him. Others hated him. He came to save people from their sin and equip them to live in his Father’s kingdom and love as he loved. His enemies deemed him worthy of death for believing he had such authority, so they had him murdered. Instead of silencing Jesus, his enemies unwittingly fulfilled Jesus’ plans. Jesus’ death and resurrection became the means by which sinners like us can enter into and take part in the kingdom he said was at hand.

Now, at the end of his ministry on earth, he tells his disciples to continue what he started (Mark 16:15-16). Jesus tells them to go into the world and proclaim to others what he both proclaimed and secured. The kingdom is at hand today here, now, in and through the giving of Jesus’ Spirit. Enter in and share the good news.