Mark 16:14-20 Afterward he appeared to the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart… 1. That He might keep them humble through the memory of their past weakness, and their readiness at all times to fall away from Him. 2. He reminds them of their incredulity and blindness of heart, so that they might be gentler in dealing with those who sinned, and who were unable to perceive and hold the truth. 3. He did so also for our sakes in order that we may not doubt, seeing that they so greatly doubted, and yet had all their doubts removed by the clear evidence of their own senses. Their faithlessness is the stimulus to our faith, and their doubt removes all ground of doubt from us. And in thus showing the littleness of their faith and their natural unaptness to be His messengers, Christ indicates the greatness of that gift which was able to overcome all natural disqualifications, and to make these doubting disciples the faithful ministers and stewards of His gospel. Those who had fled when no real danger existed he sends into the midst of a people thirsting for their blood; those who had not comprehended Him He chooses for the work of making others comprehend Him; those who had not believed in the very witnesses of His resurrection He sends forth as the witnesses themselves of this same truth, that so we might know that the promulgation of Christianity is the direct work, not of men, but of God. (W. Denton, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. |
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