A Journey Through the Bible: Mark 15 and 16

Mark 15:10—“For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy.” Pilate wasn’t a good man, but he wasn’t stupid, either. Surely he had heard of Jesus roaming around his province; a man who attracted the large followings that Jesus had would be of some concern to the authorities. But Christ had never done anything wrong, thus Pilate had left Him alone. And when the Jewish religious leaders of the day brought Him before the governor and made accusations that were groundless and harmless, Pilate was perceptive enough to grasp their motives. Jesus was drawing crowds, the chief priests were not. It didn’t take a genius to add two and two.

Mark 15:47—“And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.” From Clarke: “For here a timid man [Joseph of Arimathea], and a few weak women, acknowledge Jesus in death, when the strong and the mighty utterly forsook him.” At the moment, who really had the greater faith in Christ: His apostles or these women? Sometimes—many times—the lowly, nameless widow in the pew is much more pious and devoted than the famous, silver-tongued orator in the pulpit.

Mark 16:16—“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” A lot of ingenious attempts have been made to avoid the simple meaning of these simple words. Martin Luther, in the 16th century, started the doctrine of “salvation by faith only” (no one taught such before him), and it stuck with all the Protestant denominations. And they have continued to stick with that doctrine tenaciously. Thus, Jesus’ words here in this verse simply cannot mean what they seem to mean. Not because Jesus didn’t mean what He said, but because too many men will not give up their religious traditions in order to accept the truth. Isn’t this exactly the reason the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day rejected Him and crucified Him? Jesus connects belief and baptism with salvation. The English is powerful, but the original language is even more so. In the Greek, “believes” and “is baptized” are both aorist participles. The action in aorist participles always precedes that of the main verb. So, in this case, “belief” and “baptism” must take place before “will be saved.” It’s an absolute in the Greek, and it accords with other New Testament passages on baptism (cf. Acts 2:38, 22:16; I Peter 3:21).

Sometimes the quibble is made, “But the second clause doesn’t say ‘and is not baptized’.” This is not highly intelligent reasoning. Baptism without faith is utterly vain; why would one who did not believe in the first place submit to being immersed in water? Lack of faith alone is sufficient to condemn; but faith and baptism are both necessary for salvation. Let me use a parallel sentence. “He who eats his food and digests it shall have health. But he who does not eat shall die.” We must eat and digest to be healthy, but if we don’t eat, we die. We must believe and be baptized to be saved; but if we don’t believe at all, we will be damned. Faith must be understood as a principle of action; it is what leads us (trust) to do what God says. How can one truly say they have “faith” in Jesus, that they “trust” Him, and yet deny His words, “he who believes and is baptized will be saved”? True faith won’t argue, it will simply accept and trust.