The Name in the Gospel of Mark

The Name In the Gospel of Mark

In the Gospel of Mark, there are but four references. “John said unto Him, Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in Thy Name; and we forbade him, because he followed not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not; for there is no man who shall do a mighty work in My Name, and he able quickly to speak evil of Me.” Mark 9:38-39.

You see that the Name of Jesus was great even before He died; that men were casting out demons and healing the sick in His Name before His death, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father.

This in itself is a very striking fact and worthy of much meditation. “And ye shall be hated of all men for My Name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Mark 13:13. Jesus knew the hatred that His Name would engender for His followers in the world and He prepares them by this warning.

“And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in My Name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Mark 16:17-18. This is the Great Commission which He gave to the disciples. In this Scripture, Jesus specifies some of the things that Name will do. It almost bewilders us when we think that the God of the universe will give to humanity the right to use His Name-will give to men a legal right to use the power and the authority of the Son of God.

That in that Name a mother can lay her hands upon her baby when he is sick and take healing for him. The Greek here means “the believing ones” shall lay hands on the sick in that Name and they shall recover. That includes every child of God: no special gift, no special faith-just “the believing ones.”

Jesus said, “Lo, I am with you always unto the end of the age,” and this is His method of being present today. He has given them the use of His Name, and in the heathen nations where they go as heralds of His grace, they shall do as Paul did on the Island of Melita and many other fields.

In that Name they are to cast out demons; they are to heal the sick and perform other mighty miracles that will arrest the attention of the people and cause them to ask, “Who is this Jesus in Whose Name you work today?”

God never intended there should ever be any change in the methods or ministry down through the ages; only as nations developed, should these methods be broadened, but the miraculous element enfolded in the Name of Jesus should be the means of opening closed doors to the Church everywhere; the sick should be healed; the power of Satan broken over men’s lives and captives set free. All this is to be done in the Name of this Unseen Saviour.