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.
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole 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 cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 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.”
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. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.
Comment: We would have been sitting eating but their custom was to recline on a soft surface. Eating is what we tend to do when we are frustrated and exhausted and they did! The verb ‘appeared’ suggests that Jesus didn’t use the door or climb in through the window, He just was there. He ‘rebuked’ them, and, I don’t imagine with shouting and table banging (the food was probably on the floor on plates, as it still is in many Middle Eastern homes today), Jesus reminded them, rebuked them because of what He had spent so much time teaching them – instead of believing Him, they had sunk into depression!
The second section above is recorded as a speech of Jesus. What He says is, if we follow Him, pivotal to our purpose in life – it is our commission from God the Son’s own lips! ‘Belief’ here is not a wishy-washy word, not a thing just of the ‘assent’ of the mind but of the ‘commitment’ of the core of your life! Baptism is the sign to your world of your standing with and for Jesus. The fact that it wasn’t mentioned by Jesus the second time that He spoke about those who are condemned, means that baptism as an insurance policy against hell for those who rely on their baptism is a false path! You are not ‘safe’ just because you’ve been baptized! Then are mentioned a number of ‘miraculous’ things which believers will perform as signs. All of these are recorded as being fulfilled in the New Testament except of the drinking poison, although in one of the non-canonical books it is reported as happening to the Apostle John. Certainly these are signs which occurred much more commonly in the Apostolic age than occur today. They do occur particularly in non-Christianized parts of the world (not exclusively there only), but sadly some have tried to enact these signs and thereby produced negative results. I personally have seen such attempts!
The third section is fully described in the NT book of Acts and History!
Portions of Isaiah 35: They shall see the glory of the LORD,
the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees…… Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
Prayer: I believe, help Thou my unbelief!
As I read it! 