James A. Kelhoffer on Mark 16:16 and Baptism

  

Verse 16

 

This verse continues Jesus’ commissioning instructions, which begin in 16:15. The form and content of 16:16 are distinct from the previous verse and from those which follow in the commissioning (vv. 17-18). The only words familiar to the reader of the L[onger]E[nding of Mark] pertain to faith or disbelief (ο ποστευσας . . . απιστησας), make up the heart of the antithesis and bear a certain similarity to the terminology and structure of John 3:18ab:

 

ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν οὐ κρίνεται· ὁ δὲ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται (John 3:18ab)
ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται (Mark 16:16)

 

Unlike its Johannine counterpart (cf. John 3:14-21), Mark 16:16 does not specify the type of faith that distinguishes between salvation and condemnation. Nonetheless, the influence of John 3:18ab on v. 16 is possible.

 

. . .

 

• βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται

 

Most of the times Mark mentions baptism are in connection with the person and eschatological message of John the Baptist (Mark 1:7-8). One verse concerns ritual purity (7:4), and another passage states that the experience of the disciples will correspond to a future (and unexplained) baptism of Jesus (10:38-39). From Mark one never learns that receiving baptism has salvific implications. Moreover, of the thirteen Markan uses of σωζω, six relate the wellness resulting from Jesus’ healing (3:4, 5:23, 5:28, 5:34, 6:56, 10:52). Another four concerns the cost of discipleship (Mark 8:35 [two occurrences], 10:26, 13:13), but of these only 10:26 demands any specific requirement for salvation except abandoning worldly riches. Three other occurrences of this verb in Mark (13:20, 15:30-31) do not detail any specific prerequisites as one finds in the LE. The only NT passage having implications similar to 16:16 is 1 Peter 3:21 (ὃ καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀντίτυπον νῦν σῴζει βάπτισμα), a letter likely to have been written later than the Second Gospel and independently of the LE.

 

• ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται

 

. . . Luke 24:11 is a possible source for this relatively infrequent NT verb. The concerns of Luke 24:11 about believing the women’s testimony and of John 20 about belief in the resurrection are central to the understanding of belief/unbelief in Mark 16:9-14. Verse 16 probably reflects this author’s own view about baptism in conjunction with the condemnation the author of the Fourth Gospel imputes to those who do not believe in God’s Son. (James A. Kelhoffer, Miracle and Mission: The Authentication of Missionaries and Their Message in the Longer Ending of Mark [Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament – 2. Reihe 112; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000], 101-2)

 

Another distinctive characteristic of Mark 16:16 concerns the connection of one’s baptism with the promise of salvation: ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται. This expression stands in contrast with the two other analogous texts—mentioning only belief (ο πιστευων, John 3:18a) or hearing and belief (οι ακουσαντες και πιστευσαντες, Kerygma Petri 3. B)—but not a rite of initiation like baptism. . . . an understanding of Mark 16:16 in relation to 16:15, as well as its source, Matt 28:19, also sheds light on the occurrence of καὶ βαπτισθεὶς in v. 16a. . . . a likey source for this distinctive element in Mark 16:16a is the mission charge of Matt 28:19: πορευθέντες οὖν μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. Although the author of the LE shows no interest in the Matthean trinitarian statement, it is likely that he noticed the mention of baptism in Matt 28:19 and incorporated this int Mark 16:16a. Moreover, an important difference between Matt 28:19 and Mark 16:16a contributes toward an explanation of the distinct presentation of mission in Mark 16:15-18 as compared with Matthew 28. The brief mention of baptism in Mark 16:16a can be viewed as a way of using part of the Matthean tradition to make a somewhat different point. Instead of “go and baptize” (Matt 28:19), the LE’s author states that “the one who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Matthew mentions baptism from the perspective of the start of the mission while the author of the LE considers the effects of evangelization and the response of the believer in baptism. Such a difference as compared with Matthew could also reflect the influence of Acts 2:38, which, like Mark 16:16, emphasizes the importance of baptism for those who respond to Peter’s Pentecost speech: μετανοήσατε, [φησίν,] καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.

 

One inference following from the different portrayals of baptism in Matt 28:19 and Mark 16:15 is that vv. 15-18 points to a chronological progression in how the mission is presented in the LE. At first, Mark 16:15 (πορευθεντες . . . κηρυξατε τκλ.) reflects much the same emphasis as Matt 28:19a (πορευθεντες ουν μαθητευσατε κτλ.) with the charge to begin the mission. Whereas Matt 28:19b (βαπτιζοντες αυτους κτλ.) continues in the same vein, Mark 16:16a jumps ahead in time to the status of those who do (and not not) respond to the missionary preaching: those who believe will also be baptized and enjoy assurance of eternal salvation. This source- and redaction-critical analysis accounts for both the distinctive allusion to baptism in Mark 16:16a and the relatively inconspicuous shift in emphasis from the past mission (v. 15), to the status of those converted (v. 16), and then toward the present mission, which is to be accompanied by miraculous signs (vv. 17-18).

 

To summarize, in Mark 16:16 one finds a definition of faith analogous to John 3:18ab which has been augmented by the allusion to baptism in Matt 28:19b and perhaps also Acts 2:38. As compared with the similar sayings of John 3:18ab and Kerygma Petri 3. B, the brevity of this verse may be explained as follows: the context provided by Mark 16:15 allows for a more compact expression in 16:16. Likewise, the shift in emphasis from mentioning baptism at the beginning of the mission (28:19b) to alluding to the effects of evangelization (Mark 16:16a) accounts for the present of καὶ βαπτισθεὶς in the LE. (Ibid., 197-99)