Bible Commentaries

The Threefold Beginning of the Gospel

Mark 1:1-8

The gospel may be said to have three beginnings, and yet it is perfectly correct to say that each beginning has a speciality and completeness of its own. The beginning of the gospel Acts 12:12). Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, Paul's companion in his travels ( Colossians 4:10). These two, being at Jerusalem about the time of Peter's deliverance, took Mark with them upon their mission ( Acts 12:25). He accompanied them to Antioch; and thence, on their first journey, as far as Perga in Pamphylia; where he left them, and returned to Jerusalem ( Acts 13:5, Acts 13:13). We afterwards find him at Antioch, with Paul and Barnabas, desiring to accompany them on a second journey; but Paul, regarding him as unfit for the work, since he had left them on the former occasion, was unwilling to take him. This decision caused a warm dispute and a temporary separation between the two apostles; and Barnabas, influenced probably by his affection for his kinsman, "took Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:11; Philemon 1:24.

"To these notices, gathered from the sacred writers, others add that Mark afterwards went to Egypt; and, having planted a church at Alexandria, died there."—Angus's Bible Handbook.

Spiritual Reparation

[An Analysis]

Mark 1:9-45

(1) John's dispensation was thus shown to be of divine appointment. Notice the beauty of John's work in relation both to the past and to the future: it was a baptism unto repentance; a baptism, and so connected with the ceremonial past;—a baptism unto repentance, and so introductory to a new and more intensely spiritual state of things.

(2) But why should Jesus Christ identify himself with a baptism which was unto repentance? His identification with that baptism was not for the purpose of personal confession, but for the purpose of official absorption. He took up the dispensation, and ended it by the introduction of a better. So, when he took upon himself the nature of mankind, he did not degrade and enfeeble God, he elevated and glorified man.

10. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him.

11. And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son , in whom I am well pleased.

Whatever is done in the divine name and for the divine glory is succeeded by increasing evidence of divine favour. What Jesus saw on coming out of the water, we should all see on returning from every act of homage and obedience. (1) The Spirit is a heavenly gift, not a natural grace. (2) Sonship is not generic; it is specific—thou. (3) Sonship is not left a mystery; it is declared and confirmed to the individual heart.

12. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

13. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.

(1) Sonship does not exempt from temptation. (2) Temptation does not invalidate sonship. (3) Temptation, rightly answered, makes sonship a life and power. We are not to be content with nominal sonship. We are to be proved men. Contrast Matthew's account of the Temptation with Mark"s. The one is minute and elaborate; the other is compendious. What history may be put into a sentence! There are experiences which cannot be put into words—they can only be hinted at. Some men have not the power of spiritual analysis; they cannot follow a temptation through its changing assaults and attitudes. Mark was probably not equal to Matthew in this particular. As with temptation, so with conversion. Some men can only say that they are converted; explanation and discussion are beyond their power. "And the angels ministered unto him." The darkest temptation has some light to relieve it. When we feel the devil we should look for the angels.

14. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

15. And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

(1) The imprisonment of the servant does not hinder the progress of the Master. (2) Ill-treatment of the messenger may actually help the divinity of the message: (a) it tests sincerity, (b) it tests the sustaining power of the doctrine that is preached.

The15th verse shows Jesus Christ in three aspects: (1) as the interpreter of time; (2) as the revealer of the divine kingdom; (3) as a spiritual regenerator. Under these heads note—Time: The preparative process; the development of opportunity; the moral import of special times.

Kingdom: Not a transient erection; not a subordinate arrangement; not a human ambition—the kingdom of God.

Regeneration: Vital; progressive; spiritual. Vital—Repent, destroy the past, humble yourselves on account of sin. Progressive—after humiliation is to come trust, the broken heart is to be the believing heart. Spiritual—not a change of mere attitudes and relations, but a change of life.

It is to be specially noted that Jesus Christ preached the kingdom of God as a gospel: rightly understood, it is not a despotism, it is not a terror; it is the supremacy of light, of truth, of love.

16. Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

17. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

18. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

19. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

20. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

(1) Christ is the preparer of his servants—"I will make you": how much was involved in that promise! (a) Authority; (b) qualification. (2) Small beginnings compatible with sublime results. (3) The claims of God over-ride all other claims—the sons left their father. (4) The discharge of common duties the best preparation for higher calls—two were casting the net into the sea, and two were mending their nets. The transition from one duty to another need not be abrupt. The humblest duty may be very near the highest honour. (5) The place of the servant is after the Master—"Come ye after me": they are not invited to equal terms—they must walk in the King's shadow.

Some hearts respond to Christ instantly—some linger long, and yield, as it were, with reluctance.

"They left their father Zebedee in the ship": fathers should never keep back their sons from Christ's service.

21. And they went into Capernaum: and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

22. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

(1) Men will teach well only as they teach under Christ (2) Authority is impossible apart from association with the Master.

(3) Authority of tone must come from intensity of conviction.

(4) Hearers know the voice of authority. (5) The Christian teacher is to show his supremacy over all other teachers.

23. And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

24. Saying Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

25. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

26. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

27. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

28. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

(1) Wickedness always afraid of purity. (2) Wickedness having no favour to ask of purity, except to be let alone. (3) Wickedness can always identify the presence of the spirit of Jesus Christ. (4) For this reason, the Church is a constant judgment upon all unclean spirits. (5) The completeness of Jesus Christ's authority—his authority in doctrine, and his authority in work. (6) Fulness of spiritual life is the guarantee of fulness of spiritual power. Jesus Christ came to this work after the most complete and severe preparation. He had received the Holy Ghost; he had undergone special and long-continued temptation in the wilderness, and had returned to preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God; and after all this he encountered with perfect power the unclean spirits that were in men. This opens the whole subject of Spiritual Preparation. Christians have also to meet unclean spirits in society. What if these unclean spirits should baffle the imperfect strength of Jesus Christ's followers? Christians are not at liberty to let unclean spirits alone; they are called to a life-long contention; their preparation must be intensely and increasingly spiritual. (7) That is the highest fame which is associated with beneficent deeds. Jesus Christ became famous because he had destroyed the dominion of a wicked spirit. The fame of evil is infamous; the fame of selfish cunning is mere notoriety; the fame of good doing is immortal and blessed renown.

This paragraph may be used as the basis of a discourse upon First Efforts in Christian service. (1) Those efforts are often forced upon Christians—it was so in this case; the wicked spirit challenged the attention of Christ. (2) Christians are to seek opportunities of putting forth such efforts; they are not to wait for the challenge, they have also to give it.

29. And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

30. But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

31. And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

Jesus Christ exercised both a public and a private ministry; he worked in the synagogue, he worked also in the domestic circle. Here is Simon's wife's mother sick of the fever, and instantly Jesus Christ addressed himself to the difficulty, showing that the Christian ministry may be exercised with great advantage alike in public and in private. Learn from it: (1) That the individual case, as well as the case of the multitude, should be regarded as worthy of attention. (2) That bodily diseases as well as spiritual ailments are within the sphere of our solicitude; we are to be philanthropic as well as spiritually-minded. (3) We are to put ourselves in personal contact with those who suffer. "Jesus took her by the hand, and lifted her up." We can do little by proxy. We must work with our own hand, as though everything depended on it. It is true that what is distinctly known as miraculous power has ceased in the Church, yet there is a higher power than that which works physical miracles. It is still possible for the entrance of a good man into any house to be as the coming in of the light and life of heaven. Christians have it in their power to do a great work in the sick chamber. The raising of the man towards heaven is a greater work than healing him of mere bodily disease. We should never leave a home without blessing it When Jesus Christ entered into a house it was known that he was there; his were not mere visits of courtesy, or attention to the claims of routine; wherever he went he took with him healing and manifold spiritual blessings. We are to do the same thing according to our capacity. In this case we see the servants standing behind the Master; Simon and Andrew and James and John were all there, but Jesus alone did the work. In our case, if we are the public figures in any work of mercy, it is only because our Master is concealed from the common vision. He is still there, still first; and it is only as we realise his presence and position that we can bless men.

The immediateness of Christ's cures ought to have some moral suggestion in it. Simon's wife's mother did not gradually recover from her affliction; she was cured instantly, and showed the extent of her recovery by immediately ministering to those who were in her house. In the spiritual world, why should not Jesus Christ heal men as suddenly as in the physical world? When men are spiritually healed, how long should they be before they make an attempt to serve others? It is quite true that there may be precipitancy in this matter of spiritual ministry; at the same time it should be remembered that every healed soul should prove its life by seeking to do some good thing for those who are round about. Here, as in everything else, the law holds good—By their fruits ye shall know them. Jesus Christ did not require that any body of men should examine the case to which he had just devoted himself, in order to procure a testimonial of efficiency; the service which the healed sufferer rendered was itself testimonial enough. We know that men have been with Christ when they are doing Christ's work: all other signs are inadequate; this is the absolute standard.

32. And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

33. And all the city was gathered together at the door.

34. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

The natural sun set, but the Sun of righteousness arose upon all those people with healing in his wings. In the evening, as well as in the morning, Jesus Christ was at work. Men come to Jesus Christ according to the urgency of their want These people felt that urgency in their physical nature rather than in their souls, consequently they approached Christ with a request that they might be healed. It is well if men can feel their want of Christ at any point. If men did but know it, they would find in their hunger and thirst, in their suffering and loss, grounds of appeal to Jesus Christ. It is not easy to work from the highest point of nature: men may not be conscious of great spiritual necessities, yet may feel wants of a lower kind; they begin with the lower and ascend to the higher; they who eat of the loaves and fishes should not leave Christ until they have eaten of the bread from heaven.

We are not to consider all this pressure upon Jesus Christ as an illustration of mere selfishness on the part of the sufferers and their friends. That would entirely depend upon their spirit; in the act of their coming to Christ there was nothing necessarily selfish. Men may come to Christ for spiritual advantages, and yet may charge themselves with selfish motives; at all events, the devil will not be slow to suggest that in coming to Christ for salvation men merely act upon a selfish instinct. Such an unclean spirit is to be resisted, and to bring down upon itself the admonition of holy anger. The selfishness will be seen afterwards if it really exists; to go to Christ that we should be healed ourselves, and then to say nothing about his gracious power to others, is to exhibit the intensest selfishness; but to go ourselves, and then make our own healing testimony in his favour, is to preach the Gospel, is to approach the benevolence of God himself.

By so much then may men test their own spirit; if they are content to enjoy what they term spiritual advantages without publishing the Saviour to others, they are justly chargeable with the most criminal selfishness. Gratitude will always make eloquent preachers.

The fact that Jesus Christ did not suffer the devils to speak shows his perfect dominion over the spiritual region. All devils are weak in the presence of the Saviour. They are mighty and terrible to us, because of our many infirmities; but in the presence of the bold man who is clothed with perfect holiness, all devils are infinitely weak. The lesson is evident: we are mighty only as we are in Christ.

35. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

There is something very touchingly illustrative of our Saviour's humanity in this verse: he could have prayed upon his couch; none might have known how close was his intercourse with God as he continued in the house; yet as he worked after the sun was set, so he departed to pray before the sun had risen! If the Master required to pray, can the servants live without communion with God? The subject suggested by this verse may be called Morning Devotion. To begin the day with God is the only method of setting one's self above all its events, and triumphing over them with perfect mastery. Our life will be poor if there be in it no solitary places where we pray. True life can never be developed among throngs and noises; we must betake ourselves into desert places; in a word, we must get away from men, and view life from such a distance as may be realised by intimate divine fellowship. As it is necessary for the artist to stand back from his work in order that he may see how it is shaping itself, so it is often necessary for us who are doing Christ's work to retire into solitary places that we may look at it from the altar of worship or perhaps from the valley of humiliation. How rapidly Christ lived! How he consumed himself in his ministry! This should be an appeal to Christians, calling them to enthusiasm and to vehemence in work. Jesus Christ did not remain in solitary places; he went to the sacred fountain that he might prepare himself to return to society, and do the work of the common day. A discourse might be founded upon these words, showing the religious uses of time. (1) Social service such as we have seen in the life of Christ. (2) Public ministry, in which crowds might enjoy our Christian teaching. (3) Sacred devotion, in which the soul will hold close intercourse with God.

These uses should not be separated one from the other; the teacher should show that all these uses really make up one true ministry. The incident may also be used to show the place of prayer in the earnest life. There is a sentimentalism which says work is prayer; so it is; and yet if we work without praying, our work will be powerless. Work is only prayer in so far as it is done in a prayerful spirit. He who works must pray, and he who truly prays must also work. In this verse the narrator uses a summary expression; he could only say that Jesus Christ prayed: what he says in his prayers, what entreaties he breathed on behalf of himself and his work, never can be known. There are also passages in our own life which can never be written; we ourselves have offered prayers which it is impossible to recall, so intense was their agony, so comprehensive their desire; yet, though unable to recall the intercession in detail, yet are strong in the memory that they were offered: the individual petitions have been forgotten, but the great exercise has strengthened, and the great answer nourished, the soul.

36. And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.

37. And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.

38. And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for therefore came I forth.

39. And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

The true disciple always knows where to find the Master: the disciples knew the habits of their Lord: they knew that in some hidden place he could be found in the early hours of the day; at all events they knew that Jesus Christ would be found in the path of usefulness or preparation for usefulness. Do men know where they can find us? Are our Christian habits so distinct and unchangeable that our friends can with certainty explain our position?

The picture in the37th verse is most impressive; viz, the picture of all men seeking for Jesus. What the disciples said in their wondering delight shall one day be literally true—all men will be in search of the Saviour of the world. In the first instance the Saviour sought all men, and in the second all men will seek the Saviour. "We love him because he first loved us." Instant response to the desire of the world, as shown in Christ's readiness still further to preach the Gospel. His object in life was undivided, and its unity was its omnipotence. We are only strong in proportion to the concentration of our powers. Wherever we are we ought to be within the sphere of our ministry; and it ought to be an easy transition from one department of duty to another: Jesus Christ knew wherefore he had come forth, and it is incumbent upon us that we too should know our mission in life. No man can work mightily and constantly except in so far as he has a distinct and worthy object before him: the object must stir his whole nature, and move him by an importunate compulsion amounting in fact to inspiration. When a man begins to question the utility or practicability of his object in life, he enfeebles himself. There are many questionable objects which men set before themselves; and it is our delight as Christian observers to mark how they break down, and how those who were pursuing them abandon them with sorrow and disgust. We have to set before all men an object sufficiently simple to engage the affections of the feeblest, and sufficiently sublime to absorb the energies of the strongest. Jesus Christ preached, and he called his servants to the same work. Preaching can never fail to be one of the mightiest instruments in stirring the human mind, and in moulding human society. Individual preachers may become feeble; even distinguished ministers may cool in the enthusiasm with which they undertook their great work; but preaching, as instituted by Jesus Christ, and exemplified in his own ministry, can never cease to be one of the most effective agencies in human education and progress. Preaching will be powerless except in proportion as it relates to Christ. We have a distinct Gospel to unfold; and if we are faithful to our calling, that Gospel will be found more than sufficient to supply our own want as preachers, and to meet all the necessities of the world. Jesus Christ preached and cast out devils, and we have to do the same thing. We may not meet the devil in the same form as that in which he presented himself during the personal ministry of Jesus Christ, but we have to meet him in all the subtlety, the insidiousness, and the terribleness of his unchanging and unchangeable nature. The preacher must make up his mind that there are still devils to be cast out; every man carries within him his own devil, some indeed carry legion. The only exorcist is the Saviour, and we are called to tell this fact, and to persuade men to avail themselves of his delivering power.

Under these verses might be shown the positive and the negative work of the Christian ministry; the positive work being to preach the Gospel, the negative to cast out devils. Great service would be done to humanity by fully developing the idea that all evil purposes and dispositions are to be associated distinctly with the name of the devil. We are to tell men, not merely that we seek to make them better by conducting them into the knowledge of new doctrines, but we are to take our stand before them as men who have come to deliver them from the personal power of the devil. There is hope of a man when he realises that he has actually been under Satanic dominion. So long as he looks upon his life as being blemished here and there, it is possible that he may have most inadequate ideas of the mission of Jesus Christ; but when he realises that he has actually been the habitation of the very devil, he may be led to cry out for the deliverance which the Gospel has come to effect. The realisation on the part of the minister that he has to counteract and destroy the devil will stimulate him to use his utmost endeavours to make full proof of his ministry. He has not only to cope with wrong notions, but with a diabolic personality; and if this conviction thoroughly possess him, he will of necessity cultivate ever-deepening fellowship with Jesus Christ, who alone has the power to break up the kingdom of Satan.

40. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

41. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said unto him, I will; be thou clean.

42. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

43. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away;

44. And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

45. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but as without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.

In the27th verse we found men putting questions regarding Jesus Christ's power; in the40th verse we find a poor sufferer seeking to avail himself of Jesus Christ's curative energy. This marks the great difference between various classes of society in relation to the work of the Saviour. One class is content with looking, wondering, and perhaps admiring; another class may test his power in direct personal experience. Let it be distinctly pointed out that it is not sufficient to wonder at the ministry of Jesus Christ. In this chapter we have seen some who were brought to the Saviour; in the40th verse we find a man who came to Jesus. Point out the blessedness of those who have others to conduct them to Jesus Christ; also point out the opportunity which each man has of making his own case known to Jesus Christ. This incident shows the trust which the ministry of the Saviour had inspired in the minds of sufferers, especially so in the case of the leper; the leper lived under the most terrible restrictions, yet his heart rose to the point of trust and love when he heard of the wonderful works of this new man. Others would have turned him away or would have run eagerly beyond his reach; but Jesus Christ, the undefiled and undefiling man, touched him, and recovered him of his leprosy. Regarding this incident as illustrative of the method of spiritual salvation, it should be distinctly shown that the leper put himself unreservedly, without any suggestion or wishes of his own, into the hands of the Healer. He did not wish to be a party to the active work of healing himself; he was content to be passive, to wait his Lord's will. It should also be shown that Jesus Christ instantly gave practical expression to his own deep pity and mercy; he delights in immediately answering prayer. When we appeal to his justice, his righteousness, his sovereignty, we may be held a long time waiting, that we may know more fully what is meant by these high terms; but when we come in weakness and poverty, crying to his compassion, his heart instantly moves towards us. The humble desire of suffering soon moves the heart of Jesus Christ. The third point that may be dwelt upon is the completeness of Christ's cure: immediately the leprosy departed from the man, and he was cleansed. Is our Christian state one of complete pardon and hope? It is not asked whether it is one of complete sanctification, that is a progressive work; but the work of pardon will bring with it an instantaneous assurance that the burden of guilt has been removed. The impossibility of silence under the influence of great blessing is here most vividly illustrated. The joy of thankfulness cannot always be controlled. Christians must speak. The explanation of a true ministry is found in this incident. When we have received the highest blessings from the hands of Christ, we feel an insatiable desire to tell others of the great results of our having met the Saviour. The45th verse shows how much can be done by the energy of one man. So much did the recovered leper publish his restoration, that Jesus Christ could no more openly enter into the city by reason of the multitude that thronged upon him, and by reason of the sensation which so great a miracle had created. Is there not in this incident an illustration of what we may do by being faithful to our convictions and impulses regarding the Son of God? Have we been healed without publishing the fact? Have we mentioned the fact of our conversion even to our dearest friend? Learn from the leper the possibility of so exciting a whole neighbourhood about personal recovery as to extend the name and bring blessings upon the gracious power of Jesus Christ.

The44th verse may be used for the purpose of showing how Jesus Christ brings men into the established laws and relations of his own government, even under circumstances which might seem to justify an exception to the usual course of things. In our highest moments of inspiration and delight we ought to be controlled by law. Even our ecstasy should be regulated where it might endanger the constancy and faithfulness of our life. Jesus Christ never dissociates the ministry from the preceding dispensations; he always heightens and consummates, he never destroys except by fulfilment, as the fruit destroys the blossom. The whole chapter might be used for the purpose of showing how possible it is for our Christian life to be sublime from the very beginning. This is the very first chapter in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet it is full of light; it might have been the last chapter, so crowded is it with incidents and good works. There are Christian people who are afraid of doing too much at the beginning; such people cannot have entered very deeply into the spirit of their Lord's enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Youthful Christians should be encouraged to work from the very moment of the beginning of their new life. The earnest man does not care about the artistic graduation of his services, he does not even consider such a possibility; instantly that Jesus Christ takes possession of his heart his whole life becomes consecrated to the service of true doctrine and practical philanthropy. This chapter gives a most terrible rebuke to the notion that men should come only gradually into high Christian engagements; no renewed heart can too soon begin to do the good works and bear the blessed fruits of Christian regeneration. On the other hand, it should be pointed out for the encouragement of such as have few opportunities for the development of Christian vocation, that they will be judged not by the more public services which their brethren may render, but by the position in life which they have been called providentially to occupy.