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the Father. So that the mystery of His name Emmanuel (with which, as Stier remarks, this Gospel begins and ends) is fulfilled-God is with us. And-all the (appointed) days-for they are numbered by the Father, though by none but Him. unto the end of the world

that time of which they had heard in so many parables, and about which they had asked, ch. xxiv. 3-literally, the completion of the state of time. After that, He will be no more properly speaking with us, but we with Him (John xvii. 24) where He is.

To understand with you only of the Apostles and their (?) successors, is to destroy the whole force of these most weighty words. The command is to the UNIVERSAL CHURCH-to be performed, in the nature of things, by her ministers and teachers, the manner of appointing which is not here prescribed, but to be learnt in the unfoldings of Providence recorded in the Acts of the Apos

tles, who by his special ordinance were the founders and first builders of that Church

but whose office, on that very account, precluded the idea of succession or renewal. That St. Matthew does not record the fact or manner of the Ascension, is not to be used as a ground for any presumptions regarding the authenticity of the records of it which we possess. The narrative here is suddenly brought to a termination: that in John ends with an express declaration of its incompleteness. What reasons there may have been for the omission, either subjective, in the mind of the author of the Gospel, or objective, in the fragmentary character of the apostolic reports which are here put together, it is wholly out of our power, in this age of the world, to determine. As before remarked, the fact itself is here and elsewhere in this Gospel (see ch. xxii. 44; xxiv. 30; xxv. 14, 31; xxvi. 64) clearly implied.

THE GOSPEL

ACCORDING TO

MARK.

a

a Matt. xiv. 33. I. 1 THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son

Luke 85.

John i. 34.

b MAL. iii. 1. Matt. xi. 10.

C ISA. xl. 3.

b

of God. 2 As it is written in a the prophets, Behold, I send Luke vii. 27. my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee]. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4c John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judæa, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; e Acts xiii. 25. 7 and preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than

d Lev. xi. 22.

a read, Esaias the prophet.

с

e

bomit.

read, John the Baptist was in the wilderness preaching.

N.B. Throughout Mark, the parallel places in Matthew are to be consulted. Where the agreement is verbal, or nearly so, no notes are here appended.

CHAP. I. 1-8.] THE PREACHING AND BAPTISM OF JOHN. Matt. iii. 1-12. Luke iii. 1-17. The object of St. Mark being to relate the official life and ministry of our Lord, he begins with His baptism; and as a necessary introduction to it, with the preaching of John the Baptist. His account of John's baptism has many phrases in common with both Matthew and Luke; but from the additional prophecy quoted in ver. 2, is certainly independent and distinct (see Introduction to the Gospels). 1. beginning] This is probably a title to what follows, as Matt. i. 1, and not connected with ver. 4, nor with ver. 2. It is

simpler, and gives more majesty to the opening, to put a period at the end of ver. 1, and make the citation from the prophet a new and confirmatory title.

80

of Jesus Christ] as its Author, or as its Subject, as the context may determine. Here probably it is the latter and will mean, the glad tidings concerning Jesus Christ. 2, 3.] The citation here is from two prophets, Isa. and Mal.; see reff. The fact will not fail to be observed by the careful and honest student of the Gospels. Had the citation from Isaiah stood first, it would have been of no note, as Meyer observes. Consult notes on Matt. xi. 10; iii. 3. 4.] See

on Matt. iii. 1. the baptism of repentance, the baptism symbolic of repentance and forgiveness-of the death unto sin, and

16: xix. 4. g Isa. xliv. S. Acts ii. 4:

.

45: xi. 15,

16. see 1 Cor. xii. 13.

I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8fI indeed have baptized you fActs 1.5: xi. with water but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 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 h Ps. ii. 7. I am well pleased. 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. 14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, d render, cleft asunder.

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new birth unto righteousness. The former
of these only comes properly into the
notion of John's baptisin, which did not
confer the Holy Spirit, ver. 8. 7.] to
stoop down and unloose.
the expres
sion is common to Mark, Luke, and John
(i. 27). It amounts to the same as bear-
ing the shoes-for he who did the last
would necessarily be also employed in
loosing and taking off the sandal. But

the variety is itself indicative of the inde-
pendence of Matthew and Mark of one
another. St. John used the two expres-
sions at different times, and our witnesses
have reported both. Stoop down is added
by St. Mark, who, as we shall find, is more
minute in circumstantial detail than the
other Evangelists. 8.] Matthew and
Luke add "and fire."
9-11.] JESUS IS BAPTIZED BY HIM.
Matt. iii. 13-17. Luke iii. 21, 22. 9.]
from Nazareth is contained here only.
The words with which this account is in-
troduced, express indefiniteness as to time.
It was (Luke iii. 21) after all the people
were baptized: see note there. The
commencement of this Gospel has no marks
of an eye-witness: it is the compendium
of generally current accounts. 10.]
straightway (immediately) is a favourite
connecting word with Mark. St. Mark
has here taken the oral account verbatim,
and applied it to Jesus, He saw,' &c.—
and him must mean himself: otherwise
we must understand John before saw, and
take coming up as pendent, which is very
improbable. The construction of the
sentence is a remarkable testimony of the
independence of Mark and Matthew even

e read, thee.

ch. ix. 7.

when parts of the narrative agree verbatim.
See note on Matt. iii. 16.
cleft asun-
der] Peculiar to Mark; and more descrip-
tive than "opened," Matthew, Luke.

12, 13.] TEMPTATION OF JESUS. Matt. iv. 1-11. Luke iv. 1-13. 12, 13.] drive lead up Matthew, lead Luke. It is a more forcible word than either of these to express the mighty and cogent impulse of the Spirit. Satan: the devil, Matthew, Luke: see note, Matt. iv. 1.

It seems to have been permitted to the evil one to tempt our Lord during the whole of the 40 days, and of this we have here, as in Luke, an implied assertion. The additional intensity of temptation at the end of that period, is expressed in Matthew by the tempter coming to Him-becoming visible and audible. Perhaps the being with the beasts may point to one form of temptation, viz. that of terror, which was practised on Him-but of the inward trials, who may speak? There is nothing here to contradict the fast spoken of in Matthew and Luke, as some have maintained. Our Evangelist perhaps implies it in the last words of ver. 13. It is remarkable that those Commentators who are fondest of maintaining that Mark constructed his narrative out of those of Matthew and Luke, are also most keen in pointing out what they call irreconcilable differences between him and them. No apportionment of these details to the various successive parts of the temptation is given by our Evangelist. They are simply stated to have happened, compendiously.

14, 15.] JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY. Matt. iv. 12-17. Luke iv. 14, 15.

Gal. iv. 4.

Eph. i. 10.

i

preaching the gospel [ of the kingdom] of God, 15 and i Dan. ix. 25. saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye, and believe the gospel. 16 Now as he h 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 k Matt. xix. 27. 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. 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 8 omitted by many ancient authorities. hread, passed along.

:

14, 15] See notes on Matt. iv. 12. delivered up] This seems to have been the usual and well-known term for the imprisonment of John. The time is fulfilled] See Gal. iv. 4.

"The end of the old covenant is at hand; . . . . the Son is born, grown up, anointed (in his baptism), tempted, gone forth, the testimony of his witness is given, and now He witnesses Himself; now begins that last speaking of God, by His Son, (Heb. i. 1), which henceforth shall be proclaimed in all the world till the end comes." Stier.

and be

lieve the gospel] These words are in Mark only. They furnish us an interesting characteristic of the difference between the preaching of John, which was that of repentance-and of our Lord, which was repentance and faith. It is not in Himself as the Saviour that this faith is yet preached this He did not proclaim till much later in his ministry: but in the fulfilment of the time and approach of the kingdom of God.

:

16-20.] CALLING OF PETER, ANDREW, JAMES, AND JOHN. Matt. iv. 18-22. Almost verbatim as Matthew. The variations are curious: after Simon, Mark omits which was called Peter :-although_the_name was prophetically given by our Lord before this, in John i. 43, it perhaps was not actually given, till the twelve became a distinct body, see ch. iii. 16.

The "walked by" and the "casting a net into the sea are noticed by Meyer as belonging to the graphic delineation which this Evangelist loves. 19.] who also, as well

as the former pair of brothers. It belongs
only to" in the ship," not to the following
clause. 20.] with the hired servants
is inserted for particularity, and perhaps
to soften the leaving their father alone.
It gives us a view of the station of life of
Zebedee and his sons; they were not poor
fishermen, but had hired servants. May
we not venture to say that both these
accounts came from Peter originally? St.
Matthew's an earlier one, taught (or given
in writing perhaps) without any definite
idea of making it part of a larger work;
but this carefully corrected and rendered
accurate, even to the omitting the name
Peter, which, though generally known,
and therefore mentioned in the oral ac-
count, was perhaps not yet formally given,
and must be omitted in the historical.
21-28.] HEALING OF A DEMONIAC IN
THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPERNAUM. Luke
iv. 31-37.
21.] Not immediately
after the preceding. The calling of the
Apostles, the Sermon on the Mount, the
healing of the leper, and of the centurion's
servant, precede the following miracle.

22.] A formula occurring entire at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. vii. 28, and the first clause of it,-and, in substance, the second also,-in the corresponding place to this in Luke iv. 32. 23-28.] This account occurs in Luke iv. 33-37, nearly verbatim: for the variations, see there. It is very important for our Lord's official life, as shewing that He rejected and forbade all testimony to his Person, except that which He came on

them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, [i Let us alone;] what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of 1 Matt. viii. 29. Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee

who thou art, the Holy One of God. 25 And Jesus m re- m ver. 34. buked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

n

26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried n ch. ix. 20. with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, 1 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. 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. 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;

i omitted by many authorities.

render, didst.

1 many ancient authorities read, What is this? new doctrine with au

thority he commandeth even, &c.

:

earth to give. The dæmons knew Him, but were silenced. (See Matt. viii. 29; ch. v. 7.) It is of course utterly impossible to understand such a testimony as that of the sick person, still less of the fever or disease. of Nazareth] We may observe that this epithet often occurs under strong contrast to His Majesty and glory; as here, and ch. xvi. 6, and Acts ii. 22-24; xxii. 8; and, we may add, John xix. 19. us, generic: the dæmons having a common cause. Bengel. torn him] perhaps more properly, convulsed him. Luke adds, that he did not injure him at all. 28.] This miracle, which St. Mark and St. Luke relate first of all, is not stated by them to have been the first. Compare John ii. 11.

29-34.] HEALING OF SIMON'S MOTHERIN-LAW. Matt. viii. 14-17. Luke iv. 38-41. The three accounts, perhaps from

a common source (but see notes on Luke),
are all identical in substance, but very
diverse in detail and words.
31.] left
her, of the fever, is common to all, and
ministered unto them (or him), but no more.
The same may be said of vv. 32-34:-the
words of ver. 33 are added in our text,
shewing the accurate detail of an eye-
witness, as also does the minute specification
of the house, and of the two accompany-
ing our Lord, in ver. 29. Observe the dis-
tinction between the sick and the dæmo-
niacs compare ch. iii. 15. Observe also
many in both cases, in connexion with the
statement that the sun had set. There
was not time for all. Meyer, who notices
this, says also that in some the conditions
of healing may have been wanting. But
we do not find this obstacle existing on
other occasions: compare Matt. iv. 24;
xii. 15; xiv. 14: Acts v. 16. On the not

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