I. (1:1-13.) The Person who comes to serve. (i) 1-3. Promised. Mark's gospel does not begin with a genealogy, nor contain one. Love needs no title to serve, except the power. In the power which He is to serve man, when we consider the greatness of his need, the true dignity of Him who ministers becomes apparent. Thus Mark starts with His title in the forefront,-" The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." As this also He is announced by the prophets:it is Jehovah Himself whose way the predicted messenger bids prepare. Nor is this but a specimen; all former time has prophesied of Him.

(2) 4-8. Heralded. In fulfillment of this, John comes, and as remission of sins is the blessing to be brought, so it is by the baptism of repentance- in bowing to this-the way is to be prepared. And this is partially accomplished. Multitudes flock out to Jordan, the river of death, to acknowledge, in taking their place there, their just due, "confessing their sins." Separate as he himself is from the multitude in food and clothes, he proclaims a greater distance between himself and the One of whom he is but the unworthy herald. But his voice has in it here no note of denunciation:the baptism of fire is not found, as in Matthew; " He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost."

(3)9-11. Attested. Then the Lord comes Himself to submit Himself to the baptism of John, taking His place, in grace, in that death which was the due of others; and there He is sealed with the Spirit, the witness of a perfection which the Father's voice proclaims, along with the full divine dignity which is His:" Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." It is here not as in Matthew, however, a witness to the people, but to Himself, as the words show.

(4) 12, 13. Proved. Thus attested, He is "driven" by the Spirit into the wilderness, and is there for forty days tempted of Satan, and in circumstances of lowest humiliation, " with the wild beasts." At last, His perfection proved, ministered to by angels as to His bodily need, He is ready for His blessed service.

2. (1:14-3:6.)The character of His ministry.

(i) 1:14-20. The Word, and human instrumentality. His ministry begins with the presentation of the Word, with that gospel of which He is Himself the substance. This must of necessity be, of course, but it is well to notice it. John's message is confirmed, and his testimony-with a suited difference -taken up. Every new dispensation thus puts its seal on that which has gone before; while, throughout all, the Word maintains its place as the judge and arbitrator in every question that can arise. It is blessed to see the Lord Himself not refusing this test, but appealing to it on every occasion.

We next find Him gathering around Himself the human instruments, who, delivered themselves, are to be the means of delivering others. Men are to be fishers of men. How glorious here is the triumph of the gospel! how sweet and perfect the precious grace of God! It is, as another has said, "the fact in itself" that is given here; not the details, for it is the fact itself which is intended to have significance for us-a striking and blessed one.

(2) 1:21-39. The power of Satan met. In the next place, and first in the actual story of accomplished deliverance, we have the record of the power of Satan, man's terrible captor, met and foiled. It was the type of this which was the first sign by which Moses was to be made known to Israel as the deliverer raised up of God for them-the rod of power cast out of the hands of him to whom it belonged become a serpent, yet yielding itself with necessary submission to that hand put forth once more to claim it for its master. Man is captive in the grasp of one stronger than he. In the very synagogue is a man with an unclean spirit:terrible proof of Israel's condition! But the " Holy One of God"-tested and attested as this-has power to which the baffled enemy can only yield, the more unwillingly the more manifestly. The man is freed; and next, the diseases, so often his work, are healed, and we hear of devils every-where cast out. All men seek for Him; and He is found, having " risen up a great while before day," in a solitary place, in prayer. The pride of independence is the spirit of Satan. The Conqueror of Satan is the dependent One. It is thus Scripture, in its perfection, declares Him. Who would otherwise have dared to imagine it? Perfect Man as perfect God, how does His example speak to us in this!

(3) 1.40-45. Man's corruption cleansed. The root of man's condition is next reached; for leprosy is the well-known type of that for which it was so often inflicted-sin, as seen in its corruption, in its tendency to spread, in its contagious defilement, in its sure end which only God could avert. It is remarkable that here we have the second sign God gave to Moses; and here as there, though with how great a difference, the healing is by touch. It is the same story of redemption, however varied. Here how plain the assurance that to cleanse us from the sin by which we are inflicted there is needed, not simply the word of divine power, but the contact, so to speak, of incarnate deity! How wondrous this warm, assuring, health-giving touch! But the cross alone is that in which this " I will" of the blessed Lord could express itself; and in this it is He touches the leper. Who, more than he, could have imagined this " I will" ? (4) 2:1-12. Mans impotence removed. Next, and in perfect order, the impotence of man is met; and here, so beautifully, the place of human instrumentality is indicated. Powerless ourselves to heal or save, our one part is to bring the helpless one into the presence of Jesus. Is not this what must be the effect of all true preaching, as of all true prayer? and in both, is not faith the real worker? and does not Jesus still "see faith"?

Then the secret of power is, first of all, forgiveness. Power is not wanted to obtain forgiveness, but it is an after-result for those forgiven. Power is to be indeed the sign of this, as we see in the palsied man; but more, it is to be in the face of the blasphemies of unbelief a witness to Christ, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, as still He has. How vain to expect this, then, where no present forgiveness, perhaps no forgiveness on earth at all, is known!

(5) 2:13-22. The exchange of law for grace. But this involves much more, which the Lord now openly announces:it is indeed the secret grace all along now openly announced. He calls Matthew from the receipt of custom,-a publican, the very type of a sinner, and to be not merely a recipient of salvation, but a special messenger to declare it to others. A feast at Matthew's house would be well understood in its significance for publicans and sinners. The Pharisees find fault. " How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?" How perfect and beautiful the answer! how it encourages, and how it exposes at once!- " They that are whole are in no need of the physician, but they that are sick:I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

But this was the reason why for so many the joy of the Bridegroom's presence was unknown. How should they know it who had no need to be relieved by His hand-need that no other could more unwillingly the more manifestly. The man is freed; and next, the diseases, so often his work, are healed, and we hear of devils every-where cast out. All men seek for Him; and He is found, having " risen up a great while before day," in a solitary place, in prayer. The pride of independence is the spirit of Satan. The Conqueror of Satan is the dependent One. It is thus Scripture, in its perfection, declares Him. Who would otherwise have dared to imagine it? Perfect Man as perfect God, how does His example speak to us in this!

(3) 1.40-45. Man's corruption cleansed. The root of man's condition is next reached; for leprosy is the well-known type of that for which it was so often inflicted-sin, as seen in its corruption, in its tendency to spread, in its contagious defilement, in its sure end which only God could avert. It is remarkable that here we have the second sign God gave to Moses; and here as there, though with how great a difference, the healing is by touch. It * is the same story of redemption, however varied. Here how plain the assurance that to cleanse us from the sin by which we are inflicted there is needed, not simply the word of divine power, but the contact, so to speak, of incarnate deity! How wondrous this warm, assuring, health-giving touch! But the cross alone is that in which this " I will" of the blessed Lord could express itself; and in this it is He touches the leper. Who, more than he, could have imagined this " I will" ? (4) 2:1-12. Mans impotence removed. Next, and in perfect order, the impotence of man is met; and here, so beautifully, the place of human instrumentality is indicated. Powerless ourselves to heal or save, our one part is to bring the helpless one into the presence of Jesus. Is not this what must be the effect of all true preaching, as of all true prayer? and in both, is not faith the real worker? and does not Jesus still " see faith "?

Then the secret of power is, first of all, forgiveness. Power is not wanted to obtain forgiveness, but it is an after-result for those forgiven. Power is to be indeed the sign of this, as we see in the palsied man; but more, it is to be in the face of the blasphemies of unbelief a witness to Christ, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, as still He has. How vain to expect this, then, where no present forgiveness, perhaps no forgiveness on earth at all, is known!

(5) 2:13-22. The exchange of law for grace. But this involves much more, which the Lord now openly announces:it is indeed the secret grace all along now openly announced. He calls Matthew from the receipt of custom,-a publican, the very type of a sinner, and to be not merely a recipient of salvation, but a special messenger to declare it to others. A feast at Matthew's house would be well understood in its significance for publicans and sinners. The Pharisees find fault. " How is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?" How perfect and beautiful the answer! how it encourages, and how it exposes at once !- " They that are whole are in no need of the physician, but they that are sick:I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

But this was the reason why for so many the joy of the Bridegroom's presence was unknown. How should they know it who had no need to be relieved by His hand-need that no other could relieve? It is in the consciousness of sin that we learn grace, and in grace, the God who alone can show it. How readily a soul that has come to a genuine sense of utter ruin can distinguish the voice of Christ from every other! For a lost sinner, can there be two Christs? Here, in self-judgment, man escapes out of the devil's snare, and out of the perplexity in which so many are hopelessly involved, and enters into the light where God is! But the awful isolation of a soul on its way to God is gone in the new eternal joy of having found Him. How impossible to such an one the dull routine of legal ritualism! How could the disciples of the Lord fast like the Pharisees, or even John's disciples? The ignorance of the questioners was the gross spiritual darkness of those who knew neither themselves nor God. But in truth the legal righteousness could not be patched with the new gospel one, nor the wine of this new spiritual joy be put into the forms of the old ordinances. The new wine must find new skins to hold it. Judaism with its forms was now to pass away.

(6) 2:23-28. Mans need beyond ordinances. With this the question of the Sabbath' necessarily connects. The Pharisees find fault with the disciples for plucking the ears of corn on the Sabbath day. The Lord brings forward, as in Matthew, the example of David; but He presses specially the point of need-"when he had need,"-and adds the words, so decisive, and so characteristic of Mark, " The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath;" and that "-therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." Man's need is more with God than the maintenance of ordinances, as ministers to which in fact they were even ordained. To the "Son of Man," therefore, become that in pitying recognition of that need, and to relieve it, the Sabbath itself is subject.

(7) 3:1-6. The prerogative of good. In the case of the man that had the withered hand is added another consideration, more closely appealing to the conscience,-the prerogative of good. " Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?" They hold their peace, guiltily silent where the case was clear. The Lord answers His own question by healing the man.

3. (3:7-5:) Results.

(i) 3:7-19. "Whom He would.". The results of His work in detail are now to be brought before us. And here we must remember, and as of wider application, the words prophetically spoken of Him by Isaiah as to Israel:"Then I said, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for naught, and in vain:' yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." Not only was it true of Israel, but all through the present time, apparent failure attaches to His work. Until He comes again in the clouds of heaven, the world remains the scene of His rejection, and none the less because whole countries are covered with nominal Christianity. Heaven is filling indeed with the fruits of His travail. The salvation of countless multitudes has not failed, but on earth we shall find His own warning words assuring us of what must be owned as failure. Yet neither His power fails nor His love. The end shall surely speak for Him; but in the meanwhile, faith and patience are needed constantly.

In the opening verses here, multitudes proclaim His power and goodness, and we find Him taking measures for the extension of His ministry by means of His disciples. No power can possibly be lacking to Him who is in His humiliation the Servant of the eternal counsels of divine love itself:"He calleth unto Him whom He would, and they came unto Him." He serves here who is sovereign. "And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach"-again the Word of God takes its place in His thoughts-" and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." A divine place is here assumed, for who could give authority of this kind except God Himself? But it is in service that it is displayed,-in love that has made Him serve.

(2) 3:20-30. Rejection. But from the outset, and most manifestly, He is the rejected One. His very kindred treat Him as out of His mind, and would lay hold of Him; while the scribes, with malignant wickedness, ascribe the glorious works, which it was impossible for them to deny, to the power of Satan. The Lord rebukes them with the unanswerable argument that Satan could not be divided against himself, and warns them that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost would never be forgiven.

(3) 3:31-35. The link with Christ spiritual, not natural. Upon this, His mother and His brethren come, and, standing without, send unto Him, calling Him. He uses this to declare the true link of relationship with Himself as spiritual-a link which the new dispensation was openly to make known. Subject Himself to, and supremely delighting in, the will of God, it is he who does that will who is brother, sister, mother, to Him. The consequence of His rejection by the world is the necessary separation of His people from it.

(4) 4:1-34. The Word testing men, and faith in it the only possible condition of bearing fruit. A dispensational change, then, is now announced; but even here it is the moral character that is insisted on. The Word of God dropped into the heart of men tests the state it finds, and faith is the indispensable condition of fruit-bearing-of this relation with Christ. In fact, three parts of what is sown are destroyed by the influence of the devil, the flesh, and the world. And this in the kingdom of God, outside of Israel, to the nation to which as a whole "all these things are done in parables." " These are they which are sown on good ground:such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit;" though here also, alas! in different measures, for the influence of these opposing forces is but too plainly felt.

The rest of the parables given in Matthew are omitted in Mark, save one, and that very evidently in moral connection. On the other hand, we have one added here that no other gospel gives, and which plainly enforces the lesson of responsibility, which the Lord inculcates in plain words at this point. There is nothing hid which shall not be manifested, nor kept secret, but to come abroad at last. To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken even that he hath. The kingdom of God itself is to be committed into the hands of men, as if He who begins thus the seed-sowing were asleep, or ignorant of all they did. Yet the harvest will come, and the hand of the first Sower will put in the sickle. In the meantime it will have changed form and character, and grown into the likeness of a kingdom of the world. This is a parable to many still, and yet the fulfillment is before the eyes of all. " If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."

These four sections give the result of Christ's work which are manifest and external. We now pass to three which give us more what is internal and spiritual-the divine view; and this is as well known, the common division, and common character of the division, of such sevens.

(5) 4:35-41. The security of faith amid whatever peril. The first of these results is the perfect security of those who are with Christ, whatever the seeming peril. Faith, alas! may fail, and does often, how miserably! Did they think the waters had power to engulf the Lord? He may seem asleep while the storm rages, but if with Him- and let our only care be practically to be with Him,-He on the throne of heaven is embarked with us in the vessel, and no wave can rise over the throne of God!

(6) 5:1-20. Deliverance, rest, clothing, and a right mind. Four precious things come now together, and who has words to tell their worth?

First, deliverance from Satan's bondage; in which naturally all are, although not as obviously as the Gadarene demoniac. His condition is most striking, dwelling among the tombs,-and the earth to which men cling is more a place of the dead than of the living; impossible to be kept bound, or to be tamed,-and so are all laws and civilizing processes unable to restrain or tame Satan's poor captives. Then," cutting himself with stones," self-torturer, and looking upon the Son of God as a tormentor! The deliverance is complete, decisive; then, what a change! Restlessness has given place to repose; his nakedness is clothed; his mind is cleared. How he clings to that dear Lord his Saviour, and would fain be with Him! but the word for the present is, " Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."

(7) 5:21-43. Life out of death. Finally, we have, as in Matthew, (but here, surely, not with a dispensational meaning as in Matthew,) two histories intertwined. In Jairus' daughter we have man's state in its full reality discovered, his deepest need which must be met. The Lord is here the life-giver; and He is "declared the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by resurrection of the dead." The dead hears the voice of the Son of God, and lives. This is the divine side, and man is necessarily merely passive and recipient. But there is another side, and this, it seems to me, the woman with the issue represents. Here, faith relies upon the Saviour for its need, and the issue is staunched. To adjust these things fully-the divine and human sides-may transcend our power, but both have their place.