Till they see the kingdom of God come with power ( ). In 8:38 Jesus clearly is speaking of the second coming. To what is he referring in 9:1? One is reminded of Mark 13:32; Matt 24:36 where Jesus expressly denies that anyone save the Father himself (not even the Son) knows the day or the hour. Does he contradict that here? It may be observed that Luke has only “see the kingdom of God,” while Matthew has “see the Son of man coming” (, present participle, a process). Mark has “see the kingdom of God come” (, perfect active participle, already come) and adds “with power.” Certainly the second coming did not take place while some of those standing there still lived. Did Jesus mean that? The very next incident in the Synoptic Gospels is the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon. Does not Jesus have that in mind here? The language will apply also to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the great Day of Pentecost. Some see in it a reference to the destruction of the temple. It is at least open to question whether the Master is speaking of the same event in Mark 8:38; Mark 9:1.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

HIS TRANSFIGURATION WITNESSES V. 1-13

1) “And He said unto them,” (kai elegen autois) “And He stated to them,” to the masses who were listening and to His disciples, Mar 8:34; Mat 16:24.

2) “Verily I say unto you,” (amen lego humin) “Truly I tell you all,” specifically addressing His disciples standing nearer Him.

3) “That there be some of them that stand here,” (hoti eisin tines hode ton hestekoton) “That there are certain of those standing here now,” standing before Him physically.

4) “Which shall not taste death,” (ointines ou me geusontai thanatou) “Who may by no means (shall not) taste or experience death,” who will not die, for a protected time period, of at least six days, Mar 9:2.

5) ”Till they have seen,” (heos an idosin) “Until they shall see,” perceive or recognize, Mat 17:2; 2Pe 1:6-18.

6) “The kingdom of God come with power.” (ton basileian tou theou eleluthuian en dunamei) ”The kingdom of God having come in power,” in a manifestation of kingdom power, entering by a resurrection or transfiguration of her citizenry, also recounted Mat 17:1-9; Luk 9:27-36. This alluded to His forthcoming transfiguration.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES

Mar. 8:27. Csarea Philippi.This picturesquely situated town, originally called Paneas, after a cavern dedicated to Pan in its neighbourhood, was enlarged and fortified by Herod Philip, who also renamed it in honour of the emperor. Then, to distinguish it from the Csarea on the Mediterranean coastthe seat of the Roman government, where Cornelius lived and Paul suffered imprisonmentit was styled Csarea Philippi. The name was again changed to Neronias by Agrippa II., as a compliment to his imperial patron; but the original appellation still survives in the modern Banias.

Mar. 8:31. After three days.Only another form for on the third dayone complete day, with a portion of another day (no matter how small a portion) on either side. Cf. Gen. 42:17-18, LXX.; also Mat. 27:63-64.

Mar. 8:32. Openly.Explicitly, and not by dark hints as heretofore (Joh. 2:19; Joh. 3:14; Mar. 2:20; Joh. 6:51).

Mar. 8:34. Whosoever will come.If any one wishes to come.

Mar. 8:35. Will save.May wish to save.

Mar. 8:36-37. Soul.Life: same word as in Mar. 8:35.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mar. 8:27-38, and Chap. Mar. 9:1

(PARALLELS: Mat. 16:13-28; Luk. 9:18-27.)

Christs catechism.

I. Christ is such as to cause the world to think of Him.

1.

Because He professes to be the Saviour whom the world had long expected.

2.

Because His appearance did not correspond with the worlds expectations.

3.

Because the advent of a Saviour was the worlds great need.

II. Christ is interested in what the world thinks of Him.

1. He recognised the worlds ability to form an idea of Him.
2. He had laboured to impart to the world a correct idea of Him.
3. He was conscious that the world had formed an idea of Him.
4. He seeks information of the result of His own teaching and the worlds learning from the most reliable source.

III. Christ is differently thought of by the world.

1. He had imparted to the world an impression of superiority. A great prophet.
2. The world had failed to perceive the unique character of His greatness. Only a great man.
3. This failure had its source in the union of Godhead with manhood.

IV. Christ is wishful that right ideas of Himself should exist in the world.

1. He had been qualifying His followers to teach them.
2. He opportunely tests their mastery of them.
3. He ascertains the successful implantation of them.B. D. Johns.

Mar. 8:34. The necessity of self-denial.We ought to attach more than ordinary importance to this saving of our Lord, because it is evident that He Himself laid great stress on it. He had been conversing apart with His disciples, and particularly with Peter; and something that Peter said gave Him occasion to insist on this truth. He would not, however, address it privately to him or to the small band of His immediate followers, but He summoned the multitude to attend to Him, marking by this circumstance as strongly as possible the importance of what He was about to say: Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. He enforced the same truth again and again (Mat. 10:38; Luk. 14:27). And is not the declaration in itself calculated to arouse our attention? If we know that there is anything without which we cannot be true followers of Christ, it surely ought to be well considered by us, because the very life and salvation of our souls must depend on it. Let us then take earnest heed to what Christ here says to us: let us consider well what that is which He declares to be necessary in order to prove our claim to be His disciples; nor let us rest till we have this evidence that we belong to Himtill this seal, as it were, is visibly set upon us to mark us out as His disciples indeed. The text requires but few words by way of explanation. To deny oneself is to refuse indulgence to our desires, not to do what we would naturally, wish to doto put a restraint upon ourselves, to withhold from any of our appetites that which would gratify them, and to act differently in any case to what nature would incline us.

I. Self-denial is necessary in order that we may prove our love and fidelity to Christ.

1. A service which costs us nothing affords no very certain evidence of our attachment to any one. Now Christ would have us give proof of our loyalty and attachment to Him. He requires it of us as a positive duty to give up something, to make some sacrifice for Him, to oppose our inclinations in some way or other, in order that we may ascertain whether indeed love to His name is a strong and ruling principle within us.
2. There are many who are well enough disposed to the religion of Christ till it prescribes this duty. They appear willingly to hear the Scripture, to join in prayer, and to observe holy ordinances; and they will do many things which would seem to indicate an earnestness and zeal in the cause of Christ; but they draw back when called to the difficult exercise of self-denial. But what is the value of a service which cautiously avoids all toil and difficulty? Where is the proof of our being sincere in the love of an object if we will encounter no hardship to attain it? We see men ready to practise much self-denial and to think little of it in any matter in which their hearts are engaged. Look, for example, at the man whose ambition it is to prosper in business. What a life of self-denial is his! He labours even to weariness, rises early, late takes rest, eats the bread of carefulness, denies his nature the rest that it needs, and refuses many enjoyments which he would be glad to partake but that they would hinder him in the object that he has in view. Even the man of pleasure must in the pursuit of his object often use self-denial: he must put a restraint on himself at times, and refuse a less pleasure for the present, however strongly his wishes may incline to it, in order to obtain a greater one in prospect. Nay, even the customary civilities of society impose on us frequent self-denial. A man will often deny himself, will often refrain from doing what he would otherwise wish to do, in order to observe the rules of good breeding and courtesy. If then we are content in the pursuit of business or of pleasure to deny ourselves, if we are willing and able to practise it in order that we may observe the decent courtesies of life and be esteemed well mannered in society, what must be said of us if we refuse to practise it for Christs sake, if we can use self-denial on other occasions and for other purposes readily, and only feel it too irksome when called on to use it for the purpose of pleasing Him? What must be said of us but that the love of God is not in us?

II. Self-denial is necessary to the due discharge of our duties.For many of these we cannot perform except at the expense of denying ourselves.

1. How can the rich relieve the poor as they ought, or how can the poor as they ought befriend each other, except they deny themselves for each others sake? We must in part sacrifice our own ease, we must give up our own way, we must abridge our own enjoyments, if we would do good to others according to the will of Christ. Bear ye one anothers burdens. This is His law; and it is evident that we cannot pretend to fulfil it except we deny ourselves. Look not, saith the apostle, every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others; and then he adds, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, inasmuch as His Divine conduct furnishes the best example of self-denying charity. Not a single day passes which will not furnish many occasions for this: nay, not an hours intercourse with our fellow-men but will afford us opportunities of denying ourselves,by giving up, for instance, our own wishes, and yielding to the wishes of another; by taking the lowest room, or choosing the least desirable lot; by securing the comfort or ease or honour of those about us at some sacrifice on our own part; by putting a restraint upon our feelings; by imposing silence on our tongue, refusing it the licence which it loves, not allowing it to utter words that may do hurt, not answering again, nor resenting wrong, nor resisting evil. In a thousand ways which only a watchful conscience can discover, and which no one may be privy to but God Himself, we may do what our Lord here commands us. Our daily course, under the most ordinary circumstances, may become a course of virtuous self-renunciationa course of habitual obedience to the injunction in the text, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
2. There are at the present day great efforts made by the Church for the extension of the Lords kingdom among men, for propagating both at home and abroad the gospel of the grace of God. These efforts cannot be sustained except by the free-will offerings of Christiansthey must be given up unless the members of the Church liberally give of their substance for their support. These multiplying demands on Christians cannot possibly be answered unless they contrive in some way to lessen their personal expenses, to spend less on self-indulgence, to save somewhat more by self-denial. Then, and not till then, will the resources of the Church be adequately replenished, and means be supplied her sufficient for carrying on her great designs of training her own children in the service and worship of God, and of preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

III. Self-denial is necessary for the purification of our minds.

1. As we were born in sin, and our nature is consequently corrupt, it must be watched over, restrained, and subdued. Our innate propensities are all on the side of evil, and if any of them gain the mastery over us we are thereby brought into bondage to sin. Now the only way to prevent this is to mortify these propensities, to deny them indulgence, to oppose them at their first rising, however earnest and importunate they may be, and by an act of self-denial to put a restraint upon them. The will grows unruly if it be not crossed; the soul is weakened by self-indulgence; faith languishes when the senses are unceasingly gratified; the affections will not rise to things above if we grant them unrestricted enjoyment of things on earth. Therefore it is that a Christian should be watchful for opportunities of exercising self-control, and not wait till his desires point to something absolutely unlawful. He should, for instance, make his ordinary meals occasions for doing so, learning to keep in check the lower appetites of his nature in the common matter of meat and drink. He should observe the same in reference to dress, refusing indulgence to himself in things which might awaken vanity and stimulate strongly the lust of the eye. In many ways, from which he will not receive the least taint of asceticism, nor do any rude violence to nature, or obscure to himself the blessed truth that God giveth us all things richly to enjoy, he may deny himself and bring his desires under control.
2. Whenever the exercise of self-denial is spoken of, there naturally arises in the mind a repugnance to it, on account of the difficulty of it and the pain which attends it. But let us not give way to this repugnance, seeing the necessity of self-denial is so absolute.
(1) The exercise is difficult doubtlessvery difficult; but think not that we are left to encounter the difficulty alone, to meet it in the feebleness of our own nature. No, God will give us His Holy Spirit if we ask Him, and with His Divine co-operation we shall be able to do what otherwise would not only be difficult but impossible.

(2) With regard to the pain of it, it is granted that it must be painful, more or less so, always. The very word implies it. But is not pain suffered for Christ and in His service better than ease secured by deserting Him? Is not pain met with in the performance of duty more to be prized than the ease which is sought in the neglect of it? Is not pain endured in seeking the purification of our nature better a thousandfold than the indulgence which must complete its debasement? Besides, the pain is but momentary, the advantage that flows from it lasting. See Rom. 8:13. The faithful soldier and servant of Christ who manfully engages in this warfare shall hereafter share his Lords triumph and enter into His rest (Rev. 3:21).G. Bellett.

Mar. 8:27-30. Christs Gross, and ours.This section has the announcement of the Cross as its centre, prepared for on the one hand by a question, and followed on the other by a warning that His followers must travel the same road.

I. The preparation for the announcement of the Cross (Mar. 8:27-30).

1. Why did Christ begin by asking about the popular judgment of His personality? Apparently in order to bring clearly home to the disciples that, as far as the masses were concerned, His work and theirs had failed, and had for net result total misconception. Who that had the faintest glimmer of what He was could suppose that the stern, fiery spirits of Elijah or John had come to life again in Him?
2. The second question, But whom say ye that I am? with its sharp transition, is meant to force home the conviction of the gulf between His disciples and the whole nation. Mark, too, that this is the all-important question for every man. Our own individual thought of Him determines our whole worth and fate.
3. How did these questions and their answers serve as introduction to the announcement of the Cross?
(1) They brought clearly before the disciples the hard fact of Christs rejection by the popular voice, and defined their position as sharply antagonistic. A rejected Messiah could not fail to be, sooner or later, a slain Messiah.
(2) Then clear, firm faith in His Messiahship was needed to enable them to stand the ordeal to which the announcement, and still more its fulfilment, would subject them.
(3) Again, the significance and worth of the Cross could only be understood when seen in the light of that great confession.
4. The charge of silence contrasts singularly with the former employment of the apostles as heralds of Jesus. The silence was partly punitive and partly prudential.
(1) It was punitive, inasmuch as the people had already had abundantly the proclamation of His gospel, and had cast it away.
(2) It was prudential, in order to avoid hastening on the inevitable collision; not because Christ desired escape, but because He would first fulfil His day.

II. The announcement of the Cross (Mar. 8:31-33).There had been many hints before this; for Christ saw the end from the beginning. His death was before Him, all through His days, as the great purpose for which He had come. How much more gracious and wonderful His quick sympathy, His patient self-forgetfulness, His unwearied toil, shew against that dark background!

1. Mark here the solemn necessity. Why must He suffer? The cords which bind this sacrifice to the horns of the altar were not spun by mens hands. The great must which ruled His life was a cable of two strandsobedience to the Father, and love to men. He would save; therefore He must die. The same must stretches beyond death. Christ that died is no gospel until you go on to say, Yea, rather, that is risen again.
2. Peters rash rebuke, like most of his appearances in the Gospel, is strangely compounded of warm-hearted, impulsive love and presumptuous self-confidence. He found fault with Christ. For what? Probably for not trusting to His followers arms, or for letting Himself become a victim to the must which Peter thought of as depending only on the power of the ecclesiastics in Jerusalem. He blames Christ for not hoisting the flag of a revolt. This blind love was the nearest approach to sympathy which Christ received; and it was repugnant to Him, so as to draw the sharpest words from Him that He ever spoke to a loving heart. Not thus was He wont to repel ignorant love, nor to tell out faults in public; but the act witnessed to the recoil of His fixed spirit from the temptation which addressed His natural human shrinking from death, as well as to His desire that, once for all, every dream of resistance by force should be shattered. Note that it may be the work of Satan to appeal to the things that be of men, however innocent, if by so doing obedience to Gods will is hindered. Note, too, that Simon may be Peter at one moment and Satan at the next.

III. The announcement of the Cross as the law for the disciples too (Mar. 8:34-38).Christs followers must follow, but men can choose whether they will be His followers or not. So the must is changed into let him, and the if any man will is put in the forefront. The conditions are fixed, but the choice of accepting the position is free.

1. The law for every disciple is self-denial and taking up his cross. This does not merely mean accepting meekly God-sent or men-inflicted sorrows, but persistently carrying on the special form of self-denial which my special type of character requires. It will include these other meanings, but it goes deeper than they.

2. The first of the reasons for the law in Mar. 8:35 is a paradox, and a truth with two sides. To wish to save is to lose life; to lose it for Christs sake is to save it. Flagrant vice is not needed to kill the real life. Clean, respectable selfishness does the work effectually. The deadly gas is invisible and has no smell. But while all selfishness is fatal, it is self-surrender and sacrifice, for My sake and the gospels, which is life-giving.

3. The for of Mar. 8:36 seems to refer back to the law in Mar. 8:34, and the verse enforces the command by an appeal to self-interest, which in the highest sense of the word dictates self-sacrifice. The men who live for self are dead, as Christ has been saying. A man gets rich, and in the process has dropped generous impulses, affections, interest in noble things, perhaps principle and religion. He has shrivelled and hardened into a mere fragment of himself; and so, when success comes, he cannot much enjoy it, and was happier, poor and sympathetic, and enthusiastic and generous, than he is now, rich and dwindled. He who loses himself in gaining the world does not win it, but is mastered by it.

4. A wholesome contempt for the worlds cackle is needed for following Christ. The geese on the common hiss at the passer-by who goes steadily through the flock. How grave and awful is that irony, if we may call it so, which casts the retribution in the mould of the sin! The Judge shall be ashamed of such unworthy disciplesshall blush to own such as His. May we venture to put stress on the fact that He does not say that He will reject them?
5. How marvellous the transition from the prediction of the Cross to this of the Throne! We do not know Jesus unless we know Him as the crucified Sacrifice for the worlds sins, and as the exalted Judge of the worlds deeds.
6. He adds a weighty word of enigmatical meaning, lest any should think that He was speaking only of some far-off judgment. The destruction of Jerusalem seems to be the event intended. It was a kind of rehearsal, or picture in little, of that coming and ultimate great day of the Lord, and was meant to be a sign that it should surely come.A. Maclaren, D.D.

Mar. 8:36-37. The loss of the soul.

I. The character of some of those who may be said to pursue the present world at the expense of their souls.

1. Consider, first, the case of those intensely occupied with the pursuit of the pleasures and indulgences of the world. It is no crime to be happy in this state of being (Php. 4:4). The crime is either in seeking happiness from wrong sources, or in so eagerly drinking at the streams of earthly joy which the bounty of God has opened to us, as to forget or neglect the Fountain where alone the soul can be satisfied.

2. Consider, next, the case of those who are pursuing, with the like intenseness, the interests of this life. Here also a reasonable regard to our own worldly interest, and that of others connected with us, is not condemned in Scripture (Pro. 22:29; 1Co. 4:12; 1Ti. 5:8). But if these worldly interests are pursued with feverish anxiety, from wrong motives or by wrong means; if they are the main objects for which we labour; if their pursuit is connected with disobedience to the will of God,then the supposition of the text is realised: the world is gained, but the soul is lost.

3. In like manner Scripture does not demand the austere rejection of worldly honours. Rank and natural influence, if it be the pleasure of the Most High to bestow them, are to be received with gratitude, and consecrated to the glory of the Giver, and to the benefit, temporal and spiritual, of His creatures. If, however, mistaking the means for the end, we sit down satisfied with the possession of reputation or influence, without considering the objects to which they are to be dedicated; if worldly honours are the main objects of desire; if the pursuit of them be connected with envy, fretfulness, or ambition, with the commission of sin, or the neglect of duty; if, in struggling for the corruptible crown, the love of God, of the Redeemer, of heavenly things, and of one another is suffered to decline, and in wearing it the lowliness of the gospel spirit is sacrificed,this, again, is to incur the condemnation of the text.

II. What is included in the loss of the soul.

1. The nature and value of the soul of man.
(1) Its intrinsic excellence and dignity.
(2) The price paid, and that by Divine appointment, for the redemption of the soul.
(3) The description given of the soul in Scripture, as the grand object of contention between the powers of heaven and hell.
(4) The mighty apparatus of means and instruments which it has pleased God to put into action for the recovery of the soul.
(5) And finally its capacity for the pursuits and enjoyments of another state of existence. With what faculties must that creature be endowed who, day and night and without ceasing, sings the praises of the Lord, who sees God as He is and knows Him as he himself is known!
2. What is more distinctly implied in the term lost.
(1) To lose the soul is not, as some, without the smallest warrant either from reason or Scripture, have ventured to affirm, to be annihilated.
(2) The loss of the soul is represented in Scripture as a penalty inflicted by the hand of God Himself.
(3) The loss of the soul is represented in Scripture as involving a species of suffering altogether without alleviation. We have perhaps witnessed the misery which the unrestrained dominion even of a single passion is able to inflict upon the sinner: conceive, then, all the faculties employed, and all the bad passions let loose, for the torment of the sufferer. Imagine, for instance, the discernment of truth employed only to assure the lost creature of the awful fact of his own eternal ruin. Conceive the powers of calculation, perhaps infinitely enlarged, and altogether engaged in familiarising the mind with ages of interminable woe. Conceive memory converted into a mere storehouse for the materials of anguish, recalling every neglected opportunity, every wasted warning, every lesson of truth forgotten, and every invitation of love refused. Imagine the conscience, which perhaps has slumbered through the whole period of our human existence, awaking from its temporary slumber, and scaring the mind with images of deeper woe and more insufferable torment.

III. The folly of thus sacrificing the soul to gain the world. On this subject it is not necessary to enlarge, because every line in the preceding argument leads decisively to this conclusion. One observation, however, I may make. It has, for the sake of argument, been taken for granted that it is possible to gain the world by the sacrifice of the soul. But how infinitely far is such a supposition from the fact! How few attain even a small part of the worldly objects at which they aim! How rarely are the hopes of the ambitious, or the covetous, or the sensual in the smallest degree realised! How difficult is it to obtain the prizes of life! how impossible to keep them! But to return to the point more immediately insisted upon in the text: suppose every object accomplished, every interest secured, and honour won, and pleasure enjoyed, what can they profit the man rolling on the gulf we have been contemplating, and shut out for ever from hope, from heaven, and from God?J. W. Cunningham.

OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Mar. 8:28. The worlds estimate of Christ.

1. Even an unbelieving world never gives a small name to Christ; for the names here suggested are those of the greatest of men.
2. The peculiarity of unbelief, that it can believe in old prophets brought back more easily than in new prophets raised up. Be a believer in a living God, who not only has given in the past, but in the present is giving heroes, sages, saints, and prophets. Happy those who see God at work around them!
3. A certain grudging spirit marks their estimates, reluctant to ascribe more dignity to Jesus than they can help. Beware of that spirit.R. Glover.

Mar. 8:29. Christs questions.Christ asks, Whom say ye that I am? in no doubtful and apologetic tone. He demands and expects an answer. It is His right. It is obedience to the plainest duty. Neglect on our part is an insult to our Lord, whose we are and whom we are bound to serve. It is treason to a lost world, which needs to be helped to an acceptance of its Redeemer, and which is hindered by any reluctance to confess Him on the part of His disciples. If Christians hide the faith which is in them, or if they veil it by silence or the neglect of appropriate action, they are doing a grievous wrong as well as immeasurable mischief.

Loyalty to Christ.The power and reach of genuine loyalty to Christ cannot be over-estimated. It is so spontaneous that it is unquestioned. When the sun is riding in unclouded splendour in mid-heaven, there is no occasion for asking from what fountain of light the glory of the noontide is pouring. And when Jesus Christ is so heartily owned and accepted and loved by a man that all which he is or does is in a measure transfigured by his affection for his adorable Lord, there is no dispute as to who and what Christ is to that man. Nothing so blesses the world, nothing so helps on the advance of the kingdom of God, as the testimony which consecrated lives bear to the truth and worth of the faith of the gospel.

Peters reply.

1. The reply of Peter is more marvellous in the lips of a Jew, whose great creed was the Unity of God, than in the lips of any other.
2. In all ages, in some form or other, men have expressed their faith in the Divinity of Christ.
3. The more refined the soul, the more adoring is its estimate of Christ.
4. They who truly honour God will very readily believe that He has love enough to become incarnate and save men.

Mar. 8:30. Tell no man of Him.This is partly a temporary precept, postponing the disciples testimony until after Calvary, on the ground that already the curiosity of the nation was over-roused, and interfered with the Saviours teaching; and is partly a precept of perpetual guidance. Tell people what Christ has done, and only assist them to find out for themselves who He is. A ready-made definition of the Saviour, saving people the trouble of thinking, is not a real service to any soul.R. Glover.

Mar. 8:32-33. Spiritual exaltation.Moments of spiritual exaltation are often followed by moments of spiritual exhaustion, and a good man is never more perilously open to temptation than after a long and high strain of devotion. So Peter falls from the height of his good confession to the depth of Christs displeasure, and from being inspired by the Spirit of all truth and goodness to being the mouthpiece of the spirit of all evil and error.S. Cox, D.D.

Learn

1. In the best of men there is weakness and liability to err.
2. Through mistaken kindness we may become the tempters of our brethren.
3. We must never lower our standard of duty because friends seek to spare us.

Mar. 8:34-38. The fundamentals of the Christian fellowship.

1. Its laws.
(1) The true denier of himself is the true confessor.
(2) The true cross-bearer is the true knight of the Cross.
(3) The true follower after Christ in obedience is the true conqueror.
2. Its grounds.
(1) He who will save his life in self-seeking shall lose it; he who loses it in devotion to Christ shall gain it.
(2) He who lays down his soul to win the world loses with his soul the world also; he who has gained his soul has with his soul gained the world also.
(3) To seek honour in the world while ashamed of Christ leads to infamy before the throne of Christ; but shame in the world leads to honour with Him.
(4) Readiness to die with Christ leads through death to eternal glory.J. P. Lange, D.D.

Mar. 8:34. Words addressed to disciples.We must come to Christ in order to come after Him. To wish to go to heaven when we die is not the same thing as to wish to follow Christ while we live. Following Christ means walking in the path that He trod.

I. To follow Christ we must take up the cross.

1. What is the cross? Trial, suffering, difficulty, etc. Divinely appointednot self-imposed. The reproach of Christ (Joh. 15:20; Php. 1:29; 1Pe. 4:16).

2. What is it to take it up? Voluntary acceptance (Joh. 4:34; Joh. 18:11; Mat. 11:29). Not to be dragged by usnor forced upon us.

II. To take up the cross we must deny self.

1. What is self? It is the personality taking the throne, claiming, possessing, and managing the whole being. This is a condition of selfness. There is unrighteous self and self-righteous self (Joh. 5:30; Joh. 8:28; Php. 2:7).

2. What is it to deny self? Notice the difference between denying to yourself certain things and denying self (Luk. 22:57).

III. To deny self we must enthrone Christ.

1. Christ and self cannot reign together (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:11).

2. Only Christ can dethrone self (1Pe. 3:15; 2Co. 6:16; 2Co. 13:5).E. H. Hopkins.

Self-denial.

1. Abnegation is not itself the good, but the most universal condition for the human attainment of the good.
2. Christ promises not happiness but life: yet sometimes life through death: the right hand may have to be cut off or the right eye plucked out.
3. We are slow to believe that the cross of anguish can be a tree of life.Prof. F. J. A. Hort.

The life of religion.

1. The exercise of self-denial infers the possession and display of all the milder virtues. Where this exists, there must be humility, diffidence, self-command, respect for authority, meekness, gentleness, goodness, temperance, charity.
2. The exercise of mortification infers the presence and exercise of all the stronger virtues. Where this is, there must be truth, integrity, justice, fortitude, contempt of pain, fearlessness of death.
3. The imitation of Christ requires the exercise of all those amiable graces which constitute the life and spirit of religion in the soul. Where that is, there must be faith, hope, love, piety, purity, peace, heavenly-mindedness, devotion. In short, these duties comprehend all the duties of morality and religion; and the exercise of them is only the discharge of some religious or moral dutyof something that is wise, dignified, good, and which could not be exhibited in the same spirit without their presence and power.T. S. Jones, D.D.

Self-sacrifice.That which especially distinguishes a high order of man from a low order of man, that which constitutes human goodness, human greatness, human nobleness, is surely not the degree of enlightenment with which men pursue their own advantage; but it is self-forgetfulness, self-sacrifice, the disregard of personal pleasure, personal indulgence, personal advantage remote or present, because some other line of conduct is more right.

Note the order of the three things.Deny selftake up crossfollow Me. Perplexity and spiritual difficulties often arise from a wrong order of right things. Thus we may read the words as if our Lord had said, Let him take up his cross and deny himself, etc. Taking up the cross may be understood as meaning much the same thing as denying self, which is not correct, or we may be putting following Christ first. But this is to miss the chief point in this lesson. Let him deny himselfthat is the main and first direction that must be understood and obeyed. We shall never take up the crossconsent to it, and do it willinglyuntil we have reached the point of denying self. The mind, of which self is the centre, will never take up the cross; it may sullenly endure to have it laid upon it, it may put up with it as that which is inevitable, but it will never take it up as an act of willing submission. But the mind of Christ is the mind that cheerfully yields to all that the Father appoints.E. H. Hopkins.

A cross is an instrument on which something is to be put to death. Taking it up is not wearing an ornament, nor even just carrying a burden, but putting something to death. What? Sin. Not some incarnate sin that we can catch and bind as they took Jesus, not some other personality, but the sin that is in usthe love of self, the love of the world, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Sin is a desperate enemy. And to be rid of it means thorough work, not coaxing it, not hiding it, not forgetting it, but putting it to death.C. M. Southgate.

Consider your cross.You may try, if you like, to go through life and not see a cross; or, if you like, you may consider it; you may avoid it, or you may meet it; you may resist, or you may acquiesce in it; you may murmur under it, or you may be still; you may drag it, or you may carry it; you may be in a hurry to lay it down, or you may wish to wait Gods time:but blessed is that man who considers his cross, and does not fly from it; who bears it silently, cheerfully, joyfully, and hastens not to be rid of it, but patiently tarries the Lords leisure. To that man that cross is his souls cure; it is the Spirits school; it is the badge of his discipleship, the token of his Heavenly Fathers love, the road to glory, the opportunity for all the promises, the earnest of an eternal crown.J. Vaughan.

The cross the way to life.

Wouldst thou inherit life with Christ on high?

Then count the cost, and know
That here on earth below

Thou needs must suffer with thy Lord, and die.
We reach that gain, to which all else is loss,

But through the Cross!

Not een the sharpest sorrows we can feel,

Nor keenest pangs, we dare
With that great bliss compare,

When God His glory shall in us reveal,
That shall endure when our brief woes are oer,

For evermore.Dach.

Follow Me.This implies not merely to believe His doctrine, obey His commandments, and trust in Him for salvation, but also to imitate Him in His spirit and conductin the holiness, activity, and usefulness of His lifein that love to God and man, that zeal for the Divine glory, that humility, patience, meekness, perseverance, and resignation with which He did and suffered His Heavenly Fathers will,in consequence of which He was exposed to hunger, thirst, poverty, and privations, to the contradiction of sinners, scorn of men, stripes, imprisonment, to all the horrors of Gethsemane and torments of Golgotha.T. S. Jones, D.D.

Mar. 8:35. The selfish, sinful life and the true, spiritual life hang at opposite ends of the scale-beam.The dip of the one means the ascent of the other. Self-denial is but choosing the better; denying the lower is accepting the higher. The soul cannot live in both at once; indeed, can truly live in the higher alone. We need only to keep this compensation in mind to see the excelling charm of self-denial. It is not the bare going without something pleasant, but giving up one attraction for a greater.C. M. Southgate.

Mar. 8:36. The worth of the soul.We cannot overrate our nature, as we cannot underrate our merit; we cannot think too highly of ourselves as immortals, or too humbly of ourselves as transgressors. There is quite as much danger in our undervaluing our immortality, as there is in our exaggerating our merit. In very deed we are more prone to the one than we are to the other; for if self-righteousness slays its thousands, self-neglect slays its tens of thousands.

1. The soul! that thinking, conscious, deathless essence, which thrills and throbs in every tenement of clay before me and around me,that soul! invisible, yet perceptible; wrapped up in the mortal, yet itself immortal; passing away, yet never to end:that soul! we argue that its worth is immense, because its origin was most exalted.
2. We argue the worth of the soul from the vast capacities and powers with which it is endowed. What a wonderful thing is the mind of man! How wondrous is his power of love! how deep the bitterness of his hate! how dark his desperation of revenge! how insatiable and yearning his desires! how high the inspirations of his soul! how all the drops he gathers from the cisterns of created good can never slake or satisfy the yearnings of his immortal mind! how he still craves and longs after something higher and more pure than earth can furnish! And, then, what a capability it has of enjoyment! what a capability of endurance!
3. I argue the value of the soul still more emphatically from its dread immortality. There is the mysterious attribute, compared with which all things temporal are but shadows and day-dreams.
4. I argue the worth of the soul still more emphatically from the fact that it was redeemed at an untold price: it was ransomed with the blood of God.
5. But if the worth of the soul be so immense, the loss of the soul must be tremendous. We therefore argue the fearfulness of that loss, because it involves the sacrifice and the shipwreck of all for which man was first created, and which Christ has redeemed to Him by His atoning bloodall that God can bestow or man receive. Neither is this all: there is not only privation of all that is good and gloriousthere is also the endurance of Gods everlasting anger, whose frown is death and whose smile is life; there is the perpetual gnawing despair of one that has made shipwreck of his all; there is the smouldering remorse, the worm that never dieth.H. Stowell.

World and soul.

1. It is impossible to gain the whole world, even at the sacrifice of our soul. None but Christ was ever tempted with such a huge bait.

2. The soul may be lost for the sake of securing a very infinitesimal portion of the world: Esau, Ahab, Jud. 1:3. In the ordinary course of things such a part of the world as is sufficient for our happiness may be easily gained without exposing the soul to loss (Pro. 8:21; Pro. 3:16; Pro. 10:4; Pro. 22:29); but even were this not so, nothing could compensate for the loss of the soul.

4. By endeavouring to gain the whole world or any part of it at the expense of the soul, we do not only disclaim the greatest good or happiness, but incur and invite the greatest evil and misery, which is not the losing the soul absolutely, however grievous and shocking to nature, but the keeping it, together with the gains and wages of sin, so as to wish it were lost.
5. Whereas by endeavouring to gain the whole world, though with the loss of our souls, it is impossible for us to gain the whole, and we are not so certain to gain any competent part of it; on the other hand, by endeavouring to save our souls, though with the loss of the world, we may not only be sure to save them, but to save them with advantage, or to purchase for ourselves a greater salvation.B. Kennet, D.D.

The world as a law of life.You may be as ignorant and as rude in your life as a Hottentot, and as poor as Lazarus, and yet have gained the world and lost your life. For this is not merely a question of the things which you acquire by your exchange, it is a question of the law under which you put yourself, of the moral quality of the end which you seek.M. R. Vincent, D.D.

The soul that may be lost.A German commentator who is usually very diffuse tersely and truly observes with respect to this passage, He who will understand it does understand it. There is no real room for doubt as to the meaning of our Lords words. The soul which may be lost is the very inmost seat of being; that which thinks in each one of us, but is not thought; that which feels, but is not feeling; that which remembers and is conscious, but is neither consciousness nor memory; that depth, that abyss of life which we so rarely explore, yet which is within each one of us, which we carry everywhere with us,the one mystery of which perhaps we know less than any other, and yet our very inmost self.Canon Liddon.

If.What a world of meaning there is in that little word if! It suggests the fact that few, perhaps not one in ten thousand, do gain that portion of the world on which they have set their heart. Many run in the race, but only one gains the prize; and not seldom he who bids fair to win fails through something which we call chance or accident.J. W. King.

Mar. 8:37. A business question.The apostles had been men of business; here was a business question indeed. They were decidedly practical, and they were met on their own ground. Their answer is not recorded. They doubtless thought long and often on it. Their final decision we know. They concluded their soul was valuable enough to justify them in giving up their affairs to save it; in giving up their time, ease, and indulgence to save it; in surrendering their repute, home, and country to save it; and, finally, in laying down their life to save it.T. F. Crosse, D.C.L.

Mar. 8:38. Confessing or denying Christ.

1. Confessing or denying Christ is certainly no mere affair of words. Yet words, though weak, are not worthless. Whatever worthy witness words can bear, they will not fail to utter in any loving and thoroughgoing confession of our loving Lord.
2. Confessing Christ and being confessed by Christ are not to be separated in our thought, like work-day and pay-day, as if the confessing were all here and the being confessed all there. What comes out there is simply the flash of an awakened consciousness of a judgment of Christ which has been going on here every day under the eyes of the invisible witnesses of many a negligent life.
3. Confessing or denying Christ here is not a question solely as to the totality or average of character, but quite as much a question as to the particulars of character. Point by point the world compares the professed copy with its model, and recognises agreements or contradictions in detail. No otherwise can it be in presence of the angels of God.J.M. Whiton.

Conduct and character.How does a son of a wise and virtuous father confess or deny him most expressively? Certainly not by the word which declares the eternal relationship, not by saying Father, though he ought to say it. Rather by conduct and character; either by the wise and virtuous following of parental example, which bespeaks him as his fathers own son, heir of his spirit as of his name, or else by the course of folly and vice, which denies all moral affinity with him. So on the fathers part; let father and son be in the same society, how does the wise and virtuous father most effectively own or disown the son before intelligent observers? Certainly not by saying, or omitting to say, My son; rather by being in the same circle with him as an object of comparison before observant witnesses, by the light which the fathers character reflects upon the son, to the sons honour or dishonour as the imitator or neglecter of a noble model.Ibid.

On being ashamed of Jesus.Those who would willingly follow Jesus where the road is smooth and easy, but leave Him where it is rugged and hard; who inwardly approve of His doctrine, but from the ridicule of the profane are ashamed to avow it; who punctually attend the routine of worship, but dispense with the observance of duties to which they are not compelled by human laws; who can occasionally associate with the drunkard and hear the name of God profaned without concern; who have no objection to do wrong when the multitude give their sanction; who, when unnoticed or secure of escaping censure, can lift the rod of oppression or receive the wages of iniquity; who can cherish pride, vanity, avarice, and ambition, and yet by nice dissimulation affect the opposite virtues; who can be tender and partial to themselves, but austere and cruel to others; who perform no duty on which human applause is not bestowed, and are deterred from no vice which fashion or common practice countenances;men of this character, and all who resemble themall false Christians, in short, who in public and private life have not the fear and love of God before their eyes, whatever may be their reception from the worldof them shall Jesus Christ be ashamed when in transcendent glory He shall come to judge the world. It is obvious, then, from this climax of vice and folly, that nothing under a sincere, uniform, and universal obedience to the moral law which Jesus came to fulfil will be accepted from His followers; and that no pretences, excuses, and palliations will avail, if this essential and absolutely necessary condition be not complied with.A. Stirling, LL. D.

Adulterous generationnot because the particular sin of adultery was so frequent in that age, but because by every kind of sin a man under the contract of religion runs into that character wherewith Solomon describes the adulteress, who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God (Jas. 4:4).Dean Young.

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 8

Mar. 8:27. A striking coincidence.If we are right in identifying the little bayDalmanuthawith the neighbourhood of Taricha, yet another link of strange coincidence connects the prophetic warning spoken there with its fulfilment. From Dalmanutha our Lord passed across the lake to Csarea Philippi. From Csarea Philippi did Vespasian pass through Tiberias to Taricha, when the town and people were destroyed, and the blood of the fugitives reddened the lake, and their bodies choked its waters. Even amidst the horrors of the last Jewish war few spectacles could have been so sickening as that of the wild stand at Taricha, ending with the butchery of 6,500 on land and sea, and lastly the vile treachery by which they to whom mercy had been promised were lured into the circus at Tiberias, when the weak and old, to the number of about 1, 200, were slaughtered, and the restupwards of 30,400sold into slavery. Well might He who foresaw and foretold that terrible end, standing on that spot, deeply sigh in spirit as He spake to them who asked a sign, and yet saw not what even ordinary discernment might have perceived of the red and lowering sky overhead.A. Edersheim, D. D.

Mar. 8:29. Comprehensive news of Christ.Many have at one time or other felt the charm of a Christ who is purely human, but not Divine. Our literature abounds at present with such pictures, and some of them are very fascinating. The Peasant of Nazareth, growing up beneath His mothers roof and in the carpenters workshop; the enthusiastic Lover of the poor and oppressed, who went about continually doing good; the pure and fearless Reformer, who blasted with the lightning of His eloquence the Pharisee and the priest; the Martyr, who died for the truth, and lies buried beneath the Syrian blue,this picture is being sketched by clever littrateurs; it is impossible not to enjoy it; and you ask, Why does this win me more than the Christ I hear of in church? The latter perplexes me with mystery, but this is simple, human, lovable. It is not, I think, difficult to explain this. If you know music, and have ever endeavoured to follow and grasp a long and classical composition of a great master, say, an oratorio of Handel or Haydn, I am sure you can remember in it a few airs and choruses which, if separated from the whole and executed by themselves, would produce far more immediate pleasure than the whole elaborate composition. Indeed, there are audiences which could not tolerate the oratorio as a whole, but would be delighted with its selected beauties. Yet, though these lovely morsels are enchanting, they are not Handel. Or, do you know literature? If you know your Browning, you must be aware how charming it is, after struggling through his more difficult pages, to light on a lyric here and there which is perfectly easy reading. Selections of these find their way even into school books, and many readers can enjoy selections from this great author who recoil from his longer and more difficult works. But though these elegant extracts are delightful, they are not Browning. In the same way these pictures of a merely human Christ are true as far as they go; they are the simpler traits selected from that great character and life; they are easy to comprehend, and they touch the feelings; but they are not Christ. At first sight that way of thinking of Christ as a great and good man appears to make everything simple; but it really involves you in confusion and contradiction. For what is it you hold Him to be? He is, you say, the ideal manthe model of modesty, wisdom, and truth. If He was merely a link in the chain of humanity, then, as a weak and fallible man, He ought to have confessed His own sins, and He was a blasphemer when He spoke of giving His life a ransom for many. When He said, All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth, and promised to be with His people always, even to the end of the world, He was not a wise man, but the victim of a madmans delusions. When He, a finite creature, spoke of Himself as seated on Gods throne and judging the assembled world, He was no model of goodness and modesty, but a man rendered insane with pride, who was presuming to pluck the sceptre from the bands of the Eternal. If He who said, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, had not the peace and joy of salvation to give to those who come to hide their guilty heads in His bosom, then He was cruelly deceiving us all.Jas. Stalker, D. D.

A large Christ experienced.Payson, when he lay on his bed dying, said: All my life Christ has seemed to me as a star afar off; but little by little He has been advancing and growing larger and larger, till now His beams seem to fill the whole hemisphere, and I am floating in the glory of God, wondering with unutterable wonder how such a mote as I should be glorified in His light. But he came to that after a long life.

Mar. 8:33. We all have our Satanseach one of us a different Satan. Satan comes to one man in the form of idleness, and makes him waste day after day, year after year, until he has wasted his whole life doing nothing. Satan comes to another man as work, and makes him destroy himself in the opposite way by wearing out prematurely his brain and his body. He comes to another as Christian zeal, and the man becomes a bigot, full of fire for the Lord; but the Lord whom he serves is a God of wrath, a God who cares for trifles, a God who prefers sacrifice to mercy. He comes to another as charity, but it is a charity which tolerates evil, and lets it alone, which has no edge to it, no couragean indolent charity which is not love at all, but only easy good-nature. So he disguises himself as an angel of light, calling himself Patriotism when he wishes to make nations hate each other; calling himself Christianity when he wishes to make men persecute each other; calling himself Honesty when he wishes to encourage a man in his rude and overbearing ways; and so on, changing himself into every virtue and every grace.J. F. Clarke.

Mar. 8:34. To take up ones cross was a proverbial expression, both with the Jews and Romans, for any extraordinary sufferings, and it is probable they had it from the Persians, who made use of that form of punishment.T. J. Montefiore.

The symbol of the cross.It is strange, yet well authenticated, and has given rise to many speculations, that the symbol of the cross was already known to the Indians before the arrival of Cortez. Among the Egyptians a cross was the emblem of a future life. In OBriens Round Towers of Ireland there are some curious remarks on the cross. The use of it in some way by the Druids is noticed.

To take, not make, our cross.We are bid to take, not to make, our cross. God in His providence will provide one for us. And we are bid to take it up; we hear nothing of laying it down. Our troubles and our lives live and die together.W. Gurnall.

The spirit of the Christian soldier.When Garibaldi entered on one of his campaigns, he told his troops what he wanted of them. They replied, Well, General, and what are you going to give us for all this? He replied, I dont know what also you will get, but you will get hunger, cold, wounds, and perhaps death. They stood awhile considering, and then, throwing up their arms, exclaimed, We are the men! This is the spirit Christ looks for in His soldiers.

The spell of example.There is, we know, a wonderful spell in the cry, Come after Me, Follow Me. All history, profane as well as sacred, has shewn this. The great Roman general realised its force when he called to his soldiers, who shrank from the hardships of the Libyan desert, and promised to go before them, and to command them nothing which he would not first do himself. Even so Christ designed to help His followers by the assurance that He should first suffer that which they would be called to bear.

Predominance of the cross.Describing the artistic glories of the Church of St. Mark at Venice, Mr. Ruskin says: Here are all the successions of crowded imagery, shewing the passions and the pleasures of human life symbolised together, and the mystery of its redemption: for the maze of interwoven lines and changeful pictures lead always at last to the cross, lifted and carved in every place and upon every stone; sometimes with the serpent of eternity wrapped round it, sometimes with doves beneath its arms, and sweet herbage growing forth from its feet; but conspicuous most of all on the great rood that crosses the church before the altar, raised in bright blazonry against the shadow of the apse. It is the cross that is first seen and always burning in the centre of the temple; and every dome and hollow of its roof has the figure of Christ in the utmost height of it, raised in power, or returning in judgment.

Christs cross is the sweetest burden that ever I bore; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or sails to a ship, to carry me forward to my harbour.S. Rutherford.

The figure of the cross. My will is represented well by a straight linethus, running from birth to death in unbroken current through the flesh and the world in all manner of self-indulgence unto the hidden abyss. Gods will is represented by a perpendicular | thus, falling from heaven like a bolt of thunder. The two wills meet, and form the figure of the + thus. It cuts me, severs me, hinders me, clogs me, compels me; but Thy will, O God, saves me. That cross means the life and death of the Son of God. For me, therefore, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Christ the Leader.When Hedley Vicars fell at the head of his regiment during a night attack of the Russians, his voice was heard ringing out on the night air over the din of the conflict with the cry, This way, Ninety-seventh. A hundred goes would be weak in comparison with the come involved in that battle-cry. In all the cross-bearing of life the voice of the Captain of our salvation is still heard in the van, saying, This way, My disciple.

Following Christ in self-denial.A little girl was instructed by her parents in what Christ had taught, and how He lived, and that through Him we must enter into eternal life. When she heard these things, she became dissatisfied with her native land, and pressed her parents to be taken to that land where men lived as Christ had taught them, and as He lived. Her parents replied that she was then in a Christian land, and that those around her were Christians, and were living so. She shook her head and said, That I cannot believe, for those I see around me neither live as Christ taught nor as Christ lived; for Christ was voluntarily poor, we love gold and silver; He was humble and lowly, but we affect dominion and greatness; He was always in affliction, we hunt for carnal pleasures. What cutting truths from infant lips!

Mar. 8:35. Gain by loss.The most important use of a seed is that which results in the reproduction of its species; but in order that it may serve this high purpose, it must lose itself as a seed, must suffer the disintegration of its structure, and give up its elements for the production of new forms of life. The seed must, as it were, lose all thought of itself, must give up its own life, its own separate existence, and allow itself to be converted into new and productive forms of vegetation. A grain of corn stored away in the granary is of small account. To be of any use in the world it must be either ground to powder and made into bread for the eater, or be planted in the ground and transmuted by the joint action of the wonderful forces locked up within itself and those lodged in the soil around it, into a green and growing stalk which shall in due time bear fruit to nourish human life and bless the world. It is only one illustration of a great law prevalent in all the universe of God. Helpfulness to others is attained through sacrifice of self.

The reward of self-sacrifice.A group of firemen sat in their engine house to hold their anniversary. They have invited in the veterans. They eatthey remember. Which is the keenest delight, the memory of the terrible eight-and-forty hours in which you played the hero, carrying the nozzle through the doorway from which a hundred citizens had shrunk dismayed, or the present banquet? The pleasure of heroic deeds, ora piece of pie? Yet here is all the difference between noble and ignoble men. When we come to think of it, self-sacrifice has its own high reward. But observe how slow we are to win it with the denial of an appetite. The cross of Christ is no esoteric secret. It inheres in the constitution of things, even the commonest things.E. J. Haynes.

Lost.I remember being one winters night in a little town on the coast of Wales. We were sitting by the fire, cheerful, when we heard a sudden noise. We looked out into the night. The wind was very high, and suddenly we heard the scream of voices, then the boom of guns over the water; then the clatter of feet along the street, the lifeboat, and the lifebuoy. Human life in danger. We thought we descried a dark mass heaving over the black billows, but the breakers carried her away. That night she struck on the rocks. I walked down in the morning to look at her lying on the beach. I could not help saying, How human this is! how lifelike! There she lay, the pride and hope of her ownersstripped; masts, sails, shrouds, broken, ragged, torngone. And yet much had depended on her. She had been launched with many hopes and expectations. All gone, a melancholy wreck. The winds howled through as they lifted her ragged shrouds. She could not, as once she might have done, repel them, and make them her ministers. She was a lost ship. Melancholy type of a lost soul.E. Paxton Hood.

Mar. 8:36. Gained, but not possessed.A people may gain the whole world, and lose all those qualities of the head and heart which entitle them to possess it. May we not say of ancient Rome that she gained the whole world and lost her soul? Just as the tale of her conquests was almost complete, yet ere the Roman eagles were firmly planted on the Euphrates and on the Danube the soul of the old republic had departed. The temperance, courage, justice, patriotism, of the earlier Romans had died out; and while, in the intoxication of her victories, Rome grasped with one hand the sceptre of the world, she surrendered the liberties and lives of her citizens to the lusts and tyranny of the Csars with the other. A people may have been civilised, in the material sense of the word, for centuries, while it remains at heart and for ever barbarian. In ages when our ancestors were mere savages Chinese society was as highly organised, Chinese life as highly embellished, as at the present day. Yet no primitive race was ever capable of the extraordinary cruelties which are now of daily occurrence in China; and the dignity and the rights of man are nowhere treated with such lofty scorn as in those tribunals which are presided over by the passionless scepticism of a Chinese mandarin. Without a ray of moral life, without a soul, that vast and ancient empire exists as if that it may exhibit to Christendom the worthlessness and feebleness of mere material progress. Yet Pagan empires are no measure of the degradation of which Christian peoples are capable when they sacrifice truth and goodness in an attempt to gain the world. When during the first French Revolution divine honours were paid to one of the daughters of shame, throned on the high altar of the cathedral church of Paris, while the streets of that brilliant capital were deluged with the best blood of its citizens, men read Gods doom upon a noble people, bent fiercely for the moment upon spiritual suicide and upon material aggrandisement. And when we hear daily of the gigantic miseries inflicted and endured by a nation which but yesterday was a British colony, we may reflect that there are dangers against which no institutions or races can be guaranteed, and that we ourselves have our weaknesses and our temptations. My countrymen, I do not dispute your pre-eminence; you are unquestionably the princes of commerce, you reign without a rival over the realm of matter: but have you lost, or are you losing, that which is more precious than any acquisitions of your industry or of your geniusare you becoming the slaves of matter instead of its masters? Beneath the surface of many an advanced civilisation the human brute crouches, he scarcely slumbers, with the old untamed ferocity of his savage nature; and not merely the accumulations of your capital, but the creations of your science, your new projectiles, your rifled cannon, and your ironclad steam vessels, may but enable the nation which has gained the world to prove one day how much she has really lost in gaining it.Canon Liddon.

The world unsatisfying.Alexander the Great overran the whole earth, and subdued every nation; and at the conclusion of universal victory he sat down and wept like a child because he had not another world to conquer. We read also of a Roman emperor who had run the round of all the pleasures in the world offering a rich reward to any one who should discover a new pleasure. Cyrus the conqueror thought that for a little time he was making a fine thing out of this world; yet before he came to his grave he wrote out this pitiful epitaph for his monument: I am Cyrus. I occupied the Persian Empire. I was King over Asia. Begrudge me not this monument. But the world in after-years ploughed up his sepulchre. Pope Adrian VI. had this inscription on his monument: Here lies Adrian VI., who was never so unhappy in any period of his life as at that in which he was a prince. I, sinful wretch, by the grace of God, King of England and of France, and Lord of Ireland, bequeath to Almighty God my sinful soul and the life I have misspent, whereof I put myself wholly at His grace and mercyso wrote Henry IV. in his last will, when the frightful reality of leprosy had disenchanted the rapturous dream of usurpation. Queen Elizabeth, dying, cried: Millions of money for an inch of time! Was the gay queen happy? The history of kings and queens proves that though their crowns may be set with diamonds or Indian stones, the kings and queens themselves but seldom enjoy the crown of content which is worn upon the heart. The world clapped its hands and stamped its feet in honour of Charles Lamb. Was he happy? He says: I walk up and down, thinking I am happy, but feeling I am not. Samuel Johnson, happy? No. I am afraid I shall some day get crazy. Buchanan, the world-renowned writer, exiled from his own country, appealing to Henry VIII. for protection, happy? No. Over mountains covered with snow, and through valleys flooded with rain, I come a fugitive. Indeed, my lord, wrote famous Edmund Burke, I doubt whether, in these hard times, I would give a peck of refuse wheat for all that is called fame in the world. Sweet, says the poet, sweet were the days when I was all unknown;

But when my name was lifted up, the storm
Broke on the mountain, and I cared not for it.

Mans soul thirsts and longs for something nobler, brighter, greater, and better than the world itself. As Macduff says: As well try to fill the yawning chasm with a few grains of sand as satisfy the gulf of the souls desires with the pleasures of an empty world. Nothing can satisfy the soul but God.

A revealing light.A traveller who crosses the Alps by night sees only a foot or two before him; and he is as little alive to the extraordinary scene through which he is passing, to the beauties which encompass and to the risks which beset his path, as if he were walking quietly along the turnpike road from London to Cambridge. But as the early dawn breaks upon him, he becomes aware of those mountain pinnacles which tower above him till they hide their snowcapped summits in the very clouds of heaven; he sees the precipice which yawns at his very feet; he becomes conscious of dangers of which he had previously no idea; and he is grateful to the morning light which certainly has discovered to him a vision of unsuspected beauty, and which probably has saved him from an untimely death. And what is the question of our Blessed Lord in the text, but the very light of heaven itself, bringing out into sharp relief the real conditions of our personal existence!

The north of a soul.We know the force and majesty of the thoughts of Pascal. The realms of space and the worlds in them are full of grandeur in his philosophy; but there is one thing compared with which all this vast material universe is nothing. All the bodies, the stars, the firmament, the earth and all its kingdoms, are not worth one soul; for that soul knows both itself and them, and they know nothing.

The soul the chief concern.When the steamer London was lost some years ago on the English coast, among the many sad tales told in connexion with the shipwreck, I recollect reading of one in some respects the saddest of all. When the condition of the ship was hopeless, one of the passengers had gone down to his cabin, which was already under water, and had with some difficulty found his trunk, which he had carried up to the deck. The captain, who was standing by, waiting in silence for the inevitable catastrophe, shook his head as he saw what the poor man had done. He had saved his trunk; his life would be gone in a moment.

What then?An aged Christian once asked a young man who was just entering business and laying out his plans for life, What are you going to do? You are about to settle in business, I understand. Yes. And what do you intend then? I shall marry. And what then? I hope to make a fortune. And what then? I shall enter public life. And what then? I hope that I may make a family reputation. And what then? Well, 1 suppose I shall grow old and die. And what then? The young man was silent. He had never looked so far ahead.

The legend of Ninus.There is a legend of Ninus, the monarch of Assyria, that he had an ocean of gold and riches more than the sand of the Caspian Sea, but that he never offered sacrifice, nor worshipped God, nor administered justicein a word, he spent a life of selfishness and indulgence with no sense of accountability to God or man. This man is dead, says the old chronicler. Behold his sepulchre; and now hear where Ninus is (he is supposed to be speaking from his tomb). Sometime I was Ninus and drew the breath of a living man, but now I am nothing but clay; I have nothing but what I served to myself in lustthat was and is all my portion. The wealth with which I was blessed mine enemies shall bear away. I am gone to Tartarus, and when I went thither I neither carried gold nor horse nor chariot. I that wore a crown am now a little heap of dust.

Not much left.It is said of Saladin, also called the Great, that just before he gave his last sigh he called the herald who had carried his banner before him in all his battles, and commanded him to fasten to the top of a lance the shroud in which he was so soon to be buried. Go, said he, unfurl the banner, and whilst you lift up this standard proclaim, Saladin the mighty monarch is gone, and has taken no more with him than what you see.

As in life, so in death.There is a story of one that, being often reproved for his ungodly and vicious life, and exhorted to repentance, would still answer that it was but saying three words at his death, and he was sure to be saved. Perhaps the three words he meant were, Miserere mei Deus (God, have mercy on me). But one day riding over a bridge, his horse stumbled, and both were falling into the river, when in the moment of that precipitation he only cried, Capiat omnia diabolus (Horse and man and all to the devil). Three words he had, but not such as he should have had. He had been so familiar with the devil all his life that he thinks of none else at his death. Thus it usually is, that a wicked life hath a wicked end. He that travels the way of hell all his lifetime, it is impossible in the end of the journey he should arrive at heaven. A worldly man dies rather thinking of his gold than his God Some die jeering, some raging; some in one distemper, some in another way. They lived so, and so they die.

Crushed by gold.When Rome was besieged, it is said of the daughter of its ruler that she saw the golden bracelets on the arms of the enemy, and sent word to them that she would betray her city and deliver it into their hands if they would give her their bracelets. They readily accepted her proposition, and before sunset the daughter had secretly opened one of the gates to the city, and as the enemy entered they threw upon her their golden bracelets, and also their shields, until the great weight crushed her to death. How many poor souls to-day are striving to gain that which will in the end prove the means of their souls destruction!

Much lost for little.When Lysimachus was engaged in a war with the Get, he was so tormented by thirst that he offered his kingdom to his enemies for permission to quench it. His exclamation, when he had drunk the water with which they furnished him, is striking. Ah, wretched me, who for such a momentary gratification have lost so great a kingdom! How applicable is this to the case of those who for the momentary pleasures of sin part with the kingdom of heaven!

The folly of sacrificing eternity to time.When Sir Thomas More was in prison, his wife and children entreated him to yield to the king. For so many years, said his wife, we might yet live together: why then can you, in the flower of your age, bring yourself and our family to the worst misfortunes? How many years, said he, do you suppose I can yet live? At least twenty, said she. What a foolish exchange, exclaimed the Chancellor, for twenty years of life here below, and very likely not so much, that I should give up life eternal and condemn myself to endless torments! Better lose all than my soul: for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?

Mar. 8:37. The value of a soul.It was doubtless when standing in full view of the niched rock cut by Greeks for the idol Pan, face to face with the lustrous marble temple to divine Augustus of the Romans at Csarea Philippi, that Christ said, What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? To Him belonged this costly adoration, squandered at the feet of idols; and He is a jealous God. There before His very eyes were the tokens of a false love. Jealousy in the purest womans heart, at sight of love-tokens bestowed upon another which were rightfully her own, is a severe, a biting thing, killing the one, or the two, or the three. Observe how poor and inadequate a thing is our English word jealousy with which to portray the Divine emotion. Our Blessed Lord laments over the value of a soul whose devotion is snatched from Himself; loves it all the more; condemns it with the unspeakable condemnation of wounded love; asks, Once lost, what shall man give in exchange, to get it back again? His jealousy drives Him to the Cross, that He may win His own againthe love of a priceless human soul. Let human jealousy learn a lesson. Lift yourself up on a cross, that you may draw unto yourself the heart you think you have lost.E. J. Haynes.

Mar. 8:38. Confession of Christ.In his Confessions St. Augustine relates a story of Victorinus, an eminent man at Rome, who had won the respect of a large number of his countrymen, among whom were many heathen. When the Spirit of God dawned upon his heart, and the light of Christ therein shone, he went direct to one of his friends, and told him that he was a Christian. The friend replied, I will never believe it until I see you openly profess your new faith in the church. This text came to him with such force that he went back with his friend, and boldly and openly confessed Christ as his Saviour.

Confession of Christ.A Roman emperor said to a Greek architect, Build me a Colosseum, a grand colosseum, and if it suits me I will crown you in the presence of all the people, and I will make a great day of festival on your account. The architect did his workdid it magnificently, planned the building, and looked after its construction. The building was finished, the opening day arrived, the emperor and the architect were in the Colosseum. Amid loud cheers the emperor arose and announced that the day was set apart in honour of the Greek architect, and everything must be done to his honour. Let us make merry and enjoy ourselves; bring out those Christians, and let us see the lions destroy them. A group of imprisoned Christians were led forth, and a number of half-starved lions turned loose among them. They were soon devoured, and the architect slowly arose, and in a firm though gentle voice said, I too am a Christian. The howling mob seized him and flung him to the fierce beasts, who soon tore his limbs from his body. This is confession, true and undefiled. It is easy enough to confess Christ before our own Church and friends, but do we confess Him among those that revile Him? Do we go among men that despise His precepts, and by our very life tell of Him? If we do not, we do not do our duty as His followers.

Confession of Christ unknown to nominal Christians.A Hindoo of rank was troubled in his conscience on the subject of a future state. He had heard of Christians, and longed to converse with them about their religion, and to know who Christ was. So he visited England, the Christians land, supplied with introductions to some leading people. Being asked to a great dinner, he turned to his neighbour in the course of conversation, and said, Can you tell me something about Christ, the founder of your religion? Hush, replied his new acquaintance, we do not speak of such things at dinner-parties. Subsequently he was invited to a large ball. Dancing with a young and fashionable lady, he took an opportunity of asking her who the founder of her religion, Jesus Christ, was. And again he was warned that a ball was no place to introduce such subjects. Strange, thought the Hindoo, are these Christians in England. They will not speak of their religion, nor inform me about Christ, its founder.

No silent partners.I come, sir, said a business man to a minister of the gospel, to ask if Jesus Christ will take me into the firm as a silent partner. The reply was, Jesus Christ takes no silent partners; the firm must be Jesus Christ & Co., and the names of the Co., though they may occupy a subordinate place, must all be written out on the signboard.

Power of confession.In relating his experience during the Peninsular War, Captain Watson says: I was nominated to sit on a garrison court-martial A number of officers of different ranks and regiments were present on the occasion, and before the proceedings commenced some of them indulged in loose and sceptical observations. Alas, thought I, here are many not ashamed to speak openly for their master, and shall I hold my peace and refrain when the honour and cause of Him who has had mercy on me are called in question? I looked for wisdom and assistance from on high, and I was enabled to speak for a quarter of an hour in a way that astonished my hearers and myself. The Lord was pleased to give what I said a favourable reception, and not another improper word was uttered by them during my stay in that room.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

SUMMARY 8:14 to 9:50

The two miracles recorded in the preceding sectionthe cure of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mar. 8:22-26), and the casting out of the obstinate demon (Mar. 9:14-29)are additional demonstrations of the divine power of Jesus. They are not mere repetitions of former proofs, but they possess peculiar force in that the blind man was cured by progressive steps, each one of which was a miracle in itself, and in that the demon in question was one of peculiar power and obstinacy.

The foreknowledge of Jesus is again displayed in his two predictions concerning his own death (Mar. 8:31-33; Mar. 9:30-32), and with his foreknowledge, his predetermined purpose to submit to death at the hands of his enemies.

But the crowning argument of the section is contained in the account of the transfiguration. If the testimony of those who witnessed his scene is not false testimony, his divine majesty and his God-given right to be heard in all that he chooses to speak, are established beyond all possibility of a mistake.

End of Part First.

We have now reached the close of the first general division of Marks narrative. Hitherto, after a few introductory statements in the first chapter (Mar. 1:1-13), all the incidents which he records occurred in Galilee, or in the regions immediately adjoining, Now the writer leaves Galilee, and returns to it no more. (McGarvey)

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

7. JESUS THE MESSIAH 8:279:1

TEXT 8:279:1

And Jesus went forth, and his disciples, into the villages of Caesarea Philippi: and in the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? And they told him, saying, John the Baptist: and others, Elijah; but others, One of the prophets. And he asked them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him, And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again, And he spake the saying openly, And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. But he turning about, and seeing his disciples, rebuked Peter, and saith, Get thee behind me Satan: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, and said unto them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospels shall save it. For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what should a man give in exchange for his life? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There be some here of them that stand by, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 8:279:1

403.

How far from Bethsaida to Caesarea Philippi? Please locate on the map.

404.

Why ask the disciples of the opinion of others? What meaning is there in the name Jesus applied to Himself? Cf. Mat. 16:13-14?

405.

How would Jesus meet the designations given concerning Himi.e. in what way was He like John the Baptist?; like Elijah?; like one of the prophets?

406.

Who thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead?

407.

Show how appropriate this question was at this particular time in the life of Jesus.

408.

What did Peter mean in his use of the name Christ?

409.

Why doesnt Mark record the blessing pronounced by Christ upon Peter?

410.

Define each of the three classes of persons referred to in Mar. 8:31.

411.

What is meant by the expression He spake the saying openly?

412.

Please attempt an explanation of the attitude of Peter when he rebuked the Lord.

413.

Why look at all the disciples and rebuke Peter? In what sense was Jesus not speaking to Peter?

414.

Show the connection of denying self with the rebuke of Peter.

415.

Define in your own words what it means to take up his cross and follow . . .

416.

How do we attempt to save our life and in the process lose it?

417.

Specifically how can we lose our life for His sake? Please be personal and practical.

418.

How is the word soul or life used in Mar. 8:36?

419.

Is Jesus saying a man has no real life or is not really living unless he is giving himself to His service?

420.

How does being ashamed of Jesus fit into this context?

COMMENT

TIMESummer of A.D. 29. From six to eight months before the Lords Crucifixion.
PLACEIn the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, about thirty miles northeast of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. It was upon the upper sources of the Jordan, the largest of the three streams that unite to form the river springing from a fountain near Caesarea Philippi. Professor McGarvey says: The city of Caesarea Philippi stood at the northeastern curve of the upper Jordan valley, and about twenty-six miles north of the lake of Galilee. Mountains 2,000 feet high rise abruptly from the eastern side of it, while the snow covered summit of Mt. Hermon, 9,000 feet high, swells heavenward but a few miles north of it. Its earliest name known to us was Paneas, so called in honor of the god Pan, and on or near its side Herod the Great erected a temple in honor of Augustus Caesar. Afterward Philip the Tetrarch, to whom Herod gave the district at his death, rebuilt the old town, and called it Caesarea Philippi in honor of himself and Tiberius Caesar. The city is now in ruins, but the wall can be traced on every side, and in some points on the east and south sides it is standing at almost its original height. Just outside the northeastern angle of the wall is the famous spring which is one of the three principal sources of the Jordan.

PARALLEL ACCOUNTSMat. 16:13-28; Luk. 9:18-27.

LESSON OUTLINE1. The Good Confession. 2. The Cross of Christ. 3. Losing and Finding Life.

ANALYSIS

I.

THE GOOD CONFESSION, Mar. 8:27-30.

1.

Christ at Caesarea Philippi. Mar. 8:27; Mat. 16:13; Luk. 9:18.

2.

Opinions of Christ. Mar. 8:28; Mat. 16:14; Luk. 9:19 : Joh. 6:69.

3.

Peters Confession. Mar. 8:29; Mat. 16:16.

II.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST, Mar. 8:31-34.

1.

The Prophecy of the Cross. Mar. 8:31; Mat. 16:21; Mat. 17:22 : Luk. 9:22.

2.

Peter Rebuked. Mar. 8:32-33; Mat. 16:22-23.

3.

Bearing the Cross. Mar. 8:24; Mat. 16:24; Luk. 9:23.

III.

LOSING AND FINDING LIFE, Mar. 8:35 to Mar. 9:1.

1.

The Way to Save Life. Mar. 8:35; Mat. 16:25; Luk. 9:24.

2.

Gain or Loss. Mar. 8:36-37; Mat. 16:26; Luk. 9:25.

3.

Ashamed of the Cross. Mar. 8:38; Luk. 9:26; Rom. 1:16.

4.

Coming in the Kingdom. Mar. 9:1; Mat. 16:28; Luk. 9:27.

INTRODUCTION

It was after our Lord had closed his public ministry in Galilee, and while he was seeking retirement in order to communicate special instruction in the principles of his kingdom to the apostles, who were to succeed in his work, that he gave the great lesson concerning the foundation on which he would found his church, and the lesson on consecration and self-denial that its extension in the world requires. Here begins the second great division of the Saviors ministry, a period that leads directly to his sufferings and death. The first period culminated in the confession of Peter; the second in the cross and resurrection.

EXPANATORY NOTES

I. THE GOOD CONFESSION.Mar. 8:27. Jesus went out, and his disciples. Went out is the word regularly used in this gospel when a departure from one scene of work to another is notified. In this case, our Lord, leaving the district in which he had hitherto been chiefly working, proceeded in a northeasterly direction along the valley of the Upper Jordan. And his disciples. Their presence is here mentioned expressly, calling attention to the object of a journey through a district to a great extent heathen, and lately traversed, viz., their special instruction (Mar. 9:31). Into the towns, Away from the populous cities The solitude of the beautiful district, wither the Savior now journeyed, is illustrated by the fact that it is the only district in Palestine where a recent traveller found the pelican of the wilderness (Psa. 102:6). Caesarea Philippi. A city at the northeast extremity of Palestine and at the foot of Mount Lebanon, anciently called Paneas, and now Banias. It has now about fifty houses, many ruins of columns, towers, temples, a bridge, and a remarkable castle. And by the way. His conversation by the way: (1) The turn it often took when the disciples were left to themselvesdisputes concerning greatness, etc. (2) The turn Christ gave to itinquirings concerning his mission and person. Learn: (1), Avoid foolish and worldly talk; (2), Improve passing opportunities; (3), Let your talk be often about the Savior.Biblical Museum. Whom do men say that I am? The following conversation refers to three points: (1) The Christ. (2) The suffering Christ. The disciples of the suffering Christ. The object of this first question is evidently to prepare the way for the next. The inquiry was not concerning the opinions of the Scribes and Rabbis, but concerning the opinions of the people.

Mar. 8:28. And they answered. As Jesus had not openly declared that he was the Messiah, but had allowed men to hear his surpassing wisdom and see his life and works and draw their own conclusions, there would naturally be various opinions. John the Baptist. Who had been killed by Herod a few months before, now restored to life. That was one popular notion regarding him, circulating, no doubt, chiefly among those who had never seen him. Herod Antipas entertained it (chap. Mar. 6:16). Elias. The great ideal of a prophet and spiritual reformer. It was very generally expected that he was to return to the earth in connection with the Messiahs advent (Mal. 4, 5).Morison. One of the prophets. The Jews believed that at the coming of the Messiah the prophets were to rise again. They did not declare their belief in him as the Messiah himself, doubtless for this reason, that the whole ministry of Christ appeared to them to stand in contradiction to their Messianic expectations.

Mar. 8:29. Whom say ye that I am? He had never openly spoken of his Messiahship. It was his will that the revelation should dawn gradually on the minds of his children; that it should spring more from the truths he spake, and the life he lived, than from the wonders which he wrought. It was in the Son of man that they were to recognize the Son of God.Farrar. The time was come when it was of the greatest moment that they should have a settled conception of his real character and mission. And Peter answereth. With that honest readiness and impulsiveness which were so characteristic of his nature, and which fitted him for being a leader of the little circle.Morison. Thou art the Christ; Matthew adds, the Son of the living God. This confession not only sees in Jesus the promised Messiah, but in the Messiah recognizes the divine nature.Cambridge Bible. The confession of Peter is the first fundamental Christian confession of faith, and the germ of the Apostles Creed.Lange. It was a decisive answer, and given as out of a higher inspiration. The Lord himself, as we learn from Mat. 16:17, traced the thought to its divine source. And yet it was, no doubt, founded on evidence which the disciple had diligently studied, and logically construed to his own inner satisfaction. The Lord in the passage in Matthew declares that the grand truth confessed by Peter is the rock on which his church shall be built. By faith in this truth men become disciples of Christ and members of his church.

Mar. 8:30. Charged them that they should tell no man. The time had not yet come to proclaim that he was the Christ. To do so prematurely would result in harm rather than good. He must first demonstrate his Messiahship by his resurrection.

II. THE CROSS OF CHRIST.Mar. 8:31. He began to teach them . . . must suffer many things. The great lesson of our two years of his ministry was that he was the Christ; after this had been learned by his apostles they were ready to be taught he must die a violent death. So from this time onward we find him speaking more and more plainly of the decease which he must accomplish. The supreme purpose of his advent was not to teach truth, nor to work miracles, nor to illustrate the perfection of manly character, but to die, to die for sinners, to bear their sins in his own body on the tree. Rejected of the elders, chief priests and scribes. The three constituents of the Sanhedrim. The elders (leading men) would be chosen because of their material and political influence; the high priests, because of their elevated ecclesiastical position; the scribes, because of their literary and rabbinical qualifications. Now, for the first time, the disciples received full and clear information of the sufferings and death of Christ.

Mar. 8:32. And he spake that saying openly. Without reserve, publicly. The previous statements respecting this subject, made by our Lord, were expressed in figurative language.Godwin. And Peter began to rebuke him. The same Peter who but just now had made so noble and spiritual a confession, and received so high a blessing, now shows the weak and carnal side of his character. This world has many Peters, who wish to be wiser than Christ, and to prescribe to him what it is needful to do.

Mar. 8:33. Turned about and looked on his disciples, A sudden movement is indicated. Looking at all, he singles out Peter for special warning. Rebuked Peter, saying Get thee behind me, Satan. Christ saw, with the lightning glance of his spirit, in the words of Peter a suggestion not so much of his as of Satans. This is the very temptation that fell from the lips of Satan in the wilderness when he offered to surrender the kingdoms of this world to Jesus without his suffering on the cross. The Lord when he says, with sudden vehemence, Get thee behind me Satan! was not speaking directly to Peter but to the prince of darkness, who had for a moment taken possession of Peters mind and lips. Peter had been greatly elated over the Messiahship of Jesus, but still expected an earthly king Messiah after the type of David, in whose kingdom he would have a great place. To hear the Lord talk of the cross was a cruel disappointment to his ambitious hopes.

III. LOSING AND FINDING LIFE.Mar. 8:34. When he had called the people unto him. The great lesson of his Christhood and death on the cross had been given to the apostles alone. Now the throng and his disciples are united and the Lord teaches a grand truth that springs directly from what had occurred just before, Will come after me. Will become my disciple. There was an eagerness among many of the people to come after him. The wistfulness of a considerable proportion of the northern population had been awakened. They were ruminating anxiously on Old Testament predictions, and filled with vague expectancy. Let him deny himself. The word is strong in the originallet him deny himself off, let him entirely renounce himself. Let him be prepared to say no to many of the strongest cravings of his nature, in the direction more particularly of earthly ease, comfort, dignity and glory. Our common thoughts of self-denial, i.e., the denial to ourselves of some pleasure or profit, fall far short of the meaning of the Greek. The man is to deny his whole self, all his natural motives and impulses, so far as they come into conflict with the claims of Christ. And take up his cross. Even as the Lord would take up his cross at Jerusalem. So every disciple must crucify the old man, his selfish nature (Rom. 6:6), give up his old life, and become dead to it. The cross is the pain of the self-denial required in the preceding words. The cross is the symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful death. Christ obeyed God, and carried out his work for the salvation of men, though it required him to die upon the cross in order to do it. And ever since, the cross has stood as the emblem, not of suffering, but of suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel as the highest ideal of obedience to God at any and every cost. Follow me. Obey and imitate Christ.

Mar. 8:35. Whosoever will save his life. Whoever makes this the end will lose life. A great principle is stated. All self-seeking is self-losing. Even in spiritual things, he who is perpetually studying how to secure joy and peace for himself loses it. A certain measure of self-forgetfulness is the condition of the highest success, even in Christian grace. But whosoever shall lose his life. In the sphere of the present. For my sake, and the gospels. It is only loss for the sake of Christ that has this promise. Multitudes of people lose their lives for gain, for pleasure, for fashion. Each of these has more martyrs than the cross ever required; but the loss was without compensation or hope. But whosoever loses for the love of Christ, for the sake of preaching and advancing the gospel shall save itshall have a blessedness and glory which will a thousand times compensate for every loss.

Mar. 8:36. What shall it profit a man? This is one of the searching questions that the Scriptures are wont to throw out to arouse reflection. Let each student try to conscientiously answer this question and the one which follows.

Mar. 8:37. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? What would a man not give? If he had the whole world, would he not willingly give it, provided he really knew, believed, or felt, that otherwise he would be utterly lost? The Saviour has gone forward in thought, and taken his standpoint in eternity. It is from that standpoint that he puts the question.

Mar. 8:38. Shall be ashamed of me and of my words. As many would be prone to be. The temptation to shame, in reference to the Savior and the Saviors sayings or doctrines, continues to the present day, and is pervading society to the core, even in countries called Christian, It is one of the severest temptations which young converts have to encounter. The anticipation of it is one of the mightiest motives to keep men away from conversion, and on the other side of Christian faith and fealty. This adulterous and sinful generation. Adulterous here, as in the Old Testament, means unfaithful to God. When he cometh, etc. The glorious coming to judge the world when all nations shall appear before him.

Mar. 9:1 Some of them that stand here, etc. The allusion to the final coming of the kingdom of Christ in power which took place on the day of Pentecost. The day of Pentecost, when the descent of the Spirit took place, marks the beginning of the dispensation of the Spirit, the new economy, or the kingdom of righteousness. Its consummation will be seen when all souls shall be converted to righteousness and Jesus shall come.

FACT QUESTIONS 8:279:1

455.

Give three facts about Caesarea Philippi.

456.

The verses before us begin what great division in our Lords ministry?

457.

What area of public ministry concludes with the eighth chapter?

458.

What was the purpose of our Lord in going into the district of Caesarea Philippi?

459. Give three lessons we can learn in the example of our Lord.
460.

Did Jesus want the opinions of the scribes and rabbis? Why not?

461.

Show how Mal. 4:5 helped form the opinion of some.

462.

Show how the whole ministry of Christ appeared to them to stand in contradiction to their Messianic expectation?

463.

It was in the Son of man that they were to recognize the of .

464.

The confession of Peter sees in Jesus the Messiah but even morewhat was it?

465.

The confession of Peter had both a human and divine originexplain.

466.

How was Jesus going to demonstrate His Messiahship?

467.

It took two years to teach one great truthwhat was it? What was the second great truth to be taught in the next few months?

468.

What was the supreme purpose of His advent?

469.

Why choose the three classes mentioned in Mar. 8:31? Do we have their counterpart today? Discuss.

470.

What hurt Peter the mostthe words that Jesus would be killed or being called Satan? Discuss.

471.

Satan repeated his temptation to Jesus through the words of Peterexplain.

472.

Were there many who wanted to follow Him? Who? Why? How?

473.

Explain the strong meaning of deny himself.

474.

Discuss in your own words the meaning of the cross as here ascribed to every disciple.

475.

Even in spiritual matters he who would save his life shall lose itplease apply.

476.

Multitudes lose their livesdiscuss two or three areas where this loss takes placewith no gainonly loss!

477.

In what way do we save our life?

478.

Isnt the use of the word soul in Mar. 8:37 an unfortunate one?it has a wider use than the eternal nature of manDiscuss.

479.

How is the temptation to be ashamed overcome?

480.

What is the fundamental error in being ashamed?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

IX.

(1) And he said unto them.The division of the chapters is obviously wrong. The verse ought to come, as in St. Matthew and St. Luke, in immediate connection with the foregoing discourse. The present arrangement may have been made with a view of connecting it with the Transfiguration, as that which was the fulfilment of the promise; but if so, it was based on what is at least a doubtful interpretation. (See Note on Mat. 16:28.) The form of the words in St. Mark agrees with St. Lukes report, until they shall see the kingdom of God, rather than with St. Matthews the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.

Come with power.The Greek verb implies that they should see it not coming, but as having actually come in its completeness.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 9

WHEN THE KING COMES INTO HIS OWN ( Mar 8:38 ; Mar 9:1 )

9:1 “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” And he used to say to them, “This is the truth I tell you–there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste of death until they shall see the Kingdom of God coming with power.”

One thing leaps out from this passage–the confidence of Jesus. He has just been speaking of his death; he has no doubt that the Cross stands ahead of him; but nonetheless he is absolutely sure that in the end there will be triumph.

The first part of the passage states a simple truth. When the King comes into his Kingdom he will be loyal to those who have been loyal to him. No man can expect to dodge all the trouble of some great undertaking and then reap all the benefit of it. No man can expect to refuse service in some campaign and then share in the decorations when it is brought to a successful conclusion. Jesus is saying, “In a difficult and hostile world Christianity is up against it these days. If a man is ashamed under such conditions to show that he is a Christian, if he is afraid to show what side he is on, he cannot expect to gain a place of honour when the Kingdom comes.”

The last part of this passage has caused much serious thought. Jesus says that many who are standing there will not die until they see the Kingdom coming with power. What worries some people is that they take this as a reference to the Second Coming; but if it is, Jesus was mistaken, because he did not return in power and glory in the lifetime of those who were there.

But this is not a reference to the Second Coming at all. Consider the situation. At the moment Jesus had only once been outside Palestine, and on that occasion he was just over the border in Tyre and Sidon. Only a very few men in a very small country had ever heard of him. Palestine was only about 120 miles from north to south and about 40 miles from east to west; her total population was 4,000,000 or thereby. To speak in terms of world conquest when he had scarcely ever been outside such a small country was strange. To make matters worse, even in that small country, he had so provoked the enmity of the orthodox leaders and of those in whose hands lay power, that it was quite certain that he could hope for nothing other than death as a heretic and an outlaw. In face of a situation like that there must have been many who felt despairingly that Christianity had no possible future, that in a short time it would be wiped out completely and eliminated from the world. Humanly speaking, these pessimists were right.

Now consider what did happen. Scarcely more than thirty years later, Christianity had swept through Asia Minor; Antioch had become a great Christian church. It had penetrated to Egypt; the Christians were strong in Alexandria. It had crossed the sea and come to Rome and swept through Greece. Christianity had spread like an unstoppable tide throughout the world. It was astonishingly true that in the lifetime of many there, against all expectations, Christianity had come with power. So far from being mistaken, Jesus was absolutely right.

The amazing thing is that Jesus never knew despair. In face of the dullness of the minds of men, in face of the opposition, in face of crucifixion and of death, he never doubted his final triumph–because he never doubted God. He was always certain that what is impossible with man is completely possible with him.

THE GLORY OF THE MOUNTAIN TOP ( Mar 9:2-8 )

9:2-8 Six days after, Jesus took Peter and James and John along with him and brought them up into a high mountain, all by themselves, alone. And he was transfigured in their presence. His clothes became radiant, exceedingly white, such that no fuller on earth could have made them so white. And Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus. “Teacher, it is good for us to be here. So let us make three booths, one for you, and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He said this because he did not know what he was saying, for they were awe-struck. And there came a cloud overshadowing them. And there came a voice from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!” And immediately, when they had looked round, they saw no one any more except Jesus alone with them.

We are face to face with an incident in the life of Jesus that is cloaked in mystery. We can only try to understand. Mark says that this happened six days after the incidents near Caesarea Philippi. Luke says that it happened eight days afterwards. There is no discrepancy here. They both mean what we might express by saying, “About a week afterwards.” Both the Eastern and the Western Churches hold their remembrance of the transfiguration on 6th August. It does not matter whether or not that is the actual date, but it is a time we do well to remember.

Tradition says that the transfiguration took place on the top of Mount Tabor. The Eastern Church actually calls the Festival of the Transfiguration the Taborion. It may be that the choice is based on the mention of Mount Tabor in Psa 89:12, but it is unfortunate. Tabor is in the south of Galilee and Caesarea Philippi is away to the north. Tabor is no more than 1,000 feet high, and, in the time of Jesus, there was a fortress on the top. It is much more likely that this event took place amidst the eternal snows of Mount Hermon which is 9,200 feet high and much nearer Caesarea Philippi and where the solitude would be much more complete.

What happened we cannot tell. We can only bow in reverence as we try to understand. Mark tells us that the garments of Jesus became radiant. The word he uses (stilbein, G4744) is the word used for the glistening gleam of burnished brass or gold or of polished steel or of the golden glare of the sunlight. When the incident came to an end a cloud overshadowed them.

In Jewish thought the presence of God is regularly connected with the cloud. It was in the cloud that Moses met God. It was in the cloud that God came to the Tabernacle. It was the cloud which rifled the Temple when it was dedicated after Solomon had built it. And it was the dream of the Jews that when the Messiah came the cloud of God’s presence would return to the Temple. ( Exo 16:10, Exo 19:9, Exo 33:9, 1Ki 8:10, 2Ma_2:8 .) The descent of the cloud is a way of saying that the Messiah had come, and any Jew would understand it like that.

The transfiguration has a double significance.

(i) It did something very precious for Jesus. Jesus had to take his own decisions. He had taken the decision to go to Jerusalem and that was the decision to face and accept the Cross. Obviously he had to be absolutely sure that was right before he could go on. On the mountain top he received a double approval of his decision.

(a) Moses and Elijah met with him. Now Moses was the supreme law-giver of Israel. To him the nation owed the laws of God. Elijah was the first and the greatest of the prophets. Always men looked back to him as the prophet who brought to men the very voice of God. When these two great figures met with Jesus it meant that the greatest of the law-givers and the greatest of the prophets said to him, “Go on!” It meant that they saw in Jesus the consummation of all that they had dreamed of in the past. It meant that they saw in him all that history had longed for and hoped for and looked forward to. It is as if at that moment Jesus was assured that he was on the right way because all history had been leading up to the Cross.

(b) God spoke with Jesus. As always, Jesus did not consult his own wishes. He went to God and said, “What wilt thou have me to do?” He put all his plans and intentions before God. And God said to him, “You are acting as my own beloved Son should act and must act. Go on!” On the mountain of the transfiguration Jesus was assured that he had not chosen the wrong way. He saw, not only the inevitability, but the essential rightness of the Cross.

(ii) It did something very precious for the disciples.

(a) They had been shattered by Jesus’ statement that he was going to Jerusalem to die. That seemed to them the complete negation of all that they understood of the Messiah. They were still bewildered and uncomprehending. Things were happening which not only baffled their minds but were also breaking their hearts. What they saw on the mountain of the transfiguration would give them something to hold on to, even when they could not understand. Cross or no Cross, they had heard God’s voice acknowledge Jesus as his Son.

(b) It made them in a special sense witnesses of the glory of Christ. A witness has been defined as a man who first sees and then shows. This time on the mountain had shown them the glory of Christ, and now they had the story of this glory to hide in their hearts and to tell to men, not at the moment, but when the time came.

THE FATE OF THE FORERUNNER ( Mar 9:9-13 )

9:9-13 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus enjoined them that they must not relate to anyone what they had seen, except when the Son of Man should have risen from the dead. They clung to this word, asking among themselves, what this phrase about rising from the dead could mean. They asked Jesus, “Do the experts in the Law not say that Elijah must come first?” “It is true,” he said to them, “Elijah comes first and sets all things in order. And yet how does it stand written about the Son of Man that he must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But, I say to you, Elijah, too, has come, and they treated him as they wished, even as it stands written about him.”

Naturally the three disciples were thinking hard as they came down the mountain-side.

First, Jesus began with an injunction. They must tell no one of what they had seen. Jesus knew quite well that their minds were still haunted by the conception of a Messiah of might and power. If they were to tell of what had happened on the mountain top, of how the glory of God had appeared, of how Moses and Elijah had appeared, how that could be made to chime in with popular expectations! How it could be made to seem a prelude to the burst of God’s avenging power on the nations of the world! The disciples still had to learn what Messiahship meant. There was only one thing that could teach them that–the Cross and the Resurrection to follow. When the Cross had taught them what Messiahship meant and when the Resurrection had convinced them that Jesus was the Messiah, then, and then only, they might tell of the glory of the mountain top for then, and then only, would they see it as it ought to be seen–as the prelude, not to the unleashing of God’s force, but to the crucifying of God’s love.

Still their minds worked on. They could not understand what Jesus’ words about resurrection meant. Their whole attitude shows that in fact they never understood them. Their whole outlook when the Cross came was that of men to whom the end had come. We must not blame the disciples. It was simply that they had been so schooled in a completely different idea of Messiahship that they could not take in what Jesus had said.

Then they asked something that was puzzling them. The Jew believed that before the Messiah came Elijah would come to be his herald and forerunner. ( Mal 4:5-6.) They had a rabbinic tradition that Elijah would come three days before the Messiah. On the first day he would stand on the mountains of Israel, lamenting the desolation of the land. And then in a voice that would be heard from one end of the world to the other, he would cry, “Peace cometh to the world. Peace cometh to the world.” On the second day he would cry, “Good cometh to the world. Good cometh to the world.” And on the third day he would cry “Jeshuah (see Yeshuw’ah – H3444) (salvation) cometh to the world. Jeshuah cometh to the world.” He would restore all things. He would mend the family breaches of the grim last days. He would settle all doubtful points of ritual and ceremonial. He would cleanse the nation by bringing back those wrongfully excluded and driving out those wrongfully included. Elijah had an amazing place in the thought of Israel. He was conceived of as being continuously active in heaven and on earth in their interest, and being the herald of the final consummation.

Inevitably the disciples were wondering “If Jesus is the Messiah what has happened to Elijah?” Jesus’ answer was in terms that any Jew would understand. “Elijah,” he said, “has come and men treated him as they willed. They took him and they arbitrarily applied their will to him and forgot God’s will.” He was referring to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist at the hands of Herod. Then, by implication, he drove them back to that thought they would not face and that he was determined they must face. By implication he demanded, “If they have done that to the forerunner, what will they do to the Messiah?”

Jesus was overturning all the preconceived notions and ideas of his disciples. They looked for the emergence of Elijah, the coming of the Messiah, the irruption of God into time and the shattering victory of heaven, which they identified with the triumph of Israel. He was trying to compel them to see that in fact the herald had been cruelly killed and the Messiah must end on a Cross. They still did not understand, and their failure to understand was due to the cause which always makes men fail to understand–they clung to their way and refused to see God’s way. They wished things as they desired them and not as God had ordered them. the error of their thoughts had blinded them to the revelation of God’s truth.

COMING DOWN FROM THE MOUNT ( Mar 9:14-18 )

9:14-18 When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd gathered around them, and the experts in the law engaged in discussion with them. And as soon as they saw him the whole crowd were amazed and ran to him and greeted him. He asked them, “What are you discussing among yourselves?” And one of the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you because he has a spirit which makes him dumb. And whenever the spirit seizes him, it convulses him, and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth, and he is wasting away. And I asked your disciples to cast it out and they could not.”

This is the kind of thing that Peter had wanted to avoid. On the mountain top, in the presence of the glory, Peter had said, “This is a good place for us to be.” Then he had wanted to build three booths for Jesus and Moses and Elijah, and to stay there. Life was so much better, so much nearer God, there on the mountain top. Why ever come down again? But it is of the very essence of life that we must come down from the mountain top. It has been said that in religion there must be solitude, but not solitariness. The solitude is necessary, for a man must keep his contact with God; but if a man, in his search for the essential solitude, shuts himself off from his fellow-men, shuts his ears to their appeal for help, shuts his heart to the cry of their tears, that is not religion. The solitude is not meant to make us solitary. It is meant to make us better able to meet and cope with the demands of everyday life.

Jesus came down to a delicate situation. A father had brought his boy to the disciples, and the boy was an epileptic. All the symptoms were there. The disciples had been quite unable to deal with his case, and that had given the scribes their chance. The helplessness of the disciples was a first-rate opportunity to belittle not only them but their Master. That is what made the situation so delicate, and that is what makes every human situation so delicate for the Christian. His conduct, his words, his ability or inability to cope with the demands of life, are used as a yard-stick, not only to judge him, but to judge Jesus Christ.

A. Victor Murray, in his book on Christian Education, writes, “There are those into whose eyes comes a far-away look when they talk about the church. It is a supernatural society, the body of Christ, his spotless bride, the custodian of the oracles of God, the blessed company of the redeemed, and a few more romantic titles, none of which seem to tally with what the outsider can see for himself in ‘St. Agatha’s Parish Church,’ or ‘High Street Methodists.'” It does not matter how high-sounding a man’s professions may be, it is by his actions that people judge him, and, in judging him, judge his Master. That was the situation here.

Then Jesus arrived. When the people saw him, they were astonished. We are not for one moment to think that the radiance of the transfiguration still lingered on him. That would have been to undo his own instructions that it be kept as yet a secret. The crowd had thought him away up in the lonely slopes of Hermon. They had been so engrossed in their argument that they had not seen him come, and now, just when the moment was right, here he was in the midst of them. It was at his sudden, unexpected but opportune arrival, that they were surprised.

Here we learn two things about Jesus.

(i) He was ready to face the Cross and he was ready to face the common problem just as either came. It is characteristic of human nature that we can face the great crisis-moments of life with honour and dignity, but allow the routine demands of everyday to irritate and annoy us. We can face the shattering blows of life with a certain heroism, but allow the petty pinpricks to upset us. Many a man can face a great disaster or a great loss with calm serenity and yet loses his temper if a meal is badly cooked or a train late. The amazing thing about Jesus was that he could serenely face the Cross, and just as calmly deal with the day-to-day emergencies of life. The reason was that he did not keep God only for the crisis as so many of us do. He walked the daily paths of life with him.

(ii) He had come into the world to save the world, and yet he could give himself in his entirety to the helping of one single person. It is much easier to preach the gospel of love for mankind than it is to love individual not-very-lovable sinners. It is easy to be filled with a sentimental affection for the human race, and just as easy to find it too much bother to go out of our way to help an individual member of it. Jesus had the gift, which is the gift of a regal nature, of giving himself entirely to every person with whom he happened to be.

THE CRY OF FAITH ( Mar 9:19-24 )

9:19-24 “O faithless generation!” Jesus answered. “How long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear you? Bring him to me!” They brought him to Jesus. When he saw Jesus, the spirit immediately sent the boy into a convulsion, and he fell upon the ground, and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked his father, “How long is it since this happened to him?” He said, “He has been like this since he was a child. Often it throws him into the fire and into waters for it is out to destroy him. But, if you can, let your heart be moved with pity, and help us.” Jesus said to him, “You say, ‘If you can.’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.”

This passage begins with a cry wrung from the heart of Jesus. He had been on the mountain top and had faced the tremendous task that lay ahead of him. He had decided to stake his life on the redemption of the world. And now he had come back down to find his nearest followers, his own chosen men, beaten and baffled and helpless and ineffective. The thing, for the moment, must have daunted even Jesus. He must have had a sudden realization of what anyone else would have called the hopelessness of his task. He must at that moment have almost despaired of the attempt to change human nature and to make men of the world into men of God.

How did he meet the moment of despair? “Bring the boy to me,” he said. When we cannot deal with the ultimate situation, the thing to do is to deal with the situation which at the moment confronts us. It was as if Jesus said, “I do not know how I am ever to change these disciples of mine, but I can at this moment help this boy. Let me get on with the present task, and not despair of the future.”

Again and again that is the way to avoid despair. If we sit and think about the state of the world, we may well become very depressed; then let us get to action in our small corner of the world. We may sometimes despair of the church; then let us get to action in our own small part of the church. Jesus did not sit appalled and paralysed at the slowness of men’s minds; he dealt with the immediate situation. As Kingsley had it,

“Do the work that’s nearest,

Though it’s dull at whiles,

Helping when we meet them

Lame dogs over stiles.”

The surest way to avoid pessimism and despair is to take what immediate action we can–and there is always something to be done.

To the father of the boy Jesus stated the conditions of a miracle. “To him who believes,” said Jesus, “all things are possible.” It was as if Jesus said, “The cure of your boy depends, not on me, but on you.” This is not a specially theological truth; it is universal. To approach anything in the spirit of hopelessness is to make it hopeless; to approach anything in the spirit of faith is to make it a possibility. Cavour once said that what a statesman needed above all was “a sense of the possible.” Most of us are cursed with a sense of the impossible, and that is precisely why miracles do not happen.

The whole attitude of the father of the boy is most illuminating. Originally he had come seeking for Jesus himself. Since Jesus was on the mountain top he had had to deal with the disciples and his experience of them was discouraging. His faith was badly shaken, so badly shaken that when he came to Jesus all he could say at first was, “Help me, if you can.” then, face to face with Jesus, suddenly his faith blazed up again. “I believe,” he cried. “If there is still some discouragement in me, still some doubts, take them away and fill me with an unquestioning faith.”

It sometimes happens that people get less than they hoped for from some church or from some servant of the church. When that happens they ought to press beyond the church to the Master of the church, beyond the servant of Christ to Christ himself. The church may at times disappoint us, and God’s servants on earth may disappoint us. But when we battle our way face to face with Jesus Christ, he never disappoints us.

THE CAUSE OF FAILURE ( Mar 9:25-29 )

9:25-29 When Jesus saw that the crowd was running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit. “Spirit of dumbness and deafness,” he said, “I order you, come out of him, and don’t go into him again.” When it had cried and violently convulsed him it came out, and he became like a dead man, so that many said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up, and he stood up. When he had gone into the house, and when they were by themselves, his disciples asked him, “Why were we not able to cast it out?” “This kind,” he said to them, “cannot come out except by prayer.”

Jesus must have taken father and son aside. But the crowd, hearing their cries, came running up, and Jesus acted. There was one last struggle, a struggle to complete exhaustion, and the boy was cured.

When they were by themselves the disciples asked the cause of their failure. They were no doubt remembering that Jesus had sent them out to preach and heal and cast out devils ( Mar 3:14-15). Why, then, had they this time so signally failed? Jesus answered quite simply that this kind of cure demanded prayer.

In effect he said to them, “You don’t live close enough to God.” They had been equipped with power, but it needed prayer to maintain it.

There is a deep lesson here. God may have given us a gift, but unless we maintain close contact with him it may wither and die. That is true of any gift. God may give a man great natural gifts as a preacher, but unless he maintains contact with God, he may in the end become only a man of words and not a man of power. God may give a man a gift of music or of song, but unless he maintains contact with God, he may become a mere professional, who uses the gift only for gain, which is a dreary thing. That is not to say a man should not use a gift for gain. He has a right to capitalize any talent. But it does mean that, even when he is so using it, he should be finding joy in it because he is also using it for God. It is told of Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish soprano, that before every performance she would stand alone in her dressing-room and pray, “God, help me to sing true to-night.”

Unless we maintain this contact with God we lose two things however great our gift may be.

(i) We lose vitality. We lose that living power, that something plus which makes for greatness. The thing becomes a performance instead of an offering to God. What should be a vital, living body becomes a beautiful corpse.

(ii) We lose humility. What should be used for God’s glory we begin to use for our own, and the virtue goes out of it. What should have been used to set God before men is used to set ourselves before them, and the breath of loveliness is gone.

Here is a warning thought. The disciples had been equipped with power direct from Jesus, but they had not nurtured power with prayer, and power had vanished. Whatever gifts God has given us, we lose them when we use them for ourselves. We keep them when we enrich them by continual contact with the God who gave them.

FACING THE END ( Mar 9:30-31 )

9:30-31 When they left there, they made their way through Galilee, and Jesus did not wish anyone to know where he was, for he kept teaching the disciples and saying to them, “The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and, when he has been killed, after three days he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he said, and they were afraid to ask him what it meant.

This passage marks a mile-stone. Jesus had now left the north country where he was safe and was taking the first step towards Jerusalem and to the Cross which awaited him there. For once he did not watt the crowds around him. He knew quite clearly that unless he could write his message on the hearts of his chosen men, he had failed. Any teacher can leave behind him a series of propositions, but Jesus knew that that was not enough. He had to leave behind him a band of persons on whom these propositions were written. He had to make sure, before he left this world in the body, that there were some who understood, however dimly, what he had come to say.

This time the tragedy of his warning is even more poignant. If we compare it with the previous passage in which he foretold his death ( Mar 8:31), we see that one phrase is added, “The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men.” There was a traitor in the little band, and Jesus knew it. He could see the way in which the mind of Judas was working. Maybe he could see it better than Judas could himself. And when he said, “The Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of men.” he was not only announcing a fact and giving a warning, he was also making a last appeal to the man in whose heart was forming the purpose of betrayal.

Even yet the disciples did not understand. The thing they did not understand was the bit about rising again. By this time they were aware of the atmosphere of tragedy, but to the end of the day they never grasped the certainty of the Resurrection. That was a wonder that was too great for them, a wonder that they grasped only when it became an accomplished fact.

When they did not understand, they were afraid to ask any further questions. They were like men who knew so much that they were afraid to know more. A man might receive a verdict from his doctor. He might think the general purport of the verdict bad, but not understand all the details, and he might be afraid to ask questions, for the simple reason that he is afraid to know any more. The disciples were like that.

Sometimes we are amazed that they did not grasp what was so plainly spoken. The human mind has an amazing faculty for rejecting what it does not wish to see. Are we so very different? Over and over again we have heard the Christian message. We know the glory of accepting it and the tragedy of rejecting it, but many of us are just as far off as ever we were from giving it our full allegiance and moulding our lives to fit it. Men still accept the parts of the Christian message which they like and which suit them, and refuse to understand the rest.

THE TRUE AMBITION ( Mar 9:32-35 )

9:32-35 So they came to Capernaum. When Jesus was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They remained silent. for on the road they had been arguing with each other who was to be greatest. So Jesus sat down, and called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he must be the last of all, and the servant of all.”

Nothing so well shows how far the disciples were from realizing the real meaning of Jesus’ Messiahship as this does. Repeatedly he had told them what awaited him in Jerusalem, and yet they were still thinking of his Kingdom in earthly terms and of themselves as his chief ministers of state. There is something heart-breaking in the thought of Jesus going towards a Cross and his disciples arguing about who would be greatest.

Yet in their heart of hearts they knew they were wrong. When he asked them what they had been arguing about they had nothing to say. It was the silence of shame. They had no defence. It is strange how a thing takes its proper place and acquires its true character when it is set in the eyes of Jesus. So long as they thought that Jesus was not listening and that Jesus had not seen, the argument about who should be greatest seemed fair enough, but when that argument had to be stated in the presence of Jesus it was seen in all its unworthiness.

If we took everything and set it in the sight of Jesus it would make all the difference in the world. If of everything we did, we asked, “Could I go on doing this if Jesus was watching me?”; if of everything we said, we asked, “Could I go on talking like this if Jesus was listening to me?” there would be many things which we would be saved from doing and saying. And the fact of Christian belief is that there is no “if” about it. All deeds are done, all words are spoken in his presence. God keep us from the words and deeds which we would be ashamed that he should hear and see.

Jesus dealt with this very seriously. It says that he sat down and called the Twelve to him. When a Rabbi was teaching as a Rabbi, as a master teaches his scholars and disciples, when he was really making a pronouncement, he sat to teach. Jesus deliberately took up the position of a Rabbi teaching his pupils before he spoke. And then he told them that if they sought for greatness in his Kingdom they must find it, not by being first but by being last, not by being masters but by being servants of all. It was not that Jesus abolished ambition. Rather he recreated and sublimated ambition. For the ambition to rule he substituted the ambition to serve. For the ambition to have things done for us he substituted the ambition to do things for others.

So far from being an impossibly idealistic view, this is a view of the soundest common-sense. The really great men, the men who are remembered as having made a real contribution to life, are the men who said to themselves, not, “How can I use the state and society to further my own prestige and my own personal ambitions?” but, “How can I use my personal gifts and talents to serve the state?”

Stanley Baldwin paid a noble tribute to Lord Curzon when he died. In it he said, “I want, before I sit down, to say one or two things that no one but I can say. A Prime Minister sees human nature bared to the bone, and it was my chance to see him twice when he suffered great disappointment–the time when I was preferred to him as Prime Minister, and the time when I had to tell him that he could render greater service to the country as chairman of the Committee of Imperial Defence than in the Foreign Office. Each of these occasions was a profound and bitter disappointment to him, but never for one moment did he show by word, look, or innuendo, or by any reference to the subject afterwards, that he was dissatisfied. He bore no grudge, and he pursued no other course than the one I expected of him, of doing his duty where it was decided he could best render service.” Here was a man whose greatness lay not in the fact that he reached the highest offices of state, but in the fact that he was ready to serve his country anywhere.

True selflessness is rare, and when it is found it is remembered. The Greeks had a story of a Spartan called Paedaretos. Three hundred men were to be chosen to govern Sparta and Paedaretos was a candidate. When the list of the successful was announced his name was not on it. “I am sorry,” said one of his friends, “that you were not elected. The people ought to have known what a wise officer of state you would have made.” “I am glad,” said Paedaretos, “that in Sparta there are three hundred men better than I am.” Here was a man who became a legend because he was prepared to give to others the first place and to bear no ill will.

Every economic problem would be solved if men lived for what they could do for others and not for what they could get for themselves. Every political problem would be solved if the ambition of men was only to serve the state and not to enhance their own prestige. The divisions and disputes which tear the church asunder would for the most part never occur if the only desire of its office-bearers and its members was to serve it without caring what position they occupied. When Jesus spoke of the supreme greatness and value of the man whose ambition was to be a servant, he laid down one of the greatest practical truths in the world.

HELPING THE HELPLESS IS HELPING CHRIST ( Mar 9:36-37 )

9:36-37 Jesus took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And he took him up in the crook of his arm and said to them, “Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me.”

Jesus is here still dealing with the worthy and the unworthy ambition.

He took a child and set him in the midst. Now a child has no influence at all; a child cannot advance a man’s career nor enhance his prestige; a child cannot give us things. It is the other way round. A child needs things; a child must have things done for him. So Jesus says, “If a man welcomes the poor, ordinary people, the people who have no influence and no wealth and no power, the people who need things done for them, he is welcoming me. More than that, he is welcoming God.” The child is typical of the person who needs things, and it is the society of the person who needs things that we must seek.

There is a warning here. It is easy to cultivate the friendship of the person who can do things for us, and whose influence can be useful to us. And it is equally easy to avoid the society of the person who inconveniently needs our help. It is easy to curry favour with the influential and the great, and to neglect the simple, humble, ordinary folk. It is easy at some function to seek the society and the notice of some distinguished person, and to avoid the poor relation. In effect Jesus here says that we ought to seek out not those who can do things for us, but those for whom we can do things, for in this way we are seeking the society of himself. This is another way of saying, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” ( Mat 25:40).

A LESSON IN TOLERANCE ( Mar 9:38-40 )

9:38-40 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons by the use of your name, and we tried to stop him because he is not one of our company.” “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus. “There is no one who can do a work of power in the strength of my name and lightly speak evil of me. He who is not against us is for us.”

As we have seen over and over again, in the time of Jesus everyone believed in demons. Everyone believed that both mental and physical illness was caused by the malign influence of these evil spirits. Now there was one very common way to exorcise them. If one could get to know the name of a still more powerful spirit and command the evil demon in that name to come out of a person, the demon was supposed to be powerless to resist. It could not stand against the might of the more powerful name. This is the kind of picture we have here. John had seen a man using the all-powerful name of Jesus to defeat the demons and he had tried to stop him, because he was not one of the intimate band of the disciples. But Jesus declared that no man could do a mighty work in his name and be altogether his enemy. Then Jesus laid down the great principle that “he who is not against us is for us.”

Here is a lesson in tolerance, and it is a lesson that nearly everyone needs to learn.

(i) Every man has a right to his own thoughts. Every man has a right to think things out and to think them through until he comes to his own conclusions and his own beliefs. And that is a right we should respect. We are often too apt to condemn what we do not understand. William Penn once said, “Neither despise nor oppose what thou dost not understand.” Kingsley Williams in The New Testament in Plain English, translates a phrase in Jd 10 like this–“Those who speak abusively of everything they do not understand.”

There are two things we must remember.

(a) There is far more than one way to God. “God,” as Tennyson has it, “fulfils himself in many ways.” Cervantes once said, “Many are the roads by which God carries his own to heaven.” The world is round, and two people can get to precisely the same destination by starting out in precisely opposite directions. All roads, if we pursue them long enough and far enough, lead to God. It is a fearful thing for any man or any church to think that he or it has a monopoly of salvation.

(b) It is necessary to remember that truth is always bigger than any man’s grasp of it. No man can possibly grasp all truth. The basis of tolerance is not a lazy acceptance of anything. It is not the feeling that there cannot be assurance anywhere. The basis of tolerance is simply the realization of the magnitude of the orb of truth. John Morley wrote, “Toleration means reverence for all the possibilities of truth, it means acknowledgment that she dwells in divers mansions, and wears vesture of many colours, and speaks in strange tongues. It means frank respect for freedom of indwelling conscience against mechanical forms, official conventions, social force. It means the charity that is greater than faith or hope.” Intolerance is a sign both of arrogance and ignorance, for it is a sign that a man believes that there is no truth beyond the truth he sees.

(ii) Not only must we concede to every man the right to do his own thinking, we must also concede the right to a man to do his own speaking. Of all democratic rights the dearest is that of liberty of speech. There are, of course, limits. If a man is inculcating doctrines calculated to destroy morality and to remove the foundations from all civilized and Christian society, he must be combatted. But the way to combat him is certainly not to eliminate him by force but to prove him wrong. Once Voltaire laid down the conception of freedom of speech in a vivid sentence. “I hate what you say,” he said, “but I would die for your right to say it.”

(iii) We must remember that any doctrine or belief must finally be judged by the kind of people it produces. Dr. Chalmers once put the matter in a nutshell. “Who cares,” he demanded, “about any Church but as an instrument of Christian good?” The question must always ultimately be, not, “How is a Church governed?” but, “What kind of people does a Church produce?”

There is an old eastern fable. A man possessed a ring set with a wonderful opal. Whoever wore the ring became so sweet and true in character that all men loved him. The ring was a charm. Always it was passed down from father to son, and always it did its work. As time went on, it came to a father who had three sons whom he loved with an equal love. What was he to do when the time came to pass on the ring? The father got other two rings made precisely the same so that none could tell the difference. On his death-bed he called each of his sons in, spoke some words of love and to each, without telling the others, gave a ring. When the three sons discovered that each had a ring, a great dispute arose as to which was the true ring that could do so much for its owner. The case was taken to a wise judge. He examined the rings and then he spoke. “I cannot tell which is the magic ring,” he said, “but you yourselves can prove it.” “We?” asked the sons in astonishment. “Yes,” said the judge, “for if the true ring gives sweetness to the character of the man who wears it, then I and all the other people in the city will know the man who possesses the true ring by the goodness of his life. So, go your ways, and be kind, be truthful, be brave, be just in your dealings, and he who does these things will be the owner of the true ring.”

The matter was to be proved by life. No man can entirely condemn beliefs which make a man good. If we remember that, we may be less intolerant.

(iv) We may hate a man’s beliefs, but we must never hate the man. We may wish to eliminate what he teaches, but we must never wish to eliminate him.

“He drew a circle that shut me out–

Rebel, heretic, thing to flout.

But love and I had the wit to win–

We drew a circle that took him in.”

REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ( Mar 9:41-42 )

9:41-42 Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink on the ground that you belong to Christ, I tell you truly he will not lose his reward. And whoever puts a stumbling-block in the path of one of these little ones who believe in me, it is better for him that a great millstone hang about his neck and he be cast into the sea.

The teaching of this passage is simple, unmistakable and salutary.

(i) It declares that any kindness shown, any help given, to the people of Christ will not lose its reward. The reason for helping is that the person in need belongs to Jesus. Every man in need has a claim upon us because he is dear to Christ. Had Jesus still been here in the flesh he would have helped that man in the most practical way and the duty of help has devolved on us. It is to be noted how simple the help is. The gift is a cup of cold water. We are not asked to do great things for others, things beyond our power. We are asked to give the simple things that any man can give.

A missionary tells a lovely story. She had been telling a class of African primary children about giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. She was sitting on the veranda of her house. Into the village square came a company of native bearers. They had heavy packs. They were tired and thirsty, and they sat down to rest. Now they were men of another tribe, and had they asked the ordinary non-Christian native for water they would have been told to go and find it for themselves, because of the barrier between the tribes. But as the men sat wearily there, and as the missionary watched, from the school emerged a little line of tiny African girls. On their heads they had pitchers of water. Shyly and fearfully they approached the tired bearers, knelt and offered their pitchers of water. In surprise the bearers took them and drank and handed them back, and the girls took to their heels and ran to the missionary. “We have given a thirsty man a drink,” they said, “in the name of Jesus.” The little children took the story and the duty literally.

Would that more would do so! It is the simple kindnesses that are needed. As Mahomet said long ago, “Putting a lost man on the right road, giving a thirsty man a drink of water, smiling in your brother’s face–that, too, is charity.”

(ii) But the converse is also true. To help is to win the eternal reward. To cause a weaker brother to stumble is to win the eternal punishment. The passage is deliberately stern. The mill-stone that is mentioned is a great millstone. There were two kinds of mills in Palestine. There was the hand-mill that the women used in the house. And there was the mill whose stone was so great that it took an ass to turn it.

The mill-stone here is literally an ass’ mill-stone. To be cast into the sea with that attached was certainly to have no hope of return. This was in fact a punishment and a means of execution both in Rome and in Palestine. Josephus tells us that when certain Galilaeans had made a successful revolt “they took those of Herod’s party and drowned them in the lake.” Suetonius, the Roman historian, tells us of Augustus that, “Because the tutor and attendants of his son Gaius took advantage of their master’s illness to commit acts of arrogance and greed to his province, he had them thrown into a river with heavy weights about their necks.”

To sin is terrible but to teach another to sin is infinitely worse. O. Henry has a story in which he tells of a little girl whose mother was dead. Her father used to come home from work and sit down and take off his jacket and open his paper and light his pipe and put his feet on the mantelpiece. The little girl would come in and ask him to play with her for a little for she was lonely. He told her he was tired, to let him be at peace. He told her to go out to the street and play. She played on the streets. The inevitable happened–she took to the streets. The years passed on and she died. Her soul arrived in heaven. Peter saw her and said to Jesus, “Master, here’s a girl who was a bad lot. I suppose we send her straight to hell?” “No,” said Jesus gently, “let her in. Let her in.” And then his eyes grew stern, “But look for a man who refused to play with his little girl and sent her out to the streets–and send him to hell.” God is not hard on the sinner, but he will be stern to the person who makes it easier for another to sin, and whose conduct, either thoughtless or deliberate, puts a stumbling-block in the path of a weaker brother.

THE GOAL WHICH IS WORTH ANY SACRIFICE ( Mar 9:43-48 )

9:43-48 If your hand proves a stumbling-block to you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than to go away to Gehenna with two hands, to the fire that can never be quenched. And if your foot is a stumbling-block to you, cut it off. For it is better for you to enter life lame than to be cast into Gehenna with two feet. And if your eye proves a stumbling-block to you, cast it away. For it is better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye than to be cast into Gehenna with two eyes, where their worm does not die and the fire is never quenched.

This passage lays down in vivid eastern language the basic truth that there is one goal in life worth any sacrifice. In physical matters it may be that a man may have to part with a limb or with some part of the body to preserve the life of the whole body. The amputation of some limb or the excision of some part of the body by surgical means is sometimes the only way to preserve the life of the whole body. In the spiritual life the same kind of thing can happen.

The Jewish Rabbis had sayings based on the way in which some parts of the body can lend themselves to sin. “The eye and the heart are the two brokers of sin.” “The eye and the heart are the two handmaids of sin.” “Passions lodge only in him who sees.” “Woe to him who goes after his eyes for the eyes are adulterous.” There are certain instincts in man, and certain parts of man’s physical constitution, which minister to sin. This saying of Jesus is not to be taken literally, but is a vivid eastern way of saying that there is a goal in life worth any sacrifice to attain it.

There are in this passage repeated references to Gehenna. Gehenna is spoken of in the New Testament in Mat 5:22; Mat 5:29-30; Mat 10:28; Mat 18:9; Mat 23:15; Mat 23:33; Luk 12:5; Jas 3:6. The word is regularly translated Hell. It is a word with a history. It is a form of the word Hinnom. The valley of Hinnom was a ravine outside Jerusalem. It had an evil past.

It was the valley in which Ahaz, in the old days, had instituted fire worship and the sacrifice of little children in the fire. “He burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his sons as an offering.” ( 2Ch 28:3). That terrible heathen worship was also followed by Manasseh ( 2Ch 33:6). The valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, therefore, was the scene of one of Israel’s most terrible lapses into heathen customs. In his reformations Josiah declared it an unclean place. “He defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.” ( 2Ki 23:10).

When the valley had been so declared unclean and had been so desecrated it was set apart as the place where the refuse of Jerusalem was burned. The consequence was that it was a foul, unclean place, where loathsome worms bred on the refuse, and which smoked and smouldered at all times like some vast incinerator. The actual phrase about the worm which does not die, and the fire which is not quenched, comes from a description of the fate of Israel’s evil enemies in Isa 66:24.

Because of all this Gehenna had become a kind of type or symbol of Hell, the place where the souls of the wicked would be tortured and destroyed. It is so used in the Talmud. “The sinner who desists from the words of the Law will in the end inherit Gehenna.” So then Gehenna stands as the place of punishment, and the word roused in the mind of every Israelite the grimmest and most terrible pictures.

But what was the goal for which everything must be sacrificed? It is described in two ways. Twice it is called life, and once it is called the Kingdom of God. How may we define the Kingdom of God? We may take our definition from the Lord’s Prayer. In that prayer two petitions are set beside each other. “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” There is no literary device so characteristic of Jewish style as parallelism. In parallelism two phrases are set side by side, the one of which either restates the other, or amplifies, explains and develops it. Any verse of the Psalms will show this device in action. So, then, we may take it that in the Lord’s Prayer the one petition is an explanation and amplification of the other. When we set the two together we get the definition that, “The Kingdom of Heaven is a society upon earth in which God’s will is as perfectly done in earth as it is in heaven.”

We may then go on to say quite simply that perfectly to do God’s will is to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. And if we take that and apply it to the passage we are now studying it will mean that it is worth any sacrifice and any discipline and any self-denial to do the will of God and only in doing that will is there real life and ultimate and completely satisfying peace.

Origen takes this symbolically. He says that it may be necessary to excise some heretic or some evil person from the fellowship of the Church in order to keep the body of the Church pure. But this saying is meant to be taken very personally. It means that it may be necessary to excise some habit, to abandon some pleasure, to give up some friendship, to cut out some thing which has become very dear to us, in order to be fully obedient to the will of God. This is not a matter with which anyone can deal for anyone else. It is solely a matter of a man’s individual conscience, and it means that, if there is anything in our lives which is coming between us and a perfect obedience to the will of God, however much habit and custom may have made it part of our lives, it must be rooted out. The rooting out may be as painful as a surgical operation, it may seem like cutting out part of our own body, but if we are to know real life, real happiness and real peace it must go. This may sound bleak and stern, but in reality it is only facing the facts of life.

THE SALT OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ( Mar 9:49-50 )

9:49-50 Everyone must be salted with fire, Salt is good, but, if the salt has become saltless, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and so live at peace with each other.

These three verses are amongst the most difficult in the New Testament. The commentators produce scores of different interpretations. The interpretation will become easier if we remember something we have already had cause to note. Often Jesus dropped pithy sayings which stuck in men’s minds because they could not possibly forget them. But often, although men remembered the saying, they did not remember the occasion on which it was said. The result is that we often get a series of quite disconnected sayings of Jesus set together because they stuck in the writer’s mind in that order.

Here is an instance of this. We will not make sense of these two verses at all unless we recognize that here we have three quite separate sayings of Jesus which have nothing to do with each other. They came together in the compiler’s mind and stuck there together in this order because they all contain the word salt. They are a little collection of sayings of Jesus in which he used salt in various ways as metaphor or illustration. AD this is to say that we must not try to find some remote connection between these sayings. We must take them individually and interpret each as it comes.

(i) Everyone must be salted by fire. According to the Jewish Law every sacrifice must be salted with salt before it was offered to God on the altar ( Lev 2:13). That sacrificial salt was called the salt of the covenant ( Num 18:19; 2Ch 13:5). It was the addition of that salt which made the sacrifice acceptable to God, and which his covenant law laid down as necessary. This saying of Jesus will then mean, “Before a Christian life becomes acceptable to God it must be treated with fire just as every sacrifice is treated with salt.” The fire is the salt which makes the life acceptable to God.

What does that mean? In ordinary New Testament language, fire has two connections.

(a) It is connected with purification. It is the fire which purifies the base metal; the alloy is separated and the metal left pure. Fire then will mean everything which purifies life, the discipline by which a man conquers his sin, the experiences of life which purify and strengthen the sinews of the soul. In that case this will mean, “The life which is acceptable to God is the life which has been cleansed and purified by the discipline of Christian obedience and Christian acceptance of the guiding hand of God.”

(b) Fire is connected with destruction. In that case this saying will have to do with persecution. It will mean that the life which has undergone the trials and hardships and perils of persecution is the life which is acceptable to God. The man who has voluntarily faced the danger of the destruction of his goods and the destruction of his own life because of his loyalty to Jesus Christ is the man who is dear to God.

We may take this first saying of Jesus to mean that the life which is purified by discipline and has faced the danger of persecution because of its loyalty is the sacrifice which is precious to God.

(ii) Salt is good, but if the salt has become saltless, with what will you season it? This is an even harder saying to interpret. We would not say that there are no other possible interpretations, but we would suggest that it may be understood on the following lines. Salt has two characteristic virtues. First, it lends flavour to things. An egg without salt is an insipid thing. Anyone knows how unpleasant many a dish is when the salt which should have been included is accidentally omitted in the preparation. Second, salt was the earliest of all preservatives. To keep a thing from going rotten salt was used. The Greeks used to say that salt acted like a soul in a dead body. Dead meat left to itself went bad, but, pickled in salt, it retained its freshness. The salt seemed to put a kind of life into it. Salt defended against corruption.

Now the Christian was sent into a heathen society to do something for it. Heathen society had two characteristics. First, it was bored and world-weary. The very luxuries and excesses of that ancient world were a proof that in its bored weariness it was looking for some thrill in a life from which all thrill had gone. As Matthew Arnold wrote,

“On that hard pagan world, disgust

And secret loathing fell;

Deep weariness and sated lust

Made human life a hell.

In his cool hall, with haggard eyes,

The Roman noble lay;

He drove abroad in furious guise

Along the Appian Way;

He made a feast, drank fierce and fast,

And crowned his hair with flowers–

No easier nor no quicker passed

The impracticable hours.”

Into that bored and weary world Christianity came, and it was the task of the Christian to impart to society a new flavour and a new thrill as salt does to the dish with which it is used.

Second, that ancient world was corrupt. No one knew that better than the ancients themselves. Juvenal likened Rome to a filthy sewer. Purity was gone and chastity was unknown. Into that corrupt world Christianity came, and it was the task of the Christian to bring an antiseptic to the poison of life, to bring a cleansing influence into that corruption. Just as salt defeated the corruption which inevitably attacked dead meat, so Christianity was to attack the corruption of the world.

So then in this saying Jesus was challenging the Christian. “The world,” he said, “needs the flavour and the purity that only the Christian can bring. And if the Christian himself has lost the thrill and the purity of the Christian life, where will the world ever get these things?” Unless the Christian, in the power of Christ, defeats world-weariness and world corruption, these things must flourish unchecked.

(iii) Have salt in yourselves and live at peace with each other. Here we must take salt in the sense of purity. The ancients declared that there was nothing in the world purer than salt because it came from the two purest things, the sun and the sea. The very glistening whiteness of salt was a picture of purity. So this will mean, “Have within yourselves the purifying influence of the Spirit of Christ. Be purified from selfishness and self-seeking, from bitterness and anger and grudge-bearing. Be cleansed from irritation and moodiness and self-centredness, and then, and then only, you will be able to live in peace with your fellow men.” In other words, Jesus is saying that it is only the life that is cleansed of self and filled with Christ which can live in real fellowship with men.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

‘And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some here of those who stand by who will in no way taste of death until they see the Kingly Rule of God has come with power.” ’

The introductory ‘and He said to them’ separates this saying off from the earlier ones, and the presence of Scribes (Mar 9:14; Mar 9:30) suggests that they were now back in Galilee. The words were probably spoken only to His disciples. They have caused a great deal of discussion, especially in view of the parallel verse in Matthew. The basic question is, what did Jesus mean when He spoke of ‘the Kingly Rule of God’ being seen as having come with power’? In Matthew it reads, ‘until they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Rule’ (Mat 16:28). Luke reads, ‘until they see the Kingly Rule of God’ (Luk 9:27). For He said that there were some there who would not die until they had seen it. Note especially that here the emphasis is on the coming of His Kingly Rule ‘with power’ which will occur in such a way that it will be for those who see it a past event (perfect tense), not on its future coming ‘in glory’ (Luk 8:38).

We can compare the words in Mat 16:28 with Jesus’ words at His trial. In Mat 26:64, in reply to the question as to whether He was the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus said to Chief Priests, Scribes and Elders who were present,, ‘ From now on  you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power (i.e. God) and coming on the clouds of Heaven’ (compareMar 14:62). This must be interpreted in its context. It is clearly intended to have significance for His hearers, and to be understood by them in the light of their question, and of their own state of knowledge, and in their case their minds would immediately turn to Psa 110:1 (quoted in Mat 22:44), ‘You sit at my right hand’ and Dan 7:12-13 ‘there came with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man’. ‘The right hand of power’ is a synonym for ‘the right hand of God’, ‘power’ being used, as was customary with the Jews, to avoid the use of the word ‘God’, which they sought to avoid. Here therefore Jesus speaks of His receiving Kingly Rule and their witnessing it (in its effects) as something shortly to happen (‘from now on, from the present time’).

Neither of these references would suggest to his listeners a leaving of and return to earth. Both would be seen as signifying that His claim was that He would be crowned as God’s chosen king, the latter after coming to the throne of God in Heaven, presumably in some kind of mystical experience. The ‘sitting at the right hand of God’ indicated His coronation and subsequent reign, and the ‘coming with the clouds of heaven’ represented a coming to the throne of God to receive everlasting dominion (Dan 7:13-14). And Jesus told them that it was something that they would ‘see from the present time’, not necessarily literally with their eyes, but by seeing it manifested on earth. In other words His enthronement as king would be made apparent to them in what was in some way shortly to follow. Clearly then He spoke of His enthronement and its after effects as an event about to happen and to be evidenced on earth. Thus we must see Mat 16:28, which uses similar language, in that light as well.

So ‘see the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Rule’ can be seen as connected with the idea of His enthronement at the right hand of God as He came before His Father ‘in the clouds of heaven’ (signifying a heavenly connection) and we should note that in Matthew it is later specifically stated by Jesus as having occurred at His resurrection, when He says ‘all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’ resulting in the going out of the disciples to ‘disciple all nations’ (Mat 28:18-19) and the building up of a new people of God. This would certainly be something that would be ‘seen’ by the leading Jewish authorities (Mat 26:64) and also by the disciples (Mat 16:28), apart of course from Judas.

Furthermore in Act 2:34-36 Peter uses Psa 110:1 ‘sit on My right hand’ to indicate the enthronement of Jesus as ‘both Lord and Messiah’ and directly connects it with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit (Act 2:33). As far as he was concerned, at Pentecost he ‘saw’ the Son of Man coming in His Kingly Power.

What then are we to make of the meaning of Mar 9:1 and its parallels? Firstly we should note that the emphasis is on the coming of God’s Kingly Rule (or in Matthew ‘His Kingly Rule’) in ‘power’ (dunamis) as something that will be experienced by some present while they are yet alive. There is no thought of the ‘glory’ which is elsewhere always emphasised when His final coming is baldly stated (Mat 16:27; Mat 19:28; Mat 24:27; Mat 24:30; Mar 8:38; Mar 10:37; Mar 13:26; Luk 21:27).

Secondly we should remember that Jesus has spoken of the Kingly Rule of God as ‘drawing near’ and as something available to His hearers. For in response to the question as to when the Kingly Rule of God will come, He had said:

‘b7 That it was ‘among or within them’ (Luk 17:21).

That from the time of John the Baptiser ‘the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God is preached and every man presses (enters violently) into it’ (Luk 16:16; Mat 11:12).

That men were even then being made ‘disciples to the Kingly Rule of heaven’ (Mat 13:52).

That they must receive the Kingly Rule of God like a little child if they were to enter (Mar 10:15).

That the good seed in the parable prior to the end were the ‘sons of the Kingly Rule’ (Mat 13:38).

And He had said, ‘if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the Kingly Rule of God come upon you” (Mat 12:27).

Thus the Kingly Rule of God was to be seen as present at that time as well as being something which was to be experienced in the future at the end time. To Jesus, therefore, as a result of His coming, the Kingly Rule of God was an ever present reality, both in the present and in the future. Its revelation in power is not therefore necessarily the same thing as its revelation in glory.

Thirdly we should note that this word of Jesus is placed before the Transfiguration scene in each Gospel and connected with it specifically by a time reference e.g. ‘after six days’. Thus it was clearly seen as having some connection in some way with the Transfiguration.

In the light of what we have seen earlier it is probable therefore that we are to see it as fulfilled in three ways, each interconnected.

1). It found partial fulfilment in the Transfiguration. There the majesty and glory of the King, hidden from the world, was revealed, supported by those two pillars of God who represented the Law and the Prophets, Moses and Elijah, who had proclaimed His word and whose ministry and word He was to bring to fulfilment. The Kingly Rule of God was seen on the mountain in embryo with its manifested power and glory, for the Transfiguration foreshadowed both the resurrection and exaltation of Christ to God’s right hand brought about with power (Rom 1:4; Php 3:10) and His second coming in glory. Some see in this a sufficient fulfilment, for it was a unique and incredible experience for those who witnessed it, and indeed for us all. But against this is the fact that His talk of some not tasting death would be odd if He was talking about something that would occur within a week. On the other hand it can be argued that most of those who were there would taste of death without seeing the transfiguration.

2). It found further fulfilment when Jesus, having been raised to God’s right hand, appeared to His disciples to inform them that He had received from God ‘all authority — in heaven and earth’ (Mat 28:18) and was sending them out to ‘make disciples’ of the nations, with ‘signs’ (of power) following (Mar 16:15-18). Indeed He promised them that shortly they would receive ‘power (dunamis) from on High’ (Luk 24:49 compare Act 1:8). The Kingly Rule of God would thus ‘come with power’.

3). It found its complete fulfilment when the King, having risen, sat down at God’s right hand (Act 2:34-35) and received and poured out the Holy Spirit on God’s people at Pentecost (Act 2:33). By this He empowered them to go out throughout the known world with ‘power’ (dunamis) (Act 1:7-8; Act 3:12; Act 4:7; Act 4:33; Act 6:8), preaching the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of God where He was proclaimed both Lord and Messiah (Act 2:36), and performing ‘miracles’ (signs) before the people (Act 4:16; Act 4:22; Act 6:8; Act 8:6). Then indeed they did see the Kingly Rule of God ‘coming in power’ (see 1Co 4:19-20), and they saw through Stephen the Son of Man, having received His dominion, coming to manifest Himself in His Kingly Rule (Act 7:56), just as He had similarly manifested Himself to the three. And all this confirmed by the fact that within forty years there appeared to be Christians everywhere.

To the objection that the verse says that only ‘some standing here’ would see it, we can point out that if the words were spoken to a crowd of any size it was always likely that quite a number would die before the event, as Judas certainly did before 2) and 3), and as James did before it reached out to the Gentiles (Act 12:2). Thus all that Jesus was saying was that it would be delayed long enough for some to die before it occurred, but that others would be preserved in order to see its fulfilment. Thus it would certainly be within the lifetime of others. (In the case of the Transfiguration only some did see it). And the same applies with the outreach of the Kingly Rule of God to the nations.

But the words provide a further assurance, for in His previous words Jesus had been stressing not only that He must suffer, but that His disciples must also be ready to suffer, and even to face martyrdom. Here therefore He is giving assurance that that will in no way hinder the advance of the Kingly Rule of God. They must not think that the tasting of death by some of them will prevent its onward growth.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus is Transfigured Before Peter, James and John and Reveals His Glory (9:1-8).

Having revealed to His disciples His coming glory, based on His coming suffering, Jesus will now completely open half-opened blind eyes so that they may see fully. It is one thing to be told of the glory that is coming, it is another to see it with one’s own eyes. In a sense what happens now is a preview of Jesus’ second coming.

There also seems little doubt that Jesus intended the scene now described to be looked on as to some extent paralleling Moses’ entry into the Mount to meet God in Exodus. There Moses went into the mountain after six days where He met with God, accompanied by his servant Joshua, and beheld in a cloud the glory of God, observed also by the favoured group of seventy who had gathered in the Mount and eaten before God (Exo 24:1-2; Exo 24:9-11; Exo 24:13-18). But the thought is not so much of a new Moses as of a new ‘divine event’.

Here the three disciples are taken up into the Mount, but what they see there is Moses with Elijah, who behold the glory of Jesus. The inference is clear. Jesus is on the divine side of reality, and is fulfilling the Law and the prophets. The disciples would not understand this at the time, but later John would write, ‘And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Son of a Father, full of grace and truth’ (Joh 1:14), while Peter would declare, ‘We were eyewitnesses of His majesty’ (2Pe 1:16).

Analysis of 9:1-10.

a And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some here of those who stand by, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingly Rule of God has come with power” (Mar 9:1).

b And after six days Jesus takes with Him Peter, and James, and John, and brings them up into a high mountain apart by themselves (Mar 9:2 a).

c And He was transfigured before them, and His clothes became glistering, exceedingly white, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them (Mar 9:2-3).

d And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus (Mar 9:4).

e And Peter answers and says to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here” (Mar 9:5 a).

d “And let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”, for he did not know what to answer, for they became grievously afraid (Mar 9:5-6).

c And there came a cloud overshadowing them, and there came a voice out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son, hear you Him” (Mar 9:7).

b And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any more, except Jesus only with themselves (Mar 9:8).

a And as they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, until the Son of man should have risen again from the dead, and they kept the saying, questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean (Mar 9:9-10).

Note that in ‘a’ some would not taste of death until they saw the Kingly Rule of God come with power, and in the parallel the three were not to tell anyone of what they had seen until the Son of Man was risen from the dead. In ‘b’ the three went into the mountain with Jesus, and in the parallel they look round and see Jesus only with themselves. In ‘c’ the transfigured Jesus is described in all His glory, and in the parallel the voice declares Him to be the Father’s beloved Son Who is to be listened to. In ‘d’ Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus, and in the parallel Peter suggests making booths for all three so that they might live in them. Centrally in ‘e’ Peter declares that it was good for them to be there.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

SECTION 3. Jesus’ Ministry Throughout Galilee and In The Surrounding Regions (4:35-9:32).

After the initial opening up of the story of Jesus with its continual emphasis on His unique authority, Who He was and what He had come to do (Mar 4:1-3), and the series of parables which have indicated how the Kingly Rule of God was to expand (Mar 4:1-34), Mark now indicates how this expansion continued to occur through the ministry of Jesus in Galilee and the surrounding regions. At the same time he continues to expand on the glory and authority of Jesus Christ Himself as revealed in His activities. This last which lead up to the disciples’ recognition that He is the Messiah (Mar 8:29-30), in His subsequently being revealed in glory on a mountain in the presence of Peter, James and John (Mar 9:2-8), and in Jesus reinterpretation of His Messiahship in terms of the suffering Son of Man (Mar 8:31; Mar 9:9; Mar 9:12; Mar 9:30-32).

The emphasis on the suffering Son of Man will be the final emphasis of this section (Mar 9:30-32), and must therefore be seen as one of its primary aims. In view of the power and authority that He constantly revealed, it must have seemed totally contradictory. But Mark makes quite clear that it was so. In the midst of His powerful activity Jesus constantly made clear that He had come to die.

Meanwhile Mark totally ignores any ministry of Jesus in Judaea, together with His regular visits to Jerusalem for the feasts (as described by John). These would undoubtedly have taken place. No pious Galilean Jew would have failed over a period of time to make regular pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the different feasts. But Mark rather wants the concentration on His ministry to be seen as taking place in Galilee, with Jerusalem seen as the place which will reject and crucify Him. He is thus concerned to present a full picture of the glory of Christ, while facing his readers and hearers up to the fact that it will finally result in suffering and death, although always as leading on to His resurrection.

Analysis of 4:35-9:32.

Jesus leaves the regions around Capernaum (Mar 4:35).

a Sailing across the sea of Galilee alone with His disciples Jesus stills a mighty storm with His powerful word, while His disciples reveal their unbelief and ask, ‘Who is this?’ (Mar 4:35-41).

b He reveals His power over unclean spirits by healing a demoniac and commands the healed man to ‘go and tell’ (Mar 5:1-20).

c He reveals His power over uncleanness by healing a woman who is constantly losing life sustaining blood, thus making her ritually ‘unclean’, but above all over death by raising Jairus’ daughter. It is a manifestation of His glory to the three who have come apart with him to witness His glory and there are also two other witnesses to His glory (the child’s father and mother) (Mar 5:21-43).

d His own townsfolk do not know Who He is. He reveals His powerful words and mighty works so that His own townsfolk reveal their unbelief and ask ‘Where did this man get all this?’ (Mar 6:1-6 a).

e He sends out His disciples to teach and with authority over unclean spirits, and they reveal their faith and are successful (Mar 6:6-13).

f Herod executes John the Baptist, and offers his head on a dish, revealing the ways and the type of ‘food’ of the kingly rule of man on earth, while fearing his resurrection (Mar 6:14-29).

g The disciples return from their mission telling Him of the signs that they have accomplished and are called aside to be alone with Jesus. They are fulfilling the ministry that should have been the Pharisees had they but believed (Mar 6:30-32).

h Jesus feeds five thousand with five loaves and two fish, revealing the provision of heavenly food in the Kingly Rule of God on earth (Mar 6:33-44).

i Jesus walks to His disciples on the water, and they cry out in their unbelief and reveal their failure to hear and speak clearly because their hearts are hardened and they do not understand. They are spiritually deaf (Mar 6:45-52).

j The people gather to Him and He heals all who come to Him (Mar 6:53-56).

k Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God, and points out to the crowds that it is not outward things that defile a man but what is within the inner man (Mar 7:1-22).

j The Syro-phoenician woman comes to Him and He heals her stricken son (Mar 7:24-30).

i He heals the deaf and speech impaired man, a picture of the need of the disciples, and of Israel (Mar 7:31-37).

h He feeds the four thousand in Gentile territory and gives them bread from God’s table (Mar 8:1-10).

g The Pharisees reveal what is within them by seeking a sign, upsetting Jesus deeply and He declares that no sign will be given, which reveals why their ministry is barren so that they can have no part in His work (Mar 8:11-13).

f Jesus tells His disciples to beware of the leavened bread (the teaching) of the Pharisees and of Herod (or of the Herodians), and to hear and understand (Mar 8:14-21).

e The blind man’s eyes are gradually opened (Mar 8:22-26).

d The disciples do recognise Who Jesus is and learn that He must suffer. (They have learned from where He had ‘got all this’) (Mar 8:27 to Mar 9:1).

c Jesus is transfigured in such a way that His glory is revealed before the chosen three. The three come apart with Jesus and two other witnesses (Moses and Elijah) bear witness to His glory (Mar 9:2-13).

b The demon possessed boy is remarkably healed (Mar 9:14-29).

a The disciples are alone with Jesus and learn that spiritual storms lay ahead for Him and for themselves, receiving the fuller revelation of Who He is (Mar 9:30-32).

Jesus returns to Capernaum (Mar 9:33 a).

Note firstly how this whole section is sandwiched within visits to Capernaum, which had become a kind of headquarters for Jesus and His disciples. All therefore that takes place in this section radiates out from Capernaum. The section begins in ‘a’ with Jesus’ power revealed over nature in the stilling of the storm, while in the parallel Jesus tells His disciples of the ‘storm’ that yet awaits Him in the future to which He must submit. Nature He can control, but man must be allowed to perform his evil will to the utmost if mankind are to be saved. In ‘b’ He heals the demoniac, and in the parallel He heals the demon possessed boy. Both are extreme cases of possession. In ‘c’ He takes Peter, James and John apart and, in the presence of two witnesses (the girl’s father and mother), raises a young girl from the dead, revealing that He is the Lord of life, and in the parallel He takes Peter, James and John apart and is transfigured before them in the presence of two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, revealing that He is the Lord of glory. In both cases what has been seen is not to be spread abroad. In ‘d’ Jesus’ own townsfolk fail to recognise Him and ask ‘Where did this man get all this?’. while in the parallel His disciples do recognise Him and recognise where His power does come from, it is of God. In ‘e’ He sends out His disciples to teach and to have authority over unclean spirits, and they reveal their faith and their growing awareness, and are successful, and in the parallel we have the picture of the blind man whose eyes are gradually opened, a picture of what is happening to the disciples (it comes before the incident where the eyes of the disciples are known to have been opened when they confess His Messiahship). In ‘f’ Herod executes John the Baptist, and offers his head on a dish, revealing the ways and the type of ‘food’ offered under the kingly rule of man on earth, while in the parallel Jesus warns His disciples to beware of the leaven of Herod. In ‘g’ the disciples return from their mission telling Jesus of the signs that they have accomplished and are called aside to be alone with Jesus, while in the parallel the Pharisees are vainly looking for signs and He leaves them. In ‘h’ Jesus feeds five thousand Jewish believers with five loaves and two fish, revealing the provision of heavenly food in the Kingly Rule of God on earth, and in the parallel He feeds four thousand Jewish and Gentile believers with seven loaves and some fish, revealing the same. In ‘i’ Jesus walks to His disciples on the water, and in their unbelief they cry out and reveal their failure to hear and speak clearly, a result of the fact that their hearts are hardened so that they do not understand. They are spiritually deaf. And in the parallel a man who is deaf and stammering in his speech is healed. In ‘j’ the people gather to Him and He heals all who come to Him, and in the parallel the Syro-phoenician, typical of the Gentiles, comes to Him and He heals her daughter. Centrally in ‘k’ Jesus challenges the Pharisees and Scribes with the fact that they pay more heed to tradition than to the word of God, and points out to the crowds that it is not outward things that defile a man. It is what is within the inner man.

This larger section is divided up into smaller subsections of which the first is Mar 4:35 to Mar 6:6 a.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Eyes of The Disciples Are Opened (8:22-9:33a).

Following on Jesus’ concern at the lack of understanding of the disciples we now learn how their eyes are gradually opened to see at least something of the truth. The subsection commences with the healing of a blind man in two stages, a picture of what is happening to the disciples, and moves on to the disciples’ recognition that Jesus is the Messiah. The consequence of this is that Jesus then begins to emphasise that His way is to be a way of suffering as the Son of Man, followed by His revelation in glory. And at the same time He gives to Peter, James and John a vision of that glory. It is necessary for them to know both sides of Who He is. From Mark’s viewpoint Jesus at last lays aside the veil that has covered His teaching, and reveals openly what lies ahead. It is a way of suffering and glory, resulting in final triumph. And it has been made possible by their recognition of Him as the Messiah.

Analysis of 8:22-9:33a.

He comes to Bethsaida (Mar 8:22)

a The blind man’s eyes are gradually opened (Mar 8:22-26)

b The disciples recognise Who Jesus is (Mar 8:27-30).

c They learn that He must suffer before His glory is revealed (Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1).

d In the transfiguration His glory is revealed before the chosen three in the presence of Moses and Elijah (Mar 9:2-8).

c They learn that they must not tell others of what they have seen until after the resurrection and learn that Elijah has already come to restore all things, leading up to the suffering of the Son of Man and of Elijah himself (Mar 9:9-13).

b The demon possessed boy is remarkably healed revealing the uniqueness of Jesus. No other could do what He did (Mar 9:14-29).

a The disciples are alone with Jesus and learn that spiritual storms lay ahead for Him and for themselves. Their eyes are being gradually opened (Mar 9:30-32).

He returns to Capernaum (Mar 9:33 a).

Note that in ‘a’ the eyes of the blind man are gradually opened, and in the parallel Jesus opens the eyes of the disciples to what lies ahead. In ‘b’ the disciples, through Peter their spokesman, recognise that Jesus is the Messiah, and in the parallel they are made aware of His total uniqueness and authority. In ‘c’ they learn that He must suffer before His glory is revealed, and in the parallel they learn the same. Centrally in ‘d’ Jesus is transfigured and His glory is revealed.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Mar 9:1 Comments In Mar 9:1 Jesus Christ refers to the Day of Pentecost when the early believers will be filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. They will “see” the Kingdom of God coming in power as the Holy Spirit manifests Himself as cloven tongues of fire resting upon each individual, and the Jews will see and hear them speak their own foreign languages.

How does the kingdom of God come? Luk 17:20-21 says that it does not come with observation, but that it comes in us and is within us.

Luk 17:20-21, “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Paul says that the kingdom of God is revealed in power:

1Co 4:19-21, “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power . What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Preaching Ministry of Jesus Christ Mar 1:14 to Mar 13:37 describes the preaching ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as well as the miracles that accompanying the proclamation of the Gospel. His public ministry can be divided into sections that reflect God’s divine plan of redemption being fulfilled in Jesus’s life.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. Indoctrination – The Preaching of Jesus Christ in Galilee Mar 1:14 to Mar 4:34

2. Divine Service Training the Twelve in Galilee Mar 4:35 to Mar 6:13

3. Perseverance: Preaching against Man’s Traditions Mar 6:14 to Mar 7:23

4. Perseverance – Beyond Galilee Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:50

5. Glorification – In Route to and in Jerusalem Mar 10:1 to Mar 13:37

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Narrative When we examine the miracles that Jesus performed for the people we see the persistence and determination of the Syro-Phoenician to receive her miracle. We see how some people from Decapolis begged Jesus to heal a deaf mute. We see how Jesus laid hands upon a blind man twice before his sight was fully restored. He also taught the people on the subject of taking up their cross and following Him, which refers to a lifestyle of perseverance.

When we examine Jesus’ ministry to His disciples, we find Him warning them about the doctrine of the Pharisees making their faith weak. We see how they could not cast out a demon because they had not persisted in a lifestyle of prayer and fasting. We also see Jesus rebuking Peter for his speaking again the purpose and plans of Christ’s death on Calvary.

Jesus Asks People not to Make Him Known – It is interesting to note how many times in this narrative material Jesus attempts to conceal Himself by asking others to not make Him known (Mar 7:24; Mar 7:36; Mar 8:26; Mar 8:30; Mar 9:9; Mar 9:30).

Outline – Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Faith of the Syro-Phoenician Woman Mar 7:24-30

2. Jesus Heals a Deaf Mute Mar 7:31-37

3. Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand Mar 8:1-10

4. The Pharisees Seek a Sign Mar 8:11-13

5. Jesus Warns His Disciples of the Pharisees Mar 8:14-21

6. Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida Mar 8:22-26

7. Peter’s Great Confession at Caesarea Philippi Mar 8:27-30

8. Jesus’ 1 st Prediction of His Death Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1

9. Jesus On the Mount of Transfiguration Mar 9:2-13

10. Jesus Heals the Epileptic Boy Mar 9:14-29

11. Jesus’ 2 nd Prediction of His Death Mar 9:30-32

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Perseverance: Preaching and Offences In Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:50 the emphasis moves from indoctrination to perseverance, where Jesus teaches His disciples the need to continue in the lifestyle of preaching and healing.

Outline: Here is a proposed outline:

1. Narrative Mar 7:24 to Mar 9:32

2. Sermon – Jesus Preaches on Humility and Offenses Mar 9:33-50

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Jesus’ First Prediction of His Death and Resurrection ( Mat 16:21-28 , Luk 9:22-27 ) Mar 8:31 to Mar 9:1 gives us the first account of Jesus predicting to His disciples how He will be killed and then resurrected from the dead.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Transfiguration of Jesus.

A solemn statement:

v. 1. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

These words were probably addressed to His disciples only, or at least spoken of them alone, since they presuppose an intimacy with Jesus which most of the people in that country did not possess. Some of those that were standing there in the circle listening to His words would not taste of death, would not be taken away by death, until they would see the kingdom of God coming, or having come, in power. The day upon which the wrath of God was poured out over Jerusalem is, according to Scriptures, the beginning, the dawn of the great day of God on which He will send Christ in glory, to judge the quick and the dead. The destruction of Jerusalem was not only a type, but actually began the final great judgment of God upon the sinful world that rejected Him and His Son. Several of the disciples of Jesus that heard these words were still alive when the destruction of Jerusalem took place, and thus became witnesses of the way in which the glorified Christ repays, punishes, those that have despised His Word and His grace. So the words of Christ in this instance were both a prediction and a promise.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Mar 9:1

Till they see the kingdom of God come with power. In St. Mat 16:28 the words run thus: “Till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.” In St. Luk 9:27, “Till they see the kingdom of God.” All these evangelists connect their record of the Transfiguration with these predictive wordsa circumstance which must not be lost sight of in their interpretation. The question, therefore, is whether or how far the Transfiguration is to be regarded as a fulfillment of these words. One thing seems plain, that the Transfiguration, if a fulfillment at all, was not an exhaustive fulfillment of the words. The solemnity of their introduction forbids us to limit them to an event which would happen within eight days of their utterance. But there was an event impending, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, involving the overthrow of the Jewish polity, which, coming as it did within forty or fifty years of the time when our Lord uttered these words, might reasonably have been expected to take place within the lifetime of some of those then standing there. And that great catastrophe was frequently alluded to by our Lord as a type and earnest of the great judgment at the end of the world. What relation, then, did the Transfiguration hold to these two events and to the prediction contained in this verse? It was surely a prelude and pledge of what should be hereafter, specially designed to brace and strengthen the apostles for the sight of the sufferings of their Master, and to animate them to endure the toil and the trials of the Christian life. So that the Transfiguration was an event, so to speak, parenthetic to this predictiona preliminary manifestation, for the special advantage of those who witnessed it; though given also “for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Such were the views of St. Hilary, St. Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, and others. “When our Lord was transfigured,” says St. Jerome, “he did not lose his form and aspect, but he appeared to his apostles as he will appear at the day of judgment.” And elsewhere he says, “Go forth a little out of your prison, and place before your eyes the reward of your present labor, Which ‘the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man.'”

Mar 9:2, Mar 9:3

After six days. St. Luk 9:28 says, “About eight days after these sayings.” There is no real discrepancy here. There were six whole days that intervened between our Lord’s words and the Transfiguration itself. Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John. He chose these three, as the leaders amongst the disciples, and he showed to them his glory, because he intended also to show them afterwards his bitter agony in the garden. This magnificent splendorthis “excellent glory,” as 2Pe 1:17 describes itthis, together with the voice of the Father,” This is my beloved Son,” would assure them that Christ was truly God, but that his essential Deity was hidden by the veil of the flesh; and that, although he was about to be crucified and slain, yet his Godhead could not suffer or die. It was an evidence beforehand, a prospective evidence, that he underwent death, even the death of the cross, not constrained by infirmity or necessity, but of his own will, for the redemption of man. It was plain that, since he could thus invest his body with this Divine glory, he could have saved himself from death if he had so willed. He taketh with him Peter, and James, and John. St. Peter’s reference to the transfiguration (just alluded to) shows what a deep and abiding impression it made on his mind. St. James, too, was there, as one who was to be amongst the first to die for his sake. St. John also was with them, who, having seen the glory of the Son of God, which is subject to no limits of time, might be bold to send forth his grand testimony, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And bringeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. “It is necessary for all,” says Remigius, “who desire to contemplate God, that they should not grovel amidst low thoughts and desires, but ever be lifted up to heavenly things. And thus our Lord was teaching his disciples that they must not look for the brightness of the Divine glory in the depths of this world, but in the kingdom of heavenly blessedness. And he leads them apart, because holy men are in intention and desire separated from evil, as they will be altogether separated from it in the world to come. For they who look for the glories of the resurrection ought now in heart and mind to dwell on high, and to seek these glories by continual prayer.” Into a high mountain. A tradition of the time of Jerome identifies this mountain with Tabor, in Galilee. But there are two weighty objections to this view:

(1) that our Lord was at this time in the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, a considerable distance from Tabor, and

(2) that there is strong reason for believing that Tabor had at this time a fortress on its summit. It must be remembered that Caesarea Philippi was at the foot of Libanus; and the spurs of Libanus would present several eminences answering to the description, “a high mountain ( ).” The Mount of Transfiguration was in all probability Hermon, a position of extreme grandeur and beauty, its snowy peaks overlooking the whole extent of Palestine. “High up,” says Dean Stanley, “on its southern slopes there must be many a point where the disciples could be taken ‘apart by themselves.’ Even the transient comparison of the celestial splendor with the snow, where alone it could be seen in Palestine, should not, perhaps, be wholly overlooked. At any rate, the remote heights above the sources of the Jordan witnessed the moment when, his work in his own peculiar sphere being ended, he set his face for the last time to go up to Jerusalem.” Although compelled to dismiss from our minds the old tradition of Tabor as the scene of the Transfiguration, we still think of that mountain as near to Nazareth, where our Lord was brought up; and of Hermon, where he was transfigured, as we rejoice in the fulfillment of the old prophecy, “Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy Name.” And he was transfigured () before them. The fashion of his appearance was changed. It was no illusion, no imaginary appearance, but a real transformation. It was the Divine glory within him manifesting itself through his humanity; and yet not that glory of Deity which no man hath seen or can see; but such a manifestation that the disciples might in some degree behold the glory and majesty, of Deity through the veil of his flesh. Nor, we may believe, did our Lord in his transfiguration change the essence or form of his countenance. But he assumed a mighty splendor, so that, as St. Mat 17:2 tells us, “his face did shine as the sun.” This splendor was not in the air, nor in the eyes of the disciples, but in the person of the Son of Goda splendor which communicated itself to his raiment, so that his garments became glistering (), exceeding white; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them. This figure is taken from natural things. The first idea of “fuller” from the Latin fullo, is that of one who cleanses by “stamping with the feet.” His business is to restore the soiled cloth to its natural whiteness. The evangelist uses an earthly thing to represent the heavenly. The heavenly Fuller gives a purity and a brightness infinitely exceeding the power of any “fuller on earth.” It would almost seem as if the figure was one specially supplied by St. Peter.

Mar 9:4

And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses. Moses and Elijah were there because Moses was the lawgiver of the old covenant, and Elijah was conspicuous among the prophets; so that they were the representatives, the one of the Law, and the other of the “goodly fellowship of the prophets. They appear together to bear witness to Christ as the true Messiah, the Savior of the world, prefigured in the Law, and foretold by the prophets. They appear to bear witness to him, and then to resign their offices to the great Lawgiver and Prophet whom they foreshadowed. Then, further, Moses died, but Elijah was translated. Moses, therefore, represents the dead saints who shall rise from their graves and come forth at his coming, while Elijah represents those who shall be found alive at his advent. Our Lord brought with him, at his transfiguration, Moses who had died, and Elijah who had been translated, that he might show his power over both “the quick and the dead.” St. Luk 9:31 says that Moses and Elijah “appeared in glory, and spake of his decease ( ) which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.” They appeared in glory; the Divine splendor irradiated them. They “spake of his decease,” literally, his departurehis departure not only out of Jerusalem, but out of this life, by his death upon the cross. The death of Christ was thus shown to be the ultimate end to which the Law and the prophets pointed. Even in that hour of his glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration, this was their theme; and thus the disciples were nerved to look with hope and faith to that which they had contemplated with dismay.

Mar 9:5

Peter answereth, and saith to Jesus. We learn from St. Luk 9:33 that this happened just as Moses and Elijah were departing. Peter was excited, and there was fear mingled with his excitement. He was bewildered. His first idea was to seek that they might remain, for he saw that they were just preparing to depart. Theophylact says upon this, “Do not say with Peter, ‘It is good for us to be here;’ for it behoves us ever, whilst in the flesh, to be advancing, and not to remain in one stage of virtue and contemplation, but to pass on to other degrees” It is, perhaps, too curious a question to ask how the three disciples knew them to be Moses and Elijah. The same Divine power which presented them with a vision of the other world gave them an intuitive knowledge on the subject. And we may, perhaps, infer from hence that in that world to come there will be not only recognition, but knowledge, at once imparted, of those whose faces we have not seen “in the flesh.” St. Luk 9:32 says that Peter and his companions “were heavy with sleep ( ).” It is probable that the Transfiguration took place at night. The whole manifestation would be rendered more conspicuous and striking amidst the darkness and stillness of night. But St. Luke is careful to add, “when they were fully awake ().” This word might be rendered, “having remained awake.” But whichever translation be adopted, the intention of the evangelist is evidently to show that it was not in a dream or a vision of the night that they saw this. It was a great reality, on which they looked with open eyes.

Mar 9:6

They became sore afraid. There is a slight change of reading here. Instead of the best authorities give . A sense of great awe and terror overpowered the bliss and brightness of the scene. All the revelations of the other world strike terror, even though abated as this manifestation was by the presence of their dear Lord and Savior.

Mar 9:7

There came a cloud overshadowing them. The cloud enfolded them all, so that they could not be seen, it was so ample and dense, and yet so bright and shining. St. Matthew (Mat 17:5) says it was “a ought cloud. The cloud was a symbol of the grandeur and unapproachable glory of God. The disciples were admitted within this cloud that they might have a foretaste of future glory, and that they might be witnesses of what took place under the cloud, and especially that they might be able to give evidence throughout all ages of the voice which they heard come out of the cloud from “the excellent glory” (the expression is equivalent to the Hebrew “Shechinah,” and St. Peter says (2Pe 1:18), it came from heaven), This is my beloved Son: hear ye him. But at the same time that this cloud was the symbol, it was also the veil of Deity, of the glory of Deity. “He maketh the clouds his chariot,” says the psalmist (Psa 104:3). Moreover, the cloud abated and subdued the splendor of Christ’s appearance, which otherwise the mortal eyes of the disciples could not have borne. It will be observed that St. Mark omits the words, found in St. Matthew (Mat 17:5),” in whom I am well pleased.” So does St. Luke. But it is remarkable that they are found in St. Peter (2Pe 1:17); from whence we might have expected to find them here. In St. Luke (Luk 9:35) the most approved readings give, “This is my Son, my chosen ().” The words, “my beloved Son,” are impressed upon us in order that epithets so sweet and endearing might kindle our love and devotion. “Hear ye him”not Moses, who has now departed, but Christ himself, the new Author of a new Law. “Hear ye him” was not said when our Lord was baptized, because he was then only just proclaimed to the world. But now these words signify the abolition of the old dispensation, and the establishment of the new covenant in Christ.

Mar 9:8

And suddenly looking round about, they saw no one any more, save Jesus only with themselves. St. Matthew here says (Mat 17:6), “When the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sere afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.” St. Mark omits this; but in his characteristic manner states that which implies what St. Matthew has recorded. It was the “touch” of Jesus that caused them to look round about; and then in a moment they perceived that they were alone with Jesus, as they were before this manifestation began. The order of incidents in the Transfiguration appears to have been this: Our Lord is praying. The disciples, fatigued with the ascent of the mountain, are heavy with sleep; and Christ is transfigured. Then appear Moses and Elijah; and they are talking with Jesus about his exodushis decease to be accomplished at Jerusalem. The disciples mused from their sleep by the supernatural brightness, and by the conversation, and now, fully awake, behold the glory of Jesus, and Hoses and Elijah talking with him. As Moses and Elijah are preparing for their departure, Peter, excited, enchanted, bewildered, and yet grieved to see that they were going, seeks to detain them by the proposal to make some temporary resting-place for them. Then comes the bright overshadowing cloud, and a voice out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son: hear ye him.” At the sound of this voice the disciples fall terrified to the earth. But they are soon comforted by Christ, and, looking up, they see him alone with themselves.

Mar 9:9

He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, save when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead. They were not even to tell their fellow-disciples, lest it might cause vexation or envy that they had not been thus favored. The time of our Lord’s resurrection would be a fitting opportunity for revealing this mystery; and then the disciples would understand and believe it, when, after his passion and death, which were an offense to them, they should see him rising in glory, of which event the Transfiguration was a type. For, by the Resurrection they would certainly know that Christ underwent the death of the cross, not by constraint, but of his own accord, and out of his great love for us.

Mar 9:10, Mar 9:11

Questioning among themselves what the rising again from the dead should mean; that is, his own rising from the dead, of which our Lord had just been speaking. No doubt the general resurrection at the end of the world was an article of faith with which the disciples were familiar. But they could not understand, when he spake of his own immediate rising from the dead. So their perplexities led them at last to ask him the question; or rather to make the remark to him, The scribes say that Elijah must first come; with a view to obtaining some clearer understanding. They had just seen Elijah in the Transfiguration, and they had seen him disappear. They wondered why he should have departed. They thought, it may be, that he ought to have remained, that he might be the forerunner of Christ and of his kingdom and glory, according to the prophecy of Malachi (Mal 4:6). This the scribes taught; but they erred in the confusion of times, for they did not distinguish the first coming of Christ in the flesh from his second advent to judgment. The thought upon the mind of the disciples appears to have been this: They heard Christ speak of his own resurrection as close at hand, and they had seen the type of it in his transfiguration; and they thought that immediately after that, Christ’s kingdom would come, and he would reign gloriously. Why, then, had not Elijah remained, that he might be his precursor? St. Matthew (Mat 17:13) tells us that our Lord’s words which follow showed the disciples that when he said that Elijah was to come first and restore all things, he meant them to understand” that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.” Upon the question of a future coming of Elijah, it seems safest to confess our ignorance. The prophecy of Malachi was no doubt in part fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist; but it would be rash to affirm that it may not receive another and more literal fulfillment before the second advent. A host of ancient Christian expositors have held that Elijah will appear in person before the second advent of Christ. St. Augustine, in his ‘City of God’ (20:29), says, “Not without reason do we hope that before the coming of our Judge and Savior Elias will come, because we have good reason to believe that he is now alive; for, as Holy Scripture distinctly informs us, he gas taken up from this life in a chariot of fire. When, therefore, he is come he shall give a spiritual explanation of the Law which the Jews at present understand carnally, and will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers; that is, the Jews who are the children will understand the Law in the same sense as their fathers the prophets understood it.” Indeed, this is one of the principal reasons assigned by the Fathers for this appearance of Elijah, that he may convert the Jews.

Mar 9:14

And when he earns to his disciples, he saw a great crowd around them. High authorities support the reading adopted by the Revisers, when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude about them. “They” would thus mean our Lord and the three chosen disciples who had been with him on the Mount of Transfiguration. “They” came to the other disciples who had been left below. St. Luke (Luk 9:37) adds “On the next day, when they were come down from the mountain.” This would seem to confirm the supposition that the transfiguration took place in the night. All the synoptists agree in placing the following immediately after the transfiguration. Scribes were questioning with the disciples who had bee left behind. As they had assembled in the neigh-where Jesus was, for the purpose of watching him. Their object in questioning with the disciples was doubtless to throw discredit upon Jesus, because they, disciples, had failed to work the miracle.

Mar 9:15

The multitude were favourably towards Jesus, and were glad that returned at an opportune moment to defend his disciples against the scribes. But why were they greatly amazed? The word in the Greek is . It seems most probable that they saw in his countenance, always heavenly and majestic, something even yet more Divine, retaining some traces of the glory of his transfiguration, even as the face of Moses shone when he came down from the mount (Exo 34:29). It hardly seems likely that the amazement of the people was simply caused by our Lord having arrived at an opportune time to relieve his disciples of their difficulty. The Greek word expresses something more than would be satisfied by the fact of our Lord having come upon the scene just when he was wanted. Even if there were no remains of the transfiguration glory upon his countenance, the vivid recollection of the scene, of the conversation with Moses and Elijah, and the subject of it, and the voice of the Father, must have invested his countenance with a peculiar majesty and dignity. The same word, though without its compound (), is used further on in Mar 10:32 to express the amazement of the disciples, as he pressed eagerly onwards before them on his way to Jerusalem and to his cross. There was no doubt something then in his countenance which astonished them. The multitude running to him, saluted him. The scribes had not been able to shake their faith. In their view he was still “that Prophet that should come into the world.”

Mar 9:16

And he asked them; that is, the multitude. The context shows this. The reading here is , not .

Mar 9:17

One of the multitude answered him, Master I broughtthe Greek is unto thee my son. He brought his son, expecting to find Jesus; but failing in this, he applied to our Lord’s disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they could not. St. Matthew (Mat 17:14) says that the man came kneeling to Christ, “and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic.” The word in the Greek there is . Etymologically, no doubt, “lunatic” conveys the meaning of the word most nearly. But the graphic description here of St. Mark cot-responds exactly to epilepsy, and to epilepsy acted upon by an unclean spirit, who in this instance deprived the sufferer of his speech. Lunatics were so called from the prevailing impression, not without foundation, that the light and the changes of the moon have an influence upon the body, and so act through the body upon the mind. This influence seems to be recognized in Psa 121:6, “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.”

Mar 9:18

Wheresoever it taketh him (); literally, it seizeth hold of him. This is the Greek word from which comes our “catalepsy,” the active form of “epilepsy.” It teareth him (). This is doubtless the literal meaning. But there is much evidence to show that it means hero “it striketh or throweth him down.” This is the reudering of the Peshito Syriac, and of the Vulgate. The same interpretation is also given by Hesychius as one of the meanings of the word. St. Luke (Luk 9:39) describes the symptoms thus: “A spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out, and it teareth him ( ) that he foameth ( ), and it hardly departeth from him, bruising him sorely.” This it will be remembered is the record of one who was himself a physician. He grindeth his teeth, and pineth away (), as though the springs of his life were dried up. The father of the boy is here minutely describing the symptoms when the fit was upon him. He seems here to express the stiffness and rigidity of the body in the approaches of the malady. And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they were not able. They had tried and failed. This failure is attributed by our Lord (see Mat 17:20) to their want of faith; or rather to their “little faith ( ).”

Mar 9:19

O faithless generation. These words were no doubt intended primarily as a rebuke to the Jews and their scribes; though not without a glance at the weakness of faith of his own disciples. The words are the complaint of one weary of the unbelief of the masses and of the weakness of faith in even his own. Bring him unto me (); literally, Bring ye him to me.

Mar 9:20

And they brought him unto him. The father, it would seem, was not able of himself to bring him, so fierce and violent were the paroxysms of the disorder. And when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him ()it might be rendered, convulsed himgrievously. Observe the Greek construction ( ), masculine participle with neuter noun. The sight of Christ stirred the evil spirit dwelling in the child. He was irritated by the presence of Christ; for he knew his power, and feared lest he should be cast out. Then came the last and most violent convulsion. He wallowed foaming. The word “to wallow” is probably from the Latin volvo. He rolled about in his agony. St. Gregory, quoted by Trench, shows how true all this is to nature; and that “the expulsion of a deadly evil from our spiritual being is not accomplished without a terrible struggle, followed in some cases by extreme prostration.”

Mar 9:21, Mar 9:22

Our Lord asks the father, not the sufferer, which in this case would have been uselesshe was but a lad, and he was dumb. Our Lord’s question, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? was intended, not of course for his own information, but to inspire the father with hope and confidence. The father briefly answers, From a child; and then turns to a description of the perils to which his child was continually exposed through these paroxysms. And then, half doubting, half in despair, he says, If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us. It is as though he said, “Thy disciples have failed, perhaps thy power may be greater.”

Mar 9:23, Mar 9:24

The most approved reading here is, not , but simply , So that the English rendering is, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth. Our Lord takes up the father’s words. It is as though he said, “Thou sayest to me, ‘If thou canst do anything!’ Ah, that ‘If thou canst!’ All things are possible to him that believeth.” In other words, our Lord said to him, “Believe in me, and your child shall be healed.” It was right that Christ should demand faith in himself; for it was not fitting that he should confer his special benefits on those who disbelieved or doubted about himthat he should thrust his blessings on those who were unworthy of them. The answer of the father is touching and beautiful. Greatly agitated, he cried out and said (we might well suppose ( “with tears,” although the weight of evidence is against this addition being retained in the text), I believe; help thou mine unbelief. It is as though he said,” I do believe; but my faith is weak. Do thou, therefore, increase and strengthen it; so that whatever there is in me of doubt or remaining unbelief may be taken away, and I may be counted worthy to obtain from thee this blessing for my son.” Nor can we doubt that Christ heard a prayer so humble and so fervent, and took away from him the last remains of doubt and unbelief.

Mar 9:25-29

The multitude had been much excited by the dispute between the scribes and our Lord’s disciples. And now, when they noticed that he had taken the father apart, as no doubt he had done, to question him they came running together (the word is , an unusual word, meaning “they ran together to the place”) where he was, crowding upon him. Then he came forward, and with a voice of sublime authority he said, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him and enter no more into him. The rest of the narrative shows how malignant and powerful this evil spirit was, who dared so to resist and defy Christ that, in his departure out of the afflicted boy, he almost robbed him of life. “Most unwillingly,” says Archbishop Trench, “does the evil spirit depart, seeking to destroy that which he can no longer retain.” And he quotes Fuller, who says that he is “like an outgoing tenant, that cares not what mischief he does to the house that he is quitting.” Some have supposed that this was an evil spirit possessed of more than ordinary power as well as malignity, and that this was the reason why our Lord’s disciples could not cast him out; so that this expulsion needed the mighty arm of One stronger than the strong. The words in the Greek are powerful, severe, and authoritative: “He rebuked () the unclean spirit, . Thou dumb and deaf spirit ( ), I command thee ( ), come out of him, and enter no more into him.” This explains our Lord’s words when the disciples remarked afterwards, We could not out it out This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer; that is, this particular kind of malicious spirit. For there are different degrees of malice and energy in evil spirits as in evil men. The words “and fasting” are added in many ancient authorities.

Mar 9:30

This verse informs us that our Lord and his disciples now left the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi. Their route would be across the Jordan above the Sea of Galilee, and so by the usual track through Galilee down to Capernaum. Our Lord now wished for privacy, that he might farther instruct his disciples with regard to his sufferings and death.

Mar 9:31

For he taught his disciples ( ); literally, for he was teaching (imperfect) his disciples. The Son of man is delivered () The whole is present to his mind, as though it were now taking place. And they shall kill him (). This is a stronger form of . And when he is killed, after three days he shall rise again (); literally, he shall rise up. Our Lord repeats this prediction, in order that, when these events actually took place, his disciples might not be alarmed or offended, or abandon their faith in him, as though he could not be the Messiah because he underwent so terrible a death. It will be remembered that, notwithstanding these repeated warnings from their Lord, when these events actually took place, “they all forsook him and fled.” It was therefore necessary that this coming event of his crucifixion should be repeatedly impressed upon them, that they might thus be assured that he was willing to undergo this bitter death; that he was not going to his cross by constraint, but as a willing Sacrifice, that he might do the will of his Father, and so redeem mankind. Therefore he repeated all this in Galilee, when he returned from his transfiguration, and after he had cast out the evil spirit from the epileptic child, and so had gained to himself great renown. He would thus restrain the excited feelings of his disciples, and impress upon them the reasons for his journey to Jerusalem, and prepare them for the dread realities which were awaiting him there.

Mar 9:32

But they understood not the saying, and were afraid () to ask him; St. Matthew (Mat 17:23) says, “They were exceeding sorry.” They saw that something very dreadful was about to happen. Their Master’s words and looks showed them this. But it was a mystery to them. All his words staggered them, but especially those which spoke of his rising again. They did not understand whether it was an entrance into a higher state or a restoration to a common life. They did not understand why he was to die, and how these words of his about his death could agree with those in which he had told them that his kingdom was at hand. Perhaps, on the whole, they inclined to the view most pleasing to them, that Christ would not die; for this was what they wished and most desired. And so they tried to persuade themselves that his words respecting his sufferings and death had some other hidden meaning; and were to be understood in a figurative sense and not a literal. But anyhow, they dreaded to ask him.

Mar 9:33, Mar 9:34

They have now reached Capernaum. And when he was in the housethe house, that is, which he frequented when staying in Capernaumhe asked them, What were ye reasoning in the way? The words “among yourselves,” of the Authorized Version, are not found in the best authorities. St. Matthew (Mat 18:1) does not record this question of our Lord, which brings to light the fact that they had been disputing by the way which of them should be the greatest. The Greek is ( ) who was greater, that is, than the rest. It has been well noticed that this passage, given in substance in all the synoptic Gospels, is a striking evidence of the truthfulness and impartiality of the disciples. This dispute of theirs might easily have been suppressed as scarcely creditable to them. But in writing the Gospels the evangelists thought more of what exalted the Savior than what abased themselves. This dispute of the disciples shows how thoroughly they realized the nearness of his kingdom, and at the same time how much they had yet to learn as to the qualifications necessary for admission to it. It is not unlikely that the preference given by our Lord to Peter, James, and John may have given occasion for his contention.

Mar 9:35

And he sat down, and called the twelve. He sat down, with the authority of the great Teacher, to inculcate solemnly a fundamental principle of the Christian life. If any man would be first he shall be last of all, and minister of all. These words are capable of two interpretations. They might be regarded as analogous to our Lord’s words elsewhere, “He that exalteth himself shall be abased;” as though they indicated the penalty which attaches to unworthy ambition. But it is surely far more natural to regard them as pointing out the way to real greatness, namely, by humble service for Christ’s sake.

Mar 9:36

And he took a little child (), and set him in the midst of them. St. Mark adds, what is not recorded by the other synoptists, that he took him in his arms. And taking him in his arms (); literally, folding him in his arms; embracing him. It is probable that the house where he was was the house of Simon Peter; and it is possible that this little child might have been Simon’s. A tradition not earlier than the ninth century says that this child was Ignatius.

Mar 9:37

Whosoever shall receive one of such little children in my name, receiveth me. Whosoever shall “receive;” that is, show him offices of kindness and charity. One of such little children; that is, such in simplicity, in innocence and humility, such as this little child is in age and stature. In my Name, that is, with special regard to my Name. He thus seems to link all that is good and beautiful with his Name; as all that is really good and excellent in man is a reflection of his goodness. St. Luke (Luk 9:48) says, ‘Whosoever shall receive this little child in my Name receiveth me.” Our Lord, therefore, speaks first, literally of a little child, and secondly, in a mystical sense, of those who are like little children; making that little child in his arms the figure and type of all those who are like little children. The sense, therefore, of his words is this: “Humility, which is the foundation and the measure of spiritual perfection, so pleases me that I delight in little children. And all who would be my disciples must become as little children, and so will they deserve to be received by all; for men will think that they receive me in them, because they receive them for my sake.”

Mar 9:38

This verse, according to the best authorities, should begin simply, John said unto himalthough in St. Luke (Luk 9:49) they stand, “And John answered and said”Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name: and we forbade him, because he followed not us. The casting out of evil spirits was one of the foremost signs of apostleship; and what surprised St. John was that one who followed not Christ should have been able to work this miraclea miracle in which, it will be remembered, the disciples had recently failed. It thus appears that our Lord’s teaching had been so influential, that some, not reckoned amongst his disciples, had shown this proof of a strong and overpowering faith. We know that there were those in our Savior’s time, of Jewish race, who cast out devils (Mat 12:27). And Justin Martyr, in his ‘Dialogue with Trypho the Jew,’ states that while exorcism, as practiced by the Jews, often failed when it was attempted to be exercised “by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” was eminently successful when administered “by the name of the Son of God, who was born of a virgin and crucified under Pontius Pilate” (c. 85). That spirit has power over spirit in many mysterious ways is one of those truths which science has not yet been able to explain. To return, however, to the instance here alluded to by St. John, it should be observed that they who acted thus had faith in Christ; and that by thus acting with him and for him, though not amongst his recognized followers, they contributed towards his honor who, by means of these imperfect instruments, carried out the great purpose of his manifestation, namely,” to destroy the works of the devil.” Then further, the disciples forbade them not out of envy or hatred, but out of zeal for Christ, as though they were thus serving his cause and upholding his honor. But this was” a zeal, not according to knowledge.” They had forbidden them, without having first taken counsel of their Master.

Mar 9:39

But Jesus said, Forbid him not. It is as though our Lord said, “Do not forbid him; do not hinder him from a good worka work which does honor to me and to my cause; because, although he does not actually follow me as you do, he is nevertheless engaged in the same cause; he is celebrating my Name by the casting out of evil spirits. Therefore he is not opposing my Name; on the contrary, he is publishing and recommending it.” Here is a warning against that exclusive spirit, which is eager for its own ends rather than for Christ’s glory, and would limit the exercise of his gifts and graces to its own system or school, instead of inquiring whether those whom it condemns are not working in Christ’s name and for the promotion of his glory, although it may be allowable to think that in some instances they might find a more excellent way.

Mar 9:40

For he that is not against us is for us. In St. Matthew (Mat 12:30) we find our Lord using a somewhat similar expression, only in an inverted order. He there says, “He that is not with me is against me.” The lesson which both these apothegms teach is the same, that there is no such thing as neutrality in reference to Christ and his cause. We must be either with him or against him. Dr. Morison on St. Mark in this place says, “When in applied morals we sit in judgment on ourselves, we should in ordinary circumstances apply the law obversely and stringently,’ he who is not with Christ is against him.’ But when we are sitting in judgment on others, into whose hearts we cannot look directly, we should in ordinary circumstances apply the law reversely and generously, ‘ He that is not against Christ is with him.'”

Mar 9:41

In my name, because ye belong to Christ. The reading adopted in the Revised Version is, : literally, in name, that ye are Christ‘s; or, because ye are Christ‘s. The force of this observation seems to be this: “If he who gives you a cup of water to drink in my Name, and out of regard for me, does well, and shall be rewarded of God, much more shall he be rewarded who casts out devils in my Name.” The disciples are thus taught that it is contrary to the whole spirit of Christianity to disparage works of beneficence, or to suggest unworthy motives for them (see ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ in loc.).

Mar 9:42

This verse stands out as the severe antithesis to what has gone before. As he who receives and encourages Christ’s little ones and those who are like little children and believe in him, receives him, and so shall receive from him the glorious rewards of Heaven; so, on the contrary, whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Christ is guilty of deadly sin; and it were better for him if a great millstone ( )literally, a millstone so large as to require to be turned by an asswere hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Mar 9:43

The hand, or the foot, or the eye represents any instrument by which sin may be committed; and it applies to those who may be the means of drawing us into sin. If your relative or your friend, who is useful or dear to you as your hand, your foot, or your eye, is drawing you into sin, cut him off from you, lest he should draw you into hell, into the unquenchable Gehenna. Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, lay to the south of Jerusalem. Originally a pleasant suburb of the city, it became in later times the scene of the worship of Molech, “the abomination of the children of Ammon.” On this account the valley was polluted by King Josiah. It thus became the receptacle of everything that was vile and filthy. These noisome accumulations were from time to time consumed by fire; and the things which were not consumed by fire were the prey of worms. Hence “Gehenna” became the image of the place of eternal punishment, where “the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.” These terrible images are conclusive as to the eternity of future punishment, so far as our nature is concerned and our knowledge reaches. They are the symbols of certain dreadful realities; too dreadful for human language to describe or human thought to conceive.

Mar 9:44

Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. These words are a quotation from Isa 66:24, and they are repeated three times in the Authorized Version. But the best ancient authorities omit them in the two first places, retaining them at verse 48. The metaphor is very striking as well as awful. Ordinarily the worm feeds upon the disorganized body, and then dies. The fire consumes the fuel, and then itself expires. But here the worm never dies; the fire never goes out. The words of Cornelius a Lapide on the original passage in Isaiah are well worth recording here: “I beseech you, O reader, by the mercies of our God, by your own salvation, by that one little life entrusted to you and committed to your care, that you will ever keep before your eyes the living memory, as of eternity and of eternal torments, so also of the eternal joys on the other side offered to you by God, and concerning which you here cast the die, and that irrevocable. Let these two things never depart from your mind. In this world, ‘Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.’ Oh, what a void there is in earthly things! Oh, how vain is all our life without Christ! In the world to come, truth of truths, and all is truth; stability of stabilities, and all is stability; eternity of eternities, and all is eternity. An eternity in heaven most happy, in hell most miserable, ‘ Where their worm dies not, and the. fire is not quenched.'” St. Bernard says “the worm that never dies is the memory of the past, which never ceases to gnaw the conscience of the impenitent.”

Mar 9:49

For every one shall be salted with fire; and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. According to the most approved authorities, the second clause of this verse should be omitted, although it is evident that our Lord had in his mind the words in Leviticus it. 13, “Every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt.” Every one shall be salted with fire. “Every one.” The statement is general in its application. There is no limitation. The good and the evil alike shall be “salted with fire.” There is an apparent incongruity here. But it must be remembered that both the salt and the fire are here used in a metaphorical sense; and there is a fire which is penal, and there is a fire which purifies. In the case of the wicked the fire is penal; and the salting with fire in their case can only mean the anguish of a tormented conscience, which must be commensurate with its existence in the same moral condition. But there is a fire which purifies. St. Peter, addressing the Christians of the Dispersion (1Pe 4:12), bids them not to think it strange concerning the “fiery trial” which was among them. This was their “salting with fire.” Those persecutions which they suffered were their discipline of affliction, through which God was purifying and preserving them. This discipline is necessary for all Christians. They must arm themselves with the same mind, even though they may not live in a time of outward persecution. He who parts with the hand, or the foot, or the eye; that is, he who surrenders what is dear to himhe who parts with what, if he was only to confer with flesh and blood, he would rather keep, for the sake of Christ, is going through the discipline of self-sacrifice, which is often painful and severe, but nevertheless purifying. He is salted with fire; but he is pro-served by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Mar 9:50

Salt is good; that is, it is useful and beneficial. This is true of the literal salt. Its wholesome antiseptic properties are universally recognized. But our Lord has before his mind in this whole passage the spiritual meaning. He is thinking of the salt of Divine grace, of the salt of a spirit informed and influenced by the Holy Spirit. He had already told his disciples that they were “the salt of the earth.” Not, indeed, that they could deliver the earth from corruptionthat was beyond their power. But when Christ had delivered it by his mighty sacrifice and the gift of his Spirit, it was their business, as it is the duty of all Christians, to keep it in a healthy state; so that by their wisdom and purity, their holy lives and holy teaching, they might season the whole world. But if the salt have lost its saltness ( ), wherewith will ye season it? This insipid, tasteless condition of salt is familiar to travelers in the East Examples are to be found of largo masses of salt which “has lost its savor.” Our Lord here applies this in a spiritual sense to his disciples. “If ye, my disciples, who are the salt of the earth,if ye lose the true properties of salt; if your Christianity loses its heart, its quickening, stimulating influence; so that on account of the love of the world, or the fear of man, or through lust or ambition, you fall away from the heavenly doctrine and life;who shall restore you to your former spiritual health and vigor? With what can salt itself be seasoned when its own chemical energies are lost?” Our Lord plays upon this figure of salt, and cautions his disciples, lest by any means they should lose the qualities of this mystic salt. Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another. This sentence fitly winds up the whole. Have the salt of wisdom and purity, and of a Christian life, namely, humility, charity, contempt of the world, and especially peace. Do not be idly contending about place or position, as not long ago you were disputing (Mar 9:33). Our Lord foresaw that this kind of contention, these rivalries, and these ambitious aims, would prove a great scandal and a great hindranee to the progress of his Church in the future ages of the world. But he also knew that if his disciples in every ago would endeavor to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” their influence would be irresistible, and they would draw all men to them and to himself, the great Centre of attraction, and “the confidence of all the ends of the earth” (Psa 65:5).

HOMILETICS

Mar 9:2-13

Transfiguration

Observe the crisis of our Lord’s ministry at which this marvelous and memorable incident took place. The period of novelty, of popularity, of prosperity, was past and gone; the period of hostility, of persecution, of endurance, was commencing. Already Jesus had forewarned his disciples of the speedy approach of his death at the hands of his enemies. And it seems as though this unique and impressive display of his proper majesty, and of the affection and confidence of his Father, came exactly at the needed conjuncture. It was for his own sake, that a vivid consciousness of Divine favor might go with him to the scenes of ignominy and of suffering which awaited him. It was for the sake of the nearest and dearest among his friends, that they might carry with them, especially in those trials of their faith and attachment which were coming upon them, a conviction concerning their master’s nature and mission which might support them and preserve them, if not from weak defection, still from shameful apostasy. The close connection between the glories of the Transfiguration and the shame and wee of Calvary, is evident both from the narrative itself and from the central and critical position it occupies. Regarding the Mount of Transfiguration as a mount of witness, we observe

I. THE WITNESS CHRIST HERE BEARS TO HIMSELF. The sun in heaven is his own witness, shines by his own light, tells of his own nature and power. So with the Lord Christ. When, amidst the darkness of the night, upon the slopes of Hermon, his garments glistened, and his face shone with a dazzling radiance, his proper glory shone through the disguise of his human weakness and humiliation. For once he appeared to be what he really wasthe Son of the Father, and the Lord of the world. It was testimony very powerful and very effective, and produced its impression upon those who were privileged to behold that “great sight.”

II. THE WITNESS HERE BORNE TO CHRIST BY THE LAWGIVER AND THE PROPHET. After Abraham, no personages in their history were more honored and venerated by the Jews than Moses and Elijah: Moses the giver of their Law, and Elijah the head and leader of their prophets. These two had not only in life fulfilled the will of God, they had at the close of their life-service been taken to himself by their Lord in very remarkable and singular circumstances. From the seats of the blessed, and in their vesture of immortality, these illustrious and glorified saints came to converse with the Son of God regarding the decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. They had foretold him, they had prefigured him, they now gave place to him; and what more appropriate than that they should thus tender to him their homage and their admiration?

1. They manifested interest in his mission, for this gave the meaning to their ownexplained in the old economy much which would otherwise have been inexplicable.

2. They acknowledged his authority, for they had already testified to a Greater than themselves who should come, and their appearance on this occasion was an evidence of the reverential honor in which they held the Divine lawgiver, the Divine Prophet.

3. They anticipated his decease; the event which he had so recently foretold, and for which he was now so deliberately, so sacredly preparingan event of stupendous magnitude in the history of our sinful humanity.

III. THE WITNESS BORNE TO CHRIST BY HIS FRIENDS AND APOSTLES.

1. It may be askedWhy was it appointed that the Transfiguration should be witnessed by so small and select a group, and in so secluded a spot? Why were not multitudes permitted to behold a spectacle so amazing in Itself, and so fitted to bring conviction to the minds of all beholders? Surely, it might be urged, no unbeliever, no caviller, could have withstood the evidence of our Lord’s authority which such a scene afforded! It is recorded that the leaders of the Jews, the Pharisees, asked from Jesus a sign from heaven. This he refused them. But he allowed three favored friends to behold his glory, when the customary veil was in some measure withdrawn. What is the explanation of this? It may be replied that it was not in harmony with the plans of our Lord Jesus to overpower the senses of the people with some irresistible display of supernatural power and glory. This would not have been to secure a moral result by moral means. Jesus would not have valued the admiration which was withheld from his moral character and his benevolent life, but which was accorded to the effulgence of celestial glory, striking all eyes with amazement. But there was another reason for the limitation of the witnesses of our Lord’s transfiguration. The highest revelations of God’s wisdom and holiness and love are for those only who are prepared to receive them. You may walk round the outside of a vast domain, a splendid palace; you may make the circuit of the walls, you may see the tree-tops shaken by the wind, you may catch glimpses of the lofty roofs and towers of the lordly edifice. But how little do you know of the imposing palace and its enchanting environments! If, however, you are permitted to enter the gates, to tread the stately gardens, to explore the mansion, to look through the library, to admire the sculptures and paintings, and, above all, to spend hours and days in converse with the choice spirits who make the abode their home,then you can form a judgment, and cherish an appreciation which, so long as you were on the outside, you would never have been able to do. So with the knowledge of every high and pure and noble soul. Such a one is only to be known by those who have sympathy with him, and opportunities of fellowship with him. It cannot be otherwise than that the ignorant, the vulgar, the selfish, should misunderstand him. In like manner, but in the highest degree, it needed some sympathy with the Lord Christ in order to judge aright of him. It seems likely that when Jesus took with him only his three most intimate and congenial friends to behold his glory upon the holy mount, he did so because none others were sufficiently advanced in spiritual knowledge and appreciation to be capable of partaking and profiting by the privilege. Even the bulk of his own twelve disciples would have been, at that time, out of place upon the Mount of Transfiguration. As for the scribes and Pharisees, and all the vulgar formalists who desired a sign, they had no spiritual eyes with which to see the vision which was then and there vouchsafed to three lowly fishermen, whose hearts the Lord had touched, and whose sight the Lord had cleansed and quickened.

2. The emotions with which the favored three were affected, when they beheld Christ’s glory, deserve attention. There was awe: and this was honor-able to them, that they experienced the feeling of trembling reverence in a presence so august, and before evidence so majestic and convincing. There was delight: hence the exclamation and the proposal of Peter. They felt it “good” to be in such a scene and in such society, and they would fain have prolonged the precious opportunity, and dwelt for a season upon the mount.

3. The convictions which they formed may be known from the language of Peter in his Second Epistle, from which it is apparent that the Transfiguration produced upon the minds of the witnesses a profound and ineffaceable impression concerning their Master’s dignity and authority.

IV. THE WITNESS BORNE TO CHRIST BY THE FATHER HIMSELF. In the voice which came from the Father we observe:

1. A declaration to be believed: “This is my beloved Son,” Jesus was beloved:

(1) For the relation he sustained to the Father; for he was “the only begotten,” and was by nature what no other human being can be affirmed to have been.

(2) For his congenial character; for he pleased the Father alway; his character embodied every moral excellence.

(3) For his willing obedience; for, as he had undertaken his mission in the spirit of the prophetic language, “Lo, I come . to do thy will, O my God,” he acted throughout his ministry in a manner comformable to the just and holy will of God the Father.

(4) For his perfect submission; for he “learned obedience by the things which he suffered,” and shrank not from any sufferings appointed, and refused not the cup which the Father gave. As God’s beloved Son, he was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

2. An appeal to be obeyed: “Hear ye him!” As in the former clause the address is to the intelligent nature, so in this clause it is to the practical nature, of men. It is a Divine imperative. The appeal is to the sense of human obligation. Hear his teachings as your Master! Hear his promises as your Friend and Savior! Hear his commands as your Leader and Lord! Hear to rejoice, to respond, to obey!

APPLICATION.
1. Receive this witness concerning Christ. It is the witness of the most trustworthy of men, the most competent of observers; it is the witness of the Eternal Father, of him who cannot lie.

2. Repeat this witness concerning Christ. It is the vocation of the disciple to give testimony to the master. The Church is Christ’s witness to the world. It is ours to tell who Jesus is and what he has done; it is ours to invite the faith, to require the allegiance of all mankind to him who is the Son of God.

Mar 9:14-29

The lunatic boy.

In Raphael’s picture of the Transfiguration, which has often been called the greatest of all paintings, the foreground is occupied by a vivid representation of this marvellous miracle wrought by our Lord upon his descent from the mountain. The conjunction of the two incidents, which are in such striking contrast with each other, seems suggestive. The native glory of the Redeemer shone forth in the presence of the three favored disciples upon the holy mount. But the redemptive work of the Son of God is brought out most prominently by his mighty work of healing, in which he shows himself able to deliver a human sufferer from the agonies of a terrible disease, and from the clutches of a cruel foe. The one incident serves to bring out the other into a bolder relief; and the two must be taken together, in order that we may obtain a fair and complete view of the nature, and especially of the ministry, of Jesus.

I. OBSERVE THE DISTRESSING CASE OF HUMAN MISERY HERE PORTRAYED. St. Mark has depicted this whole incident with a graphic minuteness that cannot fail to impress itself upon the reader’s mind.

1. The case itself is unique in the wretchedness of its symptoms. An epileptic boy, speechless, often convulsed and sometimes flung into the fire and the water, a sufferer in this way from childhood, and now wasting away from long-continued disease,can a more affecting picture of human misery be painted than this? Add to all the particulars related the possession by an evil spirit; and the hopelessness of the case, the powerlessness of all human endeavors, becomes apparent.

2. The anguish of the father’s heart is beyond description; his attitude, his language, declare his distress and his dejection.

3. The interest of the multitude is evident; a spectacle such as this could not fail to excite the commiseration and compassion of every feeling heart. Observe in this case a striking figure of the condition of the sinner as a captive of Satan, and of the state of this ungodly and sin-accursed humanity!

II. REMARK THE INABILITY OF ALL HUMAN MEANS AND AGENCIES TO RELIEVE THIS CASE OF WRETCHEDNESS. All that a father’s watchfulness and care could effect had long been tried. Doubtless the best known and most skillful physicians had exhausted the resources of their art. But all had been in vain. And now the disciples of our Lord had been appealed to with earnest entreaties. In the absence of their Master upon the mountain they had put forth their endeavors, had exercised their authority. But all was in vain. It was the assertion of the father; it was the confession of the disciples themselves: “They could not cast out” the demon. And there is no power on earth that can deal effectually with the sinner’s casethat can expel from this humanity the spirit of evil that has so long ruled, afflicted, and defiled it.

III. CONSIDER THE APPLICATION WHICH WAS MADE TO JESUS AS TO THE DIVINE HEALER. How spiritually significant and instructive is the approach of the suppliant father to the Christ! The importance attached to faith comes out in this narrative perhaps more prominently than in any other part of the Gospel. We recognize:

1. The demand for faith. The father states his case, describes the sufferings of his son, implores compassion, and entreats help. His qualification, If thou canst do anything,” calls forth Christ’s marvellous and memorable utterance: “If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.” This is, indeed, a repetition of the teaching of Scripture in every page. Faith is the posture of the heart which God approves, and which renders those who assume it capable of being blessed. Faith is the cry of the heart which God will never disregard or reject. And this condition comes out in a very impressive manner in this dialogue.

2. The assertion of faith. The poor father was driven to faith by need and suffering, by sympathy and despondency, by his repeated failures to obtain relief. He was drawn to Christ by his gracious and majestic presence as he came down from the Mount of Transfiguration. The leper had doubted the will of Christ to save; this father seems to have had confidence in the disposition and readiness of the Divine Teacher and Healer, and upon the suggestion and requirement of the Redeemer he exclaims, with fervor and with earnestness, “Lord, I believe.”

3. The confession of unbelief. He doubts, or until now has doubted, Christ’s power to save, as appears from his “If thou canst,” and as he himself acknowledges in his cry, “Help thou mine unbelief.” If he had not believed at all, he would not have come to Jesus; if he had believed firmly, he would have come with other words and in another spirit. This combination is very true to nature. There are degrees of faith even in the faithful Where is perfect faith in Jesus? Who has not had reason to cry, “Help thou mine unbelief;” “Increase my faith”?

4. The cry for help. The earnest applicant did not wait until his faith was strongeruntil more assurances and encouragements were given. He pleads as for his life, for he pleads for his child. Hating his unbelief, he struggles against it. His appeal is the utterance of his heart, which has no hope and no resource save in Immanuel, the Son of God. An example this to all hearers of the gospel, and especially to the penitent, the doubting, the timid, and the tempted.

IV. REMARK THE HEALING GRACE AND POWER OF JESUS.

1. His compassion was excited. He might pause to call forth the father’s faith; but he would not withhold his sympathy from the suffering.

2. His authority was exercised over the evil spirit; for he rebuked and bade the demon to come out, and this with a commanding voice, which even so potent an agent of evil could not resist.

3. His healing, gracious aid was extended to the boy. When the sufferer seemed as if dead, by reason of the exhausting convulsions in which the departing demon displayed his malicious power, the Lord of life took him by the hand and raised him up, and he arose. How beautiful and encouraging an illustration of our Lord’s personal interest in, and spiritual contact with, those whom he commiserates, relieves, and saves!

APPLICATION.

1. There is no case of need, sin, and wretchedness beyond the power of Christ to aid.

2. There is no faith, however feeble, which will not justify an approach to Christ, and elicit his compassion and his willingness to help.

3. By spiritual discipline Christ’s people may train themselves for grappling with every form, however extreme, of human misery and helplessness.

Mar 9:30-32

Death foretold.

The evangelists have recorded that on several distinct occasions our Lord foretold, in the hearing of his disciples, what would be the close of his earthly career. It is evident, accordingly, that these predictions, though only partially comprehended at the time, nevertheless made a deep impression on the minds of those who listened to them. After all that Jesus had foretold had been fulfilled, his apostles naturally enough recalled his sayings, and pondered them in the light of actual events, and published among their fellow-disciples the communications which have been recorded in the Gospels.

I. THE OCCASION OF THESE REVELATIONS. This second declaration by the Son of man of his approaching death and resurrection was made not long after the first.

1. It was in the course of the journey from Caesarea Philippi through Galilee to the most ordinary scenes of his ministry that Jesus thus spoke to his disciples. They were apart from the multitude and the busy towns, where the great Healer was continually beset by applicants for relief and healing. There was quiet leisure, of which opportunity was taken by the Master to unfold anew to his disciples facts of tremendous import.

2. It was soon after the Transfiguration upon the mounta display of his glory which must have enlightened the minds of his friends with regard to his nature, and must have disposed them to receive with deeper reflectiveness declarations concerning himself. That a Being so glorious and so remarkably in correspondence with celestial intelligences, and so intimately in the fellowship and the favor or the Eternal, should look forward to a fate so dreadthis was indeed likely to provoke them to profound inquiry and meditation.

II. The SUBSTANCE OF THESE REVELATIONS. The matter of these very remarkable and repeated communications was threefold.

1. He foretold his apprehension by his enemies. That there were among the ruling classes at Jerusalem many who were violently opposed to his teaching and to his claims, must have been known to his disciples as well as to himself. But hitherto Jesus had eluded the efforts of his foes, and had always proved himself able both to refute them in argument and to defy their efforts to seize and kill him. But the Lord’s express words assured them that the time was at hand when the foes, whose enmity and malice had hitherto been defeated, should prevail against the Holy One and the Just.

2. He foretold the violent death which his enemies should inflict upon him. He had saved many from death, and had raised some from the dead; strange it must have seemed to them that he himself should submit to be put to death by the violence of men! Why should he submit to power which he was evidently capable of defying? Why should he endure treatment from which he could certainly save himself? Why should he endure a fate which he might easily avert?

3. He foretold his resurrection after three days’ submission to death. This must have perplexed them still more. To what purpose need he die if he intended so soon to revive? Why not rather avoid death than, first submitting to it, then prove himself superior to its power? Yet such a prediction was fitted to enhance their conceptions of his majesty and authority.

III. THE EFFECT OF THESE REVELATIONS UPON THE MINDS OF THE DISCIPLES, Very simply are we informed that:

1. They understood not the saying. The words which the Lord had used were simple and unmistakable; the events he had foretold were such as were familiar to their observation, or such as they were acquainted with from the Old Testament narrative. What was it that they failed to understand? Probably the consistency between such a prospect and the view they were forming of Jesus’ Messianic character and glory, and the expectations they were cherishing of his speedily approaching kingdom. Their minds were utterly confused by declarations which accorded neither with their primitive nor their more mature apprehensions of their Master’s nature and ministry.

2. They were afraid to ask him. There seem to have been times when the disciples stood in awe of their Master. It could not well be otherwise. Sometimes his grace and friendliness drew them to him, and the intimacy was as that subsisting among brothers; at other times the superiority of Jesus seemed to cleave a chasm of separation which they had not confidence or courage to bridge over by their approaches. They could not then even question him concerning the import of his own language.

IV. THE REASON OF THESE REVELATIONS.

1. Jesus intended thus to open the eyes of his companions to his own character. Such sayings as these must have awakened their renewed inquiry, “What manner of man is this?” Thus Jesus would impress upon them the fact that his nature and character, his kingdom and mission, were altogether unique.

2. Jesus intended, in some measure, to prepare them for the events which were about to happen. This was effected but partially; yet it would be a mistake to suppose that such teaching was lost upon the twelve. The events of the Passion did indeed amaze and dismay Christ’s disciples, yet not to that extent which would have been the case had no such communications been vouchsafed.

3. Jesus designed to open their minds to the spiritual nature of his kingdom. What he foretold could not happen without dispelling, or at least weakening, many preconceived notions and expectations; and even before these things came to pass, some light regarding the unworldly and spiritual kingdom must have streamed into their dim minds.

4. Jesus purposed that, after he should have arisen from the dead, they should call to memory the sayings they had heard from him, and that their faith should thus be confirmed in his superior knowledge, and in the divinity of his purposes, so clearly conceived and so gloriously accomplished. Thus was provision made for their thinking aright of him who laid down his life for the sheep, and in due time and of his own accord took to him that life again.

Mar 9:33-37

True greatness.

Our Lord’s ministry was not only to the people generally, but to his own disciples and friends; and even to these he had occasion sometimes to address language, not only of instruction, but of rebuke and expostulation. On the occasion here referred to, a serious fault was displayed among the chosen circle, which called for the Lord’s interference and reprimand. At the same time the great Teacher pointed out to the erring a more excellent way. Ambition was the fault, and its appearance among the twelve occasioned our Lord’s lesson in true greatness.

I. AMBITION AMONG THE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.

1. Notice its occasion. It seems as if recent events gave rise to the desire for preeminence among the friends and disciples of Jesus. The special commendation of Peter which the Master had recently pronounced, and the selection of the same apostle, with James and John, to witness the Transfiguration, probably prompted the aspiration and the discussion here recorded.

2. The exact form this disposition assumed. The twelve looked forward to the Messianic kingdom, of which they had come to regard Jesus as the divinely appointed Head, and in which they all expected to occupy posts of dignity and power. But who should be greatest? Who should be the chief minister under the Messianic King? Such was the matter in dispute, and that it should be so shows us how much the apostles had yet to learn.

3. The evil fruits of this ambition. It is quite in accordance with human nature that such a disposition should lead to disagreement and to contention. The twelve not only reasoned, they disputed; rivalry took the place of brotherhood. It is ever so; when the desire for preeminence and supremacy takes possession of men’s hearts, farewell to contentment, harmony, and peace!

II. CHRIST‘S REBUKE AND REMEDY FOR AMBITION. The observant eye of Jesus had remarked the wrangling which had gone on among his disciples, and his heart was pained. When he inquired into what had happened, they were ashamed and silenced; and he proceeded to unfold a principle which should operate, not in this company only, but throughout all periods of his Church.

1. Christ reveals the new and Christian law of greatness. Only those who are willing to be last of all, and ministers of all, shall be foremost in his kingdom. This was paradoxical, altogether in contradiction to the prevalent plan and principle among men in all grades of society, and in all communities, civil and ecclesiastical. It was exemplified most illustriously in the Lord Jesus himself. “Though he was rich, he became poor;” “He took on him the form of a servant;” “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” In his own personin his incarnation, his humiliation, his obedience unto death, even the death of the crossour Lord furnished the one incomparable example of humility and self-denial, and laid the axe to the root of the tree of self-seeking and pride. It was a law containing within it its own sanction and power. The humiliation and self-sacrifice of the Lord Jesus were more than an example; they introduced a new motive of spiritual persuasiveness and constraint into human society. The cross of Christ has been the great moral power which has changed human society, and is now the one hope of human regeneration.

2. Christ enforces his new law of greatness by a striking symbol. Our Lord often taught by act, thus enforcing the lessons embodied in his words. On this occasion he took a little child, and preached an ever-memorable sermon from this beautiful and touching text. The infant was in himself a living and evident illustration of submissiveness, teachableness, and humility. And not only so; the infant furnished the great Teacher with the lesson he needed: “Whosoever shall receive one of such,” etc. Instead of seeking to be preferred above their brethren, Christians are here taught to seek out, and to minister to, the lowliest and the feeblest; and the inspiriting assurance is added, that those who in the Master’s spirit receive and aid the least of his disciplesthe lambs of his flock, the babes of his householdshall be regarded as having rendered a service to the Christ himself; nay, as having “received” the Creator and Lord of all, even him who sent and gave his Son for the salvation of mankind!

APPLICATION.
1. Dispositions which we are ashamed to bring into the presence and under the notice of Christ, are by that very fact condemned, and must be at once repressed and checked.

2. Towards one another it behoves the disciples of Jesus to cherish sentiments of esteem and honor.

3. Towards the feeble and the obscure they should display the tenderest consideration, remembering that those who serve Christ’s lowliest people serve Christ himself.

Mar 9:38-41

The judgment of charity.

It is clear, from this passage, that the influence of our Lord Jesus was wider than was known by his own immediate friends, and that his work was, even during his lifetime, advancing in directions of which they were not aware. Accidentally, as it were, we gain an insight into the progress of the kingdom of Christ outside the immediate circle of his acknowledged and professed disciples; and the incident which affords us this insight, at the same time presents to us truths and lessons of vast practical importance.

I. BIGOTRY IS HUMAN, AND CHARITY IS DIVINE. If any one of the twelve might have been deemed free from all suspicion of bigotry, surely it would have been John, often called” The Apostle of Love.” Yet from this incident, and from his wishing upon another occasion to call down fire from heaven upon unbelievers, it is plain that, at all events during the Lord’s ministry, he was wont to give way to an ardent, impetuous, violent spirit. In the view of a bigot, one who does not work in his own way is censured and condemned as unfit to work for God at all. The Lord Jesus proved his superiority to human infirmity by permitting and encouraging service which his followers would have forbidden.

II. OUTWARD UNITY AND CONFORMITY ARE NO SUFFICIENT TEST OF CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP. Men are naturally prone to lay great stress upon this. The complaint, “He followeth not with us,” has not been confined to the first followers of Jesus. The “following,” in such cases, means outward association and agreement in language, usages, forms of policy and of worship. But two considerations should check that narrowness which would limit discipleship to those who conform to established custom:

1. Some conform, who prove themselves to be lacking in the mind and spirit of Jesus Christ.

2. Some refuse, or neglect to conform, who display such spirit, and whoso actions show them to be Christ’s.

III. ONE TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP IS THE SPIRIT IN WHICH MEN WORK FOR CHRIST. The stranger, to whom reference is made, is said to have done what he did it, Christ‘s Name, and the Lord declares that the presumption is markedly in the favor of one whose practice may be so denoted. What are we to understand by the expression, “in Christ’s Name”? It is an idiom which involves more than lies upon the surface. The Name of Christ implies his nature, his character, his claims, his mission. What is done truly in his Name, is done from reverence towards him, from faith in him, from love to him, in reliance upon his grace, and with a view to his honor and his approval. Now, our Lord teaches us that they whose life is animated and governed, controlled and guided, by a constant reference to himself, are to be honored and encouraged. Such may have an imperfect acquaintance with the Lord Jesus, an insufficient apprehension of his nature or his work, an indisposition to consort with his professed followers. In all this it is possible they may be inferior to ourselves, though it is not certain. But this must not rouse us to bigotry, to conceit, and opinionated self-complacency. Let us recognize and admire the spirit which such “outsiders” may display, and wish them God-speed, and rejoice in their witness and in their work!

IV. ANOTHER TEST OF DISCIPLESHIP IS THE WORK WHICH MEN DO FOR CHRIST, This passage reminds us that:

1. It may be a mighty work or a power. This is not necessarily miraculous; it may be moral. The mark of God’s finger may be upon the work. In our own state of society this “note” of true Christianity may sometimes be recognized among those who are unassociated with our Churches, and even among the “unorthodox.”

2. It may be the casting out of demons. In the Gospel narrative this was literally the case. And in modern life there are many demons of ignorance, impurity, sloth, and selfishness, which need expulsion. And those who devote their time and energies to combating these ills, are doing the work of our Master, and will not be able quickly to speak evil of him. Let us rejoice, not only in their work, but in themselves.

3. It may be the giving era cup of cold water to Christ’s people in Christ’s Name. Not the magnitude, but the moral tendency, the inner motive of the act, is of importance in the sight of our Lord. If the act itself be kind and beneficent, that is sufficient to recommend it to us, and to make it acceptable to the Lord. There is an obvious harmony between a good work and the good spirit in which the work is performed.

V. A CANON OF JUDGMENT. It may be determined that the rule of verse 40, “He that is not against us is for us,” refers to our judgment of others and of their actions. It is a wise as well as a charitable principle. It is a preservative against bigotry, and it is fitted to ensure equitable and considerate treatment of our neighbors. The rule elsewhere recorded,” He that is not for us is against us,” applies to ourselves, and warns us against lukewarmness in our piety and negligence in our service. Let us be stricter with ourselves, and more charitable with others, and we shall the better please our righteous and gracious Lord.

Mar 9:42-50

Warnings.

With these solemn words our Lord closed his arduous and faithful ministry in Galilee. Christ’s language was usually language of grace and encouragement; but there were occasions, like the present, when he spoke words of faithful warning in tones almost of severity. Yet it should be noted that these admonitions were addressed to his own disciples, and were intended to quicken their spiritual sensibility, and to induce them to use with diligence the privileges with which they were favored, especially through their association with himself.

I. POWERS AND MEANS OF USEFULNESS MAY BECOME OCCASIONS OF SPIRITUAL OFFENCE. This is a very serious consideration. Increased privilege brings increased responsibility, and none can possess powers of body or of mind without being exposed by such possession to liability to unfaithfulness and to consequent deprivation.

1. Social intercourse and influence come under this general principle. Our Lord speaks of his disciples, and especially of the inexperienced and immature, as “his little ones who believe on him.” We cannot be associated with such without affecting them for good or for evil. To cause them to stumble, to betray them into errors or into sin, is an offense against our Lord, and it would be better for a man to be flung with a millstone about his neck into the deep water, than so to offend against the Lord of the little ones.

2. Our active powers may become occasions of offense. The hand and the foot may be taken as emblematical of these pewees, the proper and intended purpose of which is undoubtedly their employment in works of justice and of charity and helpfulness. Yet these good faculties may cause their possessors to offend. The hands may work deeds of violence, the feet may lead into the way of sinners; and in such a case the purpose of the Creator is frustrated, and condemnation is incurred.

3. Sense and intelligence may be productive of harm as well as of good. The eye may fairly be taken as representing sense generally, and the apprehensive faculty. When the eyes wander where they should not, are closed when they should be open, or are open when they should be closed, they are an offense. When the intellect is directed to the wrong topics, or to the right topics in the wrong temper, its glory is dimmed, for its intention is thwarted, and it becomes a curse instead of a blessing.

II. THE ABUSE OF POWERS AND MEANS OF USEFULNESS WILL INVOLVE PUNITIVE SUFFERING AND RUIN. Under the rule of a righteous God, it cannot be that faithfulness and unfaithfulness, watchfulness and remissness, obedience and rebellion, will be treated alike. From the lips of the Lamb of God, the “meek and lowly in heart,” language such as that which our Lord here employs is doubly impressive. Nevertheless, it is in mercy that the fruits of sin are shown to be apples of Sodom, that the wages of sin are expressly declared to be death. The figurative representations of the doom of the sinful are indeed terrific. This doom is worse than the vengeful overwhelming in the Lake of Galilee; it is compared to the casting out of corpses into Gehenna, below the walls of Jerusalem, where the fire consumed or the worms gnawed the unburied bodies of the dead. Such teaching leaves us in no doubt as to the view which the omniscient and most gracious Savior takes of the future and eternal prospects of those who desecrate their powers and misuse their opportunities in the service, of sin.

III. On the other hand, WATCHFULNESS AND SEVERITY WITH SELF WILL ENSURE THE BLESSING OF THE ETERNAL LIFE, AND THE HONOURS OF THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM. Even supposing that self is denied and crucified, that pleasures are foregone, that privations are incurred,is all this worth thinking of with regret when the recompense of the faithful is borne in mind? What is this recompense? The Giver of life himself promises “entrance into life;” the Sovereign of the spiritual kingdom promises “entrance into the kingdom of God.” If in some sense the saved are, in the process, exposed to a thousand ills and sorrows, still, though they enter lame and maimed and halt-sightless into the kingdom of life, of God, they do enter, and entering are for ever glorious and for ever blessed. It is promised that through much tribulation Christ’s followers shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR

Mar 9:2-8

The Transfiguration.

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES. At an interval of six or eight (Luke) days from Peter’s confession and the teaching of the cross. “Into a high mountain,” i.e. into some glen or secluded spot in the mountain. As there is no mention of any movement southward, and distinct assurance that they did not at this time go into Galilee (Mar 9:30), the notion of Tabor being the mountain is unfounded. The slightness of its elevation, and the circumstance that its summit has been a fortified spot from the earliest times, render it almost certain that it was not the scene of the Transfiguration. All the evidence is in favor of Hermon, the snow-clad, sentinel-like peak in which the Anti-Libanus range culminates. Its name means “the mountain,” and it is spoken of in the Old Testament as “holy.” Its cool slopes and upland solitudes would afford congenial retirement to the weary Christ. It was mental trouble he had to overcome, and this he sought to do in prayer and Divine communion. For this reason, and the signs afforded by the rest of the chapter of the day having well begun as they descended, it has been supposed it was a night scene. He was wont to pray during the night, and the disciples were “heavy with sleep.” It gives a peculiar character to the occurrence to suppose this to have been the case. But that they were fully awake when the vision appeared, Luke again assures us. The duration of the vision is not suggested; probably, as in dreams, time was an inappreciable element.

II. THE INCIDENTS.

1. Transformation. “He was transfigured before them,” etc. The change described by the Greek word is literally one of form, but this must not be pressed. “It was a change in the externality of the person,” says Morison; “a kind of temporary glorification, effected no doubt from within outward, rather than from without inward. It would reveal the essential glory of the spirit that ‘tabernacled’ within, its glory at once in that lower sphere that was human, and in that higher sphere that was Divine” (‘Practical Commentary,’ in loc.). The general brightness of his appearance is noted by the three evangelists, Matthew comparing his face to the sun, and his garments to the light. Mark speaks of the fuller’s white in his description of it. The face is referred to by Matthew and Luke, and all three refer to the garments. Luke tells us it occurred “as he was praying.”

2. Association with Moses and Elias. They were seen by the apostles, but did not purposely present themselves. They were talking with him, and Luke tells us the subject of their converse: “his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.” They were representatives of the righteous spirits in Hades, the world of the unseen, of disembodied spirits; representatives, too, of the Law and the prophets. They had laid the foundations of the kingdom of righteousness which he perfected. They spoke of his death as the grand means of the fulfillment of the hopes of immortality, they themselves having in the manner of their own “exodus” afforded the shadow and prophetic type of which his was the substance. He is in essential, spiritual oneness with them.

3. Peter’s suggestion. Outcome of zeal, but not according to knowledge. It is seemingly enough for him to see his Master on terms of equality with those great spirits of the past. There is an undiscriminating comprehension in his proposal; a desire also to extend the duration of the ecstasy in which he and his companions were. It breaks the grand harmony of the evolution of the scene, and yet is full of instruction.

4. Divine attestation. The three accounts agree in the words, “This is my Son: hear ye him.” Matthew and Mark have also “beloved,” for which Luke substitutes “my chosen;’ and Matthew alone adds, “in whom I am well pleased.” The words are but human renderings of the unspeakable “voice.” They prove that the great Centre of attention and attraction for the Church is Jesus, not Moses or Elias.

5. Restoration of Christ to his usual appearance. The distinguished associates of his glory vanish. The vision was no “baseless fabric,” but it was over, and now the spectators must return to common life and mundane duties. Jesus “was found alone;” “Jesus only.”

III. THE LESSONS. These are innumerable, and we must content ourselves with a few of the more prominent. There was revelation for both Christ and his disciples. A new light was thrown upon past and future, and the fear of death was broken. But the whole scene is best understood as a revelation and glorification of Christ. The Divine Father has glorified his Son, and thereby attested him to himself and to confidence of believers. This was the “sign from heaven” vainly asked by the unbelieving Pharisees, and now granted to the thrice leaders of the apostles. And a corresponding revelation will take place in the experience of every true child of God, whereby his faith shall be confirmed, and he shall be “sealed unto the day of redemption.” The yearning, praying, aspiring spirit of the Son at last, in foretaste, attains; and he and his followers are strengthened. The personal glory, the sublime association with the precursors of the kingdom in the toast, and the transcendant commendation, leave no room for doubt in the heart of the true believer. The evidence is intuitive, but it is spiritually complete.

2. The loftiest tendencies and aspirations of the Law and the prophets are fulfilled in the “obedience unto death“ of the Divine Son. “They spake with him of his decease;” it was evidently central to their thoughts. The religious hopes of the past were to be satisfied in that way alone; by that alone was the righteousness of God to be satisfied. Self-sacrifice is the spirit of both Law and prophecy. To them the profound mystery of the hereafter was solved in the spirit of his death and in his resurrection; “life and immortality were brought to light” in him. It is as associated with them and representative of them that he looked forward to his dying. The manifestation of the Divine Son is therefore of universal significance, and relates itself to all that was highest and most spiritual in ancient religious movements.

3. What God did for his Son on this occasion he will do for all who vitally belong to his “Body.“ Even as the bodily frame of Christ was transfigured, and partook of the inward glory of his spirit, so shall all in whose nature his grace is found appear with him in the glory of the resurrection. The spiritual law is manifest and certain, and it is evidently the same in the believer as in his Lord. Glory of spirit must sooner or later appear in glory of external appearance, and the body shall partake in the blessedness of the spirit.M.

Mar 9:8

“Jesus only.”

The transition from the glory and the spiritual vision to the sober light of common dayfrom the Christ uplifted in the radiance of heaven, and waited upon by the greatest spirits of ancient Hebrew religion, to the humiliated form of the man Jesuswas a perilous one for ordinary mortals to pass through. But it was necessary. It is for faith to penetrate the spiritual significance of ordinary forms and appearances, and grasp the Divine. It is to faith, and faith alone, that God is manifest in the flesh.

I. JESUS OUTLIVES HIS RECOMMENDATIONS. He is ever more, far more, than he appears to be. Some things and persons have nothing remaining when you strip the pretense and tinsel away. The radiance subsides into damp mist, and the glorious brightness proves but bottle-glass. It is this overmastering intrinsic worth and power of Jesus which explains his enduring influence. Eloquent advocacy has been engaged in his cause, great ideas have been associated with him, his claims have been attested by miraculous powers and signs, and ever and again the background of the Divine mystery from which he emerged has revealed itself, and a multitude of external proofs etc., are forthcoming when required; but he himself is greater than them all, and contains their latent possibilities within himself. When excitement, etc., are over, there still remains the power to elicit faith and constrain personal attachment. He himself is the ultimate verification of the faith of his disciples.

II. NOT THE SIGN OR MARVEL, BUT CHRIST IT IS THAT SAVES. The former only provisional, the latter permanent. The familiar, continuing, sympathizing Christ. The crucified One; the risen again; and in spiritual presence the Dweller in the heart of faith. It is this Christ whose power is felt within, a vital energy and a moral impulse; an Interpreter of the mysteries of life and death.

III. HE ALONE IS SUFFICIENT FOR OUR NEED. There is an unhealthy longing for dainties in things spiritual as in bodily satisfactions. His teaching, his example, his sympathy, his perfect sacrifice, are ours if we but believe. God his testified his approval and acceptance, and commends him to us. Our own experience will seal and confirm the prophecies and attestations of others: “Now we believe, not because of thy saying; for we have heard him ourselves; and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (Joh 4:42).M.

Mar 9:9-13

The saying that was kept.

The disciples did not understand their Mastera common experience. Why was this saying so difficult? It seems plain enough to us. But then we look at it after its accomplishment; they before that. And their rabbinic training taught them to look for something very different from what Christ seemed to be referring to. He spoke as if he alone was to rise again. They had been taught to think of the resurrection as universal, and altogether; not an experience of one here and another there. Moreover, their teachers had told them that Elias must first come. In fact, their habits of thought were all going in one direction, and this saying of Christ’s in another. Yet, like fair and candid men, they did not dismiss the words as impossible of accomplishment or interpretation; but they “kept the saying.”

I. HOW ARE WE TO EXPLAIN THE HOLD WHICH THE HARD SAYINGS OF CHRIST HAVE UPON THE DEVOUT MIND? Their “keeping” the saying was doubtless for the most part a voluntary thing, yet there was also a sense in which it was involuntary. The subject it concerned awed and interested them, and they could not, if they had wished to do it, throw off its fascination. And so it is with the other hard sayings; that which is to be said of this may be said of them.

1. Because of relation with similar experiences. Many a time had the actions of Christ, or their own spiritual history, presented enigmas that refused to be summarily explained. They were continually stumbling upon some new, strange thing. They had just come out of a scene of which the wisest and soberest of them might well wonder whether it was fairyland or fact. And they were conscious of deep yearnings and aspirations to which the Savior’s words seemed to answer as the key to the lock. These had evidently something in common. The doctrines of Christianity may be difficult for the carnal mind to construe, but they appeal to a deep, universal, albeit depraved, human consciousness, which forbids their being at once dismissed from the thought.

2. And the sense of mystery is itself an element of fascination. The mind goes forth freely after the infinite and eternal in speculation and fancy, if not in serious moral interest. If there be but a substratum of apparent fact upon which thought can build, the sense of a mystery lying beyond is congenial to man; and he will continually return to it in efforts to penetrate it. This is whyat least, one reason whythe world around us never pails upon our senses. Its commonest things are steeped in wonder of the unknowable, if we but take one or two steps onward in the study of them.

3. In addition to this, the disciples knew that no mystery was uttered by their Master without some gracious meaning in it, which would sooner or later be made known. The hardest doctrine was, they felt, closely connected with their welfare, and would be seen to be so by-and-by. And Christians have experienced the same ever since. Our daily life is, if we be thoughtful, the best expositor of the deep things of grace, and keeps hovering within our horizon many an angel of revelation ready to deliver his message in due time.

II. HOW SHOULD THESE BE DEALT WITH? The disciples “kept,” i.e. held fast, the saying; thus affording an example to all true Christians.

1. We should continually endeavor to understand or learn their meaning. Sometimes simple communion with one’s own heart will be enough; or, again, it may be necessary to discuss them with others of a kindred spirit. Many of the happiest hours of life are so spent. Not that we shall always succeed; very often there will remain an element of the infinite or the unknown that will trouble us.

2. But when human wisdom fails, Divine wisdom may be invoked. “They asked him,” and he cleared away the difficulty to the extent to which they made it known. To the praying soul the light will come in ever-increasing fullness. More light will break forth from the book of earthly experience, and from the written Word of comfort and revelation. And when the mystery still remains insoluble, the Spirit of Jesus will give us faith and patience until “the day dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts,” and we know even as we are known.M.

Mar 9:14-29

The cure of the demoniac child.

This stands out in striking contrast with the halcyon hour on the mountain with which the three had been favored. Their brethren were experiencing a greater difficulty than they had ever yet known. But the discussion of the saying they had kept, formed for the three an intermediate step down into actual life, and daily events and troubles. Christ, on the other hand, appears to have received a greater fullness of Messianic consciousness and power through his transfiguration, as was his wont after similar retirements into spiritual seclusion. This incident affords a view of Christ‘s manner of dealing with exceptional difficulties in spiritual service.

I. ACCREDITED SERVANTS OF CHRIST WERE BEING DESPISED AND DISCOURAGED. (Mar 9:14-18.)

1. Their spirit was being daunted. The people ceased to respect them, and the scribes began to turn the failure to account as an argument against their Lord. What could they say or do? Their Master was absent, and they were at their wits’ end. A situation with its parallels in every age of the Church. Moral phases of individual, social, and national life which seem to defy remedy or even amelioration. Difficulties and failures in mission work, etc.

2. Their usefulness was at a standstill. The enemies of their cause had now the upper hand, and they were pressing them with objections and sneers. Perhaps they were even asking why their Master had gone away so mysteriously, and left them to cope with difficulties for which they were unequal. It was high time Jesus should come to their rescue. And lo! as the thought arose within them almost despairingly, he appeared! “The multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed.” He had come just at the right moment, as if he divined the need for his presence.

II. THEIR MASTER MADE THE DIFFICULTY AN OCCASION FOR SPIRITUAL REBUKE AND INSTRUCTION.

1. To the people, or generally. He laments their want of faith, and slowness to receive the things of God. They had the highest reasons for faithhis works and himselfin their midst, and yet would not believe. He gives vent to the feeling of weariness and moral disgust which overcame him, and in the face of which he still labored and forbore. The want of faith, only immediately manifested towards the disciples, was in reality towards himself. That was the root and spring of their readiness to cavil, and their questionings and arguments.

2. To the father. His conversation with Christ is made by the latter a perfect spiritual discipline. Already the dealings of God had been experienced in his home and heart, and that which has been begun is carried to a successful issue. It is amongst the compensations of great sorrows that, if they do not themselves induce a high spirituality of mind, they, at all events, help us to feel our need of the Savior. There was a preparatory work already done, and Christ wastes no advantage thus gained. Having signified his willingness to undertake the cure, he begins to question the father, partly as an expression of sympathy, partly to show the true character of the case. In this he succeeds in eliciting an expression of the sceptical spirit of the man: “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Here there is room for a commencement, and the Savior repeats in grieved astonishment, “If Thou canst!“ It was a qualification that had no business in such a request, and it showed how poor was the spiritual life or power of the man. He then declares the grand condition of all his cures, “All things are possible to him that believeth;” which in this connection meant that all the blessings Christ conferred were given only in response to faith, but where that was there was no limit with regard to their bestowal. He did not mean that any request, of whatever kind it might be, would be granted if it were only accompanied by faith, but that all requests that were the outcome of a Divine faith, and consequently subject to its conditionsas, for instance, their being agreeable to God’s willwould be granted, however hard they might appear to man. This remark awoke the slumbering spiritual nature of the father, whose love for his son was also at work to quicken his susceptibilities, and he cried out, “I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” There is great difference of opinion as to the true meaning of these words, and no certainty would seem to be attainable; Yet that they reveal a low, self-contradictory spiritual state is evident. Still, progress is perceptible. He at least knows his shortcoming, and has asked for its removal. That was probably effected by the cure of his son, which took place, not because of satisfaction with the father’s confessiona very faulty one at bestbut through desire to prevent tumult, etc.; for when “he saw that a multitude came running together,” he quickly completed the miracle. But even in his expedition there is no hurry. The whole scene is solemn and expressive, and must have had a strong influence on all who looked on.

3. To the disciples. A call to a more intense and elevated communion with God. Prayer (and fasting) was a means to that. Faith is thus seen to be a condition both of getting good and doing good. It is because Christians live habitually on such a worldly plane that they lack power. Oneness in heart and life with God would remove “mountains.” This power should be sought by all.

III. HE MADE IT ALSO AN OCCASION FOR MORE SIGNAL DISPLAY OF HIS GLORY. The delay, failure of disciples, gradual extraction of all the circumstances of the case from the father, etc., all tended to increase the moral effect of the final exercise of power. His authority as the moral Governor of the universe, and Destroyer of the works of the devil, is also vindicated in addressing the demon. Not less, but far more, awful are the effects of sin upon the soul. Its expulsion is a work of Divine power and grace, and exhaustive of the nature in which it has dwelt. It is for Christ to raise up and revivify the poor wreck, the spiritual impotency that survives. So are the failures of weak disciples retrieved, and where disgrace is, humanly speaking, inevitable, the glory of God is revealed. The servants of Christ may despair of themselves, but never of him.M.

Mar 9:23

The omnipotence of faith.

This is a case in which the revisers have introduced a dramatic play of expression into what has seemed a merely conditional statement; and apparently with the authority of the best manuscripts. The words of Christ are seen to be those of surprise and expostulation. He sends back the qualification which the man had uttered, and asserts the virtual omnipotence of faith, and, at the same time, the dauntlessness of its spirit.

I. The SPIRIT WHICH CHARACTERIZES THE BELIEVER.

1. Confidence and fearlessness. The true believer will never say, “If thou canst.” The greatest difficulties will not seem insuperable, and the testimony of sight and ordinary experience will be distrusted. Inward weakness and uncertainty will be conquered. The one thing of consequence will be, “Is this promised?” “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15; cf. Hab 2:17).

2. It is to be distinguished from self-confidence. There is no immediate reference to self in such a conviction; it bases itself upon the unseen and eternal, the laws and promises of God. Hence we may speak of the humility of faith.

3. It is exceptional and divinely produced. Most men are guided by their ordinary experience. When that experience is deliberately set aside or ignored, it must be because of some fact or truth not visible to the natural mind. But such a discovery would be equivalent to a Divine communication. The faith which proceeds upon this must, therefore, be supernaturally inspired. It cannot exist save in one conscious of God, and of a peculiar relation to him.

II. THE POSSIBILITIES OF FAITH. If not wholly dependent upon the actual experience of the power of faith, the confidence of the believer is nevertheless greatly sustained and strengthened by it. Resting in the first instance upon the consciousness of One mighty to save, whose help is promised and assured, and concerning whom it may be said, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” the man of faith will also prize every indication that God has been with man. For he is assured from within and from without that the possibilities of faith are:

1. Unlimitedbecause it identifies itself with the power of God. Faith is the union of the spirit of the believer with him in whom he trusts. It ensures nothing less than his interest and help. The weakest child of God can secure his aid. “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

2. Unlimitedsave that it subjects itself to the will of God. Just as God is omnipotent and yet incapable of unrighteousness, so the faith of the believer will only avail for things pleasing to his heavenly Father. But, then, it never desires any other. The promises of God, however, declare the direction in which Divine help may be certainly expected; and there are countless instances in which the believer can plainly discern the lawfulness and propriety of the objects for which he pleads.

(1) The work of faith is ever blessed.

(2) The prayer of faith is never denied; for if the answer do not assume the form expected, it will nevertheless prove to be substantially, and under the best form, the blessing that is required. And fervent, earnest, repeated prayer is unmistakably encouraged by the teaching of Christ. It is for Christians not to pray less, but more and more importunately, only leaving the particular mode in which the answer is to come to the wisdom and love of God.

3. Unlimitedas illustrated ia Scripture and the biographies of godly men. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is a magnificent confirmation of the promises of the Lord; and them can be no better exercise than the study of the answers to prayer recorded in the Word of God and the lives of saints.M.

Mar 9:29

“And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.”

The work of the Christian Church essentially the same from age to age, although the external phase of it may change and pass away. “Casting out devils” sounds strangely on modern ears; its associations, whilst they are weird and picturesque, are too far away to seriously engage our attention. We are in the habit of dismissing it in an offhand fashion, as a form of religious activity necessarily confined to a transitional period of the development of Christianity, and having no relation to our own or any other age. But that is only a superficial view of the work of the gospel which will lead to such a judgment. “Casting out devils” is a task which belongs as much to the servant of Christ to-day as in the apostolicage. The particular form assumed by the “possession” may not be the same, but the fact of “possession” still continues; and the mission of the Son of God to “destroy the works of the devil” must be fulfilled, until human souls are freed from the thraldom to which Satan subjects them. In every sinful wish or thought Satan gains a foothold; in every sinful habit formed he may be said to “possess” the nature in which it exists. Until we regard sinful habits as not mere habits, but as involving the presence and power of the evil one, we need not expect to grasp or deal with the problem of evil in our world. In the work of converting human souls, we are contending not merely with those who are the immediate objects of our solicitude, but with a supernatural antagonist, holding them in subjection, and deeply skilled in the arts requisite for the maintenance of his influence. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places“ (Eph 6:12). It is due to this permanent characteristic of evil in human nature that such difficulties are met with as the text explains.

I. EXCEPTIONAL DIFFICULTIES IN SPIRITUAL WORK.

1. Occasioned by

(1) a peculiar intensity of indwelling evil. We cannot explain it, but it is full of stubbornness, subtlety, and power of resistance. There is a mysterious sympathy, it may be, between the sinner and the special sin that besets him, or prevents his yielding himself to Divine grace. And this may go the length of

(2) total enslavement of the nature. Like the epileptic of the story, not only the body but the spirit may be enthralled. The will is so weak that it is practically powerless. The external ministries of the Church are insufficient to deliver, unaccompanied as they are by any strong desire for salvation on the part of the sinner. It sometimes happens, too, in more general work, that a spirit of opposition displays itself, or circumstances are persistently unfavourable. The Christian toils on, but his efforts are like the dashing of himself against a rock, or the ploughing of the sand. There are none of God’s people who are strangers to such experiences, which are:

2. From their very nature unexpected. The spiritual worker goes on with comparative or even brilliant success for a time, and then encounters sudden breakdown. The reason of this in most instances is, that a great proportion of Christian work is all but mechanical. It consists in a routine of duties; its results represent a sum total of indirect and sometimes unconscious agencies; religious institutions are originated perhaps in an impulse once imparted but not repeated, and are carried on thus far by “their own momentum.” There occurs all at once a check, and a sense of helplessness and humiliation ensues, involving the baffled worker in spiritual perplexity. Such difficulties are:

3. Not an unmitigated calamity. They have their uses in the Divine economy. When searching of heart is induced, and hidden sins are revealed, or absence of direct communion with God is made manifest, or pride and self-sufficiency are brought low, they have accomplished a good and necessary work.

II. HOW ARE THEY TO BE OVERCOME?

1. The means. “Prayer,” or, in the Authorized or peculiar, but general. Could devils, then, come out by anything else than prayer, when man was the exorciser? It would almost seem as if the disciples had done their work hitherto by virtue of an external commission, using the name of Christ as a sort of talisman. This was sufficient for ordinary cases, but whenever one out of the usual occurred they were at a loss.

2. The reason for its necessity. The immediate occasion for the Master’s admonition probably was the increasing laxity of the disciples in personal prayer, their outwardness, and their failure to grasp the essential principles of his kingdom. But there was a more profound reason for the advice. The servant of God should be in complete sympathy and oneness with his Master, and that can only be cultivated by frequent acts of devotion and the exercise of a constant faith. It is not in his own strength that difficulties are to be met, but in Christ’s. But that can only be imparted through fellowship with his spirit, which depends for its efficiency and depth upon repeated acts of the spiritual nature. The disciple by this rule is called into conscious personal fellowship with God, whose power will only then be granted. Oneness with God is the secret of spiritual power.

3. The came principle applies to the whole fife of the Christian. True success depends upon vital spiritual effort, upon conscious co-operation with God, and consequent fasting from self. If we would not be taken at unawares we must be watchful, in constant actual exercise of faith, and uninterrupted personal communion with God. We are in danger of making too much of the external and accidental element in religion; we can never make too much of him who “worketh in” and through “us to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Php 2:13).

Mar 9:30-32

The gospel a source of sorrow and perplexity.

Something very grand and pathetic in those rehearsals of the drama of redemption. The great heart of Christ yearning for sympathy, and yet shrinking from the kind that was evoked; wondering, meanwhile, at the “hardness of heart” of his disciples, who “understood not the saying.” How inexplicable this failure to affect their moral nature! So far as words are concerned, it was the same gospel as that which woke the nations at Pentecost; yet it was as if still-born; an abstraction; a mystery past finding out. It is a sad monologue; a recitative upon a minor key. Reasons for this failure and ineffectiveness

I. IT WAS NOT UNDERSTOOD. From human standpoint all but incomprehensible; as it certainly could not have been originally conceived by man. A mood and sentiment too elevated for ordinary moral natures. An important consideration in determining the question as to who founded ChristianityChrist or his disciples. The “prophet” must not discourse in an unknown tongue.

II. IT COULD NOT BE UNDERSTOOD UNTIL IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED. Intelligence, moral perception, and spiritual illumination waited upon the finished work. It was, so to speak, a moral creation, which beforehand only the Author could comprehend, and afterwards still he alone perfectly. Each step in the evolution of it, up to a certain point, only deepened the mystery. When Christ realized his work of salvation in act, his people began to realize it in thought and experience.

III. AND THEN ONLY COULD IT BE UNDERSTOOD THROUGH THE SPIRITUAL LIFE IT CALLED FORTH. Christ had to evoke the very faculty by which the plan and spirit of his work were to be discerned. It is “unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1Co 1:23, 1Co 1:24). The world by wisdom knew it not, “but we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged” (1Co 2:12 -14). It is not until we learn the true character of God, and, in the light of that, the nature of sin, that we can from the heart approve of the career of Jesus as “the way of salvation.”M.

Mar 9:33-37

Who shall be greatest?

The selection of Peter, James, and John for exceptional association with Christ; the primacy of Peter suggested by the words of their Master on a certain occasion; and the spirit of the sons of Zebedee, shown in the request made by their mother, a little later, on their behalf (Mar 10:35-41), were circumstances that soon attracted the attention of the others, and gave rise to discussion as to relative superiority. In dealing with this unseemly dispute, our Savior showed

I. THAT IT WAS A QUESTION THAT OUGHT NOT TO BE ASKED AMONGST CHRIST‘S FOLLOWERS. (Verses 33, 34.)

1. His question elicited no reply. They were ashamed that he should have detected them. It was evidently contrary to his spirit, as they felt, although they might be unable to explain.

2. That it is foreign to the genius of Christianity is further shown by the evils it has created within the Church. A vast percentage of the failures and scandals of Christians has arisen from this contention, whether carried on in silence or expressed, Nevertheless that it is deeply seated in human nature is shown by its persistency from age to age. A motive of action we are ashamed to confess when a sense of Christ’s presence is upon us cannot be a right one. And in proportion as the presence of the Master’s spirit is felt, it is suppressed or destroyed.

II. THE PRINCIPLE BY WHICH IT SHOULD BE SETTLED WHEN IT ARISES. (Verse 35.) “If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all.” This is, and probably was meant to be, slightly enigmatical. Without altering the future of the sentence (“he shall be”) into the imperative (“let him be”), as some, without sufficient warrant, have done, it is still possible to read in it several distinct meanings. It might mean that that was to be the penalty of such presumption; that God would so regard presumptuous men; that this was a discipline to which they should subject themselves; that the avenue to official pre-eminence was the greatest serviceableness and humility; or, lastly, that the highest excellence in the kingdom of God is his who abases and forgets himself altogether in the benefit and advancement of others. It is in the last sense that Christ should be understood, if we are to take the general spirit of his teaching for our guide. In the Christian the Virtue and usefulness are ends in themselves, and not stepping-stones to external, official pre-eminence. At the same time, there is a colourable suggestion, supported by experience, in the first three interpretations. The second last is the spirit of the Roman curia, which in literal expression looks so like the precept it contradicts. The sitting down of Christ, and his summons to all, prove the importance of the lesson.

III. AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PRINCIPLE. (Verses 36, 37.) “A little child,” perhaps one of Peter’s family. He gives an example in his own behavior, simply and ingenuously, by embracing the child.

1. The lowliest in the kingdom of God should receive the purest sympathy and consideration. This is the most disinterested and unselfish service. The noblest deeds in God’s world are of this kind: “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (Jas 1:27). We can “receive” to the heart when we cannot to the home; to kindness and love when we cannot to great earthly advantage.

2. The motive which distinguishes this conduct from ordinary human tenderness and affection. It is to be “in my Name,” i.e. “on account of me,” impelled by my example and spirit, and for the sake of my cause. It is only a “grace” or quality of the regenerate nature as he inspires it.

3. So regarded, the object of our love and compassion is really the representative of Jesus and of God. Christ has thus commended the children and the poet to the care of his people. And their sympathies thus awakened and directed are to be looked upon not as supplementing the deficient provisions of the Divine love, but only, in our own degree and measure, expressing and executing the infinite, loving Will of “our Father in heaven.” Herein, therefore, the lowliest service and the highest coincide. “See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Mat 18:10).M.

Mar 9:38-42

The comprehensiveness of Christ’s service.

The connection with what preceded is to be sought in John’s keen sense of having transgressed the spirit of the beautiful words just uttered. Christ Would acknowledge all who professed his name; John had to confess that he had forbidden such a one from working. This leads to Christ’s indicating

I. MARKS OF HIS TRUE SERVANTS. The general link between the several classes is his “Name,” i.e. conscious oneness and sympathy with him as the Son of God and Savior of the world. Accepting that as the test, he lays down:

1. A general principle of comprehension. (Verse 40.) It is negative. If a man does not oppose him, he is to be considered as an ally and a friend. There is no neutrality in man’s relations to Christ. This was especially the case in that age: the devil was too active in human nature to suffer any opposition to be undeveloped. The powers of darkness and of light were in deadly antagonism, and all who were aware of the conflict were certain to have their sympathies engaged for the one side or the other. This seems a dangerous principle, and apt to lead to entanglement or disaster. “Divinely dangerous.” Yet is it the teaching of the Spirit of God, and beautifully harmonious with it.

2. That those are his servants who do mighty works in his Name. This mere statement suggests how profoundly the work of Christ was leavening the community. There were many besides his professed followers who were influenced by his spirit.

(1) That they should be able to do these works (which were of a miraculous nature) showed that they must already be in communion with his spirit. To cast forth devils could not be to further the cause of their prince, or to be aided by him. And so of the complementary work of awaking spiritual life in conversion, etc. Such work is manifestly of God, and these results prove his presence and approval.

(2) The honor and cause of Christ will be dear to such, even as to those more openly and professedly connected with him. Christ’s servants do not work magically, by the mechanical force of dark formulas, but by sympathy and moral oneness with him.

3. That sympathy and help towards a disciple, as such, is itself a proof of discipleship.

(1) The slightest sign of this spirit is to be welcomed in faith and hope, as a firstfruits of greater things to come.

(2) But in itself it is already truly a great service, and as such will be certainly rewarded. It seems almost more precious, in its connection, than the “mighty works;” for these may sometimes incommode, and be mingled with much error and evil, but the merciful kindness is ever serviceable, and flows from no other fountain than the heart of God.

II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THESE ARE TO BE REGARDED. The child of grace is to be trustfully disposed, and ready to put a charitable construction upon the merely negative behavior of men. And, moreover, it is to be recollected that the principle is not one of judgment, but of policy. “Jesus would impress it upon his disciples that they must honor and protect the isolated beginnings or germs of faith to be found in the world” (Lange). Towards all who do not oppose Christ there is to be an attitude of hopeful and trustful encouragement (cf. Mat 11:1-30 :42).

1. Christian acknowledgment. “Forbid them not.” Involving

(1) brotherly recognitionnot mere toleration:

(2) fostering and protecting care;

(3) devout thankfulness and humility.

2. Remembering their retaliation to the same Master.

(1) He acknowledges them;

(2) he will afterwards reward them;

(3) we shall be sternly and awfully judged if we “cause them to stumble.”

“The word for millstone indicates the larger stone-mill, in working which an ass was generally employed, as distinguished from the smaller hand-mill of Luk 17:35. The punishment was not recognized in the Jewish Law, but it was in occasional use among the Greeks (Diod. Sic., 16:35), and had been inflicted by Augustus in cases of special infamy. Jerome states (in a note on this passage) that it was practiced in Galilee, and it is not improbable that the Romans had inflicted it upon some of the ringleaders of the insurrection headed by Judas of Galilee. The infamy of offending one of the ‘ little ones’ was as great as that of those whose crimes brought upon them this exceptional punishment. It was obviously a form of death less cruel in itself than many others, and its chief horror, both for Jews and heathen, was probably that it deprived the dead of all rites of burial” (Plumptre, in ‘New Test. Com.’). This punishment, such as it was, was but a shadow of the more terrible penalties of the spiritual state.M.

Mar 9:43-49

The value of deliverance from spiritual snares.

I. ILLUSTRATED BY:

1. Relative importance of float which is sacrificed and that which is saved. They are as parts to the whole: as external limbs or members compared with the entire nature, or central ego. “Our Savior of course specifies hand and foot only for rhetorical purposes. It is a fine, bold, graphic way of bringing home to the imagination and the bosom the idea of what is near and dear to our natural feelings. He speaks in hieroglyphics” (Morison). They represent also our natural lust, tendencies, and carnalized faculties.

2. Terrible consequences to the wicked in the world to some. “Gehenna;” “the Gehenna of fire.” “Originally it was the Greek form of Ge-hinnom (the Valley of Hinnom, sometimes of the “son” or the “children” of Hinnom), and was applied to a narrow gorge on the south of Jerusalem (Jos 15:8)” (Plumptre). It became the common cesspool and place for consuming filth. Dead bodies of great criminals were probably cast forth without burial into it; and fires were continually burning for the destruction of the offal. It is, of course, only a type of the punishment of the lost. “There is a commingled reference to two modes of destructionvermicular putrefaction and fire. When men’s bodies are destroyed, it is generally either by the one agency or by the other. Both are here combined for cumulative rhetorical effect. And the dread climax of the whole representation is found in the ceaselessness of the twofold operation” (Morison). There are two elements in this. destruction, viz.:

(1) internal corruptions”their worm;” and

(2) external consuming forces”fire.”

Both of these are to be understood of their spiritual analogues.

II. MORALLY STIMULATIVE BECAUSE OF APPEAL TO FREE–WILL AND SPIRITUAL AGENCY OF MAN. These considerations would have no weight but for this. Just as one can cut off a hand or a foot, and pluck out an eye, so one can restrain erring desires and affections, and curb unruly appetites. This is the sin of the ruined one, viz. he is stir-ruined. And all corrupting influence one exerts, returns upon himself to his own destruction. Self-sacrifice is, therefore, the only way of salvation. The power to do this is given by Christ. “It is better to make any sacrifice than to retain any sin” (Godwin). “The meaning is not that any man is in such a case that he hath no better way to avoid sin and hell [than being maimed]; but if he had no better, he should choose this. Nor doth it mean that maimed persons are maimed in heaven; but if it were so, it were a less evil” (Richard Baxter).M.

Mar 9:49, Mar 9:50

Christian purityits origin and influence.

These verses have been the subject of much controversy. They are obscure and difficult’; but the context is of great assistance, and a uniform interpretation of the term “salted” in the first and second clauses of Mar 9:50 will do much to remove the hindrances in the way of construing them together. Manuscript authority is not strong enough to compel the rejection of either clause, although our revisers have omitted the latter. Everything turns upon the sense given to “salted.” It is evidently “purified,” “preserved from corruption,” in the second clause. So ought it to be understood in the first. “Consumed “is a sense implied in the sense “purified,” and secondary to it. The whole emphasis of the passage is thus in favor of Christian purification. Again, the second clause of Mar 9:50 does not appear to have been quoted merely in confirmatory or illustrative allusion, but as a statement of the consequence which will flow from the first; the conjunction having a slightly illative force.

I. HOW SPIRITUAL PURITY IS PRODUCED AND SUSTAINED.

1. “With fire:” a figurative term, relating itself to the fire that is not quenched of the preceding passage, and the description of the baptism of the Holy Ghost (Mat 3:11, Mat 3:12). “Even when manifested in its most awful forms, it is still true that they who ‘walk righteously and speak uprightly’ may dwell with ‘everlasting burnings” (Plumptre). “Thy God is a consuming fire (Deu 4:24); and that to the evil in his people, as well as that out of which they are taken. This may refer

(1) to the general spiritual experience of the child of God as subject to the influences of the Holy Spirit;

(2) to Divine chastisement;

(3) to “the spirit to which our Savior refers in Mar 9:43-48, the spirit that parts, for righteousness‘ sake, with a hand, a foot, an eye“ (Morison). It is “an alternative fire,” “which indeed scorches the sensibility to agony, but which in the end consumes only what is bad, and leaves the soul freed from those moral combustibles on which the penal fire of Gehenna could feed.” “He is preserved from corruption, and consequent everlasting destruction, by the fire of unsparing self-sacrifice“ (ibid.).

2. This is the universal experience of true. Christians. Because it is essential to the Divine life in the soul, if indeed it be not rather identical with it. Have we endured this “scourging,” without which no son is received by our Father? Is this our spirit? Herein we can examine ourselves.

II. ITS INFLUENCE. It affects:

1. Christians

(1) individually;

(2) collectively.

“Have suit in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.” Purity of aim and spirit will obviate misunderstandings, and allay bitternesses between true believers.

2. Their sacrifices. It is in a sense the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice communicated to theirs. As it was a law of the Levitical code that “every sacrifice should be salted with salt,” so it is a law of the spiritual life, fulfilled through the spirit of self-sacrifice communicated to the particular act and object of sacrifice. This applies to the whole outcome and expression of the spiritual life of the children of God, their thought, word, action, as well as to their gifts to the cause of Christ.

3. The general life of the world. “Ye are the salt of the earth.” An indirect and incomplete, but still a positive blessing to the world of the unconverted. For this constant renewals of grace are required, from a source independent of ourselves. Watchfulness, prayer, ceaseless self-sacrifice in the spirit of Christ.M.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

Mar 9:36

Christ and the child: a sermon to children.

The disciples of Jesus had been disputing amongst themselves which of them should be the greatest in his kingdom. Though they were ashamed to confess this, Jesus knew all about it; for he overhears even whispered and secret conversations, He rebuked their ambition by calling a little child to him, who was glad enough to come to One so loving; and taking him up in his arms, he bade his disciples become childlike, not caring for money and high positions, but being glad in the love of the Lord. Probably the child never saw Jesus again; but he would never forget him. Legend reports that his name was Ignatius, and that he grew up to be an earnest and devout man, who at last bravely died for the faith. But the treatment of this child by Jesus is only an example of his treatment of children now. He loves them, and they should love him.

I. WHY DID JESUS CALL THE CHILD TO HIM?

1. Because there was something in the child which Jesus liked. We do not call to us and take into our arms those we hate and avoid. It was not sinlessness that Jesus saw in the child, but simplicity. He was something like what Jesus himself had been in the home at Nazareth, when he was subject to his parents, and so sweet, humble, and gentle that every one loved him. Children are not perfectly innocent; they do many things that are wrong, and need to be forgiven. Jesus did not say to the child, “You can do without me,” but, “Come to me.” So, when he saw the young man who said he had kept the commandments, Jesus “loved him;” yet he did not leave him as he was, but bade him go and sell all that he had.

2. Because there was in the child something he wanted. He wanted the child’s love. “My son, give me thine heart.” The way to be loved is to love; and Jesus loves us, not as crowds, but as individuals. Each can say with Paul, “He loved me, and gave himself for me.” The child knew this from the look and tone of the Lord.

3. Because there was something he hoped to do for the child. He meant to save him. To be saved from sin involves something more than being forgiven. If bad temper asserts itself, you may be forgiven for an outburst; but it rises again and again. Jesus would conquer that temper so that it should never trouble you any more.

II. WHY DID THE CHILD GO TO JESUS? He might have hesitated and said, “He does not mean it;” or, “The disciples are rough, and will push me back, or laugh at me;” or, “Perhaps I had better wait a little, till I am older.” Instead of this, he went at once, and went as he was. There are reasons why you, as children, should go to him.

1. Because conscience says you need him. Conscience is more sensitive, and speaks more clearly in childhood than in age; and this is an evidence that childhood is the appointed and the best time to hear God’s voice.

2. Because affection says you need him. Some children feel much secret grief because they have an impression that no one cares much for them. Their brothers and sisters are more popular than they are, so they are always supposing that they are being slighted. Or perhaps they are at school, and are thoroughly homesick among strangers. How pleasant it is to feel that One who is always near loves you personally, intensely, fervently! and how naturally should your love flow forth responsively to him!

3. Because energy says you need him. A child is naturally active. The fingers itch to touch what is forbidden, to try what is unknown; and mischief often results from no evil intention. All that pent-up energy is from God; stored up for the doing of life’s work, and the bearing of its burdens. And the Lord wants in his kingdom these vigorous frames and powerful minds, that he may sanctify and bless themthat the children may lead off the hosannas in which the world will join in the New Jerusalem.

4. Because hope says you want him. Every child has some hope of becoming better and greater. It is a sign that Paradise is lost, but that heaven is possible, else we might be satisfied. Many boys and girls have quiet times, little spoken of to others, when they say, “I wish I could be better; that I could get over this evil habit; that I was steadfast, pure, and true; that I loved God, and was glad he loved me.” That is the time when Jesus is near, when he stretches out his arms and says, “Come unto me;” and in answer to the secret prayer he will take the little one in his arms, put his hands on him, and bless him.A.R.

Mar 9:41

Christian beneficence.

Loving consideration for others and generous kindness to them are among the fruits of the Spirit and the signs of true discipleship. Their effects it would not be easy to exaggerate. The law of kindness for Jesus’ sake is of all things the most likely to remove prejudices against Christianity, and to bring together those whose interests are separate, so as to ensure the salvation of society. Even on lower grounds, therefore, this law demands our obedience, for there is much in our social condition to cause anxiety to the Church. Questions once carefully ignored are being boldly discussed; classes of men whose ignorance and poverty made them political nonentities are now powers in the State. Capitalists and producers are discussing anew their respective rights; owners of land are being openly asked whether She proportion they have received of its value is not greater than their due. And in all these movements agitators are exaggerating claims, some of which have in them germs of right. Meanwhile it is to be feared that religion, as a factor in the settlement of such disputes, is being disregarded, and debate is rife whether indeed the Christian faith is longer credible. Anything which would suddenly change the relations of various classes, any outburst of the communistic or nihilistic spirit, would bring about far more evil than good. Evils must be abolished now as they were in the early days of the Christian faith. When slaves were held in cruel bondage, and profligacy assumed hideous forms, and accumulated wealth appeared side by side with abject want, Christ and the teachers who followed him aroused no servile war, but by word and life showed a more excellent way. They taught that the highest bliss was not in abundance of possessions, but in abundance of spiritual life; that the loftiest dignity was to be found not in the indulgence, but in the denial, of self; that all a man possessed he held as a responsible steward; and that those removed from others in social position were brothers and sisters to be cared for. All this was exhibited in the life of One who went about doing good, and was seen in its ultimate victory on the cross where Christ died for us, that we henceforth might live no morn to ourselves. One phase of this law of kindness is brought before us in our text, where its manifestation is recognized as a germ of discipleship.

I. THE DUTY OF CHRISTIAN BENEFICENCE is asserted throughout Scripture. Under the old dispensation, the blessedness of him who considers the poor was exemplified in the experience of Job, and of the widow of Sarepta, and of multitudes besides. The duty was made still more clear in the New Testament; and this is noteworthy, because the disciples of our Lord were themselves poor, so that no one of them could give out of his superabundance; and even of our Lord himself this was true, though he so often showed that it was more blessed to give than to receive. On this principle the Church acted. Spontaneously Barnabas sold his estates to aid those who were in special difficulties because they were cast out of trade and home, and his example was contagious. There was no law passed that Christians should do this; but though as a compulsory law it would have been an unsound dictum for all times, it was right and good when Christians, moved by pity for their poor persecuted brethren, distributed as every man had need. Spontaneity gives worth to such acts. He who thus gives, though it be but a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward.

II. THE OBJECTS OF CHRISTIAN BENEFICENCE. All less favored than ourselves have a claim, not necessarily on our money, but on our help and sympathy, in some form, when an opportunity comes for service in Christ’s Name.

1. Human relationship has its claims on us, and he who does not “provide for his own,” even though he benefits some religious organization, fails in his duty to his Lord.

2. Neighbourhood has claims on us. No follower of Christ can be like the rich man, who would give alms to be seen of man, but would let poor Lazarus die at his gate, fighting for crumbs with the dogs.

3. Fellowship in the same Church has claims on us, though those needing our aid may be least in knowledge, least in capacity, least in attractiveness, or least in desert.

4. But we are to do good unto all men, though especially to such as are of the household of faith. Christ died for all, and in his Name, for his sake, in his spirit, we must seek to aid them, even though it only be by a cup of cold water.

III. THE REASONS FOR CHRISTIAN BENEFICENCE are numerous, but we may mention one or two.

1. All we have is from God. His providence has made us to differ. Our birth, our inheritance, our education, our natural capacities,these are in no sense the results of our own creation or choice. He who gave us these, demands that we should use them in part to promote the peace and the comfort of those for whom his Son died. “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

2. Our superabundance is for others. When our cup runs over, the droppings are not for ourselves but for others. When our harvest is gathered, room must be made for gleaners as well as for reapers. Waste is against God’s law. The breath we throw off from our lungs is wanted by nature. The rain poured down so lavishly is not lost. The refuse flung on the soil is to reappear in new forms. All nature rebukes the waste and extravagance of which we are often guilty; and Ambrose has well said, “It is no greater sin to take from him that rightly possesseth than being able not to give to him that wanteth.”A.R.

Mar 9:43, Mar 9:45, Mar 9:47

Causes of stumbling.

“If thy hand if thy foot if thine eye offend thee.” The passage from which these few words are chosen is stern and severe; yet it was uttered by the gentle Teacher who would not break the bruised reed. Christ Jesus was not like the Pharisees, punctilious over little things, so he would not have uttered these words needlessly. He was not ignorant of human temptations and weaknesses, but had the most perfect knowledge of our nature. He was not one of those scribes who would bind heavy burdens on others, and yet not touch them with one of their fingers, but was tempted as we are, and by a life and death of sacrifice endeavored to put away the sin of the world. Words stern as these, coming from One who had generous views of sinners and unerring views of sin in its nature and effect, deserve our serious consideration. Our Lord thought them so important that he now repeated them, although none who had heard them previously in his sermon on the mount would be likely to forget them. The general lesson taught is thisthat it is better to die than to sin, and so to wrong ourselves and others; but we confine ourselves now to the causes or incitements to sin here suggested by the “hand,” the “foot,” and the “eye.”

I. OF WHAT IS THE HAND AN EMBLEM?

1. Companionship. We shake hands with those to whom we are introduced or with whom we are friendly, not with those who are unknown or hostile. If we have quarrelled, and reconciliation has been effected, the outstretched hand is a sign that we are reconciled. It is often said that a man is known by his friends, and it is perhaps equally true that he is made by his friends, especially in the time of youth, when character is plastic and habits are readily formed. Some communication with others is a necessity of school and business life; but friends may be chosen; and it is of the last importance that they be chosen well. Yet Christians will sometimes form a lifelong companionship with those whose worldliness will inevitably lead them astray from the ways of God. “If thy hand” in such a companionship “cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee.”

2. Work. The hand is the medium through which we put forth our skill and strength. Daily work may have “holiness to the Lord” written on it, or may be the means of spiritual injury. There are shops in which dishonesty is a necessity; there are positions young girls are called upon to fill which cannot but injure their modesty and purity; there are undertakings which can only succeed by a sacrifice of truth. Whatever their external and material advantages, these are amongst the causes of offense which our Lord calls on us to sacrifice.

II. OF WHAT IS THE FOOT AN EMBLEM? By it we make progress. It may be taken, therefore, as a figure for getting on in the world. Parents are sometimes too eager for this on their children’s behalf. They are like Lot, who sought the place of prosperity and was regardless of its temptations. It were far better to be less swift to attain wealth and position than to have the terrible awakening that will come to many at last. “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

III. OF WHAT IS THE EYE AN EMBLEM? Through it most offenses to the soul’s purity come. Fatal has been the issue with many of “seeing life.” David saw, lusted, and fell into adultery and murder. Eve saw, longed, and put forth her hand and took the forbidden fruit, and so came death into the world, and all our woe. Achan saw the garment and the gold, and covetousness led him to disobedience. Better to have been blind than to have seen that. How many nosy fall into evil ways who assure any one remonstrating with them that they are only going to that place of temptation because they wish for once “to see what it is like” There are books, too, which, from the doubts they insinuate or from the morality they implicitly commend, should be abjured. It may be sometimes an intellectual loss, but it results in larger gain; and the law of the gospel is that which is here, and which St. Paul repeats in the words, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon earth.”A.R.

Mar 9:43, Mar 9:44

Better die than sin.

Christ is speaking here of injuries which we may do ourselves or others. Most men guard themselves carefully against physical injury. They insure against accidents, avoid miasma, and attend to the first appearance of the germs of disease. Yet sometimes they are like a commander who is on the alert against external assault, but is unsuspicious of treachery within. In a moral sense, it may often be said, “A man’s foes are they of his own household.” The allusion to the hand, the foot, and the eye indicate that the causes of Sin are found in our own nature; that evil is natural to us as the use of these members. Sins spring from within: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” When acts are repeated, habits are formed which become part of ourselves. Then these habits are allowed for and excused by others, so that we no longer get our attention directed to them as otherwise we might do. A notoriously selfish man is not asked to help others; a passionate or suspicious temper becomes regarded as a personal peculiarity. Yet, though it seems a part of ourselves, God says, “Cut it off, and cast it from thee.”

I. GOD‘S TREATMENT OF SIN IS RADICAL. We naturally shrink from the severe method indicated here. Who has not suffered an agony of pain rather than apply to the surgeon or dentist, although it must come to that at last? Nothing short of amputation of evil habit will save the life of the soul. Some are satisfied that they have confessed, received absolution, and done penance at the bidding of a human priest. Others are told to exercise discretion even when the taste and smell of intoxicants are sources of peril, and their only hope is to cut them off. Many excuse the young in their follies, and say, “They must sow their wild oats.” Ay, but they will never plough them up, and no subsequent sowing will alter the effects of the first. “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.” Now, if we see deformity in a child which will mar its beauty for life, the pain he would immediately suffer would not prevent our cutting it off; and if there be a moral weakness or an evil habit that deforms spiritual beauty, the treatment must be as radical. When the moth is in a garment, the careful housewife does not leave a few and run the risk. When a man is bitten by a mad dog, the hot iron will sear the flesh, though it causes agony. When a child dies of diphtheria, the clothes are burnt and the little toys, which the mother would gladly keep, lest the other children should take the infection. The house is purged so as by fire. The treatment is severe, no doubt; but Christ did not come to lead us in the path of ease, but of serf-denial. He knew that it was not painless to cut off the hand or the foot and to pluck out the eye, but he declared it was better to suffer what was represented by this than that the man with all his powers should be cast into hell. If this word comes as the sword of the Spirit to cut your heart in twain

“Oh, throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other half.”

Christ “died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” and in his Name we are called upon to “crucify the world’ with its affections and lusts.”

II. GOD‘S CALL TO OBEDIENCE IS URGENT.

1. We are urged to this for the sake of others. What anxiety would be relieved and what joy would be imparted to Christian friends if, by the transforming power of God’s Spirit, you were delivered from evil! Besides this, by delaying repentance you may be causing others to stumble. There is a word in this passage about childrenlittle ones, young people who may be influenced by you for evil. If you laugh at serious impressions, jeer at another as a saint, discourage earnestness, and lead to felly or guilt,take heed, for it were better that a millstone were hanged about your neck than that such a crime should curse you. Parents especially can hold back their children from evil, and encourage them to good, if they prayerfully seek to do so. By allowing sceptical or immoral literature, by encouraging worldly companionships, they may foster a life of sin, and check the life of God in the soul. Still more power have they by example and personal influence.

2. We are urged to this for our own sakes. Christ was the King of Truth. He never deceived, misrepresented, or exaggerated. Ponder, therefore, his solemn words, “It is better for thee to enter life maimed,” etc. This is not a literal description of hell. It is an allusion to Isa 66:24, where the prophet describes apostates from Jehovah lying outside the holy city in the valley of Hinnom, where refuse was cast, and the worm of corruption died not, and the fires of destruction were not extinguished. This was used as an emblem of “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord.” Figurative as the language is, it is ominous, and warns us against the untold terrors which await the impenitentthe retribution which follows unrepented sin. A man may escape the consequences of sin here, but the punishment must ultimately come. True, “God is merciful.” But when a man on the sea-shore disregards warning, and the tide comes in, his cries and prayers are of no avail, and soon his dead body is flung up as a useless waif. He has defied the merciless law of a merciful God. Put yourself in harmony with that law and it brings benediction, but oppose it and it brings destruction. The amazing sacrifice of Christ is only explicable on the theory that sin has effects beyond those which are visible here. “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”A.R.

HOMILIES BY R. GREEN

Mar 9:1-8

The Transfiguration.

A brief interval of six days occurs, “days of the Son of man,” of which no record remains. How much of even this brief ministry to men seems to be lost! Yet is the account of each day to be given when, to every man favored with his presence and teaching, it is said, “Render the account of thy stewardship.” The silence of the record is an appropriate prelude to the sublime event which follows. “He went up into a mountain to pray.” “Peter, James, and John””the flower and crown of the apostolic band”were the privileged three who alone witnessed the scene, though the few graphic words of the historian, “kept and told to no man until after the Son of man had risen from the dead,” have presented to the eye of the Church in all ages a clearly defined picture of it. And yet in viewing it we are dazzled by excess of light. Few and simple must be our words. “He was transfigured,” a word which is afterwards explained to apply to “the fashion of his countenance.” It was “altered;” so St. Luke. St. Matthew adds, “his face did shine as the sun;” while “his garment became glistering, exceeding white,” “white as the light,” “so as no fuller on earth can whiten them:” Beautiful additionso naive, so simple! That Divine nature, which in the incarnate body was always transfigured before the eyes of men, now burst forth to view, radiating from within; the hidden divinity shining through the veil of the flesh until its veil of raiment became radiant with light.

I. In the history and development of the incarnate Son this event must have had. its high import. What is personal to himself, however, is almost entirely hidden. Of the “talking” we hear only one word. The two men, “which were Moses and Elijah,” “the founder and the great defender of the old dispensation,” “spake of his decease.” Very soon after the days were well-nigh come that he should be received up,” and “he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Henceforth his steps tend to the Cross.

II. But, whatever purpose was answered in respect of Jesus himself, the revelation most assuredly was, in the highest degree, important to the disciples, and through them to the Church at large.

1. Here is beheld the harmony, the unity, of the Law and the prophets and the Christ.

2. Here, within the “bright cloud” which “overshadowed them,” though “they feared as they entered into it,” they were made “eye-witnesses of his majesty;” they witnessed the “honor and glory” which “he received from God the Father.”

3. They heard the “voice,” and heard it “come out of heaven,” which bore testimony for all to receive: “This is my beloved Son.” In this lay the “honor and glory” which “he received.” So thought that one of the three who declared, “It is good to be here,” and who would fain have built tabernacles on this “holy mount.” This testimony had already been borne when, at the baptism, “a voice out of the” same “heaven” declared to him, “thou art my beloved Son.” Here the witness is of him to others: “This is my beloved Son;” and with the additional word of command, “Hear ye him.” Once again afterwards, when the Father glorified his Name, there came “a voice out of heaven” directly speaking to him; though, as he declared, “this voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes.” How truly might he say of all that he received, “not for my sake, but for your sakes”! Now, not to Peter only, but also to James and John, is it revealed,” Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now they with him share this blessedness which “flesh and blood” could not impart; now we, and with us all the Church, rejoice in the knowledge of this primary truth. How our hearts long to see his glory and hear the heavenly voice, and dwell on “the holy mount” of vision! And yet, how “good” soever it might be, it is better for the cultivation of our hearts in righteousness, and far better for the suffering, sinful world, that we go down into the valley to struggle with the evil spirit, and by faith and love and obedience glorify our living Head, and seek a meetness for those “tabernacles” which are not made by human hands.G.

Mar 9:14-28

The healing of the lunatic youth.

Descending from “the holy mount,” where he had “received honor and glory from God the Father,” a scene presented itself in direct contrast to “the majesty” of which the favored three had then been “eye-witnesses.” Around the disciples “they saw a great multitude, and scribes questioning with them.” They had suffered a painful defeat. One of the multitude had brought to them his son, having “a dumb spirit;” and he spake to the “disciples that they should cast him out; and they were not able”! A more pitiable object could scarcely be imagined. “From a child” he was “epileptic,” and suffered “grievously;” “the spirit ofttimes” casting “him both into the fire and into the waters” as if “to destroy him;” and so dire was its influence over him that, as the father said, “wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down: and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth away;” “it teareth him that he foameth, and it hardly departeth from him, bruising him sorely;” and when it “taketh him” he, in inarticulate tones, “suddenly crieth out.” To add to the sadness of the case, the spirit was “unclean,” compelling its victim to acts of filthiness. The poor boy, too, suffered the grievous aggravation of being “dumb,” so that he could not tell out his sorrows; and he was “deaf,” so that no word of strengthening consolation could be spoken to him. It was almost a misfortune to him not to be blind, for he could contrast his sad state with that of other youths around him. The father, wearied and disappointed with long and daily watchingfor it seized him “suddenly”and unable to find relief, brought him to the disciples, and met the sad rebuke of their inability. “They could not” cast him out. As a last resource, with timid, wearied heart, and with a hesitancy that surely found its justification in the failure of all efforts to obtain relief, he brought him to Jesus, uttering the word so descriptive of timid doubt, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” It is now that he who bears alike our sins and sorrows, who “bears with” our weakness and our ignorance, who, even in his greatest works, strives so to work as to teach, corrects the imperfect view of the father, and makes his demand even upon his faulty faith, gently rebuking his pardonable insinuation. “It is not, ‘If I can,’ but, ‘If thou canst!'” And he adds for all ages the all-inclusive teaching, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” Christ’s words, even of correction, rouse faith. The assurance that “all things” were “possible” to faith drew forth from the tremulous lips the profession of faith, “I believe;” while the tearful eyes (margin) bore witness to the genuineness of the confession hidden in the lowly prayer, “Help,” and therein forgive, “thou mine unbelief.” It is enough. With his word, in presence of a “multitude” that “came running together,” he cast out the dumb and deaf spirit, and commanded him to “enter no more into him.” The scene is full of teaching:

I. ON THE SAD CAPACITY OF THE HUMAN LIFE FOR SUFFERING AND DEGRADATION.

II. ON THE GLORIOUS POWER OF CHRIST TO HEAL AND RESTORE THE UTMOST DISORGANIZATION AND DEGENERATION OF THE HUMAN LIFE. It is an instance of his “power over all the power of the enemy.” With such a picture before their eyes, who need hesitate to come to Jesus, in any need whatsoever? But the greatest teaching lies in the words spoken to the disciples in reply to their demand as to the reason why they “could not cast it out,””because of your little faith.”

III. For us and for all, a third teaching, on THE POWER OF PRAYER AND FAITH, lies openly on the face of the Lord’s words to the distressed father. It is impossible to read the Gospels without learning that in Christ’s view the exercise of Divine power over the suffering human life is often suspended on the attainment of certain conditions on the part of the sufferers. There is a fitness of things. Suffering and need seem to come of departures from the Divine order. The voluntary return to that order is most aptly, perhaps most easily, expressed by “faith.” It indicates the lowly submissiveness of the spirit. It is the plasticity of the clay which truly prepares it for the hand of the potter. It is the least, and yet the best, self-fitting work that can be done by any who would experience “the power of the Lord to heal.” It is at once the acknowledgment of the human impotence, need, and receptivity; it is the symbol of departure from all other and competing helpers; it is an acceptance of the Lord himself, and in and with him the germ of all healing, whether of body or soul.G.

Mar 9:28, Mar 9:29

The conditions of success in spiritual work.

As might have been expected, “when he was come into the house, the disciples asked him privately,” “How is it that we could not cast it out?” The reply is simple: “This kind can come out by nothing, save prayer.” St. Matthew helps us to gain a clearer insight into the cause: “Because of your little faith.” “Many ancient authorities add and fasting“ (margin). The “little faith” must have approached closely to “unbelief,” or to no faith, for the Lord adds, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed… nothing shall be impossible to you.” A little thought will compel us to learn much concerning the influence of faith and of prayer, if not also of fasting, in the work assigned to the disciples and in the general and ceaseless conflict with evil. That there was some hindering cause palsying the strength of the disciples is obvious. But recently Jesus had “given them power and authority over all devils,” “and to cure diseases,” and they are suddenly powerless in the use of that authority. That they may have been cherishing feelings which were inconsistent with so sacred a trust, the subsequent record plainly declares. But our attention is riveted on the words of our Lord in his demand for prayer and faith; and we learn at once, that the bestowment of great authority, even with high endowments, does not set aside the necessity for cherishing suitable conditions of mind in order to the effective discharge of the duties which that authority imposes. The calling to be apostles, the investiture with power to cast out devils and to cure diseases, does not release from the necessity to be clothed with humilityto live in that spirit of withdrawment from the world, and communion with the Father, which “prayer,” even if not joined with “fasting,” implies. The mere symbols of office are useless in the spiritual realm. Rank in these hierarchies conveys no might. Yea, though the very “power” be given, and given by Christ himself, no presumption of personal freedom from the need of the lowliest spirit may be entertained. As Christ’s own power was arrested by the “unbelief” of those amongst whom he would do “many mighty works,” so the “power” entrusted to apostles is defied by “the unclean spirit” if the minds of those apostles are not freed from unbelief, and not raised to an alliance with heavenly powers by prayer. Entangled in nets that beset even their feet, exposed to temptations that rudely assail even them, they, though armed by the great power and authority of the kingdom, become weak, and are as other men. Hence we learn that in the spiritual kingdom

I. THE MERE AUTHORITY OF OFFICE IS INSUFFICIENT FOR DOING GREAT WORKS IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Apostles, prophets, preachers, teachers, rulers, are all taught that there is a condition of heart needed as well as an investiture of office.

II. NO ENDOWMENT OF POWER OR GIFTS SETS ASIDE THE NECESSITY FOR LOWLY SPIRITUAL EXERCISES. For while these acknowledge and minister to lowliness of heart, they bring their possessor into a true and living sympathy with the heavenly kingdom, and make him a meet channel for the conveyance of its healing grace. No mere talent suffices.

III. FAITH AND PRAYERFULNESS DESCRIBE THE TRUE CONDITION OF THE SOUL OF HIM OF WHOM IT IS TO BE SAID, “THOU HAST POWER WITH GOD AND WITH MAN, AND HAST PREVAILED.” The spiritual, who wield spiritual weapons, must maintain a spiritual sensibility. This cannot be maintained without that true fasting which is a with-drawment from the spirit of the world, or without that prayerfulness which is a true communion with the Father, or without that faith which is the real might of the soul. These are steps in the spiritual progress; the final attainment being, not the feeble word on the lip, “Come out of him,” but that perfect oneness with the Divine which, while it acknowledges the human impotence, makes the feeble man a true and fit instrument of the Divine power. For by that power alone, after all, is the devil cast out.G.

Mar 9:33-37

Honour.

By slow steps Jesus had brought the chosen band of the disciples onward in that course of instruction which prepared them to ascend “the holy mount” and behold “his glory,” “glory as of the only begotten from the Father.” He had also begun to show unto them that “he must suffer many things,” and “be killed,” making them “exceeding sorry.” And he had spoken to them of the time “when the Son of man should have risen again from the dead;” but “what the rising again from the dead should mean” they understood not. Now by silent and hidden byways, secretly, for “he would not that any man should know it,” they passed through Galilee and came to Capernaum. Jesus, taking advantage of this quiet, “taught his disciples” concerning the dark future that loomed upon him. But their minds seem to have been preoccupied, and “they understood not the saying.” Scarcely had they entered the house when he demanded of them, “What were ye reasoning in the way?” Shame covered their face, the searching question revealing the power of him before whom all hearts be open. They were dumb before him, for “they had disputed one with another in the way who was the greatest.” The distinction conferred upon the three, or the signal honor paid to Peter, may have been the occasion for this dispute, fanned perhaps by the anticipation of the decease at Jerusalem. Possibly there may have been an assumption of superiority on the part of one in that little republic. But such a spirit must be instantly crushed; and on the dark human background must the principles of the true heavenly kingdom be thrown forward. In calmness “he sat down,” and solemnly “called the twelve” to him, and laid down as a principle to be then and for ever remembered, that in his house, or kingdom, or brotherhood, things are different from what they are in ordinary communities of men. And strange as the paradox may seem, the lowest is the highest, the most laborious servant is the true lord, the least is the greatest. “If any would be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all.” Further to impress this truth upon the hearts of the men who were contending for the highest room, the chief seat, the father’s place in the house, “he took a little child”the least in the house, and the furthest removed from the head; lower even than the servants, for they command the little children”and set him in the midst,” The Lord’s sermon from this visible text is elsewhere recorded at length. The lesson for us to ponder, and often to ponder, for we are in great danger of forgetting it, isHe is the chief, the greatest, the first, in the kingdom of heaven who does most service in it. The honor is not to him who sits at the head of the tableany feeble one can do that; but to him who, girt with a towel, waits on the restto him who sees the true greatness of the kingdom; who so discerns its lofty, spiritual, and heavenly character, as to learn his own littleness in presence of it; who perceives that its highest end and aim is reached in rendering the utmost service to men. He who has seen the “Lord and Master” of all girded with a towel, stooping to wash and wipe the feet of his servants; he who has most of this his Master’s spirit, who follows most closely in his Master’s steps of toilsome, self-sacrificing service; he who, like his Master, does the most and the hardest work in the house;yea, he is really and indeed the chief, the greatest, the first, in the house. And so, in truth, is it in all houses and in all kingdoms; the truly great are the laborers, the men who always see the kingdom to be greater than they, and, seeing the aim of the kingdom to be greater than the kingdom itself, are lowly enough and great enough to serve that aim, and have their greatness and most honor-able place, not in medals, and decorations, and plaudits, and rewards, but in the deep if hidden fact, that the kingdom’s welfare has been most advanced by them, that they have saved it from ruin or advanced it in honor, prosperity, and blessing. Then let every one seek eagerly the first, the highest place; but let every toilsome servant know that, in Christ’s view, that is most prized which is furthest from self-adulation, from empty vanity, from indolent glorying in place; that he who most obeys, who hardest works, who lowliest walkshe, even he, is chief. This is the highest tribute paid

(1) to all lowliness of mind,

(2) to all diligent industry,

(3) to all willing, self-sacrificing service to the common good.G.

Mar 9:38-50

Stumbling-blocks.

The same spirit which had led to the disputing as to “who was the greatest,” had prompted the forbidding of one who, in Jesus’ Name, was “casting out devils.” The only reason assigned for the authoritative prohibition was, “He followed not us.” If to pride envy succeeds, and if hatred lurks near to envy, malice is not afar off. The simple correction, “Forbid him not,” is supported by the assurance that such a one cannot quickly become an enemy”speak evil of me;” and “he that is not against us is for us.” This admonition is urged by a teaching which branches out in three directions, relating to

I. THE FAITHFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND REWARD OF THE LEAST SERVICE RENDERED TO THE DISCIPLES IN THE NAME OF CHRISTeven “a cup of water to drink.” Very wide apart are the two works, the “Wasting out devils” and the giving “a cup of water to drink.” The one act may be performed by a mere child in age or in grace; but the other is the work of the man in grace and years. That the disciples were in the wrong in forbidding him who did the greater work, is shown by the assurance that he who does the less is acknowledged and rewarded by the Lord of all. Did not the disciples know that the casting out of devils was service done to them? Were they as ignorant as so many to-day are, not knowing that in the conquest of evil every one’s best interests are advanced? Intimately is the well-being of one bound up in the well-being of all. The human body is not more closely knit and compacted together than is human society. To do good to any part is to do good to the whole. And each part suffers in the suffering, or loss, or injury of any other. Then by whomsoever or howsoever devils are cast out, let every true lover of his race and every wise lover of himself rejoice. Such a worker is not “against us,” but “for us.”

II. THE EQUALLY FAITHFUL PUNISHMENT OF ANY WHO SHALL CAUSE ONE OF THE LOWLIESTone “of the least of these little ones that believe on me”To STUMBLE. But a rude interference with any worker of good is an offense against that good Lord, from whom alone men have power to do good. Here not only were devils cast out, but they were cast out in the Name of Christ. Plainly this was a servant of Christ, and a disciple, acknowledged as “one of these little ones that believe on me,” to whom the Lord had given “power and authority.” An that power was being used obediently. How serious a stumbling-block was thrown in the way of his obedience by the authoritative prohibition of the (possibly jealous) disciples! But how great the penaltyworse than to have “a great millstone hanged about his neck,” and to be “drowned in the depth of the sea”! So jealously does the Lord of all guard the interests even of “little ones.” It were better for a man to lose his own life in time than to lead another astray, so that he should lose the life eternal; better for them both. But what was the greater evil to which the layer of stumbling-blocks Was exposed? Was it not the certainty that the Lord would do with his own body What he taught the disciples to do with theirs?”cut off” the “hand” or “foot,” “cast out” the “eye” that caused the body to stumble, whomsoever that foot or eye or hand might be? Was the foot cut off when Judas was severed from the body, and cut off to save the body, so that through all ages, of the twelve chosen, one must be wanting? Sad was the possibility, severe the warning; but how merciful and gracious! Men act on the principle, and sever a limb to save a life. So in spirituals should it be.

III. THE WISDOM OF EVERY DISCIPLE UTTERLY RENOUNCING WHATEVER MIGHT CAUSE HIM TO STUMBLE, OR BE A STUMBLING–BLOCK TO OTHERS. For every disciple the principle holds good. It is wise to forego anything that threatens the true life rather than lose that life. To retain all and i be “east into hell”not into the mere hiding, or hidden place, but into “the unquenchable fire,” the fire into which the spirit will be cast; worse than that, into which the body may be thrown, the real Gehenna, not the symbolical oneis to lose all. “To enter into the kingdom of God,” having suffered the loss of that which was dear as an eye, a hand, or a foot, “is good” indeed in comparison with being “cast into” that “hell.” There is a final fire, a fire that “is not quenched,” which is punishment. And there is a present temporary fire, a salting fire, which is corrective and disciplinary. To this the cutting off the hand corresponds. It is a pain-giving, fiery ordeal, with which every one in God’s good way is “salted.” And there is a salt of self-denial, which leads men to be “at peace one with another.” It is held in the thought, which the “many ancient authorities” teach, that if any one would be a true sacrifice to GOd he must faithfully apply the fiery salt to the green, cankerous wound and burn out the evil, lest the evil burn out and burn up the life.G.

HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON

Mar 9:2-18

Glimpses of the glory of Jesus.

I. SPECIAL FAVOURS FOR SPECIAL SERVICES. The three disciples had given up all to follow Christ, had submitted them. selves entirely to the Divine will. Only to such consecration is the deeper vision of truth granted, and ascent to the loftiest heights of spiritual enjoyment.

II. DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF CHRIST‘S APPEARANCE.

1. He wore one appearance for the multitude, another for the circle of disciples. In the multitude he was the Prophet and the Wonder-worker; to the disciples the Friend and familiar Teacher. The multitude felt that he must be a great Man; the disciples knew him to be the Anointed One and Divine.

2. Among the disciples themselves: there was the familiar and ordinary, the extraordinary and unusual aspect of Christ. Here he passes out of the earthly medium of vision into one of celestial and supernatural glory.

“How nigh is grandeur to our dust!
How near is God to man!”

3. The manifestation of Christ is one in which extremes meet. The Man of sorrows, the beloved Son, delighted in of God. The lowly Teacher and Missionary of the kingdom of God; the enthroned Messiah. The Man, the God, and “both together mixed.”

4. We cannot always enjoy the higher views in their clearness and brilliancy. After the vision and the voice, they look round and see “Jesus only!” Well for those who can ever see and find in Jesus of Nazareth the highest revelation they need of the Divine majesty and the Divine love.J.

Mar 9:9-13

Dark sayings.

I. RESERVE AND DELAY IN THE UTTERANCES OF TRUTH. There is an economy and an order in the kingdom of God. It is constantly observed by Christ. Certain truths there are always and everywhere to be made known; others must wait their time. As we are not to pry into the secrets of God, so neither are we hastily to blab them. Peculiar personal revelations should be treated with delicacy, not made an affair of the news-room or the market-place. The hour will come when our holiest memories, our deepest convictions, will be extracted from us by the need of the time.

II. ILLUSIONS OF RELIGIOUS THOUGHT. The prophecy concerning Elijah (Mal 4:5) was misunderstood, being taken literally. It was fulfilled in the person of the Baptist (Joh 1:21; Luk 1:17). John came to restore the Jewish people from the wrong teaching and preachers of later times, to the earlier and better lessons of the Law and the prophets. Another illusion was that the Messiah was to be a glorious earthly sovereign, and exempt from suffering. The scribes overlooked the predictions concerning the sufferings of Christ. So has every age its illusions; and God in every age fulfils himself unexpectedly. Even out of the humble and the lowly, the base things of the world, he causes his purpose to unfold, his power to be made manifest. The spirit of prophecy teaches that suffering belongs to the present service of God.J.

Mar 9:14-29

The demoniac.

I. WANT OF SPIRITUAL POWER IS CAUSED BY WANT OF FAITH. Faith is a mighty word in the gospel. It really includes all the energies of knowing, feeling, and willing; it is the entire affirmation of the man in favor of truth, goodness, and love. It is life in the power of God. In a sense it is unnatural to be without faith, for it is the pulse of the world. If we have not this we are weak, we cannot move a step beyond the bounds of actual: knowledgecan take nothing for granted.

II. FAITH, WHEN WEAK, BECOMES DIMINISHED BY ASSOCIATION WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NONE. We become cowards or braver in company: pessimists or optimists. We trust in the good order of the world as God’s, or give up everything for lost to the devil. “God desires from all eternity cheerful and brave sons,” says Luther. Let us keep company with cheerful and trustful souls.

III. ON THE OTHER HAND, STRONG FAITH IS COMMUNICATIVE AND INSPIRING (J. H. Godwin). Tell an invalid he is looking ill, and you make him feel worse. Tell him he is improving, and his faith in his physical future will revive at the brighter picture. We are governed by imagination, and faith is a kind of imagination. It is exposed to the most contagious influences for health or disease. Whenever a strong deed is done, or mighty word spoken

“Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise,”

IV. FAITH IS THE CONDITION BOTH OF DOING AND RECEIVING THE HIGHEST GOOD. Faith gives a mental picture, distinguished from other mental pictures in that it is as good as reality to him who views it. Now, we must have the distinct idea of a good to be received before we can place ourselves in the attitude to receive it; or of the good to be done and the possibility of doing it, before we can set about attempting it. The question then arisesCan faith be commanded by the will? The answer isNot directly. “Paint a fire, it will not therefore burn.” But the rebuke of Jesus implies that the disciples ought to have had faith. And the lesson is that faith may indirectly be obtained, be promoted, fostered, and preserved by communion with God.J.

Mar 9:30-32

Renewed prediction of death.

I. UNWELCOME OUTLOOKS SHOULD BE FIRMLY FACED. ‘Tis not well to hide the head in the sand, like the ostrich, and try to fancy danger absent because not seen. For, if faced, the worst prospect loses at once half, and presently all, its terrors.

II. THE WILL OF GOD IS TO BE RECOGNIZED, EVEN IN THE WICKEDNESS OF MEN. It is by conflict that his will is wrought out. Outbursts of crime represent only one side of great living forces, and onward moving facts.

III. UNWELCOME TRUTHS NEED TO BE REPEATED, BUT NOT FOR ALL. There is an esoteric and an exoteric in Christianity. We do not tell children all we know of life. But there is an age, and there are persons, to whom all should be told that we know. Let truth be economized and wisely administered.J.

Mar 9:33-37

The symbolic child.

I. THE EXAMPLE OF CHILDREN. They are humble and trustful in the presence of superior wisdom. Man not always so, but ought always to be so.

II. THE SECRET OF POWER LIES IN SERVICE. Command others by being useful to them. Rise in a community by working your way through all the grades of service, from the lowest to the highest.

III. TO STOOP IN LOVE IS TO RISE IN HONOUR. Jesus puts his arms around the little ones and around the weak, and is enthroned in the dependent heart of mankind.

IV. THE SCALE OF SERVICE, AND THE INCLUSION OF THE LOWER IN THE HIGHER. The order of duty is not to begin with the high and the remote, but with the lowly and the mean. “God is served by obedience to Christ, and Christ by kindness to the least and lowest who belong to him” (Godwin).J.

Mar 9:38-50

Marked sins.

There are some sins which are singled out for peculiar denunciation by the Spirit and Word of Christ. They are extremely opposed to the ends and purport of the kingdom.

I. INTOLERANCE. That is, the hindering of good, because the good is not done in our way. Christianity says the good deed justifies itself. Coming from a good source, it is not likely to be associated with evil opinions or teaching. Any one who does good nowadays may be said virtually to do it in the Name of Christ. To do good one need not, cannot, pass out of the Christian atmosphere. And experience of history confirms the statement of Christ. Good men really love him, whatever difference there may be in their mode of conception of him and statements about him. All that is done for love’s sake is virtually and really done in his Name.

II. CAUSING SIN IN OTHERS. Involuntarily people may take offense, “stumble” at what we do or say. We cannot help false inferences being drawn, nor turn bad reasoners or conduct into good, nor weak brethren into strong. But we can avoid doing what we know will hurt others. If we are reckless in this respect, the will and the intelligence are involved in guilt.

III. DELIBERATE PREFERENCE OF PLEASURE TO RIGHT. The old story of the man who defended his dishonesty by the plea, “One must live,” has its meaning for us. The judge replied to the culprit, “I do not see the necessity.” So with the Christian: luxury is not a necessity; pleasure is not a necessity; even life in the lower sense is not a necessity; but only life in the higher sensea good conscience, a soul in purity and integrity. It is ever a good bargain to part with a sin, and a losing business to compromise with a lust.

IV. SIN CAN ONLY BE CURED BY SUFFERING. Sin is in the intelligence want of principle; in the will want of energy for, true self-realization. Our mistakes and troubles throw us upon the true principles of conduct, on the moral law of God. The fallacy of expecting blessedness by false methods leads us back to the true. Stern but kind is the discipline by which God uproots our follies and trains us for himself.J.

HOMILIES BY J.J. GIVEN

Mar 9:1-13

Parallel passages: Mat 18:1-13; Luk 9:28-36

A glimpse of glory.

I. THE TRANSFIGURATION.

1. Allusions to the Transfiguration. The scene described in the above parallel passages is as singular as solemn. There are, however, two allusions to it in other books of the New Testament One is in St John’s Gospel (Joh 1:14), And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” The other 2Pe 1:16-18, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.“ There is, moreover, an intimation of the same in the three preceding verses, where the apostle, speaking of his “decease,” uses the same word () which is found in this passage and nowhere else in the same sense in the New Testament, and where he speaks once and again of his “tabernacle,” saying, “As long as I am in this tabernacle,” and “Shortly I must put off this tabernacle.” As undesigned coincidents are acknowledged to be strongly corroborative of the truth of a narrative, so such allusive references as those just quoted are in the highest degree confirmatory of the reality of the awful event referred to.

2. Persons present. The persons permitted to witness this event were truly privileged individualsof the chosen the more select, and of the loved the more beloved. This inner circle of the disciples consisted of Peter and James and John. They alone were present with the Savior the death-chamber of the daughter of Jairus, they alone were eye-witnesses of the Transfiguration, and they alone accompanied him in his agony.

3. Place of the occurrence. The place where the Transfiguration occurred was long believed to be Tabor, that solitary hill rising abruptly from the great plain of Esdraelon, the ancient Jezreel. This tradition, prevalent since the sixth century, has been set aside in more recent times. The locality last named as visited by our Lord was Caesarea Philippi, too far distant from Tabor and necessitating too great a change of place. It is certain that the summit of Tabor was occupied at the time in question by a Roman fortress, and did not afford the solitude which the event referred to presupposes. Besides, that town of Caesarea Philippi lay under the range of Hermon, so that one of the heights of that snow-capped mount was the most likely place. Hermon is the most conspicuous mountain in Palestine; hence its present name of Jebel esh Sheikh, the chief mountain. There is, moreover, an expression of comparison in one of the narratives, which points in this same direction, for the graphic touch of St. Mark, “white as snow,” might well be suggested by the snowy cone of Hermon. It must, however, be admitted that the words of comparison ( ) are omitted in B, C, L, , in several versions, and by most of the critical editors, though found A, D, E, F, G, and eight other uncials; in the Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, and most of the Latin versions.

4. The time of the event. The time is specified by each of the three evangelists. Two of them, reckoning exclusively, specify a period of six days, and one of them, adopting the inclusive method, speaks of it as “about an eight days.” This note of time, thus given in all the three narratives, has in it something surely special and significant. Nor is it to be passed over slightly, for the element of time in this instance is helpful, not only in tracing the sequence of events in the life of our Lord, but also in indicating in some measure the significance of the particular event here recorded. Peter had made his famous confession of the Christ, and had been commended for the words of truth he spoke. Our Lord had followed this up by foretelling his own death and passion. But now, instead of words of praise, he had to use the language of sharp rebuke, when Peter deprecated our Lord’s sufferings, and, tempter-like, sought to divert his thoughts to an earthly kingdom, like those very kingdoms of the world and their glory which Satan had proffered in one of his great assaults. Afar these and other conversations about Messiah’s work and the nature of his kingdom, a week or thereabouts had elapsed when the Transfiguration scene took placea scene having an important bearing on the disciples at that crisis, on the Master in the near prospect of his passion, and on the Church at all periods and in all places.

II. Concomitants of The TRANSFIGURATION.

1. Mountain scenery. In the scenery of Scripture, as in the natural landscape, mountains form a conspicuous object. They are the spots so often selected for Divine manifestations, and so frequently signalized by solemn service or severe sacrifice. Why they have been chosen for such purposes we may be unable to explain. Whether it is that their sublime grandeur tends to elevate the thoughts from earth to heaven; or that their separation from the plains and valleys around promotes meditative seclusion, helping to shut out the world and leave the soul alone with God; or whether the fresh free air that surrounds their summits has a bracing effect upon the human spirit;whatever be the cause, the fact of their selection remains the same. When Abraham, the father of the faithful, was summoned to surrender his son, his only son Isaac, whom he loved, the sacrifice was to take place on Mount Moriah. When God was pleased to appear to Moses in the bush that burned with fire and yet was not consumed, it was on Mount Horeb. When he came down in awful majesty at the giving of the Law, it was on the top of Sinai he descended. It was on bleak and barren Ebal the curses were pronounced; it was on fair and fertile Gerizim that the blessings were uttered; while at each curse and blessing the living voice of the mighty multitude rolled up the hillsides, pronouncing the long “Amen.” On Carmel Elijah denounced the prophets of Baal, and destroyed the worship of that idol. It was on Mount Zion that the ark and tabernacle found a resting-place in David’s day, and there in consequence was the center of Jewish religious service; though it was on Mount Moriah that the temple was subsequently built. From Pisgah Moses looked across the flood and gazed on the land of promise. On Nebo God took his servant home to heaven. So also our blessed Lord himself chose mountains as the scenes of his discourses, doings, and devotions. On the Mountain of the Beatitudes he delivered those blessed utterances contained in that wondrous sermon on the mount. On a mountain in Galilee he manifested himself after his passion; and from Olivet he ascended. And now he leads his disciples to that mountain apart; and so retirement, it would seem, was one ground of the selection of a mountain on this occasion.

2. The preparation. But more important than the place of transfiguration was the Savior’s preparation for it. That preparation, we learn, was prayer. In every crisis of his history, and at every great event of his life, we find the Savior engaged in prayer. One main feature of his life on earth was prayer. When he was inaugurated by baptism, and when he formally entered on his own ministry, he prayed; for it is written, “It came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven opened.” Before he set apart his twelve apostles to found his Church and propagate his doctrine, he spent a whole night in prayer. When he wrought his greatest miracle, “he lifted up his eyes in prayer and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always.” During his agony in the garden of Gethsemane he prayed once and again, and a third time, with still-increasing earnestness. When he hung upon the cross he prayed, and prayed even for his murderers. As he ascended to heaven his hands were uplifted in holy prayer and heavenly benediction. And now that he is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high he prays on behalf of his people; for he is our Advocate with the Father, and ever lives to intercede. In like manner, the purpose for which he ascended the Mount of Transfiguration was prayer: “He took Peter, and James, and John, and went up into a mountain to pray.”

3. Peculiarity of the Savior‘s prayer. We must mark the peculiarity and purport of his prayer. It had this peculiarity, that one element of prayer was wantingindeed, it must have been wanting. There were thanksgiving and petition, we know, but there could be no confession. He had no sin to confess, no contrition to feel for personal sin, no sorrow on that head to express, and so repentance in his case was impossible. Yet in his humanity, sinless though it was, he needed prayer. The purport of such prayer we are at no loss to discover. It included petition for himself and intercession for his people; while this spirit of prayer served as a pattern for all his followers, Not only was he an Expiation, but an Example; for he left us an example, that we should follow in his steps. The character of his intercession may be learned from his prayer for Peter, and his great intercession (Joh 17:1-26.) for all his followers in all times and in all lands. His petition for the cup to pass away from him had its answer in the power that sustained him in his agony, in the submission of his human will to the Divine, and in the angel strengthening him.

III. CHARACTERS CONCERNED.

1. Representative characters. In addition to the three favourite apostles, who were merely spectators but not actors, properly speaking, in this scene, we have Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, all of them in a representative character. Here were the Law-giver, the Law-restorer, and the Law-fulfiller. The Law was given by Moses; it was restored, after a time of sad defection, by Elijah; it was fulfilled in all its requirements by Jesus, who came expressly not to destroy the Law or abrogate the prophets, but to fulfill them both. They represented still more. Moses represented the Law and Elijah the prophets; both doing homage to Jesus, who represented the gospel, or rather Law and prophets merged in the gospel dispensation. Here, again, is one that never tasted death, but was transferred in a fiery chariot from earth to heaven. No doubt that very translation effected some change analogous to death. At all events, he may fitly represent those that are alive and remain till the coming of the Lord, who shall not sleep as others sleep, but who shall be changed; “for,” saith the apostle, “we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” Here, too, is one that died as mortals die, but how or where his body was laid to rest no one knoweth till this day; the only record is that “God buried him.” Here, also, is One that died a violent death and by wicked hands; he died and was buried, his grave being made with the rich in his death. Thus we get a hint that it matters little how we diewhether by the decay of nature, or fell disease, or dread catastrophe, or the hand of violence; neither does it matter where or how we are buffedwhether in the country churchyard, or city cemetery, or the desert sands, or the depths of ocean; whether in the grave of the poor or mausoleum of the rich, whether in obscure privacy or with funereal pomp; in any case, if servants of God, we shall be compeers of Moses and Elijah, and shall appear with Christ in glory.

2. A foreshadow of heavenly fellowship. Once more, though the apostles were mainly present as witnesses, still they were representative men. They were publishers and preachers of the new economy, and thus representatives of the Christian dispensation. Here, last of all and greatest of all, was Jesus, the Mediator of the new covenant and the Representative of all times. So in that heavenly state, of which the Transfiguration was merely a foreshadow, saints of all times and of all dispensations shall be found. Believers during the legal age, believers in the times of the prophets, believers in the days of the apostles, believers from then till now, and onward till the consummation of all things, shall be there; “They shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.” Even a philosophic heathen could exult in the prospect of meeting the shades of departed worthies in a future state. “What bounds,” he exclaims, “can you set to the value of conversing with Orpheus and Musaeus and Homer and Hesiod? What delight must it be to meet with Palamedes and Ajax, and others like to them! Then we should experience the wisdom of that great king who led his troops to Troy, and the prudence of Ulysses and Sisyphus.” Oh, how infinitely greater and holier is the joy with which the Christian can anticipate that grand gathering of all the faithful in Christ Jesuspatriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and confessors, all who purely lived and nobly died; not only the one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed ones of all the tribes of the children of Israel, but “a great multitude, that no man can number,” in that day when we shall “come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven!”

3. Recognition. Here it must be observed, in passing, that the apostles at once recognize Moses and Elijah, in what manner or by what means we cannot tell; whether from their discourse, or by information from Christ, or by some spiritual intuition, we do not know. At all events, we may fairly infer from this fact that in heaven there shall be distinct recognition; otherwise the crowded ranks of the celestial inhabitants would only present one vast collection of unknown and so less interesting faces. Other Scriptures confirm this. Thus Abraham seems acquainted with all the circumstances of Lazarus’ life, and Dives knows the state of his brothers on earth. Paul gives us to understand that our mental faculties shall be enlarged and expanded. Can we imagine, then, that memory alone shall be impaired and diminished? Oh, what zest such recognition wilt give to the joys of heaven! Who is not alive to the pleasures of social intercourse on earth? With what satisfaction does a happy family surround the domestic hearth, or meet round the festive boardlWith what delight of family and friends is the wanderer, after long years of absence, welcomed to his native land! And oh, how great shall be the joy in heaven when the faithful minister meets those to whom he had preached the gospel, telling of heaven and leading the way! Or when the man of prayer meets those for whom he had offered supplication in seasons of danger, or difficulty, or distress, or disease, or at the hour of death! Or when the spiritual teacher, whether in sabbath school, or Bible class, or cottage meeting, meets those who had been once his pupils, but are now his companions in glory!

IV. CHANGE DESCRIBED.

1. The glory of his person Here we are to notice, in the first place, the glory of his person. From eternity he had been in the form () of God. This had been his original form, but in the fullness of time he took upon him the form of a servant. Now for a while he resumes the form which he had laid aside. The form of a servant is changed back () into that of Deity. He “was transfigured before them” is the statement of St. Matthew and St. Mark. The veil of mortal flesh became transparent. The glory of the Godhead broke through the concealment. Like a sudden sunburst from behind the murky clouds on a dark and wintry day, there was a glorious outburst of Divine effulgence. It irradiated his body, it diffused itself over his whole person, it surrounded him with an atmosphere of brightness and beauty. Beams of heavenly light flashed from head to foot. The whole man presented an unearthly splendor. His appearance was a reflection of that glory which he had had with the Father before all worlds, and in which he appears among the inhabitants of heaven.

2. The change of his countenance. “The fashion of his countenance was altered” is the statement of St. Luke, who, writing for Gentiles, avoids the word transformed, or metamorphosed, on account of its association with heathenism; while St. Matthew explains the nature of that alteration by saying, “His face did shine as the sun.” After Moses’ interview with God on Mount Sinai, the skin of his face shone so that he was obliged to cover it with a veil as soon as his public official duty had been discharged. Similarly, when Stephen, the proto-martyr, was brought before the council, “all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” But in the case of Stephen and of Moses it was a borrowed brightness, whereas the Savior’s face shone with native irradiation. It was no reflected lustre, like that of the moon in the heavens, deriving all her light from the sun. The light and loveliness were all his own. The face soon to be marred more than any man, and his countenance more than the sons of men, possessed a brilliancy that was dazzling and that outrivalled the radiance of the sun at noon. That face, soon to be smitten and spit upon, and from which men hid in scorn and sorrow, now displayed a glory indescribable. The veil of humanity became too thin to hide the outshining of the divinity within. Like a magnificent temple grandly lighted up on every side and throughout its entire extent, from nave to porch and from dome to pavement, the Savior’s face and entire personthe whole temple of his bodywas brightened up and beautified with celestial glory.

3. The glistening of his garments. Even his garments shared this heavenly transformation. They brightened, they glistened, they dazzled. The sacred penmen seem at a loss for similitudes to give us a correct notion of a change so marvellous and glorious. “White as the light,” says St. Matthew; “shining, exceeding white as snow,” says St. Mark; “white and glistering “white and flashing forth as lightning ()says St. Luke. They lay both nature and art under contribution for the purpose of describing it. They became “white as snow,” says onewhite as the snowy peak of the neighboring hill with the sunbeams resting on it; “exceeding white,” he says again, “so as no fuller on earth can white them.” When St. John saw him in apocalyptic vision, his head and hair were white as wool. Ages before, when Daniel saw him in prophetic vision as the Ancient of days, his garments were white as snow. On the Mount of Transfiguration his human nature was closely assimilated to his Divine nature, in which he clothes himself with light as with a garment. Such was Christ on Hermon; what must he be in heaven? Such was he in his transfigured humanity; what must be his divinity revealed? What shall he be when, with face unveiled, we shall see him as he is? But, better and more blessed still, in that day we shall be like him. If, under a former portion of this subject, we caught a glimpse of our companionship in heaven, here we get a glance at our condition in the heavenly state.

V. Consequences.

1. One consequence common. Some of the consequences of the Transfiguration scene are general, and some special. There is one common to the saints of all times and of all climes. That transfigured body of Christ is the model and pattern of all the glorified. He is the Head, they are the members. “As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Here and now our bodies, though fearfully and wonderfully made, are bodies of humiliation. They are subject to many infirmities, liable to painful and even loathsome diseases, doomed to dissolution in a few years at most, while, worst of all, they contain the seed of sin, and their members too often are instruments of unrighteousness; “for I know,” says the apostle, “that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” But these bodies of humiliation shall be fashioned like- unto Christ’s glorious body; these bodies, now “of the earth, earthy,” shall be e evated to the condition of the heavenly; these bodies, now so frail, shall be endued with immortal health and vigor. Here and now the beauty of the fairest face soon fades; then the plainest face shall become beautiful, and that beauty shall be truly amaranthine. The features now saddened by sorrow, or marred by disease, or disfigured by age, shall become “bright as the sun when he goeth forth in his strength,” bright as the Savior’s on the Mount of Transfiguration, bright as the face of our Lord was seen by Peter and James and John at that time, bright as it always appears to the saints in glory. Every blemish shall be blotted out, every wrinkle shall be smoothed, every disease expelled, and all decrepitude for ever removed. Then, too, on the sightless eyeballs of the blind shall flash the light of an eternal day, the ear of the deaf shall be unstopped, the tongue of the dumb sing, and the lame man for ever lay aside his lameness. Moreover, the richest raiment of earth will be but rags when compared with those robes of brightness which the ransomed in heaven wear. In view of all this may we not exclaim?

“Oh for the robes of whiteness!

Oh for the tearless eyes!

Oh for the glorious brightness

Of the unclouded skies!

Oh for the no more weeping

Within the land of love,

The endless joy of keeping

The bridal feast above!”

2. An immediate consequence. Another and immediate consequence was to reconcile the disciples to the sufferings of their Master, and sustain them amid their own. Then, as now, the Jews overlooked the first appearance of Messiah in weakness, through haste for his glorious second advent. Then, as now, their pride rebelled against the idea of a suffering Savior, in their anticipation of his glory. Then, as afterwards, they looked for a great temporal potentate, to whom all thrones would be subject and whom all sovereigns would obey. They antedated the glory of his reign. But this experience of heaven upon earth, of glory so surpassing was surely enough to make amends for those disappointed hopes. It was meant also to prepare them for the approaching crisis, to comfort them when it came, and to confirm their faith in his Divine majesty, even when, as a malefactor, he was nailed to the cross.

3. An additional consequence. Again, it not only helped to reconcile the disciples to the death of their Master, but doubtless went far to comfort Immanuel himself in the near prospect of his agony and bloody sweat, and of his cross and passion. Elsewhere we are informed that, “for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame.” This short space of heavenly enjoyment, coming in as a parenthesis amid the wearisome struggles and strivings of earthly life, would cheer him onward towards the end. The foretaste thus afforded of the coming glory that would crown everlastingly the brief sorrows of the present would sustain him in the approaching sufferings. The cloud of witnesses that surrounds the Christian in his pilgrimage serves as a motive to urge him on, so that, laying aside every weight, he runs with patience the race set before him; so these witnesses, representative of ten thousand times ten thousand, intensely interested in the Redeemer’s work and intently looking on, would encourage the human spirit of the Savior, so that, braced with new alacrity, he would hold on the course appointed and pass through the baptism of blood. As his baptism was the commencement of his ministry, his transfiguration was his consecration to suffering.

VI. THE CONVERSATION HELD.

1. The persons engaged in converse. Here were two prophetic men, of whom one died and was buried by mystic hands, no one knew how or where.

“By Nebo’s lonely mountain,

On this side Jordan’s wave,

In a vale in the land of Moab,

There lies a lonely grave.

And no man knows that sepulcher,

And no man saw it e’er;

For the angels of God upturned the sod,

And laid the dead man there.

“And had he not high honor?

The hillside for a pall;

To lie in state while angels wait,

With stars for tapers tall;

And the dark rock.pines, like tossing plumes,

Over his bier to wave;

And God’s own hand, in that lonely land,

To lay him in the grave!”

The other never died, was never buried; but went straight from earth to heaven

“All undrest

From his mortal vest,

He stept on the car of heavenly fire;

To prove how bright
Are the realms of light,

Bursting at once upon the sight.”

And now these two visitants from the heavenly world have taken their place together on that lone mountain apart. Here also were three apostolic menthe foremost of the apostolic band: John, with his heart of love; James, with his high standard of lawboth of them sons of thunder with outspoken courage; and Peter, honored with the keys that opened the door of faith to Jew and Gentile. “And why these?” asks the devout Bishop Hall, in his ‘ Contemplations on the Holy Scriptures.’ “We may be too curious: Peter because the eldest; John because the dearest; James because, next Peter, the zealousest: Peter because he loved Christ most; John because Christ most loved him; James because, next to both, he loved and was loved most. I had rather,” he adds, “to have no reason, but because it so pleased him. Why may we not as well ask why he chose these twelve from others, as why he chose three out of the twelve?” But with prophets and apostles, the foundation of the future Church, was Jesus Christ the God-man and the Church’s chief Corner-stone. The converse, however, was confined to Moses and Elias and Jesus; the apostles were only listeners. One is naturally curious to know the subject that engaged the attention of that small but wonderfully select company. The subject must have been worthy of such an august assembly.

2. The subject of conversation. What, then, was the subject that occupied them? Was it political, embracing the gate of kingdoms, or the fall of dynasties, or fast-coming times of calamity and change? Was it the extent and power and future breaking up of the great Roman empire? Was it the subjection of Palestine to Roman rule, or the relation of the Tetrarch of Galilee to the Procurator of Judea? Nothing of all this. But if the subject was not political, was it one of Jewish casuistry, such as divided the schools of Hillel and Shammai, about binding or loosing? Was it in reference to the primary or derivative prohibitions of sabbath workthe avoth or the toldoth? Was it about the Halakoth or Hagadoththe rules of jurisprudence or the legends illustrative of them, and both afterwards embodied in the Gemara? None of these, or such as these, was of sufficient importance to command their attention. We might, however, reasonably enough expect that it would be the beauties of heaven, with its gates of pearl, and streets of gold, and jasper wall, and foundations of precious stones; or the grandeur of its minstrelsy and melody of its songs; or the blessedness of the heavenly state and the ecstasies of its joys, or all the untold glories of the beatific vision; or the unspeakable magnificence of the heavenly hierarchy, with its thrones and dominions and principalities and powers. And yet it was none of these. It might have been the atmosphere of heaven brought down by Christ to earth, the perfection of his life when here below, the power of his miracles, the purity of his precepts, the preciousness of his promises, his words and works of benevolence. And yet it was none of these. It was perhaps a less inviting, but certainly not leas important, theme. Over and above what is common to all the evangelists, each contributes a part peculiar to himself. As St. Mark omits mention of the change that passed over the countenance of the Savior, and fixes attention on the garments so white and glistening; so St. Luke alone records the subject about which they discoursed. Our curiosity is thus gratified at least in part. True it is that, while we are made acquainted with the topic of conversation, the evangelist gives no hint of the conversation itself. And yet perhaps we have an echo of that conversation in the writings of those favourite apostles who were privileged to form the audience on that remarkable occasion.

3. A peculiar term. That most interesting subject was the decease he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. The expression is so remarkable, it is no way strange that attention has often been directed to it. Elsewhere in Scripture death is literally spoken of, or it is represented from its physical effect as “giving up the ghost,” or it is euphemistically expressed as “sleep.” This latter expression, however, is never applied to the death of Christ, for that death was no babe-like slumberno gentle falling asleep. It was death in all its hideousness, in all its bitterness, with cruelly aggravated horrors and fearfully augmented terrors. In consequence of these sufferings the believer’s death is now changed into sleep, and so we read that “them who sleep by () Jesus will God bring with him.” The death of the Savior is here set forth as an , exodus or departure, so that the term would cover all that was peculiar in the exit of Moses, or Elijah, or Christ himself; while it is the result of his own voluntary act, and an event, too, in which he was more active than passive; and so the ordinary verb is not used in his case. Likewise in the narrative of his death the evangelists use a similar expression, namely, , “he breathed forth,” St. Luke and St. Mark; “he delivered up the ghost” (), St. John; or “dismissed,” sent away his spirit (), St. Matthew. The decease he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem was thus lifted up out of the rank of ordinary deaths, and raised by a whole heaven above them. It was a voluntary surrender: “No man taketh my life;” “I have power to lay it down,” he said, “and power to take it again.” It was vicarious as well as voluntary; for he suffered, “the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” It was valid for every expectant soul; because “to them that look for him he will appear a second time without sin unto salvation.” It realized the types of the old economy, for it was the great antitype that finished all. It crowned the sacrifices under the Law; for “by one sacrifice he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” It fulfilled the promises of the past and guaranteed the bestowal of them all; for “he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” It put new meaning into many otherwise dark and obscure statements of Old Testament Scripture. It was the death of deaths. It was the gateway to eternal life; it “opened the door of heaven to all believers.” It was an offering; for he gave himself an offering and a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savor. It was a propitiation; for “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the Propitiation for our sins.” It was a ransom; for “he came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give his life a ransom for many.” Confessors took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, but that spoiling was the test of their own sincerity. Martyrs shed their blood unmurmuringly and even triumphantly, but the martyr’s death was the preparation for the martyr’s crown. Yet martyrs and confessors stood each in his own lot, suffering for themselves and by themselves. Not so Jesus; for others, not for himself, he drained the bitter cup; for others, not himself, he underwent the bloody baptism; for sins, but not his own, he endured the cross, despising all the pain and shame.

4. Character of their conversation. The subject, then, as we have just seen, was that deatha death which patriarchs, and priests, and prophets, and pious persons under the old dispensation looked and longed for; a death which not only fulfilled the predictions, but realised the typical institutions of the old economy; that death which was the complement of the legal economy and the consummation of the Jewish Church, and which, at the same time, formed the commencement of a new epoch and of a higher order of events. What a glorious subject! More glorious far than the fate of kingdoms or the fall of kings; more glorious than all the discoveries of science, or applications of art, or improvements of society. In their conversation on this high theme they spake, no doubt, of the nature of the decease to be accomplished: of its necessity, to realize types and fulfill prophecies; to “magnify the Law and make it honorable;” to save miserable man and glorify Almighty God, restoring peace between heaven and earth, and “by one sacrifice perfecting for ever the sanctified;” to overthrow the kingdom of Satan, and diffuse light and life and love through all the world; to extract the sting of death, “destroying him that had the power of it, that is, the devil,” and throwing the radiance of heavenly glory over the darkness of the tomb. They conversed, no doubt, of the travail of the Redeemer’s soul, and of his mediatorial reward in the eternal approbation of the Father, the salvation of the lost, and the praises of the redeemed for ever. Of all subjects this was the most important to men, the most interesting to Christ, and the most glorifying to God. This subject is still the great theme of the Church militant on earth, and the glorious song of the Church triumphant in heaven.

5. Apparently out of place. But glorious as the subject of conversation was, and edifying as the manner of that conversation was, it might in one sense seem inopportune. Hence says an old divine already cited (Hall, in his ‘ Contemplations’), “A strange opportunity! in his highest exaltation to speak of his sufferings; to talk of Calvary on Tabor; when his head shone with glory, to tell him how it must bleed with thorns; when his face shone like the sun, to tell him it must be blubbered and spit upon; when his garments glistered with that celestial brightness, to tell him they must be stripped off and divided; when he was adored by the saints of heaven, to tell him how he must be scorned by the basest of men; when he was seen between two saints, to tell him how he must be seen between two malefactors: in a word, in the midst of his Divine majesty, to tell him of his shame; and, while he was transfigured on the mount, to tell him how he must be disfigured upon the cross.” So thought good Bishop Hall. But this subject is never out of place, it is never out of time. It is the theme of our praises both here and hereafter, and should the subject of our prayerful meditations till we feel its transforming power, and are “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord.”

VII. CONCLUSION,

1. St. Peter‘s proposal. “Let us make three tabernacles,” said Peter, “one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” Chrysostom thinks that Peter’s object was to remain away from the holy city, and thus, by remaining on the mount and remote from Jerusalem, prevent the Savior’s sufferings. God had tabernacled in Shechinah glory, why should not the Savior embody the same? But the expression of Peter was rather the expression of an ecstasy of delighta plenitude of joy which words could not express. So great was his rapture that he wist not what he said. A little of the joy of heaven would be too much for flesh and bloodit would overwhelm us. Besides, Peter was overlooking the fact that the wilderness work and warfare must needs be resumed. The journey of life was not ended. Some droppings of heavenly blessedness had transported him into rapture, but the full wealth of its downpour was not yet at hand. He antedated the bliss of heaven, forgetting for the moment that he was still on earth. More sacrifice, more suffering, more sorrow, more self-denial, more days of toil and nights of trouble, must intervene before he crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land.

2. The effect of emotion. Peter’s exclamation partook more of the emotional than of the rational. It was rather the offspring of ardent desire than of deliberate judgment. It proceeded more from the heart than from the head. But head as well as heart must be influenced by religion. If it were confined to the head, it would tend to formality; if to the heart, it might issue in fanaticism. On one hand, Peter’s exclamation was quite excusable. “It is good for us to be here,” a fine thing, a pleasant thing; not good in a moral sense, which is differently expressed (), but good physically (), which is the expression here. If there were a place on earth of which this might be said, it was that Mount of Transfiguration. It was, perhaps, the spot on earth nearest and likest heaven. There was a hill, an emblem of heaven, which is the hill of God’s holiness. There were two saints, an epitome of heaven, representing as they did the quick and the deadthose alive on earth, and the dead raised up at the day of judgment. There was the Savior himself, in uncreated light and unveiled glory, at once the Source and Centre of heavenly blessedness. There was conversation such as may be presumed to be held among the redeemed in heaven, for the burden of their song is, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” There, moreover, was temporary seclusion from the toil and turmoil of earth, from the business and bustle of the world, from the sorrows and sufferings of this mortal life and strife. There, too, was enjoyment of the unclouded sunshine and untroubled rest of heaven. There was a ravishing foretaste of the joys of heaven. No wonder, then, that Peter proposed to perpetuate the happiness, continue the enjoyment, and carry on the fellowship, erecting tabernacles and dwelling on the mount. But, on the other hand, there was something selfish, if not exclusive, in the proposal, for he was leaving behind his friends and fellow-worshippers on the plain below; he was speaking in forgetfulness of the bodies of the saints that slept; he was acting unreasonably in requiring Moses to forsake the Divine presence, after the uninterrupted enjoyment thereof during fifteen centuries, for a tent-like dwelling, and Elijah to forget the car of fire in which he had gone up, and now abide below; he was strangely overlooking the recent subject of discourse with which Moses and Elijah had been so occupiedthe decease that was to be accomplished, the death to be endured, the redemption to be effected, the sacrifice to be offered, and the salvation to be procured. In entire obliviousness of, or indifference to, all this, his proposal was to forestall the future and have a present heaven upon earth. In momentary rapture he forgot he was still in a scene of pilgrimage and in a state of sojourn; he forgot he was a stranger in a strange land, which was neither his rest nor his home, and where no abiding city is to be found. He forgot that the Christian’s life is a journey; and what traveler can reach his destination without the toil of travelling? He forgot life is a race; and where is the racer who is rewarded without a struggle, and who, without running, yet obtains the prize? He forgot that life is a warfare, in which a fight, a hard fight, is to be fought before the combat is ended and the conqueror crowned. It is only when we shall have fought the good fight, and finished our course, and kept the faith, that we may say with Paul, “Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory, which God, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day.” But Peter wist not what () he should speak: he wist not even what he () actually does say so enraptured was he with delight, so carried out of himself by the extraordinary occurrence, and so bewildered with terror at the same time.

3. Due in part to sleep. Further, and finally, they had been “heavy with sleep,” but either kept awake throughout it, or awoke after an interval, or rather started all at once into perfect wakefulness, now wide awake and fully alive to all that was seen or said. They had been asleep, wrapped perhaps in their abbas, according to Oriental fashion, on the ground, when the celestial light, bursting upon them, roused them thoroughly so as to witness all that transpired.

4. Miscellaneous remarks.

(1) The disciples thought this was the predicted coming of Elijah, but our Lord corrects their mistake, and tells them he had already come in the person of John the Baptist; and as the prediction relating to John has been fulfilled, a fortiori will the prediction of Messiah’s sufferings be fulfilled. Thus the seemingly awkward clause, “and how it is written of the Son of man,” is best explained (a) as a parenthetic exposition of the preceding clause, and an a fortiori confirmation of the succeeding one. There is, however, (b) another explanation which takes “how” as directly interrogatory; thus, “But how is it written of the Son of man? that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought;” so that, after the coming of Elijah had been stated, the object of Messiah’s coming is specified by way of question and answer: “For what purpose is it written that Messiah cometh?” In order that he may come to suffer as a malefactor, not to conquer as a warrior.

(2) The apostles were sorely puzzled about “the rising from the dead.” This does not refer to the general doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which must have been known to them and believed by them; but they regarded that resurrection as far off, and understood, and rightly understood, our Lord to speak of a resurrection near at hand, affecting himself in some mysterious way which they did not then comprehend, and which they were only convinced of by that wondrous event itself when it actually occurred.

(3) The conversation before and the miracle after it he Transfiguration are equally recorded by all three synoptists. In the narrative the prostration through fear is peculiar to St. Matthew; the subject of conversation to St. Luke, as we have seen; while the sudden departure of the heavenly visitants, and the perplexed questioning about the rising from the dead, are only related by St. Mark.

(4) His teaching henceforth turned towards the cross; while his miracles between this and his passion were confined to five.J.J.G.

Mar 9:14-29

Parallel passages: Mat 17:14-21; Luk 9:37-43

Healing of a demoniac youth, after the disciples’ failure.

I. S TRIKING CONTRAST. We can scarcely imagine a greater contrast than that which is here presented between the scene on the mountain and that in the plain belowthe tranquillity of the one, the tumult of the other; the calm repose of the one, the unrest of the other; the blessedness of the one, the distress of the other; the gladness of the one, the sadness of the other; the glory of the one, the gloominess of the other; the heavenly quietude of the one, the unseemly wrangling of the other; the happiness of the one, the misery of the other; the ecstatic rapture of the one, the excruciating pain of the other; the confidence and comfort of the one, the disputatious unbelief of the other. The contrast was just that which we can conceive to exist between the holiness of heaven and the sinfulness of earth. The contrast is transferred to the canvas and made visible and palpable in the great picture of “The Transfiguration,” by Raphael.

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLNESS. This illness may be distributed into three elementsthe supernatural, the natural so called, and the periodical. By the supernatural we understand the demoniac possession. This poor boy was under the influence of a foul and fiendish spirit that made him deaf and dumb. The natural element, if natural may be applied in any sense to a state that is abnormal and unnatural because the result of sin, consists in the fearful manifestations, consisting of epileptic fits, madness, convulsions, grinding the teeth, foaming at the mouth, and pining away. The periodical element is the fitful paroxysms, the crises of which were synchronous with the changes of the moon, so that “demoniac “and “lunatic” were both applied, and properly applied, to this peculiar case.

III. A DOUBLE PERSONALITY. The change of subject with respect to the verbs used in this description brings into view a startling fact and exhibits a strange complication. Two personalities, or two personal agencies, are here combined, and the union between them is so close and complete that the transition from the one to the other is as singular as sudden. Thus the first two verbs descriptive of the sad condition of this wretched sufferer have for their subject, though not directly expressed, yet distinctly implied, the demon. He it is of whom the poor father of the unhappy boy says “Wheresoever it taketh him”or, more literally, wheresoever it seizeth () him“it teareth, or dasheth down, or breaketh () him.” This is very graphic, and as terrible as graphic. The demon so convulsed the lad as if he would dislocate the entire frame or dismember his whole body, breaking limb from limb. But the remaining verbs in the description, as it passes rapidly from the agent to the sufferer, require a different subject; for it is only the boy of whom it can be said, “He foameth,” “grindeth his teeth,” “becomes parched” (), or” pines away.” The same curious commingling of termssome applicable to the demon, and others the possessed to occurs in describing the paroxysm which came on when the lad was brought into our Lord’s presence. In the expression, “when he saw him,” the participle is used, and is in the masculine gender, so that it appears to refer to the boy, and if so, it must be used absolutely; but if it apply to the unclean spirit, the word , spirit, is neuter, and thus it must be constructed ad sensum, and indicate the personality of that spirit; in either ease, there is an irregularity of construction arising from this unusual blending of personal agencies. Further, when the demoniac or the demon saw Jesus, the demon or unclean spirit grievously tore (, from , whence spasm, and signifying “to pall to pieces,” not the same verb as that used in Luk 9:18) or convulsed the poor demoniac; while he fell on the earth and wallowed (akin to the Latin volvo), that is, rolled himself ( equivalent to , used of rolling in the dust, in token of grief), foaming.

IV. THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS ON THE SCENE. Soon as the crowd saw him, they were quite amazedperfectly astounded, the prepositional element in the compound verb implying the greatness of their astonishment. But what caused their excessive amazement? It might be

(1) the suddenness of the appearance of one whom they had been looking for in vain; but now that they had ceased to expect him, all at once, to their surprise, he is seen approaching; or

(2) it is concluded by some, on rather slender grounds, that the term used does not denote mere surprise, much less joyful surprise, at the sudden and unexpected appearance of the Savior, but rather a degree of alarm or perplexity on account of expressions to which utterance had been given in the dispute between the disciples and the scribes in our Lord’s absence, and in reference to his power of casting out devils. There is much more probability

(3) in the opinion that the astonishment was occasioned by some remnant of the heavenly radiance still beaming on and brightening his countenance. This view is strongly supported by the analogous case of Moses, of whom we read that, on his descent from Mount Sinai, “the skin of his face shone,” so that Aaron and the children of Israel “were afraid to come nigh him.” If this explanation be accepted, there is in the two cases a similarity and a dissimilarity: the brightness of Moses’ face made the onlookers afraid, and deterred them from approaching him; the heavenly splendor that still lingered on the countenance of the Savior affected the spectators in the very opposite way, attracting them to him. Accordingly, while some waited for his approach, as appears from St. Matthew’s account, which speaks of his coming to the multitude, others, detaching themselves from the crowd, sallied forth to meet him, running to him, as we learn here from St. Mark; while St, Luke informs us that on his coming down from the hill much people met him. The accounts of St. Matthew and St. Luke are thus harmonized by St. Mark’s statement, from which we rightly conclude that part of the crowd went to meet him, and part waited where they were for his approach. Their salutation, including, as we think, welcome and friendly greeting, if not from the scribes, at least from the rest of the crowd, is opposed to the notion of perplexity or alarm referred to in (2). Our Lord’s popularity with the multitude had not yet suffered any diminution, nor begun to wane. He finds on his arrival that a somewhat keen discussion had been going on between two parties very unequally matchedthe scribes, with their general learning and special Biblical lore, on the one hand, and his disciples, illiterate and imperfectly enlightened, on the other. The surrounding crowd, divided, most likely, in sentiment, and acting as partisanssome favoring the disciples and some the scribesexpressed approbation and disapprobation accordingly. The subject of disputation may be readily inferred from the sequel. Meantime our Lord asks the scribes with authority, “What question ye with [rather at, or against ()] them?” or, better perhaps,” Why question ye with them?” What proper ground is there for such acrimonious questioning? What sufficient reason can be shown for it? But another reading, having the reflexive pronoun, is represented by the margin”among yourselves,” or “with one another;” in which case both scribes and disciples are addressed in common.

V. APPLICATION OF THE DEMONIAC‘S FATHER. To our Lord’s interrogatory, one of the multitude, or rather one out of () the multitude, stepping forward, volunteers an answer. He felt that his child’s misfortune had given occasion to the altercation, in which the disputants had waxed warm, if not angry, and that it devolved of right on him to make the requisite explanation. Another and a more urgent reason calling for his interference was his paternal solicitude. “I brought [. He aorist] some short time ago my son to thee;” such had been his intention, as he had not been aware of the Savior’s absence. “I spake to thy disciples, in thy absence [. denoting here the purport of what he said, as also the purpose for which it was said]. He that they should drive the demon from my son; but they could not;” while it must be observed that this verb is not an auxiliary, nor even a part of but a stronger term () which, preceded by the negative, means that they had not strength enough for such a difficult operation. After stating, in reply to a question of our Lord about the length of time the. suffering had lasted, that his son had been afflicted in this shocking manner from childhood, he went on to enumerate other aggravating circumstances of the affliction, to the effect that the demon often cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. He then concluded with the remarkably earnest appeal, “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” The expression (from . cry, and , to run) is very significant, being equivalent to “hasten to our cry for help;” it is more than succor (from sub and curro, to run). He which means to run to one’s aid; it is “run to our aid at our earnest, urgent cry for help.” The compassion is taken for granted, being expressed by a participle; and it also is a very expressive word, denoting the yearning of the bowels or heart in tenderness and pity.

VI. THE SAVIOUR‘S ANSWER. Our Lord utters a reproof on the ground of their want of faith. In that reproof he includes his own disciples, the scribes who had been in conflict with them, and the father of the afflicted boyone and all comprehended in the “faithless generation” of that time. The failure of the apostles to drive out the demon had been a matter of humiliation to themselves, and of exultation to those hostile scribes, who had, no doubt, made the most of this case of unsuccess; and that failure had been owing in part to weakness, if not want, of faith. The scribes all along had acted the part of obstinately incredulous sceptics. The distressed father, earnest as he was, and eloquent as he was in his appeal, betrayed much weakness of faith, saying, “If at all thou canstif in any way thou canst,” or “if thou canst do anything.” This refers the matter of cure to the power of Christ; the leper resolved the cure in his case into the will of Christ, “If thou wilt, thou canst.” How prone we are to circumscribe the Savior by our own narrow conditions! and yet he shows us demonstratively that he is above and independent of all such limitations. He proved to the leper his possession of the will, and to the demoniac’s father his possession of the power; and to us, through both, his ability as well as willingness to do to us and in us and for us “exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.” The limitations are all on one sideall on our side, and are owing to the weakness of our frail and naturally faithless humanity. The possession in the present instance had been from childhood. The distress was thus of comparatively long standing; it had become chronic; it was an apparently hopeless case. It had defied the power of the disciples, and baffled their utmost skill and strength. While this failure had lowered them in the estimation of the crowd, and left them at the mercy of the biting taunts of the sarcastic scribes, it at the same time lessened still more the faith of the unhappy parent. The cure, therefore, which our Lord effected in this seemingly hopeless, certainly desperate case, holds forth encouragement to the weakest and the worstthose morally soto apply to him.

VII. HIS APPLIANCE. The first direction is, “Bring him unto me:“ you have tried the power of my disciples; I now invite you to try mine. You have been disappointed by their failure; but I will remedy that failure by my favor to thee and thine. You have been disheartenedtoo much disheartened; I now bid you take heart of hope. His next step was to secure the confidence and strengthen the faith of the father; and for this purpose he employs his own words and

(1) according to the common reading he said to him the () saying, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to [or possible to be done for] him that believeth.” But

(2) the word is omitted in three or more of the oldest uncials, in several versions, by the critical editors Tregelles and Tischendorf, and by Meyer and some commentators; and with this omission the sentence reads, “Jesus said unto him, As for thy If thou canst, all things are possible to him that believeth.” And

(3) some, putting the acute on the antepenult . He take it to be imperative aorist middle, and translate, “Believe what you expressed by your If thou canst, all things are possible to him that believeth.” Again,

(4) others take it interrogatively,” The If thou canst? or What? If thou canst? “ so that the sense is as if he asked, “Is this what you say?” or, “Do you really mean this?” The man’s own words were thus thrown back on him, and by this judicious retort he is brought to understand that faith in the Savior’s power and propitiousness is a prerequisite for the bestowal of the boon he sought; he is also brought to feel that the hand of faith must likewise be outstretched for the reception of spiritual benefits and blessings; at the same time he is made conscious of the great deficiencythe entire inadequacy of his faith for the attainment of the favor he is so anxious to obtain. Suspending his petition on behalf of his son, but resuming his request with the same term and now in his own interest, he called aloud, with eyes brimful of tearsif this reading ( ) is accepted, at all eventsaffectingly and touchingly, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” He affirms the possession of belief, but that belief is so weak as to be scarcely worthy of the name; that he has some faith, but that faith is small, exceeding small, like a grain of mustard seed. Persuaded that his faith is too insignificant to satisfy the condition, he prays

(1) for its increase; in other words, he seeks to be helped against his unbelief. Another interpretation, though advocated by some good and great men, to the effect,

(2) “Help me, notwithstanding the weakness of my faith,” has but little, we think, to commend it to favor and acceptance. Now at length all is ready for the beneficent operation; the people are running together to the place, or running together yet more (. He denoting intensity or addition). He when our Lord addressed the unclean spirit in terms of stern rebuke, and words of unmistakable authority, saying, “I” [ expressed, and so emphatic and distinctive]I, thy Master; I, whose authority you cannot evade; I, whose word of command you dare not disobey; I, not my disciples, who were nonplussed by the strange and sudden outburst of thy fiendish malignity; I order thee to come out of him at once, and never again to enter into him.

VIII. THE COMPLETENESS OF THE CURE. The command to “enter no more into him” may be attributed to the weakness of the father’s faithto assure him there would be no relapse, to convince him there would be no return of the paroxysm; it may also be owing in part to the malignant obstinacy of the foul fiend, who now, after crying aloud, and after convulsing the poor boy’s whole frame with a horrible spasm, came out of him, leaving him all but dead, so that the many said he was dead. The great primary act of expelling the demon had been accomplished, but the effect of his long dominion over the lad, and the shock to his system at departure, left him so thoroughly exhausted and prostrate that a second miracle was required to supplement the first. In consequence, our Lord seized him by the hand, or seized his hand, and lifted him up, so that he stood upon his feet well and sound and strong, as though the whole had been but the memory of a troubled dream. An explanation was subsequently given to the disciples touching their inability in the present case, and their want of success in the exercise of a gift which had been bestowed, and which had been most probably effectual in other instances. The explanation appears to have respect to the character of the demon, and the conduct of the apostles themselves. First, there is mention of “this kind,” by which some understand

(1) the race of demons in general”the race of all demons,” according to Euthymius; others limit the expression to

(2) a special kind of spirits, peculiarly obstinate and stiffnecked, and consequently more difficult to be driven out; while a recent authority on the subject suggests that the reference is to

(3) a class of demons which manifested their presence by unexpectedly sudden and frightfully severe outbreaks, and for the expulsion of which the exorcist or physician operating required uncommon presence of mind and strength of nerve, as well as vigorous exercise of faith. But, waiving a discussion of this doubtful kind, and merely expressing our preference for the second of the opinions stated, we may notice briefly a strange term employed here, namely, go out (). If the statement in which this word is used is to be interpreted literally, the meaning appears to be that demons of this kind could not go out, even if they would, of the persons possessed by any other means or in any other way than in the use or by the exercise of prayer and fasting. If this be the real, as it is the literal meaning, it is a circumstance of a strange, inscrutable kind; and, among matters more or less mysterious, it is not the least so. We may, however, give to the words a freer interpretation and take them in the more ordinary sense, that this kind can be expelled by nothing but by prayer and fasting. The conduct of the apostles themselves had most to do with their powerlessness to cast out the demon in this instance. They had received the requisite power, as we read in Mar 6:7 that, in sending them forth by two and two, he “gave them power over unclean spirits;” but they had neglected the discipline indispensable to the efficient and successful employment of that rower. Two circumstances in close connection with this neglect are assigned as the cause of failureweakness of faith is mentioned by St. Matthew, and neglect of prayer is hinted by St. Mark. We may regard them as standing together in the relation of two joint causes, or rather as cause and effect in relation to this matterneglect of prayer being the former, and debility of faith the latter.

PRACTICAL LESSONS.
1. We learn the important duty of parental solicitude for the spiritual as well as, or rather more than, for the bodily, well-being of their offspring. In the case of the Syro-phoenician woman we saw how she identified herself with her afflicted daughter, saying, “Lord, help me!” Here likewise the father of the demoniac makes common cause with his child, in the words, “Have compassion on us, and help us!” Especially should we travail, as in birth, till Christ is formed in their heart, and till by grace they are enabled to renounce the devil and all his works.

2. Great importance attaches to the element of time. The demon got possession early of this sorely distressed boy, and the demoniac power seems to have grown with the child’s growth, and to have strengthened with his strength, so that dispossession had become next to an impossibility. The apostles were not competent to the task, and when our Lord, in the exercise of his almighty power, expelled him, it was only after he had made horrid havoc of the lad’s system, frightfully convulsing him and leaving him half-dead. So, if Satan unhappily gain the ascendant in a young heart, he will do his best to blight the whole life; he will hold his dominion with tenacity, and, if possible, to the end; he will seat himself firmly on the throne of the affections, and exercise a despot’s sway; his dethronement will be attended with the greatest difficulty; and if, by Divine mercy, his power is at last overthrown, it will cost pain of body, distress of mind, and grief of heart. Oh, how careful young persons should be to guard against the solicitations of the evil one, and to resist his power! How determined not to yield to his temptations, and to vanquish youthful lusts that war against the soul! How resolved, by the aid of Divine strength, to keep him out, remembering how difficult it is to get him out once he has gained an entrance, and especially if he has gained it early!

3. Every gift that God bestows should be diligently cultivated, and husbanded with care. The power bestowed on the apostles was, as we have seen, lost through their own remissness. Faith required to be kept in healthy exercise and active vigor; devotion and self-denial were required for its maintenance. The neglect or undue performance of these left them weak before the power of the evil one, and caused them to be humiliated in the presence of their enemies. Thus it was with the apostles and miraculous gifts. How much more is such likely to be the case with ordinary persons in the exercise of ordinary gifts! We greatly need to use all the means that tend to strengthen faith; above all, we must pray earnestly, in the beautiful words suggested by this passage “Lord, increase our faith;” avoiding at the same time any and every indulgence that might weaken faith or slacken prayer.

“Restraining prayer we cease to fight;
Prayer keeps the Christian’s armor bright;
And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.”

4. This passage cannot legitimately apply to any attempt at working miracles in the present day. The age of miracles is past. The power thus possessed by the apostles was not to continue, and needed not to continue, after the great purpose for which miracles had been bestowed had been attained. Faith and prayer and fasting cannot of themselves confer the power; they were needed to sustain it only where it had been bestowed; they were required for its successful exercise where it did exist.

5. The greatness of the believer’s privilege is immense, yet not without certain well-defined limits, “All things are possible to him that believeth:” this appears to comprise at once omnipotence in action and universality in possession. To the former we have the parallel statement of St. Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me;” or rather, “in () Christ that giveth me inward strength ();” and thus the strength as to its source is obtainable by virtue of living and lively union with Christ, while as to its nature it is spiritual. But the reference is rather to what it is possible for us to get than to do; and so all things are ours, for “we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” There are here two limitations which, though not expressed, must be implied:

(1) The first limitation restricts the “all things” to things truly beneficialbeneficial spiritually as well as temporally, beneficial for eternity rather than for the brief relations of time; they are such things as are thus of real benefit, when regard is had to the believer’s condition and present position.

(2) The second limitation has respect to the circumstances of others, that is to say, of those with whom we come into close contact, or with whom we have to do and deal in the affairs of life. All things are thus possible to be attained by the believer, as far as they are consistent with his real benefit, and compatible at the same time with his relations in the widest senserelations to his Father in heaven and to his fellow-man on earth. Such is the potentiality of faithit extends to all things; such, too, is its practicability, excepting only such things as, at the present or in the long run, do not comport with his own personal good, as also with his relation to God, whose glory is paramount, and to his fellow-man, whose good, as well as our own, we are in duty bound to seek.J.J.G.

Mar 9:30-32

Parallel passages: Mat 17:22, Mat 17:23; Luk 9:43-45.

Prediction of his passion.

I. SECRECY. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” Every man has a work to do, and a time allowed him to do it in. Every man, moreover, is immortal till that work is done, and God’s will with him accomplished. In like manner there was a time allotted for our Lord’s mission on earth. There was a time fixed for his ministry of mercy to man. When the fullness of the time was come, he made his descent into our world; when the work he came to do was done, and when the proper period again arrived, he took his departure from our world. The appointed interval of his sojourn on earth no enemy could shorten by one day, no power could abridge it by a single hour; nothing could interfere with it, so long as “his hour was not yet come.” Yet, notwithstanding this, our Lord never neglected the use of such means as were proper for the prolongation of his stay on earth till his great work should be performed, and the destined period completed. Accordingly, we find him at one time returning to Galilee, and “walking no more in Jewry, because Jews sought to kill him.” Afterward, when Herod’s attention had been directed to him, and his abode even in Galilee had thus become somewhat insecure, we find him withdrawing to the more remote and less populous districts of that province. We are, moreover, informed that subsequently he had gone yet further from contact with his enemies, passing beyond Galilee into the Phoenician territory. This he did in order, it would seem, to escape observation, for while there he “entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.” This course our Lord pursued for various reasons. While each particular occasion on which he courted privacy had its own specific reason, we can state in general the motives that seem to have influenced him in this direction. As already intimated, he avoided such publicity as would bring him into hostile conflict with his enemies, so as to precipitate the crisis, and hasten his death, before the proper and purposed period. Again he sought seclusion, now for required rest, oftener for more time and better opportunity of instructing his apostles for their future work and important mission. But while our Lord thus sought seclusion to prevent any interference either with the space of his ministry or with the plan of instructing his apostles, there was another eventuality which he carefully avoided, namely, any attempt on the part of the people to make him a king; as, after the miracle of feeding the five thousand, we read that, “when Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.” This was no very improbable contingency. In a moment of excitement, under the influence of enthusiasm, yielding to the impulse of popular feeling, they might attempt to place him at the head of a rebellion, if not a revolution, against existing authorities, and try to restore to Israel the temporal kingdom which Israel so ardently, though mistakenly, sought. This would have been a result greatly to be deprecated. It would have left a stigma on the Savior’s name, and caused a suspicion about his design, both of which would have been most detrimental to the interests of that spiritual kingdomthe kingdom “not of this world,” which he came to set up. Accordingly, we find that when he had restored the deaf mute, he charged them that “they should tell no man.” Again, when he cured the blind man at Bethsaida, he sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town “any townsmen he might chance to meet on his way home. Also, after the Transfiguration, “he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.” And now that they passed along () through Galilee, “he would not that any man should know it.” Even an apparent exception is easily accounted for: nor is there any real discrepancy between the injunction he laid on them after the restoration of the deaf mute (Luk 7:1-50.). He to “tell no man,” and the direction he gave the demoniac (Luk 5:1-39.). He to “go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” No doubt it was the same district of Decapolis where both commands were given: but on the latter occasion our Lord was about to leave the district in question, so that there was no risk of his ministry being obstructed by the matter being blazoned abroad; on the former occasion he was going to tarry for a time in the same region, and hence he resorts to the precaution necessary under circumstances which were thus quite different.

II. HE FORETELLS HIS DEATH. There were three great epochs in our Lord’s ministry. The first was that of miracles, by which he attested the divinity of his mission; the second was that of parables, by which he developed the nature of his kingdom; and the third was that of suffering, by which he made satisfaction for the sins of his people. The miracles began with that at Cana; the parables, properly so called, began somewhere about the commencement of the last year of the Savior’s work and ministry. Though his parabolic teaching began at this period to assume a more formal shape, he had all along employed on certain occasions parabolic utterances of a briefer sort. Thus, for example, in the sermon on the mount the agreement with one’s adversary there recommended is of the nature of parable; the similitude of the wise and foolish builders, with which that sermon closes, is still more distinctly parabolic; while subsequently, and before the beginning of his regular method of strictly parabolic instruction, we find such proverbial or brief parabolic representations as that of the new patch and the old garment, and that of the new wine and the old bottles, Besides that of the creditor and the two debtors. Still, from the period indicated, his teaching by parables became more frequent and methodical The reasons of our Lord’s adopting this method are such as the following:

1. The harmony existing between the kingdom of nature and that of grace, and the similarity in their laws of development.

2. The adaptation to our nature of the historical element, real or ideal, contained in them.

3. The amount of truth communicable in this way to the dull apprehension of the disciples.

4. Their helpfulness to memory by linking the spiritual truth to some familiar natural object, the frequent occurrence of the latter always suggesting the former; and:

5. A judicial Veiling of the truth because of past dulness and indifference. The constant theme of his teaching henceforth consists of his sufferings and death, as is implied in the imperfect tense (. He “he kept teaching”) here used.

III. PREVIOUS INTIMITATIONS ON THE SUBJECT. The previous intimations had been obscure. There had been the intimation of the Baptist when he pointed the Savior out as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (Joh 1:29). He and in the repetition of part of the same at Luk 9:36. He had himself given several figurative intimations of it, as when he spake of his death by violence, and his resurrection in three days under the similitude of the demolition and rebuilding of a temple. “Destroy,” he said, “this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” This had occurred at the celebration of the first Passover after the commencement of his public ministry. Again, in his discourse with Nicodemus, he represented his crucifixion as an uplifting, and its beneficial effects by a comparison with Moses’ lifting up the serpent in the wilderness, when the bitten Israelite looked and lived. Another intimation of his death, and the first allusion to that event recorded in this Gospel. He is the removal of the bridegroom, of which he said, “The days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them” (Mar 2:20; Mat 9:15). Also, after the feeding of the five thousand, in the synagogue of Capernaum he made a reference to it in the words, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” But the first clear and distinct declaration is that of the preceding chapter (Luk 8:1-56.) He when “he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

IV. SIMILAR DECLARATIONS IN THE PRESENT AND SUBSEQUENT CHAPTERS. The first public, or at least the first direct and unreserved announcement of his sufferings, death, and resurrection, was made, as recorded in the preceding chapter, after the disciples had been convinced of, and Peter had confessed, his Messiahship, saying, “Thou art the Christ.” On that occasion we learn from the fuller report of St. Matthew that our Lord warmly commended Peter’s confession, but soon after, as both St. Matthew and St. Mark inform us, found cause to condemn his indiscreet and unwelcome rebuke. The commendation is contained in the words, “I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” The latter clause of the promise just cited has, as is well known, excited no little controversy, and called forth a variety of interpretations.

1. Augustine will have it that the rock on which the Church is built, according to the Savior’s promise, is Christ himself.

2. Chrysostom maintains that the confession of faith in Christ, that Peter had just given utterance to, is the rock on which the Church is based. We admit the show of reason and the plausibility with which both opinions have been expressed and enforced; still we cannot concur in either. Chrysostom’s explanation is chargeable with overlooking the context. So to some extent, though less so, is that of Augustine; but the latter rests, besides, on a very doubtful distinction between two words which are frequently used in classical writers as interchangeable. According to this interpreter its import would be, “Thou art Peter () a small stone; but I am Christ, a strong Rock (). He and on this Rock, that is, myself, I will build my Church.” In the Aramaic there is one word (Kipho) for Peter and for rock, just as in French there is one word for bothPierre, Peter, a man’s name, and pierre, a stone or rock. But in Greek there are the two words already mentioned, viz. and . He so that in this play upon the word there is a slight variation in the Greek, without, however, real difference of meaning. Even admitting the distinction between the two words, which has been questioned, if not entirely disproved, the explanation is evidently forced. We require to look more closely at the context as furnished by the eighteenth verse itself, and by the sixteenth. As recorded in the latter, Peter’s answer was, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Our Lord, after expressing approval of Peter’s reply, and assuring him that the truth contained in it was the outcome, not of human discovery, but of Divine revelation, takes occasion to state another and no less important truth, and that in a form accommodated to the statement of Peter, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter [. He a rock], and upon this rock () I will build my Church;” that is to say,You have made a good and true confession in acknowledging my Messiahship and divinity; I also, in my turn, will confess what I have in store for you in connection with my Church.

3. Your name is significantit means a rock; and according to your name will be the nature of your work. With the foundation of the Church you will have much to do. On your preaching of the faith which you have just professed its foundation shall be laid. Similarly, elsewhere we read that the Church is “built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner-stone;” whereas apostles and prophets are only the foundation in so far as they themselves, knit together with and cemented to Christ, lay the foundation by their exhibition of Christ and declaration of the truth concerning Christ. It is as though our Lord had said to Peter, Among Jews and Gentiles your work is appointed you. Among the Jews on the day of Pentecost your proclamation of the selfsame faith, which you have just confessed, will lay the foundation of the Christian Church; while to Cornelius the same gospel preached by you will inaugurate a similar blessed result among the Gentiles, introducing the first-fruits of the Gentile world into the Church. Still more, to the united Church of the believing Jew and converted Gentile I shall promise and provide security from all the devices of the most wily, and all the assaults of the most Satanic, foes.

V. WHY IS THIS COMMENDATION OMITTED BY ST. MARK? It has often been remarked that many things redounding solely to the honor of St. Peter are omitted by St. Mark; while at the same time his infirmities are fully and faithfully recorded by the same evangelist, extenuating circumstances being less noticed by this evangelist than by the other synoptists. An example of this is furnished in the case before us. The blessing pronounced on him because of this noble and brave confession of the Christ, the Divine origin of his knowledge and faith, the promise just considered, and the further promise of the keys of the kingdom of heaven, are all omitted by St. Mark. But the rebuke to which he soon after subjected himself is carefully recorded. Many instances of both kinds occur. This is one of those incidental circumstances that go far to confirm the voice of history in regard to the relation in which St. Peter stood to St. Mark and his Gospel, namely, that the latter penned his Gospel, as disciple and by the dictation, to soma extent, of the former. If so, and we think it extremely probable, we have proof herein of the veracity of the one and the humility of the other.

VI. REPETITION OF THE PREDICTION. Reverting to the subject of the Savior’s sufferings, so plainly announced in the eighth chapter, we have a repetition of a similar announcement in this ninth chapter, and another, again, in nearly the same terms in the tenth chapter. These repeated as well as direct and unreserved declarations on this subjecta subject so distasteful and saddening to his disciplesshow their unwillingness to associate the idea of death with the Messiah, their tenacity in clinging to a temporal king and worldly kingdom, their slowness and lothness to apprehend or accept the notion of a spiritual, unworldly kingdom. The idea of a suffering Messiah has, therefore, to be dinned into their ears and impressed on their hearts by frequent and earnest reiterations. Nor has this subject lost aught of its importance or interest even for ourselves and at the present day; while the faithful inculcation of it is as much a duty and a necessity now as when our Lord in person urged it so solemnly and so often on the mind and heart of his sorrowing disciples. Though the cross was a stumbling-block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks, it is still the power of God, and the wisdom of God, to the salvation of every believer. The way to the crown is still by, and only by, the cross; humiliation precedes glorification. The preacher of the gospel cannot dwell too frequently or too earnestly on a theme that bulked so largely in the sight of the Savior himself. The doctrine of Christ’s suffering for us to put away our sinssuffering, “the just for the unjust, to bring us to God”cannot be too much insisted on; neither can we be too often instructed in the duty of giving ourselves fully, freely, and for ever to him “who loved us and gave himself for us.” If, moreover, Christ was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,” in all its shame and with all its pain, it surely behoves us, in daily, holy obedience, to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow him.J.J.G.

Mar 9:33

Parallel passage: Mat 17:24-27.

The tribute money.

I. ANOTHER OMISSION. In the first line of the thirty-third verse we approach the subject of the tribute money; but in St. Mark’s narrative we only approach it, and that in the state-merit, “he came to Capernaum;” but in the parallel section of St. Matthew we read of the demand for the tribute money, of Peter being commissioned to procure it from “the fish that first cometh up,” of the exemption Jesus might have claimed but waived, and the reason of his doing so. Here, again, St. Mark omits the part of the narrative which relates to the honor conferred on Peter by our Lord, when he commissioned him to work the miracle by which the tribute money was procured from the fish’s mouth. But, though St. Mark omits this portion of the recital, the preceding and succeeding portions are coincident with those of St. Matthew. The peculiar relation of the apostle to the evangelist, already considered, can alone account for the omission.

II. GROUND OF LEGITIMATE EXEMPTION, In Mat 17:24, Mat 17:25, we read, “When they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your Master pay tribute?” Then at the last clause of the twenty-fifth verse, our Lord asked Peter, “What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?” A slight amount of archaeological knowledge makes this plain. The word “tribute” in the twenty-fourth verse is ; the word “tribute” in the twenty-fifth is ; while “custom,” a word of kindred meaning, is . Also in the twenty-seventh verse, the word . He or “shekel,” rendered “piece of money” in the English version, occurs. The starer, or shekel, equivalent to two shillings and sixpence of our currency, was the exact amount of tax payable by two. Now, there is a very wide and important distinction: between these terms, and a distinction necessary to be kept in view for the right understanding of the passage. For

(1) the were equal in value to the Jewish half-shekel, or some fifteenpence of our money, and may be called a sacred tribute or annual contribution paid by every male among the Jews, from twenty years of age and upwards, for the support of the temple at Jerusalemto defray the general expenses, to provide the sacrifices and other things required for the service. The persons who collected it were not the civil tax-gatherers, called publicani, or rather portitores; nor, indeed, was the tax a civil one at all, but a sacred one. From overlooking this fact, the point of the argument is liable to be missed, as it actually has been by several of the Fathers. It is briefly, though correctly, developed by Alford, in the following sentence:”If the sons are free, then on me, being the Son of God, has this tax no claim.” It requires, however, to be somewhat more fully and plainly exhibited. In order to set the matter in a clear light, we premise

(2) that the . He for which St. Luke employs the classical Greek term . He was a poll or capitation tax, like the Roman tributum; while by are to be understood the toll or customs‘ duties, which are identical with the vectigal of the Romans. Further, let it be borne in mind that Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” had been made, being recorded in the sixteenth chapter, and so had preceded the present conversation. Our Lord now argues from analogy that he was entitled to, and might fairly claim, exemption. In doing so, he asks Peter this question, “What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own sons, or of strangers?” It is here admitted by implication that civil rulers have a right to impose taxes for the support of civil government, but that, in exercising this right, they impose taxes on the other members of the state, not on the members of their own household. When king levy taxes, or have them levied in the ordinary constitutional way, they impose them on their subjects, not on their sons. Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Son of God; the tax demanded was for the support of God’s house; according to the principle of action among earthly kings, God, the great King of heaven and of earth, while requiring contributions for the maintenance of his service from his subjects, would exempt his own Son, for, from his position of Sonship, which the apostle had recently acknowledged, and from the principle of taxation in which he had just acquiesced, it was necessarily inferred, “then are the sons free.” Not as a mere member of the Hebrew race, or as an ordinary Jew, but from his dignity as the Son of God, in the highest and most exalted sense, our Lord might have claimed exemption from the tax in question. This was the gist of his reasoning: but he waived his right; and proceeds to explain to Peter the ground on which he foregoes his privilege, saying, “Lest we should offend them,” or more plainly in the Revised Version, “Lest we cause them to stumble;” in other words, lest he and his disciples should be regarded as indifferent to, or be charged with, neglect of the house of God and the maintenance of its service.J.J.G.

Mar 9:33-37

Parallel passages: Mat 18:1-5; Luk 9:46-48.

The lesson of humility.

The exquisite lesson of humility taught in the remainder of this section may be appropriately taken up in connection with the section of next chapter, where the lovely comparison of childhood is again employed.J.J.G.

Mar 9:38-41

Parallel passage: Luk 9:49, Luk 9:50.

Rebuke of sectarian narrowness.

I. THE KEY–NOTE OF THE PASSAGE. The sentence which appears to furnish the key to the understanding of this instructive and interesting passage is contained in the following short sentence:” He that is not against us is on our part,” or, as it stands yet more concisely in St. Luke, “He that is not against us is for us.”

II. A seeming contradiction. The statement just quoted from the Gospel of St. Luke (Luk 9:50) appears to be at variance with another statement further on in the same Gospel, where, at the eleventh chapter and twenty-third verse, it is written, “He that is not with me is against me.” The discrepancy, however, is only apparent. In order to perceive this, we must consider the occasions on which the words recorded were respectively spoken; for, as our Lord and his apostles usually adapted their language to the occasion, we shall thus best learn the design with which each of those sentiments was uttered. Accordingly, we learn that some one not consorting with Christ or his apostles was, nevertheless, casting out devils in the Savior’s name, and that John forbade him. Our Lord sets John right in the matter by saying, “Forbid him not;” that is, do not interfere with any who may be attempting anything good in my name. And then he assigns the reason; for “he that is not against us is for us;” he who is not directly opposed to us is rather to be regarded as on our side; he who is not preventing our progress may be looked upon, at least negatively, as promoting it. Just as is intimated by the Apostle Paul on a certain occasion, even though envy and strife should be the impelling motive, if Christ is preached his cause is advanced, and “I therein do rejoice.” So here we may fairly understand the words of the Master to meanWhosoever this man may be, or whatever may be his object, he is weakening Satan’s kingdom by casting out devils, and therefore, so far from being against me, he must be looked upon as an auxiliary in the great war against the great enemy of man. Besides, by such forbearance as I thus counsel, he may be drawn into closer and more effective co-operation against the common adversary. Such is the plain meaning of the passage before us. On the other hand, in the second passage, our Lord had been charged by the hostile, cavilling Pharisees with casting out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. This charge had called forth the rejoinder of our Lord, that “every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.” Such would be the case if Satan cast out Satan. The only reasonable alternative was that the Savior was casting out devils by the Spirit of God, and so the kingdom of God had come unto them. He follows up this reply by a warning against lukewarmness and an exhortation to decision, that the crisis had come when men must choose sides, that they must elect to take part with God or with Satan. Neutrality was impossible. In view of two kingdoms so opposed, there was no possibility of belonging to both; nay, there was no middle ground between loyalty and rebellion. If not on the side of the Savior, he must be on the side of Satan; if not a subject of the former, he must be a slave of the latter, and so an enemy to the cause of Christ: “He that is not with me is against me.”

III. THE SAME SUBJECT VIEWED FROM A PRACTICAL STANDPOINT. The one text implies that men may take different roads to the same place, or reach the same point by different routes. This is true morally as well as geographically. It condemns the narrowness that refuses to tolerate want of uniformity, and commends forbearance towards all who in reality serve the same Master and seek the same object, viz. the glory of God, though their forms may be diverse, their modes of worship different, and even their creeds divergent in expression. The other text affirms that, in the natural and increasing conflict between good and evil, our hesitation to unite with the good is tantamount with adhesion to the evil. The one text does not insist on uniformity, the other inculcates unity. Again, conformity to the same standards is not an indispensable condition of Christianity, as we infer from the one text; but cordiality in embracing Christ and espousing his cause is of its very essence. We are taught by the one that there may be many folds, though there is but one flock; but by the other that, as there is but one Shepherd, union to him is indispensable to membership in his flock. Further, the one makes charity to others imperative, provided they have the same great end in view, however divergent the means adopted for its attainment; the other requires of us decision for ourselves in seeking that end.J.J.G.

Mar 9:42-50

Parallel passage: Mat 18:6-9.

Christ’s love to his little ones, and offenses.

I. Love to the little ones. Christ’s little ones are either young believers or weak believers. A kindness shown them is accepted by Christ as done to himself. Even a cup of cold water will be rewarded. However much they may be despised by men or neglected in the world, they are dear to God and near to the Savior’s heart; while angels of highest rank are commissioned to guard themeven angels who are privileged to stand in the immediate presence of the great King; for “in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” Angels of all grades have a twofold functionthey worship and they minister; they worship in the heavenly sanctuary the Father everlasting (). He they wait for ministry ( ) to man on earth. But those of most exalted dignity are the guardians of Christ’s little ones.

II. CONSEQUENCES OF OFFENCES. The sin of offending one of these little ones is great in proportion to Christ’s love to them. How careful men should be, and how cautious, not to put a stumbling-block in the way of these little ones! The sin of turning weak believers or young Christians aside from the truth, or from the faith, or from the path of purity, or a career of virtue, by evil advice or bad example, or by casting doubt on the Word of God, or by insinuating sceptical notions, or by mockery of Divine things, is a sin so great that a preferable alternative would be for the person guilty of it to have a millstone of large size, turned by an ass (). He lying around his neck, and himself cast into the sea. Such is the fearfully emphatic declaration of the guilt and danger of scandalizing or offending the youngest child that believes, or the weakest Christian.

III. OTHER OFFENCES. Our Lord passes by a common law of suggestion to speak of offenses by ourselves and against ourselves. The hand may offend by doing wrong, the foot may offend by going on what is wrong. But if the most serviceable member, as the hand, do amiss, or the most useful member, as the foot, walk astray, or the most precious member, as the eye, look with delight on objects sinful and forbidden, then there must be no hesitation in divesting ourselves of such rather than risk the fearful fate of those who are tormented in the Gehenna of fire, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

IV. SALTED WITH FIRE. This difficult expression is taken by some as a promise and by others as a punishment. In the former sense, fire is taken in the signification of purifying and preserving, and this twofold property it shares with salt. Salt preserves from putrefaction, fire purifies from corruption. The Sacrifice of old required to be offered with salt. According to the Law in Le Mat 2:13, the meat offering was to be seasoned with salt, and salt was to be offered with all offerings. So, when we present ourselves living sacrifices to God, we may be purified by fiery trials; we may be called to pass through the fire of affliction, perhaps of persecution, certainly of self-denial. But thus purified by fire, like the sacrifice on the altar, salted with salt, we shall be saved. This gives a good sense, but does not suit the context. In the second sense, fire is taken to mean punishing and preserving. Six times does the evangelist represent unceasing torments by unquenchable fire; and as the salt applied to the sacrifice was the symbol of preservation, so fire here is symbolical of preservation, not, alas! from punishment, but for punishment, so that the undying worm and the unquenchable fire, instead of annihilating, preserve while they punish. Here is a fearful figure, and a terrible warning!

V. PEACE. They are exhorted to keep the salt of moral purity and covenant concord rather than have the salt of fiery punishment, and, as the effect and evidence thereof, to be at peace among themselves, and so avoid the strife for pre-eminence and the discord of ambition.J.J.G.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Mar 9:1. Come with power. This was in some degree verified in the transfiguration which follows; but see the last note of the preceding chapter.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mar 9:1 . See on Mat 16:28 . Comp. Luk 9:27 .

. . .] see the critical remarks: there are some here among the bystanders .

.] having come ; otherwise conceived of in Matthew: .

] in power ; comp. Rom 1:3 . When, moreover, in this place the coming of the kingdom is spoken of, it is the same nearness of the Parousia that is meant (comp. on Mat 6:10 ), as at Mat 16:28 (in opposition to Schwegler, I. p. 467; Baur, Evang. p. 561; Kstlin, p. 383); not the constituting of the church (Bleek), nor the emergence of the idea of the kingdom of God into historical realization (Weisse, Evangelienfr. p. 232), the triumph of the gospel (Schenkel), and the like. See Mar 8:38 . With interpretations of this nature the specification of time . . . pointing as it does to the term of the existing generation is not at all in keeping.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

3. The Opinions of the People, and Peters Confession. Pre-announcement of His Sufferings. The Presumption of Peter. Christs Teaching concerning Cross-bearing. Mar 8:27 to Mar 9:1

(Parallels: Mat 16:13-28; Luk 9:18-27)

27And Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Csarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am? 28And they answered,14 John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the 29prophets. And he said unto them, 15 But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answer eth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. 30And he charged them that they should tell no man of [respecting] him. 31And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of [by] the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33But when he had turned about, and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest [mindest] not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. 34And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever 16 will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35For whosoever will save his life 17 shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospels, the same shall save it. 36For what shall 37it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what 18 shall a man give in exchange [as a ransom] for his soul? 38Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels.

1And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on Matthew and Luke.In respect to time, this is another section which stands in strict internal connection with the preceding crises. There are some important peculiarities in Mark. Matthew mentions the district of Csarea Philippi, Mark the villages which surrounded it, as the first goal at which our Lord aimed; and the latter transfers the question to the way thither. Among the peoples thoughts and verdicts concerning Jesus, he omits the mention of Jeremiah. It is observable that he leaves out the benediction of Peter, and the special prerogative assigned to him after his confession. Luke also omits these, while Matthew details them all in full. Here, as elsewhere, Peter, Marks informant and voucher, omitted or kept in reserve points which tended to his own honor. On the other hand, Mark states prominently that the Lords prediction of His passion was part of the instruction which He openly gave; he also quotes the Saviours rebuking word to Peter, Satan, without any of the definite explanatory particulars which Matthew gives, and without Christs Thou art to Me a . Mark speaks of the people as also called by Jesus to hear the statement of the universal law of suffering in the kingdom of God. He alone has the emphatic word, that he who is ashamed of the Lord is ashamed of Him (in a disgraceful manner) in an adulterous and sinful generation. In conclusion, Mark represents the coming of Christ more expressly than the other two Evangelists as a coming in power (majesty); while Luke speaks of His kingdom, and Matthew of His appearing in that kingdom.

Mar 8:31. After three days.General and popular way of speaking, instead of on the third day, which afterwards is used as the more definite statement.

Mar 8:34. And when He had called the people unto Him.This scarcely requires us to understand great multitudes. But Christ makes the people who were present sharers in this part of His instruction, in order to impress it the more upon His disciples that the way of suffering was absolutely imperative, and in order to lay down the fundamental laws of self-denial and holy suffering in all their universality of application.

Mar 8:37. In exchange for: ransom-price.The is the counter-price antithetic to the price, . The price which the earthly-minded gives for the world, the , is his soul. But, after having laid that down as the price, what has he for an , to buy the soul back again?

Mar 9:1. There be some of them that stand here.See on Matthew.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. See on the parallels of Matthew and Luke.

2. According to Mark, Jesus first called and collected the Twelve in the villages outside of Nazareth (Mar 6:6-7); then, in the villages of Csarea Philippi, again gathering them together and confirming them. Solitude and sequestered probation, a condition of establishment and confirmation in the spiritual office.

3. It is of great significance that Peter does not, in his own Gospel, once mention the word of Christ concerning his own personal priority among the Apostles, least of all as the institution of an official primacy.

4. So it is to be observed how strictly, according to Mark, the confession of Christ is conjoined with the announcement of His passion, and with the requirement of following Him in the way of the Cross.
5. Let him take up his cross.An obscure intimation of His own approaching suffering upon the cross, which, even in its general terms, gave a definite meaning. Let him hold himself ready to follow Me, regarded as the vilest malefactor, and exposed to the deepest shame and the most cruel death. The cross of Christ, as such, is not a kind of suffering which is the natural consequence of sin, but which crosses the views of an ideal or newly awakened higher life.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

See on Matthew; and compare Lukes parallel.The question of Christ: Whom say the people that I am? a means of exciting a definite Christian consciousness, in opposition to the uncertain notions of the world.The answer of the disciples in all its significance: 1. No man says, and no man could say without madness, that Christ was nothing, or a person of no importance. 2. The scorners and slanderers of Christ are not regarded or alluded to. 3. The testimonies or opinions: a. John the Baptist (according to Herod, returned from the dead): thus Christianity was something ghostly and preternatural. b. Elias (in the sense of Malachi): thus they were not able to distinguish Elias from Christ. Christianity seemed to them as a power exerted after the manner of Elias; thus in a spiritual sense as something legal. c. One of the prophets: something indefinite, a spiritual power, which none could clearly understand.The question was not, what the people said concerning Christ, but what the Apostles said concerning Him.Christ could be preached as the Christ of all the world, only after the fulfilment of His passion as the Crucified and the Risen. The confession of His people was to the Lord no sign that He would escape from suffering, but a certain sign that He would suffer.What it means, that the Lord announces His sufferings to the disciples without any restraint: 1. In reference to Himself, 2. to the disciples, 3. to the world.Only after we have known the person of our Lord in His word and work, can we understand and bear the knowledge of Christs work in His passion.The true confession of Christ must be confirmed by a readiness to follow Him.The suffering of Christ is a divine sympathy: 1. As suffering through and for the world, it sprang from His sympathy with the world; 2. it establishes a divine sympathy in the world, as suffering on its own account and with Christ.Self-renunciation of the believer is the soul of the confession of Christ.The fundamentals of the Christian fellowship: I. Its fundamental laws: 1. The true denier (of himself) is the true confessor; 2. the true cross-bearer is the true knight of the cross; 3. the true follower (after Christ in obedience) is the true conqueror. II. Its grounds: 1. He who will save his life in self-seeking, shall lose it; he who loses it in devotion to Christ, shall gain it. 2. He who lays down his soul to win the world, loses with his soul the world also; he who has gained his soul, has with his soul gained the world also. 3. To seek honor in the world while ashamed of Christ, leads to infamy before the throne of Christ; but shame in the world leads to honor with Him. 4. Readiness to die with Christ leads through death to the day of eternal glory.It is in self-denial that we first find our true selves, recovering our personality again.True self-denial is the raising of our buried personality out of the grave of self-deceptions.The false and the true self.How shameful to be ashamed of Christ in an adulterous and sinful generation: 1. As the deification of a vanishing honor, which is eternal shame; 2. as the refusal of a vanishing shame, which is eternal honor.How Christ detects the thoughts of men in His communion.

Starke:Canstein:We may lawfully ask what others hold us for, if the question does not spring from pride, but from a desire to do ourselves or others good.Hedinger:It is not wrong to be jealous of ones public repute. But Christ remains ever what He is, despite all the various opinions concerning Him.Quesnel:The true knowledge of the secret mysteries of Christ is attained only by scholars of truth and light.Here is a catechetical lesson given by Christ Himself.All truths have a set time for their full revelation: we should be always careful that we do not prematurely speak, or anticipate that time, Ecc 3:7; we must suffer with willing heart, be rejected of the world, and be crucified with Christ, if we would be raised with Him, Rom 6:6-8.The ungodly can do nothing against us but what the wise decree of God has already determined.Bibl. Wirt.:Flesh and blood always look rather at external danger and damage, han at the solemnity and claims of the call (Rom 8:6-8; 1Jn 2:15-17; 1Pe 2:11; 1Pe 2:20-21; Gal 5:21.)You must not watch Christ, but follow Him; you must not boast about Him, but act like Him.Nova Bibl. Tub.:World gained, nothing gained; soul lost, all lost.The greatest good is not to be met with in the transitory world, nor in the debauchery of the flesh: he whose soul is united with God has found it.If thou art ashamed of Christ in His humble and lowly state, thou wilt have no part in His exalted and glorified state.To die before one has seen the kingdom of God, is a wretched end.

Braune:The kingdom of God is, in a certain sense, near at all times: there is no season when its beginnings are not manifest.Gerlach:(Peter), rash and impetuous, spoke only, as he was wont to do, in the name of all the rest.

Gossner:He who opposes himself to the cross of Christ and its doctrine, is a Satan, even though his name were Peter.In the kingdom of God, all the world is inverted.Losing is there called gaining, and gaining is there called losing.Bauer. on Mar 9:35 :The beginning towards eternal life.

Footnotes:

[14]Mar 8:28.According to B., C.*, D., L., A., [Vulgate, Itala,] Lachmann, and Tischendorf add . [Superfluous, and therefore more likely to be omitted than added. (Mayer.)]

[15]Mar 8:29. , instead of , after B., C., D., is the reading of Lachmann, Tischendorf, [and Mayer.]

[16]Ver.34.B., C.*, D., L., ., [Vulgate, Itala, Lachmann, Tischendorf,] read instead of A., B., Lachmann, Tischendorf have instead of .

[17]Mar 8:35. , Codd. A., D., Lachmann. ( , Griesbach, Scholz, Tischendorf.)

[18]Mar 8:37.Tischendorf, , instead of , after B., L., .; he also omits .

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS.

We have here the glorious Scene of CHRIST’s Transfiguration. The LORD begins to prepare the minds of his Disciples for his Death. The miracle of the Child healed of a Dumb Spirit. Our LORD’s Discourse with his Disciples.

AND he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

I do not presume to speak decidedly upon so grand a subject, as this verse contains; but I venture to believe, that when the LORD JESUS saith, as in this verse, that there were some then present, whose lives would not end, until they had seen the kingdom of GOD come (by which is meant a conviction of CHRIST’s person and character); the LORD Jesus meant, that there were some who now stood before him, that would live until CHRIST had fulfilled the whole purposes of his mission, and had returned unto glory, and the HOLY GHOST had come down, to establish the kingdom of GOD in grace upon the earth. See Act 2:36-37 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Mar 9:7

Oh that this misled and blindfolded world would see that Christ doth not rise and fall, stand or lie by men’s apprehensions! What is Christ the lighter, that men do with Him by open proclamation as men do with clipped and light money? They are now crying down Christ… But the Lord hath weighed Him and balanced Him already: This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him! This worth and weight stand still. It is our part to cry: ‘Up, up with Christ, and down, down with all created glory before Him!’ Oh that I could heighten Him, and heighten His name, and heighten His throne!

Samuel Rutherford.

References. IX. 7. ‘Plain Sermons’ by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. i. p. 259. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 7.

Jesus Only

Mar 9:8

These words conclude St. Mark’s narrative of our Lord being transfigured upon the Holy Mount St. Luke’s words, concluding the same narrative, are very closely like those of St Mark, ‘Jesus was found alone’. St Matthew’s words contain this same striking expression: ‘They saw no man save Jesus only,’ but omits ‘with themselves,’ which St Mark uses to show how Jesus was found, identified by the three chosen Apostles, who were participators in that mysterious and glorious scene: St Peter, St James, and St. John. Of the three St James was not permitted to contribute to the New Testament, for he fell by the sword of Herod. St Peter refers in his Second Epistle in explicit terms to the Transfiguration; St. John in a passage in the opening of his Gospel speaks of the same event. This is a very striking and magnificent part of the Scriptures, and the event itself was a very striking and magnificent event in the Lord’s life on earth, and the narratives of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke are very striking and beautiful. The more we consider them the more do we see the import of the closing sentence. Evidently the three Evangelists were guided by the Holy Spirit to put particular emphasis upon that little sentence, ‘Jesus only’. It cannot be by accident, it cannot be a mere coincidence, and it cannot be as it might have been if it had been mentioned by only one of the Evangelists only a subordinate phase of the Transfiguration. It is clear that this is one of the most solemn and suggestive passages in the whole Scriptures. Let us take a view of the Transfiguration as a whole, so that we may understand this concluding lesson of it.

I. Historical Meaning of the Transfiguration. We shall see that it was a very real event in our Lord’s history. It is recorded in detail by three Evangelists and with absolute independence. Each Evangelist compares the brightness of Christ to three things. That shows how deeply rooted in fact it was. It was no fiction; it was no illusion, no mere vision. It was an actual sight seen by the eyes of the three chosen Evangelists. This was a great and real event, and it is only when you grasp what a real thing it was that you will understand the concluding meaning of it. We must lay hold of the fact that our Lord was transfigured visibly, physically, so that the brightness of His Transfiguration passed through His raiment. We must lay hold of the reality of the Transfiguration. Of what value is the reality of the Transfiguration? It is first of all valuable as history.

II. Doctrinal Significance of the Transfiguration. The Transfiguration is also important doctrinally. St. Peter said, in answer to our Lord, ‘Let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias’. But then came the Divine voice, which peremptorily forbade the making of the tabernacles. ‘This,’ said the Father’s voice, ‘is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him,’ and you will observe that whenever St. Peter refers to the Transfiguration he makes no reference to Moses and Elijah. He did not want to learn the lesson twice. ‘This is My beloved Son: hear ye Him.’ Now you see the meaning of the text, ‘They saw no man but Jesus only’.

III. Personal Application. ‘Jesus only with themselves.’ Christ must be all in all to each one of us. That is the lesson of the Transfiguration. Our Lord Jesus Christ must be the chief among ten thousand. It seems as if St. Peter was thinking of the Transfiguration when he said, ‘There is none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved’. Jesus Christ must take first place before everything else. We must remember that Jesus Christ alone can save us. This is true, simple, evangelical religion. I think that is why the whole of the Evangelists wrote the text like this in order that they might put down their testimony to what the great voice of the Father meant What Jesus is this? This is the Jesus Who was transfigured. This is the Jesus Who can save, keep, console, and sanctify us, if we commit ourselves to Him in the simplicity of faith and the strength of obedience to that great word which is God’s own word: ‘This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him’.

References. IX. 8. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2634. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 11. IX. 14. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 137. IX. 14-29. A. B. Davidson, Waiting Upon God, p. 163. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 319. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 299. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 278. IX. 14-32 and 43-48. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2844. IX. 17. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 216. IX. 17-20. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2731. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 190. IX. 19. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 13.

The Price I Pay for Seeing Christ

Mar 9:20

I. This invalid only knew himself to be a weakling when he saw Jesus. There is nothing which rends the spirit like the sight of a high ideal. Spiritual stagnancy is the result of a low standard. There is a phrase we often hear: ‘He is on very good terms with himself. We apply it to a man who has never had any rending of the spirit. I can never be on bad terms with myself as long as there is only one man within me. If in my heart there hangs the picture of a second self, a higher self, a self which mimics my errors and tells me how things ought to be done if there is in my soul a man who sings after me the song I have spoiled, reads after me the piece I have ruined, performs after me the service I have poorly rendered that presence makes me small. It puts me on bad terms with myself on wrestling terms, the terms on which Jacob stood with his angel.

II. It will not in the least soothe my struggle to know that I am the first man in the company, in the village, or even in the kingdom. There was not a man of his day so good as Jacob he was the chosen patriarch of God. But he was far below his angel the ideal of what he would like to have been. It was his angel that made him miserable.

III. When Paul met a storm at sea, the men of Malta said he must be a bad man. We are all apt to feel like the men of Malta When we see a storm-tossed spirit toiling with its own waves and battling with its own breezes, we say, Surely he is a child of the darkness! We are wrong; he is a child of the light It is only because he is a child of the light that he wrestles with the deep. He felt no discord till he heard the music. He knew no midnight till he saw the morning. He dreamed not of his mean attire till he gazed on the seamless robe. He got his cross from Christ, his ladenness from light, his burden from seeing beauty.

G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 117.

References. IX. 20-22. J. S. Swan, Short Sermons, p. 242. IX. 21. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 216. IX. 22, 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2224. IX. 22-24. H. M. Butler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 81. IX. 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii. No. 474; vol. xxix. No. 1744. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 22. J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii. p. 193. J. W. Diggle, Sermons for Daily Life, p. 239. IX. 23, 24. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 362.

Mar 9:24

According to Dr. Oncken, Bismarck’s last words were: ‘Dear Lord, I believe. Help Thou my unbelief, and receive me into Thy heavenly kingdom.’ See also R. H. Hutton’s Theological Essays, pp. 245, 246.

I have sometimes, in looking back on the doubts and questionings of this period, thought and perhaps even spoken of myself as an infidel. But an infidel I assuredly was not: my belief was at least as real as my incredulity, and had, I am inclined to think, a much deeper seat in my mind. But, wavering between the two extremes now a believer, and now a sceptic the belief usually exhibiting itself as a strongly based instinct, the scepticism as the result of some intellectual process I lived on for years in a sort of uneasy, see-saw condition, without any middle ground between the two extremes, on which I could at once reason and believe.

Hugh Miller, My Schools and Schoolmasters, xvii.

Unbelieving Belief

Mar 9:24

I think in these wonderful words we have four things the birth, the infancy, the cry, and the education of faith.

I. The Birth of Faith.

There are three elements here: eager desire, the sense of utter helplessness, and the acceptance of Christ’s calm assurances.

This man knew what he wanted, and he wanted it very sorely. Whosoever has any intensity and reality of desire for the great gifts which Jesus Christ comes to bestow, has taken at least one step on the way to faith. Conversely, the hindrances which block the path of a great many of us are simply that we do not care to possess the blessings which Jesus Christ in His Gospel offers. If we saw things as they are, and our needs as they are, nothing would kindle such intensity of longing in our hearts as that rejected or neglected promise of life eternal and Divine, which Jesus Christ brings.

Further, we have here the other element of a sense of utter helplessness. If we understand what is wanted in order to bring one soul into harmony and fellowship with God, we shall recognize that we ourselves can do nothing to save, and little to help ourselves.

And the last of the elements here is listening to the calm assurance of Jesus Christ. He stands at the door of each of our hearts and speaks to each of our needs, and says: ‘I can satisfy it’. His assurance helps trembling confidence to be born, and out of doubt the great, calm word of the Master smites the fire of trust.

II. The Infancy of Faith.

As soon as the consciousness of belief dawned upon the father, and the effort to exercise it was put forth, there sprang up the consciousness of its own imperfection. He would never have known that he did not believe unless he had tried to believe.

Thus, then, in its infancy, faith may and does co-exist with much unfaith and doubt. The same state of mind, looked at from its two opposite ends, as it were, may be designated faith or unbelief; just as a piece of shot silk, according to the angle at which you hold it, may show you only the bright colours of its warp or the dark ones of its weft.

There follows from that thought this practical lesson, that the discovery of much unbelief should never make a man doubt the reality or genuineness of his little faith.

III. Notice the Cry of Infant Faith. ‘Help Thou mine unbelief.’

The lesson is that, even when we are conscious of much tremulousness in our faith, we have a right to ask and expect that it shall be answered. Weak faith is faith. The tremulous hand does touch. The cord may be slender as a spider’s web that binds a heart to Jesus, but it does bind.

But let us remember that, whilst thus the cry of infant faith is heard, the stronger voice of stronger faith is more abundantly heard. The measure of our belief is the measure of our blessing.

IV. We have here the Education of Faith. Christ paid no heed in words to this confession of unbelief, but proceeded to do the work which answered the prayer in both its possible meanings.

Thus He educates us by His answers His over-answers to our poor desires; and the abundance of His gifts rebukes the poverty of our petitions, more emphatically than any words of remonstrance beforehand could have done. He does not lecture us into faith, but He blesses us into it.

A. Maclaren, The Wearied Christ, p. 125.

References. IX. 24. H. W. Mellowes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 359. A. Cowe, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 286. H. E. Thomas, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 421. Morgan Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 195. J. Martineau, Endeavours After the Christian Life (2nd Series), p. 48. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 61. B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 3. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 33. Andrew Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 248. W. Page Roberts, Our Prayer Book, Conformity and Conscience, p. 192. C. H. Parkhurst, A Little Lower than the Angels, p. 186. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1033; vol. 1. No. 2881. IX. 25. J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church Year, vol. ii. p. 8. IX. 27. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Lessons for Daily Life, p. 128. IX. 28. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 39. IX. 28, 29. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2454. IX. 29. C. New, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1895, p. 248. R. T. Davidson, ibid. vol. li. 1897, p. 120. IX. 30, 31. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 193. IX. 30-40. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2494. IX. 30-50. W. H. Bennett, The Life of Christ According to St. Mark, p. 136. IX. 33. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 54. IX. 33-42. Ibid. p. 44. IX. 33-37. George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons, p. 1. IX. 35. H. C. Beeching, Seven Sermons to Schoolboys, p. 1. IX. 35-37. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 157. IX. 36. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 86. T. A. Sedgwick, Pdagogus, p. 9. IX. 36, 37. Bishop J. Percival, Sermons at Rugby, p. 11. IX. 36, 37, 42. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 177.

Defenders of the Faith

Mar 9:38

A strangely pathetic interest attaches to a great disciple when we find him making a great mistake. For even loyal disciples are not infallible. Sometimes they seriously misrepresent the mind of Jesus, and have to be brought back to wisdom by the stern way of rebuke. Such a rebuke was once administered to John the beloved. And it was very necessary, for he had been betrayed by his zeal into a great error. He had misread the large charity of Jesus. He had taken it upon him to rebuke one who had been doing beneficent work in the name of Jesus; and Jesus had been constrained to rebuke him in the memorable words, ‘Forbid him not’.

The attitude of John is remarkable; more remarkable still is the reason for that attitude. ‘Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us.’ One would have supposed that John might well have felt sure of this man, for he had given two indubitable proofs of being on the side of Jesus. He was casting out devils and was not that part of the very work which Jesus had commissioned His disciples to do? And he was doing this in Jesus’ name, proving thereby that he was a believer in the power of that name and a disciple at heart; for, as Jesus said, no man could do a mighty work in His name and thereafter lightly revile Him. But John, with sublime indifference to these conclusive marks of discipleship, condemns and forbids him for no better reason than that ‘he followeth not with us’. We would say it was amazing if we did not know that it was the way of the human heart always. It is indeed the commonplace of Church history. We forbade him, because he followeth not with us.

I. Apparently, then, it is possible for those who love Jesus dearly to misunderstand Him seriously, and to hamper the work of others who are serving Him with as much zeal as themselves and with more intelligence; for we cannot help feeling that the unknown man who owes his place in history to John’s foolish rebuke, had an instinctive penetration into the essential conditions of discipleship far superior to John’s own. For John’s measure of discipleship was, at any rate for the moment, a purely external one he followeth not with us whereas this man felt that the true disciple is one who does the work of the Master, and that whether he follows with us’ or not is a matter of the most utter indifference. Of course there were reasons at that time why John should have so completely, though mistakenly, identified the cause of his Master with that of His little disciple band; all the same, there is struck here the first note of that well-intentioned arrogance which has seldom been wanting in the history of the Church. It has too often seemed to the powers that be that because some one ‘followeth not with us,’ does not share their opinions or endorse their methods, he is necessarily wrong, and must therefore be denounced, censured, or excommunicated, as the temper of the age suggests; whereas all the time it may be he that is right and they that are wrong. He may be, by his actions or words, interpreting the spirit of his Master far more profoundly than they; and they may need the solemn rebuke, ‘Forbid him not’.

II. In this spirit which is ever ready to rebuke unconventional service, there is something not altogether to be despised, for it is animated by jealousy for the honour of the Lord. Nevertheless, it is one of the most hateful sins of which a disciple of Christ can be guilty. For in insisting upon external standards, it displays a lack of insight into the real conditions of service; in rebuking a man who is doing the work of Jesus in the name of Jesus it displays an utter lack of charity as well as of intelligence; and in hampering the work of a sincere, devoted, and intelligent servant, it is injuring the work of Christ Himself, and retarding the progress of the world.

III. The spirit of Jesus is slowly working, and there are signs that the day is perhaps not so very far distant when men who are casting out devils in His name will be free to do their work serenely, none either daring or desiring to make them afraid. Then the true Church union will be consummated; for then men will be more eager to welcome than to forbid, more ready to accentuate the glorious hopes they share in common than the relatively trivial speculations which divide them. They will care more for the person of Christ than for a particular view of His person, and more for truth than for a specific formulation of it. So long as we refuse to welcome other disciples of Christ be they men or churches simply because they ‘follow not with us,’ we shall have to remain in an isolation that is anything but splendid the poorer for the lack of the resources and stimulus which they might bring us. When we recognize the relative unimportance of the things which separate us, and what Rville has called ‘the inanity of all these discussions in matters which exceed the capacity of our intelligence,’ then will be seen the folly of saying, ‘We forbade him, because he followeth not with us’; and such a whisper will not be heard in all the land.

J. E. McFadyen, The City With Foundations, p. 87.

Mar 9:38

I remember one instance of Keble’s narrowness extremely characteristic of him. A member of a family with which he had been intimate had adopted liberal opinions in theology. Keble probably did not know what these opinions were, but regarded this person as an apostate who had sinned against light. He came to call one day when the erring brother happened to be at home; and learning that he was in the house, he refused to enter, and remained sitting in the porch. St. John is reported to have fled out of a bath at Ephesus on hearing that the heretic Cerinthus was under the roof. Keble, I presume, remembered the story, and acted like the Apostle.

Froude’s Short Studies, vi. p. 269.

References. IX. 38-42. J. Adderley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 284. IX. 39, 40. Newman Smyth, ibid. vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 38. IX. 40. Hugh Black, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 20. W. J. Knox-Little, Church Times, vol. xxx. 1892, p. 338.

Mar 9:43

Prescott, in the opening chapters of his Mexico, observes that the magnificent table-land of forest-trees in Mexico had to be destroyed for prudential reasons. ‘The early Spaniards made as indiscriminate war upon the forest as did our Puritan ancestors, though with much less reason. After once conquering the country, they had no lurking ambush to fear from the submissive, semi-civilized Indian, and were not, like our forefathers, obliged to keep watch and ward for a century.’

References. IX. 43, 44. J. E. Roberts, Studies in the Lord’s Prayer, p. 94. R. J. Campbell, Sermons Addressed to Individuals, p. 151. IX. 43, 47, and 48. W. Leighton Grane, Hard Sayings of Jesus Christ, p. 179. IX. 49. George Jamieson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 377. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 55. IX. 49, 50. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 30. IX. 50. E. E. Lark, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 21. E. M. Goulburn, Occasional Sermons, p. 390. R. Waddy Moss, The Discipline of the Soul, p. 137. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 103. F. J. Jayne, Keble College Sermons, 1870-76, p. 229. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Mark IX.-XVI. p. 64. X. 1.-31. W. H. Bennett, The Life of Christ According to St. Mark, p. 144. X. 2-9. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxix. 1906, p. 177. X. 6. J. Parker, Studies in Texts, vol. i. p. 84. X. 6-9. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 417. X. 7, 8, 9. J. Phillips Dickson, Church Times, vol. xxxvi. 1896, p. 640.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

The Transfiguration

[An Analysis]

Mar 9

This verse would seem to belong to the preceding chapter. It may be taken alone for homiletic purposes, and treated under the form of an inquiry, viz., When does the kingdom of God come with power?

(1) When it so comes as to show the comparative paltriness and worthlessness of other kingdoms.

(2) When it brings the human heart into a state of joyful obedience to its spirit and precepts.

(3) When it throws upon the mystery and solemnity of the future a light which destroys the terror of death.

If the verse be regarded as an introduction to the scene which immediately follows, it will be seen how tenderly, as well as how wisely, Jesus Christ prepared his followers for the most startling events in his life. He was about to be transfigured: what if unpreparedness on the part of the disciples should overthrow their self-control, and disable them for further service? The light may come too suddenly, then what can happen but blindness?

2. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

3. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; 50 as no fuller on earth can white them.

4. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.

5. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

6. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.

7. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.

8. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.

The whole incident may also be treated by way of inquiry, viz., What purposes would be answered by such an event as the transfiguration? The event is so unique and so sensational, that we may, without irreverence, ask what purposes useful to mankind could be answered by it. Clearly, the transfiguration would, amongst others, answer four purposes:

(1) It would confirm the newly revealed personality of the Saviour, “Thou art the Christ.” Great revelations do need confirmation. They startle and unsettle the mind. Has not God generally accompanied his greatest prophecies by some outward and visible sign? The prophecy of the Messiah, by sacrifice and various ritual? Prophecies of destruction, by uses of the rod, and weapons of war? Prophecies of restoration, by figures and symbols which satisfy all the longing and all the imagination of hope?

(2) It would show that the death which he had foretold was not the result of weakness on the part of Jesus Christ. It was not a fate which he would have resisted had his physical resources been greater. The disciples, on hearing the prediction of his death, might have reasoned “He is overborne by superior force; no man goes voluntarily to death. He is hemmed in by hostile powers; he yields because he cannot successfully resist.” The Transfiguration showed the contrary. See the heavenly light! Behold the heavenly visitants! Hear the heavenly voice!

(3) It would show the relation of the Christian kingdom to prior dispensations. Moses and Elias were present The law and the prophets led up to the gospel. The hour of fulfilment was at hand. God’s kingdom, though revealed in sections and phases, is but one. The blade and the golden ear are one. Sinai and Zion are (spiritually) different sides of the same holy hill. “Moses wrote of me.” We miss the instructiveness and solemnity of history when we break it up into unrelated chapters. History is one. Its sovereign purpose is the unfolding of the divine kingdom.

(4) It supplemented an individual testimony by a general and authoritative revelation. Peter had said, “Thou art the Christ.” Now the Eternal One says, “This is my beloved Son.” When Peter spoke, he spoke not of himself. Flesh and blood had not revealed, etc. All true sayings come down from heaven. The testimony was now established by three witnesses. There was henceforth no occasion to refer to Peter’s word. Peter’s word was introductory. Peter was, in a sense, the last of the prophets. The world needed a higher testimony than had yet been given: here it is “This is my beloved Son;” there is no height beyond this!

Observe the command which comes after the revelation, Hear him! Christ is the interpreter of himself. The command may be paraphrased thus: This is my beloved Son; if you would have the proof of his sonship, listen to him, hear his speech, attend to his tone; let him be heard for himself. If Christ were more listened to, he would be more profoundly loved and honoured. How many people, even in Christian congregations, have gone regularly and seriously through the word of Christ for themselves? The question is not, How many people have heard sermons? but, How many have studied the whole life of the Saviour for themselves? We never knew an infidel who quoted the words of Christ accurately and completely.

“Hear him” may be regarded not only as an indication of authority, but as a challenge to human intelligence and consciousness. Hear him, and say if he speak not to your hearts; hear him, and say whether any voice be so full of music, of sympathy, of love; hear him, and say if he speak not in the language of heaven the things which have been dumbly struggling within you, and set in cloudless light the hopes which you could never get beyond the region of misty and self-contradictory speculation.

Peter, James, and John alone accompanied the Saviour. The world’s profoundest secrets and sunniest hopes have ever been in the keeping of two or three men. Lonely men, scattered here and there, have told the world when a great event was to be expected: they have predicted comets, and set men watching for new stars, and started men on expeditions full of peril and proportionate riches. We cannot all be treasurers; we cannot all be librarians. Thank God for mountaineers, for the strong climbers who first see the coming on of the new day!

9. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

10. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

We have been dwelling upon the scene which disclosed itself on the top of the mountain: we now enter upon the scene which took place on the way down, a scene which shows Christ giving a charge, and the disciples displaying intense interest in the revelation conveyed in that charge. We are amazed that silence should be enjoined upon the disciples: why should they not be allowed to tell this thing to all men? Surely such a statement must have a good effect upon the public mind. Instead of enjoining secrecy, why does not Jesus Christ summon thousands of witnesses to behold a repetition of the transfiguring glory? We are impatient to secure results. We would, in our imperfectness, try to do by a stroke what he takes many days to accomplish. Was it not a waste of power on the part of Christ to be transfigured in comparative secrecy? Would not the transfiguration have done more for his interests than the sermon on the mount? Yet the sermon was heard by a multitude, and the transfiguration was seen by three uninfluential men! This is one of the divine processes which we should have reversed. So foolish are we, and ignorant!

(1) All physical phenomena are but temporary.

(2) Wonderful deeds are only permanently valuable as expositions of spiritual truths.

(3) Every miracle or wonder in Christ’s life was incomplete until the resurrection had been accomplished. Halt-truths or unfinished statements often do more harm than good. When the resurrection had been accomplished, all the other miracles would fall into their proper proportions, the resurrection itself would be the one miracle of universal and eternal importance. It is the epitome of all the rest.

(4) What the disciples have already seen is to be eclipsed by what they have yet to see. They have seen the transfiguration, they shall yet see the resurrection! Is not this the law of divine discipline and progress? Can we ever see the richest jewel in God’s treasures?

(5) The speculation of one age is the dogma of another. The disciples questioned one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. They had the resurrection before them; we have it behind us. Wonderful in its width of meaning was this rising from the dead! What did it mean? It meant Redemption completed, Death overthrown, Heaven opened! “If Christ be not risen from the dead,” etc.

11. And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

12. And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.

13. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

The disciples now begin the deepest questions which they had to propose. They showed themselves students as well as observers. Men misread prophecy. They do not see the principles which are represented by names. John the Baptist was the pre-Christian Elias. Men do not always fully understand their representativeness; even the poorest of men are more than they seem to be: even a little child may typify the kingdom of God.

14. And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

15. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.

16. And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?

17. And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

18. And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

19. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

20. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

22. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

23. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

25. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26. And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

28. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

29. And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Different diseases require different treatment, “this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Illustration may be found in common life; among diseases of the soul may be set down Pride, Lust, Covetousness, Self-confidence, etc., the cure of which may require variations of treatment. However many and subtle the variations, Christ’s power is available for all. On the expression, “This kind goeth not out,” etc., Lange remarks: “It were a mistake to regard this demoniacal possession as different from others in kind, and not merely in degree, and hence as constituting a peculiar kind, for which specific prayer and fasting were required. The Lord rather conveyed to his disciples that they had not preserved or cultivated the state of mind and heart necessary for the occasion, that they were not sufficiently prepared and collected to cast out so malignant a demon…. The demons of such complete melancholy could only be overcome by most earnest prayer and entire renunciation of the world.” Stier says: “Our Lord says two things in the But: first, that he had meant the casting out of devils by the similitude of removing mountains; and, secondly, that to control spirits, to break the evil will, the wicked power in the kingdom of sin, and of rebellion against the Almighty, who tolerates it according to the law of freedom, and even only thus removes it, is, indeed, another and greater thing than the simple working of miracles on helpless nature.”

In this incident, note: (1) A household in misery because of one of its members. Trouble may be intensive as well as extensive. One prodigal may destroy the peace of a whole family. (2) A household troubled by an uncontrollable circumstance. The sufferer in this case was not blamable. Some troubles we bring upon ourselves; others are put into our lot by a power beyond us. (3) A household united in deep concern for one of its members. The father spoke not for himself only, but also for others: “Have compassion on us, and help us.” The beauty of individual and social sympathy. An unfeeling heart a greater calamity in a family than the most painful affliction.

The incident may be viewed not only from the point of the household, but from the point occupied by the Church. Thus: (1) The Church expected to have restoring energy; (2) the Church overborne by the evil which confronts it; (3) the Church publicly rebuked for its incapacity; (4) the Church shown to be powerless in the absence of Christ.

Look at the incident as showing Christ’s position: (1) Christ calm in the midst of social tumult; (2) Christ exposing himself to severe reprisals in the event of failure, he spoke rebukingly before he performed the miracle; (3) Christ asserting his independence, “Bring him unto me.” Jesus needed no help: “Without me ye can do nothing,” but without us he can do everything. (4) Christ over-ruling and destroying evil: he never put evil into any man, always he sought to cast it out! Christ’s antagonism to evil was implacable and eternal.

Learn something from the incident respecting the restoration of men: (1) The worst of cases are not hopeless; (2) devils do not come easily out of men; (3) Jesus Christ not only expels the devil, he gives his own personal help to the recovered man. “Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up.” We need Jesus even until we are set in heaven. It is not enough that the devil be expelled; we must have the direct, daily, gracious help of the Saviour. The devil throws down; Jesus lifts up.

30. And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.

31. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that lie is killed, he shall rise the third day.

32. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Antecedently, there is nothing more improbable than that a man who has worked so beneficently should be “killed.” The very miracle which he has just performed should itself bring around Jesus Christ a whole army of protectors. Men should say: “The man who has done this good deed shall never be injured: we take him under our care, and not a hair of his head shall perish.” We must, then, go deeper than mere circumstances to find the meaning of this mortal antipathy. What is its meaning? The meaning is that evil and good are in eternal antagonism, and they must come to a final contest. Jesus has cast out a devil; now the devil will try to cast him out.

The 32nd verse shows how mystery is the occasion of fear. The fear in this instance was most pathetic. Even Peter was silent. There are circumstances which make the most flippant and talkative of men solemn. There is no mystery in a straight line; when the curve begins, mystery begins. Jesus Christ was going out of sight for a time, a specified time, and therefore under the dominion of the very power which seems to be worsted in the fight.

“He shall rise,” the word of hope spoken in the day of gloom.

“The third day:” (1) A full separation; (2) a brief separation, “For a small moment I have forsaken thee,” etc.

About this announcement there are two remarkable things:

(1) Jesus Christ gave his disciples the advantage of preparation: so in all our life, could we but see the meaning of things, we are always being prepared for further disclosure of God’s purpose and method.

(2) Jesus Christ followed the surprise of grief with the surprise of hope, “He shall rise the third day.” The surprises are equal. That such a man should be killed is impossible. He can work miracles, why, then, should he not save himself? That a man who was weak enough to be killed, should also be strong enough to rise again, was a counterbalancing surprise! Why not use this very strength to prevent suffering and death? If he could overcome death itself, why not overcome those who sought to kill him? He who can do the greater can of course do the less. Herein is the mystery of sacrifice, the problem of atonement. Jesus “gave himself;” he laid down his life: socially there was murder, spiritually there was sacrifice.

33. And he came to Capernaum; and being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?

34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

35. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

36. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,

37. Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

(1) This dispute about greatness can only be prevented by a deep attachment to Jesus as head of the Church.

(2) All selfish discussions degrade Christian dignity, and impair Christian usefulness.

(3) This dispute is proceeding to-day more vigorously than ever. Who is to be high priest? Who is to be leader? Who is to go first in the procession? Who is to sit on the right hand? The Church is still fighting the battle of etiquette and status. Poor Church!

In Jesus Christ’s statement of the case two things are clear:

(1) That selfishness defeats its own object. “He that exalteth himself shall be abased.” “He that saveth his life shall lose it.”

(2) That greatness is a spiritual condition, not a social distinction. The child-spirit is true greatness. “Whoso abaseth himself shall be exalted.” “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” “Pigmies are pigmies still, though perched on Alps, and pyramids are pyramids in vales.” A man may be great in grace. By the very necessity of the case all outward distinctions must become less and less, but spiritual attributes endure as long as the being of the soul.

Notice the beautiful picture set forth in the 36th verse. Jesus with a child in his arms!

(1) Childhood teaches simplicity, dependence, trustfulness. (2) Childhood represents freedom from care, anxiety, and fear of the future. The apostle put away childish things, not childlike things.

(3) Jesus values life, not mere age. We baptise human life, not human birthdays.

Jesus Christ has set a child in the midst of the whole world to teach the highest lessons. The child’s dependence; the child’s ignorance; the child’s affliction; the child’s death, these things teach us evermore.

38. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

39. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.

40. For he that is not against us is on our part.

41. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

42. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his nock, and he were cast into the sea.

A sign of great self-importance was this on the part of John! The veto would sound well as the voice of the Church. The right use of authority has always been a subject of special delicacy; and the danger of narrowness has always threatened to impair the primary design of the gospel.

The incident may be homiletically treated as showing five things:

(1) Whoever attempts to cast out devils has the sympathy of Jesus Christ. Instead of the word devils, use evils, and the meaning will be clear. Intemperance, ignorance, idleness, etc. The whole reformatory system which society has set up, etc The outworks are Christ’s, as well as the citadel.

(2) All who work in a right spirit are in reality one body. “No man which shall do a miracle in my name.” There are two classes excluded (1) Miracles wrought to satisfy vanity; (2) miracles wrought to promote selfish ends. A beautiful picture is that arising out of the unconscious unity of all good workers.

(3) The solitary and unclassified worker is not ignored by Jesus Christ. “We saw one casting out devils in thy name.” Here is individuality of effort. Each man has his own way of working. Some men cannot work in companies. The solitary worker should not be cynical towards companies. Companies should not be harsh to solitary workers ( Mar 9:42 ).

(4) There are more good people in the world than are gathered around conventional standards. “Because he followeth not us.” We are all prone to make ourselves the standard of measurement. This may be more than weak, it may be sinful. Sects seldom know much of each other. Their mutual animosity is in proportion to their mutual ignorance. Sectarianism is hateful; denominationalism may be convenient and even useful.

(5) Long before men reach the point of miracles, they may reach the point of acceptance with Jesus Christ. The man in the text had been working a miracle; but Jesus says that the gift of a cup of water shall be treated as a miracle of love. See the variety of work: one man casts out a devil, another gives a cup of water! They are both servants in the same household.

As an interlocution between Christ and the Church, see the infinite superiority of the Master! He speaks the noble word of charity. He draws within his love the strange worker. It is better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of man! Thanks be to God, the Church is not to pronounce the decisive word!

The 42nd verse must be guarded from selfish and paltry interpretation. It is easy to offend some people. We may offend a man’s vanity, and it is right to do so: we may offend his ignorance, and have the Master’s approval, we are not to offend the Christ that is in any man; we are not to discourage him in doing good; we are not to grieve the Holy Ghost that is in him.

43. And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

44. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

45. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

46. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

47. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

48. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

49. For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

50. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.

A perusal of distinguished commentaries has not made the whole meaning of some of these expressions plain to us. We question whether “the kingdom of God” ( Mar 9:47 ) and “hell fire” ( Mar 9:47 ) refer to the future and invisible state. The whole expression is figurative. A man does not enter into heaven because he has one eye, nor is he cast into hell because he has two eyes. The hand, foot, and eye, are not to be taken literally, but symbolically; otherwise what a spectacle would the Church present! The meaning may be this: It is better for thee to mortify every passion in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, so as to enter into true life, than to gratify every lust so as to create within thee corruption full of worms, and a heat terrible as hell. The heart of a depraved man is a Gehenna. There the worm dieth not, and the fire is never quenched. The salt of Christ’s presence and discipline can alone save the heart from loathsome corruption.

Homiletic use may be made of the symbolism:

(1) The hand, strife, defiance, theft, oppression, etc.

(2) The foot trespass, wandering instability, supposed solidity of position, etc.

(3) The eye, covetousness, lust, the fallacy of appearances, the temptation of the visible as against the invisible, etc.

The 49th verse has been variously commented upon, thus: “By salt understand the spirit of wisdom and grace, seasoning the effect, and by fire tribulation, whereby the patience of the faithful is exercised, that they may have a perfect worker.” (Beda.) “Salt is just reproof, which is to be tempered with love, and wherewith our love is to be seasoned.” (Jerome.) “It is an exhortation to the vigour of faith, by which others are preserved also, when we use our gift to season them; and lest the acrimony of salt should be too acting, he adds the other member of love.” (Calvin.) “The interpretation of the sacrifice of the condemned and the fire and salt as eternal fire except in the case of the salt having lost its savour, is contrary to the whole symbolism of Scripture, and to the exhortation with which this verse ends: ‘Have this grace of God this Spirit of adoption this pledge of the covenant, in yourselves; and,’ with reference to the strife out of which the discourse sprung, ‘have peace with one another.'” (Alford.)

General Note on the Ninth Chapter

The transfiguration may be compared to the full noontide light. The scene is one blaze of such glory as the disciples had never beheld. The conversation in passing through Galilee is full of the shadows which point towards eventide. The miracle which intervenes shows Christ at work, though the shadows were lengthening; the conversation which follows shows Christ teaching the very doctrines which would be best illustrated by the humiliation which he had predicted. In this chapter we have brilliant light, solemn shadows, noble service, pathetic instruction. Learn how to meet death, viz., in the midst of holy labour, and in the strength of holy principle.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

II

SEASON OF RETIREMENT PART II WHO IS JESUS OF NAZARETH AND WHAT IS HIS MISSION?

Harmony, pages 89-92 and Mat 16:13-28 ; Mar 8:27-9:1 ; Luk 9:18-27 .

The scene of this discussion is Caesarea Philippi, in the extreme northern part of Palestine. The historians are Matthew (Mat 16:13-28 ); Mark (Mar 8:27-28 ; Mar 9:1 ); and Luke (Luk 9:18-27 ). These records, being presented in parallel columns, sections 64 (Mat 16:13-20 ; Mar 8:27-30 ; Luk 9:18-21 ) and 65 (Mat 16:21-28 ; Mar 8:31-38 ; Mar 9:1 ; Luk 9:22-27 ), on pages 89-92 of the Harmony of the Gospels, it is quite easy to observe the peculiarities of each. Note three general observations: First, they exhibit the most remarkable independent testimony, each supplying entirely some detail omitted by the others, or adding somewhat to details given by them, not only without the slightest discrepancy, but so that all that each says may be incorporated into one perfectly congruous statement. Second, Mark, commonly called Peter’s gospel, modestly omits Christ’s high commendation of Peter, but is particularly careful to record Peter’s sin, the public rebuke of it, and the exhortation based on it; while Luke, commonly called Paul’s gospel, omits the sin of Peter, its rebuke and the connection between it and the exhortation. Third, Matthew writing for Jews, records particularly and elaborately the things most needed by them, to wit: the kind of faith necessary to salvation; the true foundation of the church; its indestructibleness; its high functions and authority; the necessity of the vicarious passion of Jesus; the certainty and glory and judgment of the second coming.

Now, combining a congruous statement of all the records, it is easy to fashion an outline for the whole. The following is submitted as that outline:

1. The great ministry in Galilee is ended forever.

2. To sum up and crystallize its results, and to rest somewhat before entering upon a final ministry elsewhere there is a season of retirement.

3. Having reached the place of retirement, a suburban village of Caesarea Philippi, our Lord separates himself from his immediate disciples and the attendant multitudes to seek God in prayer (Luk 9:18 ).

4. The object of that prayer, as inferred from the context, is that however variant the opinions of others concerning himself, his own disciples may have a God-revealed faith in his office and divinity, so that they may be able to receive clearer teaching concerning his vicarious passion by which his office becomes efficient in the salvation of men (Mat 16:17-21 ).

5. What men think of him and why.

6. What the disciples believed as expressed in Peter’s confession.

7. Our Lord’s wonderful response to this confession and the doctrines involved.

8. Clearer teaching concerning his passion.

9. Peter’s rebuke of Christ and Christ’s rebuke of Peter.

10. Terms of discipleship and why so hard (Mar 8:34-37 ).

11. A great danger and its antidote, the danger of being ashamed or afraid before the world, to confess Christ (Mar 8:38 ).

12. An assuring promise: That some of them should not taste of death until they saw Jesus coming in glory to judge the world (Mat 16:28 ).

It cannot reasonably be expected that I should discuss all this outline in one chapter. I can cover none of it elaborately except one capital point. But it is desirable to make an outline of all the salient points suggested by these remarkable incidents at Caesarea Philippi. Let it be impressed on the mind that the Galilean ministry is ended forever. For that great section, parable, and miracle are over forever. In his teaching capacity he has finally left Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee. True, we will find him subsequently, passing through Galilee, but in hurry and silence. True, after his resurrection, he there, once more, meets with is own people and commissions them. But his own personal ministry to that lost people to those doomed cities is completely ended.

This ministry being finished, it becomes to Christ a very solemn question: What are its results? The people who heard him, who witnessed his miraculous deeds, were bound, by the very nature of the case, to propound each to himself and to others this question: Who is he? We need not be surprised that the answers to this question were widely variant. It requires no deep philosophy to understand why men, hearing the same things and looking upon the same facts, shall yet reach widely different conclusions from what they hear and see. The standpoint alone will account for the divergence. We may easily understand why Herod would suppose from what he had heard of Jesus that he was John the Baptist risen from the dead. He reasoned from the standpoint of an excited and guilty conscience, taking counsel of his fears. His superstitious apprehension of coming evil for his wrongdoing would lead him to put a construction upon Christ and his work that would not suggest itself to any other man. It is just as easy to understand how others familiar with the closing passages of the Old Testament, which predict the coming of Elijah before the great and notable day of the Lord, should surmise that this Jesus, working such wondrous deeds, was that Elijah. A widely prevalent tradition accounts also for the fact that yet others supposed he might be Jeremiah. The tradition was that Jeremiah, at the destruction of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon, had hidden away in some secret place in the mountains, known only to himself, many of the sacred utensils of the Temple, and that at some time in the future he would return and show Israel the place of deposit of these precious relics. We see the same divergent opinions concerning Christ at the present time. Some say he is a good man; others that he is an impostor; others that his teaching concerning morality is perfect, but there is no reason to admit the claims of his divinity. Conscious in his own mind of the divergent conclusion concerning himself and his work, and having so faithfully instructed his immediate disciples, and intending now to call forth a definite expression from them, we can see an occasion for his prayer. While we may not dogmatize, it would seem that he would pray after this manner: “O Father, the world does not understand me and my mission. But here is a particular group that I have called out from the others to be with me and to hear thy word. They have witnessed more than the others. They have been near to me; O Father, grant that these, my disciples, at least, may have a God-revealed faith in me as the Messiah.” That his prayer was somewhat in this direction may perhaps be inferred from the exultation manifested by him on Peter’s avowal. Anyhow, immediately after his prayer comes first the question calling out the popular verdict, and then the emphatic question, “Who say ye that I am?” Very naturally Peter speaks for the others. We have had reason already to observe the readiness with which he takes the lead. Mark the principal elements in his answer: “Thou art the Christ,” recognizing his office; “the Son,” recognizing his divinity; “of the living God,” sharply drawing a distinction between the real God and the dead and dumb deities of the heathen world.

In considering Christ’s response let us take up each word. “Simon” means a hearer. “Peter” means a rock, “Barjona” means the son of Jona, or, according to the best Greek text, the son of John. This answer of Christ to Peter gives us a clue to the true faith: “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.” Many other passages of Scripture might be cited to show that evangelical faith is not an intellectual perception of the truth of a proposition, but that it is a product of the divine Spirit, as is expressed in the beginning of John’s Gospel: “To as many as received him, even to them that believed on his name, he gave the power to become the sons of God, who were born, not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Let the reader, therefore, especially note the nature of the true faith. It might be asked just here if this was the first time that there had been among his disciples a recognition of his messiahship. We have twice already found in the ground over which we have passed, some recognition on the part of his disciples of Christ as the Messiah. Now there has been clearer teaching, and the statement, under the present conditions, that he is the Messiah, shows a great advance in the nature of their faith.

We come now to consider perhaps the most remarkable passage in the New Testament: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whosoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whosoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Here almost every word calls for explanation and occasions controversy. Who or what is the “rock” upon which the church is founded? In what sense is the term “church” used? What is the import of Hades and what signifies, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”? What signify the “keys of the kingdom,” and the binding and loosing power?

The first thought that I would impress upon the mind is that Christ alone founded his church. I mean that the church was established in the days of his sojourn in the flesh; that the work of its construction commenced with the reception of the material prepared by John the Baptist. That organization commenced with the appointment of the twelve apostles, and that by the close of his earthly ministry there existed at least one church as a model, the church at Jerusalem.

We find in the history immediately succeeding the Gospel account that this church at Jerusalem began to transact business by the election of a successor to Judas; that they were all assembled together in one place for the reception of the Holy Spirit, and that to them were added daily the saved. Hence, we are prepared to ask: On what did Christ found his church? What is the rock?

After mature deliberation and careful examination of all the opposing views, and after a thorough study of the Word of God, it is clear to my mind that the rock primarily and mainly is Christ himself.

If it seems to violate the figure that he, the builder, should build upon himself, the violation is no more marked here than in the famous passage in John where he gives the bread to the disciples and that “bread of life” is himself. I would have the reader note the scriptural foundation upon which I rest my conclusion that the rock is Christ. The first argument is from prophecy:

“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste” (Isa 28:16 ).

This prophetic scripture clearly declared God’s purpose to lay in Zion a foundation, a stone foundation, one that was to be tried, that was assured, a foundation on which faith should rest, without haste or shame.

We next cite Psa 118:22 : “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” In fulfilment of these prophecies we cite first the testimony of Peter, unto whom the language of our passage was spoken: “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed” (1Pe 2:4-8 ).

The spiritual house of which Peter here speaks is unquestionably the church. The foundation upon which that church as a building must rest, is unquestionably our Lord Jesus Christ himself. He claims this as a fulfilment of the prophecies which have been cited. Our Lord’s own words in another connection (Mat 21:42 ), claim the same fulfilment: “The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner.” With any other construction it would be impossible to understand Paul’s statement (1Co 3:11-17 ): “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Here again the church is compared to a building. The foundation of that building is distinctly said to be Christ. It is also worthy of note that any other foundation for the church than Christ himself would be wholly out of harmony with the Old Testament concept, as given by Moses, Samuel, David, and Isaiah, and Paul’s New Testament comment in the following passages, which the reader will please note and examine carefully for himself: Deu 32:4 ; Deu 32:15 ; Deu 32:31 ; 1Sa 2:2 ; 2Sa 22:2 ; 2Sa 22:32 ; Psa 18:2 ; Psa 18:31 ; Psa 61:2 ; Psa 89:26 ; Psa 92:15 ; Psa 95:1 ; and Isa 17:10 ; 1Co 10:4 . Do not understand me to affirm that all these passages refer to God as a foundation. The thought is that the Bible concept regards God as the rock of his people under every variety of image, and so uniformly that to make a mortal and fallible man that rock on the doubtful strength of one disputed passage, which may easily and naturally be construed in harmony with the others, does violence to the rule of the faith as well as to the usage of the term.

In a secondary sense, indeed, other things may be called the foundation and are so called, but all these senses support the view that Christ is the rock, primarily and mainly. By examining and comparing Isa 8:14 ; Luk 2:34 ; Rom 9:33 ; 1Pe 2:8 ; Luk 20:18 , we may easily see how the faith which takes hold of Christ may be compared to a foundation. This accounts for the fact that many of the early fathers of the church understood the rock in this passage to be Peter’s faith in Christ, and also explains how others of the fathers understood the foundation of the church to be Peter’s confession of that faith. The great majority of Protestant scholars regard the confession of faith as the rock, and it is a notable fact that Baptists particularly make this confession or its equivalent a term of admission into the church. Indeed, in a certain sense, both the faith and the confession may be regarded as the foundation of the church. From Eph 2:20-22 and Rev 21:14 , we see that the apostles are called the foundation. But it is only because they teach Christ. They are but instruments in leading souls to Christ, and are not the true foundation. By so much as Peter was more prominent than the others, in this sense the church may be gaid to be founded on Peter. The scriptural proof of Peter’s prominence is very clear. Though not the first apostle chosen, his name heads all the recorded lists of the twelve (Mat 10:2 Mar 3:16 ; Luk 6:14 ; Act 1:13 ). He also leads the movement in filling the place of Judas (Act 1:15 ). He opens the door to the Jews on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:14 ). And he is selected to open the door to the Gentiles (Act 10 ; Act 15:7 ). By noting carefully Heb 6:1-2 , we see that the primary or fundamental doctrines concerning Christ may well be called a foundation, and at the close of the Sermon on the Mount, obedience to Christ is compared to building a house on a rock (Mat 7:24 ), but all these secondary senses derive their significance from their connection with Christ, the primary and real foundation.

Inasmuch as there are in the world at least 200,000,000 nominal professors of the Romanist faith, constituting over half of Christendom, and as all of these regard Peter as the rock upon which the church was founded, and as they deduce most tremendous and portentous consequences from this interpretation, I think it well to carefully examine this Romanist faith I would not, however, have the reader derive his views of Romanist doctrine from any other sources than those regarded as authoritative by themselves. A natural inquiry of the mind would be, “On what scripture do Papists rely for proof of Peter’s primacy”? Only three passages of Scripture are cited by them: Mat 16:18-19 ; Joh 21:15-17 ; Luk 22:31-32 These are called the “rock-argument,” the “keysargument” the “shepherd-argument,” and the “confirmerargument.” I” connection with our text, which is the main one cited “Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church ” they construe Joh 1:42 , where Christ promises that Simon shall be called Cephas, a stone. When they speak of the powers indicated by the keys as conferred upon Peter, they understand that government and Jurisdiction are among those powers, in proof of which they usually cite Isa 22:22 ; Rev 3:7 ; Job 12:14 ; Isa 9:6 ; from which they claim that if putting the key upon the shoulder of Jesus implied government, surely it meant as much when applied to Peter; and they interpret the historical usage of giving up the keys of a walled city or fortress to a conqueror, as signifying that the control of that city or fortress is thereby publicly ceded, and that to the one to whom these keys are presented is the province of receiving or excluding.

In the same way they derive the thought of jurisdiction from the shepherd argument, by construing it with 2Sa 5:2 ; Psa 78:71-72 ; Eze 34:1-23 ; Jer 3:15 ; Jer 3:23 ; Nah 3:18 ; Isa 40:11 ; Mic 7:14 ; Joh 10:1-18 ; 1Pe 2:25 ; 1Pe 5:4 ; Act 20:28 . Whoever is able to meet these four arguments, the rock, the keys, the shepherd, the confirmer, is able to answer the whole of the papal system.

On these three scriptures they predicate the stupendous doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope, signifying that the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, as the successor of Peter, possesses authority and jurisdiction in things spiritual over the entire church, so as to become the visible head and the vicar or viceregent of Christ on earth; that, as the universal shepherd, he is the center of unity, with whom all the flock must be in communion or be guilty of schism; that he is the fountain of authority, all subordinate rulers in the church being subject to him, and deriving their limited jurisdiction from him; that all the executive power of the universal church is vested in him. He confirms in the faith; he oversees all; he corrects all; he corrects abuses; he maintains discipline; he possesses all inquisitorial power necessary to evil, and all authority to subdue or excommunicate the refractory. He is infallible in all utterances concerning faith and morals, being God’s mouthpiece, and his decrees thereon are absolute and final, being God’s viceregent.

It is necessary for me to cite the authentic Romanish authyroids from which this monstrous doctrine is gathered. I cite: (1) the profession of the Tridentine faith, which says, “I acknowledge the holy, Catholic, apostolic Roman church as the mother and mistress of all churches, and I promise and swear true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, successor to St. Peter, prince of the apostles, and vicar of Jesus Christ.” The Council of Trent met in the Tyrol near the middle of the sixteenth century, lasting off and on for about eighteen years. The language which I have quoted is not a part of the canons and decrees of the Council of Trent, but it is from the profession of the Tridentine faith, issued by the Pope, and to which all Catholics must subscribe. The date of it is 1564. The second authoritative source is the dogmatic decrees of the Vatican Council held in 1870, which declare the following propositions:

1. That our Lord Jesus Christ himself instituted the apostolic primacy at Caesarea Philippi, by setting Peter as prince and chief over the rest of the apostles, and making him, as God’s vicar, or viceregent, the visible head of the universal church, which becomes indestructible because founded on Peter, thereby constituting him the center of all ecclesiastical unity and fountain of all directly, in his single person, with supreme jurisdiction over preachers and church. The council expressly denies that this supreme jurisdiction was conferred upon the twelve apostles originally and reached Peter through them, or as one of them, and expressly denies that it was conferred on the church originally and on Peter through the church, but by a variety of expressions set forth the claim that his jurisdiction was direct, immediate, single, original, personal, centripetal, supreme, and, by being transmissible to his successor, perpetual, thus putting him alone in the place of God to all the rest of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, to the end of time, and anathematizes all who deny the claim. This declaration of the institution of the papacy, as I have just said, and as this council expressly declares, is based upon the rock, keys, and shepherd arguments, drawn from Mat 16:18-19 , and Joh 21:15-17 .

2. The second declaration purports to show how this power of Peter was transmitted to his successor as the Bishop of Rome. They declare that Peter founded the church at Rome; became its first bishop, constituted this bishopric the Holy See, and that to this day Peter lives, presides, and judges in his successors in that bishopric, so that whoever obtains the office of Bishop of Rome does by the institution of Christ receive the entailed supremacy conferred on Peter over the whole church. This declaration closes with this clause: “If then any should deny that this be the institution of Christ the Lord, or by divine right that blessed Peter should have a perpetual line of successors in the supremacy over the universal church, or that the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy, let him be anathema.”

3. Their next declaration relates to the nature and extent of this power. Let us quote: “Hence we teach and declare that by the appointment of our Lord the Roman church possesses a priority of ordinary power over all other churches, and that this power or jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff, which is truly episcopal, is immediate, to which all, of whatever right or dignity, both pastors and people, both individually and collectively, are bound by their duty of hierarchical subordination and true obedience to submit, not only in matters which belong to faith and morals, but also in those that pertain to the discipline and government of the church throughout the world.”

The council makes him the supreme judge of the faith, and further declares that recourse may be had to his tribunal in all questions, the discussion of which belongs to the church, and that none may reopen his judgment, nor can any review his judgment. There is no greater authority than his. His office is not merely of inspection and direction, but of full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal church. His power is not mediate and extraordinary, but immediate and ordinary over each and all the churches, over each and all the pastors. Whoever denies it, let him be anathema.

4. Their fourth declaration is concerning infallibility. Citing one proof text only, “I have prayer for thee that thy faith fail not” (Luk 22:3 ). The council declares that this See of Holy Peter remains ever free from any blemish of error, and as through Christ’s prayer Peter’s faith failed not, so his. inerrancy of teaching is transmitted to his successors. Therefore, quoting their precise language: “It is a dogma, divinely revealed: that the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex-cathedra, that is, when in the discharge of the office of pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals, to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of that infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that his church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith of morals; and that, therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the church. But if any one which may God avert presume to contradict this, our definition: let him be anathema.”

It seems an incalculable thing, an inexplicable thing, that in the latter part of the nineteenth century such a quadruple declaration could be made by the distinguished and educated leaders of any form of religion. We may well inquire just here what proof is necessary to support these stupendous claims. This much proof is absolutely necessary: (1) Scriptural proof that the supreme and absolute power here claimed was conferred on Peter himself. (2) Scriptural proof that it was transmissible and actually transmitted. (3) Scriptural proof that the method of transmission was through a local pastorate. (4) Scriptural proof that the See of Rome was constituted that pastorate.

In his lectures on the church Cardinal Wiseman seems to consider himself able to furnish abundant proof, if not just this proof. The limits of this discussion admit only a suggestion of some things in reply: (1) All the apostles were declared to be a foundation of the church (Eph 2:19-22 ; Rev 21:14 ). (2) All the apostles had the same binding and loosing power (Joh 20:23 ; 3Jn 1:10 ). So also had Paul (1Co 5:3-5 ; 2Co 2:6-10 ; 2Co 13:2 ; 2Co 13:10 ). (3) So had every local church (Mat 18:18 ; 2Co 2:10 ). (4) For preserving unity and averting schism all the apostles and others were appointed and no human headship hinted at (1Co 12:25-30 ; Eph 4:11-16 ). (5) A short time after our Lord used the words, “Thou art Peter and on this rock I will build my church,” cited as indubitable proof by Papists of the institution of the office of Pope, none of the disciples knew who was to be the greatest, and our Lord, in reply to their question, was careful not to say that he had just given that office to Peter (Mat 18:1-4 ). Indeed he seems to deny that he had given it to any one (Mar 9:38-39 ). If the Papist claim, that the office of Pope was established in Peter at Caesarea Philippi, as recorded in Mat 16 , is correct, this incident a short time after recorded in Mat 18 , is inexplicable. (6) On a still later occasion we find the question of priority still unsettled. How else account for the fact that James and John, sons of Zebedee, through their mother, asked for the highest places in the kingdom? Why did not Jesus, in answering this request, reply that he had already given the highest place to Peter? Why did he expressly declare that none of them should exercise authority over the others, and that there should be no greatness and no primacy but in humility and service? (See Mat 20:20-28 ; Mar 10:35-45 .)

On a yet later occasion, up to the institution of the Lord’s Supper, we find the question still unsettled (Luk 22:24-40 ). And again it is declared that there shall be no primacy of authority and jurisdiction, but all are put on an equality, each occupying a throne. On still another occasion we have these words: “One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ.”

Now as the word “Pope” means father, this language is equivalent to saying, “And call no man your Pope on earth, for one is your Pope, which is in heaven.”

When we examine the history of the apostles, as recorded in Acts, and the references to apostolic authority cited in the letters, we find every reason to suppose that such supreme and absolute authority had not been conferred upon Peter. Take, as an example, the case of Samaria, as recorded in Act 8:14 . When the apostles heard that the Samaritans had received the word, it is not Peter who sends the others, but it is the others who send Peter. And even in the case of Cornelius, where Peter was specially empowered by divine authority for opening the door to the Gentiles, we find that he was held to an account for his action by the others (Act 11:1-18 ).

Again in the great consultation on a question of salvation, as recorded in Act 15 , there it not only no indication that Peter exercised Papal functions, but it is evident that the sentence was framed by James and not Peter, and that it was sent out in the name of all the apostles and the church. In Gal 2:11-12 , we find a proof of Peter’s deference to James, the half brother of our Lord, utterly inconsistent with the papal office. And the scriptural proof is overwhelming that there was no subordination of Paul to Peter. That Peter was not the fountain of authority to Paul. He did not derive his gospel from Peter. He withstood Peter to his face when Peter was in error. But examine particularly the following scriptures; 1Co 9:1-5 ; 2Co 10:8-15 ; 2Co 9:5-15 ; Gal 1:11-12 ; Gal 1:17 ; Gal 2:6-14 .

Another observation in this connection will be regarded as just. There is abundant New Testament proof of Paul’s presence and work in Rome, but not a hint in that Holy Book about Peter’s ever being there. It is equally true that Paul’s argument in 1Co 1:12 ; 1Co 3:4-23 , is adverse to the papal claim. But what is more remarkable still, Peter himself not only never claimed such authority, but exhorts against its exercise (1Pe 5:1-4 ).

We may add this pertinent fact: Inasmuch as Peter died be-fore John (that is, as John was the last surviving apostle), if Peter’s succession in the papal authority was transmitted through his pastorate at Rome to his successor, that uninspired successor would become the fountain of authority for the apostle John, yet alive, and John, who derived his authority directly from the Lord, would be under the absolute jurisdiction of one who had never known the Lord in the flesh, nor received authority from him.

The true history of that Vatican Council would make interesting reading. It was a secret conclave. Its program was dictated by the Pope. It was neither free nor ecumenical. The awful subordination of intelligent human conscience to such a dictum, and the horror it excited in the minds of even true and long-tested papists, may be gathered largely from a speech of the late Archbishop Kenrick, prepared to be delivered before this council, in which he sets forth some views very little different from those I have advocated as to the rock being Christ, and to the utter insufficiency of any scriptural proof for the papist claim, based on any of the other passages. It may be well to cite a few statements from this famous speech of Archbishop Kenrick. After combating the papal argument based on the several scriptures which have been cited, Archbishop Kenrick says:

The natural and primary foundation, so to speak, of the church, is Christ, whether we consider his person, or faith in his divine nature. The architectural foundation, that laid by Christ, is the twelve apostles, among whom Peter is eminent by virtue of the primacy. In this way we reconcile those passages of the fathers, which understand Him on this occasion (as in the instance related in Joh 6 , after the discourse of Christ in the synagogue of Capernaum), to have answer-ed in the name of all the apostles, to a question addressed to them all in common; and in behalf of all to have received the reward of confession.. In this explanation of the word rock, the primacy of Peter is guarded as the primary ministerial foundation; and the fitness of the words of Paul and John is guarded, when they call the apostles by the common title of the foundation; and the truth of the expression used with such emphasis by Paul is guarded: “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, even Christ Jesus” (1Co 3:2 ); and the adversaries of the faith are disarmed of the weapon which they have so effectively wielded against us, when they say that the Catholics believe the church to be built, not on Christ, but on a mortal man.

Again referring to the fallacy of the usual modern Romanist interpretation of Luk 22:31-32 , he cites his own “Observations,” from which we extract the following paragraph:

Neither is there any more value as a proof of papal inerrancy in those words of Christ to Peter (Luk 22:31-32 ), in which the advocates of this opinion think to find their main argument. Considering the connection in which Christ uttered them, and the words which he proceeded to address to all the apostles, it does not appear that any gift pertaining to the government of the church as then granted or promised to Peter, much less that the gift of inerrancy in Christ’s prayer for him that his faith might not fail that is, that he might not wholly or forever lose that trust by which thus far he had clung to Christ. The words of Christ, then, are to be understood, not of faith as a body of doctrine, in which sense it is never used by our Lord.

In another part of the speech he says: “I believe that the proofs of the Catholic faith are to be sought rather in tradition than in the interpretation of the scriptures.” And again,

We have in the Holy Scriptures perfectly clear testimony of a commission given to all the apostles, and of ths divine assistance promised to all. These passages are clear, and admit no variation of meaning. We have not even one single passage of scripture, the meaning of which is undisputed, in which anything of the kind is promised to Peter separately from the rest. And yet the authors of the Schema want us to assert that to the Roman pontiff, as Peter’s successor, is given that power which cannot be proved by any clear evidence of Holy Scripture to have been given to Peter himself, except just so far as he received it in common with the other apostles; and which, being claimed for him separately from the rest, it would follow that the divine assistance promised to them was to be communicated only through him, although it is clear from the passages cited that it was promised to him only in the same manner and in the same terms as to all the others. I admit, indeed, that a great privilege was granted to Peter above the rest; but I am led to this conviction by the testimony, not of the Scriptures, but of all Christian antiquity.

Yet again he says, with reference to the proposed declaration of infallibility:

I boldly declare that that opinion, as it lies in the Schema, is not a doctrine of faith, and that it cannot become such by any definition whatsoever, even by the definition of a council. We are the keepers of the faith committed to us, not its masters.

God only is infallible. Of the church, the most that we can assert is, that it does not err in teaching the doctrines of faith which Christ has committed to its charge; because the gates of hell are not to prevail against it. Therefore, infallibly, absolute and complete, cannot be predicated of it; and perhaps it would be better to refrain from using that word, and use the word “inerrancy” instead.

What need would there be to a Pope who accepted this notion, of the counsel of his brethren, the opinions of theologians, the investigations of the documents of the church? Believing himself to be immediately led by the divine Spirit, and that this Spirit is communicated through him to the church, there would be nothing to hold him back from pressing on in a course on which he had once entered.

At the close of his speech, arguing against undue haste, and meeting the objection of the Archbishop of Dublin that an examination into the facts would last too long, in that it would reach to the day of Judgment, he says,

If this be so, it were better to refrain from making any definition at all, than to frame one prematurely. But it is said the honor and authority of the Holy See demand a definition, nor can it be deferred without injury to both. I answer in the words of Jerome, substituting another word for the well-known word auctoritas: Major est calus orbis quam urbis. [“It is better to save the world than the city.”] I have done.

Let the reader understand that the authoritative pronunciamento of papal infallibility issued by the Vatican Council in July. 1870. is retroactive. It means that every ex-cathedra utterance of every Pope of the past ages is infallible and irreformable. As this decree of infallibility is retroactive, I will illustrate its awful significance by citing only four things out of many thousands:

1. In 1320, Pope Boniface VIII issued ex-cathedra a bull, entitled Unum Sanctum, which, under pain of damnation, claims for the Pope what is called the “double sword”; i.e., the secular as well as the spiritual, over the whole Christian world, and the power to depose princes and absolve subjects from their oaths of allegiance. If we would know whether this power has ever been exercised we should ask history to tell us what Pope Paul III did for Henry VIII; Pius V for Queen Elizabeth; how Henry IV of Germany on demand of the Pope went to Canossa, and there barefooted and clad in a hair shirt, waited in penitence, for days, in an outer court, until Pope Gregory VII condescended to receive and absolve him; how Pope Innocent III treated Raymond VI of Toulouse; and others too numerous to mention. Connect all this with the papal declaration that the Popes have never exceeded their powers.

2. In September, 1713, Pope Clement XI issued the bull called Unigenitus, which condemns 101 sentences in a book of the Jansenist, Pasquier Quesnel. Among the sentences condemned are some that assert the total depravity of fallen human nature, others the renewing power of the free grace of God in Christ, but particularly some that assert the right and duty of all Christians to read the Bible for themselves. In the bull of condemnation the following terms are indiscriminately employed to describe the condemned sentences: “False, captious, ill-sounding, offensive to pious ears, scandalous, rash, injurious, seditious, impious, blasphemous, suspected of heresy and savoring of heresy itself, near akin to heresy, several times condemned, and manifestly renewing various heresies, particularly those which are contained in the infamous propositions of Jansenius.”

I will cite now the condemned sentences that assert the right and duty of the people to read the Bible, and that there may be no mistake I give them in both Latin and English, retaining the original number of each condemned proposition:

(79). Utile et necessarum est ornni tempore, omni loco, et omni personarum generi, studere et cognoscere spiritum, pietatem et mystheria sacrae Scripturae. (80). Lectio sacrae Scripturae est pro omnibus. (81). Obscuritasi sancti verbi Dei non est Jaicis ratio dispensandi se ipsos ab ejus lectione. (82). Dies Dommicus a Christianis debet sanctificari lectionibus pietatiset super omnia sanctarum Scripturarum. (83). Damnosum est, velle Christianum ad hac lectione retrahere. (84). Abripere e Christianorum manibus Novum Testamentum seu eis illud clausum tener auferendo eis modum istud intelligendi, est illish Christi os obturare. (85). Interdicere Christianis lectioneum sacrae Scripturae, praesertim Evangelii, est interdicere usum luminis filis lucis et facere, ut uatiantur speciem quamdam excommunicationis.

As I know of no English version of Quesnel’s book, I submit a reasonably accurate translation of the foregoing Latin propositions:

(79). It is useful and necessary at all times, in every place, for all sorts of people, to study and investigate the spirit, piety, and mysteries of the Holy Scriptures. (80). The reading of the Holy Scriptures is for all. (81). The obscurity of the Holy Word of God is not a reason why laymen should excuse themselves from reading it. (82). The Lord’s day ought to be hallowed by Christians by readings of piety, and, above all, of the Holy Scripture. (83). It is injurious to wish that a Christian draw back from that reading. (84). To snatch the New Testament from the hands of Christians, or to keep it closed to them by taking away from them this manner of understanding it, is to close to them the mouth of Christ. (85). To forbid to Christians the reading of the Holy Scriptures, especially the Four Gospels, is to forbid the use of light to the sons of light, and to cause them to suffer a certain kind of excommunication.

Let the reader fix the solemn and awful fact in his mind matized by a so-called infallible Pope, claiming to be God’s viceregent, and delivering himself ex-cathedra in a sentence of condemnation which) according to the Vatican Council, is irreformable.

3. On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX, issued ex-cathedra, the bull entitled Ineffabilis Deus , declaring it to be a divinely revealed fact and dogma, which must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful on pain of excommunication, “that the most blessed Virgin Mary, in the first moment of her conception, by a special grace and privilege of Almighty God, in virtue of the merits of Christ, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin.” The reader will understand that this Romanist dogma of “the immaculate conception” has no reference to our Lord’s immaculate conception referred to in Luk 1:35 , but to Mary’s own conception and birth, concerning which the Scriptures are entirely silent. And to further show what is meant by this unscriptural and antiscriptural dogma, I now cite a paragraph of an encyclical letter, dated February 2, 1849, and sent out to the world by Pope Pius IX:

You know full well, venerable brethren, that the whole ground of our confidence is placed in the most holy Virgin henceforth, if there be in us any hope, if there be any grace, if there be any salvation, we must receive it solely from her, according to the will of Him who would have us possess all through Mary.

4. On December 8, 1864, Pope Pius IX, issued another encyclical letter, entitled Quanta Cura, and a Syllabus of Errors which he anathematized. It was this Syllabus that roused Mr. Gladstone to issue his pamphlet entitled “Vaticanism.”

As an encyclical letter of Pope Gregory XVI, in 1831, condemned the liberty of the press, so this encyclical letter, together with the Syllabus condemns liberty of conscience and worship, liberty of speech, free schools under secular control, the authority of the state to define the civil rights of the church, the binding force of any marriage not performed by Romanist authority, the right of a state called Catholic to tolerate any religion but the papal system. Not only are these and many like things condemned, but there are affirmed: The union of church and state, provided it be the Romanist church only; the right of the Romanist church to employ force. Those also are condemned who hold that Roman pontiffs have ever transgressed the limits of their lawful power. Hence I say that these four things, to wit: The bull Unum Sanctum, 1320; the bull Unigenitus, 1713; the bull Ineffabilis Deus, 1854; the Syllabus of Errors, 1864, serve as well as a thousand things to show what papal infallibility, decreed in 1870, means and involves. The dogma certainly places any Pope, however ignorant or immoral, in the place of God to the whole world, and substitutes a sinful and fallible woman for the immaculate Son of God.

QUESTIONS

1. What was the scene and who are the historians of the great confession of Peter at Philippi?

2. What three general observations on these accounts?

3. Give the outline submitted for the whole of sections 64-65.

4. What question arose in the minds of the people from Christ’ Galilean ministry?

5. What were the various answers and how do you account for the divergent answers to this question? Illustrate each.

6. What, probably, was our Lord’s prayer on this occasion, and what occasion, what Peter’s answer and what elements of his answer?

7. What was our Lord’s question addressed to the disciples on the meaning of the terms used?

8. What was Christ’s response to Peter’s answer and what is the inference to this effect?

9. What does Christ’s answer to Peter reveal and what other pas sages show the same thing?

10. Indicate the beginning and growth of the disciples’ faith in bin as the Messiah up to this time.

11. What important questions arise from this passage?

12. Who founded the church and when?

13. Upon what did Christ found his church and what is the scriptural proof?

14. What is the import of Deu 32:4 ; Deu 32:15 ; Deu 32:31 ; 1Sa 2:2 ; 2Sa 22:2 ; 2Sa 22:32 ; Psa 18:2 ; Psa 18:31 ; Psa 61:2 ; Psa 89:26 ; Psa 92:15 ; Psa 95:1 ; Isa 7:10 ; and 1Co 10:4 ?

15. How may faith in Christ be the foundation also? Proof.

16. What do the majority of Protestant scholars regard as the “rock'” here and in what sense is it true?

17. In what sense are the apostles the foundation and what is the scriptural proof?

18. In what sense may the church be founded on Peter?

19. What is the doctrinal foundation? Proof.

20. What is the Roman Catholic position on this question and on what scriptures do they rely to prove it?

21. What are the names of their various arguments? Explain each.

22. What is the resultant jurisdiction of the Pope?

23. What have the Romanist authorities cited here?

24. What four propositions of the Vatican Council? Explain each.

25. What proof is necessary to support these stupendous claims?

26. What was the author’s reply to Cardinal Wiseman’s contention?

27. Give a summary of Bishop Kenrick’s speech combating the papal argument.

28. What was the nature of the pronunciamento of the Vatican Council in 1870?

29. How does the author illustrate its awful significance?

30. What is the sum total of such dogma?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Ver. 1. Shall not taste of death ] Saints only taste of death; sinners are swallowed up of it, they are “killed with death,” Rev 2:23 . Whereas the righteous do mori vitaliter; death is to them neither total nor perpetual, Rom 8:10-11 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1. ] See on [33] Matt.

[33] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25 , the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified , thus, ‘ Mk.,’ or ‘ Mt. Mk.,’ &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others .

.] there are some here of the standers-by. Remember, our Lord was speaking to the multitude with his disciples .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

31 9:1. ] ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS APPROACHING DEATH AND RESURRECTION. REBUKE OF PETER. Mat 16:21-28 . Luk 9:22-27 . Luke omits the rebuke of Peter. Mark adds, Mar 8:32 , . . : and, in the rebuke of Peter, that the Lord said the words . In Mar 8:34-35 , the agreement is close, except that Luke adds , after . , and Mark . after , Mar 8:35 (it is perhaps worthy of remark that St. Mark writes in Mar 8:34 : possibly from the information of him, to whom it was said, ; , Joh 21:22 ); and informs us, in Mar 8:34 , that our Lord said these words, having called the multitude with his disciples . This Meyer calls a contradiction to Matt. and Luke , and thinks it arose from a misunderstanding of Luke’s . Far rather should I say that our account represents every detail to the life, and that the contains traces of it . What wonder that a crowd should here, as every where else, have collected about Him and the disciples?

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 8:27 to Mar 9:1 . At Caesarea Philippi (Mat 16:13-28 , Luk 9:18-27 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mark Chapter 9

Mar 9:2-13 .

Mat 17:1-13 ; Luk 9:28-36 .

Let us remark that those selfsame witnesses He takes and leads up “on a high mountain apart by themselves,” whom afterwards (Mar 14 ) He takes with Him to Gethsemane. What a change from the glories of the one scene to the exceeding sorrow unto death of the other! Yet was the connection close, and the, end of the Lord full of tenderness to His own: even as the mention of His rejection and death leads the way to the transfiguration in the three early Gospels. What is there, indeed, so real as His sufferings and His glories? How blessed to know and rest on them both in the midst of the vain show of men!

Again, let it be observed that Mark says less of the personal change and more as to His raiment than either Matthew or Luke. “And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became shining, exceeding white [as snow]*, such as fuller on earth could not white them.” He is ever the Servant-Son: as profound in His lowliness as He accepts with dignity what comes from above – dignity which manifests its source by a splendour which stains the pride of earthly glory. In Matthew there is no contrast with fuller on earth, but it is added most characteristically that “His face shone as the sun, and His raiment became white as the light” – a most suited image of supreme glory for the great King. In Luke how wonderfully adapted is the description! “And as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance became different, and His raiment was white [and] effulgent.” None but he mentions the Lord thus bowing down before His Father at this very moment; even as he directs us to that which was more personal than any other in the mighty change that thereon ensued.

*[“Snow”]: as AD and some later uncials, with 33, 69, Amiat. Syrsin pesch Memph. Goth. Edd. omit, after BCL, etc.

“And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answering, says to Jesus, Rabbitid=38#bkm89- , it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; for Thee one, and for Moses one, and for Elias one. For he knew not what to say; for they were filled with fear. And there came a cloud overshadowing them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Sontid=38#bkm90- : hear Him.* And suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one any longer, save Jesus only with themselves.” Having already treated of the scene in Matthew, I will not dwell on the astonishing circumstance further than to remark that the Lord discloses in this type of God’s kingdom what popular theologians so dislike – earthly things mingled, though in no wise confounded, with heavenly things (Joh 3 ). There are the glorified, in the persons of Moses and Elias; there are the men in their still unchanged natural bodies, Peter, James, and John; there is the central figure of the Lord, the Head of all things above and below. So it will be when the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is not any more a testimony of word from those who were eyewitnesses of His majesty, but made good and displayed in the day of the Lord.

*As to the omission of “hear Him” in 2Pe 1:17 , see the “Lectures on Matthew,” p. 376 f.

Ibid., p. 365 ff.

It is mere irreverence to deride what will be by-and-by, or what was then beheld anticipatively, as “a mongrel state of things,” “an abhorred mixture of things totally inconsistent with each other.” If transient glimpses of glory, if passing visits of glorious beings have been vouchsafed from the beginning down to our Saviour’s days, is it that man can read in these no more than a tale that is told? Is there to them no confirmation from the holy mount of the prophetic word which declares that Jehovah’s feet shall stand on Mount Olivet, not to dissolve all things as yet, but to be King over all the earth in that day when He shall come, and all His saints with Him? (cf. Zec 14 ). “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel. And I will sow her unto me in the land; and I will have mercy upon Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-Ammi, Thou art my people; and they shall say, My God” (Hos 2 ). “Having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, for administration of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth; in Him” (Eph 1:9 ). It is in vain to pervert this to the eternal state; it is as distinct from that final condition as from the present ways of God. For as the gathering of the Church is essentially eclectic, and in no sense a gathering of all things in heaven and earth into one, so eternity is after all dispensation (), administration, or stewardship, is over. The millennial reign, the kingdom of Christ, is the sole answer to this, even as to the other Scriptures. “Let Thy kingdom come, let Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon the earth” (Mat 6:10 ).

To resume: In reporting to us the voice that spake from the cloud (verse 7), Mark, like Luke, was led of the Spirit to omit the middle clause which Matthew gives us, the expression of the Father’s complacency in the Son. But this really imparts special emphasis to Christ’s title as Son, and the Father’s will that they should hear Him – not now Moses and Elias, whom Peter’s unintelligent haste had put on a level with Him. The Divine utterance, too, is scaled by the sudden disappearance of those who represented the law and the prophets, Jesus only being left with the disciples.

“And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what they had seen, till the Son of man should be risen from among the dead. And they kept that saying, questioning among themselves what rising from amongtid=38#bkm91- the dead was.” If they knew the Scriptures and God’s power of resurrection, as the Sadducees did not, certainly the rising from among the dead was as new to them as it is little understood yet by many disciples.

Hence the difficulties of learned men perplexed them. “And they asked Him, saying, Why do the scribes say that Elias must first have come? And He answering, told them, Elias indeed, having come first, restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of Man, that He. must suffer much, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, that Elias also is come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they would, as it is written of him.” Our Lord does not dispute the truth pressed by the scribes; but as He points out His own approaching shame and suffering before He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels, so He shows a similar application of Elias’s case in the person of John the Baptist, while the strict coming of Elias or Elijah awaits its fulfilment in the latter daytid=38#bkm92- . To faith the forerunner is already come, as well as the Lord Himself. Unbelief must feel both by-and-by.

Mar 9:14-29 .

Mat 17:14-20 ; Luk 9:37-42 .

The foot of the mountain presented a far different scene from the transfiguration glimpse of the kingdom, the disciples encircled by a vast multitude, the scribes questioning with them, and the power of Satan in man unremoved. Christ comes down, and all the people in amazement salute Him. Christ challenges the scribes; but what will He answer him who appealed in vain to the disciples for his son with the dumb spirit, his tormentor? “He answering him saith, O unbelieving generation! how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? Bring him unto Me.” Blessed Lord Jesus! perfect are Thy ways. No love, no tenderness, no long-suffering like Thine; yet didst Thou feel the faithlessness which knew not how by dependence on God and denial of self to draw on that energy which casts out Satan from his strongholds. Yet even in Thy presence, when deliverance, is nigh, how dost Thou try the faith and patience of those who learn all in Thee! “And they brought him unto Him: and when He saw him, immediately the spirit tore him, and he fell on the ground, and rolled foaming.” Not even yet came the rebuke of power. “And He asked his father, How long a time is it that it has been like this with him? And he said, From childhood, and often it has cast him both into the fire, and into waters, to destroy him; but if Thou couldst* do anything, be moved with pity on us, and help us. Jesus said to him, If thou couldst [is] believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And immediately the father of the child cried out and said [with tears], I believe: help mine unbelieftid=38#bkm92a- .” It was certainly but a feeble confession; yet was it true, and the heart was to Him only. “When Jesus saw that the crowd was running up together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And [the spirit] cried out and rent [him] much, and came out, and he became as one dead; insomuch that the most said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And He said to them, This kind can go out by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”|| It is an admirable picture of the ways of gracious power in the deliverance of man, Israel especially, from the well-nigh fatal possession of the enemy, with a serious intimation to the disciples wherein lay the secret of their weakness.

*So Edd., with BD, etc., I. “Canst” is in AC, etc., 33, 69.

The oldest and best authorities [B, etc., Memph. Arm. AEth., followed by Edd.] omit “to believe,” though it has large uncial support [ADN and later uncials, most cursives, Old Lat., Chrys.]. Perhaps the difficulty may have led to the omission. The question of power turns on faith (B.T.). After “believe” Ccorr, 1, 33, 69 and most other cursives, Syr.sin, Chrys., add “Lord,” which Edd. omit, after ABCpmD, etc.

The evidence [BL, etc., Syrsin Memph. Arm. AEth., followed by Edd.] is strong against “with tears” (B.T.). The words are inserted in DN and later uncials, most cursives, Old Lat., Syr.pesch hcl Goth.

“Him”: so pmACcorr EN, etc., 1, 33, 69, Amiat. Syrr. Memph. Edd. omit, after corrBCpmDL.

||The evidence is weak [Bpm] against “and fasting” (B.T.). The T.R. has the support of ACDLN, etc., most cursives, Old Lat., Syr. (including Sinai palimpsest), and Memph. Lachmann retained the words.

Mar 9:30-32 .

Mat 17:22 , Mat 17:23 ; Luk 9:43-45 Joh 7:18-31 ; Joh 10:32-34 .

Alas! it is not lack of power we have to own, but scanty entrance into His mind. The fleshly mind can think and talk of glory here below, but the cross breaks in neither understood nor welcome. “And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it. For He taught His disciples, and said to them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men tid=38#bkm93- and they shall kill Him; and after that He is killed, He shall rise again after three days.* But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask Him.”

*”After three days”: so Edd., after BCpmDL, Syrhcl mg, Memph. – ACcorrEN, etc., 1, 69, Syrsin pesch. have “on the third day.”

Mar 9:33-37 .

Mat 17:24-18:5 ; Luk 9:46-48 .

The truth is that other thoughts preoccupied them, which hindered the inshining of God’s grace displayed in the cross, as well as the terrible evidence it gave to the alienation of man from God. The carnal mind which would so end in man was actively at work in themselves; and He knew it, and laid it bare before their eyes. “And He came to Capernaum, and being in the house, He asked them, Of what were ye reasoning* by the way? And they remained silent; for by the way they had been reasoning with one another who [was] greatest.” And how gracious and faithful the lesson! “And He sat down and called the Twelve, and says to them, If anyone desire to be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all. And He took a little child, and set him in the midst of them; and when He had taken it in His arms, He said to them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me; and whoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him who sent Metid=38#bkm94- .”

*”Reasoning”: ANX, etc., 1, 13, 69, Syr. Arm. Goth. AEth. here add “among yourselves” (with one another), which Edd. omit, after BCDL, Amiat. Memph.

Mar 9:38-42 .

Luk 9:49 , Luk 9:50 ; Matt, 18: 6.

Nor is it only the disciples as a whole who need reproof and correction from the Master. As Peter on the mount of glory, at the beginning, so. ere the chapter closes, John betrays the spirit of egoism which shrouds the proper glory of Christ in the very effort of nature to exalt Him. “And John answered Him, saying, Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in Thy name who does not follow;* and we forbad him, because he* does not follow us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no one who shall do a miracle in My name, and be able soon [after] to speak evil of Me. For he that is not against us is for ustid=38#bkm95- .”

*”Who does not follow”: so Nestle, with A(D)N, most cursives, Syrhcl Goth. Arm. Swete and others omit, as BCL, Syrsin pesch, Memph. “Because he” omitted by DX, 1, 69, Lat. Arm. On the conflation here see W. H., “Introduction,” p. 150 ff.

The T.R. is (“forbad”), supported by ACNX, etc. Edd. adopt (“were forbidding”), with BD.

It is not as in Mat 12 , where Christ is rejected by the power of unbelief under Satan’s instigation, which is blind to the testimony of the Spirit of God that it hates and blasphemes. There compromise is impossible, halfheartedness perilous and fatal. “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth” (Mat 12:30 ). Men it is a question between Christ and the darkening, blaspheming power of the devil, the only safety is in being with Christ, the only service is gathering with Him. But where no such question is raised, but, on the contrary, some one, little known and little knowing, it may be, is true to the Lord’s nametid=38#bkm97- ff. as far as he knows it, let us rejoice to own him, and the Lord’s evident honour put on him, though “he does not follow us.” He is no enemy, but a friend of that name which he owns as best he knows. “He that is not against us,” says the Lord in such a case, “is for ustid=38#bkm96- .” So to honour that name in the least thing shall not be forgotten, as also the slighting it, so as to stumble the least believer,* is ruinous to him who is guilty.

*In verse 42 the words “in Me” are supported by ABCcorr ELNX, Syrsin pesch hcl, Arm. Goth., but Edd. omit them on the slender basis of , which, presumably, would not have availed for their admission under reversed conditions. It will be observed that the last-found treasure in the convent at Sinai upholds the “received text.”

Mar 9:43-50 .

Mat 18:8 , Mat 18:9 .

This leads the Lord into a warning of searching solemnity. “And if thy hand ensnare thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter intotid=38#bkm99- life maimed, than having the two hands to go away into hell* into the fire unquenchable [where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched]. And if thy foot ensnare thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life lame, than having the two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire unquenchable [where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched]. And if thine eye ensnare thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire: where their wormtid=38#bkm100- dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” The burden, “where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched,” falls on the conscience-stricken like the bell that tolls the felon to his doom. Would that it might kindle our hearts who believe into an unwonted earnestness on behalf of perishing souls! (cf. 2Co 5:10 , 2Co 5:11 ).

*The words “into hell” are attested by most and the best copies and versions, but are not in the Sinai palimpsest.

The clause bracketed in verses 44, 46 is in ADN, 69, Old Latin, Syrpesch hcl Goth. AEth., but Edd. omit, following BCL, etc., and Syrsin.

But there is direct profit for the disciples also. For if “every one shall be salted with firetid=38#bkm101- ,” it is also true that “every sacrifice shall be salted with salt”;* the former statement, in my opinion, being as large toward man as such as the latter emphatically and exclusively regards the saints set apart to God. “Salt is good,” concludes our Lord, “but if the salt have become saltless, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one anothertid=38#bkm101a- .” How precious and practical the exhortation! The first requisite is this holy preservative energy in our souls, and then for one with another a spirit of peace. “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace,” adds the Apostle James, (Jas 3:18 ).

*Some witnesses [BL, I, and several other cursives, with Syrsin] followed by the Revisers leave out the latter half of verse 49. [It is supported by ACNS and most later uncials, and by cursives, with Syrpesch, and other versions.] The substance of the truth abides, no doubt, but the solemnity of the warning appears to be enfeebled in the curtailed form; and the distinction between the wicked and righteous as tested by God’s judgment, moral in grace, or final in verse 49 (B.T.).

NOTES ON Mar 9 .

88 Mar 9:1 . – “Come in power.” The Greek form () expresses “come in its completeness” as the end of a gradual process (Plumptre).

Trench (“Studies in the Gospels,” pp. 185ff.) rightly rejects the idea that Pentecost was the fulfilment of these words. But he falls short of the truth when he sees the fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. J. Scott Russell’s views). Even so, partial fulfilment, as he puts it, is “a rehearsal of the final.” Pentecost in Act 2 was that. As to the same writer’s connection of Mat 24:34 with the complete fulfilment, see notes below on Mar 13:30 . Here, as there, we have illustration of an Apostolic principle as to (2Pe 1:20 ).

That the first Christians looked for the return of the Lord in their lifetime, as Bishop Robertson says in his Bampton Lectures, one may suppose to have been the case previously, to the fall of Jerusalem. That event, being unattended by His , must have widened their understanding of His words.

Dr. Horton, on the same page of his “Revelation and the Bible” where already an error of his has been pointed out (note 59), goes wrong with Alford over Paul’s words in 1Th 4:15 . Neither the elastic use of the Greek present participles there nor the English idiom of the common translation requires our understanding the Apostle to say that he would be one of those alive at the time of the . The form of words, it is certain, may be equivalent to “those of us who,” etc. So Theodoret, Chrysostom, Bengel, Dean Vaughan, and others (cf. Greek at Heb 10:39 ). Moreover, the Apostle employs the Old Testament formula: he was speaking – i.e., oracularly. It was of God, for the benefit of believers throughout the dispensation, that he expressed thus vaguely the “blessed hope” of that event. See, further, note 134.

89 Mar 9:5 . – Dalman traces all three designations of Rabbi (Mark), Lord (Matthew), and Master (Luke), to the Aramaic equivalent preserved by Mark (cf. note 7).

90 Mar 9:7 . – “Beloved Son.” Cf. Mar 1:11 and 2Pe 1:17 ; so in Mat 17:5 , but in Luk 9:35 the critical reading is “chosen,” which is very much the equivalent of in Semitic languages; whilst in Hellenistic Greek it was a synonym of – only-begotten. In Luke’s account (Luk 3:22 ) of the baptism of JESUS he uses , there unchallenged.

91 Mar 9:10 . – With the Pharisees’ idea of resurrection of the dead the disciples were familiar, but resurrection from among the dead, or first resurrection, of which the Lord was Himself to be the “first-fruits” (1Co 15:20 ), was an enigma. The Authorised Version did not bring out the force in this connection of the preposition .

92 Mar 9:13 . – According to Matthew’s parallel, the Lord here made use of Mal 4:5 , as well as of Mal 3:1 in Mat 2:10 (cf. Mar 1:2 ); whilst the Baptist, according to Joh 1:23 , quoted Isa 40:3 , to which alone he appeals. Isaiah set forth the witness of the forerunner.

92a Mar 9:24 . – For other than personal faith inducing grace, cf. Luk 5:20 .

93 Mar 9:31 . – The into whose hands the Lord was to be betrayed were Gentiles. It is impossible to get a satisfactory explanation of the title “Son of man” in a passage like this from the collocation of Son of man and men as treated from the point of view now popular. The Lord was rejected (1) as Christ by the Jews; (2) as Son of man by the Gentiles as well. Under such circumstances, the modern conception of Him as ideal is feeble in the extreme (see notes 30, 35).

94 Mar 9:37 . – The language here resembles that of John’s Gospel (Sir A. F. Hort).

95 Mar 9:38-42 . – There is no such break in the connection between verses 37 and 42 as Carpenter supposes (pp. 187, 202). Cf. verses 34 and 38, which describe the same spirit, if from different points of view.

96 Mar 9:40 . – Here we have forbearance commended, in contrast with a sectarian party spirit; whilst Mat 12:30 speaks of latitudinarianism as affecting Christ personally. (Renan supposed the passages to be contradictory.) The first Evangelist supplies the principle applicable to ourselves, Mark that applicable to others. Cf. Epistles 1 and 2 of John. Neutrality here means aid; indifference, in Matthew’s Gospel, hostility to Christ.

97 Mar 9:41 . – We have here JESUS speaking of Himself as “the Christ.” Cf. note tid=37#bkm82- .

98 Mar 9:42 . – “In Me.” See critical note. The same words in Mat 18:6 are unquestioned. Cf. note 54, and also Ewald, “Theology of the Old and the New Testament,” p. 275 f. It is noticeable that in recording this utterance of the Lord each of the three Synoptists uses a distinct expression for “it were better,” etc.: Mark, . . . ; Mat 18:6 , ; Luk 17:2 , .

99 Mar 9:43 ff. – ” Enter into.” See Dalman, p. 95, on this terminology.

100 Mar 9:48 . – “Worm.” See Isa 66:24 . It is, of course, metaphorical (Beet, “The Last Things,” p. 180 f.). As to recognition by the Pharisees of endless punishment, see Schrer, 26, or Josephus, Bell. Jud. ii. 8, 14.

101 Mar 9:49 . – Cf. Keble’s lines:

“Salted with fire they seem to show

How spirit lost in endless woe

May undecaying live . . . . “

Mason remarks: “When our Lord says their worm . . . the thought is rather that of unintermittency than that of interminableness” (” The Faith of the Gospel,” p. 418 f.).

101a Cf. Col 4:6 . On germs in Mark of Pauline teaching, see B. Weiss, “Theology of the New Testament,” 63 f., etc., and Cf; note 122.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

said = continued to say.

Verily I say unto you. See the four similar asseverations, Mat 10:23; Mat 16:28, Mat 23:36, Mat 24:34

Verily = Amen. See note on Mat 5:18 not the some word as in Mar 9:1 Mar 9:2.

not = in no wise, or by no means. Greek. ou me. App-105. This solemn asseveration was not needed for being kept alive six days longer. It looked forward to the end of that age.

till. Greek. eos an. The Particle “an” makes the clause conditional: this condition being the repentance of the nation at the call of Peter, Act 3:19-26 and Compare Mar 28:25, Mar 28:26.

have seen = may have seen. Greek. eidon. App-133.

the kingdom of God. See App-114.

come = actually come.

with = in. Greek. en. App-104. Not the same word as in verses: Mar 9:9, Mar 9:4, Mar 9:8, Mar 9:10, Mar 9:16, Mar 9:19, Mar 9:24.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1.] See on[33] Matt.

[33] When, in the Gospels, and in the Evangelic statement, 1Co 11:23-25, the sign () occurs in a reference, it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in the other Gospels, which will always be found indicated at the head of the note on the paragraph. When the sign () is qualified, thus, Mk., or Mt. Mk., &c., it is signified that the word occurs in the parallel place in that Gospel or Gospels, but not in the other or others.

.] there are some here of the standers-by. Remember, our Lord was speaking to the multitude with his disciples.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 9

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power ( Mar 9:1 ).

Now what did He mean by that? Because those disciples have all died, and we have not yet seen the kingdom of God come with power. Was Jesus mistaken? Well, first of all, no. Jesus was not mistaken. If my interpretation of a scripture would make it appear that Jesus was mistaken, then my interpretation is wrong. If my interpretation of what Jesus said would make what Jesus said ridiculous or foolish, my interpretation is wrong. And many times people misinterpret the words of Jesus.

And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller [launderer] on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elijah with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus ( Mar 9:2-4 ).

Now, Peter, James and John were taken up into this high mountain, Mount Hermon, which is just there at Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is just right at the base. So Jesus, six days later, took them on up into this mountain, and there He was transfigured before them. His raiment did shine. And while He was there in this transfigured state, Moses and Elijah appeared, and they were talking with Him. Jesus said, “There are some standing here that are not going to die until they see the kingdom with power.” And there, God took them, I believe, into a time chamber. And they saw Christ in the glory that He will have and the power when He comes again to the earth, talking with Moses and Elijah. So they were taken out of this time zone, into the eternal, and they actually saw the kingdom of God coming with power and glory. Or they saw the kingdom of God coming with power, as He declares.

And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah ( Mar 9:5 ).

And there was the beginning of the desire to create shrines in the Holy Land to commemorate the sites where the exciting things happened. Poor Peter. If he only knew the mess that he made of the Holy Land. And why did he say this?

For he wist not [didn’t know] what to say ( Mar 9:6 );

Now, if you don’t know what to say, it’s probably better to say nothing. There’s some people that say, “Well, you know, you better say something.” And so, what you say is foolish because you just don’t know what to say. It’s really better to keep your mouth shut. Better keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re a fool, than open it and dispel all their doubts. They were afraid, he didn’t know what to say, so he makes this stupid suggestion.

And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him ( Mar 9:7 ).

We read in Hebrews chapter one, “God, who in different times of history and in different ways spoke to our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His own dear Son.” Now, here was Moses. What does Moses represent? God speaking to man through the law. Here was Elijah. What does Elijah represent? God speaking to man through the prophets. How is the Old Testament usually divided? The law and the prophets. You remember, so often Jesus would say, “In this is all the law and the prophets.” That’s how the Old Testament was divided. God, in various times and in various ways, spoke to the fathers through the law and through the prophets. But in these last days, He’s spoken unto us by His own dear Son. So, here Moses who stands for the law, Elijah who stands for the prophets, are there talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and God says, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him, hear ye Him.” For the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. “Hear ye Him.” There are still some who would like to go back under the law instead of living in that grace and truth through Jesus Christ, but God is saying, “Look, this is My beloved Son. Hear ye Him.”

Now, He did not say anything contrary to the law and the prophets. “I did not come,” He said, “to destroy, but to fulfill.” And He fulfilled the law and the prophets. His life was a fulfillment. But in the fulfilling of the law and the prophets, He brought to us this glorious grace of God whereby we have our relationship with God today, our standing before God through grace.

And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save [except] Jesus only with themselves. [Moses and Elijah disappeared.] And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things that they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean ( Mar 9:8-10 ).

They just could not understand this.

And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elijah must first come? ( Mar 9:11 )

Now, you see they’ve recognized that, “You’re the Messiah.” “But the scribes say that Elijah has got to come before the Messiah.”

And he answered and told them, Elijah verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things ( Mar 9:12 ),

“Now, you’re saying, ‘How is it that the scriptures say that Elijah has to first come?’ But how is it that the scriptures say that the Son of Man, the Messiah, is going to have to suffer many things?” He’s pointing out another aspect. Yes, the scriptures do say that Elijah will first come, but it also says that the Son of Man, or the Messiah, is going to suffer many things. Therefore, there are the two aspects of the coming of the Messiah: He will be coming in power and glory, and prior to that, Elijah will come and restore all things. But Elijah has come, for John the Baptist actually fulfilled that ministry of Elijah as the forerunner. And so, He said,

But I say unto you, That Elijah is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed [desired], as it was written of him ( Mar 9:13 ).

So, even the word was fulfilled concerning John the Baptist.

And when he came to his disciples [back down from the hill now], he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes [were] questioning with them. And straightway [immediately] all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him [and greeted him]. And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? ( Mar 9:14-16 )

Oh, here now is the shepherd, and He sees His sheep in trouble. These scribes are there talking with them, and He’s going to go right to their defense. “What were you talking to them about?” A true heart of the shepherd to protect His sheep from the wolves.

Here at Calvary Chapel one evening when we were in the other chapel, and we were conducting at that time the Monday night studies, many had come forward to receive Christ. And I was back in the back room ministering to them, and when I came out from the back room, having ministered to those who had come to receive Christ, I saw these guys in suits, and that’s the first thing that made me suspicious. Because in those days, nobody wore suits, especially on Monday night. And they had little groups of kids around them and they were talking a mile a minute. And I said, “Romaine, get ’em!” And Romaine and I went out and we began to tap these guys and say, “Come over here, we want to talk to you.” And so, we gathered these guys in suits together. I said, “Okay, who are you guys?” I mean, I saw them and I saw them talking to these kids. You know, many of the kids were just a week or two weeks or a month old in Jesus, and when these guys were all there and talking so fast, you just knew that they were trying to lay some weird trip on them. And I mean, I was ready to make a whip and drive these guys out of the temple, and I was really hot. I said, “What were you talking to them about? Who are you guys? Where did you come from?” “Oh, brother, bless God, praise God, hallelujah, oh, brother, bless God, oh, brother, brother, brother…” I said, “Wait a minute! Don’t ‘brother’ me! Who are you? Where did you come from? What are you doing here?” “Oh, bless God, brother, hallelujah…” I said, “You’re not answering my question.” And by their very actions, I had natural discernment, not spiritual. I wasn’t in the Spirit at the moment. I said, “Are you guys from the Witness Lee group?” “Oh, bless God, brother, praise the Lord, brother, hallelujah, oh, bless God, brother…..yeah!” And Romaine says, “Out!” “Oh, but brother, bless God, we’re brothers man. Why don’t you become the local church of Santa Ana? You can be the local church here.” And I said, “You’ve got to be kidding! For me to say that we are the only true church in Santa Ana, the only true representation of Jesus Christ and the unity of the body of Christ in Santa Ana, is ridiculous. There are many excellent churches in Santa Ana and we are not the only true church. And we could never take that type of a position or title for ourselves.” Romaine says, “Out!” And they went out doing the whole “oh, brother, brother, hallelujah” bit as Romaine was getting them to their cars. And he followed them all the way to the car, and said, “I’m going to stand here, and I want to see you out of that driveway and never come back here again.”

I understand how Jesus felt when He saw the scribes having cornered His little sheep down here who were not yet that far along in their understanding. And He moves right in and says, “Alright! What were you questioning them about?”

And one of the multitude [one of the men in the crowd] answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth [at the mouth], [he] gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway [immediately] the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he [Jesus] asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child [Oh, when he was a child]. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway [immediately] the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief ( Mar 9:17-24 ).

A picture that just moves with paithos??. You can imagine the feeling of this father to see his son in this condition, unable to speak. But worse than that, going into these fits where his body is writhing, where he begins to foam at the mouth and gnash his teeth, where oftentimes he would be jumping in the fire and going through the fits or jumping into the water and going through the fits. And how it must have just really ripped on the heart of this father. And in desperation, he’s brought him to Jesus. And Satan is taking his last fling. Even while he’s coming to Christ, the spirit takes hold of him, begins to tear him; he falls on the ground and he’s wallowing there and foaming at the mouth. And the father in desperation says, “Oh, Lord, if you can do anything, please, please help us. Have compassion.” And Jesus said, “If you believe, all things are possible to him that believes.” Oh, what a glorious promise. All things are possible to him who believes.

“And immediately the father of the child cried out and said, ‘Oh, Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!…God, help that area of my life where there’s still unbelief.’

When Jesus saw that the people came running together ( Mar 9:25 ),

And of course, for something like this, the crowd would come running out of curiosity.

he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him ( Mar 9:25 ).

Now, interesting that Jesus would make that second command, “enter him no more.” Jesus said, “When an evil spirit goes forth out of a man, he goes through the wilderness areas looking for a house to inhabit, and if he finds none, he’ll come back to the house from whence he was driven. And if he finds it all swept and clean and garnished, he’ll go out and get seven other spirits that they might come and abide in that house. And the last estate of that man is worse than his first.” That’s why Jesus said, “Don’t enter him again.”

One night I’m going to talk about demonology. I don’t want to get into that tonight. It’s a subject I really don’t like to talk about, but we probably should know about it. Fortunately, here in the United States, there is not really much true demon possession; there is a lot of imagined demon possession, but not much true demon possession. All kinds of demon oppression. I mean, as a child of God you’re wrestling against these principalities and powers. We are in a spiritual warfare. But because of the strong Christian influence, we do not see much actual demon possession here. Not nearly as much as you see when you go into some of the pagan foreign countries where the light of the gospel does not shine bright; there you see actual cases of demon possession, many of them. We are seeing more here. As the occult and the eastern mystic religions are developing and growing in the United States, we are beginning to see more demon possession. And as a result of that, I will be talking about it some night. But I really don’t want to get into it tonight.

So the spirit cried, and rent [tore] him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead [lying there like he was dead]; insomuch that many [of the people around] said, He is dead [Oh, he died]. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? ( Mar 9:26-28 )

Good question. They were powerless in this case.

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting ( Mar 9:29 ).

Now, it would appear that there are rankings of demon spirits. And the Bible does definitely speak of the rankings, principalities, powers, which are all rankings; and there are some that are more powerful than others and are more resistant to exorcism than are others. And this was one of those more powerful demons; the disciples at this point weren’t able to handle it. Jesus did. And His answer to them is that this kind can only come out by fasting and prayer. We’ll be talking about the various kinds of evil spirits when we do talk about that.

And they departed from thence, and passed through Galilee; [and he tried to do it secretly] and he would not that any man should know it. For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is [to be] delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day ( Mar 9:30-31 ).

Notice He’s emphasizing this; He’s trying to prepare them now. They know now He’s the Messiah, but He’s trying to prepare them for a different Messiah than what the people were actually looking for.

But they understood not that saying, and [they] were afraid to ask him ( Mar 9:32 ).

They did not understand how He was talking about His death and resurrection. And they were just afraid to question Him about it.

And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? [What were you fellows arguing about back there on the path?] But they held their peace [they were ashamed to tell him: they were silent], for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest ( Mar 9:33-34 ).

And they were embarrassed to say, “Well, we were, you know…Peter said he’s going to be the greatest, and I know I am. And we were arguing about that.” They were embarrassed to confess to the Lord the petty argument that they were in about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. Saying things, that when Jesus said, “What were you saying?” they were ashamed to tell Him; they were embarrassed to tell Him.

We have all been in that position. We’ve said things that we would be embarrassed to tell Jesus what we said. He should say, “Well, what did you say?” “Well, nothing Lord.” We’ve all done things that we would be embarrassed for Jesus to know that we did them, as if He didn’t. That’s what we need to know; Jesus knows everything we say; He knows everything we do. The Bible says, “Everything is naked and open before Him with whom we have to do.” You don’t hide anything from Him. We need to be more aware of that. We need to be conscious of the presence of Jesus at all times, so that we know that we’re not hiding anything from Him. And because He knew what they were arguing about, He said, “Come fellows, I want to talk to you.” “And He sat down,” which is the position that the Rabbi took whenever He was going to teach important lessons. And instead of rebuking them for arguing about who was going to be the greatest, instead of condemning them for this, He told them how they could be the greatest.

You know, Jesus so often has a different attitude towards me than what I anticipate. I’ve messed up, I’ve failed. I think, “Oh, man, He’s going to wail on me now.” Because the Lord says, “Come here, Chuck. I want to talk to you.” “Uuuhh.” You’re expecting Him to really lay it on you, and instead, He’s so compassionate. He said, “Now look, this is the way you can be successful. Now you failed that time because…” And instead of condemning me for my failure, He only sits down and points out how I can avoid that failure the next time, how I can be successful the next time. I love the Lord because He has never condemned me. He’s always so compassionate; He’s always so helpful. Jesus said, “I didn’t come to condemn the world, but that the world through me might be saved. And he who believes is not condemned.” I believe in Jesus. Because I believe in Jesus, I’m not perfect. I do stumble, I do fall, but I’m not condemned. When I stumble and fall, He doesn’t come and condemn me, He only shows me how to walk. So, they’re arguing a petty argument over who’s going to be the greatest; He doesn’t condemn them for that and say, “What a stupid thing to be arguing about!” He says, “Look, you want to be the greatest? This is how: if any man wants to be first, let him be last, and let him become the servant.” He said on another occasion, “If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, then learn to be the servant of all.” He had said before, “If you seek to save your life, you’re going to lose it. But if you’ll lose your life for My sake, then you’ll find it; you’ll save it.” So, you want to be great? Here’s the path to greatness. Not as you think. It’s not through ambition and drive and pushing yourself ahead of the others and pulling others down that you might ascend above them; but the path of greatness is by taking the place of a servant and beginning to serve one another. Jesus said, “Whosoever would be the chief among you, let him be the servant of all.”

Now, the real position of the pastor of the church is that of the servant to the church, the servant of all. I oftentimes tell the people back in the prayer room who come to accept Jesus Christ, “What are the fringe benefits now of your becoming a child of God is, you just picked up a bunch of servants.” For we who are on the staff here at Calvary, the word minister actually means servant. And we are here to serve your needs, and we’re available to serve you. That’s what it’s all about. And Jesus is saying, “Look, if you want to be great, then be a servant.”

And he took a child, and set him [the child] in the midst of them: and when he had taken him [the child] in his arms ( Mar 9:36 ),

I love this picture of Jesus. He’s takes a little child, and He holds the child. He’s sitting there, and probably sets him on his lap and holding him there in his arms.

he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, [actually] receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me ( Mar 9:36-37 ).

Now, Jesus is saying actually, “What you do for a child is being done for me.” Now, in that culture the children were considered almost non-persons until they came of age. No one would take time for a child. They were just allowed to grow up until they became of age, and then they lay on them the responsibilities of adulthood. But Jesus is saying, “Take time for the children. Whatever you’re doing for a child, you’re actually doing for me. If you receive a child in My name, you’re receiving Me; and if you receive Me, you’re receiving the Father, the One that sent Me.”

Now, the disciples are always throwing in things that don’t really relate to the situation that He’s talking about, because they didn’t always understand what He was talking about.

And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one [who was] casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and [so] we forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly [actually] speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward ( Mar 9:38-41 ).

Now, John has interjected this sectarianism, “Lord, he was casting out devils, but he didn’t call himself a Baptist, so we told him to stop it.” He said, “Hey, learn that you’re working together. If he’s doing it in My name, he can’t be speaking evil of Me. Let him alone.” God help the church that someday we might wise up to the fact that we’re all serving the same Lord. May God help us to identify the enemy. It’s not the church down the street. We should be working with them for the cause of Jesus Christ. But the church is so busy competing and fighting with each other, that we’re really not doing much to damage the enemy’s territory. God help us. May the church of Jesus Christ really get together and learn to love one another, and learn to get along with one another.

We were down in Mexicali this week visiting with the fellowship that is there in Mexicali. God is blessing the fellowship there in a tremendous way. Over 900 people were out at the banquet where I spoke on Friday night. We loaned the people down there several thousand dollars to buy a building that they might worship there. Because their fellowship was growing so rapidly, they had to have a place to meet. And so, there was this place for sale that was an ideal location for them. So, we…Calvary Chapel, that’s you…we loaned them the money so they could purchase this church. Well, they made arrangements to pay off the loan and the people had pledged the money over a period of time to pay off the loan to us. But in the meantime, this peso devaluation thing has hit. And when we made the arrangements, there were twenty-five pesos to a dollar. Now there are seventy pesos to the dollar; and though they’ve paid us back $150,000, they owe us now more in pesos than what they owed when they began. And it’s a very sad thing for the church. And also the government has put a freeze, and you can’t get dollars down there and all. And so, they were all worried because they didn’t know how they were going to make their payments to us. And so they had a meeting and I was sitting with them in the meeting, and they said, “Now, we don’t know; what can we do to make the payments?” And we said, “Forget it. We’re all one body. We’re not worried about the payments. We’re all one body in Jesus. And so, as long as this situation exists and there’s a problem, just forget it. We’re not concerned; we’re not worried. Because you’re doing the work of the Lord here, and we’re all one body in Jesus.” We loaned the U.S. World Mission Center in Pasadena $300,000 to buy their facility up there. And that was supposed to have been paid off two years ago in October, and they were unable to pay it off. And so, they sent their committee down here to tell how sorry they were and what they were going to try to do and all. And I said, “Hey, we’re all one body. It’s the Lord money. You’re doing the Lord’s work. Don’t worry about it. Forget it. We’re not worried about it. It’s God’s money.” We’re all one body; we’re all the church. God help us that we can see that truth; that we are all serving the same Lord, one body in Christ.

Now, Jesus has this little child in His arms, and He’s talking about receiving a child and ministering to a child, “and you’re ministering to Me,” and John throws in this sectarian bit and Jesus throws it back out. But then He comes back to the child and He said,

And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones [these little children, whoever would offend one of these little ones] that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea ( Mar 9:42 ).

I love the spunk of Jesus. “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon this little child…” And He’s saying, “Take a millstone, tie it around his neck and toss him out into the sea.” Hey, that millstone…you ought to see the millstone there in Capernaum. It’s about as big as this pulpit, with a round hole in the middle. And it is a round stone, sort of a lava stone. I mean, if that thing were hung around your neck and you’re tossed into the Sea of Galilee, you’re going to go down fast. How evil it is to plant doubt in the heart of a child. How evil it is to destroy the faith, that beautiful faith that children have. You know, whenever I’m sick, who do I call to pray for me? Children. I love the children to pray for me. I don’t want any doubts. Call my grandkids, “Pray for Grandpa.” The beauty of that faith, the simplicity of that faith that they have in God. What kind of a twisted mind would try to destroy the beautiful faith of a child? Whatever type of twisted mind it is, Jesus said, “It would be better for that person to take a millstone and hang it on his neck and toss him on into the sea, than to destroy the faith of one of these little children who trust in Me.”

If thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched ( Mar 9:43-44 ).

Now, this is Jesus talking, friend. There are a lot of modernists today who say, “Well, hell isn’t hell. There is no hell.”

There were a modernist minister and a Unitarian minister and a Christian Science practitioner going down the road together. They ran into a concrete abutment and all three of them immediately were in eternity. The modern minister says, “I can’t be here; this place doesn’t exist.” The Unitarian said, “It’s only a state of mind.” And the Christian Science said, “I’m not here and it’s not hot.”

But this is Jesus talking, and I am afraid to add to or to take away from His words. I think He knows more about it than does Herbert W. Armstrong, or the Jehovah Witnesses. And rather than listening to what they may say, it is better to just listen to what Jesus says. According to Him, it is a real place. A place to be avoided at all costs. “Better to live a life in a maimed condition than to go into hell whole, where the fire will never be quenched, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.”

And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life [into life lame], than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched ( Mar 9:45 ):

The word translated hell here is not the usual Greek word translated hell. The usual Greek word is hades, which does speak of a temporary abode for the unrighteous dead in the heart of the earth. But this particular Greek word is gehenna. This is not a temporary abode; this is the place of the final consignment to Satan and his angels. And it was prepared for Satan and his angels. And those who choose to cast their lot with Satan and his angels, God will grant them that choice. And this is where they are consigned for eternity.

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell [gehenna’s] fire: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. For every one shall be salted with fire, [or the salt was used as a purifying instrument, so purified by fire,] and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another ( Mar 9:47-50 ).

Heavy words Jesus said them. I dare not tamper with them. I will not tamper with them. I will not try to modify them. I refuse to tamper with them. It is better to believe and find yourself wrong, than not to believe and find yourself wrong. Shall we pray?

Father, we thank You for the opportunity of studying Your Word. And now may Thy Spirit hide it in our hearts that we might not sin against You, Lord. May Thy word be strength to us. May we feed upon it, and may we thus grow strong. In Jesus’ name. Amen. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Mar 9:1. , with power) Rom 1:4; 2Co 13:4.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Mar 9:1

Mar 9:1 And he said unto them,–When the New Testament was first written, it was not divided into chapters and verses as we now have it. Each book was one continuous article without any breaks. Later they were divided into chapters and verses, by uninspired man for his convenience in reading and studying the Bible. Sometimes in dividing a chapter, the division was made at the wrong place and cut the sentence in two. That is true with this chapter. This verse belongs to the eighth chapter, right after Mar 8:38. See the end of the Chapter notes for Mark 8.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Here we see four men who have passed without death into the atmosphere and society of the heavens. One only of the four is there by His own right. Pure and spotless humanity stands in the glory of the unsullied light, and holds familiar converse with the spirits of just men.

We pass from the mountain to the valley. There we see Jesus, the baffled disciples, the father, the departing demon tearing his victim. The majesty and power of the Lord are manifested. Again He led these men through Galilee in privacy, and taught them, and the subject was still the Cross.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

9:1. This verse belongs with the preceding discourse by the most obvious connection of thought. He has spoken of the coming of the Son of Man in the glory of his Father; and here he states the time of that coming. For the coming of the Son of Man is everywhere identified with the coming of the kingdom. Cf. Mat 16:28, where this coming is spoken of as the coming of the Son of Man in his kingdom. The reason for placing the verse in the ninth chapter is that those who made the division supposed that the glorifying of Jesus in the Transfiguration was the event referred to here. But that would not be described as a coming of the Son of Man in power; nor would an event only a week distant be spoken of as taking place before some of those present should die. That language implies that most of them would be dead, while a few would live to see the great event. No, this coming of the kingdom is to be identified with the coming of the Son of Man. Nothing else will satisfy the context. And this coincides with everything that Jesus says about the time of that coming. See ch. 13:30, and parallel passages in Mt. and Lk. This then lets in a flood of light upon the meaning of that coming, as it declares that it was to be before some of those before him should taste of death. If his words are to stand therefore, it was to be events belonging to the generation after his death which fulfilled the prophecy of his coming, and of the establishment of his kingdom. And in this case, the kingdom was to be spiritual, and the agencies in its establishment were to be the Spirit of God and the providence of God in human affairs.

Here, as in the eschatological discourse, ch. 13, the coming is referred to as an understood thing, whereas there has been no teaching in regard to it. The same remark applies here as in the teaching about the death and resurrection. We cannot account for the expectation, which colored the whole life of the early church, without some prophecy of it. But on the other hand, the absence of expectation in the period between the death and resurrection is unaccountable if the prophecy was of this definite character.

THE TRANSFIGURATION

9:2-8. Jesus goes up into a mountain, with Peter, James, and John, and is transfigured before them. The heavenly visitors. The voice from heaven.

A week after the conversation with the disciples in regard to his death, Jesus goes, with the three disciples who stood nearest to him, up into the neighboring mountain, and was transfigured before them. As it is described, this transfiguration consisted in an extraordinary white light emitted from his whole person. Accompanying this was an appearance of Moses and Elijah talking with him. Peter, frightened out of his wits by the amazing scene, proposes to fix and retain it by building huts for Jesus and the heavenly visitors up there on the mountain side. But a cloud came over them, and a voice proceeded from it, as at the baptism, This is my beloved Son; hear him. And suddenly, looking around, they saw no one but Jesus.

2. -six days. Lk. says, about eight days. We can easily get rid of one of the two days which separate these two accounts, as the Jews confounded after seven days with on the seventh day by reckoning both the dies a quo and the dies ad quem in the former expression, as in the account of the resurrection. But the other day needs the of Lk., about eight days, to remove the discrepancy.

. . . . (.) -These three formed the inner circle of the twelve, whom Jesus took with him on three great occasions, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the Transfiguration, and the scene in the garden of Gethsemane. -into a high mountain. What mountain is meant, we do not know, except that it was probably in the vicinity of Csarea Philippi, and so belonged to the Hermon range. See 8:27.

-apart alone. This account gives no reason for this privacy, and Mt. is equally silent. But Lk. tells us that Jesus went up into the mountain to pray. This gives a rational turn to the whole occurrence, leaving us to suppose that the transfiguration was incidental to it, and not the purpose of our Lords going up into the mountain. He was glorified before the disciples, but it is quite out of character for him to deliberately set about such a transaction. This opens the way for another suggestion as to the real character of the event. Jesus would be led to special prayer at this time by the events on which it seems that his mind was fixed, and which formed the subject of conversation between himself and his disciples. The subject of his discourse at this period was the approaching tragical end of his life. And it is Lk. again, who tells us that this was the subject of conversation between himself and the heavenly visitants at this time. It looks then, as if this was a case in which the mind of the writer was fixed on the surface of things, who has told his story too in such a way as to fix our attention on the mere physical accompaniments of the scene, the shining of Jesus garments, rather than the glory of his countenance, while at the same time, he has himself given us the suggestions for a deeper reading of it. According to the ordinary view, arising from this emphasis of the physical side of it, the transfiguration was a gleam of our Lords true glory in the midst of the surrounding darkness, showing that he was divine in spite of his humiliation and death. But, according to our Lords own view, which he came into the world to set up, over against its superficial worldliness, his glory was essentially in his humiliation and death, not in spite of it. And here, his spirit was glorified by dwelling in the midst of these high purposes and resolves until its glory broke through the veil of flesh, and irradiated his whole being.

1-and was transfigured before them. All the particulars given are, in our account, the shining whiteness of his garments, and in Mt. and Lk. this with the shining or (Lk.) the change of his face.

3. ,2 (omit )-and his garments became shining, exceedingly white.

Omit , as snow, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 1, two mss. Lat. Vet. one ms. Vulg.

-literally, such as a fuller upon the earth cannot so whiten.

Insert , so, before Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCLN 13, 28, 33, 69, 116, 124, 346, two mss. Lat. Vet. Egyptt.

4. -Elijah with Moses. Elijah is generally said to be the representative of O.T. prophecy, Moses of the Law. But this distinction is more apparent than real. Moses was a prophet, and the law that he gave was a part of his prophetic utterance; while Elijah had nothing to do with the predictive, certainly with the Messianic side of prophecy, according to the record, but it was his province to reveal to men the Divine law and make real to them the Divine lawgiver. But these were two men in the O.T. history who made a mysterious exit from this world, and they are the ones selected for a mysterious return in the N.T.1 The subject of their conversation with Jesus is not given in Mt., or Mk., but Lk. tells us that it was his decease which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem (9:31).

5. -answering. That is, responding not to something said, but done. What he said was drawn out not by the words of another, but by the occasion. . -Moses and Elijah. Peter would gather from the conversation who the men were. What he proposed to build was three huts, such as could be constructed out of the material found on the mountain. -is the word for any temporary structure.

6. -for he did not know what to answer. This implies the strangeness of his proposition. If he had known what to say, he would not have said any so foolish thing. The situation was not one to be prolonged. Heavenly visitors do not come to stay. -for they became completely frightened.2

This reading, instead of (became, instead of were), Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 33, most mss. Lat. Vet. , answer, instead of , say, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* L 1, 28, 33, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.

, -And a voice came out of the cloud, This is my beloved Son. These same words were uttered by the heavenly voice at the baptism, and they are repeated in 2Pe 1:17, in referring to the transfiguration. See Mat 3:17, Mat 17:5, Mar 1:11, Luk 3:22, Luk 9:35. For the meaning of Son, see note on 1:11.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. marg. WH. RV, BCL Memph. Pesh. Harcl. marg. Omit , saying, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCN X one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.

8. -suddenly.3 The vision vanished suddenly, and things returned to their natural condition. There is a difference of opinion whether the adverb belongs with the participle or the verb. It can make little difference, since both denote parts of the same act, looking and seeing. But this very fact shows that the adv. belongs with the part., since to put it with the verb separates the two closely related parts of the same act. In accordance with this principle, we should say, suddenly they looked around and saw, not, they looked around and suddenly saw. And for the same reason, the Greek joins the adverb and the part. denotes the quick transition from the heavenly vision to ordinary conditions.

before , instead of , WH. RV. BDN 33, 61, Latt. Memph. is adversative, not meaning except, and irregular here, so that internal probability favors that reading.

ELIJAH AND THE SON OF MAN

9-13. Conversation with the disciples on the way down the mountain. They question him about the coming of Elijah.

On the way down the mountain, Jesus charges the disciples not to tell any one what they had seen, until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. This strange saying about the resurrection of the Messiah they seized upon, and debated its meaning. Then this appearance of Elijah suggests the question, why the Scribes put that appearance before the Messianic advent, and this question they put to Jesus. He answers that it is true, Elijah does come first, and that this is a fulfilment of prophecy which points to the fulfilment of the other prediction in regard to the suffering and rejection of the Son of Man. And to clinch the matter, he says that Johns fate is only carrying out another writing.

9. -And as they were coming down out of the mountain.1

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDLN 33, Latt. Memph. Pesh. , instead of , Treg. marg. WH. BD 33.

, etc.-that they tell no one. This command is given for the same reason as the injunction of secrecy in regard to his miracles. These external things are misleading to one who has not attained something like the inner point of view of Jesus. It coincided also with the charge to keep silence about his Messiahship. The misconception of the Messianic idea among the people led them to misunderstand everything that might point to his Messiahship. The people were excited with false hopes, which this marvellous story would only intensify. After the resurrection, when his death had put an end to false expectations, and the resurrection had pointed to his true glory, then, in that new time, stories of his earthly glory and power would help forward the truth.

-except whenever. , whenever, is intended to leave the time of the resurrection indefinite and contingent.

10. -not to be connected with ,-they kept the saying to themselves, which does not give a proper meaning, and does not accord with the fact that Jesus restricted his announcement of the resurrection only to the twelve, not to the three; nor is it to be translated, they kept the saying, in the sense of obedience; but the meaning is, they seized this word about the resurrection, it clung to them, they did not let go of it.1 ,2-questioning among themselves what the rising from the dead is. Not what the resurrection means in general, which they as orthodox Jews at this time would know well enough; but what it meant in the case of Jesus, involving, as it did, his death.

11. -why do the Scribes say ? The difficulty with this rendering is, that the direct question, rendered necessary by the introduction of , is introduced by the indirect interrogative . An alternative rendering is, the Scribes say, the demonstrative being used to introduce a direct quotation. The difficulty with this is, that it is a statement, instead of the question required by . But the question is easily implied. However, the rendering of it as a question is on the whole more probable.3 It is suggested by this appearance of Elijah on the mountain, which leads them to ask how it is, that Elijahs appearance is treated by the scribes as a sign of the advent of the Messiah, while this appearance follows the advent, and Jesus commands them to keep his appearing silent. -first, that is, before the manifestation of the Messiah.

12. -And he said.

, instead of , , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL Memph. Pesh.

-The particle here is concessive; I grant you Elijah does come; and introduces the modifying statement about the manner of his coming, which was not in keeping with their expectation. He comes, to be sure, but not as a mere appearance that keeps him out of the hands of men and the grasp of fate, but in such a way that men do as they please with him. -restores all things.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. c AB3 L 1, 28, 33, 118. , WH. B*. , * D.

This is Jesus brief rendering of the prophecy (Mal 3:5, Mal 3:6), that Elijah will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and of the children to the fathers. His coming, too, is put in connection with an injunction to remember the law of Moses, meaning that it signifies an enforcement of the Divine law. Such a restoration, bringing things back to their standard in the law, was accomplished in the work of John the Baptist, to whom evidently Jesus refers. Mat 17:13 says that the disciples understood him to refer to the Baptist. . . . ;-the question probably ends here-and how has it been written about the Son of Man? The answer is given in . ,-that he suffer many things and be set at naught.1 Jesus matches their prophecy quoted by the scribes with another in regard to the Son of Man, meaning to imply that the fulfilment of the one makes probable the fulfilment of the other. The prophecy that the Messiah should suffer (in the prophecy itself it is the Servant of Jehovah) is found in Isa_53. ()()2-be set at naught.

13. . -but I say unto you, that also Elijah has come. before means also, he too, as well as the Messiah. This contains the minor premise of the argument, which runs as follows: The fulfilment of the prophecy in regard to Elijah makes probable the fulfilment of that in regard to the Son of Man; the former prophecy has been fulfilled, therefore look for the fulfilment of the other. . , etc.,-and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it has been written in regard to him. Here is another fulfilment in regard to the same man, which increases the probability just named. Moreover, this prophecy in regard to his fate puts his case on precisely parallel lines to that of the Messiah. He too, like the Messiah, is the subject of expectation on the one hand, and of prophecy on the other, which are entirely inconsistent. In his case it is the adverse event of prophecy that has been accomplished, which strengthens the conviction that the like will happen to the Messiah. -whatever they wished. This might seem an inconclusive statement, without the addition of what it was that men wished. But in reality, this is a striking statement of the way in which the Divine plan differs from the human, which made the fate of John and of Jesus certain. Men expected it as a part of the Messianic programme that God would interpose in behalf of his servants, so that men could not do to them what they pleased. But in Gods spiritual kingdom, force is not opposed to force, and so men did to John what they pleased. The inference is, they will do to the Son of Man likewise. Only now, with the introduction of this

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BC* DL.

, it becomes no longer a mere fulfilment of prophecy, but an application of the immutable Divine principle to parallel cases.

-as it has been written. This might refer to the general statements in regard to the maltreatment of the prophets. But it is personal, something written about him, and this makes it more probable that the reference is to Elijah, who suffered for righteousness sake in the same way. It is this concrete case of such maltreatment that becomes a prophecy of the fate of the man who has succeeded to his spirit, and so to his fate. See 1 K. 18:17 sqq. 19:1 sqq. This becomes thus a good example of the broad way in which Jesus treats prophecy.

A DEMONIAC HEALED

14-29. Healing of a demoniac, on the return from the mountain, whom the disciples left behind had failed to heal, owing to their lack of faith.

On his return from the mountain, Jesus finds a multitude gathered, and a dispute going on between his disciples and some Scribes about a failure of the disciples to heal a demoniac boy, whom his father had brought to them. Jesus cries out against the unbelief which had caused this failure, and orders the boy to be brought to him. After some inquiries about the case, prompted apparently only by his interest in it, Jesus assures him that all things are possible to faith, which draws from the father the pathetic plea that he believes, but begs for help even in case of his unbelief. Whereupon Jesus orders the unclean spirit to leave his victim, which he does with a final convulsion, which seemed like death. But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up.

14. (-)-and having come, they saw.

(WH. -), instead of , having come, he saw, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BL one ms. Lat. Vet.

-and Scribes disputing against them. The prep. denotes the hostility of the Scribes better than the dat.

, instead of , with them, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. *et c. , BCGIL 1, 28, 118, 124, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg.

This incident of the Scribes is introduced by Mk. alone, who, as usual, brings the scene before us, and not the bare event. The cause of the dispute was the failure of the disciples to cure the demoniac, which gave the Scribes a chance to throw doubt on their healing power.

15. , -all the crowd, having seen them, were utterly astonished.1

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCDIL 1, 13, 27, 28, 33, 69, 124, 209, 346, mss. Lat. Vet. Memph. Pesh. Harcl. marg.

Different reasons are given for this astonishment. Either Jesus person still retained some of the glory of the transfiguration, or the people were astonished at his sudden and opportune appearance. Against the former it seems conclusive that he treats the transfiguration as an esoteric event, which would not have permitted him to make his appearance among the people until the effect had entirely passed away. Their surprise was a joyous surprise at this unexpected coming, so that they ran and greeted him.

16. -he asked them. The pronoun evidently refers to the multitude just mentioned.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL 1, 28, 209, mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph.

;-What are you disputing with them? here refers to the disciples.

17. -And one answered him. -one made answer, though the question was addressed to the crowd. is not like the indefinite , but calls attention to the number.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL 28, 33, mss. Lat. Vet. Memph.

-a dumb spirit. For other instances of this accompaniment of the disease, see Mat 9:32, Mat 12:22.

18. -wherever.

,2 instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. c ABK .

-convulses. This meaning of the word is not very well established, but in , the meaning tear passes over into that of convulse, and it is so used in v. 20. This establishes a precedent for the like transformation in this word. The congenital relation of these two verbs makes it improbable that they would be employed in a different sense about the same matter, and is so far against the Revisers Translation, dasheth him down. -is wasting away. The symptoms mentioned are those of epilepsy. The , . . are connected with ; but is a general symptom of the disease. The Eng. Ver. connects , . , . , and puts by itself. It should read, whenever it seizes him, it convulses him, and he foams and gnashes his teeth; and he is wasting away. -As the man did not find Jesus, he brought him to the disciples. See v. 17.

Omit after , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL 1, 13, 33, 59, 69, 73, 209, mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg.

-and I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast it out.1

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BFL 1, 28, 209.

19. , -And he answering them, says.

, instead of , him, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABDL * 1, 28, 33, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph. Syrr.

-to them. Jesus reply is not addressed to the man, who seems not to have shown any lack of faith, but to the disciples, who have just been mentioned by the father, and to whom the words specially apply, since it was their unbelief that led to the fiasco. Later, the man seems to have lost heart over the failure of the disciples, so that he puts an if you can into his appeal to Jesus (v. 22).

, ; ;-O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?

-It is possible to translate this race, meaning men of a certain stock or family; but it is more in accordance with almost invariable N.T. usage to translate it generation, men of that time. -the translation faithless, EV., means generally unfaithful, perfidious, and is therefore ambiguous. It should be translated unbelieving. -literally, until when.2 ;-shall I be with you? The question, as appears from the next question, arises from the almost intolerable nature of his intercourse with a generation so spiritually dull and unsympathetic. It is the question of one who feels that his surroundings have become almost unbearable, and who wonders how long they are going to last. ;3-shall I bear with you?

20. -having seen. Regularly, the part. agrees with neither , nor after . According to the sense, since the action of the verb belongs to the spirit, and is occasioned by the action denoted by the participle, it would be the spirit which is described as having seen Jesus. But he does this with the eyes of the man, and hence the masc. form of the part.

In all these stories, the man and the evil spirit get mixed up in this way. The outward acts belong to the man, but the informing spirit is sometimes that of the man, and sometimes the evil spirit. -convulsed him.1

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. marg. BCL 33, mss. Lat. Vet. Memph. Syrr.

-he rolled around. Wallow suggests things not implied in this verb.

21. -since this has come to him. This conversation with the father has been preserved by Mk. alone, with his customary fulness in the narration of events. All attempts to discover special motives for this question of Jesus, aside from the general interest of a sympathetic person in the case, are unavailing. It has no special bearing on the cure to be performed. -from childhood.2

Insert before , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDGILN 1, 33, 118, 209.

22. . -both into fire and into waters. The plur. = bodies of water. -if you are at all able. There is no inf. implied here, the pronoun being construed with the verb immediately according to the Greek idiom.3

23. 4-(omit ). If thou canst. Jesus repeats the fathers words in order to call attention to them, and to the doubt expressed in them, which would stand in the way of his petition. The art. adds to the emphasis with which he points to these words, as we say, That if you can. -Over against the fathers doubt, the Lord puts the omnipotence of faith, which places at mans disposition the Divine power.

Omit , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* L 1, 118, 209, 244, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph.

24. , , -Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, I believe; help my unbelief. This does not mean help me to turn my unbelief into belief, but help me out of my trouble, in spite of any unbelief that you may find in me. He claims at first, that he does believe, notwithstanding any appearance to the contrary in his language. And yet, he does not rest his case there, but pleads with Jesus to show him mercy in any case. He pleads the compassion of Jesus, instead of his own faith, and so unconsciously showed a genuine faith.

Omit Tisch. (Treg.) WH. RV. c BL one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Omit , with tears, A* BC* L 28, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Omit , lord, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABC* DL 346 mss. Lat. Vet. one ms. Vulg. Syrr.

25. () -that a (the) crowd is running together besides (those already gathered). The evidence for the insertion or omission of the art. is evenly divided. The anarthrous noun is more consistent with the meaning of . -adds to , is running together, the meaning besides, i.e. in addition to those already collected.1 The part. is causal; it was because Jesus saw this, that he rebuked the demon. He did not wish to attract a larger crowd by prolonging the scene, and so, without any further delay, he proceeded with the cure. It is his usual avoidance of any notoriety in his miracles. -thou dumb and deaf spirit. The story has grown by so much, since the first mention of the spirit. Then it was dumb, which was more than the other Gospels tell us, now it has become deaf and dumb.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BC* DL 1, 33, 73, 118, Latt. Memph.

26. , -And having cried out and convulsed (him) violently, he came out.

. , instead of the neuter, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL (). Omit , him, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. corr. BC* DL mss. Lat. Vet.

. -The masc. gender shows that the writer thought of the spirit as a person.

-he became as if dead. It is impossible to account for this final convulsion. If Jesus, e.g., were restoring a drowned person, would the horrible feelings attending a natural restoration be avoided? And whether any such violent wrench of mind and body would attend a sudden cure of insanity, we do not know.

2-so that the most said.

Insert before Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABL 33.

27. -having taken his hand.

, instead of , him by the hand, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL 1, 13, 28, 53, 69, 118, 209, Latt. Memph.

28. 1-And he having entered.

, instead of the acc., Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL 1, 13, 28, 69, 118, 209, 346 (Latt.).

-Why could not we? On the use of , see on v. 11. There seems to be no reason whatever here for supposing that this is a statement, instead of a question. There is a kind of challenge in the statement, that is evidently not in their minds. They mean simply to ask the question, why they could not perform this miracle, when Jesus had given them power over unclean spirits.

29. -this kind of thing, i.e. the genus evil spirit; not this kind of spirit, as if this was a specially vicious kind of spirit, that it took a good deal to exorcise. -in prayer. , and fasting, is an evident gloss. It is one of the things that a later asceticism imported into the spiritual teaching of Jesus. It seems to be implied in the question of the disciples that they had expected to cast out the demon, so that their lack of faith in the matter had not taken the shape of doubt of their power. But what was lacking was prayer, which is the expression of faith considered as dependence on the Divine power and confidence in that. It is the sense of God that conveys all kinds of spiritual power. But this power was not subjective, it did not reside in themselves, but was power to move God, and this precludes the idea that a special degree of this power was necessary in the case of so stubborn a demon as this. But it is a general statement that miracles of any kind are possible only to him who prays.

Omit , Tisch. (Treg. marg.) WH. RV. * B one ms. Lat. Vet. It is one of the things that would stand no chance of omission, if found in the original. Evidence shows that it was interpolated in a like passage (1Co 7:5).

SECOND PREDICTION OF DEATH

30-32. Jesus returns through Galilee, and again seeks to hide his presence, in order to convey to his disciples the esoteric teaching about his death. The same particulars are given as in the previous announcement, that he will be delivered up, and put to death, and will rise again after three days. But they did not know what he was saying, and were afraid to question him.

30. () -and having gone out from that place, they were coming. The place which they left was the vicinity of Csarea Philippi. Their journey through Galilee to Capernaum would take them on the west side of the Jordan.

, instead of , Treg. WH. B* Dgr. mss. Lat. Vet.

-and did not wish that any one should know it.1 Jesus desire to escape notice is a continuation of the policy pursued by him since his departure to Tyre and Sidon(7:24). Since that time, he has been mostly in strange places, accompanied by his disciples alone, and preparing them for the approaching crisis in his life.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. BCDL.

31. etc.-for he was teaching his disciples. This esoteric teaching was the reason of his desire to escape observation. Prediction of things to be done by men is apt to prejudice the event. It was necessary that the disciples should be prepared for so startling an issue, but the world is left wisely to the tutelage of unforeseen events. -is delivered over. The present is used to denote the certainty of the future event.2 -after three days. The resurrection was really on the third day. But the usage of speech allowed this to be spoken of in either way.

32. -they did not understand the word. This passage and the parallel (Luk 9:45) are the only ones in which this verb is used with the meaning understand, and the peculiar use in passages relating to the same event is strongly corroborative of the interdependence of the accounts. -they feared to question him. They were afraid that further questions would not alleviate, but only aggravate, the situation, and they feared to know the worst.

MEANING OF GREATNESS

33-37. Dispute among the disciples over the question of precedence among them. Jesus defines true greatness for them.

The journey from Csarea Philippi brings them to Capernaum, where Jesus begins to question them about a dispute which they had had on the road, and which they evidently desire to conceal from him. We learn elsewhere that James and John actually asked him for first and second place among his followers, when the time should come to distribute these honors (10:35). And probably, this was an outcropping of the same spirit. The first three places were conceded to these two and to Peter. But which was to be primus? Jesus answers this question by putting before them the paradox of the kingdom, that last is first, and service is greatness. Then he takes a child, and teaches them that the spirit of the child is the mark of the king, to receive one such is to receive him, and to receive him is to receive God.

33. -And they came to Capernaum.

, instead of , he came, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. B (D) 1, 118, 209, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Pesh.

-being (AV.), and when he was (RV.), do not translate this verb, which denotes becoming not being. Having come to be, or having come, translates it. -The verb is impf. and means were disputing.

Omit , among yourselves, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Memph.

34. -were silent. But kept silent is better, which is another meaning of the impf. The merging of all these different shades of meaning into the simple past tense is one of the imperfections of the AV. This silence was due to their shame. They knew Jesus opinion of such disputes. -they had disputed.1 -who is greatest? That is, which of them? Winer contends, that the compar. is used here with perfect regularity, since the object with which the comparison is made is really only one.2 But this would make it possible to substitute the compar. for the superl. in all cases, since the greatest is always greater than all the rest, the comparison being made always not with individuals, but with all taken together. But this confusion is one of the signs of degeneracy in a decadent language.

35. . -he shall be last of all, and servant of all. This is the way to be great among the disciples of Jesus. It does not point out the penalty of ambition, as we might gather from the certain disapproval of the ordinary ambition by Jesus, but the way of satisfying Christian ambition. But the method is a paradox, like the beatification of sorrow. The Christian way to be first is to be last, to fall to the rear, to efface yourself. But it is not only humility that is demanded, but service. This again is a paradox, since primacy means dominion, the faculty not of serving, but of levying service on others. But these things, humility and service, in the kingdom of God, not only lead to greatness, they are greatness, i.e. they are the supreme marks of the Christian quality. And it is one of the signs that the world is becoming a seat of the kingdom of God, that rulers, leaders, employers, and others, are beginning to recognize this idea of service as the meaning of their position.

36. -a Biblical word, corresponding exactly to our embrace, en bras, for which the Greeks said .

37. -one of such little children. The child meant by our Lord is not a child in years, but in spirit, a person possessed of the childlike quality. The child is the best example of the type just held up before the disciples by our Lord, and he is himself the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. When he says then, that to receive such a childlike person is the same as to receive him, he is affirming again, in his striking way, that humility and service are the marks of greatness in his kingdom; they are, that is, the things that identify a man with him.1

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. ABCDL 1, 13, 28, 69. In the second clause the same, Tisch. Treg. WH. BDL

-upon my name, i.e. on the strength of my name. The prep. denotes the basis, the ground of the reception. This use of the word to denote the various things about a person recalled by his name, especially in the phrase or , is not Greek, but Hebrew. The phrase indicates that a person is so connected with another, that he receives whatever consideration belongs to that other. The connection of thought, however, shows that, just as the personal consideration is excluded by this phrase, showing that the man is not received for himself, but because of Jesus; so it cannot be a mere outward connection with our Lord, but because the mans childlikeness makes him like Jesus, so that men are reminded of Jesus when they see him. , -receives not me but him who sent me. Christ did not represent himself in the world, but the Father, a fact developed at great length in the fourth Gospel. This representative character belongs to him as the one sent by the Father into the world. But in this case also, the connection is not outward, but inward. To be sent by God is to be inspired by him, to be filled with His Spirit, and so the spirit of humility and service, in the disciple, and in Jesus himself, is here carried a step farther back, and is shown to be that of the Father. In such a child, Jesus says, you see me, yes, and God himself.

EXCLUSIVENESS CONDEMNED

38-50. The disciples tell Jesus of their interference with one casting out demons in his name, but not following them. Jesus reply.

The belief of the disciples in the near approach of the kingdom seems to have wrought in them other effects than ambition. So far, the power to work miracles had been confined to themselves. And it seemed to them a mark of superiority to which they had the exclusive right. So we find John, apparently in the course of this same conversation, telling Jesus of the case of an outsider who had used his name in casting out demons, and had been forbidden by them any further exercise of a power appropriated to them. Jesus answer is substantially that they are right, that the work of a disciple does belong to a disciple; but that they have turned this the wrong way. It does not lead to officialism, but just the opposite. It follows, not that any one who is outside their circle should be forbidden their work, but that the doing of the work shows that he is like them inwardly, though not outwardly. Their complaint is, that he is doing their work. Very well, Jesus says, that shows that he is on your side. It is not necessary to do a miracle to show this; a cup of water given to them because they are disciples shows the same thing. But if any one causes the fall of one of the humblest of these disciples, it would be better for him to be cast into the sea, with a millstone round his neck. And since to fall away is so grievous an evil, they would better cut off hand, or foot, or eye, than have any member cause their fall, since this means Gehenna and its fires to them. Fire is to salt them all, either the fire of affliction here, or the fire of Gehenna there. Fire is salt, and salt is good; but if any salt loses its flavor, how is salt to be salted? Hence they must have salt in themselves to render these outward purifiers effective, and especially must be at peace among themselves, an injunction which their jealousies and rivalries rendered necessary.

38. , , , , -John said to him, Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in thy name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.

, instead of . And answered, saying, Tisch. Treg. (who, however, retains ) WH. RV. B L Memph. Pesh. Insert before . Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDLN 1, 69, etc. Omit , who does not follow us, WH. RV. BCL 10, 115, 346, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Pesh. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDgr. L 1, 209. , instead of , after , Tisch. WH. RV. B .

-Teacher, not Master. The word in the vernacular used by him would be Rabbi. -in thy name. See on v. 37. In this case, it means, by the authority of Jesus. -because he was not following. The impf. takes us back to the time of the transaction, when the disciples saw him casting out demons. They were right in assuming this to be an abnormal case, because the proper place for the disciple assuming such powers was with Jesus. The Master kept such in his immediate company for instruction, and even his immediate disciples he sent out on such errands only very rarely. But all such restrictions are themselves limited by the method of the Spirits working, which is like the wind, blowing where it will. The disciples had a right to expect that one who had come under the influence of Jesus would, like them, desire to be with him. But they did not take into account the fact that one might, under the influence of such a life, be awakened himself to the want and wretchedness of the world, and wish to put the mysterious power that he felt within him to the test, and that this might overpower even the desire for the companionship of the Lord.

39. -to speak evil.1 Jesus puts the matter immediately upon its proper footing, showing the disciples that, reasoning from the facts within their possession, they ought to have drawn a favorable conclusion. To be sure, it was so far against the man, that he did not company with them; but that was not conclusive. Whereas it was conclusive, that he was able to perform the miracle. The test whether one is fit to perform an act is the performance of the act. A mans fitness to write poetry, to preach, to paint, to perform miracles, is proved by his performance in each case. Can he do the thing? But here there was a further question involved, whether the man really belonged to the disciples of Jesus, and so had a right to use the name that he had used in casting out the demons. The fact, that he did not follow the disciples, seemed to be against his own right as a disciple, but this was entirely overborne by the effect that followed his use of the name. He could not cast out demons, actually cast them out, in the name of Jesus, and then turn around and revile it. Or, as Jesus says, he could not do it , quickly. The two things are incongruous, so that they could not follow each other rapidly.

40. -he who is not against us is for us. This is not the opposite of he that is not with me is against me, but its complement (Mat 12:30). There Jesus is talking about this same matter of casting out demons, which he had been accused of doing in the name of Beelzebub. But he answers that the act is one of hostility to Satan, and cannot therefore proceed from Satan himself. One cannot be for and against at the same time. Then he applies the same principle to himself, saying that he who is not for him is against him. Here, he shows that this same act of casting out demons is friendly to himself, as it is hostile to Satan, and that he who shows himself thus friendly, cannot be at the same time hostile. The use which is often made of Mat 12:30, to show that there is no such thing as indifference to Jesus, but that seeming indifference is real hostility, is unwarrantable. The real meaning of both passages is, that friendliness and hostility are incongruous, and cannot therefore exist together.

, us, instead of , you, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC 1, 13, 69, 209, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. Harcl. marg.

41. -For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink on the ground that you belong to Christ. is used here like the Latin nomen to denote cause or season. RV. because ye are Christs. This confirms the preceding by showing that even a small service done in his name will be taken as showing friendliness to him, and so will not lose its reward. It gets its character from its motive of attachment to him.

Omit before Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABCLNC . Omit , my, after Treg. WH. RV. c ABC* KLN * 1, 229, 238, 435, Pesh. Harcl. text. Insert Tisch. * C3 DX 2 Latt. Memph. Harcl. marg. The pleonasm favors this reading, as Tisch. says. Insert , that, before , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BC* DL mss. Lat. Vet. one ms. Vulg. Syrr. Memph.

42. , , -And whoever causes the fall of one of these little ones who believe, it is well for him rather, if an upper millstone is hung around his neck.

Insert , these, before , little ones, Tisch. Treg. (Treg. marg.) WH. RV. ABC* and 2 DLM2 N 1, mss. of Lat. Vet. Memph. Harcl. Omit , in me, after , who believe, Tisch. WH. RV. (Treg. marg.) mss. Lat. Vet. also C* D one ms. Lat. Vet., which read , have faith, without . , upper millstone, instead of , a millstone, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCDL Latt. Pesh.

This presents the other side, the result of injuring one of his disciples. But it is noticeable that the injury is a spiritual one. Not that other hurts inflicted on them would not be taken as indicating hostility to him, but that Jesus, when he thinks of such injuries, singles out those inflicted on their spiritual nature as the only ones that will really harm them, though others show the disposition to harm them. -it is well for him rather.1 Regularly, the form of conditional sentence employed would correspond to the assumption that the condition is contrary to the fact; i.e. past tenses of the ind. would be employed. The English Version indicates this by its translation, it were better, were hung, and were cast. The present construction, making it a pure condition, leaves out of sight that the clause has already assumed ,-causing to fall, as the actual case. -an upper millstone. Both words are Biblical, and is found only here and in the parallel passage (Mat 18:6). This is another case, therefore, in which only the interdependence of the written accounts will account for the identity of the language. The grist was ground in a mill between an upper and under stone, the under one being stationary, and the upper one turned by an ass, whence the name .

43. , etc.-and if your hand causes you to fall, cut it off; it is well for you to enter into life maimed, etc.

, instead of -, Tisch. WH. RV. BL mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. , instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 13, 28, 69 **, 346.

-This word forms the connection between this and the preceding discourse. Jesus has begun by speaking of what it is to be identified with him, and incidentally has introduced the subject of the injury inflicted on him by causing the fall of one of his disciples. And in connection with this has come up the question of comparative values, spiritual and material. This leads him to speak of the things in the man himself that would lead to his fall, and to continue the subject of comparative values in connection with that. It is well to cut off hand, or foot, or eye, sooner than run the risk through either of them of absolute spiritual loss. . -to enter into life. Life is the word used in the Bible to express the reward of righteousness. And it is the word which expresses the natural, instead of the imposed consequence of conduct. Conduct reacts on the life, the being of the man, and right conduct conduces to health and fulness of life. . -into Gehenna. This is the Grcized form of the Vale of Hinnom, which is the valley on the SE. side of Jerusalem. This valley had been desecrated by the sacrifice of children to Moloch, and had been used as an accursed place, for the refuse and garbage of the city. Here worms consumed the dead matter, and fires were kept burning to destroy the refuse. Hence it came to be used as a name for the place of future punishment. -into the unquenchable fire. This is borrowed from the continual fires of Hinnom spoken of above. And the material figure expresses the idea of destruction, as life denotes the opposite side of retribution. The contrast with would indicate that this is the meaning of the figure here, rather than torment. Jesus follows here his usual habit of borrowing current language, which lends itself, however, to the expression of more radical spiritual ideas than it conveyed to the common understanding. This is not a necessary deduction from the language, but its aptness for the expression of the deeper thought, and the aptness of Jesus for the deeper thought, combine to create a strong probability of its correctness.

Omit v. 44, Tisch. WH. RV. BCL 1, 28, 118, 251.

45. -it is well for you.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. ABCEFGHKLVX Omit , into the unquenchable fire, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BCL 1 28, 118, 251, two mss. Lat. Vet. Pesh.

Omit v. 46, same authorities as v. 44.

47. , , , etc.-It is well for you to enter one-eyed into the kingdom of God, than having two eyes to be cast into Gehenna, where, etc.

, instead of , Tisch. Treg. WH. (RV.) B; of L . Omit , of fire, after (Gehenna of fire, not hell fire), Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. BDL 1, 28, 118, 209, mss. Lat. Vet. Memph.

Kingdom of God is substituted in this case for life. The contrast with shows that it is the future, rather than the present form of the kingdom, that is strictly meant. But in the mouth of Jesus, such a term as kingdom of God has a permanent meaning, which is never lost among the minor changes. To him it meant simply the realm in which the will of God is done. It is well,1 he says, to enter that realm at any cost.

48. , -where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched. Both worm and fire are here destructive forces, and belong in the same category as life and death, denoting natural and not imposed penalties. Of course, it is the soul that undergoes punishment, and the punishment consists in the forces that prey upon it and destroy it. -their worm; the worm, i.e. that preys upon the inhabitants of this dread realm.

, -dies not, and is not quenched. It is the permanence of the retribution that is expressed in these material figures. This is characteristic of natural penalties as distinguished from imposed penalties. Whippings and imprisonments are subject to limitations of time, but the wounds inflicted on the man himself by his sins, the degradation and deterioration of his being, have no such limitation. The worm that gnaws, and the fire that burns inwardly have no limits. They propagate themselves.

49, 50. . ()-For every one shall be salted with fire. Salt is good.

Omit , and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt, Tisch. Treg. marg. (Treg.) WH. RV. BL 1, 61, 73, 118, 205, 206, 209, 229, 251, 258, 435, one ms. Lat. Vet. Memph. edd.

This is confessedly one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the N.T. In the first place, it seems necessary to connect with , v. 48, and in v. 49 with in v. 50. And it is this connection with what precedes and follows that makes trouble. For is also connected with , and , from its connection with , gets a good meaning, and , from its connection with , gets a bad meaning. That makes the crux of the situation. Meyer is about the only one who faces this, and gives us a key that fits into all the wards of the lock. This he does by obtaining his interpretation of from Lev 2:13, where it is called the salt of the covenant. To be salted would mean, therefore, for any one to have the covenant fulfilled on himself. would refer thus to those who suffer the doom of Gehenna, and the meaning would be that every one of these shall have the covenant fulfilled on him by its fires. And on the other hand, every sacrifice, such as those make who cut off hand or foot, or eye, to preserve themselves from spiritual loss, will have the covenant fulfilled on them by the salt of purifying wisdom. The difficulty with this very ingenious, and otherwise satisfactory interpretation is, that it involves a recondite allusion to the usages and meanings of ceremonial law, which is entirely foreign to our Lords manner of speech. And then, it gives also a double meaning to , one in the verb , and another in the noun itself. This breaks up the connection made by the recurrence of the same keywords, not so badly, to be sure, as when different meanings are assigned to in v. 48, 49, but still enough to constitute a difficulty. Another very serious difficulty is, that it requires the retention of the second clause of v. 49, . , etc. This clause is, to say the least, extremely doubtful. And yet, it furnishes the only use of giving us a transition to the of v. 50, as the meaning of makes no connection with that. No, we shall have to find an interpretation that will enable us to pass right over from the first clause of v. 49 to v. 50, and that at the same time will preserve the connection with v. 48. Salt in that case will have to denote a purifying element, to connect 49 and 50, and fire will have to denote a destroying element, to connect 48 and 49. That is, we have brought together in this v. 49 the purifying element salt, and the destroying element fire, and the statement is that the destructive element performs a purifying part. The object of all retributions, even of the penal retributions of Gehenna, is to purify. They serve, like sickness in the physical being, to warn man against violations of the law of his being. But the statement is not restricted to these, but is extended, as the unlimited naturally suggests, to the cutting off of hand and foot and eye also. Every one shall be purified either by the loss of parts, self-inflicted to preserve the whole, or by the destroying fires of Gehenna. This is the law of our being, and every one has to submit to it, in one form or another.

1-salt is good. The special form of purification meant is that of affliction. But the statement is general-that which purifies is good. -literally saltless. 2-will you season? The meaning of the proverb is, that there are certain things in the world having special qualities which they can impart to other substances; and if they lose these qualities, what can impart them to the very things which possess them as their special character? In other words, what can perfume the rose? what can salt salt? spice spice? or restore grace where it is lost? So, if loss loses its power to chasten, what will chasten loss? . -have salt in yourselves. Our Lords injunction is that they have the purifying element in themselves, instead of being dependent on outside agencies, such as loss and retribution, for it. This is the condition of purifying power in the outward agencies. Taste in the man himself is necessary to the savor of salt, feeling to the heat of fire, faith to the grace of God. 1-cultivate peace, or be at peace, among yourselves. This injunction is the special form of the previous general admonition fitted to the present case. They had been disputing about precedence among themselves, and about rights with another man, whose place among themselves they ought to have recognized.

in the first two clauses of v. 50, ABCDNX etc. , Tisch. * L . in last clause, Tisch. Treg. WH. * AB * DL 1, 28, 209.

This discourse is evidently one in which the connections of thought have been obscured, and interpretation hindered, by the imperfectness of the report. But our Gospel has preserved for us, however imperfectly, thoughts and connections both characteristic and valuable. In Mt. the setting of the discourse is the same, in Capernaum after the return from the mountain of Transfiguration. And the connections of thought in the conversation are the same, until we come to Mk.s peculiar ending. Instead of this, we have the parable of the lost sheep, and from that it runs on into different discourse. Lk. introduces the discourse in the same way, but carries it on only through the part relating to the man healing in his name. The danger of leading astray a disciple he introduces elsewhere. But Mk.s ending, however peculiar and difficult, has an air of verisimilitude, not in form, but in matter.

1 This Greek word is the exact equivalent of the Latin-English words transfigure and transform.

2 This word does not occur elsewhere in the N.T.

Tisch. Tischendorf.

Treg. Tregelles.

WH. Westcott and Hort.

RV. Revised Version.

Codex Sinaiticus.

B Codex Vaticanus.

C Codex Bezae.

L Codex Regius.

Codex Sangallensis

1 .Codex Basiliensis

Lat. Vet. Vetus Latina.

Vulg. Vulgate.

N Codex Purpureus.

13 Codex Regius.

28 Codex Regius.

33 Codex Regius.

69 Codex Leicestrensis.

346 Codex Ambrosianus.

Egyptt. Egyptian Versions.

1 See Deu 34:6, Deu 34:2 K. 2:11.

2 The prep. in denotes completeness. (English, out and out.) Thay.-Grm. Lex. under .

Memph. Memphitic.

marg. Revided Version marg.

Pesh. Peshito.

Harcl. Harclean.

X Codex Wolfi A.

Codex Tischendorfianus

Codex Petropolitianus

3 is a rare, late word for .

D Codex Ephraemi.

Latt. Latin Versions.

1 We say out of the mountain in Eng., thinking of it as something to be penetrated.

1 See Thay.-Grm. Lex.

2 See Win. 18 a, 3, for the use of the art. with the inf.; also Burton, 392, 393.

3 See Burton, 349; Win. 24, 4.

A Codex Alexandrinus.

1 The answer in full would be, It has been written that he suffer, as if it said, it has been decreed, that he suffer. It is this idea of decree that explains the use of . Burton, 212 (a), 223.

2 A Biblical word.

1 See on , v. 6.

209 An unnamed, valuable manuscript.

2 On this use of , instead of , see on 8:38.

K Codex Cyprius.

1 On the use of after a verb of entreaty, see Burton, 200.

F Codex Borelli.

Syrr. Syriac Versions.

2 This use of with a temporal adverb is rare in classical Greek. Win. 54, 6.

3 The acc. is the regular construction after .

1 See on v. 18. The compound verb is found elsewhere only in Maximus Tyrius, a writer of the second century b.c.

2 On the pleonasm, see Win. 65, 2. is a late word. The Greeks said .

3 See Win. 64, 4. is a rare poetical and later form for .

4 On the use of the art. with , see Win. 18 a, 3.

1 This compound occurs only here in the N.T. and nowhere in profane authors.

2 On the preference of N.T. Grk. for the inf. to express result after , see Burton, 235, 369-371.

1 On this use of the gen. abs., instead of the participle agreeing with its noun or pronoun found elsewhere in the sentence, see Win. 30, 11, Note.

1 is an irregular form of the sec. aor. subj. with the subj. after is one of the signs of the degeneracy of the language, in which the distinctive meaning of words is gradually weakened, and finally disappears. Burton, 191, 203; Win. 44, 8.

2 See Burton, 15; Win. 40, 2. Win. admits the use of the historical present, but inconsistently denies the use of the pres. for the fut., which involves the same principle. Future is still future, though conceived as present.

AV. Authorised Version.

1 On the plup. element in the aor., see Burton, 48, 52.

2 35, 4.

1 Cf. Mat 18:2-5.

1 comes within the classical period, but is more usual.

M Codex Campianus.

1 The comp. of (or ) is found only once in the N.T. (Act 25:10).

E Codex Basiliensis.

H Codex Wolfi B.

V Codex Mosquensis.

1 On this use of the pos. instead of the comp., well, instead of better, see Win. 35. 2.c.

1 in the last clause is formed regularly from , which is regular, but not found here; also from , the reading of Tisch. in the first two clauses, and a later form. But it is not to be formed regularly from , though the two are conjoined in the authorities followed by Treg. WH. is also a later form.

2 This word means strictly to prepare food, and only in comic writers and the Bible, to season it.

1 To make this phrase consistent, either the pron. should be changed to the reflexive, or the prep. to .

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

the Cost of following Jesus

Mar 8:22-38; Mar 9:1

Our attention has been drawn to the Masters sighs; here, however, was another characteristic act. He spat on the eyes of the blind man, perhaps to excite his expectation and faith. Repulsive as ophthalmia is in the East, it did not repel Him nor staunch the flow of His pity.

We do not at once see everything clearly, but step by step we come unto perfect vision. Here we see through a glass darkly, there face to face. There was a great price to be paid; it was only through suffering and death that Jesus could do His greatest work, in redeeming and cleansing the children of men. He might have been the miracle-worker apart from Calvary; but to be the Savior, He must not spare Himself but be willing to pour out His soul even unto death. It was hard for the Apostles to learn this lesson; they wanted the Master to spare Himself. Peter, especially, sought to dissuade Him; but the Lord knew better the desperate need of men and how it must be met. There are three conditions to be fulfilled by those who have resolved to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. 1. We must deny self; 2. Each must take up his cross; 3. We must think more of others than of ourselves. If these are realized, the soul is following Christ and making progress, even though it deems itself stagnant or drifting back.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The Transfiguration (Mar 9:1-8)

In Mar 9:1-8 we have a fore view of the glory to be revealed at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. The first verse contains what must have been to the disciples a very startling declaration. Jesus said that among those standing with Him were some who would not die until they actually had seen the kingdom of God coming in power and great glory. His words were fulfilled a week later. The apostle Peter referred to this event-the transfiguration-when he told us that the disciples had not followed cunningly devised fables when they made known the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but had been eyewitnesses of His majesty when they were with Him in the holy mount (2Pe 1:16-17).

He was transfigured before them. The transcendent glory of His deity shone out through the veil of His flesh. His appearance was changed in such a way as to fill His disciples with amazement and impress them with a sense of His mysterious personality. His very garments appeared to be etherealized and glowed with a brilliance no fuller could produce. The word translated fuller originally meant a dresser of skins or hides, but came to be applied in a wider sense to a worker in linen or other material used for apparel.

Elias [Elijah] with Moseswere talking with Jesus. These worthies had been in paradise for many centuries. They were living, conscious, and capable of conversing with the Lord and with one another. They stand as the representatives of the law and the prophets. They also represent two classes of believers: those who will die before the Lord returns and those who will be caught up (or raptured) when He returns (Joh 11:25-26).

Peter was so overwhelmed with what he saw and heard that he proposed to honor the three who appeared in glory by building for them special booths. He did not realize the incongruity involved in putting even the greatest of Gods servants on a level, as it were, with the Lord Jesus Himself. Moreover, he did not recognize the transitory character of the scene that enthralled him. He wanted to erect three tabernacles in order to give some permanent place of dwelling to each of the three who conversed together. How many since Peters day have thought to honor Christ by giving special prominence to His servants-whether prophets, apostles, saints, or angels-and have never realized that in thus recognizing them as worthy of such homage they have actually dishonored the Master Himself!

He [Peter] wist not what to say. How much better if he had been content to remain silent! But Peter was of that restless character which made him feel he must say something, and he spoke out of place and out of line with the mind of God. The Father would not have others occupying the hearts of His people in such a way as to detract from the glory that belongs to Christ alone. What seems like piety and humility is oftentimes a subtle form of pride and unbelief (Col 2:18-19).

This is my beloved Son: hear him. It is Christ whom the Father delights to honor. He would have all men recognize and obey Him. When Moses and Elijah disappeared, Jesus Christ alone remained to be worshiped and adored.

This beautiful and inspiring picture of the coming kingdom is worthy of the most careful examination. Consider the various characters and note how they picture the different persons or groups who will have their places at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

First of all we see Him revealed in His glory as the center of all the Fathers counsels. Then we have the two men who talked with Him of His death (Luk 9:31), which is the foundation of all our blessing and will be the theme of our praise forever (Rev 5:9). Moses and Elijah are archetypal men. Moses had died long before, but he appeared in his resurrection body. He represents all who will die before Christs return, but who will hear His voice and be raised in incorruptible bodies when He descends from Heaven (1Co 15:52). Elijah had been taken up to Heaven without passing through death, and so he represents all who will be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (1Th 4:15). These people will never die at all, but will be changed in a moment and caught up to meet the Lord in the air. At His coming in glory all those represented by Moses and Elijah will be revealed with Christ. They form the heavenly side of the kingdom. On the earth there will be saints in their natural bodies. These are represented by the three apostles, who beheld the glory, but were themselves still in bodies of flesh and blood. They were all of Israel, and these will be the first to enter into the kingdom when set up on earth. The nations that have been torn and rent by Satanic power will then find deliverance, and so enter into that reign of peace and righteousness. This is suggested by what took place at the foot of the mountain (Mar 9:17-29).

Explanation of the Coming of Elijah (Mar 9:9-16)

As the little party descended from the mountain where they spent the night, which was probably mount Hermon, the Lord Jesus charged them to say nothing whatever concerning that which they had seen until after He had been raised from the dead. The resurrection was still a mystery to them. Although the Lord had spoken on several previous occasions of His dying and rising again on the third day, they could not seem to understand. As they went down the mountain they questioned one another as to what the expression rising from the dead could possibly mean.

Evidently they were assured in their hearts that Jesus was Messiah. But a question arose about Malachis prophecy which declared that Elijah would be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Familiar with the Scriptures, the scribes taught the people to look not primarily for Messiah but first for Elijah, and so the disciples asked Jesus, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? Jesus declared, Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him. The disciples understood then that He was referring to John the Baptist (Mat 17:13). Johns ministry was Elijah-like. He came denouncing sin and calling the people to repentance, that they might be in condition to receive Messiah when He appeared. Elsewhere we are told that Jesus said, If ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come (Mat 11:14). John the Baptist was not received by all, and his ministry did not have the effect it should have had on the entire nation because of their unbelief.

Some would suggest that there is yet to be a further fulfillment of Malachis prophecy, and that in the days of the great tribulation after the rapture of the church another Elijah-like minister will be raised up of God to prepare the remnant of Israel to receive the anointed One. This may indeed be true.

Reaching the plain, Jesus immediately noticed a great multitude gathered about the nine disciples who had not been with Him that night in the mount. Some of the scribes were talking with them, evidently debating certain questions having to do with the possible messiahship of Jesus. When He appeared the multitude turned toward Him, and we are told that they were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. Just what amazed them we may not be able to say with certainty, but the suggestion has been made that there was still something of the glory shining in His face, even as when Moses came down from the mountain after spending forty days with God. Turning to the scribes He asked them, What question ye with them?

Healing of the Demon-Possessed (Mar 9:17-29)

A man in the multitude spoke up and pleaded for help for his afflicted son who was possessed by a demon. The poor fathers heart was torn with anguish as he told of the distressing condition under which the poor lad lived. In his desire to see his son relieved the father had brought him to the disciples. The father pleaded with them to deliver the boy, but they could not cast out the demon.

Jesus had already empowered the disciples to do that very thing, and as they moved about the cities of Galilee they had on various occasions cast out demons, but in this instance they seemed utterly powerless. Turning to them Jesus rebuked them, saying, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?

Then turning to the father, He said, Bring him unto me. The lad was brought to Jesus, and when He looked upon the boy, the evil spirit that was in him immediately threw him to the ground in a convulsion-like one in an epileptic fit. The Savior looked down on the lad with compassion and asked the father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? The father replied, Of a child, and looking to Jesus, he made the pitiable plea, If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. It is evident that his faith was very imperfect. He believed in his heart that Jesus might be able to help, but he was not sure that He would be willing to do so.

If thou canst believe. Jesus turned things completely around. The if was on the seekers part. Where there is genuine faith all things are possible to him that believeth. As the tears streamed from his eyes, the anxious father asserted his faith; yet recognizing its weakness, he cried for increased confidence, that the Lord might undertake on his behalf.

With a voice of authority Jesus commanded the demon to release his victim and never to control him again. So strenuous was the convulsion as the evil, malignant fiend withdrew that the lad fell to the ground as though dead, so that many supposed he was actually gone. But it proved to be the demons last act before the boy was completely freed from his malign influence. Reaching out His hand, Jesus held that of the unconscious youth and, as He did so, consciousness and physical strength returned. To the fathers joy his son came to his feet-healed and in his right mind.

Leaving the crowd the Master and His disciples entered a house, probably that of Peter, and when they were alone the disciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast him out? Jesus answered, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting. Some manuscripts omit the last two words, and yet there seems to be evidence that these words should be included. Anyway, the great point the Savior made was this: no one can have power over unclean spirits unless he is in intimate touch with God.

The Definition of True Greatness (Mar 9:30-41)

Leaving Capernaum where the healing of the demon-possessed son took place, Jesus and His disciples moved on to other parts of Galilee. The Lord endeavored to avoid anything like vulgar publicity. As they walked along the roads He continued to expound the truths of the kingdom to the disciples, and once more told them of the death He was soon to die. Jesus said, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. One would have thought no language could be clearer than this, and that anyone hearing it would have comprehended that which the Lord was seeking to make so plain. But we are told in verse 32 that the disciples felt reticent about exposing their own ignorance concerning a matter of which the Lord had spoken so frequently, but whose meaning they could not understand. Doubtless the reason was that their minds were so set on the thought of the coming earthly glory that the rejection and death of Him whom they believed to be Messiah seemed incredible. (See Mat 17:22-23 and Luk 9:43-45.)

Returning to Capernaum Jesus asked the disciples, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? They did not realize that their thoughts were known to Him. He did not need to hear their words to know what was in their hearts. Failing to recognize the true character of the kingdom of God, they thought of it as a place for worldly advancement. So they contended with each other as to their respective merits and likelihood of prominence when the kingdom would actually be set up.

If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. He who will be most highly honored in the kingdom of God is the one who seeks no honor for himself, but lays himself out for the blessing of others.

He took a child, and set him in the midst of them. Children felt they could trust the Lord Jesus. His very grace and gentleness attracted them. So the little one came at His bidding and wonderingly took his place among the surprised disciples. The child was Christs representative, for Christs kingdom is one of love and lowliness. And when He is received, the Father who sent Him is received. It is in the heart of the meek and contrite that God loves to dwell (Isa 66:1-2).

In spite of Jesus implied rebuke, the disciples desired to emphasize their loyalty to Christ. John spoke up and told how they had forbidden a man to cast out demons because he was not of their company. Such an attitude is common to many today who think more of sectarian affiliation than of carrying on the work of the Lord. We are all prone to overestimate the importance of our own particular group and to underrate others who do not see eye to eye with us. But the supreme test is the hearts attitude toward Christ. God is not dealing with any party to the exclusion of others. His presence, by the Spirit, is not confined to any one special company of believers, however sound they may be. He recognizes all as His children who trust His Son, whatever their associations may be, although we on our part are responsible to separate from all known evil.

There is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. The very fact that this man acted in the name of Jesus Christ indicated his faith in Him. Where Christs name is acknowledged, He will be loved and honored, at least in measure.

It is so easy to be sectarian in spirit. Jesus declared a great truth that we should never forget when He said, He that is not against us is on our part. On another occasion He said, He that is not with me is against me (Mat 12:30). That is positive, but in Mar 9:40 He speaks negatively. If one is not definitely arrayed against Christ then he is to be considered as on Christs side. This is something most of us forget. But the Lord never spurns anyone who is seeking to know Him and to do His will.

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ shall not lose his reward. Notice that expression, because ye belong to Christ. It is not a question of whether one belongs to our particular group, or whether he follows our ways, but whether he belongs to Christ. Whatever is done for the follower of Christ in the name of the Lord cannot fail of reward.

The Importance of Faithfulness and Integrity (Mar 9:42-50)

A fearful responsibility rests on those who profess to know Christ to do all they can to help rather than to hinder children. To cause one of the little ones who believe in Jesus to stumble is in His eyes a heinous offense. What a terrible thing it is to injure deliberately or mislead a little child-or, if one uses the term little one in a spiritual sense, a young convert. If one is tempted to injure them in any way let him keep in mind the solemn words of Mar 9:42-48.

If the hand would cause one to sin, let it be cut off, for it is better to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell-that is, into Gehenna, the place of eternal judgment. If thy foot offend thee, cut it off. If the feet would lead one into paths of sin, it would be far better to be footless and enter into life, than having two feet to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. Or if the eye would cause one to sin-and oh, how often sin enters through the eye-pluck it out. It is far better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire.

Notice how the Lord reiterates the expression, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Though He was the tenderest and most gracious man who ever walked on this earth, He had more to say about the awfulness of eternal punishment for the finally unrepentant than anyone else whose teachings appear in the holy Scriptures. This description of Hell was possibly based on what was constantly visible at the lower part of the valley of the son of Hinnom, where all the refuse of the city was cast. In this valley perpetual fires were kept burning and there the carcasses of dead animals were thrown. Those passing by would see the gnawing worms and the unquenchable fire. It is an awful picture of the judgment that awaits the Christ-rejecter.

Some ancient manuscripts omit the latter part of verse 49, retaining only the words, For every one shall be salted with fire. The thought is clear, however, even though the remainder of the verse might not rest on the best authority. Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. God had said concerning the sacrifices, Neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking (Lev 2:13). Salt preserves from corruption, and it would appear that the Lord is insisting here on that preservative power of righteousness which alone will deliver one from the judgment that sin so richly deserves.

Jesus had already spoken of His disciples as the salt of the earth, and in Mar 9:50 He adds, Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Flavorless salt is utterly useless. And so a professed believer who is not characterized by righteousness has no testimony whatever for God. The Lord said, Have salt in yourselves-that is, let there be in your life and behavior that righteousness which glorifies God. Instead of seeking your own interest, seek the good of others, and thus have peace one with another.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Mar 9:8

I. When Jesus thus revealed Himself on the Mount of Transfiguration, He may be said to have taken, by anticipation, so much of that Divine glory with which He is now adorned, in heaven, as would call forth the wonder and admiration, without confounding the faculties, of the beholders.

II. The transfiguration of our Lord afforded a powerful attestation to His Divine character, and the truth of His mission to the world. Moses and Elias would never have appeared to support the pretensions of an impostor.

III. Moreover, the same wondrous transformation on Mount Tabor placed beyond a doubt the fact of the soul’s immortality and the resurrection of the body. Not only did the face of the Saviour shine as the sun, and His raiment become white and glistering, but Moses and Elias, also, appeared with Him in glory. What was this but a representation and pledge of the final blessedness of the redeemed. St. Martin of Tours was once meditating in his cell, when a radiant form appeared to him, with a jewelled crown on His head, a countenance resplendent with glory, and with a manner so impressive that it seemed to demand homage and love. The heavenly vision said to St. Martin, “I am Christ; worship Me,” and the legend goes on to say that the saint looked upon this glorious form in silence, then gazed upon the hands and asked, “Where is the print of the nails?” Forthwith the vision departed, and St Martin knew that it was the crafty tempter. The same question, Where is the print of the nails? will relieve many an anxious doubt, and reveal the way of duty.

IV. There are times in the history of God’s children, when, the brightest visions having faded away, like the disciples in the text, “they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.” Can there possibly be a happier or more sustaining thought than this? The little word only reminds us, that we need not be afraid for ten thousands of the people that have set themselves in array against us, if Jesus be our Friend. Each trusting heart may claim Him, as if no one else shared in His all-perfect love.

J. N. Norton, Golden Truths, p. 312.

References: Mar 9:8.-J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House, p. 440. Mar 9:9-32.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 264. Mar 9:10.-J. Baldwin Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 360; J. B. Heard, Ibid., vol. xxiii., p. 260. Mar 9:14-29.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 197. Mar 9:15.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 241.

Mar 9:19

Christ’s Lament over Faithlessness.

I. The first thing that seems to be in this lament is not anger, but a very distinct and very pathetic expression of Christ’s infinite pain, because of man’s faithlessness. The element of personal sorrow is most obvious here. All that men have ever felt-of how hard it is to keep on working when not a soul understands them, when not a single creature believes in them, when there is nobody that will accept their message, nor that will give them credit for pure motives,-Jesus Christ had to feel, and that in an altogether singular degree. There never was such a lonely soul on this earth as His, just because there never was another so pure and loving.

II. In this short sharp cry of anguish, there may be detected by the listening ear not only the tone of personal hurt, but the tone of disappointed and thwarted love. Because of their unbelief He knew that they could not receive what He desired to give them. We find Him more than once in His life hemmed in, hindered, balked of His purpose,-thwarted in His design-simply because there was nobody with a heart open to receive the rich treasure that He was ready to pour out.

III. Another thought which seems to me to be expressed in this wonderful exclamation of our Lord is, that their faithlessness bound Christ to earth, and kept Him there. As there is not anger, but only pain, so there is also, I think, not exactly impatience, but a desire to depart, coupled with the feeling that He cannot leave them till they have grown stronger in faith, and that feeling is increased by the experience of their utter helplessness and shameful discomfiture during His brief absence. They had shown that they were not fit to be trusted alone. He had been away for a day up in the mountain there, and though they did not build an altar to any golden calf, like their ancestors, when their leader was absent, still when He comes back He finds all things gone wrong because of the few hours of His absence. What would they do if He were to go away from them altogether? “How long must I be with you?” said the loving Teacher, who is prepared ungrudgingly to give His slow scholar as much time as he needs to learn his lesson.

IV. Again, we here get a glimpse into the depth of Christ’s patience and forbearance. This plaintive question sounds like a pledge that as long as they need forbearance they will get it, but at the same time a question of how long that is to be. It implies the inexhaustible riches and resources of His patient mercy,

A. Maclaren, Week Day Evening Addresses, p. 54.

References: Mar 9:19.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 261. Mar 9:22.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. v., p. 182.

Mar 9:23

Christ’s “If” answered and more than answered the man’s “if.” The man had said, “if thou canst do anything”; Christ reversed it and showed where the real contingency lay. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” And why are all things possible to him that believeth? Because he that believeth takes hold of Christ and uses His omnipotence.

I. Observe first the expression. “If thou canst believe,” not, “if thou dost believe.” Every man who has not made himself lower than a man, and so lost the position of our common humanity-every man has some faith. And every man who uses the faith he has, will increase its’ power and acquire more. You are the arbiter of your own creed, and your faith is also the test of your own moral condition. And our Lord was not mocking the father of the lunatic child-He was not making a requirement of that which was an impossibility, but He was elevating his mind, and carrying on his own spiritual life, when He said to him “If thou canst believe.”

II. The outside boundary line of the province of faith, properly so called, is promises. Faith is laying hold, I do not say of what God is, for God may be and is much which we cannot understand enough even to believe-but it is laying hold of what God has covenanted Himself to us-what God is to His people. The promises are what God is to His Church, therefore faith confines itself to promises.

III. The text does not say “All things are given to him that believeth,” but “All things are possible to him that believeth.” It may happen, for various causes, that a man may not, at a certain period, receive even what he believes and seeks. God may have some wise, secret reason for not giving it at that time. The man himself, though, he has the faith, may yet have to learn how to use and express his faith better. There is no promise respecting the time, or the way; there is the promise, but not the how or the when. All that is asserted is this, that when a man has the faith of a mercy, he has then the possibility of that mercy. Then, all barriers have been removed, and he may have that mercy at any time, and be sure to have that mercy some time.

J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1868, p. 85.

References: Mar 9:25.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii., No. 474; vol. xxix., No. 1744; Ibid., Evening by Evening, pp. 222, 281; J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Christian Year, vol. ii., p. 193.

Mar 9:23-24

Present Phases of Unbelief.

I. Unbelief may have its rise and find occasion in three directions-the external world, man, and the nature of Christianity itself. One meets constantly the words Agnosticism and Positivism, and these words indicate the channel in which unbelief at present flows.

II. The very principle of the Agnostic involves a contradiction. He declares that man cannot know that there is a God-that God, if He exists, cannot make Himself known. Is not this professing to know a very great deal? This is not agnostic-without knowledge; this is claiming to have an exhaustive knowledge both of man and God, claiming a knowledge, too, in plainest contradiction to human history and human consciousness.

III. One of the characteristics of the unbelief of the present time is its high ethical spirit and purpose. In this it stands wholly opposed to the atheism of former days, which often sought to efface moral distinctions. Our quarrel with this phase of unbelief is, that it ignores man, that it does not look at the facts of the soul, in comparison with which all others are fading pictures. It is fractional and exclusive. Christianity is wide and impartial. It believes that the true reason is the utterance of man’s whole nature.

IV. The Positivist rejects agnosticism He is successful in showing that agnosticism as a religion fails in the three essential elements-belief, worship, conduct. But when he comes to exhibit his own substitute for Christianity, he creates a feeling of surprise, of bewilderment. It is collective humanity that he proposes to worship. While rejecting all abstractions and theories, and professing to regard only fact and law, “law social, moral, mental as well as physical,” he is guilty of worshipping the most entire, and at the same time the most incongruous abstraction. He forgets that men can only worship that which can respond.

V. Another phase of unbelief specially characteristic of our time, and by which it seeks to overthrow religion, is the exclusive claim to disinterestedness.

VI. Our age supplies in its spirit and tendency three antidotes to its own phase of unbelief. (1) The study of the comparative science of religions. The effect of this is to deepen on the mind the conviction that religion is an essential part of human nature, and the dominating part. (2) The strongly ethical character of much of the literature of the time and the deep interest taken in the discussion of ethical questions is on the side of religion. (3) The best poets are among the best friends of religion in our day.

J. Leckie, Sermons at Ibrox, p. 362.

References: Mar 9:23, Mar 9:24.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 281; J. Natt, Plain Sermons, p. 166.

Mar 9:24

The transfiguration marks, so it seems, a crisis in our blessed Lord’s history. It was a great out-shining of the glory of God in the sacred Humanity, permitted alike for the strengthening of the Son for His bitter passion, and for the more confirmation of the staggering faith of the holy Apostles as they witnessed the descent of their Master low down into the valley of His unfathomable humiliation. Henceforth His eye seems ever to be fixed on the cross. Many people have seen Raphael’s famous picture of the Transfiguration. It is a striking contrast and absolutely necessary if we would really grasp the meaning of the miracle. The lesson of the contrast is:

I. “Seek ye My face.” Cultivate the presence of Jesus Christ; realise that any conversation, any pleasure, any companionship, any business where He cannot be called, tempts Him to leave the soul; that a life lived without Him must end in darkness and in shame. Realise on the other hand, that wherever our lot may be cast, in poverty, in sickness, in loneliness, it matters not where, it is well, so only in meekness we cling to Him.

II. As you think of our Lord descending from the height of glory to this scene of sadness and sorrow, see a picture of His love. This demoniac boy, what was he but a type of the sin-stricken world? These vain attempts alike of the Jewish Church and of the Apostles not yet gifted with the Holy Ghost, how it all tells us of the thousand efforts made, now by pious Jews, now by those outside the covenant of Promise, to heal the plague of a fallen world, yet was it all in vain. So He, the Eternal, left the Holy Mount, clad Himself in the robe of flesh, and all that He might expel from our souls the evil spirit who had robbed God of His creature, man.

III. See the power of faith: “All things are possible to him that believeth.” The father cried, “If Thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” The reason why miracles are not wrought today is, not because Christ has failed in power, but because we have failed in faith, the faith as a grain of mustard seed is lacking.

IV. See the power of self purification. “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

T. Birkett Dover, The Ministry of Mercy, p. 175.

If these words express a real state of mind-and who that knows his own heart can doubt for a moment that they do?-it is evident that belief and unbelief can co-exist at the same time; that unbelief is not at once eradicated because we say “I believe;” that belief is not unreal, not hollow, because it is sadly lacerated, and sometimes as it would seem almost interpenetrated, with the poison of unbelief.

I. When the father of the stricken child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief,” He knew what he meant. He meant this: “Lord, I do believe that Thou canst heal my child. How it can be, I know not; but everything tells me that Thou canst aid me. I do believe, though I hardly know why. Give me clearer knowledge. Help my unbelief. But meanwhile heal my son. I know that Thou canst do that.” We need healing. Do we know that we need it? If we do, the doctrine of the Trinity is not far from our hearts, however perplexing it may be to our intellects. If we do not know it, our Lord Himself, though He were again present on the earth, could not prove to us that He is one with the Father and the Comforter.

II. Men believed to be inspired have by all people been regarded with peculiar veneration. The veneration has often been paid to an inspiration which certainly did not come from the spirit of good. But our temptation is to disbelieve inspiration altogether, as a present, operative reality; to regard men as left to themselves, as the authors of their own good and their own evil; to deny a Divine presence; to regard God as a Being historically past or indefinitely future; as One who did speak to the Jews, and will hereafter speak to us, but leaves us now to pass unassisted through a probation which is to fit us for knowing Him in a different state of existence. He who believes in a Holy Ghost sees mankind under a different aspect. They are either grieving or obeying that Divine Spirit. Their evil is rebellion. Their good is God’s. It is possible to say in folly, “There is no God”-no Spirit. It is also possible to say and to feel, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” God revealed Himself gradually to the world. He reveals Himself gradually to us. We pray that His work may go on in our hearts; that no prejudice, or sin, or indolence, or insincerity of ours may thwart Him. We believe that the doctrine of three Persons in one God, so far from being an abysmal mystery which it may be right to accept but impossible to make practical, is the one thing which it is most needful for us all to know. “Lord, we believe; help Thou our unbelief.”

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, p. 61.

Take these words:

I. As the voice of one seeking salvation. Now, if one ask salvation for another, or for himself, Christ demands faith, and in demanding, helps faith to exist and act. “Lord I believe.” How do I believe? It is the Lord who, by the secret power of His Holy Spirit, enables me to believe at all. And yet, what we are conscious of, when we first believe, is not of that Divine touch of the quickening Spirit, but of the action of our own souls, taking hold upon Him, according to His words, as our only and all-sufficient Helper and Healer, and putting our entire trust in Him. “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.”

II. As the voice of the Christian in some anguish of spirit. Grant that the first lessons of faith have been learned, and the elements of new life and hope have been planted in the soul. It is seldom that men understand the real use and value of faith, or the real strength and mischief of unbelief, until they have fallen into some distress, or wrestled with some great sorrow. Adversity or discouragement comes, and words will not support us then. We are alone with a heavy grief, or involved in something that, of all things, we wanted to avoid and shrink from, or face to face with what we know not how to bear. We toss on the sea and the wind is contrary, and where is our faith? Ah! it is with a struggle then that we believe, and we quickly add, “Lord, help mine unbelief.”

III. As the words of the believer in view of duty, or of some holy privilege. (1) Say of duty first. You have some lowly work to do for the Lord on whom you wait. There are trials about very lowly work. At times you have your temptations. Your motives become complicated because you have lost your simplicity of faith and purpose and your singleness of eye looking at your Master’s hand and countenance. Then make haste to the Saviour and pray unto Him. “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” (2) It may be, you advance to some holy privilege of grace, say the Lord’s table. Go with your faint heart, your feeble faith, and your emptiness and helplessness, to the fulness of Jesus Christ, and you will not fare worst at His table. And when you say, “Lord Jesus, I do believe,” then add in a breath, “Help Thou mine unbelief.”

IV. As the voice of the whole Church on earth anxious for the salvation of her children. She has a constant struggle to maintain the holy faith, and overcome the doubts and incredulities that are springing up within her pale. The medival missionary, the Reformer, the Puritan, and the Covenanter, had none of that dapper orthodoxy which now-a-days casts its measuring line over all. He fought his doubts and gathered strength, and while he had a faith that gave courage to his heart and gravity to his character and heroism to his life, on that very account he felt that he must judge himself rather than other men, and that he must cry for himself in the battle of life, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” I should have more hope for the cause of truth now if we saw the same type of brave and humble Christian character returning, of course with the additional charm of the culture of the present age.

D. Fraser, Penny Pulpit (New Series), No. 444.

The Struggle and Victory of Faith.

We learn here:

I. That faith and unbelief are often found in the same heart.

II. That whenever faith and unbelief meet in an earnest heart there will be war.

III. We can foretell how the war will go, by the side which a man’s heart takes.

IV. The way to be sure of the victory of faith is to call in the help of Christ.

J. Ker, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 1.

References: Mar 9:24.-R. W. Evans, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii., p. 229; G. C. Bell, Church of England Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 17; M. Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 195; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1033; Ibid., My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 71; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 345; vol. vii., p. 165; vol. ix., p. 181; J. Martineau, Endeavours after the Christian Life, p. 343. Mar 9:29.-W. F. Hook, Sermons on the Miracles, vol. ii., p. 83. Mar 9:30-41.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 202; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 272. Mar 9:33.-G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons and Addresses in Mar thorough College, p. 19.

Mar 9:33-37

The child in the midst.

Note:-

I. That our Lord’s lesson lay, not in the humanity, but in the childhood of the child. The disciples had been disputing who should be the greatest, and the Lord wanted to show them that such a dispute had nothing to do with the way things went in His kingdom. Therefore, as a specimen of His subjects, He took a child and set him before them. It was not, it could not, be in virtue of his humanity, it was in virtue of his childhood that this child was thus shown as representing a subject of the Kingdom. It was not to show the scope, but the nature of the Kingdom. He told them they could not enter into the Kingdom save by becoming little children-by humbling themselves, for the idea of ruling was excluded where childlikeness was the one essential quality. It was to be no more who should rule, but who should serve; no more who should look down on his fellows from the conquered heights of authority-even of sacred authority-but who should look up, honouring humanity and ministering unto it, so that humanity itself might be persuaded of its own honour as a temple of the living God.

II. This lesson led to the enunciation of a yet higher truth, upon which it was founded, and from which indeed it sprung. Nothing is required of man that is not first in God. It is because God is perfect that we are required to be perfect; and it is for the revelation of God to all the human souls, that they may be saved by knowing Him, and so becoming like Him, that this child is thus chosen, and set before them in the gospel. It is the recognition of the childhood as Divine, that will show the disciple how vain is the strife after relative place or honour in the great Kingdom.

III. To receive a child in the name of God is to receive God Himself. How to receive Him? As alone He can be received-by knowing Him as He is. Here is the argument of highest import, founded upon the teaching of our Master in the utterance before us. God is represented in Jesus, for that God is like Jesus; Jesus is represented in the child, for that Jesus is like the child. Therefore God is represented in the child, for that He is like the child. God is childlike. In the true vision of this fact lies the receiving of God in the child.

G. Macdonald, Unspoken Sermons, p. 1.

References: Mar 9:33-37.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 200. Mar 9:33-50.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. xi., p. 79; A. Maclaren, Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 37. Mar 9:35-37.-D. Fraser, Metaphors of the Gospel, p. 157. Mar 9:36.-H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Waterside Mission Sermons, 2nd series, No. 11. Mar 9:36, Mar 9:37.-J. Keble, Sermons for Saints’ Day, p. 77. Mar 9:38.-H. P. Liddon, University Sermons, 2nd series, p. 165.

Mar 9:38-39

Persons who choose their religion for themselves, or who wander about from one communion of Christians to another at their will, often urge upon us who wish to be disciples of the faith, which was once delivered to the saints, this passage of Scripture. They argue that as the Apostles were not allowed to forbid this stranger, neither may the Church forbid strange teachers and preachers; that all have a right to preach, whether they follow the Church or no, so that they do but preach in the name of Jesus, without any molestation.

I. Now I deny that the case in the text is at all parallel to that which it is brought to justify, as a few remarks will show. (1) First then, this man was not preaching, he was casting out devils. This is a great difference-he was doing a miracle. Man cannot overcome the devil, Christ alone overcomes him. If a man cast out a devil, he has power from Christ; and if he has power from Christ, he must have a commission from Christ; and who shall forbid one to whom God gives commission to do miracles, from doing them? That would be fighting against God. But, on the other hand, many a man may preach without being sent from God, and having power from Him. (2) But it may be said, The effects of preaching are a miracle. I answer that though such preaching did work what looks like a miracle, this would not prove that it came from God; for the false prophets, against whom our Saviour warns us, are to do “signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.” (3) Even if sinners were converted under such an one’s preaching, this would not show that he did the work, or at least, that he had more than a share in it. The miracle after all might belong to the Church, not to him.

II. It should be observed, that if our Saviour says, on this occasion, “He that is not against us is on our part”; yet elsewhere He says, “He that is not with Me is against Me.” The truth is, while a system is making way against an existing state of things, help of any kind advances it; but when it is established, the same kind of professed help tells against it. Before the Gospel was received, those who did not oppose the Apostles actually aided them; when it was received, the very same parties interfered with them. Let us consider when it was that our Saviour spoke the words in the text. It was at a time when there was no Church, when He had not yet set up His Church; we have no warrant, therefore, in saying, that because men might work in Christ’s name, without following the Apostles, before He had built up His Church, and had made them the foundations of it, therefore such persons may do so lawfully since.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. vi., p. 190.

References: Mar 9:40.-Homilist, 3rd series, vol. vii., p. 103. Mar 9:41.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 535; vol. vii., p. 275; Homilist, vol. vi., p. 395. Mar 9:42-50.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 231; H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 207.

Mar 9:43-44

These are words from the lips of Christ; what do they mean? They were evidently spoken in a very serious and solemn mood, and were evidently intended to represent a very serious and solemn reality.

I. Now we know what the popular opinion is, concerning the hell of which Christ speaks, and I must needs begin by repudiating it under the constraint, the irresistible constraint of the conviction, that it is diametrically opposed to all that He has shown and told us of God; that it contravenes entirely the revelation which He has brought to us of the Father. What then is this hell, with its unquenchable fire, of which Christ warns us. To go into hell, was on His lips, as you know, simply to go into Gehenna, and Gehenna was the Syro-Chaldaic word for the Hebrew Gahinnom, “valley of Hinnom”-a narrow valley with steep rocky sides, running south-west of Jerusalem; but a ravine with a history. It would seem to have become “the common cesspool of the city, into which its sewage was conducted, to be carried off by the waters of the Kedron,” as well as the spot where combustible refuse of various kinds was gathered to be burnt. It represented to the Jews as being “the lay-stall of Jerusalem’s filth,”-the ultimate portion of corrupt souls.

II. Gehenna was the state of moral unwholesomeness, of corruption, to which they would invariably reduce themselves, who refused to give up what they felt to be perilous, or prejudicial to their interests, as moral creatures…. When Christ says, Better life with self-mortification than self-indulgence with Gehenna, Gehenna, on His tongue, must needs stand for corruption, since corruption is the antithesis of life, and the literal Gehenna, as we have seen, was emphatically the place of corruption. Yes, the hell by which Christ warns us to be loyal to the demands of faith, to the voice of the soul within us, is just the inward depravity which disloyalty and unfaithfulness in such directions are certain to breed; and what hell can be worse than that?

III. But the Lord Jesus goes on to speak of the fire of Gehenna, passing thus from the thought of the corruption induced by unworthy self-indulgence, to the thought of what such corruption shall be subject to. Gehenna, he says, is frequently lit up with fires; fires kindled for the consumption of the refuse collected there; and remember, that in the moral world of God, wherever there is corruption, there sooner or later, fire will surely come, to attack it remorselessly, until it shall be purged away.

S. A. Tipple, Echoes of Spoken Words, p. 143.

References: Mar 9:47, Mar 9:48.-Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 216. Mar 9:50.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 28. Mar 10:1-12.-H. M. Luckock, Footprints of the Son of Man, p. 211. Mar 10:1-27.-A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 251; W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 257. Mar 10:2-52.-Ibid. x. 13, 14.-Sermons on the Catechism, p. 230; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. iii., p. 241. Mar 10:13-15.-J. Aldis, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 280.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Chapter 9

1. The Glory to Come foreshadowed in the Transfiguration. (Mar 9:1-13. Mat 17:1-13; Luk 9:28-36.)

2. The helpless disciples and the secret of failure. (Mar 9:14-29. Mat 17:14-20; Luk 9:37-42)

3. The second announcement of His death. (Mar 9:30-32. Mat 17:22-23; Luk 9:43-45)

4. The self-seeking disciples.(Mar 9:33-37. Mat 18:1-5; Luk 9:46-48)

5. The Servants gentleness and tolerance. (Mar 9:38-41. Luk 9:49-50)

6. The solemn warning. (Mar 9:42-50. Mat 18:6-9.)

1. The Glory to Come foreshadowed in the Transfiguration. Mar 9:1-13

The Lord had the transfiguration in mind when He spoke of some standing there and not tasting death. 2Pe 1:16 gives the meaning of the transfiguration as a type and earnest of His Coming into His Kingdom. On that mountain the three disciples saw the Kingdom of God come with power. The Servant appears in Glory. The Saints are represented by Moses and Elias, those who have died and those changed in the twinkling of an eye. The three disciples represented the Saints on earth, when He comes into His Kingdom; the Shekinah cloud was there. And Peter blundered again when he lowered the dignity of the Lord by putting Him alongside of the two Old Testament Servants of God. The Fathers voice is heard once more, vindicating the honor of His Son. What an encouragement the transfiguration must have been for the Servant-Son.

2. The helpless disciples; the secret of their failure. Mar 9:14-29

The whole scene is of greatest importance. The Conditions He finds returning from the mount of transfiguration are typical of the conditions on the earth when He comes again. Here are helpless disciples, triumphant, unbelieving scribes and the manifestation of Satans power. All this we cannot follow in detail. Notice the additions in Marks account. They had no power to cast out the demon, because they were faithless. The Lord told them that lack of prayer and fasting were the causes of their failure. Dependence on God and denial of self are meant. How gracious was the complete deliverance of the afflicted boy. If Gods people knew more of real prayer and real denial of self, there would be a greater manifestation of His power through them.

3. The second announcement of His death. Mar 9:30-32

Passing again through Galilee He announced His death and resurrection the second time. They understood not and were afraid to ask Him. The cross was foreign to them. Other thoughts occupied their hearts.

4. The self-seeking disciples. Mar 9:33-37

And while He who had made of Himself no reputation, who came to be the Servant of all, was looking towards the goal of His earthly ministry, the cross and its shame, they disputed all the way who should be the greatest. Vain glory filled their hearts in expectation of the earthly kingdom for which they waited. They were unable to enter into His thoughts. They were silent because they realized that their dispute was wrong. Then He taught them. The desire of being first shows only fitness to be last. Such a desire reveals nothing but self. Humility must ever be a leading characteristic of the disciple. Then He illustrates it by the small child He took in His arms. Such in dependence, humbleness in mind and confidence, the disciples must be to enjoy His fellowship. With such He can identify Himself.

5. The Servants gentleness. Mar 9:38-41

Another form of self appears among the disciples. John would have the Lord rebuke those who used His name effectually and belonged not to their company. It was a narrow sectarianism. Of all the manifestations of self the religious sectarian self, as expressed in exclusivism, rejecting those who do not fellowship with them–is by far the worst, and in the Epistles by the Spirit of God is designated as a work of the flesh. How very offensive it must have been to Gods perfect Servant. Yet what a gentle answer He gives. How we all can learn from Him. The smallest service in doing honor to His name would not be forgotten of God.

6. The Solemn Warning. Mar 9:42-50

The words are for both saint and sinner. We quote from another on this solemn word. Nevertheless, as regards themselves, all depends on the faithfulness of Christ; and on this account they need to free themselves from all the things which tend to separate from Christ, which led into sin, and bring on apostasy in the heart as well as outward apostasy. God will keep His own, but He will keep them in making them obedient to His Word. Besides this, God puts all to the proof; the fire of His judgment is applied to all, both to saints and sinners. In the saints it consumes the dross, in order that the pure gold may shine in its true lustre; in the case of sinners it is the fire of eternal judgment that is not quenched.

Every sacrifice must be salted with salt refers to Lev 2:13. The salt represents the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from all that is impure and produce holiness in a heart devoted to God, to keep us from all corruption. Have salt in yourselves. He wishes us to exercise diligence in order that our souls, in our walk, may be thus sanctified before God, and then manifest it before the world and that we should walk with others in peace. (J.N. Darby on Mark.)

The burden where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, falls on the conscience stricken like the bell that tolls the felon to his doom. Would that it might kindle our hearts who believe into an unwonted earnestness on behalf of perishing souls! Many attempts are made to deny the solemn warning in its fearful meaning, but they are eternal truth. The Son of God came from Heavens Glory, walked on earth as the Servant and tasted death, yea, forsaken of God on the Cross, to save man from the unquenchable fire.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

CHAPTER 38

Lessons from the Transfiguration

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.

(Mar 9:1-13)

We must never fail to consider the context in which something is revealed in Holy Scripture. In Mark 9 we are given a description of our Lords transfiguration before Peter, James, and John. It is a passage full of instruction and inspiration. But we are sure to miss much if we do not remember that this story follows, by divine arrangement, our Lords comments in Mark 8 about his own suffering and death, and his teaching that if we would be his disciples we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, lose our lives to his dominion, and follow him even unto death.

Now, lest we grow weary in well doing, lest we be tempted to lay down the cross, lest we think self-denial is too demanding, our Lord follows those strong, demanding words with the promise of his kingdom and a sight of his own glory in that kingdom, even giving us a foretaste of the glory awaiting us when our warfare here is ended. When we are tempted to give up the fight and turn from the battle, we ought to seek a fresh vision of Christs great glory and of the glory promised to us in him. May God the Holy Spirit enable us to see and hear those things which Peter, James, and John saw and heard when they were with the Lord in the holy mount.

Taste of Death

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power (Mar 9:1). What a blessed thing it is to read those words taste of death! Gods elect only taste of death. The wicked are swallowed by it. They are killed with death (Rev 2:23). Believers shall never die (Joh 11:26). Actually, for the believer death is not death at all, but the beginning of life. The death of a believers body is the liberation of his soul; and as soon as our souls are freed from this body of sin and death we shall enter heaven. This is the doctrine of Gods Word (Isa 57:1-2). When the righteous perish from the earth, they live in uprightness forever. Those who have been made righteous by the grace of God, being made the righteousness of God in Christ, when they die are taken away from evil. They enter into a world of peace. They rest in their beds, their bodies in the grave and their souls in the arms of Christ. And they live in the uprightness of glorified spirits forever.

As soon as the believer dies he is carried by the angels of God into heaven, Abrahams bosom (Luk 16:22-25), the place of endless comfort. At death every repentant sinner is taken to be with Christ in paradise (Luk 23:43). Paradise is heaven, the garden of God (Rev 2:7). It is that place of assured blessedness promised to sinners who seek the mercy of God in Christ. Our Savior said to the dying thief, Today, immediately, shalt thou, assuredly, be with me, in endless company, in paradise, heavenly glory. Death for the believer is infinite, immeasurable, immediate gain (Php 1:21-23). Believers, upon leaving this world, lose nothing but sin and sorrow and gain everything good and glorious.

What is the state of the saints life between death and the resurrection? I will not say more than God has revealed; but we are assured that Gods saints are not floating around in the sky sleeping! They have gone to a specific place called Heaven where Christ is. There they are assembled as a glorified Church (Heb 12:22-23). And their souls exist in a recognizable form, just as surely as Lazarus, Moses, and Elijah exists in a recognized form (Luk 16:23; Mar 9:4). Do Gods saints have a body between death and the resurrection? A physical body? No. A spiritual body, a heavenly form, a house for their souls? Most definitely! Read 2Co 5:1. Every believer as soon as he leaves this body of flesh enters into heaven with Christ. It is this assurance that makes death a desirable thing for the believer to taste.

The Coming of the Kingdom

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power (Mar 9:1). The disciples were terribly perplexed by our Lords declaration described in verse thirty-one of chapter eight that he must be rejected and killed. I do not doubt that they were very concerned about the demands of true discipleship described in the last few verses of that chapter. Here the Lord Jesus promised them that he is indeed Gods Messiah and that the kingdom of God was at hand, so very near at hand that some of them would still be living upon the earth when it came. Our Lord plainly told his disciples that his kingdom was about to be established. He was not talking about a literal, earthly, millennial kingdom to be established in Israel at some distant time in the future. He was talking about something that was about to happen at the time.

It is a great mistake to miss the teaching of Scripture regarding the spiritual, present nature of Christs kingdom. We do not look for some future time when the Lord Jesus will establish a carnal millennial kingdom on earth. We who believe are the Israel of God. Gods church is his kingdom, the true Zion. Believers are the children of Abraham. This kingdom began when Christ entered into his glory. All the fanciful nonsense about a secret rapture, a future, literal seven-year tribulation period, a 1000 year Jewish kingdom, the return of Jewish sacrifices, etc. is nothing but human invention, tradition, and religious escapism. When Christ comes the second time, it will not be in secret, it will not be to give the Jews a second chance to receive him, or to rebuild the Jewish priesthood and temple services! When the Son of God comes again, it will be with power and great glory for the ultimate salvation of his people and the destruction of his foes. The Word of God never speaks of Christ coming secretly, or of a secret rapture of the church (2Th 1:6-10).

In this opening verse of Mark 9 our Lord Jesus tells us three things specifically about his kingdom. First, the Savior declared that the kingdom of God would come, and would come so as to be seen. The kingdom of the Messiah was to be set up in the world by the utter destruction of the Jewish nation, both physically and spiritually. In Gen 49:10 we are told that the scepter of power and the lawgiver would depart from Judah when Shiloh was come. Here Shiloh declares, I have come and the scepter of power as well as the lawgiver shall now depart from Judah. In Romans 9-11 the Holy Spirit explains that it was necessary for God to destroy the Jewish nation and send blindness to that one nation, so that he might send the gospel into all the world and gather his elect out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. Matthew Henry correctly observed, This was the restoring of the kingdom of God among men, which had been in a manner lost by the woeful degeneracy both of Jews and Gentiles.

Second, our Master asserted that his kingdom would come with power, power to make its own way and overcome all the opposition that might stand in its way. It came with power when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon it on the day of Pentecost. It came with power when God sent the Roman armies under the command of Titus through Jerusalem in 70 AD. It came with power when the gospel was brought to chosen, redeemed sinners among the Gentiles, breaking the chains of sin, idolatry, and superstition. And the kingdom of God still comes with power every time the Holy Spirit conquers a rebel sinners heart by the gospel.

Third, our Lord Jesus asserted that some who stood with them on the earth at that time would continue to live until he had fulfilled his purpose in coming to the earth in human flesh and returned to glory and poured out his Spirit as the ascended, enthroned King of Zion (Act 2:36-37). There were some standing there, that did not taste of death, until they saw it. This is virtually the same thing he said in Mat 24:34. These very same disciples, though they saw and understood very little at this time, he promised would see the kingdom of God, when the others could not discern it to be the kingdom of God, for it comes not with observation. The only people in all the world who can see and enter into this kingdom are those who are born of God (Joh 3:3-7).

Having made this promise, a promise which seemed altogether unbelievable, six days later our Savior took Peter, James, and John up into a high mountain and showed them some things which they later looked back upon as convincing proofs of his kingdom and glory.

The Transfiguration

In Mar 9:2-10 we see where Mark describes the Saviors transfiguration. Though there was an interval of six days, it seems clear that Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give his account of the transfiguration as a prophetic vision of that which our Savior declared in verse one. It is given here as a representation of the coming of the kingdom of God and of Christs exaltation and glory as our King. Though they were commanded to say nothing about it at the time, both Peter and John gave very clear accounts of what they had seen later (2Pe 1:16; 1Jn 1:1-3). Mar 9:2-10 is a picture of the glory our great and glorious Savior now has as our exalted Mediator and King.

The days of his sorrow and humiliation are over forever. Our Lord Jesus is crowned with glory now. When the Scripture says here that he was transfigured before these disciples, the word transfigured is translated from the word from which we get our word metamorphosis. It means that he changed before their very eyes. Thus, our Lord showed his disciples the glory awaiting him when he had finished his work of redemption. I am not guessing about this. Peter, James, and John, as they watched this, heard Moses and Elijah talking to him about the death he was to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luk 9:29-31). The Saviors transfiguration testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow (1Pe 1:11).

This vision of Christs transfiguration was also a gracious pledge of glorious things which are in store for Gods elect (Col 3:1-4). Though reviled and persecuted in this world, though despised and hated for the gospels sake, there is a day coming when we shall be clothed with majesty, honor, and glory forever (Eph 2:7).

I must not pass this opportunity to point out the fact that Moses and Elijah knew each other, and were known by these disciples, though they lived hundreds of years apart and the disciples had never seen them or even a picture of them before. I am often asked, Will we know one another in heaven? Obviously, the answer is, Yes. As soon as these bodies close their eyes in death, believers enter into an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. In that house we will know and converse with one another, as well as with Christ himself. And the primary subject of conversation in heaven will be the death accomplished at Jerusalem by our most glorious Christ.

This vision of our Lords transfiguration is also a picture of the fact that Moses and Elijah, the law and the prophets, find their fulfillment in the substitutionary sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. The law was not given to be nothing more than a code of ethics. It was given to point to Christ. The prophets were not written merely to foretell future events. The books of the prophets were written to proclaim the coming of Christ and to verify his claim as the Christ when he did come.

What great comfort and consolation a sight and apprehension of glory gives to troubled believers! When Peter, speaking for himself, as well as James and John, said, Lord, let us stay right here forever, there is much in the statement which is reprehensible. It showed a terrible slowness to hear the Word of God and great ignorance on his part. The Lord Jesus had just told him a few days earlier that he must be killed at Jerusalem. It showed a very regrettable forgetfulness of his brethren and selfishness on his part. It certainly showed the folly of popping off about things of which we are ignorant. Yet, if I had been there, indeed, if I could be there now, I think I would want the same thing Peter wanted. I would say, Lets stay right here on this mountain. I dont ever again want to go back down to where I was.

Be that as it may, it will do our hearts good to look forward, and try to get some apprehension of the indescribable pleasure and glory awaiting us when we meet our Savior to part no more. What shall we say when we are made partakers of his glory? What emotions will flood our souls when we enter into his holy company and know that we shall go out no more? What shall it be to enter into his glory? Peter had a foretaste of these things. I suspect that when we experience them we will say with one heart and one voice, It is good for us to be here.

Further, the transfiguration gives us another of those plain, clear declarations of our great Saviors eternal Godhead. While they were with the Savior in the mount, with Moses and Elijah standing in front of them, the Lord God spoke from heaven and said, This is my beloved Son. Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John were all like us, sinners saved by grace, the sons of God by adoption and grace. Jesus Christ is distinctly God the Son, the Son of God by nature. The man Christ Jesus is himself God! He is God manifest in the flesh. His name is Immanuel, God with us. None but God could redeem us. None but God could put away our sins. None but God could save us by his grace.

And in this vision we are clearly and distinctly taught that all power and authority are in the Lord Jesus Chris, our Savior and King. That same Voice which spoke from heaven at our Masters baptism and declared our Savior to be God the Son, spoke again at his transfiguration. On both occasions the Voice was the same. On both occasions, the Father owned the Son as the Son. But here two very important words are added. Hear him! In the Church and Kingdom of God there is no voice of authority but his voice. He is our Teacher. If we would be wise, we must learn of him. He is the Light of the world. If we would walk in the light, we must follow him. He is the Head of the church. If we would be members of his body, we must be joined to him. He alone is the Savior of men. If we would be saved, we must look to him. Blessed, eternally blessed are all those sinners who upon this earth are graciously taught of God and learn by his grace to look to Christ and hear him (Joh 10:27-28).

Elijah must Come

The disciples, as they came down off the mountain after seeing the Lord Jesus transfigured before them, after seeing and hearing Moses and Elijah, after hearing God the Father speak from heaven, were specifically told to tell no one about the things they had seen until the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead. Hearing that, they seemed to forget everything else and returned to their usual questions and debates about what the Lord meant. This time, they debated about what he meant by rising from the dead. They still did not believe that the Lord Jesus was really going to die (Mar 9:9-10). They were, indeed, coming down!

And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him (Mar 9:11-13).

We must never attempt to interpret the Word of God carnally. The Pharisees believed and taught, as many do today, that before Christ comes in his glory and establishes his kingdom Elijah must literally come to the earth again. The disciples were familiar with and confused by the influence of the Pharisees.

The prophecy of Malachi certainly tells us that Messiahs coming must be preceded and introduced by the coming of Elijah.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.(Mal 4:5-6)

But we know Malachis prophecy did not refer to Elijah literally coming back to the earth, because the Lord Jesus tells us plainly in Mar 9:13 that Malachis prophecy was fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist. John the Baptist came not in the body of Elijah, but in the spirit and power of Elijah. That was the meaning of Malachis message. Let us never attempt to interpret the Word of God carnally. And we should always beware of the influence of false religion. There is no hindrance to the understanding of the Word of God like the prejudice of false religion. Seldom, very seldom is the majority, or the historical opinion of things right. These disciples misunderstood Malachis words, because they allowed themselves to be influenced by the carnal doctrine of the Pharisees.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

seen Cf. (See Scofield “Mat 17:2”) Also, 2Pe 1:16-18

kingdom (See Scofield “Mat 6:33”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

That: Mat 16:28, Luk 9:27

taste: Luk 2:26, Joh 8:51, Joh 8:52, Heb 2:9

the kingdom: Mat 24:30, Mat 25:31, Luk 22:18, Luk 22:30, Joh 21:23, Act 1:6, Act 1:7

Reciprocal: Mat 5:18 – verily Mar 14:18 – Verily Joh 21:22 – If 2Pe 1:16 – the power

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THESE WORDS, if they at all realized their import, must have come to the disciples as a great blow. Hence the Lord, in His tender consideration for them, proceeded to give them very ample assurance as to the reality of the glory that is to come. They had expected Gods kingdom to come with power and glory in their lifetime, and that illusion being dispelled, they might easily jump to the conclusion that it was not coming at all. Hence the three disciples, who seemed to be leaders among them, were taken aside to the high mountain that they might be witnesses of His transfiguration. There they saw the kingdom of God come with power-not in its fulness but in sample form. They were granted a private view of it in advance.

In the first chapter of his second Epistle Peter shows us the effect that this wonderful scene had upon him. He was an eye-witness of the majesty of Christ, and thereby he knew that His power and the promise of His coming was no cunningly devised fable, but a glorious fact, and so the prophetic word was made more sure, or confirmed. He knew, and we may know, that not one jot or little, of that which has been foretold concerning the glory of Christs coming kingdom, will fail.

The transfiguration scene itself was a prophecy. Christ is to be the shining Centre of the kingdom glory, as He was on the mountain top. Saints will be with Him in heavenly conditions, just as Moses and Elijah were: some of them buried and called forth by God, like Moses; some raptured to heaven without dying, like Elijah. In the kingdom too there will be saints on earth below, enjoying earthly blessedness in the light of the heavenly glory, just as the three disciples were conscious of blessedness during the brief vision. It was after six days, and only six were present, so all was on a small and incomplete scale; still the essentials were there.

Peter, ready to speak as ever, blurted out what he intended to be a compliment, but which in reality was far otherwise. The scene of glory could not then be prolonged upon earth, nor could the Christ-nor even Moses and Elijah-be confined to earthly tabernacles. But more serious than this mistake was the thought that Jesus was only the first amongst the greatest of men. He is not the first amongst the great, but the beloved Son, of the Father, perfectly unique, immeasurably beyond all comparison. No other may be mentioned in the same breath with Him. He stands alone. This the Fathers voice declared, adding that He is the One who is to be heard.

The Fathers voice has been heard very rarely by men. He spoke at Christs baptism, and now again at His transfiguration, this time adding, Hear Him. Since then His voice has never been heard by men in intelligible fashion. The Son is the Spokesman of the Godhead, and it is to Him that we have to listen. God once spoke through the prophets, Moses and Elijah: He now has spoken in His beloved Son. This shuts Peter out, as well as Moses and Elijah, which is significant when we remember what the Romish system makes of Peter and his supposed authority. In this incident Peter again showed that as yet he was just like the man whose eyes were out of focus, so that he saw men as trees walking.

No sooner had the Fathers voice thus exalted His beloved Son than the whole vision was gone, and only Jesus was left with the three disciples. Saints disappear, but Jesus remains. The words, They saw no man any more, save Jesus only, are very significant. If any of us approximate to that in our spiritual experience, we shall no longer be like a man who sees men as trees walking, but be like the man after the second touch, seeing all things clearly. Jesus will fill the picture as far as we are concerned, and man be eclipsed.

All this was made known to the disciples, as verse Mar 9:9 shows, in view of the time when His death and resurrection should be accomplished. Only then would they really understand it all, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and be able to effectually use it in testimony. At that moment they did not even understand what rising from among the dead really signified, as the next verse shows. The rising of the dead would not have puzzled them in any special way: it was this rising out of, or from among, the dead-which first took place in Christ-that raised such questions. The first resurrection of the saints, the resurrection of life, is of the same order. Are there not many, calling themselves Christians, who are full of questions as to it today?

The disciples question as to Elijah, and his predicted coming, was naturally raised in their minds by the transfiguration scene. The Lord used it to again turn their thoughts to His death. In regard to this first advent of His, the part of Elijah had been played by John the Baptist; and his murder was symptomatic of what was to happen to the greater One, of whom he was the forerunner.

The scene on the high mountain soon came to an end but not so the scenes of human sin and misery and suffering which filled the plains below. From the heights to the depths they had to come, to find the rest of the disciples defeated and anxious in the absence of their Master. Immediately He appeared the crowds were amazed, and all eyes turned from the distracted disciples to the calm and all-sufficient Master. A moment before the scribes had been heckling the disciples, now He questions the scribes, invites the confidence of the troubled father, and displays His sufficiency.

Happy is the saint who is able to bring something of the grace and power of Christ into this troubled world! But even so, we shall have to wait for His coming and kingdom to see fully accomplished what this scene foreshadows. Only then will He transform the whole world, and turn the defeat and disquietude of His tried and distracted people into the calm of His presence and into a complete and manifested victory.

There had been a singular manifestation of the glory of God in the peaceful scene upon the mountain-top, whilst at the foot of the mountain the dark power of Satan had been displayed, with all the distraction that it brings. The boy demon-possessed, the father disappointed and distracted, the disciples defeated and dejected, the scribes not at all averse to making capital out of the incident. The Lord walks into the midst and all is changed.

In the first place, He puts His finger upon the spot where the root of the failure lay. They were a faithless generation. The root was unbelief This applied to His disciples, as well as to the rest. If their faith had fully laid hold of who He was, they would not have been baffled by this test, any more than when confronted by the matter of feeding the multitudes. They were still like the man of chapter 8, before he saw all things clearly.

But now the Master Himself is in the midst, and the word is, Bring him unto ME. However, the first result of the boy being brought was disappointing, for the demon flung him down in a terrible fit. Yet this was made to serve the purpose of the Lord, for on the one hand it made the more manifest the terrible plight of the boy the very moment before he was delivered, and on the other it served to bring out the feelings and thoughts of the anguished father. His cry, If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us, revealed his lack of faith as to His power, whilst he was not too sure of His kindness.

The reply of Jesus was, The if thou couldst is [if thou couldst] believe (N. Trans.). That is, He said in effect, There is no if on My side, the only if that enters into this matter is on your side. It is not if I can do anything, but if you can believe. This put the whole thing in the true light, and in a flash the man saw it. Seeing it, he believed, whilst confessing his former unbelief.

Having evoked faith in the man, the Lord acted. The object before Him was not to create a sensation amongst the people; had it been, He would have waited for the crowd to collect. His object evidently was to confirm the faith of the father, and of any others who had eyes to see. The demon had to obey, though he wrought his worst before relinquishing his prey. This display of demonic power, after all, only gave an opportunity for a more complete display of Divine power. Not only was the boy completely delivered but also delivered for ever, since the demon was commanded to enter him no more.

Having thus manifested the power and kindness of God, the perfect Servant did not court popularity amongst the crowds but retired to a certain house. There His disciples in quietness enquired as to the reason of their failure, and got His answer. Again and again we ought to be asking their question, as we find ourselves weak in the presence of the foe; and as we do so we shall doubtless get just the answer they got, as recorded in verse 29. The Lord had already declared how unbelief lay at the root of their powerlessness: now He specifies two further things. Not only is faith needed, but also prayer and fasting.

Faith indicates a spirit of confidence in God: prayer-dependence on God: fasting-separation to God, in the form of abstinence from lawful things. These are the things which lead to power in the service of God. Their opposites-unbelief, self-confidence, self-indulgence, are the things that lead to weakness and failure. These words of our Lord play like a searchlight upon our many failures in serving Him. Let us consider our ways in the light of them.

In verses Mar 9:30-31 we again see the Lord withdrawing Himself from publicity, and instructing His disciples as to His approaching death and resurrection. We first saw this in verses Mar 9:30-31 of the previous chapter.

It was the next great event in the Divine programme, and He now began to keep it steadily before the minds of His disciples, though at the moment they failed to take it in. Their minds were still filled with expectations of the coming of a visible kingdom, so they were unable to entertain any idea that controverted that.

The idea that Christs kingdom would immediately appear appealed to them because they expected to have a large place of honour in it. They conceived of it in a carnal way, and it awakened carnal desires in their hearts. Hence on the journey to Capernaum they fell to discussing who of them was to be greatest. The Lords question was sufficient to convict them of their folly, as was evidenced by their abashed silence; yet He knew it all, for He proceeded to answer them though they made no confession.

His answer appears to be two-fold. First, the only way that leads to real greatness is one that goes to the bottom as servant to all. This being so, we can see how the Lord Jesus is pre-eminent even apart from His Deity. In manhood He has taken the lowest place, and become Servant to all in a way that is infinitely beyond the service of all others. The one most like Him is likely to be first.

In the second place, He showed that the personality of the servant is of small significance: what does count is the Name in which He comes. We have that beautiful and touching scene in which He first set a small child in their midst, and then took him up in His arms, in order to enforce His point. That child was an insignificant scrap of humanity, yet to receive one such in His Name was to receive the Lord Himself, and also the Father who sent Him. The reception of a thousand such in any other name or on any other ground would signify but little. The fact is that the Master Himself is so supremely great that the relative position of His little servants is not worth disputing about.

This teaching seems to have come as an illumination to John, and caused his conscience to prick him as to their attitude towards a zealous man who acted in His Name, though not following the twelve. Why he did not follow, we are not told; but we must remember that it was not open to anyone to attach themselves to the twelve just as they chose: the Lords own choice decided that matter. Whatever it was, the Lords reply again laid all the emphasis on the value of His Name. Acting in His Name, the man was clearly for Christ and not against Him.

As a matter of fact this unofficial individual had been doing the very thing which the disciples had just failed to do-he had cast out a demon. Office is one thing: power is quite another. They should go together, in so far as office is instituted in Christianity. But very frequently they have not done so. And in these later days when offices have been unscripturally instituted, we again and again see some simple and unofficial person doing the thing which the official has no power to do. The power lies in the Name not the office.

Verse Mar 9:41 shows that the smallest gift in the Name, and for Christs sake, is of value in the sight of God and will meet with reward at His hands. Verse Mar 9:42 gives us the converse of this: to be a snare to the feeblest of those who are Christs is to merit and to get severe judgment. The losing of life in this world is a small thing compared with loss in the world to come.

This leads to the very solemn passage with which this chapter closes. Some of His hearers might have thought the Lords word about the millstone a bit extreme He adds yet stronger words, which have hell-fire itself in view. His thoughts at this point evidently broadened out beyond His disciples to men generally, and He shows that any loss in this world is very small compared with the loss of all that is life in the next, and being cast into the fire of Gehenna. Hand and foot and eye are very valuable members of our bodies, and not to be lightly parted with; but life in the coming age is beyond all price, and hell-fire an awful reality.

The Valley of Hinnom, the refuse dump outside Jerusalem, where fires always burned and maggots continually did their work, was known as Gehenna; and this word on the Lords lips became a terribly apt figure of the abode of the lost. Verily hell will be the great refuse heap of eternity, where all that is incorrigibly evil will be segregated from the good, and lie for ever under the judgment of God. This terrible fact reaches us from the lips of Him who loved sinful men and wept over them.

The first statement of verse Mar 9:49 sprang out of what the Lord had just been saying. Fire searches and consumes and disinfects. Salt not only seasons but preserves. Fire symbolizes the judgment of God, which all must face in one way or another. The believer must face it in the way indicated by 1Co 3:13, and by it he will be salted, since it will mean the preserving of all that is good. The ungodly will be subjected to it in their persons, and it will salt them; that is, they will be preserved in it and not destroyed by it.

The latter part of the verse is an allusion to Lev 2:13. Salt has been described as symbolizing that power of holy grace, which binds the soul to God and inwardly preserves it from evil. We cannot present our bodies a living sacrifice to God if that holy grace is absent. It is indeed good, and nothing would compensate for its absence. We are to have in ourselves this holy grace which would judge and separate us from all that is evil. If each is concerned to have it in oneself, there will not be difficulty in having peace amongst ourselves.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Chapter 15.

Discipleship and the Cross

“And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”-Mar 8:34 to Mar 9:1.

Cross-bearing: A Duty for All.

There is the closest and most vital connection between these verses and those just preceding them. It was Peter’s protest against the intimation of the Passion that drew from our Lord this solemn declaration that cross-bearing is the universal and indispensable condition of discipleship. “God forbid!” Peter had said, in his own hot and impulsive way, “this-a violent death at the hands of elders and priests and scribes-shall never be unto Thee.” “Say you so?” Jesus replies in effect (I quote Dr. A. B. Bruce’s paraphrase), “I tell you that not only shall I, your Master, be crucified, but ye too, faithfully following Me, shall certainly have your crosses to bear. If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” To lend emphasis to the announcement, to make it quite clear that this was a universal law, Jesus did not say this to the Twelve alone. “He called unto Him the multitude with His disciples.” This was not a law for the Apostles merely, it was equally binding upon the humblest believer; not for teachers and leaders only, but for the least and most insignificant of followers as well; not a law for the first Christians only, but for Christians of every age. King Arthur insisted upon conditions before a man could become a Knight of his Round Table. Everyone had to swear to speak no slander, no, nor listen to it; to live sweet lives in purest chastity; to ride abroad redressing human wrongs; to honour his own word as if his God’s; to break the heathen, and to uphold the Christ. But here is a law insisted upon by a greater Captain than King Arthur-the condition of entrance into a still nobler order of chivalry-“If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (viii. 34).

Master and Disciple.

The first truth all this suggests to me is that of the correspondency that exists between the Master and the disciple. Christ is not a solitary cross-bearer; every true Christian is a cross-bearer too. Our Lord warned us that His lot and ours was bound to be the same. “A disciple,” He said, “is not above his master, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord” (Mat 10:24-25). There will be a correspondency, He said, between your fate and Mine. And so it was. As John puts it in his Epistle, “As He is, even so are we in this world” (iv. 17). “So are we;” the lot of the Master was the lot of the disciple also: in this respect among others, that the disciple, like the Master, had to bear a cross.

The Solitary Cross.

But when I talk about the Lord bearing a cross, and the disciple also bearing a cross, I do not want to be misunderstood. I do not say that the Master’s cross and the disciples’ cross are one and the same. There is a sense in which our Lord’s cross is solitary and unshared. In its redemptive aspect Christ’s cross stands alone. People talk about a “continuous atonement.” I do not know what they mean by it. If they mean that Christ’s work on the cross needs to be completed and perfected by some suffering or work of ours, I answer, first, that nothing we can do can possibly add to the atoning work of Jesus. We are sinful men and women; we cannot atone, we need atoning for. And, in the second place, I answer that Christ’s sacrifice does not need completing. It is complete. The sacrifice of the cross is a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction. “It is finished.” Nothing remains to be done. Christ did it all when He submitted Himself to death and shame. As a redeeming sacrifice the cross of Christ remains for ever unshared.

-And the Fellowship of Suffering.

But while the cross from one point of view is a redeeming sacrifice, from another point of view it represents the sacrifice of self, and the pains and penalties Christ endured because of His absolute and complete devotion to the righteous will of God. And in this respect we too must bear the cross as well as Christ. In this respect there is a strict correspondency between Master and disciple. We must enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. “As He is, even so are we in this world.” For that is what the Christian life is on its practical side; it is a life of conscious devotion to the holy will of God. And obedience to the will of God inevitably means the cross; for it means the hostility of the world, and the sacrifice of self. It means outward trouble and inward conflict. See what it meant for some of these disciples. If tradition speaks truly, following Christ meant for some of them not persecution only, but death. It meant a scaffold in Jerusalem for James, a cross in Rome for Peter. They drank of their Lord’s cup, and were baptised with their Lord’s baptism. They had literally to take up their cross and follow Him. And though these killing times are past, it remains true to this day that they who will live godly must suffer persecution.

The Hostility of the World.

The man who makes the will of God his law must make up his mind for the scorn and contempt of men. We can escape it only by cowardice and compromise. Many people refuse to rank themselves among Christ’s avowed followers because they are not prepared for this cross. “Nevertheless,” says John, “even of the rulers many believed on Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, lest they should be put out of the synagogue” (Joh 12:42). That is it, they shrank from the cross. But there can be no compromising between the world and Christ. We must face the world, and defy the world, and break with the world. We must let the world do its worst. If we want to go after Christ, we must take up this cross, and follow Him.

The Surrender of Self.

And in addition to the hostility of the world, there is the sacrifice of self, the surrender of whatever there is in us which is contrary to the will of God, the extermination of those unholy desires and passions of the soul, so dear to the natural man, so alien to the law of God. And what a cross that is! No man can tell what another man’s cross is. But we have all a cross of some kind. You have yours. I have mine. They differ from one another; but there is not one of us who does not know that there are things in us to be fought, and repudiated, and torn up by the roots, if we would follow Christ. Do not confine what I am saying to what we speak of as the grosser sins. We can see that the drunkard and the profligate have to say good-bye to their evil habits before they can follow Christ, and we know what agony that means in many cases. But it is not to them alone this demand applies. It applies also to us. For there is not one of us who does not know perfectly well that in our own hearts there are things to be repudiated and put away, if we want to follow Christ.

A Real Crucifixion.

The putting away of these things, the denial of self and sense, what a conflict it is, and what agony it entails! There was no punishment so torturing as crucifixion. But what crucifixion was in the physical realm, that the denial and repudiation of self is in the spiritual. Indeed, crucifixion is the very word Paul uses for the process. “I have been crucified with Christ,” he cries (Gal 2:20). “Our old man,” he says in another place, “was crucified with Him” (Rom 6:6). “The world,” he says in yet a third place, “hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14). While in another place he states his own experience as a general law, and in the very spirit of this text says, “They that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof” (Gal 5:24). “The flesh,” their own flesh. It is upon themselves they have executed this judgment. It is upon themselves they have inflicted this agony. They have driven the nails through their own quivering affections and lusts. In this respect of the denial of self in obedience to the holy will of God, Christ is but the first cross-bearer of a great host. That was the sign that a Knight had entered for the Crusades, in olden days-the cross upon the shoulder. This is the sign that we have entered the service of Jesus-the cross in the life, the marks, the stigmata, the nail-prints of Jesus, in the heart. “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mar 8:34).

Three Reasons for Cross-bearing.

Now I can imagine that, when the disciples heard this law first laid down, many of them may have said in their hearts, “This is a hard saying, who can bear it?” And perhaps some of them may even have contemplated leaving Jesus, and following no more after Him. He was making the price of discipleship so costly. I believe Jesus Himself realised that thoughts like these were arising in their minds, that many listening to Him were asking the question, “Is it worth while?” And so He proceeds to deal with that unexpressed doubt. “It is a heavy price to pay,” He says to these doubting and hesitating folk, in effect, “but it is worth while. Discipleship means the cross, but it is worth the cost.” And He proceeds to enunciate three reasons, each one of them introduced by a “for,” to show that it is worth while to follow Him, even though it means the cross and the daily self-denial. Let us glance briefly at each of the reasons Christ adduces.

(1) The Paradox of Losing and Saving.

-And the price of Ease.

(1) This is the first-“Whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel’s shall save it” (viii. 35). To understand this paradox-a paradox embodying so much of essential and vital truth that our Lord repeated it on more than one occasion-we must bear in mind that the word “life” is used here in a double sense. In the one connection it stands for mere life; in the other it stands for the “good of life,” life worthy of the name. It is life on the lower and the higher plane. As Paul would put it, it is life “after the flesh,” and life “after the Spirit.” So that this saying might be paraphrased thus, “Whosoever will make it his first business to save or preserve his natural life and worldly well-being, shall lose the higher life, the life indeed; and whosoever is willing to lose his natural life for My sake, shall find the true eternal life.” And we know by experience that this is true. If we concentrate our thought upon the lower self, upon comfort, and wealth, and sensual indulgence, the higher life suffers. You remember that grim verse in the Psalms, “They lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert” (Psa 106:14-15), lusted for mere material good, for the flesh-pots of Egypt, “and He gave them their request”-they got what they wanted. But at what a price! for “He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” That is a sequence we see illustrated too sadly often before our very eyes. We see men getting their desires, getting comfort, ease and wealth; we see them pampering their lower self, and we see them paying for it in leanness of soul. On the other hand, when a man dies to self, when he crucifies his flesh, with the affections and lusts thereof, he rises with Christ into a new life, a rich life, an eternal life. Sacrifice of some kind must be made. The only question we have to settle is, which we will sacrifice, the lower or the higher, what the world calls life, or what He calls life. Here there is the first reason for obeying Christ’s call, and bearing the cross, by sacrificing self, by crucifying the flesh, by losing the lower life, we gain the life which is life indeed.

(2) The Profit and Loss Sum.

(2) And here is the second reason-it follows closely upon the first, and is indeed explanatory of it-“For what doth it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? For what should a man give in exchange for his life?” (viii. 36, 37). Here is our Lord’s profit and loss sum. He puts the lower life and the higher life in the scales, and weighs them against each other. For the lower life is just the “worldly” life, the life given up to things of time and sense; the life that seeks to satisfy itself with creature comforts and sensual joys. Supposing that a man gains the world, enjoys everything the world can give, is rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing; like Dives, is clothed in purple and fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day; supposing that he gains the whole world at the cost of the life of his soul, he is a loser by the bargain. On the other hand, the whole world is too small, an utterly inadequate price to pay for the ransom of a soul once lost

-An Ever-present Alternative.

Christ’s question remains still unanswered. We are all of us confronted by this alternative, the world or the soul. And many of us are tempted to sacrifice the soul to the world. That is specially our peril in these materialistic days. But whoever sacrifices his soul to the world makes a bad bargain. For he is sacrificing the inward and essential to the outward and accidental, the enduring to the transient, the eternal to the temporal. Supposing a man gains the world, he cannot keep it. “The world passeth away.” “The rich man died,” that is his end. And the man who has made the world his choice loses everything. He is ushered into the next world, poor and miserable and blind and naked. For a man’s genuine and permanent wealth does not consist in cash, but in character, not in what he possesses, but in what he is. I know the world measures what a man is worth by the amount of money he has; but the real worth of man is measured by the amount of soul he has, by the amount of faith and hope and love and purity there is in him. And in face of this I want to know what shall it profit a man to gain the world, and lose his real life-his soul life? Profit! there is no profit in it, only sheer and utter loss. Indeed, that is the only person Christ describes as “lost,” the man who has lost his soul. And supposing a man has “lost” his soul, what can he give to buy it back? What shall a man give in exchange, or rather as an exchange, for his soul? Many a man, coming to the end of his life, would give anything and everything to get his lost soul back. He has got his wealth, perhaps; but face to face with eternity he sees his wealth is mere dust and dross compared to the soul, and he would give all he has to buy it back. But “it cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof” (Job 28:15). It is in view of all this that Christ urged men to crucify the world to themselves, and themselves unto the world, to deny themselves, and follow Him. It may mean poverty, as far as this world is concerned, but they shall be rich unto eternal life.

(3) The Time of Reckoning.

(3) And the third argument for cross-bearing is drawn from the Second Advent. I am not going just now to enter upon any discussion as to what we are to understand by the specific references to the Second Coming in the Gospel, and even in this particular passage. There is no doubt the disciples expected that coming to take place speedily. Indeed, the words that follow this verse, words which naturally belong to it (ix. 1), seem to promise that it shall take place within the lifetime of some who were then standing by our Lord and listening to His words. It may be that our Lord spoke of two comings, one near at hand, and another at the end of the world, and that these two got more or less confused in the recollections of the disciples. But be that as it may, one fact is quite clear: our Lord spoke of a day of triumph, when He should appear invested with the manifest glory of Messiah, and attended with a mighty host of ministering spirits-His reward for bearing His cross of ignominy and shame. And in that day of the Lord’s triumph those who have borne the cross and followed Him shall triumph too. Those who have suffered with Him shall also be glorified together. Those who have fought His battles shall wear the crown. “For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (viii. 38). In the great and awful day of judgment and searching and sifting, the one thing worth having will be the life-giving recognition and smile of the Lord; but if we have never enlisted in His army, if we do not bear the “marks” of the cross, what can He say but this, “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity?”

A Searching Call.

“If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”; it is a stern and searching call. And yet it is a reasonable call. For, just as Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame for the joy that was set before Him, so too, if we remember the “joy” set before us, we shall have strength to bear our cross. And let us remember this, farther. When we bear our cross we are in the blessed fellowship of Jesus. He marches at the head with His great and heavy cross. We follow after. And our crosses are light compared with His. “Shall Jesus thus suffer, and shall we refuse?” “Who shall dream of shrinking, by our Captain led?” “We will not shrink!” “Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest” (Mat 8:19).

Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary

1

This statement of Jesus denotes that the kingdom of heaven was not yet set up, and also it was to come in the lifetime of some men then living. Since all of the people living then are dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has been in existence for centuries and that much teaching on that subject today is false.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

[The kingdom of God coming in power.] In Matthew, it is the Son of man coming in his kingdom. The coming of Christ in his vengeance and power to destroy the unbelieving and most wicked nation of the Jews is expressed under these forms of speech. Hence the day of judgment and vengeance:

I. It is called “the great and terrible day of the Lord,” Act 2:20; 2Th 2:2;3.

II. It is described as “the end of the world,” Jer 4:27; Mat 24:29; etc.

III. In that phrase, “in the last times,” Isa 2:2; Act 2:17; 1Ti 4:1; 2Pe 3:3; that is, in the last times of that city and dispensation.

IV. Thence, the beginning of the “new world,” Isa 65:17; 2Pe 3:13.

V. The vengeance of Christ upon that nation is described as his “coming,” Joh 21:22; Heb 10:37; his “coming in the clouds,” Rev 1:7; “in glory with the angels,” Mat 24:30; etc.

VI. It is described as the ‘enthroning of Christ, and his twelve apostles judging the twelve tribes of Israel,’ Mat 19:28; Luk 22:30.

Hence this is the sense of the present place: Our Saviour had said in the last verse of the former chapter Mar 8:38, “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels,” to take punishment of that adulterous and sinful generation. And he suggests, with good reason, that that his coming in glory should be in the lifetime of some that stood there.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

THE connection, of this passage with the end of the last chapter ought never to be overlooked. Our Lord had been speaking of His own coming death and passion-of the necessity of self-denial, if men would be His disciples-of the need of losing our lives, if we would have them saved.-But in the same breath he goes on to speak of His future kingdom and glory. He takes off the edge of His “hard sayings,” by promising a sight of that glory to some of those who heard Him. And in the history of the transfiguration, which is here recorded, we see that promise fulfilled.

The first thing which demands our notice in these verses, is the marvelous vision they contain of the glory which Christ and His people shall have at His second coming.

There can be no doubt that this was one of the principal purposes of the transfiguration. It was meant to teach the disciples, that though their Lord was lowly and poor in appearance now, He would one day appear in such royal majesty as became the Son of God. It was meant to teach them that when their Master came the second time, His saints, like Moses and Elijah, would appear with Him. It was meant to remind them, that though reviled and persecuted now, because they belonged to Christ, they would one day be clothed with honor, and be partakers of their Master’s glory. [Footnote: The analogy between the glory assumed by our Lord at His transfiguration, and the glory which the saints shall receive at His resurrection, is well pointed out by Victor Antiochenus in a passage quoted by Du Veil. He says, “We must not suppose that there is to be any change of the natural form of man in the kingdom of heaven. For as the appearance of Christ was not in itself changed, but only illumined (or glorified)-so, also, the just who will be conformed to His glorious body, will not be changed as to their outward form. Their bodies will only receive a certain accession of splendor and light, which Paul calls a change, (1Co 15:52,) but the evangelists a transfiguration.”]

We have reason to thank God for this vision. We are often tempted to give up Christ’s service, because of the cross and affliction which it entails. We see few with us, and many against us. We find our names cast out as evil, and all manner of evil said of us, because we believe and love the Gospel. Year after year we see our companions in Christ’s service removed by death, and we feel as if we knew little about them, except that they are gone to an unknown world, and that we are left alone. All these things are trying to flesh and blood. No wonder that the faith of believers sometimes languishes, and their eyes fail while they look for their hope.

Let us see in the account of the transfiguration, a remedy for such doubting thoughts as these. The vision of the holy mount is a gracious pledge that glorious things are in store for the people of God. Their crucified Saviour shall come again in power and great glory. His saints shall all come with Him, and are in safe keeping until that happy day. We may wait patiently. “When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4.)

The second thing which demands our notice in this passage, is the strong expression of the apostle Peter, when he saw his Lord transfigured. “Master,” he said, “it is good for us to be here.”

No doubt there was much in this saying, which cannot be commended. It showed an ignorance of the purpose for which Jesus came into the world, to suffer and to die. It showed a forgetfulness of his brethren, who were not with him, and of the dark world which so much needed his Master’s presence. Above all, the proposal which he made at the same time to “build three tabernacles” for Moses, Elijah, and Christ, showed a low view of his Master’s dignity, and implied that he did not know that a greater than Moses and Elijah was there. In all these respects the apostle’s exclamation is not to be praised, but to be blamed.

But having said this, let us not fail to remark what joy and happiness this glorious vision conferred on this warm-hearted disciple. [Footnote: The remark of Brentius on the glorious nature of the whole vision of the transfiguration is well worth quoting. Like most of that admirable commentator’s expositions, it contains much in few words.

“No Synod on earth was ever more gloriously attended than this. No assembly was ever more illustrious. Here is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Here are Moses and Elias, the chief of the prophets. Here are Peter, James, and John, the chief of the apostles.”] Let us see in his fervent cry, “It is good to be here,” what comfort and consolation the sight of glory can give to a true believer. Let us look forward, and try to form some idea of the pleasure which the saints shall experience, when they shall at last meet the Lord Jesus at His second coming, and meet to part no more. A vision of a few minutes was sufficient to warm and stir Peter’s heart. The sight of two saints in glory was so cheering and quickening, that he would fain have enjoyed more of it. What then shall we say, when we see our Lord appear at the last day with all His saints? What shall we say, when we ourselves are allowed to share in His glory, and join the happy company, and feel that we shall go out no more from the joy of our Lord? These are questions that no man can answer. The happiness of that great day of gathering together is one that we cannot now conceive. The feelings of which Peter had a little foretaste, will then be our’s in full experience. We shall all say with one heart and one voice, when we see Christ and all His saints, “It is good to be here.”

The last thing which demands our notice in this passage is the distinct testimony which it bears to Christ’s office and dignity, as the promised Messiah. We see this testimony first in the appearance of Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the law and the prophets. They appear as witnesses that Jesus is He of whom they spoke in old times, and of whom they wrote that He would come. They disappear after a few minutes, and leave Jesus alone, as though they would show that they were only witnesses, and that our Master having come, the servants resign to Him the chief place.-We see this testimony, secondly, in the miraculous voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear Him.” The same voice of God the Father, which was heard at our Lord’s baptism, was heard once more at His transfiguration. On both occasions there was the same solemn declaration “This is my beloved Son.” On this last occasion, there was an addition of two most important words, “Hear Him.”

The whole conclusion of the vision was calculated to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the three disciples. It taught them in the most striking manner, that their Lord was far above them and the prophets, as the master of the house is above the servants, and that they must in all things believe, follow, obey, trust, and hear Him.

Finally, the last words of the voice from heaven, are words that should be ever before the minds of all true Christians. They should “hear Christ.” He is the great Teacher; they that would be wise must learn of Him. He is the light of the world: they that would not err must follow Him. He is the Head of the Church: they that would be living members of His mystical body must ever look to Him. The grand question that concerns us all is not so much what man says, or ministers say-what the Church says, or what councils say-but what says Christ?-Him let us hear. In Him let us abide. On him let us lean. To Him let us look. He and He only will never fail us, never disappoint us, and never lead us astray. Happy are they who know experimentally the meaning of the text, “my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (Joh 10:27-28.) [Footnote: The coming of Elias, or Elijah, which forms the topic of conversation between our Lord and His disciples in the latter part of the passage now expounded, is a deep and mysterious subject.

1. According to one class of interpreters, the ministry of John the Baptist was the coming of Elias. They consider that the prophecy of Malachi (Mal 4:5-6) that Elijah the prophet should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, was completely accomplished in John the Baptist, and that no other coming of Elias is to be expected. This is the view maintained by the great majority of Protestant commentators, both English and foreign, from the time of the Reformation to the present day.

2. According to another class of interpreters, a literal coming of Elias is yet to take place. They consider that John the Baptist only went before our Lord in the “spirit and power of Elias,” (Luk 1:17,) and that the words of Malachi are yet to be fulfilled. This is the view maintained by nearly all the Fathers, by the great majority of the Roman Catholic commentators, and by not a few modern Protestant divines, both English and continental, at the present time.

If I must express an opinion, when great and learned divines differ so widely, I must honestly confess that I decidedly incline to the second of the two interpretations above given. I believe that a literal appearing of Elijah the prophet before the second coming of Christ may be expected. Dark and incomprehensible as the subject is, the scriptural arguments in favor of this view appear to me unanswerable. Any other view seems to do violence to the plain meaning of the words of Mal 4:5-6; Mat 17:11; Joh 1:21. There seems no reason why there should not be a double ” coming of Elias”-the first, “in spirit and power,” when John the Baptist preached-the second, ” literal and in person,” when he shall come at the end of the world-immediately before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

The whole question is undoubtedly surrounded with difficulties, whatever view we adopt. I can only say that after patient and calm investigation, I see much fewer difficulties in the way of the interpretation to which I lean, than in the way of the other. I hold with Augustine, Jerome, Chrysostom, Hilary, Jansenius, Brenius, Greswell, Alford, and Stier, that Mal 4:5-6, is not yet completely fulfilled, and that Elijah the prophet will yet come. Those who can read Greek will find an interesting note on this subject, in Cramer’s Catena on Mark.]

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

There is a three-fold sense and interpretation given of these words by expositors; 1. Some refer the words to the times of the gospel after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, when the gospel was spread and propagated far and near, and the kingdom of God came with power.

Learn hence, That where the gospel is powerfully preached, and cheerfully obeyed, there Christ cometh most gloriously in his kingdom.

2. Others understand these words of Christ’s coming, and exercising his kingly power in the destruction of Jerusalem; which some of the apostles then standing by lived to see.

3. Others (as most agreeable to the context) understand the words as relating to our Saviour’s transfiguration, As if he had said, Some of you, meaning Peter, James, and John, shall shortly see me on mount Tabor, in such splendour and glory, as shall be a praeludium, a shadow, and representation of that glory, which I shall appear in, when I come to judge the world at the great day.

And whereas our Saviour says not, there be some standing here which shall not die, but, which shall not taste of death; this implies two things;

1. That after they had seen his transfiguration; they must taste of death as well as others.

2. That they should but taste of it, and no more.

From whence learn, 1. That the faithful servants and disciples of Christ must as length, in God’s appointed time, taste and have experience of death as well as others.

2. That although they must taste yet that they shall but taste of death; they shall not drink of the dregs of that bitter cup ; though they fall by the hand of death, yet shall they not be overcome by it; but in the very fall get victory over it.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mar 9:1. Some that stand here shall not taste of death, &c. See on Mat 16:28; till they see the kingdom of God come with power So it began to do when three thousand were converted to God at once.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

LXX.

THIRD WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD’S TERRITORY.

Subdivision C.

PASSION FORETOLD. PETER REBUKED.

aMATT. XVI. 21-28; bMARK VIII. 31-38; IX. 1; cLUKE IX. 22-27.

a21 From that time [i. e., from the time of Peter’s confession, and about three-quarters of a year before the crucifixion] began Jesus to show unto his disciples, b31 And to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things [Since the apostles, by the mouth of Peter, had just confessed Jesus as Christ, it was necessary that their crude Messianic conceptions should be corrected and that the true Christhood–the Christhood of the atonement and the resurrection–should be revealed to them. In discourse and parable Jesus had explained the principles and the nature of the kingdom, and now, from this time forth, he taught the [414] apostles about himself, the priestly King], athat he must go up to Jerusalem, band be rejected by aand suffer many things of the elders, and bthe chief priests, and the scribes [The Jewish Sanhedrin was generally designated by thus naming the three constituent parts. See Joh 2:19-22, Joh 3:14, Mat 12:38-40), but these had not been understood by either friend or foe. Now that he thus spoke plainly, we may see by Peter’s conduct that they comprehended and were deeply moved by the dark and more sorrowful portion of his revelation, and failed to grasp the accompanying promise of a resurrection.] a22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. [Evidently Peter regarded Jesus as overcome by a fit of despondency, and felt that such talk would utterly dishearten the disciples if it were persisted in. His love, therefore, prompted him to lead Jesus to one side and deal plainly with him. In so doing, Peter overstepped the laws of discipleship and assumed that he knew better than the Master what course to pursue. In his feelings he was the forerunner of those modern wiseacres who confess themselves constrained to reject the doctrine of a suffering Messiah.] b33 But he turning about, and seeing his disciples. aturned, brebuked Peter, and saith, {asaid} unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things that be of men. [Jesus withdrew from Peter and turned back to his disciples. By the confession of the truth Simon had just won his promised name of Peter, which allied him to Christ, the [415] foundation. But when he now turned aside to speak the language of the tempter, Peter receives the name Satan, as if he were the very devil himself. Peter presented the same temptation with which the devil once called forth a similar rebuke from Christ ( Mat 4:10). He was unconsciously trying to dissuade Jesus from the death on which the salvation of the world depended, and this was working into Satan’s hand. Peter did not mind or think about the Messiah’s kingdom as divinely conceived and revealed in the Scriptures.] b34 And he called unto him the multitude with his disciples, a24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, c23 And he said unto all [despite the efforts of Jesus to seek privacy, the people were still near enough at hand to be called and addressed], If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily [comp. Rom 8:36, 1Co 15:31] and follow me [For comment, see Luk 12:9, 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 2:12] in this adulterous and sinful generation [see pp. 305, 306], the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him cwhen he cometh in his own glory, and the glory of the {bhis} cFather, and of {bwith} the holy angels. [Peter had just been ashamed of the words in which Christ pictured himself as undergoing his humiliation. Jesus warns him and all others of the dangers of such shame.] a27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall render unto every man according to his deed. [The Father’s glory, the angels, and the rendering of universal judgment form a threefold indication that Jesus here speaks of his final coming to judge the world.] b1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, c27 But I tell you of a truth, aThere are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. ctill they see the kingdom of God. bcome with power. [The mention of his final coming suggested one nearer at hand which was to be accomplished during the life of most of those present, since none but Jesus himself and Judas were to die previous to that time. The kingdom was to come and likewise the King. The former coming was literal, the latter spiritual. Those who refer this expression to the transfiguration certainly err, for no visible kingdom was established at that time. The expression refers to the kingdom which was organized and set in motion on the Pentecost which followed the resurrection of Jesus. It was set up with power, because three thousand souls were converted the first day, and many other gospel triumphs speedily followed.] [417]

[FFG 414-417]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Mark Chapter 9

In Matthew we saw the transfiguration announced in terms that related to the subject of that Gospel-the rejected Christ taking His glorious position as Son of man. In each of the Gospels it is in connection with the moment when this transition is clearly set forth; but in each case with a particular character. In Mark we have seen the humble and devoted service of Christ in proclaiming the kingdom, whatever might be the divine glory that shone through His humiliation. Accordingly the manifestation of the transition to glory is here announced as the coming of the kingdom in power. There is nothing that very particularly distinguishes the recital here from that in Matthew, excepting that the isolation of Jesus and the three disciples at this moment is more strongly marked in Mar 9:2, and that the facts are related without addition. The Lord afterwards charges them to tell no one what they had seen, until after His resurrection from among the dead.

We may remark here, that it is indeed the kingdom in power that is manifested. It is not the power of the Holy Ghost bringing the sinner as a holy member of the body into connection with Christ the Head, revealing to it the heavenly glory of Christ as He is at the right hand of the Father. Christ is on earth. He is there in connection with the great witnesses of the Jewish economy (the law and prophecy), but witnesses who give place entirely to Him, while participating with Him in the glory of the kingdom. But Christ is manifested in glory on the earth-the man in glory is recognised as Son of God, as He is known in the cloud. It was the glory as it shall be manifested on the earth, the glory of the kingdom, and God is still in the cloud, though revealing His glory in it. This is not our position as yet without a veil; only that the veil as to our relationship with God is rent from top to bottom, and we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ. But this is spiritual privilege, not public display-our veil as to that, our body, is not rent; but Christs, as the title of entrance, is. [9]

But this position of glory could not be taken by the Lord, nor the glorious reign be established, excepting in a new order of things. Christ must rise from the dead to establish it. It did not accord with His presentation as Messiah, as He then was. Therefore He commands His disciples not to make it known till after His resurrection. It would then be a powerful confirmation of the doctrine of the kingdom in glory. This manifestation of the glory confirmed the faith of the disciples at that time (as Gethsemane taught them the reality of His sufferings, and of His conflicts with the prince of darkness); and would afterwards form a subject of their testimony, and its confirmation, when Christ should have taken His new position.

We may see the character of this manifestation, and its relation to the earthly kingdom of glory of which the prophets had spoken, in 2Pe 1:19. Read there, We have the word of prophecy confirmed.

The disciples had stopped at the threshold. In fact, although their eyes were opened, they saw men as trees walking. What, they questioned between themselves, could this rising from among the dead mean? Resurrection was known to them; all the sect of the Pharisees believed in it. But this power which delivered from the condition in which man and even the saints were found, implying too that others were still left in it when that power was exercised, of this they were totally ignorant. That there was a resurrection in which God would raise up all the dead at the last day, they had no doubt. But that the Son of man was the resurrection and the life-the absolute triumph over death of the last Adam, the Son of God having life in Himself, manifested by His resurrection from among the dead (a deliverance that shall be accomplished in the saints also in due time), of this they understood nothing. Doubtless they received the Lords words as true, as having authority; but His meaning was incomprehensible to them.

Now unbelief never fails to find out difficulties that justify it in its own eyes which refuse to perceive the divine proofs of the truth-difficulties great enough in appearance, and which may trouble the minds of those who, through grace, are inclined to believe, or who have believed, but are still weak in the faith.

The prophets had said that Elias must first come. The scribes insisted on this. Struck with the glory that undeniably confirmed the pretensions of Christ, the disciples speak to Him of this difficulty. The conviction which the sight of the glory brought to their mind, made them confess the difficulty with regard to which they had previously been silent, not daring to bring it forward. But now the proof is strong enough to embolden them to face the difficulty.

In fact, the word spoke of it, and Jesus accepts it as the truth; Elias was to come and restore all things. And he shall indeed come before the manifestation of the glory of the Son of man; but first of all the Son of man must suffer and be rejected. This also was written, as well as the mission of Elias. Moreover, before this manifestation of Christ, which tested the Jews as to their responsibility, God had not failed to supply them with a testimony according to the spirit and power of Elias; and they had ill-treated him as they listed. It was written that the Son of man should suffer before His glory, as truly as that Elias should come. However, as we have said, in point of testimony to the Jews, he who took morally the place of Elias had come. They had treated him as they were going to treat the Lord. Thus also John had said that he was not Elias, and he quotes Isa 40:1-31, which speaks of the testimony; but he never quotes Mal 4:1-6, which relates to Elias personally. The Lord (Mat 11:10) applies Mal 3:1; but John, Isaiah.

Come down from the mountain, the people rush towards Him, astonished apparently at this mysterious absence from His disciples, and salute Him with the reverence with which His whole life had inspired them. But that which had taken place in His absence only confirmed the solemn truth that He must depart, which had just been demonstrated by a more glorious testimony. The remnant even, they who believed, knew not how to profit by the power which was now on earth. The faith of those even who believed did not realise the presence of the Messiah-the power of Jehovah, the Healer of Israel: wherefore then still remain among the people and the disciples? The poor father expresses his affliction in a touching manner, in words that shew a heart brought by the sense of its need to a right condition, but very weak in faith. The miserable state of his child is related, and his heart presents a true picture of the condition of the remnant-faith that required support on account of the unbelief under which it was buried. Israel was in no better condition than the poor child. But power was present, capable of all things. That was not the difficulty. Is there faith to profit by it? was the question. If thou canst, said the afflicted father to Jesus. If thou canst (replied the Lord) applies to thy faith; if thou canst believe, all things are possible. The poor father, true of heart, confesses his own state with grief, and seeks, in the goodness of Christ, help for his failure. Thus the position of Israel was plainly shewn forth. Almighty power was present to heal them to deliver them from the power of Satan. It was to be done through faith, for the soul was to return to God. And there was faith in those who, touched by the testimony of His power, and moved by the grace of God, sought in Jesus the remedy for their woes and the foundation for their hopes. Their faith was weak and wavering; but wherever it existed, Jesus acted with the sovereign power of His own grace, and of the goodness of God that finds its measure in itself. However far unbelief may have gone in those who should profit by the grace of a dispensation, wherever there is a need to meet, Jesus answers to it when He is looked to. And this is a great mercy and encouragement for us.

Nevertheless, for this power to be exercised by man himself (to which God called him), it was needful that he should draw very near to God-that he to whom it was committed should accustom himself to communion with God, by withdrawing from all that connected him with the world and the flesh.

Let us here recapitulate the principles of this narrative with respect to their general application. The Lord, who was going away, to be seen no more of the world until He came in glory, finds, on coming down from the mount of transfiguration, a case of the power of Satan over man, over the Jewish people. It had continued from almost the commencement of the childs existence. The faith that recognises the intervention of God in Christ, and takes shelter in it from present evil, is weak and wavering, pre-occupied with the evil, the sight of which conceals in great measure the power that masters and takes it away. Still the sense of need is deep enough to make it have recourse to that power.

It is the unbelief which knows not how to count on the power that is present, which puts an end to the relations of Christ with man. It is not mans misery that does so-it was this that brought Him down to earth. But the almighty power is present-it only needs faith to profit by it. But if the heart, on account of the enemys power, turns to Jesus, it can (thank God) bring its unbelief to Him as well as all the rest. There is love and power in Him for every kind of weakness. The people crowd around, attracted by the sight of the enemys power. Can the Lord heal him? But can he allow the testimony of Satans power to invade their hearts? This is the curiosity of men whose imagination is filled with the effect of the enemys presence. But, whatever might be the unbelief of man, Christ was present, the testimony of a power that, in love to men, destroyed the effects of the power of the enemy. The people gather round-Jesus sees it, and with a word casts out the enemy. He acts according to the necessity of His power, and the purposes of the love of God. Thus the effort of the enemy occasioned the intervention of Jesus, which the weakness of the fathers faith tended to arrest. Nevertheless, if we lay all our infirmity, as well as our misery, before Christ, He answers according to the fulness of His power. On the other hand, if the flesh meddles with the thoughts of faith, it hinders intelligence in the ways of God. While journeying, Christ explained His death and His new condition in resurrection. Why blame the lack of intelligence which hid all this from them, and filled their minds with ideas of earthly and Messianic glory? The secret of their want of intelligence lay here. He had told them plainly; but on the way they disputed among themselves which should have the first place in the kingdom. The thoughts of the flesh filled their heart, in regard to Jesus, with exactly the opposite of that which engaged the mind of God respecting Him. Infirmity, presented to Jesus, finds an answer in power and in sovereign grace; the flesh and its desires hide from us, even when thinking of Him, all the import of the thoughts of God. It was their own glory they were seeking in the kingdom; the cross-the true path to glory-was unintelligible to them.

After this the Lord resumes with His disciples the great subject before Him at this moment; and which was, in every way, that which now must be decided. He was to be rejected; and He separates Himself from the multitude, with His disciples, to instruct them on this point. Pre-occupied with His glory, with His rights as Messiah, they do not understand it Their faith even, such as it was, blinds them to all beyond that; because, while rightly attaching itself to the Person of Christ, it connected-or rather, their own hearts, in which the faith existed, connected-with Christ the accomplishment of that which their flesh desired and sought in Him for themselves. How subtle is the heart! This betrays itself in their dispute for pre-eminence. Their faith is too weak to bear elucidations that contradicted their ideas (Mar 9:32). These ideas are manifested without disguise among themselves. Jesus reproves them, and gives them a little child for an example, as He had so often done before. He that would follow Christ must have a spirit quite opposite to that of the world-a spirit belonging to that which was weak and despised by the pride of the world. In receiving such a one, they would receive Christ; in receiving Christ, they would receive the Father. It was eternal things that were in question, and the spirit of a man must then be the spirit of a child.

The world was so contrary to Christ , that he who was not against Him was for Him. [10] The Son of man was to be rejected. Faith in His Person was the thing, not now individual service to Him. Alas! the disciples were still thinking of themselves: He followeth not us. They must share His rejection; and if any one gave them a cup of cold water, God would remember it. Whatever would cause them to stumble in their walk, were it even their own right eye or hand, they would do well to cut off; for it was not the things of an earthly Messiah that were in question, but the things of eternity. And all should be tested by the perfect holiness of God, and that in judgment by one means or another. Every one should be salted with fire-the good and the bad. Where there was life, the fire would only consume the flesh; for when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. If the judgment reaches the wicked (and assuredly it shall reach them), it is condemnation-a fire that is not quenched. But, for the good, there was also something else: they should be salted with salt. Those who were consecrated to God, whose life was an offering to Him, should not lack the power of holy grace, which binds the soul to God and inwardly preserves it from evil. Salt is not the gentleness that pleases (which grace produces without doubt), but that energy of God within us which connects everything in us with God, and dedicates the heart to Him, binding it to Him in the sense of obligation and of desire, rejecting all in oneself that is contrary to Him (obligation that flows from grace, but which acts all the more powerfully on that account). Thus, practically, it was distinctive grace, the energy of holiness, which separates from all evil; but by setting apart for God. Salt was good: here the effect produced in the soul, the condition of the soul, is so called, as well as the grace that produces this condition. Thus they who offered themselves to God were set apart for Him; they were the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith can it be salted? It is used for seasoning other things; but if the salt needs it for itself, there is nothing left that can salt it. So would it be with Christians; if they who were of Christ did not render this testimony, where should anything be found, apart from Christians, to render it to them and produce it in them? Now this sense of obligation to God which separates from evil, this judgment of all evil in the heart, must be in oneself. It is not a question of judging others, but of placing oneself before God, thus becoming the salt, having it in oneself. With regard to others, one must seek peace; and real separation from all evil is that which enables us to walk in peace together.

In a word, Christians were to keep themselves separate from evil and near to God in themselves; and to walk with God in peace among one another.

No instruction could be more plain, more important, more valuable. It judges, it directs, the whole Christian life in a few words.

exigencies of eternity and the character of Christian life, He brings back all the relations of God with man to their original elements, setting aside the world and its glory, and Jewish glory also, as to its immediate accomplishment, and pointing out the path of eternal life in the cross, and in the saving power of God. Nevertheless He takes the place of obedience Himself, and of service-the true place of man-in the midst of all this: God Himself being introduced on the other hand, in His proper character as God, in His nature and in His divine rights; the special glory that belongs to dispensations, and the relationships proper to them, being left out.

Footnotes on Mark Chapter 9

9: The entrance into the cloud does not form part of the revelation here. We find it in Luke. The cloud for Israel was the place where God dwelt; it was (Mat 17:1-27) a bright cloud.

10: Some have difficulty in reconciling this with: Forbid him not, he that is not with me is against me. But they coalesce when the main point is seen; Christ was a divine criterion of mans state, and brought things to an issue. The world was wholly, absolutely, against Him. If a man was not, there was no middle state, he was for Him. But things being brought to an issue, if a man was not for Him, he was of the world, and so against Him.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

THE SECOND COMING

Mat 16:27-28. For the Son of man is about to come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and will then give to each one according to his work. Truly, I say unto you, There are certain ones of those standing here who may not taste of death, until they may see the Son of man coming in His kingdom. Mar 8:38; Mar 9:1 : For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and wicked generation, truly, the Son of man shall be ashamed of him, when He may come in the glory of His Father, with His holy angels. And He said to them, Truly, I say unto you, That there are certain ones of those standing here who may not taste of death until they may see the kingdom of God having come in power.

Luk 9:26-27 : For whosoever may be ashamed of Me and My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His glory, and that of the Father, and that of the holy angels. And, truly, I say unto you, There are certain ones of those standing here who may not taste of death until they may see the kingdom of God. Very pertinently does our Savior here follow that terribly rigid and close sermon on discipleship, by one of the grandest of all possible inspirations, to settle the problem of discipleship, at any and every conceivable cost, making sure of heaven if we lose everything else, which is certainly the normal verdict of sound intelligence.

a. As this passage, recorded by Mark and Luke, reads in E.V., it has been the puzzle of millions. I know not why they give us the future tense, indicative mode, when the Greek has the present subjunctive. Within about one week from the time of this utterance, Peter, James, and John actually witnessed a prelude of His second coming on the Mount of Transfiguration.

For not having followed cunningly devised fables, having made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but having been eye-witnesses of His majesty. . . . And we heard this voice borne from heaven, being along with Him in the holy mount. (2Pe 1:16-18.)

Here you see, Peter certifies that they witnessed His power and coming, while they were with Him in the holy mount. Now what was that holy mount? Why the Mount of Transfiguration, which they actually visited in a few days from that time, it being the preliminary coming of the Lord in His glory; i.e., an actual adumbration of His second coming. As Peter, James, and John were all present in His audience, and actually witnessed this prelude of His second and glorious coming, we, on the Mount of Transfiguration, have a preliminary fulfillment of this prophecy.

b. Within forty years of that date, while many of those people were still living, the Lord actually came, in His awful retributive judgments on the unbelieving Jews, executing righteous retribution for the rejection of His Son, destroying Jerusalem, and desolating the land with the awful scourge of the Roman armies, putting an end to the Jewish State and nationality, and annihilating the Jewish polity. Some able critics here find the fulfillment of this prophecy.

c. On the day of Pentecost the kingdom did certainly, as Mark says, come in power, having been on earth during the ministry of our Savior; but in the fiery baptisms and rushing tempest on the day of Pentecost it certainly did come in the signal manifestation of unprecedented power.

d. I see no reason why we may not take the whole passage as it is, and apply it to the existing generation, as it simply affirms a gracious possibility; i.e., there are some of those who are standing here, who may not taste of death until they may see the Son of man coming in His kingdom. Hence you see it simply affirms a gracious possibility on the part of that generation to see the Son of man coming in His glory, with the glory of the Father and the holy angels, before they pass away. You must remember that man has always been a failure. He failed in Eden; failed in antediluvian times; failed after the flood, landing in Egyptian slavery; failed in Judaism, rejecting and murdering their own Savior; and, according to the prophecies, will fail in the Gentile age, bringing on the tribulation, and forfeiting the millennium. Is not this very discouraging? O no! While man is a failure under all circumstances, God is an invariable and glorious success. Hence, all of these human failures should only inspire us to give up humanity, and fly to God, sinking away, lost in Him, to spend an eternity of bliss. The generation contemporary with Jesus was no exception. There was a gracious possibility for that generation to have preached the gospel to every nation, and so evangelize the world as to meet the condition of our Lords return (Mat 24:14); as in that case He would have returned in His glory before the death of that generation. Here our Savior assures us, Whosoever may be ashamed of Me and My words, in this wicked and adulterous world, the Son of man shall be ashamed of him, when He may come in the glory of His Father, with His holy angels. Remember, this is the peroration of that awful sermon on discipleship, which nowadays is dodged, perverted, and misconstrued by clergy and laity, laying under contribution all their wits, to devise an easy way to heaven, washing, dressing, and educating old Adam, and taking him along with them. N.B. In a similar manner we find so many tender footed on the coming of the Lord, which our Savior here gives in immediate connection with His exposition of discipleship. The true, blood-washed, fire-baptized, and Spirit-filled disciple is not troubled when we preach the coming of the Lord, but elated with heaven-born enthusiasm, causing him to leap, shout, and run to meet Him. Jesus here calls the people who are ashamed of Him and His words, a wicked and adulterous generation. Far from shame or embarrassment at the coming of the Lord, we should be watching and waiting, and ready with shouts, to meet Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, in order that if He may appear, we may have boldness, and not shrink with embarrassment from Him at His coming. E.V. says we may not be ashamed. This is the same word which our Lord uses with reference to His words and His presence when He comes in His glory. Hence we should all be so saved and sanctified as to put us in perfect harmony with the words of Jesus; so we do not want to turn and twist them about, nor evade their force in any way, but want them to remain just as Jesus gave them. And as to Himself, He is the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely. Since His ascension, the widowed Church has mourned the absence of her Heavenly Spouse, and longed for His return, even now watching and waiting, ready to run to meet Him with shouts of triumph. So be sure that you are not ashamed nor embarrassed, when you read His Word, and contemplate His personal coming in a cloud this day.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Mar 9:2. And after six days, not counting the two sabbaths, as in Luk 9:28. See on Mat 17:1.

Mar 9:16. He asked the scribes, what question ye with them? No answer! They had been insulting the disciples because they could not deliver a child, (for so the jews call young people under the age of twenty years) from the power of Satan. 1Ki 3:7. This was a momentary triumph of the learned adversaries of Christ. They had ridiculed the apostles as impostors, pretending to work miracles in bye places, and deluding weak people.

Mar 9:17-18. Master, I have brought to thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; and wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him, and he foameth and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away. A sad case, a chronic and obstinate case. And I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. Sometimes ministers are divested of their strength, and baffled before an infidel auditory; yet their God will not forsake them, they shall still lift up their heads.

Mar 9:19. Oh faithless generation. The onus of this rebuke, as appears from Mar 9:29, was levelled against the scribes, who had gloried in their shame.

Mar 9:20. They brought him to the Saviour, wallowing on the ground, and foaming at the mouth. Jesus allowed this to identify the case, and the more profoundly to rebuke the contempt evinced by the scribes. He wrought all his miracles for the advancement of true religion.

Mar 9:21. How long is it since this came unto him. The answer was, from his childhood. This question was put to demonstrate more clearly the extremity of the case, by the number of years it had continued, and to save the souls of the crowd, whose faith had just been shaken by the generation of infidel scribes.

Mar 9:22. If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us. The question is not whether I can do any thing or not. The touchstone is, whether thou canst believe or not; for all things are possible to him that believeth. Through faith we understand that the worlds were made. God spake, and it was done; he commanded, and the heavens stood fast. The great Lord knew that creation would rise at his command; and it becomes us to know and believe that his word of grace is strong as that which built the skies.

Mar 9:24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. Here is anguish of soul; here is the struggle for victory between true faith, mixed with fear, and the assaults of unbelief. The strong faith of the Centurion pleading for a valuable servant, carried the victory at once; but here is a victory obtained with a most arduous conflict. It held the Saviour with a feeble hand, but would not let him go. Jesus therefore, in presence of the accumulating crowd, delivered the son, healed and restored him to his joyful father. Oh what a burst of praise to God would now be heard from all the crowd. Oh how light the steps of the joyful father and the son to their habitation. Meanwhile, how the doctors would steal away, having been found to fight against God; and be followed by looks of contempt from all the people.

Mar 9:29. This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. Our Saviour, as Lord of all, could do what he would; but when families are peculiarly afflicted with chronic complaints, they must learn meekly to lay their case before the Almighty in humble addresses to his throne.

Mar 9:38. We forbad him, because he followeth not us. This marks the great reputation of the Redeemer, for men of other name (and probably of Johns) wrought cures in his name. The canon laws of Rome forbid us to preach: so do the canon laws of Luther, and of England, and the Scottish laws differ but little. They talk big against all bodies of Methodists, as though they had no gospel, no sacraments, no salvation. They swell their claims as though the Lord Jesus, while his prudence was asleep, had given them a charter absolute, that they, and they alone, should be his ministers, whether they were holy or unholy, whether they believed or disbelieved, whether they were idle or industrious, whether they gathered or scattered the sheep. Against these blind allegations the Saviour declares, that men doing good are not to be stopped, no, not even by the holy apostles themselves.

Mar 9:47. Cast into hell fire. Greek, the fire of Gehenna, where the worm of conscience dieth not and where the fire is not quenched. Isa 30:33. Mat 5:22. This proves that hell is both a state and a place of punishment. The heathen poets speak on this subject in many views, as do the holy scriptures. Euripids asks Menelaus what the disease was that wasted his body? To which he answers, that it was his own mind for the great evils he had done.

; . OREST. , &c.

Mar 9:49. Every one shall be salted with fire. These words are cited froth Isa 66:24. The ideas are borrowed from the valley of the son of Hinnom, as explained in Mat 5:22; and both the prophet and our Lord refer them to the punishment of the wicked. In that valley the flesh of children were burnt, and in the great slaughter of the last enemies of the church, the worm shall crawl in their carcases. Now, figuratively, as salt preserves flesh, so the salt of Gods wrathful vengeance shall preserve the wicked in existence, that their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched. This passage is therefore in itself, and in its connection, totally different from Mat 5:13, where the disciples are called the salt of the earth. That alludes to the savour of grace, and a good conversation; this refers to the eternal justice of God.

REFLECTIONS.

We cannot follow the footsteps of Christ without gathering rich and instructive wisdom, and participations in the joy of his people. He sometimes suffers his saints to tremble in the fight, and then opportunely comes to their support with succour and salvation. So here; the disciples were embarrassed and overfaced with the unbelieving scribes. Now, the case of this boy may remind us of our own misery. He was an only son, but lunatic and dumb, and often cast into the fire and into the water by the demon. So it is morally with many a dissipated youth. He is tormented with unhappy passions, which are more and more confirmed by habit. He has often been cast into the water and fire of folly and vice; but it is happy he yet lives; he may yet be saved.

The father brought his son to the disciples; and though they tried, they could afford him no relief. It is well however for a father to bring his forgetful son to the ministry. The means of grace, in some more favoured hour may yet prove effectual to the salvation of his soul. Supine and incurable hearers are the humiliation of a preacher.

Because men attend our word, and retain their sins, infidels, like the scribes, take occasion to despise us. When the disciples could not deliver this lad, a laugh of contempt roared off against them.

Our children must ultimately be brought to Jesus, who in due time will come to succour the distressed. But alas, how weak is the faith of that dejected father. He says, Lord, if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us. Well, weak faith will save, though not so comfortably as strong faith. All things are possible to him that believeth, for all things are possible with God, whose Spirit worketh the persuasion of his help in our hearts. In all cases, faith is essential to salvation, because it honours God, and has a divine effect on our own heart.

In approaching God, let us pray him to help our unbelief. When we first extend our hand to receive a blessing, it is often too short to lay hold of it; but perseverance makes our title full, and He is faithful who hath promised.

From the rage of the demon before he left this child, we may be reminded that Satan will not depart from the unregenerate heart without a conflict. Ah, who can explain this struggle for life? A heart habituated to vice, and affections long attached to carnal pleasures, will not be renovated without a hard wrestling against the Spirit. In all such cases let men have recourse to fasting and prayer, for these are the last resources both in trouble of conscience, and in family afflictions.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mar 9:1 is added here though not necessarily spoken on this occasion. Menzies and others question its genuineness in its present form. If it conflicts with Mar 13:30, some simpler saying must have been modified by those who lived to see nearly the whole generation pass away.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

The kingdom of God come with power; that is, Christianity openly established and rapidly spreading.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

(Mark 9) THE POWER OF THE WORLD TO COME

As the disciples beheld the grace, and love, and power of the Lord Jesus in relieving men of their distresses, they saw, indeed, something of the blessedness of the Kingdom of God, but in circumstances of weakness, for the King was in their midst as a poor Man, despised and rejected of men, with not where to lay His head. In order to sustain their faith, and ours, in following a rejected Christ in His lowly path of suffering and reproach, the Lord passes before us a vision of the coming glory to show that the path of outward weakness will end in “the Kingdom of God come with power.”

(Vv. 2, 3). To see this glorious vision, the Lord leads Peter, and James, and John into an “high mountain apart by themselves.” And, if, as believers, we are “To look beyond the long dark night, And hail the coming day,” we, too, shall need, in spirit, to be lifted above the turmoil of this poor world, to find ourselves alone with Jesus. In such moments, as with the disciples, our souls will, above all else, be engaged with the glory of His Person. Thus, in this vision, the disciples are first arrested by the glory of the Lord; “He was transfigured before them.” In after years, Peter. writing of this great scene, can say, “We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” They say, not only His coming, but “the power” of His coming. They saw a sample of the mighty power that at His coming will change us into His likeness in the twinkling of an eye. In a moment He was “transfigured,” and His garments of humiliation were changed into shining raiment “exceeding white as snow.”

(v. 4). Further we learn that in His reign of glory and power there will be associated with Him, not only the saints of the present period, represented by the three apostles, but also all believers who lived before the Lord came to earth, represented, in the vision, by Moses and Elias, the two outstanding witnesses to God in the times of the law and the prophets.

(Vv. 5-8). These witnesses will be associated with Christ in His earthly glory; but, however great in their day, they must give place to Christ. His personal glory is maintained as the One who is supreme. From the nation He had received dishonour and shame. From ignorant but true disciples He receives little more than the honour and glory they would give to Moses and Elias, for Peter would put the Lord on the same level with these great servants. Later, when the Holy Spirit had come, Peter sees the true significance of this great scene, for, he says, the Lord Jesus “received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” The honour that He received from the Father, and heaven – the excellent glory – is in contrast to what He received from man, the world, and even true disciples. In our day, are believers not in danger, at times, of falling into the snare of forgetting that, however outstanding the devotedness and spirituality of individual servants may be, the Lord is supreme? They may change and pass away; but of the Lord alone it can be said, “Thou remainest,” and “Thou art the Same.” Thus with the disciples, having heard the voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son: hear Him,” “they saw no man any more, save Jesus only.” Moreover, they saw that He was “with themselves.” They had just seen two men “with Jesus” in glory: now they see Jesus “with themselves,” in the path that leads to glory. Good, for us, to realise the glory of the Person of Jesus – the One that we shall be with in the glory, and that He is with us on the way to glory.

(Vv. 9, 10). To make this possible the blessed Lord must die and rise again from among the dead. So, in a later day an apostle can write, “He died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him” (1Th 5:10). At that time this great truth raised a difficulty in the minds of the disciples. They believed in a general resurrection at the last day (Joh 11:24); but that any one should rise from among the dead leaving others in their graves for a later resurrection was something entirely foreign to their thoughts. This, however, is the fundamental truth of Christianity. The resurrection of Christ from among the dead is the everlasting proof of God’s acceptance of His work, and that believers are accepted in Him, and will share in the first resurrection of the just. So we read, “Every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.” (1Co 15:23).

Alas! as with ourselves, too often, when faced with difficulties, they kept the difficulty “with themselves, questioning one with another”, instead of spreading their difficulty before the Lord.

(Vv. 11-13). The disciples, however, have another difficulty about which they do speak to the Lord. The scribes said that Elias must first come, but apparently Elias had not preceded the Lord. The difficulty arose from the act that while they accepted the Scriptures that spoke of Christ coming in glory, they overlooked those that spoke of His coming to suffer as the Son of Man. The prophecy of Malachi stated that Elias would precede Christ’s coming in glory. This prophecy will surely be fulfilled. Nevertheless, morally he had already come in the forerunner, John the Baptist, who Same in the spirit of Elias calling the people to repentance (see Mat 11:14).

(Vv. 14-19). In the former chapter the Pharisees “dispute against” Christ (Mar 8:11). Coming down from the Mount, the Lord finds the scribes ‘disputing against” His disciples (N. Tr.). Later, the Lord reminds us that, “The servant is not greater than his Lord,” and He adds, “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (Joh 15:20). Little wonder, if men dare to “dispute against” Christ, they are opposed to believers. With the Lord this opposition only drew out His perfection; but with us, too often, it exposes our weakness. So, in this scene, having caught a vision of the glory of the Lord on the top of the Mount, we find the misery of man, the power of Satan, and the weakness of the disciples at the foot of the Mount.

When the Lord sent forth the Twelve, He “gave them power over unclean spirits,” and for a time they used this power, for we read, “they cast out many devils” (Mar 6:7; Mar 6:13). Here, however, their faith failed. They could not cast out the dumb spirit. There was power present to work miracles, and overcome all the power of Satan, but man could not profit by it, and the disciples had no faith to use it.

In the presence of this failure, the Lord has to say, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?” – words that indicate the solemn import of the failure of the disciples. It meant that the testimony of God through the disciples had fallen to the ground, and, as a result, the dispensation would come to an end. “How long shall I be with you?” implies that a limit was set to the Lord’s sojourn on earth. A needy generation, oppressed by the power of the devil would not drive the Lord away: on the contrary, it was the deep need of man, under the power of Satan, that brought the Lord Jesus into the world. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” It is the “faithless generation,” not the needy generation, that brings His mission of grace and power on the earth to an end. When there is no longer power to use the resources in Christ, His service on earth is finished.

Has this not a voice for Christians, for again, is it not the failure of God’s people, rather than the increasing wickedness of the world, that is bringing this day of grace to its close? That which professes to be a public witness for Christ on the earth in its last phase becomes so nauseous to Christ that He has to say, “I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

Nevertheless, the goodness of the Lord is not withered up by the opposition of man, or the failure of His own, for the Lord can add the comforting words, concerning the demon possessed man, “Bring him unto Me.” As one has said, “Faith however small it be, is never left without an answer from the Lord. What a consolation! Whatever be the unbelief, not only of the world, but of Christians – if only one solitary person were left in the world who had faith in the goodness and power of the Lord Jesus he could not come to Him with a real need, and simple belief, without finding His heart ready and His power sufficient.” As, in the presence of the failure of His own disciples, He could say on earth, “Bring him unto Me,” so in the last solemn moments when the Lord is about to spue the professing church out of His mouth, He can say, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” However dark the day, however great our failure, Christ is the Same, and Christ remains. He still stands at the door, and is ready to bless “any man” that hears His voice and opens the door to Him. May it be our happy lot to respond to His voice, and say,

O Lord and Saviour, we recline

On that eternal love of Thine,

Thou art our rest, and Thou alone

Remainest when all else is gone.

(Vv. 20-27). In response to the Lord’s words, they brought the case of need “unto Him.” But, as too often with ourselves, they come with feeble faith in the power of the Lord, for the poor father says, “If Thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” The Lord in His reply says, “The ‘if thou couldest’ is ‘if thou couldest believe’: all things are possible to him that believes” (N. Tr.). One has truly remarked on these words, “Power connects itself with faith; the difficulty is not in Christ’s power, but in man’s believing; all things were possible if he could believe. This is an important principle Christ’s power never fails to accomplish all that is good for man; faith alas! may be wanting in us to profit by it.” (J.N.D.).

(Vv. 28, 29). Alone with His disciples, in the house, we learn from the Lord the deeply important truth that the faith which uses the Lord in all our difficulties can alone be sustained by intimate communion with God, set forth by prayer, and abstinence from the things of the world, set forth by fasting. As with the disciples, so with ourselves, behind our lack of faith to use the power of the Lord there is a lack of communion in prayer with the Lord.

(Vv. 30-32). The glory of the Kingdom had been revealed; the power and grace of the Lord to bring in the blessings of the Kingdom had been manifested, only to bring out the unbelief of the world, and the failure of His own to use the power in their midst. His departure was at hand, and the time for all public appeal to the nation, as a whole, had gone by. He will, indeed, dispense grace to individual need, but the reigning time had not yet come, so, as He went through the land, “He would not that any man should know it.” The sin of man was about to rise to its height in killing the Son of Man. But this would become the occasion of manifesting the mighty power of Christ over sin, and Satan, and death, by rising from the dead. The Lord’s words again manifest the weakness of the disciples. They not only lacked spiritual intelligence to understand the truth of the resurrection, but they “were afraid to ask Him.” In the matter of the man with the evil spirit their faith was too weak to use the power of Christ; now their confidence is too small to use the wisdom in Christ. Alas! how often, like the disciples, when difficulties arise, we seek solution by discussing them “one with another” (Verse 10), instead of turning to Christ, our Head, with Whom is all wisdom.

(Vv. 33, 34). Alone in the house with His own, the Lord, by a simple question, reaches the conscience of His disciples, and exposes the root of much of their weakness. By the way they had disputed among themselves, and the subject of the dispute was “who should be the greatest.” Alas! since that day, how often the desire to be the greatest has been the real root of many a dispute among the people of God. Whatever the immediate question under discussion, underneath there has often been a great deal of self in the dispute; for self not only wants to be great, it wants to be “the greatest.” If a believer wants to be the greatest, sooner or later it will lead to a dispute in which any little slip in a brother will be seized upon in the endeavour to belittle him in order to exalt self. The very thought of being great shows how little the disciples comprehended the truth of the Kingdom. They failed to see that the Kingdom is for the display of all that God is in love, righteousness, grace and power. So too, in our day, we may fall into the snare of using the assembly as a sphere in which to exalt ourselves. The Corinthians were doing so by means of gifts, and carnal methods: the Galatians were doing so by legality; and the Colossians were in danger of doing so by fleshly religion.

If, however, believers can dispute among themselves, they have to hold their peace in the presence of the Lord. We may be sure that when believers start disputing among themselves, they are no longer consciously in His presence.

(V. 35). With infinite patience, the Lord instructs His disciples. In the presence of their heartlessness that sought their own greatness at the very moment when He had reminded them that He was about to be killed, He does not rise up with indignation and leave them, but “He sat down, and called the twelve” around Him, and gently instructs them in the path of true greatness. If any one desires to be first in the Kingdom, let them be last in the path that leads to glory – let them become the “servant of all.” We might be prepared at times to serve some great person, or some devoted saint, and exalt ourselves by so doing; but are we prepared to be the “servant of all?” It has been truly said, that “Love is the most powerful of all things, and loves to minister, not to be ministered to,” and again, “He who is smallest in his own eyes is the greatest” (J.N.D.).

(Vv. 36, 37). Having instructed the disciples in the path of true greatness, the Lord illustrates His instruction by placing a little child in their midst and showing how He, Himself, could stoop to taking a little child into His arms of love. The disciple who can receive one of such little children, in His Name, will be following the Lord in the path of true greatness. He will be stooping to the lowest in the Name of the Highest. So doing he will find himself in company with Christ, and to receive Christ is to receive the One that sent Him. Thus refusing self, and self-exaltation, we shall find ourselves in company with Divine Persons.

(Vv. 38-41). We have seen the danger of exalting self; in the incident that follows we see another snare, the danger of exalting a company. John says, “Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in thy Name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him, because he followeth not us.” They themselves, though following with Christ, had just failed, through lack of prayer and fasting, to cast out a demon. Now they forbid one to do, what they had failed to do because he followed not with them. The Lord in his answer, shows that what is of value, above all else, in His sight, is the disciple’s relation to Himself. It may be true that the man had not the faith to identify himself with the disciples who were following the Lord in the outside path; but, if he could do a miracle in Christ’s Name it was evident he set value on that Name and would not speak lightly of it.

So absolutely had the world rejected Christ that there would be none in that circle but opposers of Christ. If there are any not against Christ they must belong to those who are on His part, even if they lacked the faith to publicly identify themselves with Him. John had said they are not “with us,” but, even so, the Lord can say they are “not against us.” The disciples were making too much of this wretched “us” – the weak little company gathered round Christ – and too little of Christ – the glorious Person to Whom they were gathered. The Lord reminds them that His Name is everything. The smallest act, even to giving a cup of cold water to one that belongs to Christ, if done in His Name will not lose its reward.

(Vv. 42-48). Warnings follow. Let us beware that in condemning others hat we are not putting a stumbling block in the path of one of Christ’s little ones. Further, let us see to it that we deal faithfully with every evil tendency in ourselves, by refusing all that would lead into sin. This may entail the stern refusal of that which is most precious to the flesh – the land, the foot, and the eye, and every form of evil into which these members can lead us. Let us not forget that these evils are taking men on to the never ending judgment.

(Vv. 49, 50). All will be put to the proof. The fire will try both saints and sinners, “Every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” The sinner that rejects Christ will pass into the fire that is not quenched: but the true saint will be tested by fire that will take the form of trials or even persecution. The apostle Peter tells us that our faith may be tried with fire, and warns us not to think it strange if we are passed through a “fiery trial” but rather to rejoice, inasmuch as if we partake of ‘Christ’s sufferings” we shall also share in “His glory” (1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 4:12-13). The believer’s life here is also viewed as a sacrifice, for we are to present our “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Rom 12:1). But the sacrifice is to be kept pure, “salted with salt.” The Christian, if practically holy, becomes a witness in the midst of the world. Apart from holiness, his life is like salt that has lost its savour. We are to have salt in ourselves and walk in peace with others.

In the course of the chapter we see, on the one hand, the perfections of Christ, and on the other, the exposure of what the flesh is even in true disciples – those who loved and followed the Lord. In the presence of the glory the disciples were “sore afraid” (6): in the presence of the power of Satan they lacked the faith to use the power that was at their disposal in Christ (18, 19): behind this lack of faith there was the neglect of prayer and fasting (29): being little in communion with God in prayer, when difficulties arose in their minds they discussed them one with another, but were afraid to ask Him (10, 32): out of touch with Christ, they disputed among themselves, each seeking to be the greatest, and condemned what another was doing in the name of Christ because he was not in their company (38).

If, however, we see our own weakness in the disciples, we see the fulness of our resources in Christ. We see on top of the Mount the glory and power of the Kingdom, and that we shall be with Him in the glory. At the bottom of the Mount we see amidst all our weakness and difficulties He is with us our unfailing resource, the One to Whom we are invited to bring every trial and all our hard questions (19, 33): the One who is our teacher (31), to whose Name we gather (39), and who will reward the smallest act done in His Name (41).

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

CHAPTER 9

2 Jesus is transfigured. 11 He instructeth his disciples concerning the coming of Elias: 14 casteth forth a dumb and deaf spirit: 30 foretelleth his death and resurrection: 33 exhorteth his disciples to humanity: 38 bidding them not to prohibit such as be not against them, nor to give offence to any of the faithful.

Ver. 12. And be despised: Gr. , i.e., be nothing accounted of. Understand, thus shall it happen to Elias, that when by his great labours he has restored the faith, he shall in return for such great benefits receive curses and ill-treatment from the ungrateful and the impious, and shall at last be killed by them.

Ver. 15. And presently all the people seeing Jesus, were astonished, and struck with fear: and running to Him, they saluted Him. They were astonished because they saw Jesus so unexpectedly present after His absence, and at so opportune a time, to defend His disciples against the scribes. Again, it was because they saw in the face of Jesus, who had a little while before been transfigured, some remaining rays of His splendour; just as there were in the countenance of Moses, after his converse with God, rays, and, as it were, horns of light.

Ver. 19. Troubled him. Gr. , i.e., bruised, tore, convulsed his whole body. Wherefore it is added in explanation, and being thrown down upon the ground, he wallowed about foaming, because, in fact, the demon was experiencing the power of Christ, and foresaw that he would speedily be cast out, therefore with indignation and gnashing of teeth he thus grievously afflicted and tormented the energumen.

Ver. 29. They passed through Galilee, and He would not that any one should know it. Lest He should be detained by the Galileans from love of Himself and His benefits. For He was hastening to Jerusalem to His cross and death, about which He was speaking privately to His disciples, that He might accomplish the will of His Father, and redeem the human race.

Ver. 31. But they understood not the word. That is to say, in what manner, and for what cause, Christ was to die; and how these words concerning His near approaching death agreed with what He had often told them, that His kingdom was at hand. For otherwise the Apostles understood and believed that Christ would die (see Mat 17:23), when they are said to have been sorry at this saying of Christ concerning His death. Unless you prefer to say that they were ignorant of the death of Christ, because they were in hesitation with respect to it on account of the different sayings of Christ, apparently inconsistent with one another, and that accordingly they inclined to the view which was the more pleasing to them. For it was this which they wished to be true. “For so lovers frame dreams for themselves.” So they endeavoured to persuade themselves that these words of Christ concerning His death had some other hidden meaning, and that they were not to be taken literally, but mystically.

Ver. 37. John answered Him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, who followeth not us, and we forbade him. It is as though he said, “Have we done well or ill?” John asks this question not out of envy, as Calvin would have it, but out of love and zeal for the honour of Christ. And it was occasioned by what He had said in the preceding verse, Whosoever shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth Me. As though he said, If he who receives a little one in Thy name receiveth Thy Father and Thyself, what must we think concerning him who works miracles in Thy name, and yet followeth not us, that is, is not Thy attendant and disciple, as we are? “Because,” says Cyril (in Catena in Luk 11:49), “the Saviour had given power to His Apostles to cast out unclean spirits, they thought that it had been conceded to none others save themselves to enjoy such dignity.” So Theophylact and Victor.

Here observe that those who thus cast out devils in the name of Christ, and yet did not follow Him, were believers, but imperfect ones, forasmuch as they shrank from the rugged poverty and renunciation of their goods, such as was the lot of the Apostles. They shrank from following Christ in His evangelical labours and His persecutions. Still they have some faith in Christ, by virtue of which they cast out devils. So S. Ambrose (in Luk 11:49). And in so doing Christ wrought and co-operated with them, that His power and glory might be the more made manifest, which wrought such great things by means of those who were so imperfect, and, as it were, aliens.

Observe, in the next place, that the Apostles did not forbid such people through hatred, but out of zeal for Christ, as though they were detracting from the glory of Christ and His ordinance, according to chap. iii. 15, where Christ gives to His Apostles only the power of casting out devils. But this zeal of theirs was indiscreet, especially because they had rashly, without consulting Christ, forbidden them. And Christ showed them that this was so for a double reason. The first is what He brings forward in the next verse. In a similar manner, when Joshua saw Eldad and Medad prophesying, he wished to forbid them, as if they were detracting from the glory of Moses, in that they had not received the spirit of prophecy from Moses. But Moses checked him by saying, “Enviest thou for my sake? Would that all the people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Num 11:29). This is the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of love and of the Holy Ghost, which makes large the heart, and envieth none, but rejoices in all good things, by whomsoever and in what way soever they are wrought (see 1Cor 13.).

Ver. 38. But Jesus said, Do not forbid him, for there is no man that doth a miracle in My name, and can soon (Gr., i.e., easily) speak ill of Me. Do not hinder him in a good work, and one that honours Me; because even if he does not follow Me, yet he is doing the selfsame thing which you do, that is to say, he is celebrating My name, and he is making it known to men by casting out devils. Wherefore he does nothing that is against My name, but rather propagates and glorifies it.

Ver. 39. For he that is not against you is for you. This man, therefore, is not your adversary, in that he does the same that you do. He stands on your side. He helps you; he does not oppose you.

Ver. 40. For whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in My name, because you belong to Christ: Amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. This is Christ’s further reason to show why the man must not be forbidden to cast out devils. It is as though Christ said, “If he who gives you a drink of water in My name, and for My sake, does well, and shall receive a reward from God, so likewise shall he who drives out devils in My name. For both the one and the other do a good work, and are profitable to their neighbours in regard and respect of Me. But the one confers so much the greater benefit than the other, by as much as the devil whom he drives out is more hurtful than the thirst which the other alleviates by a draught of water.” So Theophylact.

Ver. 41. And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were east into the sea. This is antithetical to the 36th verse. For Christ returns after the question interposed by John to what He had said concerning those who should receive a little child in His name. For as he who receives and cherishes the little ones who believe in Me, receives Myself, and shall be rewarded by Me with eternal glory in heaven; so, on the other hand, whoso shall cause one of these little ones to offend, offendeth Me, and shall be by Me condemned to Gehenna.

Ver. 42. And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it of. For a scandal is so pernicious that it harms not only the doer but the sufferer of it. Wherefore, if thou sufferest a scandal from thy hand, cut it off. That is, if any one, relative or friend, as useful and as dear to thee as thy hand, thy foot, thine eye, scandalize thee, that is, draw thee into sin, separate such an one from thy company, lest he drag thee with him into Gehenna.

Ver. 43. Where their worm dieth not. He quotes Isa 66:24. Christ repeats this saying three times, that He may impress these dreadful worms and these fires upon us, that through horror of them we may avoid every scandal and every sin.

Ver. 48. For every one shall be salted with fire: and every victim shall be salted with salt.

1st. Franc. Lucas and Maldonatus understand the fire of hell, that Christ gives the reason of what He had just said, where their worm, &c. The reason is, for every one, namely, such as are adjudged to Gehenna, shall be salted with fire, that is, shall be burnt and tormented with fire, but in such manner that by the same fire, as it were by salt, they shall be preserved incorrupt for everlasting torments. For salt possesses the properties both of burning and preserving. It burns and torments by burning; by its saltness it preserves from corruption. The fire of hell does the same thing, wherefore it is appropriately compared to salt.

And every victim: and, that is, like as. As though He said, As every victim of God is wont to be seasoned with salt, according to the Law (Lev 2:13), so whosoever shall be adjudged to Gehenna shall be a victim, as it were, of the justice and vengeance of God for ever, and so shall be salted with fire unquenchable as with salt, that is, shall be burnt and tormented, and shall at the same time remain unconsumed in the fire.” So Isaiah teaches that the wicked shall in their torments be victims of God’s vengeance (Isa 34:6; see also Eze 39:17, and Jer 46:10). For the wicked are, as it were, victims immolated to the honour of God’s justice. This sense is very plain, apposite, and in accordance with the context.

2nd Others refer the words more remotely to what Christ said in the 42nd and following verses about avoiding scandals, and that to do so a hand or a foot must be cut off. It would be as though He said, “Cut off from thee the person who is as dear and as necessary to thee as a hand or an eye, if he scandalize thee; for every one who seeks to please God, and to offer himself to Him as a spiritual victim, must cut off from him, as by the fire of mortification, the man who causes him to offend, however dear he may be. He must, therefore, be salted by suffering tribulation, that is, he must be crucified and purified. He must be salted with the mystical salt of prudence, discretion, and evangelical wisdom, which teaches us that it is better to cut off our hand than to go into hell.” There is an allusion to, or, indeed, in a mystical sense, a citation of Lev 2:13, “Whatsoever thou shalt offer in sacrifice, thou shalt season with salt.” So Theophylact on this passage of S. Mark; Theodoret, Procopius, Bede, Radulphus, Ruperti, on Lev. ii., and Cyril (lib. 15, de Adorat.). Wherefore it is added, salt is good. Hear the Gloss, “To be salted with fire is for the love of Christ to deny ourselves of those who are nearest to us, and as dear as a hand or an eye.” Hear also Bede, “The heart of the elect is the altar, the victims are good works, the salt is wisdom.” Christ opposes the fire of mortification to the fire of hell, and the salt to the undying worm. As though He said, “That ye may escape the fire and the worm of hell, which concupiscence generates, be zealous for the fire of mortification and the salt of wisdom. For this shall take away the putridity of concupiscence, from which are generated the undying worms which shall be burned in the fire of hell.”

3rd By fire Bede understands charity and the Holy Spirit, and His gift of discretion, by which He guides us into all good.

Lastly, the Scholiast in S. Jerome by salt understands also the fire of Purgatory. Hear what he says, “The victim of the Lord is the human race, which in this life is seasoned with the season of wisdom, when the corruption of the blood, which is the source of putridity, that is, the mother of worms, is consumed, and after this life is tried by purgatorial fire.”

Salt is good, i.e., useful. “Ye, 0 ye Apostles, who have been chosen by Me to be the salt of the earth, are profitable to the world, that ye may season with your wisdom and evangelical doctrine all nations.” Hear the Scholiast, “It is a good thing to hear the Word of God; to season the heart with the salt of wisdom; yea, to be salt, like the Apostles, i.e., to minister wisdom unto others.” Also Theophylact, “Salt preserves flesh; so the speech of a doctor prevents the unquenchable fire from being generated in carnal men.”

But if the salt become unsavoury (the Gr. contains an elegant pun, , i.e., saltless salt), wherewith (i.e., with what other salt) will ye season it? It is as if He said, “If ye, 0 ye Apostles, who are the salt of the earth, lose this virtue of saltness, and become unsavoury and insipid, that through love or fear of men, through cupidity or ambition, ye fall away from My doctrine and an evangelical life, who shall restore you to your former wisdom, vigour, and sanctity?” Christ plays upon the word salt. For salt in Lev. ii. 13 is to be understood literally, but here it is to be taken mystically for wisdom, and metonymically for the Apostles, who had in themselves this mystic salt. Hear the Scholiast in S. Jerome, “Salt is savourless which loves the chief place, and which dares not either to rebuke or confess, loving the praise of men more than the praise of God.” Christ has a reference to Judas, who being corrupted by the love of money, and becoming unsavoury, lost his Apostleship, and did not hesitate to betray the Lord.

Have salt in yourselves, i.e., the salt of wisdom and a Christian life, as humility, charity, contempt of the world, but especially peace; as Christ adds, saying, And have peace among yourselves. “Do not ambitiously contend among yourselves for the primacy, as ye have contended” (ver. 33), to which Christ refers. For such a contention will be a scandal to the whole world; and for that reason Christ subjoined what is said concerning the avoidance of scandal in verses 36 and 41. But if ye preserve peace and mutual concord, ye shall be for the edification of the whole world; and being united one with another in the bond of charity, ye will be invincible, and will draw all men to yourselves and Christ. Therefore by peace the Interlinear understands love. And the Scholiast thus expounds, Have salt in yourselves, “The love of one’s neighbour tempers the salt of correction; and the salt of justice preserves love.”

Have peace, &c. That is, let him who speaks eloquently greatly fear lest by his eloquence unity be broken. For, as Bede says, “to have salt without peace is not a gift of virtue, but a proof of condemnation; for the wiser any one is, the greater his sin if he fall.” “For there are many,” says the Gloss, “that whilst greater knowledge lifts them up, it separates them from the society of others; and the wiser they are, the more they fall from the virtue of concord.”

Lastly, the Gloss thus expounds, Have salt in you, i.e., have discretion: and have peace among yourselves. By wisdom and discretion peace is both acquired and preserved among men. For the prudent and discreet do nothing which may offend others and disturb peace. The same bear with the infirmities of others, while those who are impatient are angry, and strive with them. (Top )

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

MARK CHAPTER NINE

9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

This passage has puzzled many due to the fact that most that feel the kingdom is yet future wonder why He would declare that some would see it come before their death.

The answer is located, as is usual, within the direct context. The next thing that occurs is the transfiguration. This must be the kingdom coming in power some declare, however this is not necessarily a good explanation. Only three people saw it, so how could this be the kingdom coming? Actually He did not declare how many and three fits well “some of them” and may well be the answer to the question.

Some could well suggest that this was the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to inaugurate the beginning of the church. Of course others, the amillennialists, would declare these positions incorrect and declare themselves correct within their own position. Their position, the teaching that the kingdom is going on now and has been since 70 A.D., would place the coming at the 70 A.D. point when the temple was destroyed. This is a possible position, but to declare that the kingdom is going on now is to deny Scripture. Many passages in the Old Testament describe occurrences in the Kingdom and this day and age certainly does not fit into our own day.

Add to that the fact that Revelation speaks of the Devil being bound for the 1000 years of the kingdom and one must wonder at their position. How can anyone look our corrupt and evil world and suggest that the Devil is bound? Rev 20:4-7 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,”

It also amazes me to hear those that suggest 70 A.D. is what was spoken of in the Old Testament as the coming of the kingdom – the Old Testament speaks of a glorious return, not the destruction of the temple and the further subjection of the Jewish people. Ezekiel speaks of the raising of dry bones and the flesh returning to the bones which pictures the returning of Israel, not its destruction. Eze 37:4 “Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones , and say unto them O ye dry bones , hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones ; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.” That just does not sound like the destruction of Jerusalem.It would seem that the transfiguration was looking forward to the coming of Christ in the future when He would come to set up His kingdom on the earth for 1000 years.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the {a} kingdom of God come with power.

(a) When he will begin his kingdom through the preaching of the gospel: that is to say, after the resurrection.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

This verse is the positive truth whereas Mar 8:38 expresses the negative. It concludes Jesus’ solemn warnings in this pericope on an encouraging note. Some standing in that mixed audience would not experience death before they saw a preview of the kingdom that the Son of Man would establish after He came in glory (Mar 8:38; cf. 2Pe 1:16-19). Those individuals were Peter, James, and John (Mar 9:2-8).

This pericope should warn unbelievers and believers alike. It is also an encouragement to become a disciple of Jesus and to follow Him faithfully. The choice involves eternal loss or gain. This section would have been a special encouragement for Mark’s original readers who faced the choice of undergoing persecutions and trials for faithful commitment or abandoning their life of discipleship. Suffering and temporary loss would be Jesus’ portion, and that would also be the destiny of His disciples. However, His faithful followers would eventually experience glory and blessing, as He would.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

2-38

CHAPTER 8:32 – 9:1 (Mar 8:32-38 – Mar 9:1)

THE REBUKE OF PETER

“And He spake the saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him.”. . . . “But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.’ And when He had called the people to Him, with His disciples also, He said to them, Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.'”(NKJV) . . . .”And He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There be some here of them that stand by, which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God come with power.” Mar 8:32-38 – Mar 9:1 (R.V.)

THE doctrine of a suffering Messiah was strange in the time of Jesus. And to the warm-hearted apostle the announcement that his beloved Master should endure a shameful death was keenly painful. Moreover, what had just passed made it specially unwelcome then. Jesus had accepted and applauded a confession which implied all honor. He had promised to build a new Church upon a rock; and claimed, as His to give away, the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Hopes were thus excited which could not brook His stern repression; and the career which the apostle promised himself was very unlike that defense of a lost cause, and a persecuted and martyred leader, which now threatened him. The rebuke of Jesus clearly warns Peter, that he had miscalculated his own prospect as well as that of his Lord, and that he must prepare for the burden of a cross. Above all, it is plain that Peter was intoxicated by the great position just assigned to him, and allowed himself an utterly strange freedom of interference with his Master’s plans. He “took Him and began to rebuke Him,” evidently drawing Him aside for the purpose, since Jesus “turned about” in order to see the disciples whom He had just addressed.

Thus our narrative implies that commission of the keys to him which it omits to mention, and we learn how absurd is the infidel contention that each evangelist was ignorant of all that he did not record. Did the appeal against those gloomy forebodings of Jesus, the protest that such evil must not be, the refusal to recognize a prophecy in His fears, awaken any answer in the sinless heart? Sympathy was not there, nor approval, nor any shade of readiness to yield. But innocent human desire for escape, the love of life, horror of His fate, more intense as it vibrated in the apostle’s shaken voice, these He assuredly felt. For He tells us in so many words that Peter was a stumbling-block to Him, although He, walking in the clear day, stumbled not. Jesus, let us repeat it again and again, endured not like a Stoic, deadening the natural impulses of humanity. Whatever outraged His tender and perfect nature was not less dreadful to Him than to us; it was much more so, because His sensibilities were unblunted and exquisitely strung. At every thought of what lay before Him, His soul shuddered like a rudely touched instrument of most delicate structure. And it was necessary that He should throw back the temptation with indignation and even vehemence, with the rebuke of heaven set against the presumptuous rebuke of flesh, “Get thee behind Me. . . . for thou art mindful not of the things of God, but the things of men.”

But what shall we say to the hard word, “Satan”? Assuredly Peter, who remained faithful to Him, did not take it for an outbreak of bitterness, an exaggerated epithet of unbridled and undisciplined resentment. The very time occupied in looking around, the “circumspection” which was shown, while it gave emphasis, removed passion from the saying.

Peter would therefore understand that Jesus heard, in his voice, the prompting of the great tempter, to whom He had once already spoken the same words. He would be warned that soft and indulgent sentiment, while seeming kind, may become the very snare of the destroyer.

And the strong word which sobered him will continue to be a warning to the end of time.

When love of ease or worldly prospects would lead us to discourage the self-devotion, and repress the zeal of any convert; when toil or liberality beyond the recognized level seems a thing to discountenance, not because it is perhaps misguided, but only because it is exceptional; when, for a brother or a son, we are tempted to prefer an easy and prosperous life rather than a fruitful but stern and even perilous course, then we are in the same danger as Peter of becoming the mouthpiece of the Evil One.

Danger and hardness are not to be chosen for their own sake; but to reject a noble vocation, because these are in the way, is to mind not the things of God but the things of men. And yet the temptation is one from which men are never free, and which intrudes into what seems most holy. It dared to assail Jesus; and it is most perilous still, because it often speaks to us, as then to Him, through compassionate and loving lips.

But now the Lord calls to Himself all the multitude, and lays down the rule by which discipleship must to the end be regulated.

The inflexible law is, that every follower of Jesus must deny himself and take up his cross. It is not said, Let him devise some harsh and ingenious instrument of self-torture: wanton self-torture is cruelty, and is often due to the soul’s readiness rather to endure any other suffering than that which God assigns. Nor is it said, Let him take up My cross, for the burden Christ bore devolves upon no other: the fight He fought is over.

But it speaks of some cross allotted, known, but not yet accepted, some lowly form of suffering, passive or active, against which nature pleads, as Jesus heard His own nature pleading when Peter spoke. In taking up this cross we must deny self, for it will refuse the dreadful burden. What it is, no man can tell his neighbor, for often what seems a fatal besetment is but a symptom and not the true disease; and the angry man’s irritability, and the drunkard’s resort to stimulants, are due to remorse and self-reproach for a deeper-hidden evil gnawing the spiritual life away. But the man himself knows it. Our exhortations miss the mark when we bid him reform in this direction or in that, but conscience does not err; and he well discerns the effort or the renouncement, hateful to him as the very cross itself, by which alone he can enter into life.

To him, that life seems death, the death of all for which he cares to live, being indeed the death of selfishness. But from the beginning, when God in Eden set a barrier against lawless appetite, it was announced that the seeming life of self-indulgence and of disobedience was really death. In the day when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit he surely died. And thus our Lord declared that whosoever is resolved to save his life–the life of wayward, isolated selfishness–he shall lose all its reality, the sap, the sweetness, and the glow of it. And whosoever is content to lose all this for the sake of the Great Cause, the cause of Jesus and His gospel, he shall save it.

It was thus that the great apostle was crucified with Christ, yet lived, and yet no longer he, for Christ Himself inspired in his breast a nobler and deeper life than that which he had lost, for Jesus and the gospel. The world knows, as the Church does, how much superior is self-devotion to self-indulgence, and that one crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name. Its imagination is not inflamed by the picture of indolence and luxury, but by resolute and victorious effort. But it knows not how to master the rebellious senses, nor how to insure victory in the struggle, nor how to bestow upon the masses, plunged in their monotonous toils, the rapture of triumphant strife. That can only be done by revealing to them the spiritual responsibilities of life, and the beauty of His love Who calls the humblest to walk in His own sacred footsteps.

Very striking is the moderation of Jesus, Who does not refuse discipleship to self-seeking wishes but only to the self-seeking will, in which wishes have ripened into choice, nor does He demand that we should welcome the loss of the inferior life, but only that we should accept it. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

And striking also is this, that He condemns not the vicious life only: not alone the man whose desires are sensual and depraved; but all who live for self. No matter how refined and artistic the personal ambitions be, to devote ourselves to them is to lose the reality of life, it is to become querulous or jealous or vain or forgetful of the claims of other men, or scornful of the crowd. Not self-culture but self-sacrifice is the vocation of the child of God.

Many people speak as if this text bade us sacrifice the present life in hope of gaining another life beyond the grave. That is apparently the common notion of saving our “souls.” But Jesus used one word for the “life” renounced and gained. He spoke indeed of saving it unto life eternal, but His hearers were men who trusted that they had eternal life, not that it was a far-off aspiration (Joh 6:47; Joh 6:54). And it is doubtless in the same sense, thinking of the freshness and joy which we sacrifice for worldliness, and how sadly and soon we are disillusioned, that he went on to ask, What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or with what price shall he buy it back when he discovers his error? But that discovery is too often postponed beyond the horizon of mortality. As one desire proves futile, another catches the eye, and somewhat excites again the often baffled hope. But the day shall come when the last self-deception shall be at an end. The cross of the Son of man, that type of all noble sacrifice, shall then be replaced by the glory of His Father with the holy angels; and ignoble compromise, aware of Jesus and His words, yet ashamed of them in a vicious and self-indulgent age, shall in turn endure His averted face. What price shall they offer then, to buy back what they have forfeited?

Men who were standing there would see the beginning of the end, the approach of the kingdom of God with power, in the fall of Jerusalem, and the removal of the Hebrew candlestick out of its place.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary