AN OUTLINE OF MARKS GOSPEL
CHAPTER I
C.A.C. We have been
seeing in the book of Numbers what an important place the service of God has.
We have been considering the place and ordering of the levites, the appointment
of their service, the cities they dwelt in, and the universal distribution of
the levitical character of things among the people of God. It was thought well
that we might consider the One who is the true Servant; that we might engage
ourselves for a little time with Him and the character of His service. One
feels assured that nothing is acceptable service to God that is not after the
pattern of Christ. God, having brought in what is for His full delight, cannot
possibly accept anything of a different order. It is very touching to see that
all is presented to us as glad tidings - not in the way of demand - but as glad
tidings designed to have a very happy effect on all who read it. None of the
Other evangelists begin their gospel with "the glad tidings of Jesus Christ,
Son of God," but Mark is so full of the happy character of it, and it so
possesses him, that he bursts out with it in the first sentence. "Beginning of
the glad tidings of Jesus christ, Son of God." He plunges at once into the very
heart Of what is before him. It is as much as to say, Every word I have
to utter about Him is "glad tidings." You feel at once you are in the
presence of what is of God, and it is brought in. He is Gods anointed
Son. Mark counts on its bçing a source of real gladness to contemplate
Him and to consider how He moved, how He acted, how He spoke. We can see that
what Mark wrote is designed to have a very happy effect upon those who read it.
Ques. What is the distinction
between this and Romans I? It is the gospel of God there.
C A C Yes, it is "concerning his Son," and He is
declared to be Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by resurrection
of the dead. What Mark has before him is the blessed way in which the Lord came
in and moved through this world in Service. This is the gospel for saints, the
gospel or glad tidings for any who fear God: it is the presentation of that
blessed One, the way in which He comes in and moves through this world,
delighting God in every way and serving man in every way. Two Old Testament
prophets are cited, Malachi and Isaiah, as showing how He was heralded by John.
His messenger precedes Him; all must be suitably prepared, so that He may not
be hindered. His way is really Jehovahs way. In the desert there is to be
"a highway for our God." How important the preparation of His ways is! His way
is prepared. The idea of preparing the way is that He must not he hindered from
a plain course, He is coming to serve and He must not be hindered; so a voice
cries, "All flesh is grass." That is the preparation of His way. We get one man
out of the way altogether; all flesh is grass, not some flesh but all flesh.
What a preparation of His way! There is nothing to hinder Him then.
Ques. Is that why baptism is introduced so
soon?
C.A.C. I thought so. From the
messenger we may learn the state of man, the one who says, "All flesh is
grass." That voice comes out in preaching baptism and repentance for the
remission of sins. They could publicly take the ground of repentance. The Jews
were accustomed to baptise proselytes, but now every one must take entirely new
ground; there is no escape. The glad tidings are all concerning the second Man.
Speaking morally, it is impossible for God to have two men before Him of
different orders. The first man and second Man cannot both be for Gods
pleasure because they are of different orders, so Johns mission is
essential that all the pretensions of man after the flesh should go down into
death. I think John came definitely with that mission to prepare the way of
Jehovah and to make in the desert a highway for our God. God wants a highway;
He says, I must have everything cleared out of My way. It is not a by-road, but
a highway that is secured by the pretensions of man being set aside.
Johns testimony is a wilderness testimony. His whole character and
appearance, what he said and did, showed that there was nothing here for God
apart from the attitude of repentance. If man takes up an attitude of
repentance there is a highway for God.
Ques.
Do his food and raiment bring out the wilderness side?
C.A.C. I thought so. His raiment and food are suited
to wilderness conditions. The Lord spoke of him as not wearing delicate
raiment, He contrasts him with "those who wear delicate things," who "are in
the houses of kings," Mart. v :8. They are making themselves comfortable and
luxurious in the world, but John was not like that at all. Johns was a
wilderness testimony and his raiment and food were in keeping with this. There
is a severity about John, a severity of separation and Nazariteship; he walked
apart from all the resources of man. The camels hair garment speaks of
separation; the leathern girdle of a certain severity of restraint on himself,
restraint upon nature. His food was clean; locusts are among clean creatures;
they have legs above their feet. And wild honey would be honey out of the rock.
Nothing is prepared by man, but they are things of a distinctive character
found in the wilderness by Gods ordering. John is independent of man
altogether. "A man sent from God, his name John." If God sends a man it is to
clear away every obstacle, that there may be a highway for Himself, so that His
anointed Son may come in and fill up His blessed life of service for God and
man.
Ques. Would verse 5 be
anything like going forth without the camp?
C.A.C. It is that principle. Judea and Jerusalem
were not the places now where Gods favour was known; it is a wilderness
position. It was said of old, "In Judah is God known... in Salem also is his
tabernacle"; but it is not so now, it is the wilderness. They must go out away
from what had status even according to God - all that has to be given up. It is
the giving up of everything that one naturally looks to, and going out into the
wilderness to find only a voice. John seems to hasten to hide himself behind
the One who was coming and the great service which He would render. John was
the greatest servant. The Lord says of him that there was no greater born of
women, yet he hides himself behind Another.
Ques. Should that be true of every servant?
C.A.C. I think so. John is a beautiful
example of a true Servant. He says, "He must increase, but I must decrease";
that is a fine model for a servant. "John did no miracle: but the things that
John spake of this man were true." That is a fine testimonial for a servant. It
is a great test. So here he says SO beautifully, "There comes he that is
mightier than I after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not fit to stoop down
and unloose," v. 7. All that God was, was to be manifested in the service of
that blessed One; it was Gods way, but all to be brought out in that
blessed One as Man. God will have His way; He has set aside the first man and
his ways, and He has brought in His own Man who will secure things according to
His own heart and delight. All that is very good news to people who fear God.
Rem. He baptises with the Holy
Spirit.
C.A.C. Yes, His service
transcends Johns altogether. John says in verse 8, "I indeed have
baptised you with water, but he shall baptise you with the Holy Spirit." That
is the great service of the Son of God.
Ques. Do we get the difference between the two
baptisms in Acts 19?
C.A.C. Yes, it is
very plain that they knew Johns baptism but not the baptism of Jesus
Christ the Son of God. I think Johns baptism is, in figure, the setting
aside of the pretensions of man; and christian baptism is the burial,
typically, of that man. If he is buried he is off the scene. Then the baptism
of the Spirit connects one with another world altogether, it connects one with
the divine world. The baptism of the Spirit connects one with heaven. It was
not until the Lord went to heaven that He baptised with the Holy Spirit:
therefore the baptism of the Holy Spirit connects us with heaven and with
Christ as in heaven; that is how the kingdom of God comes in.
Ques. Is going out into the wilderness the great
test for christians?
C.A.C. Yes, a
great many have not gone out morally from the city, so there is no taking of
new ground, and there is more or less of wearing of delicate raiment in
kings houses. Paul said to the Corinthians, "Ye reign as kings." You do
not find John in a kings house.
Ques. Could one go into the wilderness until one had
received the Spirit?
C.A.C. I suppose
repentance properly understood would bring us to wilderness conditions, because
if I judge myself I shall also judge the whole system which I have been living
in. Repentance is not merely judging myself but all my associations, like
Isaiah who said, "I am a man of unclean lips," but he did not stop there, he
went on to say, "I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips." He not only
judged himself but all his associations. I do not think you have reached
repentance fully until you have done that; then you are prepared to go out.
Peter says on the day of Pentecost, "Be saved from this perverse generation,"
not only from yourselves, but from this untoward generation, this perverse or
darkened generation. If people wake up to realise that the generation of the
world is a darkened generation, and that there is no divine light there, they
will soon want to move out. We not only find evil in ourselves, but we find
evil in the system around us. It was more testing for a Jew to find that the
whole system of things in which man moves and acts is all wrong, because he was
accustomed to connect all with God. So now a great many people live in a sort
of respectable christianity which is part and parcel of the world and which is
all bound up in the wrong man, not Gods Man. To go out in that sense as
judging the world and myself as forming part of it is a very necessary
preparation, and then we get the highway of God; there is nothing to hinder God
then. God says, Clear My way, prepare in the wilderness a highway for
God. The beautiful effect of considering the path of the Lord is that you
feel you have got a way where you can move with Him safely.
Ques. Where you can claim the Lords support?
C.A.C. Yes. The first thing which the
Lord gets when He takes His place with those that fear God is the conscious
support of heaven. It is what He saw in this gospel, "And straightway going up
front the water, he saw the heavens parting asunder, and the Spirit, as a dove,
descending upon him." "Harmless as doves," it is gentle, dovelike. It is what
He saw. Then in the next verse it is what He heard, "Thou art my beloved Son,
in thee I have found my delight." It is addressed to Himself here, not to
others; it is what He saw and heard Himself. It is very beautiful to see that.
Ques. What is the thought of being
baptised with the Holy Spirit? Is it receiving the Spirit?
C.A.C. I think there is something more involved in
it than that. The word baptised means immersed. What a
wonderfi.il thought it is to be immersed with the Holy Spirit. We have known
what it is to be immersed in the flesh, so that the flesh filled and surrounded
us, and that was the sphere in which we hved, moved, and had our being. But it
is said of the Lord that He baptises with the Holy Spirit; He takes up His
saints and plunges them into a wholly new environment. One would desire greatly
to understand more the service that the Lord rendered in baptising with the
Holy Spirit.
Ques. Why does it say
that Jesus came from Nazareth to be baptised?
C.A.C. It is very beautiful that Nazareth was His
place, not Jerusalem. That is, a despised place was His place, and He only
moves out of that place to identify Himself with the divine movement. It is
very touching that there could not be a public movement without the Lord
identifying Himself with it. There was no occasion for Him to repent or be
baptised, no necessity for Him to take that ground, but they took new ground,
and it was ground where He loved to be with them in the spirit of what is said
in Psalm i 19, "I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that
keep thy precepts." It is beautiful to see that spiritual movements attract the
Lord. As soon as we begin to move spiritually, even if it is as poor sinners
giving up our pretensions, as soon as that movement begins, He joins Himself
with us, and then heaven confirms Him. It is very wonderful that heaven should
come in at that moment, at the moment when He takes His place with that
repentant crowd, just there He gets this wonderful approbation of heaven. It is
as if the delight of God could not be kept in any longer.
Ques. John presented the greatness of His Person?
C.A.C. Yes, he was glad to hide
himself behind that Person.
Rem.
This should make Nazareth very precious to us; the Lord did not move out of
Jud~a or Bethlehem.
C.A.C. Yes,
Nazareth was His own place, and He grew up out of His own place, as the prophet
said. He says from heaven, I am Jesus of Nazareth." He was that still, He never
gives it up as His place. The Lord has no place in this world but that of
reproach: the Nazarene and the crucified go together. They put on the cross, "
Jesus of Nazareth . . ." The Lord here saw the heavens parted asunder, and the
Spirit as a dove descending upon Him; it is what He saw, it is not a question
of what anybody else saw.
Ques.
What is the importance of His seeing it?
C.A.C. I think He got this before He began His
service: He got the personal evidence of the support of heaven. I suppose that
would be an important matter for us all in any little service we take up. If we
do not start out with the consciousness of the support of heaven we are likely
to be feeble in the service. The Lord sees, not only the heavens parted
asunder, but the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him. He sees the character of
the power that was coming upon Him in the anointing.
Ques. Would you suggest that the character of His
service was dovelike?
C.A.C. I thought
it indicated the spirit in which the service of that blessed One was to be
carried out. The Lord Himself enjoins His disciples that they were to be "wise
as serpents, and harmless as doves." The Spirit says of Him that He was
harmless. I have often thought that this verse is very like Isaiah 64: i: "Oh,
that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down." It says
here that He saw the heavens parting or rent asunder. Then again in that
chapter in Isaiah the judgments are mentioned, but in verse 4 it says, "Never
have men heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor hath eye seen a God beside thee,
who acteth for him that waiteth for him." That truly was the attitude of the
Lord; He waited for Him, He waited thirty years, and never moved out in
service, lie waited for Jehovah. Then the heavens are rent and God manifests
Himself as acting for Him. I suppose the thought of God rending the heavens
shows what He can be in His blessed power and support to the one who waits for
Him.
Ques. It is the Father who
speaks?
C.A.C. Yes, a voice out of
heaven says, "Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight." There
is One on earth with the Sons affections in His heart. If service is not
taken up in the spirit of sonship, I am sure it becomes servile.
Ques. Would you connect this with Isaiah
42?
C.A.C. Yes, it is a Son serving;
that is the beautiful thing about it. It is a Son-servant; there was never such
a Servant before. Moses was one of the greatest servants in Scripture, and God
said he was faithful in all His house, but he was not a son. Now we have One
who comes in and serves in all the freedom and affection of a Son. A son would
not be checked or turned aside in his service by anything which could come in.
He has the support of heaven behind him, he has the Fathers love behind
him filling his heart, he has the Spirit of the Son. That is the true character
of all service now.
Ques. We have
to learn to serve that way?
C.A.C. Yes.
We see it in all its perfection in Him, " In thee I have found my delight."
Everything now is to be for Gods delight; it is not just a question of
doing ones duty.
Ques. Is
this service manward?
C.A.C. I think it is.
He was Jehovahs servant, and He carried out Jehovahs pleasure in
regard to man, but He does it in the affections of sonship. That is the kind of
service which He sets going in His own; He gives impulse to that kind of
service.
Ques. In Matthew the Lord
is carried into the wilderness, in Luke He is led, and here He is driven (v.
12). Is there any significance in the difference?
C.A.C. There is a peculiar urgency here that is very
striking: it is as if the Spirit were eager, if we may so say, to have His
affections tested at once. The Spirit realised that His blessed service could
not begin until this testing was over, so there is an urgency about it from
that point of view.
We have been seeing how the Lord began His service in
the consciousness of the support of heaven and the consciousness of sonship,
because it is what He sees and hears Himself that is emphasised here, not what
others saw and heard. He enters into the testing in the full consciousness of
heavens support, and of the Fathers love resting upon Him. It is a
poor thing to be tested from any other standpoint. I think the support of
heaven and the consciousness of sonship, the place we have in the love of God,
are necessary to stand even the smallest test. In all three synoptic gospels it
is put in that way; He is led or carried or driven; there is no voluntary going
into testing even with the Lord, it would not be mans place to do that.
What we have here is a divine Person in manhood, so all the power of the enemy
is met by the power of a Man.
It is a principle in the ways of God that
nothing is useful in His service but that which has stood a certain test. It is
what comes through the test that God can use; otherwise Satan might say,
If that man had been tested he would have broken down. God puts His
servants through testing, often quite in secret. Every one who is called to
special service is put through the test, and it is what goes through the
testing that God can use.
It has often been said that the Lords
temptation was in perfect contrast with Adams circumstances. It was not a
beautiful garden but a wilderness; and not beasts that come up meekly and
gently to take their names and character from Adam, but wild beasts. There were
no natural resources there at all, and what there was of creature conditions
was adverse and unintelligent. Wild beasts are just the opposite in character
to the dove which rested on the Lord. It would indicate that He was entering
upon a service in which there was no natural resource at all, and in which
there would be no sympathy; you would not look for sympathy in a wild beast.
The Lord was entering on a service feeling how uncongenial everything was
around: they were all wild beasts around Him. Scripture says, "I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war," Ps. I20:7. We do not get the detail of the
Lords temptation in Mark, because the Spirit just brings it in as
necessary in view of His service. Details are not given here; it is the general
character of testing that precedes service. There were no human resources in
the wilderness; then Satan seeks to bring something in not of God in the way of
relief or escape from such conditions. The wild beasts would indicate that what
was there of creature character was unintelligent and adverse. All the testing
was to bring out that nothing could cripple that blessed One, He was
incorruptible. Satan had not a word to say, he was driven from the field. There
was a full testing but it did not go on indefinitely: it had its term, forty
days, and the Lord is looked at then as in the condition when support is
needed. He is not independent of the support of heaven, so at the end of forty
days we are told that angels ministered to Him. The support of heaven had
waited forty days. It is a measured period. All our testings are measured, they
do not go on interminably; the succour from heaven comes in just when it is
needed in every testing.
Paul was greatly tested by all the exercises he
went through about the Corinthians, but at the end of forty days, so to speak,
he says, "God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the
coming of Titus." Titus was the angel to minister to him. If we thought Satan
was going to be let loose on us without limit we should give in, but there are
always time-limits to every testing. Whatever the nature of the testing it is
strictly and divinely limited. There is a completeness about the forty days. In
Lukes gospel it says, "When the devil had completed every temptation";
Satan had not another word to say. Forty is a number that seems to speak in
Scripture of full testing; forty years in the wilderness was a full testing. In
the case of the blessed Lord there was full testing, but nothing could cripple
Him; Satans object in all testing is to cripple us for the service of
God. If a servant can be seduced from the path of obedience and dependence he
is crippled; if he turns to human resources and takes a natural way of escape
from his difficulties and testing, he is crippled for the service of God. Luke
tells us the Lord returned in the power of the Spirit; He comes back from the
testing with power unimpaired, He has gone through it untouched. The object of
this gospel is that we should be in the good of the kingdom. If we go through
this gospel with God we shall understand what the glad tidings are, and what
the kingdom of God is in power, so that we are set up entirely for God, just as
the blessed Lord was.
Ques. Was
Johns mission over?
C.A.C. Yes.
It is rather striking that the Lord waits for a providential indication before
He begins His service in this gospel. He does not set John aside, He would not
appear as a rival to John; that is a beautiful model for a servant. We are told
that when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that He baptised more
disciples than John, He withdrew, He would not appear as a rival to John. He
waited for a providential indication, the shutting up of John in prison, that
the time had come for Him to come out. We know as a fact from Johns
gospel that He had done miracles before that; His glory could not be hid, it
subsisted in His own Person. But here in Marks gospel it is His path as a
Servant, and He waits for John to pass off the scene, for the testimony of His
forerunner to terminate, before He appears. It is not Gods way to bring
one servant in to set aside another. If God has used a man and He brings in
another servant, it is to confirm what the first did, not to set him aside. We
see that wonderful mark of the true servant in the Lord. Even He, who must have
known His superiority to John, would not come out in sçrvice until John
had finished his course. That was a great contrast to Moses, who began to serve
too soon: he felt he had a divine mission, and he thought the children of
Israel ought to understand, but he was forty years too soon!
In service
there is no getting in the way of another servant. Paul desired Apollos to go
to Corinth: it was a beautiful unjealous feeling in Paul to wish another
servant to go, perhaps a more brilliant man than himself; but Apollos would not
go to be a rival to Paul. He says, "No, I am not going there, they are the kind
of people to make me a rival to Paul." One has known cases of men coming in and
setting aside everything that was there for the Lord, but that gets no divine
support. A true servant recognises all there is for the Lord and supports it,
he never puts himself in rivalry with it. It is the kingdom of God that is
before a true servant. The Lord came out full of the kingdom of God: we do not
think enough of it. God was absolutely supreme with Him. That is the primary
thought in the kingdom of God. It is a realm where God is supreme, and yet His
supremacy is not authority exercised judicially, but exercised in the way of
fullest blessing for man. The kingdom of God meant that God was coming in,
things were not going to be left in the hands of men, but God was coming in
Himself to take things up and deal with them for His own glory, and yet for the
most wonderful blessing for men, even for sinful men. It is a good question to
put to people, Do you know anything about the kingdom of God?
"Jesus came into Galilee preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God," v.
14. The kingdom comes in as good news. One can understand the people following
the Lord because of the wonderful character of what was seen in Him: they
followed Him to learn what the kingdom of God really was.
Ques. Is the kingdom of God objective or subjective?
C.A.C. It is objective at first
because, in following Him and seeing His wonderful works and hearing His words,
we see What the kingdom of God is. But the object of it is that men may be
brought in their affections under the sway of God, caught for Him. That gives
the subjective side; there is a result for God, not only men get great
blessing, but men are to be caught for God. The Lord said, "Repent and believe
In the glad tidings"; the glad tidings are all that is set forth in Himself.
Then the great end of the kingdom of God is that Iflen are to be caught for
God, so the fishermen are brought in at once," I will make you ... fishers of
men." Men are to be caught by being brought to see what a wonderful God He is,
and the wonderful character of His kingdom. If people saw the character of the
kingdom they would be caught for God. We see the wonderful character of the
gospel record: it is divine intuition that makes the servants of the Lord so
often turn to the gospels for subjects of gospel preaching. My idea is that the
gospels are the net: the Lord has given us a good net to catch men with. We
cannot afford to leave out one of these incidents in the gospels; they bring
out the nature and character of the kingdom of God. They show what God is in
relation to all the sorrow, need and ruin of man, and how he can be completely
delivered so that no influence is left to rule in his heart but the knowledge
of God.
One can understand how the crowds followed Jesus from place to
place; they wanted to see a little more of this wonderful kingdom. The Lord
says, "I will make you. . . fishers of men"; that implies that He will give
them a net to catch with, and the wonderful incidents that came out in the life
of the Lord are like the net. When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost he
had all the truth that came out in the life of the Lord in his soul. "A man
approved of God among you": he sums it up in a few words. "Miracles, wonders
and signs " - that wonderful life. Peter lets down an unbroken net, and he gets
a great catch: he was a fine fisher of men. I am sure that is how God catches
men. We get another thought in connection with John; Simon was fishing but John
was mending nets. We get there a suggestion of a broken net: that gives you
Johns ministry. John comes in bringing spiritual material after the net
was broken, so that the assembly might at the end of her course still be able
to catch men. John is a reserve man, and after the breakdown of public
testimony, John comes in to give spiritual material so that things may be
preserved right away to the end. What John gives is imperishable, he comes in
and repairs things at the end so that the assemblys witness may be as
complete at the end as it was at the beginning.
Ques. What is your thought of "I will make"?
C.A.C. That is very important. The Lord
says "Come after me" and "I will make." We learn to be fishers by following. We
were singing just now:
Wherever we follow Thee, Lord,
Admiring,
adoring, we see.
In following Him we learn the many sides of the
kingdom: we become furnished with divine means to catch men. There are divine
means and the Lord never used any other sort; He never appealed to
peoples natural feelings or minds, but He appealed to their consciences
and affections. The Lord says, Follow Me and you will become fishers of
men. In this same gospel He ordained twelve "that they might be with him,
and that he might send them to preach."
Ques. How does John 21 come in?
C.A.C. I think that is a service chapter. It brings
out two great characters of service, fishing and feeding. One is the gospel
side and the other is the ministry of food in the household. It shows that
without the Lord we can catch nothing; they laboured all night but they caught
nothing. It is no doubt a dispensational picture, but it does set forth the
conditions of service. These men were a good sample of levites, they left
everything, they came under a dominant influence, and everyone who serves the
Lord must know what it means to come under a divine, dominant influence. They
left their business and their natural relationships because another influence
came in to dominate their affections. With many men their business is the
dominant influence, and then their natural affections; and if anything is left
the Lord gets it. That is reverting the whole thing. The Lord should be the
dominating influence, and then the natural relationships should be influenced
by the dominant influence, and the business comes in for its share in the end.
I believe that is the divine order. The three synoptic gospels show how
following the Lord would adjust us in regard to all the things that are
temporal, but following Him in Johns gospel puts us in right relation
with the things that are eternal. The Lord is moving there, we see Him as He
walked. He is moving into the region of spiritual and eternal things, and those
who follow Him in John pass into the region of the spiritual and eternal. But
following Him in the other three gospels is connected more with the adjustment
of things temporal: business, natural relationships, taking up the cross,
denying self, all is connected with that which is temporal and Passing away,
and as we follow the Lord we get adjusted in regard to all that.
Ques. A levite is not a hired servant?
C.A.C. No, a hired servant serves for wages
and gets them. A. good deal of service in christendom is like that. If people
serve the Lord for wages they will get them, every penny, but that is not the
kind of service that the Lord likes. He does not like servants who bargain for
what they get: He likes those who go into the vineyard and leave the pay
to Him; they come off best after all. The fact is that the compensation in
service is so great that it knocks the thought of any future compensation very
much into the background.
It strikes one as so marvellous to follow Him
and see every hour some new phase of the kingdom of God, to see it set forth
livingly in Him and in His service. What a supreme, satisfying portion it must
have been! There was wonderful power in the attraction of His Person; one longs
to know more of it; we are all tested as to what that power of attraction has
become in our souls.
I think the Lord had established Himself in the hearts
of these men before; this was not the first time they had seen Him. The
incidents in John i come before this, and show that the Lord had established
Himself in their affection. This is a definite call to service, and I suppose
there is that in the case of each one, however little we may have taken account
of it and responded to it. I think it is the sense of a definite call that
gives one authority. The Lord goes into the synagogue and speaks with
authority, there was the consciousness of a definite commission. We are all apt
to be too indefinite, and to feel it is left us to do what presents itself or
what is pleasant, and we have not sufficient sense of divine appointment as to
service. Every levite had his service divinely appointed: they could not do
just as they liked.
Then that would shut out all the unclean element. The
Lords presence in the synagogue brought to light the man with an unclean
spirit. The unclean spirit is just the contrast with what we are speaking of:
it is the contrast to the Holy Spirit. The Lord is introduced as the One who
would baptise with the Holy Spirit, and this man is in an unclean spirit - the
same word - immersed in what is unclean. While he recognised Jesus as the holy
One, yet everything about him was in contrast to the holy One of God. He was in
the synagogue, too; in the religious sphere there may be what is unclean, but
the first wave of the power of the kingdom displaces it. The Lords first
act is to displace what is unclean. The man was in their synagogue as well as
the man with the withered hand: as if to say that there was room in their
system for what was unclean and withered. But there is unsullied purity in the
kingdom of God. It is presented so especially in Mark, "exceeding white as
snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." That is the character of the
kingdom in power, white as snow, unsullied purity, the unclean spirit is gone.
We have to beware of what works in our spirits. The unclean spirit suggests
what works in the spirit of a man. That is the contrast between the unclean
spirit and leprosy. A man in an unclean spirit represents what is working in
the spirit inwardly, and which is only brought to light by the presence of the
Son of God. Leprosy is more what comes out in ones body. Paul said to the
Corinthians, "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and
spirit"; that would be set forth in leprosy; it is what comes out in word and
deed, in ones body. But behind that there may be a lot of bitterness of
spirit: things work in the spirit which are positively unclean, and perhaps do
not come to light at all, but it is all under the eye of the Lord. Paul puts
the spirit first when he speaks of our whole spirit, soul and body being
preserved blameless. In Hebrews 12, when it is a question of the discipline of
God, He is called the Father of spirits. It is a great thing to be cleansed in
our spirits. One feels how often things work in ones spirit that no one
knows anything about, and yet they are positively unclean. There is something
working contrary to the holiness of God and that must be unclean. It seems to
me that the power of the kingdom went to the root of things and dispossessed
the unclean spirit, the spirit that is not in accord with Jesus. If my spirit
is not in accord with Jesus it is characteristically an unclean spirit, and the
first wave of the power of the kingdom deals with that. But it is with much
exercise to me; perhaps it will tear me - it tore him, but it left him.
We
cannot get rid of what is unclean without suffering. One would not mind being
torn to get rid of every movement of what is unclean in ones spirit. We
do nOt naturally like to be freed in our spirits, but it has struck me much in
thinking of this, that the first wave of the power of the Spirit in the kingdom
deals with the spirit of a man. What Spirit am I of? Is my spirit immersed by
the Holy Spirit? I have to confess that I do not know much about it. Here I see
a man immersed in an unclean spirit. It is a question of what your spirit is,
not what you say or do, but the character of your spirit. In Romans S we read,
"the Spirit. . . bears witness with our spirit." It shows that your spirit is
to be a suited companion for the Spirit of God, so that the Spirit of God can
talk to your spirit as one friend to another; that is a clean out. Is it
possible that my spirit can be so purified that the Holy Spirit can talk to my
spirit personally? The Spirit witnesses that we are children of God. It is not
mere profession. We are children of God, clean, and marked by this wonderful
purity. If the kingdom starts like this, what will it be in the finish? Mark
speaks of the beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ: we do not read
anything about the end!
Ques. Is
there any significance in the Lord moving out of the synagogue into the house?
C.A.C. One would conclude the
synagogue is the place of public profession;. and I think in the house we find
ourselves in the circle of the brethren. The Lord acted sovereignly and
authoritatively in the sphere of profession to deal with what was contrary to
the holiness of God, but He acted sympathetically in the circle of the
brethren. It was a necessity that the Lord should act sovereignly to dispossess
the unclean spirit or we should never find our place in the circle of the
brethren. If the Lord did not act sovereignly in the public profession men
would remain immersed in an unclean spirit, just the contrary to what obtains
in the kingdom of God, where the Lord immerses men by the Holy Spirit. In
principle we are either immersed in one or the other.
Service must be
altogether in the power of the Spirit. The light of the candlestick is
maintained by pure oil: it is the pure candlestick. No doubt Mark answers to
the candlestick, and the great thought of the candlestick is purity - pure oil
- so that what is unclean must be set asidc by divine authority. What marks the
Lords service in the synagogue is authority: He speaks and acts with
authority; it is the assertion of power to bring about conditions suitable to
God. A man is unclean inwardly, that is the first thing. The Lord proposes to
set the spirit of a man right.
Ques. What is the thought of their telling Him about
Peters wifes mother?
C.A.C. It has an application. We find ourselves in a
narrow circle: it seems to be the circle of the brethren, James and John, Simon
and Andrew.
Ques. Was there
sympathy also on the part of the brethren? They tell the Lord about her.
C.A.C. Yes, there was a sympathetic
interest on the part of the brethren: there was one there incapacitated for
service, and they all felt it. We ought to feel it if a brother or sister is
incapacitated for service. It is quite easy to see defects, but to have a
sympathetic interest and desire that anyone should be in perfect liberty for
holy service is a lovely exercise to be found in the circle of the brethren: it
sets the Lord in motion. The Lord waits for suggestions in the house, but He
does not wait in the synagogue. We find repeatedly that in the synagogue He
acts on His own initiative sovereignly, but in the house He waits for
suggestions. What marks this incident is that all the elements that hinder
service should be dealt with in sympathetic grace. There is a priestly
character about this incident. We are having great instruction about the things
that are found in the kingdom. In the kingdom we find divine authority against
what is unclean, but there are divine sympathies and priestly grace in regard
to weakness. A great deal of service is hindered, not by an unclean spirit but
by fever.
Ques. Is fever
characterised by restlessness?
C.A.C.
That is a prominent symptom. It is an overheated state in which the strength,
instead of being expended in useful service, is being burnt up in unprofitable,
inward disturbance. The proper thing in the house is that service should be
carried on; and however awkward our position, if we are preserved in quietness,
we shall be happy. The position of a mother-in- law is not easy in a house: it
is admittedly a difficult position, and there is such a thing as saints being
placed in positions not easy to fill if they are to avoid friction. If a
mother-in-law interferes she makes trouble for herself and all in the house,
but the divine way is to be in the spirit of service. However difficult the
position, if we are in the spirit of service everything will go happily. The
secret of all difficulties is a very simple one: it is that we get out of the
spirit of service, and that is abandoning the testimony. The testimony is gone
when we get out of the spirit of service.
Ques. It was seen in the Lord?
C:A.C. Yes, the testimony was there; and from the
point of view of this gospel the testimony is connected with service. It
is wonderful how things straighten out if we are in the spirit of service. The
worst of fever is that it incapacitates for Service. The strength, instead of
being employed in benefiting Others and being happy oneself, is burnt up in
inward activities that are unproductive and destructive.
Ques.
If we enter on the truth of the holiness of Gods house, there must be
holy conditions?
C.A.C. Yes. If God
and our Lord Jesus have their right places, holy conditions would be preserved.
If there is not holiness there is something unclean, and that is why the
dispossessing of the unclean spirit comes first.
Rem. If we are morally defective as to the power of
the kingdom, we shall not be prepared for the teaching of the second incident.
C.A.C. Yes, that lies at the base of
the testimony. The point of all this instruction is that it may have its place
and power in the saints.
Ques. Is
the wifes mother in right condition at the end of the verse?
C.A.C. Yes, she rises up to serve them:
that is the result of the fever being subdued. The brethren speak to the Lord
about her and He went up to her and raised her up. The Lord takes her by the
hand : that is the expression used in Hebrews 2 in regard of His priestly
grace. If the Lord takes us by the hand, the fever goes. We cannot have fever
if that powerful and gracious hand is reached down from the glory of God to
take ours. He raises her up : she was prostrate, she lay in a fever, but she is
in the right position now. Fever might be an undue occupation with things that
could very well be left alone. Some people fill up their time with this, that,
and the other, without ever giving it a thought that they are called to serve
the Lord in the kingdom of God and to serve the brethren. People have all sorts
of objects and considerations that keep them in a restless state. I suppose
many things come in which are really fever; a restlessness of spirit which
hinders us from serving the brethren, strife, vain glory, murmurings,
reasonings all coming of self-importance. Each one must face the exercise with
himself and herself. The Lord is to be served and the brethren, but fever
hinders the service. The Lord takes hold of us in priestly grace that His deep
interest in us may be known in relation to these things which are the evidence
of our infirmity. He can reach down His hand from the right hand of God to lift
us into superiority to everything that would hinder serving.
Rem. Evening has come and the sun has gone down. We
have come to the end of the dispensation, but there is still a time of activity
for the people of God.
C.A.C. That is
like Leviticus 24. The candlestick was still to be attended to and the light
maintained though conditions of apostasY were amongst the people. It is
beautiful to see here that the Lords activities result in the securing of
a circle of which He is the centre.
Rem. He was the centre of attraction, whether in the
house or whether when the sun had gone down and the whole city was gathered to
Him.
C.A.C. Yes. The Lord would give
us a great sense of resource in Himself: all the power of the kingdom of God
was tjiere in Himself, whatever the conditions were; and He served one and
another to make them vessels of the power of the kingdom.
Ques. Should we experience something of that if
conditions were right?
C.A.C. Yes.
There is no resource in christendom outwardly today, no power to stand against
evil, and no power for testimony or the service of God. If the Lord gets a
place, if there is a house where He can have a place, there is power there and
power that is felt outside. We see what is outside in verse 34. One would like
to be attractive to need, one would covet that; not to be attractive to men as
having no need, but to be attractive to need. It is what the Lord Himself was.
There is about the Lord, in this gospel peculiarly, a certain hiding of
Himself; He will not suffer the demons to speak because they know Him, and He
leaves Capernaum where there was great interest; then in the next incident He
charges the, leper to say nothing to anyone. It shows on the part of the Lord a
retiringness and a hiding of Himself. I think we get an important principle in
the Lord saying, "Let us go elsewhere into the neighbouring country towns." It
was not because the thing was played out with no interest, for the disciples
had said, "All seek thee." One might lose the sense of the scope of the
service. If we take up the question of testimony it is important to remember
how wide is the scope of it.
The Lord indicates to us the secret of power
and preservation in Service; He rises a great while before day. There are
twelve hours in the day; there is a period of service, but if is to be divine
power and leading in that service there must be a rising a great while before
day. The burning of incense always went along with the trimming of the lamps:
we burn the incense here. Is not that the real power of everything on our side?
Prayer is the secret of power. The Spirit is definitely the Spirit of grace and
supplication - prayer is very much connected with the Spirit.
Ques. What is the thought of His going to a desert
place to pray?
C.A.C. I think it
suggests that there must be a withdrawal from all the influences of the present
scene. The result of prayer here seems to be that there is an enlargement of
the sphere of testimony. I think it is a warning not to get unduly localised as
to the testimony, which is really a universal thought.
The importance of
preaching comes in here. The Lord emphasises the preaching; He puts that before
the works of power, He was sent forth to preach. One wonders whether we give
the preaching its due place in the testimony. The word preach is
really herald; it gives the thought of a definite announcement. The
position has to be plainly declared on Gods part. The Lord carries the
brethren with Him; He says, "Let us go elsewhere into the neighbouring country
towns, that I may preach there also." The house gives the idea that there is a
circle of sympathetic interest and then they go forth together. They did not
preach; the Lord preached, and they went with Him. It is a great privilege to
go with any little preaching that may go on now. Paul also desired to carry the
sympathies of his brethren in his service.
The effect of preaching is that
the leper comes; that is why the preaching goes on. I think the preaching of
the kingdom of God awakened desire in the heart of the leper. A leper is one in
whom the will of the flesh has become manifest. The leper evidently got through
the preaching a great sense of the power of God that was present, but he needed
to learn another feature of the kingdom, and that was the very dominant place
compassion had. He said to the Lord, "If thou wilt." It is easier for man to
entertain the thought of Gods power than of His compassion. It is a great
point to reach in ones soul that the character of the kingdom of God is
such that every kind of moral need establishes a claim on divine compassion.
The leper is an extreme case, he is an excommunicated man, not fit company for
God or man. This extreme case brings out the marvellous compassion found in the
kingdom of God. There was something in the leper that responded to the
preaching. One would expect that, if right conditions are brought about, a
divine result would be reached. What God does is not inoperative, so that, if
the glad tidings of the kingdom of God are preached and the brethren are in
sympathy with it, we shall expect to see lepers come in.
Ques. Why does the Lord tell the leper to go to the
priest?
C.A.C. It seems to emphasise
the thought that he was cleansed in view of the testimony. It brings out what
the Lord has come to do in the depths of divine compassion. He had come to
touch the leper, and to cleanse him by touching him. It is the compassions of
the cross that are brought before us. We never realise how leprous we are until
we see what it cost the Lord to bear the judgment of our state.
Rem. The note in the margin here is "touch
freely, or handle."
C.A.C. That is
beautiful; it gives the thought of divine conipassions. It would do us good to
ponder deeply and in a prolonged way the sorrow psalms of Christ. Nothing will
affect us more deeply than the sorrows of Christ. I suppose it is in that way
we get cleansed; the cleansing is not a judicial act but a moral process. I
think often people think of the cleansing of the leper as if it were the same
as forgiveness of sins. To my mind it is quite different, it is a moral process
by which the person is purified from all taint of that terrible disease which
had established itself in every part of his being.
Ques. The corruptible condition of man?
C.A.C. Yes, the cleansing of the leper
intimates the setting up of an incorruptible condition, a condition that
corresponds with God. The cleansing comes about by realising the wonderfiil
character of that "I will." You can put into the "I will" all the sorrow psalms
of Christ; if you leave any of them out you leave out some element that is
bound up in that "I will." It is the compassionate will of Christ to take up
the whole question of our corruption and to touch it. What it cost Him to touch
it we can only know by what He tells us Himself. If I understood what it cost
Him to take up that corruptible condition, and so to deal with it that it might
be removed from before God, what a revolution would be effected! I should be
cleansed.
END OF CHAPTER ONE