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The beginning. Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ M. Henry. I. In John's way of living there was the beginning of a gospel SPIRIT. (a) Self-denial. (b) Nonconformity to the world. II. In John's preaching and baptizing there was the beginning of the gospel DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES. (a) Remission of sin upon a true repentance. (b) Christ — His preeminence, power, and promises. III. In John's success there was the beginning of a gospel CHURCH. ( M. Henry. )

Benson Commentary Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Mark 1:1-3 . The beginning of the gospel — That is, of the gospel history; of Jesus Christ, the Son of God — Who was, or is, in the bosom of the Father, John 1:18 , and came down from heaven, John 3:13 , to reveal his Father’s will unto us, to confirm his doctrine by a great variety of astonishing miracles, to set us a perfect example of every branch of piety and virtue, to expiate our sins by the sacrifice of himself, and to abolish death, with respect to such as believe aright in him, by rising from the dead as the first-fruits of them that sleep. The evangelist speaks with strict propriety in this sentence, for the beginning of the gospel is in the account of John the Baptist, contained in the first paragraph; the gospel itself in the rest of the book. Thus the verse must be considered as being connected with the following, and as signifying that the gospel of Jesus Christ began, according to the prediction of the prophets, with the preaching and baptism of John the Baptist. In styling Jesus the Song of Solomon of God, while the other evangelists describe him chiefly as the Song of Solomon of man, Mark gives him a title the most likely, as being the most august, to engage the attention and obedience of the Romans, those lords of the earth, to the religion which was promulgated by him. Behold, I send my messenger, &c. — See notes on Malachi 3:1 ; Matthew 11:10 . The voice of one, &c. — See notes on Isaiah 40:3 ; Matthew 3:3 . Mark 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Mark 1:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Mark 1:4 . John — Who was the very person spoken of by those prophets, being sent of God for that end, did baptize in the wilderness — Which lay east from Jerusalem, along the river Jordan and the lake Asphaltites, also called the Dead sea. By wilderness, in the Scriptures, it is plain that we are not always to understand what is commonly denominated so with us, a region either uninhabitable or uninhabited. No more seems to have been denoted by it than a country fitter for pasture than for agriculture, mountainous, woody, and but thinly inhabited. These ?????? , wildernesses, did not want their towns and villages. And preach the baptism of repentance — That is, preach repentance, and baptize as a sign and means of it. Thus John endeavoured to prepare men for the coming of that Messiah who was to save his people from their sins. See notes on Matthew 3:2-3 . This baptism, says Dr. Lightfoot, may belong to children, though it be the baptism of repentance, and they know not what repentance means; for it requireth not their repentance at the receiving of this sacrament, but it engageth them to it for the time to come, namely, when they shall come to the use of reason, and the knowledge of the engagement. And so was it with the children that were circumcised; for they by that sacrament became debtors to observe the whole law, Galatians 5:3 , when they knew not what obedience or the law meant; but that bound them to it when they came to years of knowledge and discretion. Mark 1:5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. Mark 1:5-8 . There went out to him all Judea, &c. — So disposed were the people to receive his baptism. See note on Matthew 3:5 . The latchet of whose shoes, &c. — That is, whose servant I am not worthy to be, or to perform for him the meanest offices. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost — The promise of which is made to you and your children, Acts 2:39 ; where see the note, and on Matthew 3:11 . Mark 1:6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; Mark 1:7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. Mark 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Mark 1:9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. Mark 1:9-11 . It came to pass in those days — Of John’s baptism at the river Jordan; that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee — Where he lived for many years in a retired manner, with his parents; and was baptized of John in Jordan — Near Bethabara. John 1:28 . See on Matthew 3:13-17 . Mark 1:10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: Mark 1:11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying , Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Mark 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. Mark 1:12-13 . Immediately the Spirit driveth him — Gr. ???????? , thrusteth him out, or, sends him away, as the same word signifies, Mark 1:43 . Luke says, ????? , he was moved, or led; Matthew, ?????? , he was led up, namely, from the plain of Jordan. He was forty days tempted of Satan — Invisibly. After this followed the temptation by him in a visible shape, related by Matthew. These forty days, says Dr. Lightfoot, the holy angels ministered to Christ visibly, and Satan tempted him invisibly; at the end of them, Satan puts on the appearance of an angel of light, and pretends to wait on him as they did. See on Matthew 4:2-11 . And was with the wild beasts — Though they had no power to hurt him. Mark, we may observe, not only gives us a compendium of Matthew’s gospel, but likewise several valuable particulars, which he and the other evangelists have omitted; especially such particulars as might enable the Romans, or Gentiles in general, better to understand him. Thus, as a Roman might not know how wild and uninhabited the deserts of Arabia were, in which Christ was tempted, he adds here, that he was with the wild beasts. Mark 1:13 And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, Mark 1:14-15 . After John was put in prison — B y Herod; Jesus came into Galilee, preaching, &c. — Till that time, say the fathers, ???????? ????? ?????????? ???? ????? , he waited for John’s testimony concerning him. Accordingly, St. Peter represents Christ as beginning thus to preach from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached was ended, Acts 10:37 . Now hence it is evident, that his coming into Galilee, mentioned Luke 4:14 , must refer to the same time, that so all the evangelists may agree. The time is fulfilled — The time of my kingdom, foretold by Daniel, and expected by you, is fully come. The kingdom of God is at hand — That kingdom which God is about to erect by the Messiah, (foretold by Daniel 2:44 ; and Daniel 7:14 ,) whereby he will rescue men from the dominion of Satan and of sin, of the world and of the flesh, and constitute them his loyal subjects and obedient servants; whereby he will reign in them, as well as over them, ruling their hearts by his grace as well as their lives by his laws; that kingdom, which is not in word, but in power, 1 Corinthians 4:20 , which is righteousness, internal and external, love to God and all mankind, and obedience flowing therefrom; peace with God and peace of conscience, consequent on deliverance from the guilt and power of sin, and joy in the Holy Ghost, arising from the Holy Spirit’s influences assuring us of our adoption into the family of God, inspiring us with a lively hope of his glory, Galatians 4:6 ; Romans 5:2 ; and giving us an earnest of our future inheritance in our hearts, Ephesians 1:14 . See note on Romans 14:17 . This kingdom of God, of which believers are possessed on earth, is at once a preparation for, and an earnest of, the kingdom of God in heaven. Repent ye, and believe the gospel — That you may be Christ’s loyal subjects in time and in eternity, and be made partakers of this two-fold kingdom. Observe well, reader, the one, only way leading to the kingdom of God on earth and in heaven, is, repentance toward God, productive of fruits worthy of repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the great truths and precious promises of his holy gospel. See on Matthew 3:2 ; John 1:12 ; and John 3:16 . Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark 1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Mark 1:17-20 . Come, and I will make you fishers of men — I will enable you to draw them into my true church by the net of my gospel. And straightway — Upon his call; leaving their nets, they followed him — From this time they forsook their employ, and constantly attended him. Happy they who follow Christ at the first call! When he had gone thence, he saw James — See on Matthew 4:21 . Mending their nets, which they had washed, Luke 5:2 . The Greek word, ????????????? , here rendered mending, or refitting, signifies also preparing, or making. Mark 1:18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. Mark 1:19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. Mark 1:20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. Mark 1:21 And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. Mark 1:21-22 . And they went into Capernaum — When our Lord had thus called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, they all left the side of the lake, and entered with him into the city of Capernaum. And straightway on the sabbath day — Doubtless the next sabbath, which was probably the very next day. The word for sabbath da y, ???? ???????? , is in the plural number, and the expression is frequently the same where it is evidently to be understood of a particular day, as Matthew 12:1 ; Matthew 28:1 ; Acts 13:14 . And taught — Declared the important truths which he was in so extraordinary a manner commissioned to reveal and vindicate. And they were astonished at his doctrine — Were again struck with amazement at it, as they had been when he first came to preach among them. See Luke 4:23 , and note on Matthew 7:28 . There seems to have been something in the discourses, as well as in the miracles of this last sabbath that he spent among them at this time, which raised their wonder, and affected them in a peculiar manner, as appears from the multitude of sick people which were brought to him that evening, Mark 1:32-33 ; Luke 4:40 ; Matthew 8:16 . Mark 1:22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. Mark 1:23 And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Mark 1:23-28 . And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit — Luke, which had a spirit of an unclean devil. And he cried out — Luke, with a loud voice. As soon as the devil saw Jesus, dreading his power, and expecting to be dispossessed, he cried out in great terror: saying, in the name of all the rest, Let us alone, &c. Art thou come to destroy us — By driving us out of our abodes on earth to the regions of darkness? I know thee — Under all the disadvantages of thy present appearance, I can sufficiently discern who thou art, the Holy One of God — Whom he hath sanctified and sent into the world for the destruction of my kingdom, and therefore I dread thee. It seems plain, from what is said afterward, Mark 1:27 , that the other persons then present did not know Jesus to be the Son of God; how then should the demoniac know this if he had been only mad, as some vainly suppose, and not really possessed by an evil spirit? This case was so remarkable, that, as the evangelist adds, immediately our Lord’s fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. However, though madmen might not know Christ, the devils could not be ignorant of him, from the time of his baptism, when the voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, &c, and therefore Satan soon after, in one of his temptations, says, If thou be the Son of God, &c., Matthew 4:6 . And Jesus rebuked him — Not being willing to receive any testimony from Satan. When the unclean spirit had torn him — Or convulsed him, as ???????? seems here to mean. Accordingly, ????????? , as Grotius has observed, is sometimes used to signify a convulsion. It is certainly much more natural, as Doddridge observes, to understand the expression thus, than to suppose the devil to have torn him, according to the common meaning of the word torn, which leaves the reader to imagine that he grievously wounded him, when Luke expressly says, he hurt him not. And cried with a loud voice — Or, noise, rather, for he was forbidden to speak. Christ would neither suffer those evil spirits to speak in opposition, nor yet in favour of him. He needed not their testimony, nor would encourage it, lest any should infer that he acted in concert with them. Luke says, When the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him — It is remarkable, that in all the cures of this sort which our Lord performed, the person to be cured was seized with the disorder in its violence at the time of the cure, and raised from the stupor of the fit to perfect health in an instant. The reason was, that thus the reality and greatness both of the disorder and the cure were fully proved, to the conviction of every beholder. And they were all amazed — At so miraculous a cure; insomuch that they questioned among themselves — Inquired of each other, and reasoned together, saying, What new doctrine is this? — Luke, ??? ? ????? ????? , what a word is this! How powerful is this man’s word, or command! for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits — An indubitable proof that his doctrine was attended with an extraordinary power: and immediately his fame — Raised by this signal miracle, spread abroad throughout all the region — And made way for his reception in the progress which he afterward took into every place of the neighbouring country. Mark 1:24 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. Mark 1:25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. Mark 1:26 And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. Mark 1:27 And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him. Mark 1:28 And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee. Mark 1:29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Mark 1:29-34 . They entered into the house of Simon — That is, of Peter. See the notes on Matthew 8:14-17 . And all the city was gathered together at the door — Namely, of the house in which Jesus was; some coming as humble petitioners for themselves or their friends, others as spectators of the surprising miracles which he wrought, and some probably to hear and be instructed by his discourses. O what a fair prospect was here! Who could then have imagined that all these blossoms would die away without fruit? And he healed many — Luke says, Luke 4:40 , He laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. The sight of so many of the humankind in distress, moved him; and he took pity on them, and cured them all. And he suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him — Luke, knew that he was the Christ — That is, according to the hypothesis of those who consider the Scriptural demoniacs as being only diseased persons, he suffered not the diseases to speak, because they knew him! The fact seems to have been this, the demons, in addressing Jesus, honoured him with the title of the Messiah. This, his enemies said, they never would have done, had he not been in compact with them. Therefore, our Lord would not have their testimony, because it was a real and intended defamation of him; and because he foresaw that it would be made a bad use of by men of evil minds. Mark 1:30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. Mark 1:31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. Mark 1:32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. Mark 1:33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. Mark 1:34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. Mark 1:35-39 . And in the morning, a great while before day — ??????? ???? , When the night was very far advanced, or, when it was yet deep night, he went out, &c. — Thus diligently did the Son of God labour for us! After the preceding day had been spent in preaching, and the evening in working miracles, Jesus allowed himself but a very short repose. And departed into a solitary place — Withdrawing not only from the multitude, but even from his disciples; for the company of the best friends is not always seasonable nor acceptable. There are times and cases when a true Christian would not be willing that his dearest friends should be witnesses of what passes between God and his soul. By retiring thus early in the morning for prayer, our Lord teaches that the morning is a fit season, yea, the best season, for private duties. Then our spirits are most fresh, and our minds most free, before the cares and distractions of the day have broken in upon us. It is better to go from prayer to business, than from business to prayer. But not only early in the morning, but at other convenient times, we find our Lord retiring to pour out his soul in prayer to his heavenly Father, hereby showing all his followers the great importance of cultivating communion with God in private: and those who are employed in his public service should especially attend to this, lest, while they keep the vineyard of others, their own should be neglected and empoverished. And Simon, &c., followed after him — When the day was somewhat advanced, and crowds of people came to inquire after him, Peter, and they that were with him — That is, those who have been already mentioned as his partners and companions, guessing where he was, went out and followed after him; and said, All men seek for thee — They were glad that their Master was become so popular already, and wished him to appear in public yet more in that place, because it was their own city, and men are apt to be partial to the places with which they are particularly acquainted, and in which they feel themselves peculiarly interested. And he said, Let us go into the next towns — The villages in the neighbourhood; that I may preach there also — And work miracles there; for therefore came I forth — Not to be constantly resident in one place, but to go about doing good. It being Christ’s design to propagate the gospel everywhere, he would not confine his ministry to any particular place, no, not to the great city of Capernaum; but resolves to preach the word in the smallest towns and villages. Herein he set ministers an instructive example, showing them that they must be as willing to preach the gospel in the smallest villages as in the largest cities, when God calls them thereunto. Let the place be never so obscure and mean, and the congregation never so small and poor, the greatest must not think it beneath them to go and instruct them, though but a handful of people. And he preached throughout all Galilee — Not drawn from his purpose by the persuasions, however importunate, of his friends. And cast out devils — Working also divers miracles to illustrate and confirm his doctrine. See on Matthew 4:23 . Mark 1:36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. Mark 1:37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. Mark 1:38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. Mark 1:39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. Mark 1:40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Mark 1:40-44 . And there came a leper, &c. — Concerning the miracle recorded in these verses, see the notes on Matthew 8:2-4 . Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. Mark 1:42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. Mark 1:43 And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; Mark 1:44 And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. Mark 1:45 But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. Mark 1:45 . But he went out, and began to publish it much, &c. — But the man, instead of concealing the cure, was so overjoyed at the suddenness and greatness of the blessing, and of the divine mercy manifested toward him in so miraculous a deliverance, that he could not forbear publishing it everywhere; insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city — Namely, of Capernaum: to prevent which inconvenience, as well as for the other reasons mentioned in the note on Matthew 8:4 , our Lord had enjoined him silence: but was without, in desert places — Was obliged to retire into a neighbouring wilderness, to refresh his body with rest, and his spirit with meditation and prayer. And they came to him from every quarter — Even into the wilderness, remote as it was from the habitations of many of them. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1:1-6 ( Mark 1:1-6 ) THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL. "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight; John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey." Mark 1:1-6 (R.V.) THE opening of St. Mark's Gospel is energetic and full of character. St. Matthew traces for Jews the pedigree of their Messiah; St. Luke's worldwide sympathies linger with the maiden who bore Jesus, and the village of His boyhood; and St. John's theology proclaims the Divine origin of the Eternal Lord. But St. Mark trusts the public acts of the Mighty Worker to do for the reader what they did for those who first "beheld His glory." How He came to earth can safely be left untold: what He was will appear by what He wrought. It is enough to record, with matchless vividness, the toils, the energy, the love and wrath, the defeat and triumph of the brief career of "the Son of God." In so deciding, he followed the example of the Apostolic teaching. The first vacant place among the Twelve was filled by an eye-witness, competent to tell what Jesus did "from the baptism of John to the day when he was received up," the very space covered by this Gospel. That "Gospel of peace," which Cornelius heard from St. Peter (and hearing, received the Holy Ghost) was the same story of Jesus "after the baptism which John preached." And this is throughout the substance of the primitive teaching. The Apostles act as men who believe that everything necessary to salvation is (implicit or explicit) in the history of those few crowded years. Therefore this is "the gospel." Men there are who judge otherwise, and whose gospel is not the story of salvation wrought, but the plan of salvation applied, how the Atonement avails for us, how men are converted, and what privileges they then receive. But in truth men are not converted by preaching conversion, any more than citizens are made loyal by demanding loyalty. Show men their prince, and convince them that he is gracious and truly royal, and they will die for him. Show them the Prince of Life, and He, being lifted up, will draw all men unto Him; and thus the truest gospel is that which declares Christ and Him crucified. As all science springs from the phenomena of the external world, so do theology and religion spring from the life of Him who was too adorable to be mortal, and too loving to be disobeyed. Therefore St. Paul declares that the gospel which he preached to the Corinthians and by which they were saved, was, that Christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again, and was seen of sufficient witnesses ( 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 ). And therefore St. Mark is contented with a very brief record of those wondrous years; a few facts, chosen with a keen sense of the intense energy and burning force which they reveal, are what he is inspired to call the gospel. He presently uses the word in a somewhat larger sense, telling how Jesus Himself, before the story of His life could possibly be unfolded, preached as "the gospel of God" that "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand," and added (what St. Mark only has preserved for us), "Repent, and believe in the gospel" ( Mark 1:14-15 ). So too it is part of St. Paul's "gospel" that God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ" ( Romans 2:16 ). For this also is good news of God, "the gospel of the kingdom." And like "the gospel of Jesus Christ," it treats of His attitude toward us, more than ours toward Him, which latter is the result rather than the substance of it. That He rules, and not the devil; that we shall answer at last to Him and to none lower; that Satan lied when he claimed to possess all the kingdoms of the earth, and to dispose of them; that Christ has now received from far different hands "all power on earth"; this is a gospel which the world has not yet learned to welcome, nor the Church fully to proclaim. Now the scriptural use of this term is quite as important to religious emotion as to accuracy of thought. All true emotions hide their fountain too deep for self-consciousness to find. We feel best when our feeling is forgotten. Not while we think about finding peace, but while we approach God as a Father, and are anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make known our requests, is it promised that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall guard our hearts and our thoughts ( Php 4:7 ). And many a soul of the righteous, whom faith in the true gospel fills with trembling adoration, is made sad by the inflexible demand for certain realized personal experiences as the title to recognition as a Christian. That great title belonged at the first to all who would learn of Jesus: the disciples were called Christians. To acquaint ourselves with Him, that is to be at peace. Meantime, we observe that the new movement which now begins is not, like Judaism, a law which brings death; nor like Buddhism, a path in which one must walk as best he may: it differs from all other systems in being essentially the announcement of good tidings from above. Yet "the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ" is a profound agitation and widespread alarm. Lest the soothing words of Jesus should blend like music with the slumber of sinners at ease in Zion, John came preaching repentance, and what is more, a baptism of repentance; not such a lustration as was most familiar to the Mosaic law, administered by the worshipper to himself, but an ablution at other hands, a confession that one is not only soiled, but soiled beyond all cleansing of his own. Formal Judaism was one long struggle for self-purification. The dawn of a new system is visible in the movement of all Judea towards one who bids them throw every such hope away, and come to him for the baptism of repentance, and expect a Greater One, who shall baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And the true function of the predicted herald, the best leveling of the rugged ways of humanity for the Promised One to traverse, was in this universal diffusion of the sense of sin. For Christ was not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In truth, the movement of the Baptist, with its double aspect, gathers up all the teaching of the past. He produced conviction, and he promised help. One lesson of all sacred history is universal failure. The innocence of Eden cannot last. The law with its promise of life to the man who doeth these things, issued practically in the knowledge of sin; it entered that sin might abound; it made a formal confession of universal sin, year by year, continually. And therefore its fitting close was a baptism of repentance universally accepted. Alas, not universally. For while we read of all the nation swayed by one impulse, and rushing to the stern teacher who had no share in its pleasures or its luxuries, whose life was separated from its concerns, and whose food was the simplest that could sustain existence, yet we know that when they heard how deep his censures pierced, and how unsparingly he scourged their best loved sins, the loudest professors of religion rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of Him. Nevertheless, by coming to Him, they also had pleaded guilty. Something they needed; they were sore at heart, and would have welcomed any soothing balm, although they refused the surgeon's knife. The law did more than convict men; it inspired hope. The promise of a Redeemer shone like a rainbow across the dark story of the past. He was the end of all the types, at once the Victim and the Priest. To Him gave all the prophets witness, and the Baptist brought all past attainment to its full height, and was "more than a prophet" when he announced the actual presence of the Christ, when he pointed out to the first two Apostles, the Lamb of God. Mark 1:7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. CHAPTER 1:7-11 ( Mark 1:7-11 ) AT THE JORDAN "And he preached, saying, There cometh after me He that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I baptized you with water; but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in the Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon Him: and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art My Beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased." Mark 1:7-11 (R.V.) IT was when all men mused in their hearts whether John was the Christ or no, that he announced the coming of a Stronger One. By thus promptly silencing a whisper, so honorable to himself, he showed how strong he really was, and how unselfish "a friend of the Bridegroom." Nor was this the vague humility of phrase which is content to be lowly in general, so long as no specified individual stands higher. His word is definite, and accepts much for himself. "The Stronger One than I cometh," and it is in presence of the might of Jesus (whom yet this fiery reformer called a Lamb), that he feels himself unworthy to bend to the dust and unbind the latchets or laces of His shoe. So then, though asceticism be sometimes good, it is consciously not the highest nor the most effective goodness. Perhaps it is the most impressive. Without a miracle, the preaching of John shook the nation as widely as that of Jesus melted it, and prepared men's hearts for His. A king consulted and feared him. And when the Pharisees were at open feud with Jesus, they feared to be stoned if they should pronounce John's baptism to be of men. Yet is there weakness lurking even in the very quality which gives asceticism its power. That stern seclusion from an evil world, that peremptory denial of its charms, why are they so impressive? Because they set an example to those who are hard beset, of the one way of escape, the cutting off of the hand and foot, the plucking out of the eye. And our Lord enjoins such mutilation of the life upon those whom its gifts betray. Yet is it as the halt and maimed that such men enter into life. The ascetic is a man who needs to sternly repress and deny his impulses, who is conscious of traitors within his breast that may revolt if the enemy be suffered to approach too near. It is harder to be a holy friend of publicans and sinners, a witness for God while eating and drinking with these, than to remain in the desert undefiled. It is greater to convert a sinful woman in familiar converse by the well, than to shake trembling multitudes by threats of the fire for the chaff and the axe for the barren tree. And John confesses this. In the supreme moment of his life, he added his own confession to that of all his nation. This rugged ascetic had need to be baptized of Him who came eating and drinking. Nay, he taught that all his work was but superficial, a baptism with water to reach the surface of men's life, to check, at the most, exaction and violence and neglect of the wants of others, while the Greater One should baptize with the Holy Ghost, should pierce the depths of human nature, and thoroughly purge His floor. Nothing could refute more clearly than our three narratives, the skeptical notion that Jesus yielded for awhile to the dominating influence of the Baptist. Only from the Gospels can we at all connect the two. And what we read here is, that before Jesus came, John expected his Superior; that when they met, John declared his own need to be baptized of Him, that he, nevertheless, submitted to the will of Jesus, and thereupon heard a voice from the heavens which must forever have destroyed all notion of equality; that afterwards he only saw Jesus at a distance, and made a confession which transferred two of his disciples to our Lord. The criticism which transforms our Lord's part in these events to that of a pupil is far more willful than would be tolerated in dealing with any other record. And it too palpably springs from the need to find some human inspiration for the Word of God, some candle from which the Sun of Righteousness took fire, if one would escape the confession that He is not of this world. But here we meet a deeper question: Not why Jesus accepted baptism from an inferior, but why, being sinless, He sought for a baptism of repentance. How is this act consistent with absolute and stainless purity? Now it sometimes lightens a difficulty to find that it is not occasional nor accidental, but wrought deep into the plan of a consistent work. And the Gospels are consistent in representing the innocence of Jesus as refusing immunity from the consequences of guilt. He was circumcised, and His mother then paid the offering commanded by the law, although both these actions spoke of defilement. In submitting to the likeness of sinful flesh He submitted to its conditions. He was present at feasts in which national confessions led up to sacrifice, and the sacrificial blood was sprinkled to make atonement for the children of Israel, because of all their sins. When He tasted death itself, which passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, He carried out to the utmost the same stern rule to which at His baptism He consciously submitted. Nor will any theory of His atonement suffice, which is content with believing that His humiliations and sufferings, though inevitable, were only collateral results of contact with our fallen race. Baptism was avoidable, and that without any compromise of His influence, since the Pharisees refused it with impunity, and John would fain have exempted Him. Here at least He was not "entangled in the machinery," but deliberately turned the wheels upon Himself. And this is the more impressive because, in another aspect of affairs, He claimed to be out of the reach of ceremonial defilement, and touched without reluctance disease, leprosy and the dead. Humiliating and penal consequences of sin, to these He bowed His head. Yet to a confession of personal taint, never. And all the accounts agree that He never was less conscience-stricken than when He shared the baptism of repentance. St. Matthew implies, what St. Luke plainly declares, that He did not come to baptism along with the crowds of penitents, but separately. And at the point where all others made confession, in the hour when even the Baptist, although filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, had need to be baptized, He only felt the propriety, the fitness of fulfilling all righteousness. That mighty task was not even a yoke to Him, it was an instinct like that of beauty to an artist, it was what became Him. St. Mark omits even this evidence of sinlessness. His energetic method is like that of a great commander, who seizes at all costs the vital point upon the battle field. He constantly omits what is subordinate (although very conscious of the power of graphic details), when by so doing he can force the central thought upon the mind. Here he concentrates our attention upon the witness from above, upon the rending asunder of the heavens which unfold all their heights over a bended head, upon the visible descent of the Holy Spirit in His fullness, upon the voice from the heavens which pealed through the souls of these two peerless worshippers, and proclaimed that He who had gone down to the baptismal flood was no sinner to be forgiven, but the beloved Son of God, in whom He is well pleased. That is our Evangelist's answer to all misunderstanding of the rite, and it is enough. How do men think of heaven? Perhaps only as a remote point in space, where flames a material and solid structure into which it is the highest bliss to enter. A place there must be to which the Body of our Lord ascended and whither He shall yet lead home His followers in spiritual bodies to be with Him where He is. If, however, only this be heaven, we should hold that in the revolutions of the solar system it hung just then vertically above the Jordan, a few fathoms or miles aloft. But we also believe in a spiritual city, in which the pillars are living saints, an all-embracing blessedness and rapture and depth of revelation, where into holy mortals in their highest moments have been "caught up," a heaven whose angels ascend and descend upon the Son of man. In this hour of highest consecration, these heavens were thrown open -- rent asunder-- for the gaze of our Lord and of the Baptist. They were opened again when the first martyr died. And we read that what eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor heart conceived of the preparation of God for them that love Him, He hath already revealed to them by His Spirit. To others there is only cloud or "the infinite azure," as to the crowd by the Jordan and the murderers of Stephen. Now it is to be observed that we never read of Jesus being caught up into heaven for a space, like St. Paul or St. John. What we read is, that while on earth the Son of man is in Heaven ( John 3:13 ), [1] for heaven is the manifestation of God, whose truest glory was revealed in the grace and truth of Jesus. Along with this revelation, the Holy Spirit was manifested wondrously. His appearance, indeed, is quite unlike what it was to others. At Pentecost He became visible, but since each disciple received only a portion, "according to his several ability," his fitting symbol was "tongues parting asunder like as of fire." He came as an element powerful and pervasive, not as a Personality bestowed in all His vital force on any one. So, too, the phrase which John used, when predicting that Jesus should baptize with the Holy Ghost, slightly though it differs from what is here, implies [2] that only a portion is to be given, not the fullness. And the angel who foretold to Zacharias that John himself should be filled with the Holy Ghost, conveyed the same limitation in his words. John received all that he was able to receive: he was filled. But how should mortal capacity exhaust the fullness of Deity? And Who is this, upon Whom, while John is but an awestricken beholder, the Spirit of God descends in all completeness, a living organic unity, like a dove? Only the Infinite is capable of receiving such a gift, and this is He in Whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. No wonder then that "in bodily form" as a dove, the Spirit of God descended upon Him alone. Henceforward He became the great Dispenser, and "the Spirit emanated from Him as perfume from the rose when it has opened." At the same time was heard a Voice from heaven. And the bearing of this passage upon the Trinity becomes clear, when we combine the manifestation of the Spirit in living Personality, and the Divine Voice, not from the Dove but from the heavens, with the announcement that Jesus is not merely beloved and well-pleasing, but a Son, and in this high sense the only Son, since the words are literally "Thou art the Son of Me, the beloved." And yet He is to bring many sons unto glory. Is it consistent with due reverence to believe that this voice conveyed a message to our Lord Himself? Even so liberal a critic as Neander has denied this. But if we grasp the meaning of what we believe, that He upon taking flesh "emptied Himself," that He increased in wisdom during His youth, and that there was a day and hour which to the end of life He knew not, we need not suppose that His infancy was so unchildlike as the realization of His mysterious and awful Personality would make it. There must then have been a period when His perfect human development rose up into what Renan calls (more accurately than he knows) identification of Himself with the object of His devotion, carried to the utmost limit. Nor is this period quite undiscoverable, for when it arrived it would seem highly unnatural to postpone His public ministry further. Now this reasonable inference is entirely supported by the narrative. St. Matthew indeed regards the event from the Baptist's point of vision. But St. Mark and St. Luke are agreed that to Jesus Himself it was also said, "Thou are My beloved Son." Now this is not the way to teach us that the testimony came only to John. And how solemn a thought is this, that the full certitude of His destiny expanded before the eyes of Jesus, just when He lifted them from those baptismal waters in which He stooped so low. [1] (Cf. The admiral note in Archdeacon Watkins' "Commentary on John") [2] By the absence of the article in the Greek. Mark 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. CHAPTER 1:12, 13 ( Mark 1:12-13 ) THE TEMPTATION "And straightway the Spirit driveth Him forth into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and He was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto Him." Mark 1:12-13 (R.V.) ST. Mark has not recorded the details of our Lord's temptations, and lays more stress upon the duration of the struggle, than the nature of the last and crowning assaults. But he is careful, like the others, to connect it closely with the baptism of Jesus, and the miraculous testimony then borne to Him. It is indeed instructive that He should have suffered this affront, immediately upon being recognized as the Messiah. But the explanation will not be found in the notion, which Milton has popularized, that only now Satan was assured of the urgent necessity for attacking Him: "That heard the adversary . . . and with the voice Divine Nigh thunderstruck, the exalted Man, to whom Such high attest was given, awhile surveyed With wonder." As if Satan forgot the marvels of the sacred infancy. As if the spirits who attack all could have failed to identify, after thirty years of defeat, the Greater One whom the Baptist had everywhere proclaimed. No. But Satan admirably chose the time for a supreme effort. High places are dizzy, and especially when one has just attained them; and therefore it was when the voice of the herald and the Voice from the heavens were blended in acclaim, that the Evil One tried all his arts. He had formerly plunged Elijah into despair and a desire to die, immediately after fire from heaven responded to the prophet's prayer. Soon after this, he would degrade Peter to be his mouthpiece, just when his noblest testimony was borne, and the highest approval of his Lord was won. In the flush of their triumphs he found his best opportunity; but Jesus remained unflushed, and met the first recorded temptation, in the full consciousness of Messiahship, by quoting the words which spoke to every man alike, and as man. It is a lesson which the weakest needs to learn, for little victories can intoxicate little men. It is easy then to see why the recorded temptations insist upon the exceptional dignity of Christ, and urge Him to seize its advantages, while He insists on bearing the common burden, and proves Himself greatest by becoming least of all. The sharp contrast between His circumstances and His rank drove the temptations deep into His consciousness, and wounded His sensibilities, though they failed to shake His will. How unnatural that the Son of God should lack and suffer hunger, how right that He should challenge recognition, how needful (though now His sacred Personality is cunningly allowed to fall somewhat into the background) that He should obtain armies and splendor. This explains the possibility of temptation in a sinless nature, which indeed can only be denied by assuming that sin is part of the original creation. Not because we are sinful, but because we are flesh and blood (of which He became partaker), when we feel the pains of hunger we are attracted by food, at whatever price it is offered. In truth, no man is allured by sin, but only by the bait and bribe of sin, except perhaps in the last stages of spiritual decomposition. Now, just as the bait allures, and not the jaws of the trap, so the power of a temptation is not its wickedness, not the guilty service, but the proffered recompense; and this appeals to the most upright man, equally with the most corrupt. Thus the stress of a temptation is to be measured by our gravitation, not towards the sin, but towards the pleasure or advantage which is entangled with that. And this may be realized even more powerfully by a man of keen feeling and vivid imagination who does not falter, than by a grosser nature which succumbs. Now Jesus was a perfect man. To His exquisite sensibilities, which had neither inherited nor contracted any blemish, the pain of hunger at the opening of His ministry, and the horror of the cross at its close, were not less intense, but sharper than to ours. And this pain and horror measured the temptation to evade them. The issue never hung in the scales; even to hesitate would have been to forfeit the delicate bloom of absolute sinlessness; but, none the less, the decision was costly, the temptation poignant. St. Mark has given us no details; but there is immense and compressed power in the assertion, only his, that the temptation lasted all through the forty days. We know the power of an unremitting pressure, an incessant importunity, a haunting thought. A very trifling annoyance, long protracted, drives men to strange remedies. And the remorseless urgency of Satan may be measured by what St. Matthew tells us, that only after the forty days Jesus became aware of the pains of hunger. Perhaps the assertion that He was with the wild beasts may throw some ray of light upon the nature of the temptation. There is no intimation of bodily peril. On the other hand it seems incredible that what is hinted is His own consciousness of the supernatural dignity from which "The fiery serpent fled, and noxious worm; The lion and fierce tiger glared aloof." Such a consciousness would have relieved the strain of which their presence is evidently a part. Nay, but the oppressive solitude, the waste region so unlike His blooming Nazareth, and the ferocity of the brute creation, all would conspire to suggest those dread misgivings and questionings which are provoked by "the something that infects the world." Surely we may believe that He Who was tempted at all points like as we are, felt now the deadly chill which falls upon the soul from the shadow of our ruined earth. In our nature He bore the assault and overcame. And then His human nature condescended to accept help, such as ours receives, from the ministering spirits which are sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs of salvation. So perfectly was He made like unto His brethren. Mark 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, CHAPTER 1:14-20 ( Mark 1:14-20 ) THE EARLY PREACHING AND THE FIRST DISCIPLES "Now after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel. And passing along by the sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they left the nets, and followed Him. And going on a little further, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending the nets. And straightway He called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him." Mark 1:14-20 (R.V.) ST. Mark has shown us the Baptist proclaiming Christ. He now tells us that when John was imprisoned, Jesus, turning from that Judean ministry which stirred the jealousy of John's disciples ( John 3:26 ), "came into Galilee, preaching." And one looks twice before observing that His teaching is a distinct advance upon the herald's. Men are still to repent; for however slightly modern preachers may heal the hurt of souls, real contrition is here taken over into the gospel scheme. But the time which was hitherto said to be at hand is now fulfilled. And they are not only to believe the gospel, but to "believe in it." Reliance, the effort of the soul by which it ceases equally to be self-confident and to despair, confiding itself to some word which is a gospel, or some being who has salvation to bestow, that is belief in its object. And it is highly important to observe that faith is thus made prominent so early in our Lord's teaching. The vitalizing power of faith was no discovery of St. Paul; it was not evolved by devout meditation after Jesus had passed from view, nor introduced into His system when opposition forced Him to bind men to Him in a stronger allegiance. The power of faith is implied in His earliest preaching, and it is connected with His earliest miracles. But no such phrase as the power of faith is ever used. Faith is precious only as it leans on what is trustworthy. And it is produced, not by thinking of faith itself, but of its proper object. Therefore Christ did not come preaching faith, but preaching the gospel of God, and bidding men believe in that. Shall we not follow His example? It is morally certain that Abraham never heard of salvation by faith, yet he was justified by faith when he believed in Him Who justifieth the ungodly. To preach Him, and His gospel, is the way to lead men to be saved by faith. Few things are more instructive to consider than the slow, deliberate, yet firm steps by which Christ advanced to the revelation of God in flesh. Thirty years of silence, forty days of seclusion after heaven had proclaimed Him, leisurely intercourse with Andrew and John, Peter and Nathanael, and then a brief ministry in a subject nation, and chiefly in a despised province. It is not the action of a fanatic. It exactly fulfills His own description of the kingdom which He proclaimed, which was to exhibit first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. And it is a lesson to all time, that the boldest expectations possible to faith do not justify feverish haste and excited longings for immediate prominence or immediate success. The husbandman who has long patience with the seed is not therefore hopeless of the harvest. Passing by the sea of Galilee, Jesus finds two fishermen at their toil, and bids them follow Him. Both are men of decided and earnest character; one is to become the spokesman and leader of the Apostolic band, and the little which is recorded of the other indicates the same temperament, somewhat less developed. Our Lord now calls upon them to take a decided step. But here again we find traces of the same deliberate progression, the same absence of haste, as in His early preaching. He does not, as unthinking readers fancy, come upon two utter strangers, fascinate and arrest them in a moment, and sweep their lives into the vortex of His own. Andrew had already heard the Baptist proclaim the Lamb of God, had followed Jesus home, and had introduced his brother, to whom Jesus then gave the new name Cephas. Their faith had since been confirmed by miracles. The demands of our Lord may be trying, but they are never unreasonable, and the faith He claims is not a blind credulity. Nor does He, even now, finally and entirely call them away from their occupation. Some time is still to elapse, and a sign, especially impressive to fishermen, the miraculous draught of fishes, is to burn into their minds a profound sense of their unworthiness, before the vocation now promised shall arrive. Then He will say, From henceforth ye shall catch men: now He says, I will prepare you for that future, I will make you to become fishers of men. So ungrounded is the suspicion of any confusion between the stories of the three steps by which they rose to their Apostleship. A little further on, He finds the two sons of Zebedee, and calls them also. John had almost certainly been the companion of Andrew when he followed Jesus home, and his brother had become the sharer of his hopes. And if there were any hesitation, the example of their comrades helped them to decide-- so soon, so inevitably does each disciple begin to be a fisher of othe