Chapter 525 (continued)
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. MARK IX. Blind Man at Bethsaida Restored to Sight.
manufha may have been a village, but it cannot now be identified with certainty. 11. seeking of him a sign from licaven, tempting him—not in the least desiring evidence for their conviction, but hoping to entrap Him. l*he first part of the answer is given in Mattliew alone look into these things" will not prize such glimpses above gold? 17. have ye your heart yet hardened 1—How strong an expression to use of true-hearted disciples ! .See on ch. 6. 52. 18. Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear j-e not?—See on Matthew 13. 13—and do ye not remember? 19. Wlicn I brake the Ave loaves among—
!16. 2, 3): "He answered and said unto them. When it is evening, ve say. It will be fair weather; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day: for thesky is red and lowering"—'sullen' or 'gloomy.' "Hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern tlie signs of the times?" The same simplicity of purpose and careful observation of the symptoms of approaching events which they showed in common things would enable them to "discern the signs of the times" or ratlier "seasons," to which the prophets pointed for
' the'—tlve thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up; . . . How is it that ye do not understand I—'do not understand that tlie warning I gave you could not have been prompted by any such petty consideration as the want of loaves in your scrip.' Profuse as were our Lord's miracles, we see from this that they were not wrought at random, but that He carefully noted their minutest details, and desired that this should be done by those who witnessed, as doubtless by all who read the record of them. Even the different kind of baskets used at the two miraculous feedings, so carefully noted in the two narratives, are here also referred to; the one smaller, of which there were twelve, the other mucii larger, of which there were seven.
manifestation of the Messiah. The sceptre had departed from Judah ; Daniel's seventy weeks were expiring, &c. ; and many other significant Indications of the close of the old economy, and preparations for a freer and more comprehensive one, might have been discerned. But all was lost upon them. 13. And he sighed deeply In his spirit—Tlie language i very strong. Tliese glimpses into the interior of the Redeemer's heart, In which our Evangelist abounds, are more precious than rubies. The state of the Pliarisaic heart, which prompted this desire for a fresli sign, went to His very soul—and salth, Why doth this generation—"this wicked and adulterous generation" (Matthew 16. 4)—seek after a sign \—when fliey have had such abundant evidence already. There shall no sign he given nnto this generation lit., ' If tliere shall be given to this generation a sign ;' a Jewish way of expressing a solemn and pereniptorj' determination to tho contrary (cf. Hebrews 4. 5; Psalm 95. 11, Mar-
Blind Man at Bethsaida Restored to Sight (v. 22-26). 32. And he Cometh to Bethsaida—Bethsalda-Julias, on the north-east side of the lake, whence after this He proceeded to Csesarea Philippi {v. 27)—and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him—.See on ch. 7. 32. 33. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the towi—Of the deaf and dumb man it is merely said that "He took him aside''
(ch. 7. 33) ; but this blind man He led by the hand out of the town, doing it Himself rather than employing another great humility, exclaims Bengel— that He might gain his confidence and raise his expectation, and when he liad spit on his eyes—the organ affected—see on ch. 7.33—and put his hands upon liim, lie asked lilm if he saw aught. 34. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking — This is one of the cases In which one edition of what is called the received text differs fi-om another. That which Is decidedly the best supported, and has also internal evidence on its side gin). 'A generation incapable of appreciating such demonstrations shall not be gratified with them.' In Mattliew 16. 4 He added, " but toe sign of the prophet Jonas." See on Matt hew 12. 39, 40. 13. And he left them—no doubt with tolens of displeasure—and entering into the ship again, departed to the other side.
is this: 'I see men; fori see [them] as trees walking'—
TTie Leoven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (v. 14-21). 14. Now tile disciples had forgotten to take hread, neither had they in tlie slilp with them more than one loaf— This is another example of that graphic circumstantiality which gives such a cliarm to this briefest of the four Gospels. The circumstance of the " one loaf" only remaining, as Webster and Wilkinson remark, was more suggestive of their Master's recent miracles than the entire absence of provision.s. 15. And he charged them, saylug, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees —"and of tlie Sadducees" (Matthew 16. 6>—and of tlie li-aven of Herod—The teaching or "doctrine" (Matthew i. e., he could distinguish them from trees only by their motion; a minute mark of truth in the narrative, as AlFORD observes, describing how human objects had appeared to him during that gradual failing of sight which had ended in blindness. 35. After that he put his hands again upon Ills eyes, and made hini look up ; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly—Perhaps the one operation perfectly restored the eyes, while the other Imparted immediately the faculty of using them. It is the only recorded example of a progressive cure, and It certainly illustrates similar methods In the spiritual kingdom. Of the four recorded cases of sight restored, all the patients save one either came or were brought to the Physician. In the case of the man born blind, the Physician came to the patient. So some seek and find Christ ; of others He is found who seek Him not. 36. Neither go into the town, nor tell It to any In the town—Besides the usual reasons against going about "blazing the matter," retirement in this case would be salutary to him-
It) 12) of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees was quite dlt Terent, tint both were equally pernicious; and the Herodians, tliough ratlier a political party, were equally envencmed against our Lord's spiritual teaching. See on Matthew 12. 14. The penetrating and diffusive quality of leaven, lor good or bad, is the ground of the comparison. 16. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It
Is becansc we have no bread—But a little ago He was tried with the obduracy of the Pharisees; now He is tried with the olituseness of His own disciples. The nine questions following each other in rapid succession (v. 17-21) show liow deeply He was hurt at this want of spiritual apprehension, and worse still, tlieir low thoughts of Him, as If He would utter so solemn a warning on so petty a suhject. It will be seen, however, from the very form of their conjecture, "It is because we have no bread," and our Lord's astonishment tliat they should not by that self.
27-38. Peter's Noble Confession of Christ — OtrR Lord's First explicit Announcement of His Approaching Sufferings, Death, and Rssurrection —His Rebuke of Peter, and Warning to all the Twelve. (—Matthew 16. 13-27; Luke 9. 18-26.) For the exposition, see on Matthew 16. 13-28.
CHAPTER IX.
tl me have known better what He took up His attention with—that He ever left the whole care for His own temjmral tvants to the Twelve: that He did this so entirely, that finding they were reduced to their last loaf they felt as If unworthy of such a trust, and could not think but that the same thought was in their Lord's mind which was pressing upon their own; but that In this they were so far wrong that it hurt His feelings—sharp Just in proportion to His love—that such a thought of Him should liave entered their minds I Who that, like angels, "desire to
Ver. 1-13. Jesus is Transfigured — ConversatioIt about Elias. (=Matthew 16. 28-17. 13 ; Luke 9. 27-36.) See Luke 9. 27-36.
14-32. Healing of a Demoniac Boy—Second Explicit Announcement of His Approaching Death and Resurrection. (=Matthew 17. 14-23; Luke 9. 37-45.) Healing of the Demoniac Boy (t\ 14-29). 14. And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them—
7Jj
The Disciples Dispute wilh the Serines. MARK IX. A Dumb and Deaf Spirit Cast Forth.
This was "on the next day, when they were come down from the hill" (Luke 9. 37). The Transfiguration appears ability, it would be to change the whole nature of the rebuke to suppose it addressed to those who had no faith at all, and were ivholly perverted. It was because faith sufficient for curing this youth was to be expected of tlie disciples, and because they should by that time have got rid of the perversity in which they had been reared, that Jesus exposes them thus before the rest. And who does not see that this was fitted, more than anytliing else, to have taken place at night. In the morning, as He came down from the hill on which it took place—with
Peter, and James, and John—on approaching the other nine. He found them sun-ounded by a great multitude, and the scribes disputing or discussing with them. No doubt these cavillers -vvere twitting the apostles of Jesus with their inability to cure the demoniac boy of whom we are presently to hear, and insinuating doubts even of to impress upon the bystanders, the severe loftiness of the training He was giving to the Twelve, and tlie unsophisticated footing He was on with them? Bring hisu unto me—The order to bring the patient to Him was instantly obeyed; when, lo! as if conscious of the presenc! of his Divine Tormentor, and expecting to be made to tlieir Master's ability to do it; while they, zealous for their Master's honour, would no doubt refer to His past miracles in proof of the contrary. 15. And straightway oU tlie people—' the multitude'—wlien tUey belield liliii, were gi eatly amazed—or ' were astounded'—and nmnliag to Utm saluted Ulm—The singularly strong expresquit, the foul spirit rages and is furious, determined to die hard, doing all the mischief he can to this poor child while yet within his grasp. 20. And they brouglit him unto him : and when he saw liim, straiglitway the spirit tare him—Just as the man with the legion of demons, "when he saw Jesus, ran and worshipped Him" sion of surprise, the sudden arrest of the discussion, and the rush of the multitude towards Him, can be accounted for by nothing less than something amazing in His appcarance. There can hardly be any doubt that His coun-
(ch. 5. 6), so this demon, when he saw Him, immediately " tare him." The feeling of terror and rage was the same in both cases—and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming—Still Jesus does nothing, but keeps conversing with the father about the case—partly to have its desperate features told out by him who knew them best.
tenance still retained traces of His transfiguration-glory. (See Exodus Si. 29, 30.) So Bengel, De Wette, Meyeb, Tkexch, Alford. No wonder, if this was the case, that they not only ran to Him, but saluted Him. Our Lord, however, takes no notice of what had attracted them, and probably it gradually faded away as He drew near; but addressing Himself to the scribes. He demands the subject of their discussion, ready to meet them where they had pressed hard upon His half-instructed and as yet timid apostles. 16. And he asked the scribes, Wliat question ye with themT Ere they had time to reply, the father of the boy, whose case had occasioned the dis-
In the hearing of the spectators; partly to let its virulence have time to show itself; and partly to deepen the exercise of the father's soul, to draw out his faith, and thus to prepare both him and the bystanders for what He was to do. 31. And he asked his father. How long is it ago since this came unto !iim T And lie said, Of a child, &c.—Having told briefly the af Tecting features of the case, the poor father, half dispirited by the failure of the disciples and the aggravated virulence of the malady itself in presence of their Master, yet encouraged too by what he had heard of Christ, by the severe rebuke He had given to His disciples for not having faith enough to cure tjie boy, and by the dignity with which He had ordered him to be brought to Him—in this mixed state of mind, he closes his description of the case with these touching, words : but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us—"us," says the father; for it was a sore family affliction. Cf. th« language of tlie Syro-phoenician woman regarding her daughter, " Lord, help me." Still nothing is done: the man is but slrvggling into faith: it must come a step farther. But he had to do with Him who breaks not the bruised reed, and who knew how to inspire what He demanded. The niiin had said to Him, "If Thou canst do." 23. Jesus—retorting upon him—said unto him, If thou canst believe pute, himself steps forward and answers the question; telling a piteous tale of deafness, and dumbness, and tits of epilepsy—ending with this, that the disciples, though entreated, could not perform the cure. 17. And one of the multitude answered, and said. Master, I have brought auto thee my son—" mine only child" (Luke 9.
hath a dumb spirit—a spirit whose operation had the effect of rendering his victim speechless, and deaf also (v. 25). In Matthew's report of the speech (17. 15), the father says "he is lunatic;" this being another and most distressing eflfect of the possession. 18. And wheresoever he talceth him, he teareth him; and he foauieth, aud gnashetli with his teeth, and pineth away
' becomes withered,' 'dried up,' or 'paralyzed;' as the same word Is everywhere else rendered in the New Testjvment. Some additional particulars are given by Luke, and by our Evangelist below. "Lo," says he in Luke 9. 39, "a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out ; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and bruising him hardly (or with difficulty) departeth from him." aud I spake to thy disciples tliatthey should cast him out ; and they could not—Our Lord replies to the father by a severe rebuke to the disciples. As if wounded at the exposure before such a multitude, of the weakness of His rather,
Tlie man had said, "If Thou canst do anything." Jesns replies—all things are possible to l»lm that believetli 'My doing all depends on thy believing.' To impress this still more. He redoubles upon the believing: "If thou canst believe, all tilings are possible to him that believeth." Thus the Lord helps the birth of faith in that struggling soul; and now, though with pain and sore disciples' faith, which doubtless He felt as a reflection on Himself, He puts them to the blush before all, but in language fitted only to raise expectation of what Himself would do. 19. He answereth him, and saltli, O faithtravail, it comes to the birth, as Trench, borrowing from Olshausen, expresses it. Seeing the case stood still, waiting not upon the Lord's power but his own faiyi, tlie man becomes immediately conscious of conflicting prin-
' perverted' (Matthew
less generation-" and perverse," or
17. 17 ; Luke 9. 41)—how long shall I be with you J how loug shall Isnffer youl—language implying that it was a shame to them to want the faith necessary to perform' this cure, and that it needed some patience to put up witli them. It is to us surprising that some interpreters, as Chryhostom and Calvin, should represent this rebuke as addressed, not to the disciples at all, but to the scribes who disputed with them. Nor does it much, if at ciples, and rises into one of the noblest utterances on record. SJ4. And straightway tliie father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Liord, I believe: help thou mine unbelief—g'. d., ' 'Tis useless concealing from Thee, O Thou mysterious, mighty Healer, the unbelief that still struggles in this heart of mine; but tliat heart bears me witness that I do believe in Thee; and if distrust still remains, I disown it, I wrestle with it, I seek help from Thee against it.' Two things are very remarkable here: First, 7^he felt and owned presence of unbelief, which only the strength of the man's faith could' have so all, mend the matter to view it as addressed to both, as most expositors seem to do. With Bkngel, De Wette, and Meyer, we regard it as addressed directly to the nine apostles who were unable to expel this evil spirit. And though, in ascribing this Inability to their 'want of faitir and the 'perverted turn of mind' which they had drunk in with their early training, the rebuke would undouljtedly apply, with vastly greater force, to those who twitted the poor disciples with their Inreve.aled to his own consciousness. Second, His appeal to
Christ for help against his felt unbelief—a. feature in the ease quite unparalleled, and showing, more than all protestations could h,ave done, tlie insight he had uttained into the existence of a power in Clirist more glorious than any h«
Secniiii Announcemenl of ChrisCn Death. MARK IX. The Twelve Strive as to Who should bt Greatest.
had bfsnnxihl for his poor chUd. The work was done; and completely dashed by such announcements, that they were afraid of laying themselves open to rebuke by asking Him any questions. But "they were excee<ling sorry" (Matthew 17. 23). While the other Evange'isls, as Websteu and Wilkinson remark, notice their ignorance and their fear, St. Matthew, who was one ol them, retains a vivid recollection of their sorrow.
!is llie commotion and confusion in the crowd was now iiicrrasing, Jesus at once, as Lord of spirits, gives the word of command to tiie dumb and deaf spirit to be jii'iie, never a;^ain to" return to liis victim. 30. And tlie
tried, and rtiit iilui sore, and cnme ont of Ulm ; nitil itc Avas ns one (Scad; in»oinucli that many said, Fie
33-.50. Strife among the Twelve who SHOtTLD bb Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, with Relative TeachingIncidental Rebuke of John fob ExcLUSiVENESS. (= Matthew 18. 1-9; Luke 9. 40-50.)
Is dead—Tlie malit;nant, cruel spirit, now conscious tliat liis lime was come, gatliers up liis wliole strengtli, witli intent l).v a last strolve to Itill liis victim, and had nearly succeeded. But the Lord of life was there; the Healer of
Strife among t/ie Tivelve, with Relative Teacliiitg (v. 33-37). 33. What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way !—From this we gather that after the painful communication He had made to them, the Redeemer had allowed them to travel so much of the way by themselves; partly, no doubt, that He might have privacy for Himself to dwell on what lay before Him, and partly that they might be induced to weigh together and prepare themselves for the terrible events which He had announced to them. But if so, how different was their occupation ! 34. But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest—From Mattliew 18. I we should infer that the subject was introduced, not by our Lord, but by the disciples themselves, who came and asked Jesus who should be greatest. Perhaps one or two of them first referred the matter to Jesus, who put them off till they should all be assembled together at Capernaum, He had all the while "perceived the thought of their heart" (Luke 9. 47) ; but now that they were all together " in the house," He questions them about it, and they are put to the blush, conscious of the temper towards each other which it had kindled. This raised the whole question afresh, and at this point our Evangelist takes it up. The subject was suggested bj' the recent announcement of the Kingdom (Matthew 16. 19-28), the transfiguration of their Master, and especially tile preference given to three of them at that scene. 35. If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and ser-vant of all —i. e., all maladies, tlio Friend of sinners, the Seed of the woniun, "tlie Stronger tlian the strong man armed," was thcie. The very faith wliich Christ declared to be enoujili for everytliing being now found, it was not possible that the serpent sliould prevail. Fearfully is he perniitled to bruise the heel, as in this case; but his own
shall go for it—his works shall be destroyed (1 John a. 8' a7. Bta* .Testis took U8m by the Uand, and lifted
Iiliii «p; and lie arose. iiS. Wiiy could not we cast hiiu out 5 ao. And lie snid unto tUein, This Ictnd can tuine fortSi by notlttng but by prayer and fasting— i. e., as nearly all good interpreters are agreed, ' this kind of evil spirits cannot be expelled,' or 'so desperate a case of demoni.ical possession cannit be cured, liut by prayer and lasting.' But since the Lord Himself says that His disciples conld not fast wlijle He was with them, perhaps this was designed, as Alford hints, for their after guidance— unless we take it iis but a definite way of expressing the gen-ral truth, that great and difficult duties require special preparation and self-denial. But the answer to their question, as given by Matthew (17.) is more full
"An;l Jesus said unto them. Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you. If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and itshall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (v. 20). See on ch.ll. 23. " Howlieit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" (v. 21): i.e., though nothing is impossible to faith, yet such a height of faith as is requisite for such triumphs is not to be reached either in a moment or without eflort
' let him be' such : he must be prepared to take the last and lowest place. See on ch. 10. 42-)5. 3G. And he took a child— ' a little child' (Matthew IS. 2); but the word is the same in both places, as also in Luke 9. 47—and set him In the midst of tliem : and when he Iiad taken him In Iiig arms—This beautiful trait is mentioned by our Evangel-
—eilherwith God in prayer or with ourselves in self-denying exercises. Luke (9. 43) adds, "And they were all Mnia/.ed at the mighty power of God"—'at the majesty' or
' mightiness of God,' in this last miracle, in the Transflgunuion, Ac; or, at the Divine grandeur of Christ rising upon tliem daily.
ist alone—he said unto them—Here we must go to Matthew (18. 3, 4) for the first part of this answer: " Verilj' I say unto j'ou, except ye be converted, and become as litiSV'L'Oiid Explicit Announcemenl of His Approaching Death and liemrreclion (v. 30-32). 30. And tliey departed tlieiice, and passed—'were passing along' — tlirougW Galilee; and be would not tliat any man sliould know it—By comparing Matthew 17. 22, 23 and Luke 9. 43, -11 with this, we gather, that as our Lord's reason for going through Galilee more privately than usual on tlii occasion was tle children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven:" 7. d., 'Conversion must be thorough; not only must the heart be turned to God in general, aiui from earthly to heavenly things, but in particular, except ye be converted from that carnal ambition which still rankles within you, into that freedom from all such feelings which ye see in this child, ye have neither part nor to reiterate to them tlie announcement which had so sliocked them at the first mention of it, and thus familiarlot in the kingdom at all ; and he who in this feature has most of the child, is highest tliere.' Whosoever, thereii-.e them with it liy little and little, so this was His reason liir eiijoiningsilence upon tlieni as to their present movements. 31. For lie tauglit Uis disciples, and said unto (liem—"Let these sayings sink down into your ears" fore, shall " humble himself as this little child, the .sanle is greatest in tlie kingdom of heaven:" "for he that is (willing to be) least among you all, the same shall be great" (Luke 9. 48). And Whosoever shall receive one of suchchlhlren-so m.anifesting the spirit unconsciously displayed by this child—in my name—from love lo Me— recelveth me ) and wliosoever shall receive mo, reeelveth not me, but Him that sent me—See on Matthew
I Luke 9. -14) ; not what had been passing between thent as lo His grandeur, but what He was now to utter, "for"— Tin: Son of man Is delivered-The use of the present tense e.xpresses how near at hand He would have them to consider it. As BknokIj says, steps were ali'eady in course of 'being taken to liring it about—Into the Iiands of men—Tills remarkable antithesis, "tlie .Son of man
10. 40. Incidental Rebuke of John for Exclusiveness (v. 38-41). 38. And Jolin answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils lu thy name, and he followeth not slijill be (ielivered into the hands of men," it is worthy of notice, Is in all tlie three Evangelists-and tlicy shall kill bim—7. (/., ']!e not carried oil' your feet by all that mandeur of Mine which ye have lately witnessed, but bear in mind wliat I have already told you aiui now distinctly repeat, that that Sun in whose beams ye now relis t and we forbade him, iM'cause he followeth not us —The link of connection here with the foregoing context lies, we apprehend, in the emphatic wonls whicli our Lord had just uttered, " in My na Tne." 'Oh,' interi>oses JoVm—young, wjirm, but not su Hlclently apprehending Christ's teaching in these matters— ' that reminds me of something that we have just done, and we should like to know If we did right. Wc saw oue casting out devils "in ioice is soon to set in midnight gloom.' and after lie Is Rilled, lie sliall rise tbe third day. 3'i. Itut tbey understood not that saylug—"and it was hid from them, lso| lliat tliey perceived it not" (Luke H. 4.'))—and were afraid to ask him—Their most cherished Ideas were so