807
December 1927
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
Heart of the Lesson—K.L.B. Devotional—David L. Cooper Little Folk—Mabel M. Hope
International Lesson Commentary
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ance was in harmony with the truths he preached. There was nothing suggestive of earthly glory, but everything em phasized crucifying of the flesh and a kingdom of lowliness (vs. 5-6). All at tention was directed to the One to come, Who should not only save from sin but “baptise with the Holy Ghost” (v. 8). As the evidence of His consecration by the Spirit, our Lord Himself was “baptised of John in Jordan" (v. 9). As He was lifted up out of the water, “the heavens opened and the Spirit like a dove descended upon him” (v. 10). At the same time, the Father’s voice was heard to say: “This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well J>leased” (v. 11). At His birth, our Lord was filled and actuated by the Spirit, so far as His tal ents and disposition were concerned— thus implying His perfect sinlessness. But at His baptism, He received the full consciousness of His mission as the God- man and Savior. From the moment of the Spirit’s open descent upon Him, He began as the ORGAN of the Spirit. At His birth, His person was owned; and at His baptism, His mission was owned, by the Holy Spirit. Immediately followed the wilderness testing into which Jesus was "led by the Spirit” (v. 12). With heaven’s attesta tion of His Sonship in His ears, Satan rages and the Spirit urges Him forward to .the conflict. The Second Adam must triumph where the first Adam fell. “If the devil could have escaped that day,” says Dr, Morgan, “he would have done so. It is a very popular fallacy that the enemy drove Christ into a corner, but the whole story shows that the facts were otherwise. God’s perfect man com pelled the adversary to stand out clear from all secondary causes and enter into direct combat. This is not the devil’s method.” Could He have sinned? Does tempta tion necessarily imply the expectation of failure? Who most feels the force of temptation—-one who falls into sin? No— one who resists to the end 1 The Victor can best help the vanquished. The sin less Christ, with all hell’s forces arrayed against Him, certainly felt the full force of temptation. He'proved Himself a Victor. He teaches us the way of vic tory. He wielded “the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.” —o— P ith and P oint There are many echoes in the world, but few “voices” (v. 3). It can’t be said of John, as was said of a modern preacher: “He spent six days asking himself what to preach about and on Sunday people went home asking themselves what he did preach about” (v. 3). Luther’s happiest moment was when, in reading his Greek Testament, he found that “repentance” 'means, not “penance doing” but “a change of mind” (v. 4). The root of maimed conceptions of the
J anuary 1, 1928
John the Baptist and Jesus Text: Mk. 1:1-13
Jesus and His disciples, were all upon legal ground, having to do with an at tempt to induce the Jews to receive Jesus as a temporal King. It has been said that the age of grace did not begin until Pentecost or later and the relationships prior to that time should not be made the basis of Christian doctrine. Mark, however, informs us that “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” had its beginning with the announcement by John the Baptist, and the preaching of “repentance for the remission of sins." Luke 16:16 is a commentary on this state ment and should make it clear that the dispensation of law terminated upon the beginning of John’s ministry and the age of grace began (Jn. 1:17). This is a point essential to understand before studying any of the Gospels. The Church must not be robbed of the foun dation teachings of our Lord. We have read of a negro slave who had an infidel master. “Sam, you know all about the Bible,’’ said the master to his slave one day. “What does ‘predestination’ mean?” “Whar it say dat?” asked Sam. “In the book of Romans,” was the answer. “Ah ’splain dat whole business,” returned the negro. “Yo’ begin with Matthew and do all dat says. Then yo’ do all it says in Mark, Luke and John, and when yo’ gets to Romans, dat’s easy enough,—but yo’ cain’t begin dar!” The negro expressed a vital truth. Our gospel does not begin in Romans or Ephesians. Its foundations are Jn the Gospels; its superstructure begins in Acts and its upper stories come in the Epistles and Revelation. John came saying, “Get right with God.” “Prepare the way.” “Repent—the re mission of sins” is at hand. “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world” (Jn. 1 :29). John never re fers to Jesus as “King.” How different was his coming from that of the herald of a prince to set up a throne 1 It was the beginning of a dispensation in which He was to reign in the hearts of men, not in external pomp. The open advent of the Son of God was to be preceded by a cleansing from the defilement of sin. Under the law no one could appear before God until wash ed in the laver at the tabernacle entrance. John “did baptise” and call upon people to separate themselves from sin and ex pect “the remission of sins.” “Repent ance” is well summed up by Solomon in two words —“confess—forsake” (Prov. 28:13). Is not repentance as essential today as ever? John took the place of a humble mes senger for One for Whom he did not feel worthy to perform the most menial ser vice; (v. 7). His very personal appear
T H E lessons of the first six months of 1928 are devoted entirely to the study of the Gospel according to Mark, and a most profitable series of studies has been outlined. It has been in
ferred from 1 Pet. 5 :13, where Peter re fers to Mark as “Mar cus, my son,” that Mark was converted under Peter. Many believe that Mark
was the one who escaped arrest on the night of our Lord’s betrayal, by slipping out of his clothes when hands were laid upon him. The incident is recorded in Chap. 14:51-52. If this be true, it would indicate that Mark was early interested in Jesus. Mark laterbecomes known as the helper of Paul and Barnabas in their first journey. It will be recalled that Mark departed, causing Paul to be offended, the incident leading to a contention be tween Paul and Barnabas, the latter fin ally taking Mark as his helper and leav ing Paul. Later, however, we learn that Mark was restored to Paul’s confidence (2 Tim. 4:11; Col. 4:10). Papias, writing in A. D. 169, declares that Mark, as Peter’s friend, wrote down what he remembered of the story of Jesus as told him by Peter. Eusebius and Tertullian (A. D. 160-225) tell us that Mark was asked by hearers of Peter to write the story of our Lord, and that Peter sanctioned the idea. This Gospel has been called “the neg lected Gospel.” Many seem to have looked upon it merely as a boiled-down account of events recorded in the other Gospels. However, the Gospel of Mark is far more than this, for Mark supplies many details not found in the other writ ings, and its view of Christ as “the ser vant of man” is essential to a full vision of the Savior and His work—an evidence that Mark was •divinely guided in what he wrote. Vividness is the outstanding charac teristic of this Gospel. Mark thinks of Jesus as the Worker who never paused. Forty-one times, the original word trans lated “immediately, forthwith, straight way, anon" is used. The absence of Old Testament quotations (there being but two, 1:2-3 and 15:28,) makes it clear that Mark wrote especially for Gentiles who were unfamiliar with the Old Testament Scriptures. The opening verse of Mark decides for us an issue which, strange to say, has been raised in recent years. Where does the church age begin? Where does the age of law end? Some have said that the ministries of John the Baptist and of
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