March 1929
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
125
Seed Thoughts From St. Mark B y R ev . W ilfred M. H opkins C hapter I
OTE—This is the Gospel o f Service. Here oùr Lord is typified by the young ox (cf. Rev. 4:7) and is displayed as the Servant of God (cf. "my servant’’ in Isa. 42:1; 52:13-15) and as the type of all God’s servants. Hence He is seldom called "Lord" in this Gospel; there is no genealogy and no record of His miraculous birth. 1—A BEGINNING—so the Greek; not the beginning—that was in the Garden of Eden when the LORD promised Eve her conquering seed. THE GOSPEL—i.e., the Good News (cf. the declaration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10, 11). This is the word from which we get our “evan gelize” and “evangelical.” Nothing is truly evangelical save the Good News of Jesus Christ as set forth in! the Go s p e l s . OF JESUS CHRIST—The necessary combina tion. “Jesus” without the “Christ” is no Gospel at all ; a mere man, however wise and good, cannot save men from their sins and the consequences t h e r e o f : “Christ” without the “Jesus'” is only half a Gospel, lacking intimacy. The com bination is indispensable—Jesus, the man; “bone of/ our bone,” sharing our joys and/sorrows etc.; Christ, the Anointed of God for the pur pose of our salvation. Even these two are not sufficient, hence there is added THE SON OF GOD— mark, the Son, not a Son ; Divine as well as human; not merely a son of God in the sense in which we are, or may, be, sons of God. The combination is now perfect; human, therefore sympathetic; Divine, therefore sufficient;- Anointed, therefore appointed for the express purpose. 2— AS IT IS WRITTEN—Note the early appeal to the Old Testament; St. Mark clearly believed in that part of the Bible which he possessed. IN THE PROPHETS—(cf. Mai. 3 :1 ; Isa. 40:3). I SEND MY ANGEL—an angel simply means a mes senger—this is the Gospel of Service—we can all be, and ought to be, angels, even in this life. PREPARE THY WAY—a veiled reference here to the conqueror; Eastern victors sent heralds before them to prepare the people for their coming. 3— THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING—Note, the message, not the messenger, is of importance. [John only ' claimed to be “a voice," cf. Jno. 1 :19-23.] IN THE WILDERNESS—the place of preparation, not of the voice. (The passage in Isaiah should be read: “The voice of one crying—‘In the wilderness prepare ye,’ etc., etc.”) In Isaiah thé way is to be prepared first of. all in the wilderness, the place of tangled life run wild, and then in the desert, the place of barren death : the Gospel was to be preached first to the Jew and then to the heathen. 4— JOHN CAME TO PASS, BAPTIZING—i.e., he was the fulfillment of the Divine word in Mai. 3:1, etc. HERALDING THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE—We are all to be heralds (i.e., preachers) of the Good News; no pulpit or human ordina tion, is essential for this work; it can be done anywhere and by
anybody. This was not the Christian Baptism, which is a con fession of faith in Christ, but only a public declaration of repentance. Vofe.rvRepentance in the New Testament simply means a change of mind and has no immediate connection with sorrow for sin; though that will follow in due course if the repentance be real. UNTO THE REMISSION ÔF SINS— i.e., the repentance, not the baptism; a change of mind is essen tial to the remission of. sins. [The word used for forgiveness is "aphesin,” lit. "to send away,” and the reference is to the scape goat (cf. Lev. 16:8, 20-22). Forgiven sins are sent away by God to be remembered or mentioned by Him no more for ’ever (cf. Heb. 10:17). 5—ALL THE LAND OF JU
DAEA, etc.,—Including all classes— Pharisees, soldiers, tax gatherers, etc- Apparently a great revival ; but where was the abiding fruit? Emotionalism and baptism are both vain without the action of the Holy Ghost. IN THE RIVER JORDAN —P a r 11y because much water would be needed for such crowds. It is, however, significant that the Jordan was typical of death to the old life and entrance into the new; both Abraham and thé Israelites had to cross it in order to enter Canaan. FULLY CONFESSING —This is a necessary and inevitable accompaniment of true repentance; the trouble in this case was that confession was not made- to 1God, but to man. •- 6—CAMEL’S HAIR—the of ficial dress of thé prophet (cf. Zech. 13:4; Heb. ’V‘a g à r mé n t
Through Mark with Mr. Hopkins During the year 1927 our readers were de lighted with the series of daily devotional messages by Rev. Wilfred M. Hopkins of Norwich, England. Mr. Hopkins is well known in England as the author o f several devotional books. In forthcoming issues of T he K ing .' s B usiness Mr. Hopkins will furnish a series of expository articles running through the neglected gospel—St. Mark. Many o f out- readers have asked for consecutive expo sition, and we believe these ' comments will be' most stimulating and helpful. W e sug gest that you keep your study Bible close by when reading them, and preserve in the mar gins o f your Bible, many of the striking thoughts which Mr. Hopkins b r i n g s out.
of hair,” and 2 Kings 2:13). A LEATHERN-GIRDLE—The Jews wore girdles only at work or on a‘ journey. Their .'girdles were often of great richness (cf. Ex. 28 :8, for the High Pfiëst, and Rev. 1:13). The Prophet, however, was a servant, and wore leather (cf. 2, Kings 1:8. Note that Elijah was a type of John the Baptist). We should aceept and display humility as *the messengers of Christ. LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY—at simple diet. Moderation and simplicity should characterize the- Lord’s, servants. ■ • . 7— THERE IS COMING ONE MIGHTIER THAN I—’ Not “cometh” ; He was actually approaching; the idea is of the- present, not the future, and refers to ohe already near at1hand. “Mightier” ; even JEHOVAH, “the mighty One of Israel” (hff Isa. 1:24). The whole scene, and every word, points to the fiii-- fillment of prophecy, NOT WORTHY . . . . TO UNLOOSE—' This was the work of a slave; yét Jesus-was only-' liis: ¿busim (and not even a Priest,- as he was) from a humanpoint of why then this sense of supreme inferiority ¡if Jesus was only/a mere carpenter’s,son? The idea is absolutely absurd. 8— 1 . . . . WITH WATER BUT HE . . . . W ITH THE HOLY GHOST—The one was à baptism to repentance,'the other1 the gift of spiritual life, which John:Could dot bestow. The two are not inevitably simultaneous, inUch less identical. They were not so in this case. [Note that St. Mark omits “and with fire” (cf.
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