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December 1929
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Seed Thoughts From St. Mark B y R ev . W ilfred M. H opkins CHAPTER IX. ( Concluded )
25— SEEING THE CROWD RUNNING TOGETHER— Christ invariably avoided the merely spectacular; if the crowd was coming solely to see the miracle, they should, as far as pos sible, see nothing. Spiritual discernment does not come from mere idle curiosity, and all attempts to produce spiritual results by stimulating such curiosity are bound to be more or less futile. They are not according to the mind of the Spirit, nor will He bless them. THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT—Which had possessed him “from a child.” The idea of the inherent and inevitable purity of childhood is an error; we were born in sin, ahd there is no telling what definite shape that sin may take, even in our earliest days. One cannot watch children, even with the kind liest eyes, without seeing this. THOU SPIRIT DEAF AND DUMB (i.e., causing deafness and dumbness)—Dumb because deaf: men are spiritually dumb, having no praise and no testi mony to offer, because they are deaf and have never heard the voice of Christ, for to hear is to speak. I COMMAND THEE TO COME OUT—The “I” is emphatic and authoritative. What would this have been but an inpertinence in the mouth of a mere man, and what chance would there have been of its effective ness? Such words could only be justified by results, and those only possible to a power higher than that of the demon. THOU SHALT NO MORE ENTER, etc.—This is not merely a state ment, but a command, again the utterance of a superior Author ity and power; the demon was not to be allowed to enter into his victim again. We must remember in this connection that the entry in childhood was probably without the child’s conscious consent: in cases where there is the willing entertainment of evil there is little or no hope of absolute divine prevention. 26— HAVING CRIED OUT AND CONVULSED HIM MUCH—Another instance of the Satanic spite and malice of the demons against those whom they are not allowed to destroy. HE CAME OUT—Here is the justification of the authoritative command; the demon may convulse, but he has perforce to obey the word of power; can this power be anything short of the divine? HE BECAME AS A CORPSE—So great was the paroxysm. So much does it cost men to part with their evil passions that life sometimes seems to be destroyed and nothing left worth living for. THE GREATER NUMBER SAID, HE IS DEAD—That is ever the popular verdict of the worldly crowd as regards those whom Christ has healed; and in a sense it should be true, for from thenceforth they should be dead to worldliness and sin (cf. Rom. 6:1-11; Col. 2:20). 27— LAID FIRM HOLD OF HIS HAND—The same com pelling and unyielding grasp as in the case of Jairus’ daughter (see note on chapter 5:41). RAISED HIM UP—The first meaning of the word used is to arouse or stir up, then to raise up. AND HE AROSE—Note the very significant dual action —the touch of Christ aroused, gave the impulse, and provided the strength; the rising up was the lad’s own act. We, too, can be raised by the touch of Christ from the death of the old existence to the new and higher form of life; but while He sup plies at once the impulse and the power, we must ourselves make the necessary moral and spiritual effort; what we can do for ourselves He will never do for us. One of the lessons of this miracle is that sin and the domination of the powers of evil are destructive not only of the moral, but often of the physical well-being of men; the epilepsy in this case (if it was epilepsy) was no doubt due to the demoniacal possession; we can never gauge or foretell the disastrous consequences of yielding to sin.
28— WHEN HE WAS COME INTO A HOUSE—What house we do not know; the Saviour seems to have been a very welcome Guest amongst those who knew Him; His presence is so little desired now because men do not know Him, and it is our business as His disciples to endeavor to make Him better known both by the testimony of the lip and also by that of the life. ASKED HIM PRIVATELY—One of the wisest things they ever did: when, like them, we are half ashamed and half piqued at our failures, if, instead of sulking in disappointed silence or rushing hither and thither seeking human advice and consolation, we would ask Him privately as to the cause of the want of success, how much better it would be for us and for our fellow men. WHY WERE WE NOT ABLE?—They felt that they ought to have been able, for had they not His commission to deal with demons? Do we, like the Nine, realize that we ought not to fail in our service as we do, since we also are sent forth with authority from Him? (Cf. John 20:21— spoken not merely to the Eleven, but to the whole body of the disciples—and Mark 16:17.) 29— THIS SPECIES [of demon] BY NOTHING CAN GO OUT, etc.—The expression is a very strong one. EXCEPT BY PRAYER—( “Fasting” is here undoubtedly a gloss added by some later copyist.) There are evidently different ranks of de mons (cf. Matt. 12:45), to the worst of which the one just ex pelled belonged; some are therefore harder to expel than" others and need special prayer for their exercising (it is noteworthy that our Lord had just come down from the mount whither He went to pray). The primary necessity is Faith (cf. Matt. 17: 19, 20). Prayer is needed, of course, in every case, but this called for special intercession. 30— 31—WAS NOT WILLING THAT ANY MAN SHOULD KNOW, FOR HE WAS TEACHING, etc.—He de sired to be alone with His disciples that He might the better teach them (cf. Matt. 5 :1, 2—this was a sermon, not to the crowd, but to the disciples only). He cannot so effectually teach amid the noise and excitement of the multitude; if we would fain learn much from our Lord we must seek to be much alone with Him. THE SON OF MAN IS DELIVERED UP, etc.—This teaching is practically a repetition of that in chapter 8:31 (which see), but there is more definite detail and the tense suggests events nearer at hand. He found it necessary in those days, as in these, to repeat His teaching, and we should be ready at all times willingly and patiently to do the same, 32— THEY UNDERSTOOD NOT—He had not yet opened their minds (cf. Luke 24:45), and the Holy Ghost had not yet been given; we shall never comprehend either His words or the things concerning Him without the divine enlightenment; they are not intellectually discerned, but are a divine revelation (cf. Luke 10:21). For that revelation we should daily and earnestly pray, for without it we can never hope to be effectual ambassadors for Christ. FEARED TO ASK HIM—There was evidently something awe-inspiring about Jesus of Nazareth, and we must remember that the three who were most intimate with Him, and the most likely to be willing to ask Him, had just seen His glory and had been “sore afraid.” 33— IN THE HOUSE—i.e., at Capernaum; probably the house in which He had previously dwelt (cf. Matt. 4:13) ; pos sibly His mother and brethren lived there. WHAT DID YE QUESTION AMONG YOURSELVES IN THE WAY?—He had evidently been walking before or after them by Himself
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