519
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
December 1932
COMMENTARY Children’s Division In Holy Places B y H elen G ailey B y H erbert H. T ay
LESSON Golden Text Illustrations B y A lan S. P earce
Outline and Exposition B y B. B. S utcliffe
Blackboard Outlines B y B essie B. B urch
erences to his work of preparation : MaJ- achi 3 speaks o f the preparation for thé Lord’s coming to judge the people, and Isaiah 40 speaks o f the preparation for His coming to deliver the people. If the people would bow to the judgment, they would find the deliverance. But the sequel reveals that they were not willing to submit to the Lord’s judgment, and therefore they re mained—and do to this day—without the deliverance. 2. The place o f John the Baptist (4-6). His place was in the wilderness, for a twofold reason. First, because of what he was. John was an Old Testament prophet and stood upon Old Testmant ground. He was sent to the nation as the voice o f God, but a voice crying outside both the city and the temple. Second, God had long since departed from both o f these places, and there remained no room for Him in either. Hence, the next time God’s voice would be heard, it must sound outside the confines o f temple and city. For four hundred years, God had been silent ; but the silence was to be broken by a voice in the wilderness. 3. The witness of John the Baptist (7 ,8 ). John proclaimed the coming o f One mightier than he. John was great, here was a greater ; John was wise, here was a wiser. John was not worthy to stoop down to un loose the lachet o f this One’s shoes. John could baptize with water, this One would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Hence his call to repentance toward God was prep aration for the coming o f the Mighty One. III. T he S elf -S urrender of our L ord (9-11). 1. The dedication o f Jesus to His ser vice (9 ). This was His formal acceptance o f His office. He came, not as others, on account o f His own sin (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4: 15; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3 :5 ; Heb. 7:26), but as the representative o f His people in their own land. It was when all was ready, the preparation by the forerunner having been accomplished, after the eighteen silent years in Nazareth, that Jesus stepped out to His w ork; and the first step was the public acknowledgment, in the rite o f bap tism, that He was to be the representative of His people in and for righteousness. 2. The identification of Jesus with His people (9 ). As their representative, the Lord Jesus was identified with His people. This must be, if He would reach and save them. And this was necessary in order that God’s pur poses concerning the people might be pre served. The nation had failed ; but here, as always, Jesus Christ was God’s resource. It is Christ who prevails in keeping. God’s purposes inviolate, however man or Satan may force Him to change His plans. 3. The consecration o f Jesus by the Fa ther (10, 11). This was the formal acceptance by God of the self-surrendered Servant. It was the first time since Adam’s fall that the [Continued on page 522]
JANUARY 1, 1933 JOHN PREPARES THE W A Y FOR JESUS M ark 1 :1-11
purposes o f God. As we trace our Lord’s earthly life through Mark’s Gospel, we may see the Mighty Worker, bearing the impress of essential deity, going about His work. The emphasis in Mark’s Gospel is on action—what the Lord Jesus Christ did. There are sixteen chapters, and all except chapters 1, 8, and 14, begin with the word “and.” There are about 104 paragraphs, in the Revised Version, and 92 of them begin with “and.” “ And he did” covers the whole book ; there is continuous action, unbroken activity, and the last words are, “ The Lord working with them.” A brief outline of the book may be found helpful. I. The Self-Surrender of the Servant . (1:1-13). II. The Mighty Ministry of the Servant (1:14 to 10:52). III. The National Rejection of the Ser vant (1 1 :1 to 15:47). IV. The Divine Exaltation of the. Servant (16:1-20). I. T he P erson of Ô ur L ord ( 1 :1). “The beginning of the gospel,” not the history o f Jesus Christ, is referred to in the opening words of the book. While all the history we have o f Jesus Christ is con tained in the four Gospels, there is no com plete history given o f Him. Outside o f the Gospels, there are only two very brief ref erences to Him in contemporaneous writ ings. “Jesus” is our Lord’s human name,, meaning “the salvation of God.” His name was to be called “Jesus” because He would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). “ Christ” is the Messianic name; it means “ the anointed One.” ’ He is the anointed Prophet, speaking to man on be half o f God; the anointed Priest, speaking to God on behalf of man; and the anointed King, ruling for God over man. “The Son of God” is the divine name; it means that deity has come down to take human form, and that He who was “ in the form o f God” took upon' Himself the “ form o f a servant” (Phil. 2:6, 7). A gospel which does not contain these three is no gospel, but a counterfeit of Satan’s. Unless Jesus is very God of very God, no salvation is possible for man; un less He is the Anointed One, there is no approach to God possible for man ; and unless He is the salvation o f God, man must forever remain in sin. II. T he F orerunner of our L ord ( 1 :2-8). 1. The purpose of John the Baptist (2 ,3 ). John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way o f the Lord who was to follow him. In the Old Testament, there are two ref
Golden Text: “ Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (Mk. 1:3 ). • The Jordan River I r is m o s t appropriate that John should begin his ministry at the Jordan River and baptize his converts there. The Jordan flows next door to the desert. John had been living in the desert until he began his active public life. It was only a step therefore to the borders of Judaea
along the J o r d a n . Here he began his preaching and baptiz ing. The Jordan is one of the most remark able rivers in all the world. For nine-tenths o f its length, it flows below sea level. At the Waters o f Merom, in
the shadow o f majestic Mount Hermon, it is eight or ten feet below sea level. At the Sea o f Galilee, it is over six hundred feet below, while its waters, when they mingle with the salty brine of the Dead Sea, are almost thirteen hundred feet below the surface o f the Mediterranean. Near the place where Jesus was baptized, one descends by three successive terraces to the bank o f the river. During the rainy season, the water comes rushing down this precipitous gorge with such force and in such volume that it fills the valley to the topmost o f these terraces. Thus the description in the third chapter of Joshua is literally true that the Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of the harvest. Although there are fords at the Jordan during the dry season, it is absolutely im possible to cross on foot when the river is swollen. It was vitally necessary that a miracle be performed to allow the Israel ites to cross when first they entered the land. When Jesus was baptized, the river was lower. It was therefore safe for Him to go out into the water and submit to the rite which inaugurated His public career. Outline and Exposition For the next six months, the lessons will be found in the Gospel o f Mark. There is thus presented an excellent opportunity to study this Gospel from beginning to end. The theme o f Mark’s Gospel is : The Son o f God in Service. He is presented as the Royal One girded as a servant; but He is the Servant of Jehovah, not of man. There is danger in thinking that what the Servant did was primarily for man, when the truth is that what He did, He did for God first. Humanitarianism does not re cognize that the primary purpose o f our Lord’s coming to earth was to fulfill the
Made with FlippingBook Online document