URGENCY
URGENCY
JT This chapter is properly considered in relation to the opening chapters of the other gospels, not for comparison, but to see the peculiar character of Mark as marked by urgency. The facts as they come before us will lead to this, “Beginning of the glad tidings of Jesus Christ, Son of God”, with no allusion to His birth or to the other facts in the other gospels. Urgency marks this gospel, as at the present time. John the baptist is immediately introduced to prepare the way. “The way” comes in at once, the Lord’s way; and then John’s ministry presented briefly, and the character of his clothing, reminding us of our own circumstances also, rough clothing, no effort at human finery; and then the Lord immediately being baptised is seen as the object of heaven in verses 10 and 11, “And straightway going up from the water, he saw the heavens parting asunder, and the Spirit, as a dove, descending upon him. And there came a voice out of the heavens: Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”. He is immediately the object of heaven. Then we read, “And immediately the Spirit drives him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to him”. It shows the roughness of the testimony at the present time. The testimony will go on, however rough or inconvenient this may be, but it is a question of the testimony, and this must go on, even in spite of the opposition and the wild beasts. So that in the light of such a scripture we can face what the testimony will be, and see how successful it is — verses 32 - 34; and then, “rising in the morning long before day, he went out and went away into a desert place, and there prayed”. I think this passage [p. 245] would help us to face our present circumstances, that the testimony may continue and prosper.
Ques Why do you refer to the present circumstances?
JT They are extraordinary, as all are aware, though not surprising; deprived of many things, reduction in many things, and not much relief in sight; and we must take up the attitude of faith, and dependence. The wilderness history of the children of Israel gives an example of our circumstances; they had the want or need of clothes, yet God supplied them, and the need of shoes too, so that we get along with less than we used to need; the circumstances shut us up to God, in spite of ourselves.
Ques Are we to recognize God’s hand in it all?
JT Yes, it is a question of God and what He can be to us.
Ques John requires the minimum for sustenance in verse 6; and does verse 12 indicate the urgency in the Lord’s service?
JT Very good. Let me read the verses: “And John was clothed in camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins, and ate locusts and wild honey”, verse 6. “And immediately the Spirit drives him out into the wilderness”, verse 12.
Rem The bare necessities are needed for the messenger.
JT There is no evidence that he complained or was hindered by the severity of the situation. “There came John baptising in the wilderness, and preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins”, verse 4. That is, the ministry is not only unhindered but the service was highly effective in the whole area, producing important results, so “there went out to him all the district of Judaea and all they of Jerusalem”, those in whom God had or was expected [p. 246] to have wrought. We are in Christendom; He has been working here a long time.
Ques Is this how “the way of the Lord” is prepared?
JT I think so. The quotation is from the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way. Voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. He is not complaining of his circumstances but thinking of his commission; and it is a question whether we are doing this. One sees that we are not too definite in what is before us.
Ques Is this like Elijah’s ministry, and his experience at the brook?
JT Undoubtedly he was in mind; the Lord likened John to Elijah, and the likeness in the clothing is noticeable. We need to be reminded of Elijah, a man that can be impersonated, and also that someone in the future is likened to him, Malachi 4: 5.
Ques Are all these references to the prophet Isaiah?
JT Yes; he was ready, like John; and the confession of sins, Isaiah had to go through the moral side, involving God’s rights, Isaiah 6: 1 - 7. How much is acknowledged in the way of sinfulness!
Rem Paul served under adverse conditions.
JT One marvels at the way he speaks to the Corinthians, of his experiences, journeys, and sufferings. One sees in him a man not governed by mere nature. John the baptist had to surrender everything to be in the wilderness.
Ques Do we learn the compassions of God in the external pressure, as Paul refers to it in 2 Corinthians 1:3?
JT Yes, that comes out too.
Rem So Paul speaks of the adversity of his circumstances being made to [p. 247] serve.
JT God can turn things in our favour; we can count on that too. He has done so already and will yet do so, for these things are in the Father’s hands. He can use those in public service of the authorities to help.
Rem I think that was what you had in mind as to coming under the power of circumstances, that we should rather be lifted above them.
JT Angels not only minister to Him, but to us “who shall inherit salvation”, Hebrews 1: 14. So in the severe circumstances of Mark 1: 12 and 13 they ministered to the Lord there; so that we can count on them too.
Ques What do the wild beasts signify?
JT Some have now disappeared, but some are still here, and some are yet to come up, as in Revelation.
Ques Has the Lord the right of way with us, before He gets it in the millennium?
JT Yes, that is pending. We are not there yet.
Rem I meant that the Lord is on His way to acquire a right of way in the assembly now, before He gets it in the kingdom in display.
JT Very good. All is in our favour, the governmental dealings of God, and the fruitful yielding of the earth, so that in everything we can thus give thanks.
Ques Is baptism in view of the wilderness?
JT As here it is in the Jordan, in an appointed place, not any kind of baptism, a matter that we should observe.
Ques What is in your mind as to things being settled publicly?
JT Things among the nations should come into our prayers, in a moral way, and in our subjection, before we have to do with them in a later day. We have a great lead given to us to self-denial; we have [p. 248] seen it in our parents, and it is here in this chapter, so that we might as well follow the lead.
Ques Does the Lord come before us as a model in verses 9 to 11 as pleasing God in accepting circumstances?
JT Yes. That is the right way to look at it. “And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptised by John at the Jordan”, a humble lowly man, outwardly just an Israelite; He was doing right, as others, and heaven honours Him. The young men amongst us are giving us a lead, as we see them denied their comforts. Nazarites of God are thus produced and fitted for the conflict. “And straightway going up from the water, he saw the heavens parting asunder, and the Spirit, as a dove, descending upon him”. There is something to be counted on, as to the measure in which we are in His way.
Rem Your reference to the Nazarite would enter especially on this line.
JT Yes, it would fulfil the features of the type in Numbers 6. God has His Nazarites now.
Rem How God honours Him here!
JT The point is how this chapter applies to us in this time of pressure and crises. I have referred to the young men; they are learning and progressing in them, but there are those who are not in such circumstances, and the lesson is for us to come into the appropriation of the Spirit seen “as a dove, descending on him”. He is the only one yet for the Spirit to come upon, and then the voice, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight”.
Ques Would there be a link between this occasion and Paul’s reference to “a spirit of adoption” in Romans 8: 15?
JT We have all come into it now, what is involved in the gift of the Spirit, but in Mark it is [p. 249] presented as if it is particularly for Him; it is the time of prophecy, and coming in for heaven’s approval. The point here is that it is for Him, the dove, the voice and the word spoken.
Ques Would the counterpart for us be in 1 Peter 4: 14: “the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you”?
JT Very good. The Spirit is here now, and in all who truly believe, “and the Holy Spirit also, which God has given to those that obey him”, Acts 5: 32, so that the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon them, especially in suffering.
Ques Would Mark himself have been adjusted by seeing this in the Lord personally?
JT Yes, he was thoroughly restored, I would say, and hence his voice to us who are in any way serving.
Ques In Matthew it speaks of the Lord being carried up into the wilderness, in Luke He was led by the Spirit there, but here in Mark it says “the Spirit drives him out into the wilderness”. What is the difference?
JT I am glad you mentioned that. “Drives him”, we wonder at that. At the beginning we see that He recoiled from it. We should always be like that.
Ques Would it be right to say that verse 9 is the Lord’s own voluntary movement in recognition of John, and that in verse 12 is involuntary?
JT Though His own service was so distinguished, He was ever ready to be served. He is recognizing John’s service, giving him full recognition, yet ostensibly He is coming to John to be baptised, and maybe some of us have to learn that. It is said of the Lord, “Christ Jesus; who ... having been found in figure as a man, humbled himself”, Philippians 2: 5 - 8. He was doing right, as they were.
[p. 250] Ques What are we to learn from the experiences after the driving out by the Spirit? — verse 13.
JT There is a lot more in it than we have said. He shrank from it, from any touch with the devil, unless the testimony required it. He did nothing to make Himself extraordinary. He accepted what there was in this case. It would be seen who He was. We have to wait for distinction; the time for special distinctions is not yet.
Rem It says in Isaiah 53: 2, “He hath no form nor lordliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him”. He was content just to appear ordinary.
JT Yes, especially those who work in business; we accept things as they are, and go on waiting on God, and in due time He will have His way. Then we have in verse 10, “And straightway going up from the water, he saw the heavens parting asunder, and the Spirit, as a dove, descending upon him”; no one had that heavenly treasure, no one else was like that before. Heaven must have the last word, as well as the first word.
Ques What do we learn from the personal character of the salutation?
JT It was necessary in view of the testimony, as when Peter so frequently speaks of Jesus of Nazareth in Acts.
Ques To secure such persons is heaven’s approval necessary?
JT I think so; the Lord had it, and valued it, that He at the Jordan should be baptised by John; it is very important. He came from Nazareth, and as going up from the water, heaven acknowledged what He had done, the humiliation of it; He saw the Spirit descending, and the voice came, showing that in time we may expect distinction.
Ques Does “the heavens parting asunder” imply urgency?
[p. 251] JT That is very remarkable, and links with the ‘book of the opened heavens’, the Acts, and especially Stephen’s testimony.
Ques You are suggesting these features as necessary to the preaching of the kingdom?
JT Yes; having seen all these things, verse 14 comes in as a principle, that the Lord does not enter into His service till John is delivered up, which is a levitical touch. So now He comes “into Galilee preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom of God”, and we are now entering the part where time enters into it, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn nigh”.
Rem So Paul in writing to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:17) stresses his deliverance from the lion’s mouth, like the wild beasts here, and exhorts him not to be timid, to preach the word, and so on.
JT Very good. I have noticed that lately. Some of us have spoken of the gospel in its varied features, but the word is, “Preach the word”; this has a peculiar sharpness to professing Christians; the gospel is for the heathen; it is a well-worn term amongst Christians; and while it is the gospel, it is the word of God we need.
Ques Could you differentiate a little more between the two?
JT The word of the gospel is the glad tidings; it carries with it grace, telling people, who are sinners, of God’s grace, not even imputing trespasses; it is preached, not demanded; all the terms involved in the glad tidings are not to prejudice in any way that forgiveness of sins is preached. The word of God is necessary for teaching things that we are now in, in which, maybe the gospel testimony has failed, and been done despite to. So we turn to the word of God which “is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword ... and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”, Hebrews 4: 12. It is God’s last word ere the apostasy sets in.
Ques May it become a form, without the power?
JT We are not in any way to prejudice the gospel, because God is still God; but how are we to cope with the wickedness abroad without the two-edged sword?
Ques Does the word of God bring in a prophetic touch?
JT Quite; in Hebrews it is the word of God in a severe, uncompromising way, “all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”. It is contemplating the apostasy, a time when there can be no forgiveness.
Ques Would the bringing in of the word of God enhance the quality of the gospel preaching?
JT The terms of the gospel may be used, but I question whether the idea of the word of God is understood.
Ques What is implied in the reference to the Lord’s teaching “having authority”, verse 22?
JT We have there the power of the Lord over demons, which is another thing to be reckoned with, that He has such power. But I am not exactly thinking of the scripture in Mark for the moment but of the passage in Hebrews 4, and 2 Timothy 4: 2 says, “proclaim the word”. Hebrews gives the account of the word of God, the last testimony.
Rem In Luke 3: 1 and 2 we have a number of authorities mentioned, and then it says, “the word of God came upon John”.
JT Very good; just exactly what it was, for it was a Jewish position there.
Rem In Judges 3: 20 Ehud says, “I have a word from God unto thee”.
JT Yes, it was a message from God. I think it worth while to weigh over what is said in Hebrews 4.
[p. 253] Israel had refused the gospel of heaven, the testimony of the heavenly land; that is what the gospel conveys in the description in Hebrews 4; and then we have the priesthood of Christ, another provision for men. These are the elements needed at the present time.
Ques May we limit the blessing in the gospel to forgiveness of sins?
JT We have to be armed with the right kind of testimony. Paul preached to the Gentiles as well as the Jews, but he tells Timothy to proclaim the word. We cannot depend on the public side much, the hiring of halls, and so on, but on God’s word, and its power.
Ques What about “I will make you become fishers of men” — Mark 1: 17.
JT This was the beginning of things (read verses 14 to 20). This verse 15 is to be noted, especially the formula the Lord uses, “repent and believe in the glad tidings”; it is an excellent passage for us at the present time, not just attention paid to the glad tidings, but to believe in them. It means “look into them”, that is in detail, not taking them in toto. If we get the ears of people in the preaching, we will get them to look into them.
Rem They will then be able to say, God is for us, as in Romans 8: 31.
JT Yes, as if something is handed to them in bulk, and this is to be in mind now.
Rem Do we learn definiteness in the preaching of Paul at Antioch in Acts 13: 16 - 41; he is asked if he has any word of exhortation, but he preaches the word of God to them, there is distinctiveness about what he says.
JT Yes.
Rem It is not the question of any preaching to just fill the hour, but of one who has a secret history with [p. 254] God.
JT So it is important not only to appeal to people, but better still to get them to look into the thing as a whole.
Rem Every element of the truth makes for blessing.
JT Quite so.
Rem At the end of this gospel it says (Mark 16: 20), “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs following upon it”.
JT Yes, we may not see the signs as it was then, but we often see something going on. So the Lord has taken up a deliberate position there, “sat at the right hand of God”. So we are to believe in the glad tidings, to look into the thing. Mark has that in mind. It is of the last importance to look around and understand the times; if it is the gospel, believe in it, but for real conviction, preach the word of God.
Now for verse 33, “and the whole city was gathered together at the door”. So we look for some little help or interest above the ordinary, a feature of Mark. Chapter 2 says the Lord was “at home” (verse 1, footnote), “and straightway many were gathered together, so that there was no longer any room, not even at the door; and he spoke the word to them”. That is it was His own house, but now that is the assembly. In verse 35 of chapter 1, it says, “And rising in the morning long before day, he went out and went away into a desert place, and there prayed”. And so with prayer, the interest will come.