MARK 10
CAC The Lord comes here to the other side of Jordan, and takes up these questions connected with natural relationships. He brings out in that connection very great and important principles which are of the greatest importance for us as seeking to pursue the line of being of Christ. We were noticing last week that the disciples were of Christ; and that anything which diverts us from pursuing that line, anything which holds us captive so that we fail to pursue the line that is of Christ, is a snare. The Lord insists that it is better that we should make any sacrifice rather than that we should be held captive so that we do not pursue the line of Christ.
Now I think we get an important indication here that if we come under the influence of Christ He will maintain in force [p. 103] that which God has originally instituted. It is a great and far-reaching principle that Christ will maintain in all integrity every institution of God. It is a great thing to be brought back to what is divinely instituted, and that is what is brought to pass if we come under the influence and teaching of Christ; we are brought back to the true character of things as divinely instituted, and we are led to see there can be no departure according to God from the original institution. In connection with the question of marriage, no divorce is mentioned in Mark’s gospel. Divorce forms no part of the original thought of God.
Ques Is the thought fully maintained in Christ and the church?
CAC Yes, that is the suggestion. The bond between Christ and the church is indissoluble, and it is connected with the original, divine institution of things; God had that in mind from the beginning. If you think of Christ and the assembly, there is no thought of divorce. Governmentally Israel has got into the place of distance, but Jehovah has never departed from the bond; He remains faithful to it. “The gifts and the calling of God are not subject to repentance”. The marital bond between Jehovah and Israel will be established entirely on the ground of Jehovah’s everlasting faithfulness. While Jehovah has governmentally set Israel aside, yet He has never removed her from her place in His affections; He has remained faithful. It is beautiful to see that the provision made under law by Moses was for man’s hard-heartedness. Now there was never any hard-heartedness with Jehovah towards Israel, and there never could be in regard of Christ towards the assembly. It is an indissoluble bond. The great security and blessedness which we enjoy is in coming back to the original institution which it is impossible to change.
In Matthew divorce is permitted on the ground of infidelity to the relationship: that is the governmental side, but in Mark it is not said to be permissible. Christ would set us in the light of original institutions; all the relations between Christ and the church abide. Whatever the departure on man’s side there is none on God’s side — the thought of divorce is abhorrent to the heart of God and Christ. The principle of that should be ever retained in our hearts, even if we have on the line of government to exercise what is disciplinary. We are never to put a brother out of our affections though we may have to put [p. 104] him out of our company. The original bond remains and is never violated in the affections.
One can see the enemy’s attack on God in the general thoughts of marriage abroad today, the general tendency to loose the bond and make divorce easy. This is directly against the divine institution, and we all need to be safeguarded by coming under the influence of Christ. If you give up the divine institution you open the door to the incoming of every kind of evil.
Ques Why, after the Lord speaking of what is “of Christ”, is the first question on the natural side?
CAC I think because divine adjustment is called for in regard of natural relationships under the influence of Christ; the influence of Christ touches and adjusts everything divinely. The house is the place of intimacy where the influence and instruction of Christ are known privately amongst His own. The whole point is that purity of affection is required so that every sacrifice should be salted with salt.
Ques Is Christ brought prominently before us in this question, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother”?
CAC Yes, we see in that that the assembly takes the place of precedence, so Christ has left Israel and kept to the assembly for the present, cleaving to His wife. Christ is absolutely entitled to the pure affections of the assembly.
Ques If we are of the Christ is it not important that we should cherish the teaching of the Head and take character from Him?
CAC Yes, that is exactly how the influence of Christ would express itself; it would bring about in us a very jealous and holy cherishing of the original thoughts of God which are connected with Christ and the assembly; so that the assembly should not be alienated from Christ but should be fully responsive to Him in those affections proper to the indissoluble bond.
Rem At Ephesus there was secret decline before the outward manifestation.
CAC Yes, the failure was in wifely affections. God is faithful to the bond as far as Israel is concerned, and Christ is faithful to the assembly, so our exercise is that we should not be unfaithful.
It is a great encouragement to return to the original character of things; that is the whole point in incorruptible affections. There is an incorruptible bond on His side and the Lord looks [p. 105] for the uncorrupted bond on our side, so that at the end of Ephesians it speaks of “them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption”. The church epistle leads to that end; we have a company on earth preserving fidelity to the incorruptible affections proper to that indissoluble bond — it is beautiful to see Ephesians finishing on that note. While natural relationships are set in their original light here, great and far-reaching principles are unfolded in them.
Divorce is not permissible in Mark’s presentation. Mark has in view restoration. We have been noticing what a definite place restoration has in Mark’s gospel. Being a restored man himself, he is a suitable vessel for prophetic ministry to effect restoration. We see the unchanging character of things on the divine side, so if there is any movement on our side we are quite sure it will meet with full response on the divine side. It is very important to view restoration, and very encouraging for us. We have no hardness on God’s side.
Ques Why do the children come in here?
CAC The Lord would greatly exalt the thought of what comes out in a little child; it is that kind of material that suits the kingdom of God. A little child has not yet been corrupted by the ambitions and lusts of the world, and it has receptiveness and confidence. A little child according to the divine thought is not an object to be looked down upon, but looked up to as a model. It shows the moral conditions suitable to the kingdom and the blessing of Christ.
Ques Has this service in view?
CAC It speaks in a previous chapter of receiving one such little child when it is a question of being sent forth by the Lord in service — received as a person of importance to the affections of Christ and not of importance to this world.
Ques He lays His hands on them. Is that identifying Himself with them?
CAC The little child spirit is that which the Lord loves to commit Himself to, and on which He can put His abundant blessing. What marks a child is that the ambitions and objects and lusts of the world have not asserted themselves there.
Ques It is the only way of entering the kingdom?
CAC Yes, and it is a question of receiving, “Verily, I say to you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall in no wise enter into it”. The question of receiving precedes that of entering. The principle of my size [p. 106] in the kingdom is determined by what I have received. What I have received of God and of Christ is my measure in the kingdom. A little child cannot give or do, it can only receive. I think the little child’s spirit is always naturally despised, and we are in danger of despising it. As born into this world we have no importance; our only importance lies in the wonderful blessedness in which God has made Himself known to us in Christ, so that all we have we derive from Him. It is a question of receiving; there is ability to enter into the kingdom of God; we come into it intelligently.
Ques In what way are we liable to despise little children?
CAC I think we see the spirit coming out in the disciples, a consciousness of greatness in themselves. Under the influence of Christ we get adjusted in our perceptions as to what is great.
These are two very great principles: the unchangeable inviolability of what has been divinely instituted, and then this beautiful spirit of which a little child is a model. The little child of today gets corrupted very early; it is one of the sad features of the present day that the little child character disappears so early. The Lord was the receiver; it was all seen in Him. He was always receiving from the Father, His ear was opened morning by morning. He came down here to receive everything and He never departed from that. The little child spirit is to be maintained along with the affections that belong to the relationship.
Ques What did you refer to in speaking of the other side of Jordan?
CAC I was thinking that natural affections belonged to the wilderness side of Jordan. What marks the Lord here is the recognition of what was originally of God. We see it in the young man, too (verse 17). There was a great deal beautiful about him, but the Lord searches out a subtle hindrance. The young man was evidently able to appreciate the goodness he perceived in Christ; he had desires to inherit eternal life; he had kept the commandments which the Lord quoted to him, so he drew out the Lord’s love; but there was a chain holding him of which he was quite unconscious until the Lord pointed it out to him. Possessions here have a greater influence on us than we have any idea of. The Lord exposes here the subtlety of the snare, and shows what a powerful chain holds the soul from making spiritual progress. Riches give one a certain importance [p. 107] in this world.
Ques What is the thought in the Lord loving him?
CAC I think there is a lesson for us to rightly take account of what is according to God even in a natural man. At the same time the Lord faithfully exposes the chain that was holding the young man. We see here that the natural man can go a long way in the appreciation of goodness, and can apparently be upright and full of integrity as far as his own conscience was concerned. That which is good in itself is in the natural estimation proof of the favour of God. People often refer to natural advantages as a proof of the favour of God — that is a real snare. I think there was that about the young man that was very attractive as far as it went, but the real state of his heart had to be exposed. We do see people sometimes so amiable and marked by so much grace and kindness that one cannot help admiring them, but when the Lord touches the real state of heart — He alone can do it — it brings out what is there. This man was tested by possessions; he preferred them to the infinite goodness disclosed in Christ. It comes to light that naturally a man does not estimate treasure in heaven as having greater value than possessions on earth; it is impossible for him to estimate treasures in heaven more than what is on earth.
Ques In what way does the Lord touch it today?
CAC In exposing to us the many influences that act on us that are not His own influences. The question is, What place has Christ in our hearts? The Lord invited the young man to follow Him, as He invites us. The Lord says, You disencumber yourself of your own possessions and follow Me — but he went away sad. We all profess, and no doubt sincerely, that we appreciate the goodness seen in Christ, but the question is, Is He paramount? If the supreme goodness of God in a blessed Man has come before us, it is entitled to command us absolutely; and if it does not it is because the influence of the world is holding us back. Christ was not to this man the infinite treasury of what is divinely good, and he did not recognise that God Himself was the source of the good. The blessed Lord maintained that God Himself was the source of the good, He was Himself the treasury of all the good that God was the source of. If that comes in power before the heart, He is entitled to command allegiance, and He takes precedence of everything else. This man found his possessions more to him than infinite goodness. He had come forward to assert his [p. 108] belief that Christ was the good Teacher, but when he was tested he attached more to his possessions than to infinite goodness. That is the spot the Lord touches. When we have to do with the Lord He always touches us at the spot that tests us, and if we are humbled under His touch we turn to God and get the blessing of the touch. Riches are not harmful in themselves, but tremendously so in their effects on the souls of men. It is no matter whether they are small or large; I may be as much hindered by small possessions as another by large.
The Lord would instruct us in what the almighty power of God can do; it can make Christ, as the treasury of divine good, more attractive and precious to us than anything in the seen condition of things. The Lord gives us every inducement to move after Him. When Peter says, We have left all, the Lord says, What you have left is the hundredth part of what you have got. The Lord proposes that you get the compensation of what you left a hundred times more in the company of the brethren. The Lord has not deceived us when He says, You will receive a hundredfold more in this present time. It is not when you get to heaven, but in this present time. The great trouble is, we have left so little. What a wonderful opening out there is here of the wealthy compensation which we find in the company of the saints for what we have given up; there is a new kind of possession and a new system of affections which are infallibly secured to us by the Lord’s word. Every one of us should look to find this among the brethren. If I find that the brethren are not compensation to me it raises the question of whether I have been on the line of leaving things for Christ. Your compensation among the brethren is commensurate with what you have left.
Ques Would the young man be “the last” (verse 31)?
CAC I think the Lord drops that word in at the end to remind us that we have not reached final adjustment. There may be those prominent at the present time, and when the adjustment of the kingdom comes out it may be that the prominent one may find himself at the rear. The Lord says, Do not form your estimate of things by the present position, but remember that the kingdom involves adjustment. Certain men are prominent, teaching and preaching, but when the adjustment is made, the one who is prominent now may be far back. It does not follow that they will be prominent when the kingdom is adjusted. Saints in obscurity may be more marked [p. 109] by the spirit of suffering and service than those who positionally are more prominent.
The personal pathway of the Lord must always be of the deepest interest to those that love Him, and that part which comes before us in verses 32 - 45 is very touching. The Lord was going to Jerusalem for the last time, His service in Israel closing up. He was as it were preparing Himself and His disciples for suffering; so we come here to that which very closely touches and affects us. We have seen something of the wonderful character of the Lord’s service, the perfection and grace of it, and now it comes out that the service is in no way appreciated by men, and it only results in suffering. It was perhaps the greatest element of sorrow to the Lord that His service was refused by His people: they say of Him, “What are those wounds in thy hands?” and He says, “Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends”. That shows how keenly the Lord felt the rejection of His service. That is the import of the wounds in His hands — those hands of unwearying service were wounded.
The Lord recognised at certain points in His pathway that service is to be replaced by suffering. He is the blessed instructed One of Isaiah 50: He says, “The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of the instructed”, so He has learned to succour by a word him that is weary. That has been the character of His service. But there came a time when He was instructed in view of suffering, so He says, “I was not rebellious; I turned not away back. I gave my back to smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair”. The moment comes when it is manifest that the service of God involves suffering and rejection here, and no lesson could be more deeply important for us.
Rem It seems connected with the title Son of man.
CAC Yes, it is very touching. It is not the Christ but the Son of man, the One who has taken a place on man’s side so as to be claimed by man; that is involved in His title Son of man. He puts Himself in relation with man to be claimed by man, and He was the One whom Jehovah visited because of His delight in Him. It is wonderful that He could say in the words of the prophet, “Man acquired me as bondman from my youth”, Zechariah 13: 5. It is the One whom man has acquired who is delivered into the hands of men for their judgment, and that is the character of the present time. A divine Person has [p. 110] come in on the line of service to man — “Man acquired me” That is the Son of man, and they cannot get away from the responsibility of having acquired Him. Now the question is, What do they think of Him, what estimate have they formed of Him?
The Lord goes on before, He sets His face like a flint. He knows what the path involves, and He leads that way up to Jerusalem, and we have to learn to follow Him in that path. He was sustained by divine affection and by the consciousness of being approved of God by resurrection — “after three days he will rise again”. In relation to service we have to move on these lines. In seeking to follow this blessed One we have to prepare ourselves for suffering and the judgment of men. Just as that blessed One was delivered to the judgment of men, so the saints at this present time are placed under the judgment of men; and we do not expect that judgment to be anything but adverse, and never favourable to what is of God. But the Lord was content to set His face like a flint, to move stedfastly on, knowing He would be vindicated. He was not ashamed, but justified and approved of God in resurrection.
Ques Does the Lord educate us to be superior, too?
CAC None of us would be naturally superior to the judgment of men. Often with us, in seeking to move in service, there is an expectation of being approved of men, perhaps even of being approved of brethren; it is the same principle.
This character of things covers all the period and that is why the gentiles are brought in as well as the Jews. There is a period during which the Son of man should be subjected to the judgment of those who have acquired Him. Men have acquired Him in the favour of God, they acquire Him to be a subject of judgment — what do they think of the Son of man? That test is going on still. What do they think of the service in which He has placed Himself so near to men? Will they still wound His hands? The principle is spread out over the whole period; it is still the period of His being delivered into the hands of men for their judgment, and their judging Him is a very solemn thing. He is still in the hands of men and still the subject of man’s judgment: men are left to form their opinions and come to their conclusions about the Son of man. Man lies under the responsibility of having acquired that wonderful Servant. What does he think of Him?
Ques It has been said that the Son of man is a name which [p. 111] a divine Person has assumed in order that He might come near to man?
CAC Yes, and what is God’s answer to man’s judgment? That character, that condition of man that has been placed before man’s judgment and has been refused and rejected, His blessed hands of service wounded — that Man is to be supreme in the universe of God.
Ques Why were the disciples amazed and afraid? The Lord had said nothing to them.
CAC I think they had an intuitive sense of the character of the path in which the Lord was leading; they did not understand it intelligently, but they understood it intuitively. He was going to Jerusalem and they must have had a sense that all that was expressed in Him would not meet with the approval of men.
Ques Would you say that His suffering involved theirs?
CAC I think they ought to have perceived it. We all ought to perceive that His suffering involves ours. If we follow Him in that path of service it results in the same character of service for us. They were in the way going up to Jerusalem; we are in that way, there is no other way for those who are followers of Christ.
Rem When He chose His disciples, it is said, “that they might be with him”.
CAC Yes, it is only as under His personal influence that we have an impression of Him to carry forth. We cannot give an expression of Christ if we have not received an impression of Him. If you and I are to give an expression of Christ, we must get an impression from Him.
Rem We would like to do that, but when it is in connection with His sorrows it is an exercise, and we often do not like it.
CAC Yes, it is a real exercise. The Lord brings it before those who wanted a great place: James and John come in as desiring a place with Him in glory. There was self-importance mixed with it. They were out of touch and out of tune — the Lord was thinking of His sufferings. These instances serve to show that the presence of the Spirit is necessary to put the saints into tune; without the Spirit none of us would be in tune. Christians miss a great deal by being out of tune often; they have something before them of God, but not the particular thing that the Lord would bring before them at the moment.
[p. 112] We may be in the right path and have the Lord before us but not be in tune.
Ques What would encourage us to take up His pathway?
CAC Coming where the disciples came under the personal influence of Christ; there is no royal road to it but that.
The Lord brings them back to the line. He says, “Ye do not know what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup which I drink, or be baptised with the baptism that I am baptised with?” The cup here would be the deep inward sorrow of wounded love.
Ques Did not Paul follow closely in these steps?
CAC Yes, we see the deep sorrow of Paul’s heart in the refusal of the service of his love. “All in Asia” had turned away from him. His hands too were wounded in the house of his friends.
The Lord here is setting them free from human thoughts in connection with the glory, and seeking to identify them with His own thoughts. There is a path in which God’s will can be done, and in which God can be served. We must be prepared to step out in a path that will not be approved by natural men or by carnal believers, to step out on that line and have no place of glory. I believe in connection with service there is sometimes a thought for self. These beloved disciples were thinking of the glory of Christ; it was a subtle kind of self-importance, but the Lord indicated to them the true character of service. The question for us all is, What can I do to serve the brethren? What am I prepared to suffer in that line of service? If you want to have a place on His right hand and on His left you can have it in the greatest nearness to Him in that lowly place of suffering service. The Lord says to them, ‘You can be as near to Me as you like in the way of suffering, but as to nearness in glory that is not in My hands’. He refers that to the Father, but He says, ‘You can be as near to me as you like in suffering’. Then the Lord introduces the principle of sovereignty: everything brought out in glory will be the fruit of sovereignty according to the Father’s purpose. This wonderful place at the Lord’s right hand and left is prepared for certain persons known to the Father. That lies in the region of sovereignty, but the Lord says, ‘You can have the place at my right hand and left in service and suffering’. God is the Father of glory; the system of glory has its origin in God, the Father of glory. He will place the saints in glory [p. 113] according to His own purpose, and the Lord says, ‘Do not be exercised about that; I want you to be as near to Me as possible in this path that I am treading’.
In James we see the rejection of his service at the hands of those outside. John was left here to be one hundred years old and to see his service rejected inside. Diotrephes loved to have the first place — he was a man on the line of glory, but it was self-glory in the christian circle; and in that circle John’s hands were wounded. He wrote a letter and they would not receive it. One feels the need of being prepared to suffer; how little we are prepared for it! If we get a rebuff or a slight, how soon we get our backs up instead of being prepared to suffer! Is there a readiness to break loose from everything which would detain us? It is a question of being in the way here; if that is the way we should not want to be hindered. We all have something to hinder us like the blind man; he was a poor beggar in contrast to the rich young man, but he had a garment that hindered. The poorest had some hindrance — throw it away. This blind man threw his garment away.
We find the same spirit in all the twelve: two were wanting a place, and the ten were indignant because they did, so the Lord has to reveal all their thoughts. The ten were on the line of exercising lordship and authority, but that is the opposite of service. To exercise lordship and authority is what we naturally like, but Paul says, ‘We have no dominion over your faith but would like to be helpers of your joy’. If an apostle could say that, it becomes you and me. I am sure the Lord would lead us along this way of affection, and it would fortify us against a great many things that severely test us.
How the Lord delights to become a model for us: it is a great delight to Him when He can say, “Behold, I and the children which God has given me”, Hebrews 2: 13. The children are those who take character from Him, so they become signs and wonders. Why? Because they are like Christ; they have come out as true children of Christ — that is what gives Him such delight. They can be recognised as of Christ; nothing is of spiritual value with any of us but what is of Christ. There is no value attached to anything of Adam, but what is of Christ has divine value. He is presented here as the great Servant; He comes in to serve. Nothing could be more wonderful for us than to take up this path under the influence of Christ, as we reverence Him in affection. J.B.S. used to say, ‘We first admire, then accept, and then adopt’. We first admire it with reverence and affection in Christ, we see how it surpasses everything else: He is “The chiefest among ten thousand”. Then we accept it — there is no other divine path for us, no other spirit but that for us. There is a definite moment in the soul’s history when we accept it, and then we come to adopt it, and spiritual power is needed for that, to adopt the features of Christ. The great point in Mark’s gospel is that the kingdom comes in power; it is patterned in Luke, but in power in Mark.
Ques Does the dying of Jesus come in here?
CAC This is just the point where we come into that order of things. The Lord had been serving up to this point, but from this point forward it is a question of the dying of Jesus, the experimental giving up of all connected with His acceptance and service in Israel. He gave it all up. Paul could say, “always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body”, 2 Corinthians 4: 10. The life of Jesus is a life of serving love; the youngest of us can take it up. People talk of things being over the heads of the young, but this comes in at the level of our hearts.
Ques Is spiritual power love?
CAC I think it is, when you come to the root of it, because the life of God is love in activity; it is the very life of divine Persons. You could not have anything more powerful and energetic than that.
We have noticed that the Lord’s service was closing, the final scenes were at hand. The Lord was coming up to Jerusalem to suffer and it was important that He should be seen at such a moment in all the dignity of His kingly rights, so the blind man addresses Him as Son of David. It was the first time such a title had been accorded Him in this gospel; it involves all the glory that attaches to Him in Psalm 72; He is the King’s Son, the true Solomon. It is a little remarkable that it is only blind men who gave Him this title, save the Canaanitish woman who had no right to use it. It has often been said that the scribes had the thought that the opening of the eyes of the blind was the miracle reserved for the Messiah, Son of David; and it certainly was so in fact.
The ability to see is very important, especially at moments of crisis such as these. Bartimaeus says, “Rabboni, that I may see”. The Lord in His kingly rights gave to the remnant the [p. 115] ability to see, to perceive things according to God; and He is the only One still who can give us ability to perceive things according to God, to see the character of the moment, and what is suitable to the testimony at the moment. No doubt Bartimaeus represents the remnant to whom the Lord gave this ability of perception, the result of his seeing being that he followed Jesus in the way. He moved in harmony with the present movements of Jesus. It was said of the Son of David that He could hear the cry of the afflicted and save the souls of the needy. His kingly rights come out in that way; His kingly rights are exercised in priestly grace.
Mark 10 and 11 are most affecting: it was the closing moment and a very solemn time. We have come to a closing moment, too; there is a great analogy between the moment when the Lord was here and the present moment. The ability to see was of the greatest importance then and is now. We only get that ability directly from the Lord, so it says, “they that seek the Lord understand all things”, Proverbs 28: 5. Those that seek the Lord get their eyes opened. John says, “we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding that we should know him that is true”, 1 John 5: 20. It is a very blessed thing to be conscious of that. To have understanding would answer to opening of the eyes, and the question with us is, Is that our desire? “Rabboni, that I may see” was the blind man’s great desire. It is only as the Son of God comes into our consciousness that we get an understanding. I do not think the statement, “the Son of God has come”, refers merely to the historical fact of His incarnation; it involves the life and affection of His saints.
Ques Had the blind man partial sight before?
CAC He was evidently taught of God; he was one of those divinely taught. There is such a thing as spiritual vision. Paul prays in Ephesians 1, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, would give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of him, being enlightened in the eyes of your heart”. That is like the opening of the eyes; it is the specific act of divine Persons giving ability of perception so that there is understanding according to God of what is going on at the moment. There is nothing more important, especially in times of crisis; it is very important that we should be able to see at such a time.
Ques Would the Lord appreciate the blind man’s desire?
CAC [p. 116] He would indeed, because He would become the supreme object of the one who sees. When the man opened his eyes he opened them on the Son of David, the Christ, and followed Him in the way. That must have been very delightful to the Lord.
Ques Does the challenge apply to us, too?
CAC Yes, there is great analogy in the present circumstances to those that were present then; the question of this world is the question of the kingly rights of Christ. In the next chapter it is entirely a question of the kingly rights of the Son of David, and I believe the giving of sight is divine ability to see what is connected with the kingly rights of Jesus Christ. It is most important, because those kingly rights are just about to be asserted, but, before they are asserted in a public way, have we spiritual vision to see what is connected with them? I would encourage myself and all my brethren to say “Rabboni, that I may see”.