MARK'S GOSPEL (3)
MARK’S GOSPEL (3)
JT The particular items of instruction in these two chapters are numerous, and it would be wise if we could go over them before we start. But it seems to me that we had better begin with the first one because it will give character to nearly all the others. The first is that it is said of the Lord, “And he entered again into Capernaum after several days, and it was reported that he was at the house”. The footnote to the word ‘house’ indicates that the word ‘house’ implies that the Lord is at ‘home’. The brethren will all do well if we consider this and see how it bears on the two chapters; the idea of the Lord being at home, and whether it corresponds with what we have had here at Knoxville for these two days, whether the Lord has been at home with us. And then, correspondingly, whether we have been at home with one another, whether there has been a happy household affair.
AEM Would it seem to provide conditions in which faith would manifest itself in an unusual action?
JT Quite so. Well, at home, of course we often speak of heaven, heaven is our home, the Father’s house. “In my Father’s house” the Lord says, “there are many abodes; were it not so, I had told you: for I go to prepare a place;” John 14:2 ... That is the line of John’s gospel.
[p. 54] Only now it is a question of Mark, which always bears on the idea of service here in relation to the Lord’s interests. Now the question is, as I said, whether this matter of home, conditions of home, among the brethren, is understood, and sought after, and promoted among the brethren.
PA Conditions must be right, for the Lord to be at home, would you say?
JT I would say that. Of course, John is the gospel that must be looked at particularly, but then it is important when we are dealing with the servant gospel, that is with the gospel that deals with service, that we should have this principle of being at home, that we are not away from home all the time. There is a sphere that we can go home to, and that would be the assembly spiritually.
ACSP Would you open up a little more what is in your mind about this thought of home? Have you anything in mind as to our local meetings?
JT Well, what I always consider as to a locality is what will mark it, where it can be expanded into generality. If we deal with the local position, surely it must correspond in some sense with the general position. But then the question is whether we can always expand the local to the general.
ACSP Were you thinking at all of what you have of ten said about the importance of the homefront in the gospel that deals with service?
JT I am glad you mentioned that, because a [p. 55] lot of the brethren are away from home all the time pretty well, they take so many invitations. They accept so many invitations to carry on gospel work and ministry of all kinds that they do not protect the homefront. I am glad, therefore, that you called attention to that.
ACSP Is it in your mind in connection with this reference to the Lord being at home that He is still serving even though He is at home?
JT Well, that is the point that we have now before us, and the question for each of us who serve is whether we are away too much from home, whether we are not protecting the homefront. So that the home sphere is protected for the local people, sisters and the like.
JAP It says of Peter and John that they “came to their own company”, (Acts 4:23).
WC Samuel was a great servant, and it says that, “And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house”, 1 Samuel 7:16,17. Is it your thought that there is adjustment in the home setting? Is there adjustment for a servant there?
JT I think so. The Lord gives a lead here. The word is, as we have already remarked, “And he entered again into Capernaum after several days, and it was reported that he was at the house”, or at home.
AEM Why is it that so often the brethren [p. 56] make so much more of a brother when he goes to another country than in his own place? What I and others have noticed is that in another country a brother generally gets a great deal more place than he does when he is at home.
Does that fit in with your ideal of a homefront and what our brother has referred to as to Ramah where Samuel lived?
JT It does fit in exactly, but I would like to get an illustration of what is in your mind.
AEM Well, it might not do to give actual examples, but I have noticed that frequently a brother has a very great place in another country which he has not at home, and I wondered whether that was right, whether the brethren in another country should not rather be regulated by a man’s measure when he is at home.
JT Now I fully go with all that, and I think I can enjoy it too. I remember, if I may refer to myself, in earlier days there was trouble in New York and a certain brother advised me to go somewhere else, to Rochester. He thought it would ease off the local difficulty. And a certain old sister lived in New York, and she said to me advisedly, “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place”, Ecclesiastes 10:4, -”leave not thy place”. That was an old woman, and her name was Mrs. Humbrell, she was a very old sister. What I am recalling happened a good sixty years ago. And I acted on it, and I never regretted it. If I had left New York, I think New York probably would be at a disadvantage,
[p. 57] because I think God had me to go to New York and I have been helped there.
AEM Well, I think we are all very thankful you came to that decision.
JT Well, I am thankful myself, without saying anything more than that, I am certainly thankful myself, because I believe I was helped of God to come to New York. But coming to your question, I have been going around the world, as you know, in the service of God and have been encouraged in it; and I believe that we all should seek to use what ability we have in a general way, but begin with the local position. Commend ourselves in the local position, that is the way I look at it. God is sure to open up what He has given to anybody because He is the Giver, the gifts are from God, and He is sure to make a way for every gift. And if anyone has a gift, if he lays himself out for using it, God will help him to use it, and give him opportunity for using it. But first, let him be sure that he uses it locally, and if he proves that he is efficient, then he should extend beyond his locality and go about, looking to the Lord to help.
GHMacP So that in all your journeyings you were never away from home!
JT Well, just so. I can say that, I was always at home and free with the brethren, locally in New York and wherever I went. I am fairly well known, and I always found liberty among the brethren, which I think would be an immense thing for all of us to find - liberty among the [p. 58] local brethren and then the brethren generally with whom we serve.
PW Paul speaking of Timothy says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed”, 2 Timothy 2:15. I thought the homefront was there perhaps, beginning at the homefront, before we could work it out in ministry. The approved side of it, I thought, becomes universal.
JT Well, it would. Timothy travelled a good bit, and Timothy and Titus are mentioned as delegates of Paul. There are no such functions exercised by any others than those two men, Timothy and Titus, they are Paul’s delegates. They are not like ordinary brethren, because ordinary brethren are free like Apollos; Apollos was not subject to Paul. He was not subject to Paul as Timothy was, as Titus was; Apollos was free. The apostle Paul said to Apollos that he would like for him to go to a certain place, that is to Corinth. Paul said to go but it was not in Apollos’ mind to go, so Paul did not say to him, ‘Apollos you ought to go, I am ordering you to go’. He did not do that. Apollos said that he would go some other time and he did. Well, I think we ought to bear that in mind. Only Timothy and Titus were sent out as apostolic delegates. There was such a thing as apostolic delegation.
GHMacP Your reference to Timothy is very suggestive about the local conditions in Acts 16. This young levite was said to be of good [p. 59] report amongst the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. “Him would Paul have go forth with him”. Timothy was of a good report locally amongst his brethren.
JT Yes, he was. He worked the work of the Lord as Paul’s child. He had a peculiar place and that is a thing to keep in mind too. Well, I just want to know what brethren generally think about this idea of delegation; that is to say, younger servants moving in relation to those who are more experienced.
PA Why is it, that of Titus and Timothy, we do not get a word published as to what they taught and said and yet they taught? It is peculiar to them that they come under the wings of the apostle, so to speak.
JT Well, I think the answer there would be that Paul had a special place in the service, and the apostle had liberty to place them thus to serve generally. The Lord took Paul up to be a minister in the sense of the minister of the assembly, the Lord intended to have the assembly properly cared for. And He took up Paul and Paul showed that he was qualified to do so, and the Lord helped Paul and he helped him in relation to the ministry that was given to him. The truth is the truth, “For the Spirit is the truth”, 1 John 5:6. A young brother going on in relation to Paul, as Timothy, would consult Paul in relation to the truth, and he would be Paul’s delegate. Paul [p. 60] had the doctrine, a peculiar place in the testimony, no one else had it.
AEM Timothy and Titus would really teach what they had learned from Paul and at the same time manifest his ways in Christ in all the assemblies.
JT His ways - “put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ”, 1 Corinthians 4:17. I think that is very good. You might enlarge on that for us.
AEM Well, I would like you to say something more as to the application to the present day. Is it not the path of wisdom for those of us who have a small measure of gift to follow the distinctive lead which the Spirit may give at any time?
JT And certain ones have a certain place in that, indicating what the ministry should be at the moment. And I would go further than that, and I think that it is very important. Since the time of the revival, if the brethren here will understand the word “revival”, extending back to 150 years ago, there have been distinct lines of truth, and certain men have been used in those lines. Mr. Darby himself at first, and then there was Mr. Wigram, and there was Mr. Bellett; later on there was Mr. Stoney. Mr. Stoney had a great place in the ministry, giving character to it. And then there were later men, such as Mr. Raven, and then later still others who were taking a lead in the ministry. Then the next thing would be whether there are any at the present time who do that, and can [p. 61] be followed with any confidence.
AEM Well, I think that is most important for us. I believe the brethren are understanding the position better than formerly, that there is a distinctive character of ministry under a distinctive lead which should be followed.
JT Very good. Then I would venture to say, that about fifty years ago there were men who called themselves evangelists, and were looked up to as evangelists, and God used them, too, as evangelists. But then in very short course, these brethren failed to give character to the truth. I could mention many of them. But I only mention them in general now; these men did not in any sense develop the truth of the assembly. Anyone who disregards the assembly can never get on in the truth. The assembly is a peculiar vessel that God has used to contain and receive and, as it were, house the Spirit of God Himself. Using these terms reverently, the Spirit of God is as it were housed, and the word house applies as we have it here. We would say He is at home in the assembly.
DMH Would the scripture in Timothy help? “Give heed to thyself and to the teaching; ... for, doing this, thou shalt save both thyself and those that hear thee”, 1 Timothy 4:16. Give heed to the teaching - would it not imply the current distinctive lead the Lord is giving?
JT Very good, but we want to fall in with the line that Mr. M. is enlarging on. And I [p. 62] would like if you would kindly just enlarge on what one has said..
AEM I do not know that I can, but l can see the importance of it, and also that young brothers should take older brethren who have served under the Lord’s hand as models for their service.
JT That is just what I was thinking and observe, and there are a good many of them, thank God.
AAT Have you any idea as to why the servants that you have just mentioned like Mr. Darby and Mr. Stoney or Mr. Bellett and Mr. Raven all spoke one language - that is the English language?
JT Well, quite so, God has been pleased to bless the English brethren and there are a good many of course; God has been pleased to make way for the Spirit amongst them. In the British Isles God has made great way for the Spirit of God; the British Isles - England, Scotland, part of Ireland too - and then in this country, too, God has been pleased to make way for the Holy Spirit, and He is making way for Him still. God has been pleased to do it. It is God’s will, it is God’s right to have a way of that kind. Because God is working still in England and the number of brethren in England are increasing steadily. In this country, too, the number of brethren are increasing. And, of course, they are English speaking countries, they are English-speaking brethren, and we might as well accept that. It is God’s way, and I believe it will continue until the end.
AEM May I go back to the Lord’s home? How do you reconcile this scripture about the Lord having a home with His statement that the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests ... ?
JT I would say now, making it practical, that the Lord has a home. He is free, He is free in certain cities. In certain countries, the conditions are suitable. It is a question of the sovereign action of God, the action being through the Holy Spirit, who is the great Actor here because He has been sent from heaven, and He is here in that sense. Not that He has left heaven, but He is here in the sense of being sent, and He actually was sent. And He creates conditions that are favourable to all those who love God and serve Him. So that the brethren are free to go here and there, because the conditions of home are there. So it is here that the Lord is said to be at home.
AEM If you go to a city where there is no meeting, you have a terrible sense of a lack of home. I was following out the thought suggested that the Lord is at home wherever He is loved, and honoured, and listened to, and served. You have home conditions.
JT Just so. Well, now to illustrate the negative, Buffalo is a remarkable place, a large city, and nearby there are many companies of brethren in the fellowship and yet there has never been a home for the truth in Buffalo. [p. 64] It is a remarkable thing.
RRT In Matthew it says, “He went and dwelt at Capernaum”, Matthew 4:13, so He must have been for sometime at Capernaum, at home there, in that city.
JT Just so. Then another thing that I might suggest by observation is that in the southern states - we are in the south now here in Knoxville - in the southern state; there is hardly anything to speak of for God in the sense of a home, in the sense of a home in this chapter. And it is a question now of whether the brethren in the south here have taken this to heart, and whether there is to be any improvement in it, any increase in the idea of home, a home for the testimony in the southern states.
AEM That is a most noticeable matter. Have you connected it with what has been called the “colour line?”
JT Well, the colour line has something to do with it. The white men in the south are antagonistic racially to the coloured man. In New York and Boston, etc. the coloured brethren have been blessed of God. We are witnesses - many of us here today are witnesses - to what God has done to the coloured man in New York and in Boston.
GHMacP If we understood home conditions more, do you think the Spirit of God would be free to operate on the line that you are suggesting?
JT In a certain sense, there is an antagonism, and it is fostered in the south. But when [p. 65] they come under the influence of the Spirit of God, there is great liberty among the coloured brethren. We would be very grieved if we lost them because they greatly augment the testimony in New York. Therefore, I would encourage the brethren here in Knoxville to have it before them, that they might make a home for the truth, in that sense. Not have any racial feeling, but make a home for the truth, because the word home has to be applied in that sense, that it is a question of the ministry of the truth of the assembly, because the assembly really is the home for the truth.
ACSP Does Acts 13 help in that connection? It says, “Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was there ...” Acts 13:1, as though Antioch is the place and the assembly the home.
JT It was the assembly which was there, which would be local, the idea of locality.
ACSP But immediately after that you have the sovereign action of the Spirit, and then Paul and his company.
JT We want to get at just that word about Paul and his company in that section, showing that there was a home, a home for Paul and his influence. So elsewhere in the Acts, we are told that Lydia attended to the things spoken by Paul, Paul had a peculiar place.
JAP As to the men, did you mean to call attention to Niger, which means black, in Acts 13? Where the five men are selected by the [p. 66] Spirit,
one of them is called Niger.
JT Quite so, Niger may mean that he is a black man, but why should that in any way be a prejudice against him, or the truth that he had?
The dear brethren here would do well to consider whether they are in any way militating against the idea of colour in this meeting.
JAP It says, “And the Spirit said to Philip, approach and join this chariot”, Acts 8:29, the Ethiopian eunuch’s chariot.
JT The Ethiopian eunuch is an excellent example of what we are talking about, the eighth chapter of the Acts. And to go back to the Old Testament, because we might as well look at that on these points, Moses married an Ethiopian woman, and Aaron and Miriam objected to that, they objected seriously to it.
But we must see to it that we have not any such resentment here in this country.
LHB Are you suggesting that insetting out the testimony here in this city, we might overcome the obstacle of racial distinction, which might be in some of our minds?
JT I certainly am, that the brethren here might take it to heart; because God will begin in a small way to make way for the coloured race. If God is working in them, they belong to God, and a home ought to be made for them, just as we have it here. The Lord has a home. There ought to be a home in Knoxville for the coloured race if they are Christians.
RRT It says here in verse 1 of chapter 2 that we started with, “And it was reported that he was at the house”. A report like that in regard to conditions here at Knoxville would be very pleasing to God.
JLR We had a coloured sister here breaking bread with us 50 years ago, but she died.
JWC Would personal contact break down this barrier?
JT Quite so. Well now I think we had perhaps better proceed because we want to cover the other features in the chapters. And next it says, “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”. Now this is another thing to take notice of: the Lord spoke the word to them. There was a large number gathered at the door and the Lord spoke the word to them, the word being the medium of the expansion of the truth. And then it says, “And there came to him men bringing a paralytic, borne by four; and, not being able to get near to him on account of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was”, that is where the Lord was. “And having dug it up they let down the couch on which the paralytic lay. But Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Child, thy sins are forgiven thee”. Now this is a wonderful set of statements as to what happened on this occasion, that is to say, the Lord was there and known to be there at home, at home, there were happy home conditions afforded Him. And then there was a [p. 68] great interest in the Lord Himself. That is another point to take notice of, that He was personally attractive. Note that there were four who had interest in this paralytic, a man who was paralyzed, and he was a sufferer and they had sympathy; the word four would mean that it is universal, there was sympathy universally for this poor man who was a paralytic. All this now should be taken account of in this section before we proceed further.
PA If we were in the gain of forgiveness and in the joy of its application to our souls by the Holy Spirit, would it not make a way and room for the different races?
JT That is just the point, I think it would.
PA It would give us enlargement.
JT If you use the word “race”, it covers humanity.
PA Solomon received the queen of Ethiopia, and she wondered at all the grandeur of Solomon’s house, but he did not reject the queen of Ethiopia, he received her.
JT Just so. So that we get illustrations of the truth of the New Testament in the Old Testament.
PA That is good to consider and that we might get enlargement before the Lord comes. We cannot tell how many years before the Lord comes - I know it will not be many - and the Lord should find us stripped of every prejudice, and everything that pertains to racial lines or national [p. 69] pride.
JT That is very good. I am sure all that is most important, it enters into the whole section here. Now we have the paralytic, and the number four indicates the sympathy with the man was universal. If there is a man of that kind in the neighbourhood, the thing is to be sympathetic with him because the Lord takes account of it. He was borne by four, and the Lord took account of it. So that it was the idea of faith brought in to illustrate the whole matter. “And there come men bringing a paralytic, borne by four; and, not being able to get near to him on account of the crowd, they uncovered the roof”, showing the interest, the general interest at the moment, which is what we all should take notice of. It says, “And having dug it up they let down the couch on which the paralytic lay. But Jesus, seeing their faith ...”
The idea of faith is now brought in here, which of course is the dispensation. It is the dispensation of faith. And so it says, “But Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, Child”, He calls him “Child”. I want the brethren to notice that. The Lord calls him that, He calls him “Child”, He brings him into the family. He is a “fellow-citizen of the saints, and of the household of God”, Ephesians 2:19. And then the Lord says further to him, “thy sins are forgiven”, that is to say, the principle of the forgiveness of sins is in the whole matter.
PA The prejudices of the southern mind have sunk very deep into the [p. 70] southern people,
and it is very difficult to overcome that racial prejudice.
JT But we have to face it and overcome it because it is a time of overcoming. The Lord says, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things”, Revelation 21:7, it is the time of overcoming.
AEM How interesting your reference is to the term “Child” as establishing the family idea connected with the home. You are going to be at home in the sense that you are of the family.
JT Very beautiful.
WR Are you suggesting the thought of universal prayer in “four?”
JT The word ‘four’ is the symbol of universalism. There is universal sympathy with the paralyzed man. They are sympathetic with him, I do not know that it is prayer, it is sympathy.
WR Well, in connection with our prayer meetings, should we go beyond our local settings in praying for cases of need in other places too?
JT Well, quite so. We have the Lord praying here earlier. But the numeral ‘four’ is universal, universal conditions.
GHMacP So that what started out in a small way in the Lord personally in His ministry is going to fill the universe.
PA Is the word ‘Child’ suggestive of something small to begin with, subjection and affection brought into the home?
JT Yes, the only thing to be said is that it is not “little child”, we have “little child” in [p. 71] Matthew. The Lord is called a little child in Matthew. And then we have in John’s epistle, “Little children”, because the idea is diminutive. But I think “Child” here is to bring out that the Lord had in mind the family. Notwithstanding his paralysis, he is really elevated to the family. That is the Lord’s mind.
PA Would you say something about the Lord sending this paralytic, saying, “Go to thine own house”, etc?
JT Just read the whole passage so as to get the full bearing, beginning with verse 5.
PEA “But Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, Child, thy sins are forgiven thee. But certain of the scribes were sitting, and reasoning in their hearts, why does this man thus speak? He blasphemes. Who is able to forgive sins except God alone? And straightway Jesus, knowing in his spirit that they are reasoning thus within themselves, said to them, why reason ye these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy couch and walk? But that we may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic, to thee I say, arise, take up thy couch and go to thine house. And he rose up straightway, and, having taken up his couch, went out before them all, so that all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, we never saw it thus”.
JT Now we have a wonderful issue here [p. 72] from this matter of the paralytic, and how the Lord was entering into it, showing that we must carry sympathy with us. There would be prosperity in the testimony, because it is the God of love entering into this whole matter.
ACSP Does the section show how difficulties dissolve where there is faith?
JT Where there is faith! I am glad to carry that forward because it is the time to bring out the idea of the dispensation now, and the Lord sees their faith, He says, I am going to spread them. The idea of the dispensation is that it is the dispensation of faith. The idea of faith is the leading feature of the gospel of Mark, and the action of it is especially stressed toward the end of the gospel because the Lord intended that it should be, for it is the dispensation of faith. If the servants are to be commissioned, then there must be the increase of faith. We are to spread the idea of faith because we are in that dispensation. Presently the Lord says in the end of John, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”. It is a question of faith and the blessing enters into the matter at hand here. So that it is a time of faith, and the exercise ought to be now that there should be the increase and spread of faith because the dispensation is to be developed. The dispensation that is coming in presently is the dispensation of sight.
PA Would you tell us how to distinguish the difference between faith and [p. 73] believing?
JT There is not much. Of course Hebrews 11 is the great chapter for faith, walking by faith, but Romans 10 I would commend. Romans 10 is a great scripture to indicate what faith is. Faith is described in that chapter.
PA Faith and righteousness and salvation are the three cardinals.
RRT Are the scribes here just the very opposite of that? It says in contrast to faith they were reasoning in their hearts and they were sitting doing nothing. In contrast to that, those that had faith were in movement and getting up on the roof and digging through it.
JT That is all very beautiful, and I think the end of this paragraph is glorious too. It says, “So that all were amazed, and glorified God, saying, we never saw it thus”. The faith is being extended. So then the next thing is, verse 13, “And he went out again by the sea”, that is another subject now that will come in for consideration and we will pay attention to it because this gospel has the sea in mind. “And he went out again by the sea, and all the crowd came to him, and he taught them”. We had already that idea of teaching, the Lord is teaching here, He taught them. “And passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-office, and says to him, follow me. And he rose up and followed him”. The Lord is now the Objective to be followed. That is another principle to keep before us, that the Lord is to be followed. “What am I going to do?” one would [p. 74] say; well, follow the Lord, as He says Himself, “Follow me”.
GHMacP Would this give us a lead and teach us how to serve if the service of God is to be enriched?
JT Quite so, the Lord is directing what we should do, follow the Lord if there is any question.
JAP What does the sea represent?
JT It is division. There is to be no sea we are told. In the new earth, there is to be no sea, but there is now. The oceans are spread abroad over the earth. The sea belongs to God. It says of the Lord Jesus that He put His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the land, showing the sea is a predominant thought in the mind of heaven.
JAP Well, I remember the very fine book we have, called “The Abundance of the Seas”, and believe this scripture came into it. Is there something positive in the sea now?
JT Quite so. We come to the idea of the sea; it is one of the features of the book; we have the idea of the abundance of the seas, what the sea will yield, what the sea itself may yield to us, or them.
JT It says, “And he went out again by the sea, and all the crowd came to him, and he taught them”. “He taught them”, that is a thing to be noted. And then again, “And passing by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-office, and he says to him, ‘Follow me’”.
And the next thing is, “And he rose up and [p. 75] followed him. And it came to pass as he lay at table in his house”. Again, “In his house”, notice the house, as it were, objectively in the Lord’s mind. “As he lay at table”, not simply lay at table, but lay at table in his house, that many tax-gatherers and sinners lay at table with Jesus and his disciples; for they were many, and they followed him. And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing him eating with sinners and tax-gatherers said to his disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax-gatherers and sinners?” And Jesus having heard it says to them, “They that are strong have not need of a physician, but those who are ill. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners”. Now this is another principle established in another section of this chapter. He had not come to call righteous people, but sinners. It is a time for calling sinners.
PA Levi never reasoned at all in his heart when the Lord spoke to him to follow Him. He obeyed from the heart but the Pharisees never did do anything but reason and argue against the Lord. It is a great thing to be on the side of Levi.
GHMacP What is in your mind about calling sinners?
JT The Lord is seeking out sinners, He is come to call sinners. That is to say the gospel is the means by which sinners are to be called, the idea of grace is attached to it, grace is attached to it. “For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and [p. 76] this not of yourselves; it is God’s gift”,Ephesians 2:8. It is to bring out what God is doing in grace at the present time.
LHB Is this matter of service being extended now in Levi’s house? Extended from the Lord now to Levi and his house. The matter of service now is coming up in connection with Levi’s house.
JT It is extended to Levi’s house. Well, that is good. The thing is fully stated because it says: “And it came to pass as he lay at table in his house”, which is Levi’s, “that many tax-gatherers and sinners lay at table with Jesus”. So that the whole matter of the dispensation is being extended in this house, which is a great matter, the extension of the work of God in this sense. And then it says there were tax-gatherers, persons who gathered taxes, and sinners. They were bad company really, the tax-gatherers are not good company, but then the sinners are there too. It was a general opportunity for gospel testimony, and so the Lord is leading on in it because there were tax-gatherers and sinners who lay at table with him, “With Jesus and his disciples; for they were many, and they followed him”. The Lord was not afraid to let them come in and have part at the meal. The Lord did not fear the number of them. If they were to be entertained, He was not afraid of it. They would come in, and the Lord was there to help them spiritually as well as to feed them.
AEM Is there not a suggestion as to where [p. 77] to begin to work? Levi was a tax-gatherer, evidently able to invite or attract tax-gatherers?
JT Just so. And they were under reproach.
We might finish the thought in verses thirteen to the end of seventeen before we have to break up. The scribes and Pharisees come in again as opposers, and they complain because the Lord is eating with sinners and tax-gatherers, and said to His disciples, “Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax-gatherers and sinners?” The Lord comes in with His answer. “And Jesus having heard it says to them, they that are strong have not need of a physician, but those who are ill. I have not come to call righteous men, but sinners”. That is the finish of that section.
And then again we have, “And the disciples of John and the Pharisees were fasting; and they come and say to him, why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said to them, can the sons of the Bridechamber fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But days will come when the bridegroom shall have been taken away from them, and then shall they fast in that day”. And then, “No one sews a patch of new cloth on an old garment; otherwise its new filling-up takes from the old stuff, and there is a worse rent. And no one puts new wine into old skins; otherwise the wine bursts the skins, and the wine is poured out, and the skins will be destroyed; but new wine is to be put into new skins”. Now these are all very good instructive thoughts, and I thought we might just finish with this section before we proceed with the third chapter in the afternoon.
W McK. Is the liberty of the disciples a leading matter in this section? The Lord is at home and the disciples are to share in the liberty that would afford. And the Lord defends that, does He not?
JT Yes, well what else have you to say?
WMcK Well, I was wondering if the idea of the Lord being at home does not afford us peculiar liberty in relation to the truth, and in relation to our sitting together as we are now, and the Lord would maintain that for us.
JT Quite so, the Lord would defend it.
JWF Does not the matter of sympathy with what the Lord is doing run through the chapter? That is, first of all in the four men that brought the paralytic, and then in Levi, and then in those that are called sons of the bridegroom, and later on in the last section?
JT We will get on to the end of the chapter, to the further thought because we have a further thought after verse 22. The 23rd verse, “And it came to pass that he went on the sabbath through the cornfields”. Now what have you got to say about the cornfields?
JWF Our brother mentioned that as the liberty the disciples had while the Lord was with them.
JT Very good. We should finish with verse 23, “And it came to pass that he went on the sabbath through the cornfields; and his disciples began to walk on, plucking the ears. And the Pharisees said to him, behold, why do they on the sabbath what is not lawful? And he said to them, have ye never read what David did when he had need and hungered, he and those with him, how he entered into the house of God, in the section of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the shewbread, which is not lawful unless for the priests to eat, and gave even to those that were with him? And he said to them, the sabbath was made on account of man, not man on account of the sabbath; so that the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath also”. Now I wonder if the brethren follow all that is to be said in this section before we close.
ACSP The Lord is bringing in an order of liberty that had never been known before, and He is going to defend it against all comers.
JT Very good, the question of liberty.
WP Is the dignity of man asserted? “The sabbath was made on account of man”. The Lord is asserting that now.
JT Quite so, a very good thought.
DMH Does this forbid the idea of legality in connection with the sabbath?
JT Quite so, the Pharisees are full of that, you know. But the Lord would set all that aside. He was introducing a new order of things which would be marked by liberty.