THE LORD LOOKING ROUND
[p. 192] THE LORD LOOKING ROUND
Mark 3:5; Mark 11:11; Mark 3:31 - 35
I was thinking, dear brethren, of the action of the Lord spoken of in these three passages, of looking round.
We also have in the Scriptures mention of His turning round, one notable instance being the sorrowful moment when He stood before the high priest and Simon Peter denied Him. As the cock crew, it is said by Luke, the Lord turned round and looked at Peter (Luke 22:61). If it were merely the fact that He looked at him, the action of turning round need not have been mentioned, but the action denotes the great interest which the Lord had in an erring one, even in that supreme moment of sorrow in which there was before Him the most intense suffering, well known to Him in anticipation, and which would necessarily occupy Him. It had, indeed, as we know, occupied Him as recorded earlier, for He prayed with the deepest earnestness and intentness in regard to the cup that He was about to drink. It had not left His mind as a passing matter; it was a supreme matter that entered into that moment, that governed that moment, and never was lost sight of by the Lord, and yet we are told that He turned round to look at Peter, at an erring follower or disciple! And the movement and the look brought about the desired end. In the Lord’s account it was well worth while to turn aside, as it were, from what was so intense in His spirit, and look on an erring disciple. Such is the restoring grace of the Lord. He is always a Man of great affairs. Joseph represents Christ as a man of great affairs, occupied all day; he came in at noon to dine. There were twelve hours in the day, and he filled them out, and so with the Lord, He was always a man of great business. We read of Him “upholding all things by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3), but [p. 193] now particularly occupied in the supervision, superintendence, protection and support of the testimony here involving the assembly. But He is always ready to turn aside and look upon an erring one. It may be there is such a one here. The Lord would turn aside to look on you. It brought about the desired end in Peter’s case for, we are told, he went out and wept bitterly.
We have other instances too, beloved, of the Lord’s movements in the way of turning, movements which fit in even at this very minute. Luke again tells us that He turned towards His disciples, having spoken to His Father (Luke 10:23). In John’s gospel He spoke to the disciples in chapters 13, 14, 15 and 16, every word and sentence being full of affection and holy significance, and then He turned His eyes toward heaven. He lifted up His eyes to heaven, having spoken these things to them, having opened up His heart and communicated to them what was there for them, indicating the place they had there, for they were on the breastplate. You will remember that the saints are, figuratively, according to their birth, on the shoulders of the high priest, and tribally on the breastplate. The Lord records us according to our birth, according to our generation, in the order of it, and then He records us as set in relation to one another according to counsel, not Reuben first, but Judah first. That is how the saints are on the breastplate. They are there in their tribal relations, and it is in that character, I believe, they are on the Lord’s heart as He lifts up His eyes to the Father in heaven. He “lifted up His eyes to heaven”, John 17:1. With what delight the Father’s eyes met those of the Son as they were thus lifted up, beloved! What a scene, what a spectacle for the Father! “Father”, He says, “The hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee”. That was after He had spoken to the [p. 194] disciples, but in Luke 10 He speaks to the Father, and then He turns towards the disciples. I think that is how matters stand. He is our Advocate with the Father, we are told; all our affairs are looked after up there, a very touching, encouraging and establishing fact, going even as far as sins. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father”, and who is He? “Jesus Christ the righteous”, 1 John 2:1. But if He looks towards the Father in that way, He looks towards us, and in Luke 10 it is to tell them that their eyes were blessed because of what they were seeing. The Lord thus would assure us that things are being presented to us that the most honoured servants in the Old Testament never saw. We are very slow to believe, dear brethren, the greatness of the moment, what is to be seen and heard. “Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”, Luke 10:23 He says, but it was as having turned towards them. Need I say that the Lord is toward us? That that holy, glorious countenance is towards us at this moment. It is an auspicious moment when the Lord would minister to us, not with His back to us, but with His face towards us. John in the Revelation tells us that he heard a voice behind him — not that John’s own attitude was out of order, for he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day — but he heard the voice behind him, as if to call him out of the region of his own privilege into the region of the government of God, so that John has to turn back. He turned to see the voice, we are told, showing how intimately in his mind the idea of the voice was connected with the Person. A person’s voice is really himself, in that sense. So that he turned to see the voice; a remarkable statement, but perfectly intelligible spiritually: “I turned back to see the voice which spoke with me”. Revelation 1:12 He turned back and saw, not a voice, surely, for that is not the thought — a voice is to be heard — but he turned and saw a Person, a glorious Person, indeed — [p. 195] in judicial habiliments, it is true, but nevertheless, he saw a Person.
In the three passages read, we have the Lord looking round, and in the first passage it is with anger, a very solemn consideration. It is a terrible thing to think of the anger of Jesus. He is very slow to anger; in this instance it was provoked, but not any more provoked than it is being provoked now in this world. Need being existent everywhere, the Lord is ready to heal, but there are those who stand between Him, or would stand between Him, and the objects of His compassion. That is the condition of what is called the profession of christianity. Men have established systems and rules, and these are bound up with prejudices and personal ambitions, so that they would shut out the Lord from the objects of His compassion. Here is a man with a withered hand, and the Lord would heal that withered hand. It is not, indeed, to be healed to be used for the building up of this world. No, the Lord will never heal a hand for that. If He heals a hand that is withered, beloved, He will heal it so that it may be employed in His service, and His service is free from the trammels of human religion. He will have it so. But here the Pharisees would stand between Him and this poor suffering man with the withered hand! Is that not how matters stand, beloved brethren, around us? and is it not a matter of importance that the man with the withered hand should be healed? Are we to allow this? Is this religious hindrance to be dominant, to be permanently so? Are we to sit still and do nothing? You remember how in the days of Ezra, the enemies of Judah and Benjamin would seek to co-operate with them, but the leaders of the people, Zerubbabel and Jeshua, said, No, we ourselves will build (Ezra 4:2,3). They refused loose principles, but in refusing loose principles, in refusing to allow others to co-operate with us in the service, we may cease to do anything, as it was with them.
[p. 196] They refused to co-operate with others, and rightly so, but then the work ceases, that is the solemn thing. It would be a question as to which is to be commended, co-operating with others or sitting down doing nothing! It says the people of the land weakened them, so that the work was hindered, and an order from the king comes in keeping with that, and the work ceases. Why should the work cease? Is God not able to support us in it? In the next chapter of Ezra we find that a like thing happens, but it says that the eye of their God was upon them, and the work did not cease, neither did the king order them to cease. If we have the heart for the work and the will to do it, we are not ordered to stop. So in the first instance the work stopped, but in the second instance the work did not stop, it was completed. The work was finished, and that is what God is at now, the finishing of the work. And so, I would ask, Are we to be sitting down maintaining exclusive principles, but sitting down doing nothing and letting the people of the land weaken us? On that line we shall get the king’s order so that there is nothing done. The work is stopped; there is no building, and yet their own houses were looked after, as Haggai tells us (Haggai 1:4).
The Lord takes the ground here in Mark 3 of dealing effectively with this attitude of the Pharisees; He looked round on them with anger! a most solemn thing for the current profession who interfere with the work of God, neither entering in themselves nor allowing others to enter in. That is the situation. The Lord looked round on them with anger. It was not as yet the time to execute the anger, but that would come, and so today He looks round with anger. Presently the anger — the wrath — will be executed. I am speaking now of what He does, He is looking round. Let no one assume that he escapes that holy eye of Christ. Whatever I am doing to interfere with the work of God is noticed by Him. Whatever I am doing to interfere with [p. 197] the relief of sufferers spiritually is noticed by Him. He resents it, He looks upon it with anger. But He was not stopped, beloved, He says to the man, “Stretch out thy hand”, and the man’s hand was made whole. He is to be used in the service, for that is the idea. If my withered hand is restored, it is to be used, and so the passage goes on to speak of the Lord calling to Himself His disciples on the mountain and making a selection from them. If I am not to get a special commission, I should like, at any rate, to be amongst those from whom the Lord picks; that in itself is a great thing, because He will not pass me by. He selected twelve, we are told, from certain others, but what about the others? Will they be neglected? No, the Lord will not neglect us, you may be sure of that. With a restored withered hand you will be used in due course. The exercise is good, and that restored withered hand will be employed by the Restorer of it. He needs it, as it says in the same gospel, “The Lord has need of it” Mark 11:3, that is, of the colt.
The next passage which I read, chapter 11, contemplates the temple, a word that has great significance. The Lord having arrived in Jerusalem, entered into the temple and He looked round on all things, not now persons, but things. No doubt the things stand related to persons, but there are things that the Lord takes account of. It would be my house, as an illustration. I may appear in the assembly and be intelligent, and take my part in it, but someone comes into my house and he sees things that are out of keeping. I do not bring them to the temple, I do not bring them to the assembly, no, they will not do there — they are things. But if I love them in my house, do I give up that love of them in the assembly? I am certain it is not so, and the Lord so regards it, too. He challenges us as to the things. The things are in the houses, but then it may be that they are in the assembly, or something like them. And so the [p. 198] Lord takes account, beloved, not only of our persons, but of the things. It says that He looked round on all things. And so it is in the profession viewed in another way. In chapter 3 it was the Pharisees, but now it is the temple in which the service of God was professedly carried on, but in what way? in connection with what? It is a fine thing to be able to put names, beloved brethren, on things. Sometimes things pass muster as fit for the service of God until some spiritual man comes and he puts a name on it. Now take the brazen serpent. It had a place religiously in Israel for hundreds of years. In Numbers 21 it is called the serpent of brass, and it was lifted up on a pole. It had a spiritual meaning then; anyone looking at it lived. As the Lord Himself says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, thus must the Son of man be lifted up”, John 3:14. That was what it meant in Numbers 21, “in the wilderness”. It is not only the thing, but the place in which it was lifted up. But now, hundreds of years afterwards, a spiritual man comes up, Hezekiah, and he finds it an object of veneration. No mention is made of it by Samuel, David, Solomon and others, as if the great servants had left it unnoticed. That often happens, that things are left unnoticed, things that are wrong, until someone comes and names the thing, and so it is that Hezekiah, amongst other things he did in dealing with evil in the kingdom, calls it Nehushtan, meaning ‘brass’ 2 Kings 18:4, and breaks it in pieces. It is just a piece of material, he says, and you are worshipping it! He puts a name on it; he does not call it a serpent of brass (that was a spiritual thought — “lifted up”) it had ceased to be that, it was a piece of brass which had acquired a place of worship. How much of that is abroad in christendom, and the Lord looks round on all this; He sees all these things. He sees the celebration of the Mass as a ceremony — He sees that constantly,
[p. 199] and other abominations in that system, and in the systems of this country, too. How the drift is towards idolatry! The Lord is looking round at that. That is to say, His eye scans the whole area of christendom, and He sees what is there, and if you were to ask Him, He would give you a name for everything.
In Revelation He not only looks round, but He walks round. He “walks in the midst of the seven golden lamps” Revelation 2:1, and then we learn what He says about the churches. They all come under view, and He says to one, “I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love”, Revelation 2:4 and to another, “I have against thee that thou permittest the woman Jezebel”, Revelation 2:20 to another, “I have not found thy works complete before my God”, Revelation 3:2 and so forth. He looks round and names things. A most important thing for us to name things, and not to misname them, not to call evil good, and good evil. One of the greatest needs among the brethren is the ability to discern, having our senses exercised, as it is said, for distinguishing both good and evil, because sometimes the good seems to be evil, and the evil seems to be good, and why is that? Because of bad eyesight! — no ability to distinguish between good and evil.
Well, the Lord looked round on all things in Mark 11; He made no comments yet, but He went out to Bethany with the twelve. They were not to stay there, any more than He. It is a good many years ago that the Lord left with the twelve, so to speak — I mean those movements involving the great recovery that we are benefiting from now. In the very beginning of christianity He left with the twelve. God was wonderfully patient with Israel, but in due course He left that system with the twelve, He brought the twelve with Him. What did that mean? It meant that if He was leaving one system, He had means of establishing another. He has the means by [p. 200] Him of establishing another system. In the meantime He goes out to Bethany with the twelve. Doubtless they had a good time that night. One would love to have been there at Bethany that evening with the Lord and the twelve! It is nice to get among the brethren when they are taken up with the interests of Christ. But remember it must be in the character of the twelve, and not on partisan lines. We may come together and deal with matters and seem to be settling things, but on partisan lines — that is not the twelve. The twelve are no party, they are an administrative company in love that the Lord can use at His pleasure — that is the principle. He went out with the twelve to Bethany. Bethany was the place of holy communion; there was liberty there. The Lord opens up His heart in that town without any fear of being betrayed. It was the place of affection and confidence, a resort to which He could go at any time. It was the contrast between the state of things in Jerusalem and the communion and liberty of love. Jerusalem was hostile, and so was the temple, but He had rights in it, He could look round there as the Owner of it — it was the temple of God. He had rights in it, and so He has today, He has rights. But after looking round on all things, He goes out to Bethany with the twelve. Now what I would press, beloved, is to get into the idea of the twelve, to belong to those whom the Lord can use in His wisdom at His pleasure, so that I am available to Him, not only in an abstract subject way, but in love — I do it gracefully, I grace the service by the way in which I do it. That is the idea.
Now the third passage read, at the end of chapter 3, contemplates saints here in a world of lawlessness, where people do and say just what they wish to do and say. There is no restraint. Today nominal ministers of Christ will say almost anything against Him. In this chapter even His relatives say He is out of [p. 201] His mind! Think of that awful thing to say about Jesus — He is out of His mind! You say no one would say that today, but do you not think that the religious judgment of some of us who follow Him is that we are out of our minds? I think it is. They think our position is absolutely absurd. “He is out of his mind”, and that is said by His relatives! Then there are others in this chapter who came down from Jerusalem and they represent what I have been speaking of, the great established religious system, and they say that He does these wonderful things by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons! What an awful thing to say! But are there not such things being said now? Yes, there are, and by ministers of the truth of the gospel, as they are called. Blasphemous things are being said about Jesus, as if people can say what they wish, what they feel like saying. But in the midst of that the Lord chooses the twelve, He selects them out from the others. I can say: ‘You know why You are not selecting me, and I am with You in it’. But He does not leave me out; any one who speaks like that, He will not leave out, but He is selecting the twelve according to His purpose. It is in His wisdom, and it is surely due to Him to leave Him a free hand in His wisdom to choose whom He pleases, and that is what He does. He sends them out to preach. And then these people come down from Jerusalem and say He is casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of the demons! Terrible word! And the Lord speaks one of the most solemn words that the Scriptures record, that there is no forgiveness to those who speak against the Holy Spirit — and that is what they were doing, they were attributing to a demon the action of the Spirit!
Well, the Lord has got the twelve. He is there, and the twelve are there, and also persons much more numerous than the twelve who are doing the will of God. For if I am not selected specially, it is [p. 202] my privilege to do the will of God. There were a great number of them here sitting around the Lord; that is what, I trust, we are doing now, and the Lord would, as it were, stretch out His hand and look around on us in a circuit, and He would say, “Behold my mother and my brethren!”. Is it not lovely, is it not delightful to think of the Lord looking on us as sitting around Him? Casting to the wind all this opposition, and sitting around Him whom men so slandered and accused. That is what marks this moment, people who overcome all this opposition which is abroad, all this darkness, and find their way to Jesus, to His Name, and sit around Him. It was delightful to Him as He looked around in a circuit on those who were sitting around Him, and He says, “Behold my mother and my brethren”. Then He adds to this, as you will notice, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. That is to say, He establishes a relationship here that is to go through into eternity! It is not a relationship that is to be abrogated by any circumstances whatever. Those who do the will of God, they are in relationship with Christ, and they abide, as John says, for eternity. As we get in Ephesians, “The good pleasure of his will”, Ephesians 1:5 “The mystery of his will”, Ephesians 1:9 and “The counsel of his own will”; Ephesians 1:11 all these things enter into it. We go through into eternity, and we abide in this blessed position with Christ, we are His brethren.
May the Lord bless the word to us.