MY SERVANT
[p. 39] MY SERVANT
Mark 11:11-18; Mark 11:27; Mark 12:41-44; Mark 14:1-3
This gospel presents the Lord as the Servant. It had been announced, “Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth!” (Isaiah 42: 1). This service of God was not an afterthought; it was not an emergency movement arising out of local conditions; it was a service long designed. The One to whom it referred, who should take it up here, is found in relation to many things in connection with the service, so that the gospel of Mark becomes a book of special importance to all those who would serve the Lord. All of us are called upon to serve, for, as you will remember, the Levites were taken account of from infancy, held for service from a month old and upward, so that no believer is immune. “But to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4: 7).
But there are those to whom special commissions are given, and the Lord would have such pay special attention to this remarkable record of His service, written by one who himself was called into the service and went back from the work, but was restored, and who in his recovery was much more wealthy spiritually than he was before his declension. And so the Spirit of God has in Mark a vessel who had great appreciation not only of service but of service rightly performed. It was one of the marks of the assembly at Sardis that its works were not complete; whereas the Lord finishes His work, as He says elsewhere, “My food is that I should do the will of him that has sent me, and that I should finish his work” (John 4: 34).
What I want to point out is that this perfect Servant is presented at the end as carrying on His service in the midst of an apostate state of things. He was not exposed to the same opposition in Galilee.
[p. 40] Opposition indeed there was everywhere, but in Jerusalem it was concentrated. Satan had long watched that city. It was the city of the great King from the time that David took it; it was the chief centre of God upon the earth, and Satan had watched it throughout the entire period and had succeeded in establishing his opposition to the truth — his opposition to God — in that city as in no other spot on the earth. Terrible consideration! And now the King Himself is there. He has entered, and on His entry He is accorded, by the Father’s appointment, a greeting that was due to Him.
While on the way a blind man had struck a note that was due to His Person, which note was taken up later at Olivet and Bethany, but the reception accorded to Him there in no way indicated an underlying condition of sympathy in the city. It was far otherwise, for, as I said, Satan had for a long time established opposition there against God, against His anointed, against the truth, and against the saints, that could be found nowhere else, and so what we have to consider is not the power vested in Christ, although it was there, but the perfection of His service in such conditions. You will understand that in saying these things I have in view that our service is to be carried on under like conditions. The enemy has succeeded in establishing an opposition, exceeding all that ever preceded it, in those who were nominally subject to Christ, but whose hearts, alas! were far away, and so eve may with interest take account of His wonderful way during the few days that remained to Him for the completion of the service committed to Him.
What I would impress is that special devotedness and special affection are called for. In the narratives we have read you get individual devotedness; that is, persons acting apart from others. The Holy Spirit is operating and He is sure to produce, in spite of the [p. 41] most inveterate opposition, individual attachment to Christ. That is the point I would endeavour, with the Lord’s help, to dwell upon. In an apostate state of things what counts particularly is individual attachment to Christ and devotedness to Christ. It is incumbent on me to befriend Him; He has befriended me, as the apostle says, He “has loved me”. I do not know anything that speaks so loudly to the believer: He “has loved me and given himself for me” (Galatians 2: 20). I was in His mind then; that is what the apostle would emphasise in speaking in the past tense. Wonderful fact! I was in His heart when He died. Think of that! Is He in my heart? The occasion calls for individual attachment and devotedness (whatever others do) to Christ and His interests. The apostle indeed had such a sense of the lovableness of Christ (if you will understand the word, for He is, in language well known to us, “Altogether lovely”) that he says, “If any one love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16: 22), as if a non-lover of Christ deserved nothing less. Such a sense had he of what was due to Christ from the hearts of His people that any one who was a non-lover should be accursed.
Now there are in the Old Testament remarkable examples for us. I speak for the moment of the need of lovers of Christ, and as lovers of Christ of those who devote themselves to His interests whatever others do; not that we shall ever be alone as lovers of Him, but I must love Christ. We have in Hiram, king of Tyre, one who was “ever a lover of David”, but then, of necessity, he was a lover at a distance, for he did not live with David, but the Spirit of God records for us that there was one man, although not related to him, who was ever a lover of David. He was a lover of David, I apprehend, in the way of admiration; he admired David. Now one would value such a love as that, but the Lord looks for [p. 42] nearness. He looks for those who think of Him and His house. In one like Mephibosheth you have a lover of David as under reproach. It is one thing to love a royal personage, but it is another thing to love him when he is rejected and under reproach and when to love him brings reproach upon oneself. I do not suppose there was a man in the whole of Jerusalem less understood than Mephibosheth. The more ardently you love Christ, the less you will be understood; I am as certain of that as anything.
The apostle in writing to the Corinthians plainly intimates that they did not understand him; they assumed he was a prevaricator, and yet he says, “If even in abundantly loving you I should be less loved” (2 Corinthians 12: 15). He was an ardent lover of Christ, notwithstanding he was in reproach, and he was an ardent lover of the Corinthians. We have to be prepared for that, but love we must.
I take it that Mephibosheth was the least understood man in the whole realm of David; the king himself misunderstood him, and in that David was in no way a type of Christ, for he said to Mephibosheth, “Why speakest thou any more of thy matters?” (2 Samuel 19: 29). What matters? David was far below his great antitype in that remark. But Mephibosheth answers, “Let him even take all, since my lord the king is come again in peace to his own house” (verse 30). There was a lover; a lame man, a man of little account to anybody, but there was a treasure in his heart and it is that treasure the Lord values. It may be seen in one unable to move from a bed or to take up public service, but yet a lover of Christ.
Now in this section we find two remarkable cases. The one a widow, whose name is not given, and the other a poor woman, and what she did is to be mentioned while the gospel days last. The Lord, it says, “sat over against the treasury”, and this leads me to refer to the two passages in chapter 11, that is to [p. 43] say, we are in an apostate state of things, and the Lord is carrying on His service; He does not give up; the service goes on, and these passages show us how He serves in spite of the awful pressure of opposition. Let us not ignore the pressure, but in recognising it let us not lower the standard; let us be on our guard against going to the Philistines. The gospel of Mark would save us from any such movement. The service, and the way of it, are important to God. He could send angels down here to serve Him, but He takes up failing men and women and He works in them His perfect way. Service is not only to be rendered, but it is to be rendered well.
And now He goes to the temple. It is not here the shrine, but the general structure in which God was known and approached, and He looks round. Now, beloved, let us note this: “He looked round about upon all things”. It is not only all persons but all things. There is not a thing in Christendom that He does not take account of. The things are doubtless attached to persons. Some of the things are of ancient origin. The lives of persons are comparatively short, but the existence of things may be very long. There are things that in themselves are positively wicked, but yet men are held by them and venerate them because of their antiquity; they are of the authority of darkness. Is the Lord indifferent to them? He beholds them. He looked round on all things. From the time of their leaving first love in Ephesus until the establishment of idolatry in Thyatira, the Lord has taken account of everything; not only of the persons who are responsible but of the things. There were those who taught the doctrine and then there was the doctrine itself; there were the idol sacrifices; there were “the depths of Satan”. All these things come under his eye. “He looked round on all things”. I would call special attention to this, because there is not a thing, ancient or modern, that is contrary to [p. 44] the truth, that the Lord is not taking account of. The modern things are dreadful. The Lord knows how to fix the responsibility, but we are responsible for pursuing things that others have inaugurated. What Jeroboam set up in Israel was taken up by others. The Lord knew how to deal with Jeroboam, but those who followed him were also responsible. The accumulation of things that men have inaugurated in the name of Christ is appalling; they are the means by which Satan holds men in darkness. The Lord is taking account of it all, and He has the means of dealing with these things.
On His next visit to the temple the following morning (these visits have a spiritual meaning) He deals in authority with these things and the persons responsible, and hence how serious it is for a believer to be found in the recognition of any of the things with which the Lord is dealing, or will deal with, in His power. Where shall I be then? We read here that merchandise and dove sellers were in the temple, and that packages were being brought through, but he “suffered not that any one should carry any package through the temple” (verse 16).
Now is there any one of us who is associated with things that are positively contrary to Scripture, contrary to the Spirit and contrary to the truth? The Lord will effectually deal with all these things, as He says here, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations, but ye have made it a den of robbers”. He is yet dealing with the house (thank God for that); the house exists, but what about the things that are tolerated? I do urgently appeal to any who are in any way revering or recognising the things God will have to deal with, and is dealing with, in judgment.
On His third visit to the temple (verse 27) you will see that He has effectively cleared the house, so that now He is walking in the temple — “They come again [p. 45] to Jerusalem. And as he walked about in the temple”. That is what the believer wants. We wish conditions to be such that the Lord will walk in the midst of us, and in walking there He is now prepared to answer questions; although asked by opponents yet He is prepared to answer them. A remarkable situation for the people of God; He has effectually cleared the way for it. He is serving in the midst of an apostate condition of things; but He has cleared the way, so that He can walk and answer questions. What a wonderful result of the service of God!
In the second epistle to the Corinthians the apostle brings forward the truth of the temple. In the first epistle He spoke of them as God’s temple, but in the second epistle he says, “Ye are the living God’s temple” (2 Corinthians 6: 16). What does that mean? It means that God will have a living state of things. If He is the living God, He will have a living state of things in His temple, as it is written, “I will dwell among them and walk among them”. God dwells, beloved, in a living state of things. His praise is from those who live, as -Hezekiah says, and He walks in the midst of a living people. I apprehend that He dwells among us as we are assembled together and made to live of Christ, quickened together with Christ; brought to God in living affection. “He that abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4: 16). God finds His joy in a living people.
But there is not only the dwelling, there is also the walking, and I know of nothing in a way that is more searching than the divine walking. God walked in the garden, as you will remember, in the cool of the day, having regard to Adam (the heat would not have affected God, but it would Adam). But Adam was hiding. God walks amongst us. He would seek us out in our houses and in our businesses; the principle of life necessarily enters into every phase of the believer’s walk down here, for everything is on [p. 46] the principle of faith; where faith is spiritual life is. Hence, if God “walks” into my business He looks for it to be carried out on the principle of faith, not on the principles of this world; and if He walks into my house He looks for principles different from Midianitish principles. The Midianites were a social people, they had goodly houses. God looks for principles that govern His house in our houses.
He came to Abraham; three men came to Abraham; (Genesis 18: 2). It was a wonderful honour; they are not called angels there; those that went to Sodom were called angels. God drew near to Abraham as he sat in his tent, and He was actually detained by Abraham. He accepted an invitation, for Abraham, it says, talked with them and put food before them. God is walking amongst us; He sees not only what I am on the first day of the week, but what I am on Monday; how does God find me then?
On the third visit of the Lord He walks in the temple and answers questions. I suppose we might rightly say that He could not answer questions with the din of the dove sellers, package carriers and money changers. He would drive out all these persons and things so that He might walk and answer questions. It is a wonderful thing that the questions can be answered whoever may ask them; He is ready to answer questions. I think we have proved that. God has shown us something about His house and what becomes it, so that we may find the Lord walking there and answering questions. Wonderful answers came, and there is no question you may have that He cannot answer. You will remember how the queen of Sheba had questions. There are questions pressed upon us all, and He is prepared to answer them.
I wish to go back for a moment to individual love for Christ in this state of things. It is of enormous import. The Lord sat over against the treasury;
[p. 47] the treasury of God is to be noted. The book of Chronicles speaks much of things that were dedicated; there were treasures. Now here we find the Lord Himself looking on to see what is to be dedicated. What have I cast into the treasury of God? What have I contributed? These are questions, beloved brethren, which should come to us. Here is one bereft of her husband — she is a widow — she has a poor living, but the Lord sees her cast it all in. Is He not worthy? Is the treasury of God not worthy of our all? God looks for contributions, and really what is most important to God is the person. The Lord took note of what had been cast in. He was sitting over against the treasury to take note of what was being dedicated.
Then He is in a house in chapter 14, two days before He died (before the passover) — not six days, as in John — and the atmosphere around Him is that of murder, and this woman comes forward with a box of ointment. I only refer to it for a moment so that we might see the setting of individual devotedness to Christ. The end of every dispensation brings out the power of evil against what is set forth in it, and here it was set forth in Himself; He was the Vessel of it, and that is what the anointing means, I apprehend, in this gospel. In Luke and John it is His feet that are anointed. The one sees Christ coming in (that is Luke), carrying the grace of God, but in John the woman sees Him going out in the right of His own Person; His feet are carrying Him out; no one could take His life from Him, but He is going to die.
In Matthew and Mark He is the Vessel of the testimony, and love ever thinks of that, so that the woman anoints His head, and He says, She has come to anoint My body in view of My burial. In each of these instances there is spiritual intelligence; if she anoints His head she anoints His body. It is as if [p. 48] she said, I am with you in sympathy in all that you represent. Every thought of God was there in that blessed Man; the law was in His heart; everything that God had ever cherished was there, and she pours the ointment upon His head. He is worthy of it; He is the Christ, the One who was everything for God, and so this remarkable lover, this devoted woman, is to be remembered wherever the gospel is preached. What wonderful dignity and honour that she should be thus remembered.
Well, dear brethren, we are in a very serious time we are at the end, and the Lord would call for special devotedness from us, whatever others may do. We are obligated to pursue the way as lovers, as the two persons we have been considering specially suggest to us. May the Lord grant it!