THE LORD LOOKING ROUND

M. Pavlik

Mark 3: 31–35; 5: 25–34; 11: 11

What I have especially in mind in these scriptures is the idea of the Lord looking round, or round about. The word which is so translated in Mr. Darby’s translation is characteristic of Mark’s gospel; you find it elsewhere in the New Testament just once, and I think six times in Mark. These passages show us the Lord’s interest in things; interest in what He had before Him. In the first instance we have His mother and His brethren coming to Him, and when they tell Him about it. He answered saying, “Who is my mother or my brethren? And looking around in a circuit at those that were sitting around him, he says, Behold my mother and my brethren—for whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. I think Mark’s gospel has some particular features, and one of them is that Mark is very concerned about the danger of natural relationships interfering with the spiritual relationships.

Mark himself had had a very painful experience as we know, and so we can trace in his gospel some indications that he thought very much of that, and emphasized the danger of these natural relationships interfering with the Lord’s claims. Indeed Mark is the only one of the evangelists who tells us why it was that the mother and the brethren of the Lord Jesus came to see Him. It says previously in verse 21, “And his relatives having heard of it went out to lay hold on him, for they said, He is out of his mind”. The Lord speaks in Matthew about a prophet being not without honour unless in his country and in his house, but Mark adds to this, “and among his kinsmen”. It is a particular feature of Mark’s gospel that he emphasizes that.

So we have the Lord looking round on those who were sitting around Him. There is in this account of

Mark’s the very affectionate interest of the Lord Jesus in those who are sitting around Him, not only the disciples. It is another feature of Mark’s gospel that he widens the circle of those that hear the word of the Lord. When the Lord Jesus was telling the parable of the sower, Matthew tells us that His disciples came to Him and asked about the parable of the darnel; but Mark says that the persons who were about Him with the twelve asked Him about the parables. Matthew in the similar passage speaks of the Lord stretching out His hand to the disciples (see Matthew 12: 49), the stress is on His disciples, but Mark refers to “those that were sitting around him”. Mark is widening the circle of those who are interested in the words of the Lord Jesus. I think he helps us to widen our hearts to embrace all believers and to understand the thought of God about the whole assembly; not only those few that we are able to walk with in fellowship, but also those that are His. The Lord knows those that are His, and it is our privilege to love them. When we see the loaf on the table on Lord’s day morning we can think of the whole assembly.

So Mark helps us as to this, and shows us that there were not only twelve disciples who were following the Lord but there were also others, who were hearing the word of God through the mouth of the Lord Jesus. And so the Lord Jesus looks around on them. It is surely very affectionate, and very pleasant and enjoyable to those who were sitting in the circle. The Lord finds pleasure in everybody who hears His word and is willing to do it. And so he says,

“Behold my mother and my brethren—for whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. This is a moral relation with the Lord Jesus. It is one thing to be His brethren as all of one as the epistle to the Hebrews tells us, “For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”

(Hebrews 2: 11); but there is another thing, a moral relationship, moral kinship with the Lord Jesus. He was the Man who was always doing the will of God, and those who are like Him in doing the will of God are recognized by Him as His brethren. It is a wonderful privilege to be counted among the brethren of the Lord, as being one with Him, all of one, but let us also be among those of whom the Lord could say, “whosoever shall do the will of God, he is my brother, and sister, and mother”. It is a great and wonderful moral relationship.

The account about the woman in Mark 5 is to be found also in Luke, and again there are some special features which we find in Mark’s gospel. I often think about this woman; her condition was very painful, she had been suffering twelve years under a sickness, which rendered her unclean. We find in the book of Leviticus that the woman was unclean in such a condition and whatsoever she touched was unclean. So she was practically excluded from the fellowship, from the community of the people of God; and if all that she touched was unclean, we can understand that she feared to confess that she had touched the Lord’s garment. But she knew that she could do that, because it was impossible that He would be rendered unclean; and she said, “If I shall touch but his clothes I shall be healed”. Inward holiness, power which was intrinsic in the Lord Jesus, was the subject of the faith of the woman. So she did what surely every scribe and Pharisee would strictly condemn, touching anybody or anything; she did it secretly because she feared, but she did it. Then let us see what it says here in Mark about the Lord looking round to find her. Only Mark tells us this fact that the Lord was looking round to find this woman who was precious in His eyes, who had faith in Him, who had such an appreciation of Him, who had an understanding of the greatness of His Person. The Lord was longing to see her, and therefore He was looking round. These people would be the subject of the Lord’s searching, but seeking eyes; He looks round and seeks everybody who is precious to His heart. I am always affected when I read the verse where the Lord Jesus says, “and ye now therefore have grief; but I will see you again” (John 16: 22); not that you will see Me again, of course we shall see Him, and that will be a great joy for our hearts, but what a joy for the heart of the Lord Jesus when He will see His dear saints again. “I will see you again”, said the Lord Jesus, “and your heart shall rejoice”.

So He looked for this woman, who was so precious to His heart. She came and confessed all to Him. What a wonderful testimony! The power which was in the Person of the Lord Jesus had made her clean. O, let us have this powerful faith in the Person of the Lord Jesus. He is the Almighty; He is the Holy One of God, and in Him, and only in Him, is there healing power. If somebody here is not yet His, if somebody has not found Him as the One who is able to cleanse and to heal every disease of spirit, come to Him, trust Him, believe in Him, as the One who is the only Saviour, the only Redeemer. In Him only is life; in Him is salvation; in Him is all that we need for our salvation. Let us seek Him, and He will surely answer. Only this touch of the trembling hand of the woman brought His healing power into action, and He felt it in His body. The Lord was wanting to see her. What a wonderful thing to be a subject for the Lord’s enjoyment!

Then it is only Mark again who tells us that the Lord Jesus, when He came to Jerusalem on that remarkable day, came into the temple, and looked round on all things. The other gospel writers tell us that on the following day He went to the temple, and put out all those who sold and bought in the temple; but only Mark tells us that the day before He went into the temple and had a look round. What did He see there? He would see many things which were not right, many things which were not according to the thoughts of God, many things which were not comely. We do not get details here, but that He was looking round on all things. I think, dear brethren, it brings us a solemn thought, that the Lord is looking round in our midst always, in every meeting; He is looking round in our localities, and in our ways also, but I have specially in mind our meetings, our localities. He is coming and looking round. I think it is like what we find in the opening chapters of Revelation. The Lord scrutinizes the conditions of the localities. In every one of those seven letters we have the words “I know”. He knows all that is there. He knows of course because He is omnipresent, but He knows because He is looking round. So let us be aware ourselves of the scrutinizing eyes of this wonderful Person, who is Head of the assembly. He appears in judicial garb and looks round. His eyes are like a flame of fire. Is there anything which He would not agree with? If there is, let us remove it or depart from it, for His eye is scrutinizing and He is looking into our hearts, and into all our relationships with one another. As it says in the epistle to the Hebrews, “all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do”, Hebrews 4: 13.

Let us take this to our hearts that we are under the scrutinizing eye of the Lord and He is looking round on all things. Be they what they may, let us willingly expose our faults to His scrutinizing eye. Let us bring into order whatever may not be according to His will. He rejoices in finding persons who are bringing joy to His heart. Then as we read in the epistle to the Corinthians, “let all things ye do be done in love”, 1 Corinthians 16: 14. Where what is of Himself is prevailing. His eye will find things to His pleasure and for His joy. Let us be aiming at that, so that He would be pleased with the gatherings of His saints, so that He would have joy in His heart, and may there be corresponding joy in our hearts in bringing Him the true response of love for His heart. For His name’s sake.

Address at Buckie
28 September 1991