THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MARK. COMMENTARY. TITLE. SAINT MARK.-No mention of St. Mark is found in the Gospels. He is first named in Acts xii, where we read that St. Peter, after his miraculous escape from prison, "came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together "praying." From this we gather: 1. that St. Mark's home was in Jerusalem, so that he may have had opportunities of seeing and hearing part of what he relates, though whether as a believer or not at the time we cannot tell: 2. that his mother was a woman of some importance, at least among the Christians, who assembled for prayer at her house. St. Mark's mother was sister to St. Barnabas (Col. iv. 10.). St. Mark himself was converted to Christianity by St. Peter, who calls him "Marcus my son" (1 St. Peter v. 13.). He started with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (his uncle) upon their first missionary journey, and visited with them the island of Cyprus, with which his family was connected (Acts iv. 36.), but on reaching Asia Minor, "John" (compare Acts xv. 37, 38.), "departing from them, returned "to Jerusalem" (Acts xiii. 13.). This was the cause of a dispute and separation between the two Apostles on their planning a second missionary journey, St. Barnabas naturally wishing to take his nephew with him, but St. Paul not thinking it good to do so, on account of his having so soon deserted them on the former journey. Thus the uncle and nephew left St. Paul's company, and together revisited Cyprus. After this we have only the short and scattered, but deeply interesting, notices of the Evangelist which occur in the Epistles. These are three only. 1. He is found to be with St. Paul in his first imprisonment in Rome, since he joins in the salutations to the Colossians (Col. iv. 10.), and to Philemon (Philem. 24.). (In the former of these two places St. Paul seems to allude to some distrust of him on the part of the Colossians, which may very well have been the result of the circumstances connected with his forsaking the work in Asia Minor.) 2. We next hear of him as being with St. Peter at Babylon, from which place that Apostle wrote his first epistle (1 St. Pet. v. 13.). 3. Lastly we find St. Paul, in his second imprisonment in Rome, anxious to have St. Mark with him (2 Tim. iv. 11.); and how entirely his feelings towards him had changed since the dispute with St. Barnabas is plain from the reason he gives for his wish"for he is profitable to me for the ministry." When we pass from Scripture to the witness of the early Church, we find that it was a universal belief that St. Mark was the companion of St. Peter's last years, and that he wrote his Gospel as a record of that Apostle's teaching, if not under his actual direction. There is less evidence as to the place of writing, though Rome, and Alexandria in Egypt, are both mentioned, the former probably because St. Peter is believed to have suffered martyrdom in Rome, and the latter because St. Mark is said in his later years to have presided over the Church of Alexandria as its first bishop. St. Mark wrote his Gospel in Greek. Its date is probably some time very shortly after that of St. Matthew's Gospel, and before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. St. Mark's Gospel was undoubtedly written chiefly for Gentile Christians, possibly (according to ancient tradition) for the use of the Church in Rome. It is remarkable for the absence of quotations from the Old Testament (though it opens with one), and for the explanation of Jewish words and customs. The Evangelist St. Mark appears to aim at a simple narrative of our Lord's life on earth. Beginning with confessing Him to be the "Son of God" (i. 1.), he thenceforth declares to us that Son of God as "manifest in the flesh." Thus we may take as a motto for this Gospel, St. Peter's description of our Lord,-" Jesus of Nazareth, "anointed by God with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went "about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, "for God was with Him" (Acts x. 38.). St. Mark's Gospel is very remarkable for the minuteness and vividness of its descriptions. Many little touches appear to come from the hand of an eye-witness, and we may very well suppose such to be due to the effect of St. Peter's frequent repetition of the scenes. Indeed, even if we suppose, as seems natural, much of St. Mark's Gospel to be drawn from the same sources as, if not founded upon, St. Matthew's, yet there are few portions which have not some new and striking feature added; and this Gospel accordingly possesses a descriptive vividness of style peculiarly its own. The Collect for St. Mark's Day. O ALMIGHTY God, who hast instructed Thy holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist Saint Mark; Give us grace, that, being not like children carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of Thy holy Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. CHAPTER I. A. D. 26. 30th Year of our 1 The office of John the Baptist. 9 Jesus is baptized, 12 tempted, 14 He preacheth: 16 calleth Peter, Andrew, James and John: 23 healeth one Lord's life. that had a deril, 29 Peter's mother in law, 32 many diseased persons, 41 and cleanseth the leper. THE THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Luke 7. 27. 2 as it is written in the prophets, b Behold, I send b Matt. 11. 10. My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee. Mal. 3. 1. с 23. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, John 1. 15, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.. Is. 40. 3. d 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach & John 3. 23. the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 2Or, unto. CHAPTER I. 1-8. St. John the Baptist. St. Matt. iii. 1-12. St. Luke iii. 1-18. 1. "The beginning of the gospel" &c. This verse seems to be a sort of opening title to what follows, like the first verse of St. Matthew. It would be better to put a full stop at the end of it. The stops are no part of the original Scriptures, but have been added in later times to make the sense clearer (See on ix. 1., and Note on iii. 19.). 2. "In the prophets." Malachi and Isaiah, for St. Mark here combines the two prophecies, which appear on separate occasions in the other Gospels. It is noted (See on Title) that St. Mark gives very few quotations from the Old Testament Scriptures, yet he opens his Gospel with these concerning St. John the Baptist, as though, once for all, to link the Old Testament on to the New, and show to his Gentile readers that the great things he is about to tell came to pass "as it is written." After this, he says little about the Old Testament, for the Gentile will not receive the New Testament through the Old, but will be led to the Old through the New. "Before Thee." It should be observed that although the prophecy is quoted in the Gospels as though spoken to Christ, in Malachi God speaks of Himself only. It is "before Me"-not "before Thee." The Evangelists, and our Lord Himself, constantly give rather the meaning of prophecies than the exact words; and here we see how completely they speak as though Christ and God are One. 4. "The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins." St. John's baptism was a pledge and sign and profession of repentance, and doubtless those who came to it as true penitents received the remission, or pardon, of their sins, of which it also was the sign. For the washing of water would fitly represent both the internal cleansing of the grace of repentance, and the external cleansing of the pardon of God. In |