Mark 10:13 Children welcomed to Christ. You will observe, that the attitude and the act were at one and the same moment, paternal and priestly. He took the children up in His arms as a father; while, as a high priest, "He put His hands upon them and blessed them." And so, we may say, is every act... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:15 I. The Holy Spirit, in this well-known passage of St. Mark's Gospel, offers to the minds of serious persons a very affecting instance of the Divine love and condescension. We are here taught, among other things, that our gracious Master regards with approbation any attempts, made in fait... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:16 The Child-like Mind. I. The childlike temper is nowise inconsistent with true manliness manliness both of the intellect and of the will and feelings. Well-meaning persons sometimes fall into the mistake of contrasting the heroic with the Christian character, as if the highest heroism wer... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:17 Supremacy of Goodness. I. Consider the thought suggested by our Lord's remarkable address in the text. To the courteous and reverential words of the inquirer, His rejoinder sounds at once harsh and paradoxical. "Good Master" "Why callest thou Me good?" But it is only at first sight that... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:21 The text teaches: I. How important one thing may be. It not unfrequently happens that the want of one thing vitiates and makes void the presence of all things else. Lacking its main-spring which is but one thing a watch with its jewels, wheels, pinions and beautiful mechanism, the finest... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:21 One thing thou lackest. I. This young man, immortalised in the everlasting word, was not a phenomenon, he was a type. We see him so distinctly in his own question, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" Yes, here is enquiry, anxiety therefore, desire to be right, admission th... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:23 The Perils of Wealth. I. Note the hardness of Christian self-denial to the rich. Self-denial lies at the foundation of the Christian character. The influence of great possessions unfits men for any self-denial whatever. Few can resist the temptation of wealth to luxurious habits, modes o... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:29 I. A reflection upon the terrible danger of riches is the first moral of this incident. The disciples, indeed, more experienced some of them in the opposite perils of poverty, with its mean, foils and down-dragging cares and ready envyings, exclaim in astonishment, "Who then can be saved... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:31 The Great Refusal. I. The gracious Lord loved the young man, but was not met with trustful, entire response. Why did He love him? Because He saw him as he was pure, enthusiastic, unspoiled, though unproved. It is a false and forlorn view to take of man, that there is nothing beautiful i... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:32 Christ on the Road to the Cross. We learn from John's Gospel that the resurrection of Lazarus precipitated the determination of the Jewish authorities to put Christ to death; and that immediately thereafter there was held the council, at which, by the advice of Caiaphas, the formal deci... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:38 Prayers offered in Ignorance answered in Love. I. Let it be admitted that the prayer of James and John was rooted in ambition, still we may not forget that their ambition was to be nearest Christ; nor can we fail to observe that there are some things in their conduct which are worthy of... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:40 We learn from the text two great and important truths: I. That the followers of Christ are not necessarily His friends or true disciples. In the multitudes who accompanied Jesus out of Jericho: (1) Some, doubtless, followed Him out of mere curiosity. (2) Some followed because it was jus... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 10:52 I. To see spiritually is to see Christ, the light of the world, and to be penetrated with the sense of the beauty and fulness which are in Him. II. A soul enlightened sees in Jesus that which is all its salvation and all its hope. J. Baldwin Brown, _The Sunday Afternoon,_p. 79. Referen... [ Continue Reading ]