Mark 11:33

IN THE DARK AT NOONTIDE

‘And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.’

Mark 11:33

Oh, terrible voice of most just judgment! ‘You have shut your eyes, I cannot show you My glory. You have stopped your ears, I cannot tell you of My grace. You have hardened your heart, I cannot make you feel My love.’

Let us not hastily pass by these terrible, these awful words.

I. Why they could not tell.—They could not believe. It was noon, and yet they were in the dark. Why? It may be matter of life and death to ourselves to understand the reason why. It was not that these men had hardened their hearts by a long course of what men commonly call sin. But—let us tremble as we think of it—it was simply this: that they had been hearing holy words all their lives, and had not cared to consider what they meant; they had been saying prayers, and had not tried to pray; they had been speaking of God, and they had not spoken to Him, they had not looked Him in the face and lived; they had held true opinions about God, and they had not feared the Lord and trembled at His Name; they had heard the call to ‘Repent,’ and they had heard it so often that they forgot to listen. And, therefore, the commandment which was ordained to life they found to be unto death.

II. They might have been the first to bow down before the King of kings; they might have become the earliest messengers of His glory and heralds of His grace; but their great opportunity served only to make them more conspicuous in their misery; for wheresoever this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole world, there must also this miserable tale be told, that men may learn by their example to take heed how they hear, that the things which should have been for their life may not be to them an occasion of falling. If the Gospel of Christ is not a lantern unto your feet and a light unto your path, if it is not the guide of your life and the source of all your joy, it is blinding your eyes and hardening your heart.