Mark 9:1. _And he said unto them_ The opening verse of the Ninth Chapter connects closely with what goes before. _Verily I say unto you_ This well-known formula occurs 13 times in St Mark, 31 times in St Matthew, 7 times in St Luke, 25 times in St John. It always introduces solemn and important ann... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:2-13. The Transfiguration 2. _after six days_ St Luke's words "_about an eight days after_" (Mark 9:28) may be considered an inclusive reckoning. _Peter, and James, and John_ the flower and crown of the Apostolic band, the privileged Three, who had already witnessed His power over death in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_there appeared unto them_ The three Apostles had not witnessed the beginning of this marvellous change. They _had been weighed down with sleep_(Luke 9:32), lying wrapped like all Orientals in their _abbas_on the ground, but awakened probably by the supernatural light, they _thoroughly roused themse... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Peter_ Eager, ardent, impulsive as always. This proposal he made as the mysterious visitants were being parted from Him (Luke 9:33). It was for him too brief a converse, too transient a glimpse and foretaste of the heavenly glory. _it is good for us to be here_ "Better, as no doubt he felt, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_he wist not_ "Soþli he _wiste_not what he schulde _seie_." Wyclif. This word also occurs Exodus 16:15, and = _he knew not. Wist_is the past tense of A. S. _witan_= to know. Compare wit = _knowledge_(Psalms 107:27), and wit = _to know_(Genesis 24:21), "And the man wondering at her held his peace, to... [ Continue Reading ]
_a cloud_ not dark and murky, but _bright_(Matthew 17:5), overshadowed the lawgiver and the prophet, and perhaps also the Lord. "Light in its utmost intensity performs the effects of darkness, hides as effectually as the darkness would do." Comp. 1 Timothy 6:16, and the words of Milton, "dark with e... [ Continue Reading ]
_when they had looked round about_ At first (1) they fell prostrate on their faces (Matthew 17:6; comp. Exodus 3:6; 1 Kings 19:13), then (2) recovering from the shock of the Voice from heaven (Matthew 17:6; comp. Exodus 20:19; Habakkuk 3:2; Habakkuk 3:16; Hebrews 12:19), they (3) suddenly gazed all... [ Continue Reading ]
_they should tell no man_ This implies that they were forbidden to reveal the wonders of the night, and what they had seen, even to their fellow-Apostles. The seal set upon their lips was not to be removed till after the Resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
_questioning one with another_ St Mark alone mentions the perplexity which this language of their Lord occasioned to the Apostles. It was not the question of the resurrection generally, but of _His_resurrection, and the _death_, so abhorrent to their prejudices, that rendered it possible and necessa... [ Continue Reading ]
_first come_ that is before the Messiah (Malachi 4:5). The Pharisees and Scribes may have urged as a capital objection against the Messiah-ship of their Master that no Elias went before Him. "It would be an infinite task," says Lightfoot, "to produce all the passages out of the Jewish writings which... [ Continue Reading ]
_and how_ Rather, BUT HOW IS IT WRITTEN OF THE SON OF MAN THAT HE MUST SUFFER MANY THINGS AND HE SET AT NAUGHT? See Tischendorf, _Synop. Evang_. The words _that He must_, or _in order that He may_, are very striking. They set before us the design of the _It is written_. "Elias cometh first. But how... [ Continue Reading ]
_That Elias is indeed come_ that is in the person of John the Baptist, to whom men acted even as it had been written of the persecution of the real Elijah. A few remarks here will not be out of place (i) _On the three accounts of the Transfiguration;_ (ii) _On the meaning and significance of the eve... [ Continue Reading ]
The Healing of the Lunatic Child 14. _And when he came to his disciples_ The great picture of Raphael has enshrined for ever the contrast between the scene on the Mount of Glorification and that which awaited the Saviour and the three Apostles on the plain below, between the harmonies of heaven and... [ Continue Reading ]
_were greatly amazed_ "was astonied and much afraid," Rhemish Version. His face would seem, like that of Moses (Exodus 34:30), to have retained traces of the celestial glory of the Holy Mount, which had not faded into the light of common day, and filled the beholders with awe and wonder. The word po... [ Continue Reading ]
_my son_ and his "only son" (Luke 9:38). _a dumb spirit_ dumb in respect to articulate sounds, to which he could give no utterance, though he could _suddenly cry out_(Luke 9:39).... [ Continue Reading ]
_wheresoever_ According to St Matthew these crises had a connection with changes of the moon (Matthew 17:15). _he teareth him_ Probably this manifested itself in violent convulsions, St Vitus" dance, or the like. _pineth away_ "wexip drye," Wyclif. The word may denote either that he pined away lik... [ Continue Reading ]
_O faithless generation_ These words, though primarily addressed to the father, apply also to the surrounding multitude, and indeed to the whole Jewish people of which he was a representative, and in a sense to the disciples.... [ Continue Reading ]
_straightway the spirit_ The mere introduction to our Lord brings on one of the sudden and terrible paroxysms, to which he was liable.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he asked_ This conversation with the father is parallel to another conversation with an actual sufferer (Mark 5:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
_if thou canst_ More literally, IF AT ALL THOU CANST. This is a strong expression of an infirm faith, which at the beginning had been too weak, but had become more and more weak owing to the failure of the disciples to aid him.... [ Continue Reading ]
_If thou canst_ According to the best reading here the translation would be, JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, AS FOR THY IF THOU CANST, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH. For the use of the article compare Matthew 19:18; Luke 9:46. "Thou hast said," replies our Lord, "_if I_can do anything. But as f... [ Continue Reading ]
_I charge thee_ Notice the words of majestic command, _I_charge thee, I, whom thou darest not to disobey, and against whom it is vain for thee to struggle.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and rent him sore_ Observe here the minuteness and exactness of the Evangelist in all the details of the incident. Who was more likely to treasure up every detail of the scene than that Apostle, who had been with His Master on the Mount of Glorification?... [ Continue Reading ]
_Why could not we cast him out?_ He had given them "power and authority over all demons" (Luke 9:1), and "against unclean spirits to cast them out" (Matthew 10:1); what was the reason of their failure now?... [ Continue Reading ]
_This kind_ In His reply to their question our Lord impresses upon them a twofold lesson: (i) The omnipotence of a perfect faith (see Matthew 17:20-21); (ii) that, as there is order and gradation in the hierarchy of blessed spirits, so is it with the spirits of evil (see Ephesians 6:12). There are d... [ Continue Reading ]
Predictions of the Passion 30. _And they departed thence_ From the northern regions, into which our Lord had penetrated, He now turned His steps once more towards Galilee, probably taking the route by Dan across the slopes of Lebanon, thus escaping the publicity of the ordinary high roads, and secu... [ Continue Reading ]
_For he taught_ The tense in the original implies that the _constant_subject of His teaching in private now was His approaching sufferings, death, and resurrection.... [ Continue Reading ]
_were afraid_ St Matthew adds that they were "exceeding sorry." His words concerning His violent death contradicted all their expectations.... [ Continue Reading ]
True Greatness in Christ's Kingdom 33. _he came_ or rather THEY CAME, _to Capernaum_. Here, the next recorded event was the miraculous payment of the tribute-money (Matthew 17:24-27), the half-shekel for the Temple-service.... [ Continue Reading ]
_who should be the greatest_ They called to mind perhaps the preference given on Hermon to Peter and the sons of Zebedee, and now disputed who should be the greatest in the Messianic kingdom, which they fondly believed was about to be speedily set up.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he sat down_ Observe the many graphic and pathetic touches in this and the following verse. (1) He _sits_down; (2) He _calls_the Twelve to Him; (3) He _takes a little child_, and _places it in the midst_of them; (4) He _takes it into His arms_, and then He _speaks_to them.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Question of John 38. _And John answered him_ The words _in My name_of Mark 9:37 seem to have reminded the Apostle of an incident in their recent journey. _because he followeth not us_ Observe what the Apostle affirms to have been the ground of their rebuke, "because he followeth not _us_," not... [ Continue Reading ]
_Forbid him not_ Compare the words of Joshua and the reply of Moses in Numbers 11:28-29; "and Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses … answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that t... [ Continue Reading ]
_a cup of water_ which all gave readily in those sultry lands.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a millstone_ Literally, AN ASS-MILL-STONE, a mill-stone turned by an ass. These were much larger and heavier than the stones of hand-mills. Comp. Ov. _Fast_. vi. 318, "Et quæ pumiceas versat asella molas." It was not a Jewish punishment, but was in use among the Greeks, Romans, Syrians, and Phœni... [ Continue Reading ]
_offend thee_ or, as in margin, CAUSE THEE TO OFFEND, lead thee into sin. Our Lord makes special mention of the Hand, the Foot, the Eye, those members, whereby we _do_amiss, or _walk_astray, or _gaze on_what is sinful. _into hell_ Literally, THE GEHENNA, or THE GEHENNA OF FIRE (Mark 9:47). The "Ravi... [ Continue Reading ]
_where their worm_ These words are cited from Isaiah 66:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_every one shall be salted with fire_ Salt and fire have properties in common. Salt, like a subtle flame, penetrates all that is corruptible, and separates that which is decaying and foul, whilst it fixes and quickens that which is sound. Fire destroys that which is perishable, and thereby establish... [ Continue Reading ]
_Salt is good_ in its kind and its effect, as preserving from corruption. _have lost_ "It was the belief of the Jews that salt would by exposure to the air lose its virtue (Matthew 5:13) and become saltless. The same fact is implied in the expressions of Pliny _sal iners, sal tabescere_, and Maundr... [ Continue Reading ]