SEE notes on Matthew 16:13-28. Mark omits the _blessing_ bestowed on Peter, and the subsequent _promise_, but inserts the _rebuke_. A significant fact, showing the humility of Peter. The reference to the institution of the Church as a separate communion, is also wanting. Hence the _Passion of Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:2. _Six days._ So Matthew. Luke more generally, or perhaps including the day of Peter's confession: ‘about an eight days' (_i.e._, a week). BY THEMSELVES. Not simply in _private_ (‘apart'), but actually ‘alone.' The immediate purpose was ‘to pray' (Luke), the ultimate purpose this revelatio... [ Continue Reading ]
ON the connection and locality, see notes on Matthew 17:1-13. Mt. Tabor, the scene of the Transfiguration, according to tradition, is presented in the subjoined cut. Mark's account presents several independent details, in his graphic style.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:3. AND HIS RAIMENT. All three Evangelists speak of this, but Mark gives the most vivid description of it, omitting the other details. BECAME. This graphic touch brings out ‘the glistening of each separate portion of His clothing' (Alford). SUCH (garments) THAT NO FULLER ON EARTH CAN SO WH... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:4. ELIJAH WITH MOSES. Elijah is more prominent in this account, and probably was in the scene as witnessed by Peter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:6. FOR THEY BECAME MORE AFRAID. All three Evangelists speak of this fear, or religious awe: Mark here, Luke: ‘as they entered into the cloud.' Matthew: when ‘they heard ‘the voice. This indicates a continued and growing awe. It is placed earliest by Mark, who thus accounts for Peter's words.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:7. The account of Mark is the more vivacious, according to the correct readings. Mark and Luke omit: ‘in whom I am well pleased' (Matthew). HEAR HIM. The great practical lesson of the whole occurrence.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:8. AND SUDDENLY, etc. Mark omits some details here. The withdrawal itself was not necessarily sudden, but their perception of it was. SAVE JESUS ONLY. His authority suffices; His love redeems; His glory is the great end. WITH THEMSELVES. Peculiar to Mark; it hints at the self-consciousnes... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:10. AND THEY KEPT THE SAYING. Probably this particular saying about the resurrection as the limit of their silence about what they had seen on the mount. Obedience to the command of Mark 9:9, is assumed in the account of Matthew, and asserted in that of Luke, and is of course implied here.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:11. The question is the same as in Matthew 17:10 (see notes there). Three renderings are possible: ‘saying, The scribes say,' etc., ‘How is it that the scribes,' etc., ‘Why,' etc. The last is probably the sense here. See on Mark 9:28.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:12. The punctuation is in dispute. The E.V. does not give ‘how ‘its proper meaning. Most later scholars take the first half only as a question: AND HOW IS IT WRITTEN OF THE SON OF MAN? then the answer: THAT HE SHOULD SUFFER, etc. Others take the whole as one question. The next verse shows tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:13. EVEN AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM. There is no direct prophecy of the sufferings of the predicted Elijah. But as the prophet Elijah suffered, it might be inferred from the Old Testament, that the forerunner of the Messiah (called Elijah) would suffer, especially in view of the predicted sorrow... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:14. AND WHEN THEY CAME. ‘The next day' (Luke). THE SCRIBES QUESTIONING WITH THEM. The disciples were not yet prepared to defend themselves, and their failure to cure the lunatic boy was probably used, not only against them, but against their master.... [ Continue Reading ]
MARK alone tells us that the journey from the mount of Transfiguration to Capernaum was private (Mark 9:30). The education of the disciples called for this, and the hostility of the Pharisees had in fact closed Galilee against His labors. The incident about the temple-tribute (Matthew 17:24-27) is o... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark's account is most detailed and vivid. He alone mentions the contention with the scribes, the amazement of the people, their running to Jesus. The wretched state of the possessed youth is most vividly represented, and the effect of the presence of Jesus upon him. The description of the interview... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:15. WERE GREATLY AMAZED. Our Lord's countenance may have retained some traces of the glory on the mount, as in the case of Moses. The word here used (struck with awe) indicates more than surprise at His sudden coming. RUNNING TO HIM. Luke: ‘Much people met Him; ‘see note on Matthew 17:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:16. ASKED THEM. Probably the scribes. The opposition was thus transferred from the disciples to our Lord. WHAT QUESTION YE WITH THEM? About what, what is the subject of discussion?... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:17. ONE OF THE MULTITUDE. The scribes were silent, but the person most deeply interested answers. The subject of dispute was connected with the cure of the lunatic boy. The scribes feared to repeat their objections, lest our Lord should convict them in the presence of the multitude by working... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:18. WHERESOEVER IT SEIZETH HIM. The symptoms, as described here and by the other Evangelists, are those of epilepsy. The fits were sudden, but the dumbness seems to have been continuous.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:19. SAITH TO THEM. Not to the man alone (as the incorrect reading implies), though he was included, but to the multitude, whom our Lord addresses as representing that FAITHLESS, or, ‘unbelieving,' GENERATION. HOW LONG, etc.? This indicates ‘holy impatience of their hardness of heart and unb... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:20. AND WHEN HE SAW HIM. When the lad saw Jesus, the spirit convulsed him. But the original gives a stronger hint of the intimate connection between the demon and the possessed person. ‘The kingdom of Satan, in small and great, is ever stirred into a fiercer activity by the coming near of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:21. AND HE ASKED HIS FATHER. To bring _out_ his faith.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:22. TO DESTROY HIM. The father describes the case still further, representing the demon as a malignant enemy seeking to kill his only son. IF THOU CANST DO ANYTHING. The father's sense of need is stirred by the recital, but his faith is very weak. Not strong at first, it had probably been w... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:23. IF THOU CANST! The sense of the passage is: ‘The question is, not what is possible on my part, but on yours.' The best authorities omit the word ‘believe.' The man's words were repeated by our Lord either as a _question_; ‘Did you say; if thou canst?' or as an _exclamation:_ ‘As to thy wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:24. AND STRAIGHTWAY THE FATHER OF THE CHILD CRIED OUT. A touching description, true to nature and drawn from life. The full form; ‘the father of the child,' not only implies that the son was a child in years, but suggests the spiritual connection between ‘father ‘and ‘child ‘in this matter, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:25. A MULTITUDE CAME RUNNING TOGETHER. Our Lora would avoid too great publicity (comp, Mark 9:30); the father's faith had been sufficiently tested, hence the command to the evil spirit was now uttered. The words are preserved by Mark only: I (emphatic, _I_ although my disciples could not cast... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:26. CRYING OUT, uttering an inarticulate cry. Spoken of the demon, but with the same hint of intimate connection alluded to in Mark 9:20. AND HE BECAME AS ONE DEAD. Exhaustion followed the excitement, but this very quietude was a token that the demon was gone. THE MOST PART, lit., ‘the ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:27. TOOK HIM BY THE HAND. The usual external act which connected His person with the subject of a miracle. AND HE AROSE, ox ‘stood up.' The cure was now complete, the child's own activity appearing. Mark alone tells of the successive steps. This mode of healing would serve to strengthen the... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:28. INTO THE HOUSE. Peculiar to Mark. The question may mean: ‘We could not,' etc., since the word with which it begins is often a mere mark of quotation. But it sometimes means ‘why.' In that case the E.V. is correct. Others paraphrase: ‘How is it that we,' etc. The same difficulty occurs in... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:29. Matthew's account is fuller, but the answer here given is to be omitted there. THIS KIND. Probably evil spirits in general. The disciples had cast out evil spirits before, their failure in this case of remarkable malignity was for their admonition. BY PRAYER. On the part of those who... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:30. PASSED THROUGH GALILEE. probably over by-ways, that opportunity might be given for instructing the disciples about His approaching sufferings.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:31. FOR HE TAUGHT, or, ‘was teaching,' habitually, during this private journey. HIS DISCIPLES. The twelve, as is indicated by the parallel passages. Others may, however, have been included. IS DELIVERED UP. Matthew: ‘shall be delivered up;' hence the present tense here is prophetic. The d... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:33. WHEN HE WAS. Literally, ‘being;' but in the singular number. It was immediately after their entrance. IN THE HOUSE. Probably a particular house, where He usually resided. IN THE WAY. Probably during the journey to Capernaum.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:34. BUT THEY HELD THEIR PEACE. In shame and contusion. The thought of their heart had been perceived (Luke 9:47). WHO WAS THE GREATER. The dispute was occasioned by the preference given to Peter, James, and John, rather than by the promise to Peter (Matthew 16:18-19). They probably thought t... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:35. IF ANY ONE WOULD, or, ‘desires to,' etc. See Matthew 20:26; Matthew 18:4; Matthew 23:12. If the desire is selfish, the plan will fail, HE SHALL BE LAST OF ALL; if he would be truly first then he will take this lower position voluntarily, AND BE SERVANT OF ALL.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:36. AND TAKING HIM IN HIS ARMS. Peculiar to Mark. The child seems not to have been brought in, but to have been a member of the household. Tradition says it was the martyr Ignatius, of Antioch, who was therefore called _Christophorus_ (borne by Christ). The little one may have been the child... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:37. Comp. Matthew 18:5; and also Matthew 10:40.... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:38. JOHN SAID TO HIM. Luke: ‘answered,' so the E. V. here also. It was an answer in the wide sense; for the command to receive a child in His name would suggest the question of John. WE SAW. Probably on their missionary tour. ONE CASTING OUT DEMONS IN THY NAME. This unknown man had wrough... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:39. FORBID HIM NOT, _i.e._, such a man. FOR THERE IS NO ONE, _etc_. The success of the miracle would strengthen the faith, the germs of which were manifested in the attempt to work it in the name of Christ BE ABLE QUICKLY TO SPEAK EVIL OF ME (the word is usually rendered ‘revile'). The use... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:40. AGAINST US IS FOR US. Matthew 12:30; ‘He that is not with me, is against me.' As regards Christ and His people, there is no neutrality. In certain cases, the absence of hostility is a proof of friendship; in others, the failure to cooperate is the proof of enmity; and both might occur in... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:41. FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL GIVE YOU, etc. Comp. Matthew 10:42. Here the lesson is intended directly for the Apostles. IN THIS NAME THAT YE ARE CHRIST'S, i.e., because ye belong to Christ. It may include a reference to the recognition of Christ's name on the part of the giver. He always recogni... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:42. See on Matthew 18:6. The connection is probably with Mark 9:37, as there represented, but the question of John and the answer to it prepared for this advance of thought. By their conduct in that case they had been in danger of giving such offence. ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES. The actual ch... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:43-48. See on Matthew 16:8-9; Matthew 5:29-30. The account before us is fuller, though the best authorities omit Mark 9:44; Mark 9:46. WHERE THEIR WORM DIETH NOT AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. There is a reference to Isaiah 66:24. These awful words plainly point to a future state of never-en... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark 9:49-50. These verses, which have no parallel, form the most difficult passage in this Gospel. The difficulty is perhaps lessened, by following the most ancient authorities and omitting the second clause. It is agreed that the interpolated clause, ‘every sacrifice,' etc., refers to Leviticus 2:... [ Continue Reading ]