of deep interest, which are wholly omitted in Matthew, Luke and John. In short, it is no mere abridged copy of St. Matthew, as some have rashly asserted, but the independent narrative of an independent witness, who was inspired to write a history of our Lord's works, rather than of His words. Let us read it with holy reverence. Like all the rest of Scripture, every word of St. Mark is " given by inspiration of God/' and every word is " profitable/'*
Let us observe, in these verses, what a full declaration we have of the dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ's per- son. The very first sentence speaks of Him as "the Son of God."
These words, " the Son of God/' conveyed far more to Jewish minds than they do to ours. They were nothing less than an assertion of our Lord's divinity. They were a declaration that Jesus was Himself very God, and " equal with God." (John v. 18.)
There is a beautiful fitness in placing this truth in the very beginning of a Gospel. The divinity of Christ is the citadel and keep of Christianity. Here lies the infinite value of the satisfaction He made upon the cross. Here lies the peculiar merit of His atoning death for sinners. That death was not the death of a mere man,
* "St. Mark has the special gift of terse brevity, and of graphic paint- ing in wonderful combination. While on every occasion he com- presses the discourse, works, and history into the simplest possible kernel, he on the other hand, unfolds the scenes more clearly than St. Matthew does, who excels in the discourses. Not only do single inci- dents become in his hands complete pictures, but even when he is very brief, he often gives, with one pencil stroke, something new aud pecu- liarly his o\vn.v — Stier'a Words of the Lord J esus.