account of Jesus with the picture of a purely human Christ's Life life. It belongs to the very essence of Thoroughly his undertaking to portray this life as Supernatural supernatural; and, from beginning to end, he sets it forth as thoroughly supernatural. The Gospel opens, therefore, by introducing Jesus to us as the divinely given Messiah, in whom God had from the ages past promised to visit His people; heralded as such by the promised messenger making ready the way of the Lord; and witnessed by this messenger as the " mightiest " of men, who bore in His hands the real potencies of a new life (i^); and by God Himself from heaven as His Son, His beloved, in whom He was well pleased (i"). Anointed and tested for His task, Jesus is then presented as entering upon and prosecuting His work as God's representa- tive, endowed with all authority and endued with all miraculous powers. His authority was manifested alike In His teaching (i^^), in His control of demonic personalities (i"^), in the forgiveness of sins (2^*^), in His sovereignty over the religious ordinances of Israel (2^^), In His relations to nature and nature's laws (4^^), in His dominion over death Itself (5*^). As each of these typical exercises of authority is sig- nalized In turn and copiously Illustrated by Instances, the picture of a miraculous life becomes ever more striking, and indeed stupendous. Even the failure of His friends to comprehend Him and the malice of His enemies In assaulting Him, are made by the evan- gelist contributory to the impression of an utterly supernatural life which he wishes to make on his readers. So little was it a normal human life that Jesus lived that His uncomprehending friends were
34 The Designations of Our Lord
tempted to think Him beside Himself, and His ene- mies proclaimed Him obviously suffering from " pos- session " (3"*^^°). Whatever else this life v/as, it cer- tainly was not, in view of any observer, a " natural " one. The " unnaturalness " of it is not denied: it is only pointed out that this " unnaturalness " was sys- tematic, and that it was systematically in the interests of holiness. What Is manifested in it, therefore, is neither the vagaries of lunacy nor the wickedness of demonism. What is exhibited Is the binding of Satan and the destruction of satanic powers (cf. i"^ et saepe) . To ascribe these manifestations to Satan Is therefore to blaspheme the Spirit of God. Nobody, it appears, dreamed of doubting in any interest the abnormality of this career: and we should not misrepresent Mark if we said that his whole Gospel is devoted to making the Impression that Jesus' life and manifestation were supernatural through and through.
This is, of course, however, not quite the same as saying that Mark has set himself to portray in Jesus Jesus the life of a supernatural person,
the Whether the supernatural life he de-
Messiah picts Is supernatural because It Is the life on earth of a supernatural person, or because It Is the life of a man with whom God dwelt and through whom God wrought, may yet remain a question. Certainly very much In Mark's narrative would fall In readily with the latter hypothesis. To him Jesus Is primarily the Messiah, and the Messiah Is primarily the agent of God in bringing In the new order of things. Un- doubtedly Mark's fundamental thought of Jesus Is that He Is the man of God's appointment, with whom
'Mark's Conception of Our Lord 35
God is. Designating Him currently merely by His personal name of ' Jesus,' and representing Him as currently spoken of by His contemporaries merely as * Jesus of Nazareth ' and addressed by the simple hon- orific titles of ' Rabbi,' ' Teacher,' ' Lord ' — His funda- mental manifestation is to him plainly that of a man among men. That this man was the Messiah need not in itself Import more than that He was the subject of divine Influences beyond all other men, and the vehicle of divine operations surpassing all other human ex- perience. It may fairly be asked, therefore, what requires us to go beyond the divine office to explain this supernaturally filled life? Will not the assumption of the Messiahship of Jesus fully account for the abounding supernaturalism of His activity as por- trayed by Mark? Questions like these are In point of fact constantly raised around us and very variously answered. But It behooves us to be on our guard re- specting them that we be not led into a false antithesis, as if we must explain Mark's presentation of the supernatural life of Jesus either on the basis of His office as Messiah or on the basis of His superhuman personality.