The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 10

naum ; literally, they go ,nt.o Oapernaum permitted to nse his own gifts, his reason ( .J,nrop<vona.1). Bt. Mark is fonc1 of the and even his own particular manner of hietoncal "present" tense, which often adds speech; whereas here a false e.nd lying spirit life and energy to his nnrro.tive. Who go usurps the organs of speech, e.nd makes them toto Capernnum? Our Lord nnd these four hie own. disciples, the elemento.ry Church of God, Ver. 24.-The expression, 'Ea, incorrectly the nucleus of that spiritual influence which rendered Let ns alone, has not sufficient is to sprend wider and wider unto the per• authority to be retained here, thou"'h it is foot day. n does not follow that this going rightly retained in the parallel pas";iage in into Co.pemnum took place on the same day. St. Luke (iv. 34), where it is rendered in the They would not hnve been fishing on the Revised Version "Ah I" or "Ha I" If sabbath clay. The synagogue here spoken rendered " Let us alone " or " Let alone " of was the gift of the good centurion of it must be assumed to be' the imperative ~f whom we read in Bt. Matthew (viii. 5) and /&.,.,. It will he observed that this cry of St. Luke (vii. 2). Thus tl,e first synagogue the nncleao spirit is spon to.neons, before our in which our Lord preached was the gift of Lord has addressed him. In real truth, the a generous Gentile officer. It was an preaching of Jesus has already thrown the emblem of the union of Jews and Gentiles whole world of evil spirits into a state of in one fold. excitement and alarm. The powers of dark- Ver. 22.-They were astonished at his ness are beginning to tremble. They resent teaohing ( l(nr>..11aaono brl -rji 6,6axfi). The this intrusion into their domain. They feel verb in the Greek is a very strong and that One greater than Satan has appeared, expressive one; it is a very suitable word to and they ask, What have we to do with express the first impressions of utter amaze- thee 1 Wherein have we injured thee, that ment produced by our Lord's "teaching." thon ehouldest seek to drive us out of our There were several things which caused his possession? We have nothing to do with teaching (616ax11) to differ from that of the thee, thou Holy One of God; out we have a scribes. There was no lack of self-assertion right to take possession of sinners. Bede in their teaching ; but their words did not says that the evil spirits, perceiving that carry weight. 'l'heir teaching was based "our Lord had come into the world, be- chiefly on tradition; it dwelt much on the lieved that they were about at once to be "mint and anise and cummin" of religion, judged. They knew that dispossession but neglected "juilgmeut and meroy and would be their entrance upon a condition faith." Christ's teaching, on the contrary, of torment, and therefore it is that they was eminently spiritual. And then he prac- deprecate it." I know thee who thou tised what he taught. Not so the scribes. art, the Holy One of God. St. Mark is very Thus far St. Mark's narrative bears the careful to bring ont the hidden knowledge character of brevity and conciseness, suit- possessed by evil spirits, which enabled them able to an introduction. From this point at once to recognize the personality of Jesna hie record is rich in detail and in graphio (see eh. i. 34; iii. 11). It was given to description. them by him who has supreme power over Ver. 23.-And straightway there was in the spiritual e.s well as the material world, their synagogue a man with an unolean to know o.s much as he saw fit that they 1pirit. Aocordi.ug to the best authorities, should know ; o.nd he waa pleased to make the sentence in the Greek runs thus, Kai ,/,Bur known o.s much as was needful. "But he >Iv Iv -rfi auva-yw-yji av-rwv: And straightway made himself known to them, not W! be there toaa in their synagogue, etc. This word makes himself known to the holy angels, •• straightway " adds much force to the who know him e.s the Word of God, and sentence. It marks the immediate effect of rejoice in his eternity, of which they par- our Lord's preaching. A man with an un- take. To the evil spirits be made himself clean apirit. The words are literally, "o. known only so far as wo.s requisite to strike man in an unclean spirit" (iv ,rv,vuaT, with terror the beings from whose tyranny &1<a8dp-rrp); in his grasp, so to speo.k : pos- he was about to free thoee who were pre- sessed by him. There can be no reusonahle destinated unto his kingdom nnd the glory doubt o.s to the personality of this unclee.n of it" (see St. AugUBtine, 'City of God,' spirit (see Luke iv. 8-1). The man wo.s so bk. ix. § 21). absolutely in the power of this evil spirit Ver. 25.-Hold thy peaoe, and come out the.t he seemed to dwell in him; just as of him. It wus necessary that our Lord the world is said by St. John (1 Epist. should at once assert his absolute power v. 19) to lie" in the evil one" ( lv -r,ii ,ro,,.,,pqi). over the evil spirits; e.nd not ouly this, but And he oried out. Who cried out? Sm-ely l'lso that he should show that he had the unolean spirit, using the possessed mnn nothing to do with thorn. Le.ter on in his as his instrument. In the case of a true ministry it was objected to him that he ce.st prophet, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he is out. devils by the prince of tho devils. Then, 6 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [oH, I, 1-46,