thou olean; literally, be thou mnde elenn hide them." It le evident that he wished (,ca6aplu61rr,). It ie well observed here by to draw the thot•ghte of men awny from hi ■ St. Jerome thot our Lord aptly answers both miracles, and to fix them upon his dootrine. the petitions of the leper. "If thou wilt;" Go thy way, allow thyself to the priest; "I will." "Thou canst ma'ke me clean;" tluJ priest who in the order of hie course "Be thou made olean." Indeed, Christ presided over the rest. Our Lord sent him gives him more than be asks for. He mokes to the priest, thnt he might be seen t.o re- him whole, not only in body, but in spirit. cogn ize their special office in cases of Thus Christ, in hie loving-kindness, exceeds leprosy; and further, that the priest himself the wishes of hie supplicants, that we may might have clear evidence that this leper learn from him to do the same, and to wo.s cletLDsed, not after the custom of the enlarge our hearts, both towards God and Law, but by the operation of graoe. towards our brethren. Ver. 45.-But he went out, and began to Ver. 42.-Straightway-St. l\Iark's fa- publish it muoh, and to spread a.broad the vourite word-the leprosy departed from matter. It seems difficult to blame the him. There is no interval between the ma.u for doing whnt he thought must tend command and the work of Christ. "He to the honour of bis Healer; though, no spake, and it was done." His will is his doubt, it would have been better if he had omnipotence. By this act Christ showed humbly obeyed. And yet it was to be ex- that he came into the world as a great pected that the knowledge of our Lord's Physician, that he might cure all diseases, mighty works would be published by othera. and cleanse us from all our defilements. In this particular instance the elfeot of this The word "straight way" shows that Uhrist man's conduct was probobly unexpected by healed the leper, not by any natural means, himself; for it led to the withdrawal of bnt by a Divine power which works in- Christ from Capema.um. The crowds who stantly. He is a.like powerful both to com- were attracted to him by the fa.me of his mand and to do. St. Matthew says here miracles would have hampered him, so that (viii. 3) that straightway "his leprosy wo.s be could not have exercised his ministry; cleansed" ( bca6aplu0., avToii;, J..e1rpa). There for even in the desert places they sought. is here what is called a "hypallage,'' or in• him out, and came to him from every version of the meaning, which is, of course, quarter. that "he was cleansed from bis ieprosy." It should be noticed here that this Ver. 43.-And he straitly charged him. first chapter of St. Mark embraces, in a The Greek verb here Uµ.f3p•µ.11ud.µ.•Pos) has a very condensed form, about twelve months tinge of severity in it, "he strictly [ or of our Lord's public ministry, from his bap- Bternly] charged him." Both word and tism by John. And it is a record of un- action a.re severe. He straightway sent him interrupted progress. The time bad not then out C'{•/laA•P av-roP). It may be tho.t he come for the opposition of the scribes and l1ad incurred this rebuke by coming so near Pharisees and Herodiana to show itself. It with his defilement to the holy Saviour. was, no doubt, wisely ordained that his Christ thus showed not only his respect for gospel should take root and lay bold of the the ordinances of the Jewish Law, but also hearts a.ud consciences of men, as it must how hateful sin is to the most holy God. have done in the minds of the Galil1Ba.ns Ver. 44.-See thou say nothing to any man. more especially, before it had t.o encounter St. Chrysostom says that our Lord gave him the envy and ma.lice of those who ultimately this charge, " to shun ostentation, and to would b1ing him to his or08L wach ua not to boast of our virtues, but to
HOMILETICS. Ver. 1.-The beginning of the gospel. "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Chrisi the Son of God." The writers of the first four books of the New Testament are called evangelists, because they gathered up, put into writing, and published to the world the accounts of the Lord Jesus which were cuJTent among the first Christians, and which were coDBtantly repeated by the first preachers of our religion, They did this under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and their treatises come to us with Divine authority. Not only is the record credible; it is such that it claims our attention, and demands and justifies our faith. Of these four evangelists, Mark is one-doubtless the "John whose surname was Mark "--of whom we read in the Dook of the Acts that his family resided i.D. Jerusalem, and that he himself was a fellow-labourer with the Apostle Patt}, It has generally been held that Marl. was especially under the influence and guidance cu. J, 1--45.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO IIT. MARK. 9