The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 37

wrestled, but with the prince of darkness himself. In such an encounter the oonllict must needs be a duel, and even then was it determined beforehand in favour of the Son of God. i3ut the allurements employed were necessarily of the most subtle and grandly representative character. It was a final trial of strength, upon whioh the future of salvation depended. III. THE ASSOCIATIONS OF IT. The forty days tft tM wilderness reminded men of the similar fasts of Moses and Elijah. The wild beasts may have been an unconscious reproduction of the conditions of the Paradisaic temptation. The society of the wilder- ness was of the most contrastive and representative character: the Spirit-Satan; wild beasts-angels. As to the "wild beasts" (peculiar to Mark), Plumptre says, "In our Lord's time these might include the panther, the bear, the wolf, the hyena, possibly the lion." The implied thought is partly that their presence added to the terrors of the temptation, partly that in his being protected from them there was the fulfilment of the promise in the very psalm which furnished the tempter with his chief weapon that the true child of God should trample underfoot "the lion o.nd the adder," th~ " young lion and the dragon " (Ps. xci. 13). De W ette considers this to be "a mere pictorial embellishment." Lange holds that Christ's attitude "is ~ sovereign and peaceful one towards the beasts: they dare not hurt the Lord of creation, nor do they flee before him. Jesus takes away the curse also from the irrational creation (Rom. viii.)." As to the angels, we are not to regard them as assisting him in his conflict with Satan, but succouring him in his exhaustion after it. He holds his court, as it were, on the very battle-field. In token of his victory, heaven pours itself forth in its hirest and best on the spot that but a little before was the ante-chamber of hell.-M. Vera. 16-20.-The call of the disciples; or, work and higher work. I. Tm: 0RDIN.A.11.Y WORK OF MEN AND THE EXTRAORDINARY ARE (HERE) PUT IN THE BAME Ln.""E. It is no small presumption iu favour of Christ's divinity that he chose common men-workmen-for his intimate disciples. What link could there be between the transcendent task of the apostleship and that mean calling in which they were engaged? He alone saw a connection, and not a merely fanciful one. He indicated it and proceeded upon it. The idea was familiar to the prophets (e.g. Jer. xvi. 16), and to Greek literature (as in the 'Dialogues of Lucian,' etc.), but not in the same application. 'l'he resemblance he suggested is broad and deep. It was while they were working that he called them. What a practical, spiritual gain for all toilers i-s this revelation ! IL THEY ARE SHARPLY DISTINGUISHED AND ABSOLUTELY SEPARATED. As connected by analogy, it is implied that they are separated in fact. Not by confounding the sacred with the secular calling is either benefited. That they are not tho same is shown by : 1. .A dijference of object. "For men." The means must therefore be different, and the entire method. Luke uses a word meaning "to catch alive," The fishers of men were not to snare them, but to win them to something worthy of them ; and not for selfish ends, but through love and Divipe good will. So interpreted, how grand is this vocation I 2. .A distinct call. Christ asks-bids them " come after" hlm. Were there any previous inner witnessings which this endorsed and strength- ened? This call was no simply picturesque or accidental occurr~nce; it was an essential condition of their assumption of apostolic service. Th~ ~1ffer~nce betw~en their new duties and their old ones was so profound that only a d1strnct mward v01co could warrant the transition from the one to the other. Christ spoke to the heart as well as to the ear, and his word was a determining one. 3. Altered circumstances. He would take them away for a time from the associations of the fish-net. They would have to cease lookin"' at life as "makin"' a living." As God's workmen, they would be his dependents. They would have to live by faith, that they might walk by faith. 4. Special preparation. " I will make." What they had done or learned would not qualify them for what they were to do. He alone could teach them the new craft; and only as they drank in his spirit could they hope to succeed in it. ill To PASS FROM THE OJ\E TO THE OTHER 18 ONLY POSSIDLE THROUGH ODEDIENCF:1 SELF-SACRIFICE AND CLOSER FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. Even as he calls them their preparation and discipline r:ommence. It was a sharp trial, but salutary and wise. L Obedience. 'fhey were to go at once if at all, without question, and finally. 2. CB, I, 1-45,) TllE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.