The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 262

needed. 3. The adaptation of men is to be conside1·ed in dete1·mining the ministry tl1ey /iave to perform. Ill. THE APOSTLESHIP INVOLVED TESTIMONY, IIIOBAL APPEAL, AND SUPERNATURAL POWER. (Vers. 7, 11-13.) The particular duties of the Christian ministry are determined by the demands of the age, etc., in which it is carried on, but in essence they are always the same. IV. IT INVOLVED A DIVINE COMIIIUl,,ON AND A HUMAN FELLOWSHIP. 1. He sent them forth, but his spiritfl,(1,1, pre,sence went with them. It was only of what he had given that they could communicate to others, and as he accompanied their efforts with his power. 2. He sent them" by two and two." For mutual comfort, help, and co-operation. The deficiencies of one would be made up in the gifts of the other. V. THE EQUIPlllEl\"'I' FOB IT WAS SPIRITUAL, NOT MATERIAL; DIVINE, NOT HUMAN, Wbat they were to take with them is suggested only by the directions as to what they were not to take. It was in their message and its spiritual accompaniment their influence was to consist. The Mast-er who sent them would provide for them. Chris- tianity, which subsidizes all honourable means and influences, is independent of all. "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have give I thee" (Acts iii. 6).-M. Vers. 1 {-16.-.Accounting for Christ. Interesting as a photograph of contemporary opinion. Abrupt, picturesque, graphic. "He said " (" they said," in some ancient i\uthori- ties, as in Luke) is to be understood impersonally or of Herod, If the latter, the very repetition of Herod's statement, in ver. 16 (which in both Authorized. and New Versions is worded similarly to the order and style of ver. 14, but which ought to have its inverted, twisted character represented in the English, viz. "whom I beheaded-John: he ia risen"), gives us fresh insight into the workings of Herod's mind. L THERE IS EVER A VARIETY OF OPINION IN THE WORLD ABOUT CHRIST. Whenever he is heard of human thought is exercised about him, The element of the extra.ordinary is always recognized as attaching to his personality and action. "However great be that variety, yet often the truth lies outside of it" (Bengel). IL CHll.IST HAS TO BE .ACCOUNTED FOR. Very little was as yet known about him ii. Galilee, yet the question as to who he was at once arose. The reason of this is that the character of Christ is a challenge to the spiritual nature of man. 1. It appeals to the spiritual hopes of men. Even with the most debased and degraded, it is from the unseen that help and salvation are looked for. The common Jewish notion, that Elijah should come again, and the more general one, that the prophets were not dead, but reappeared at different times to repeat their messages, were but phases of the inextin- guishable hope that characterizes the popular mind in all ages. They both start into life again at the appearance of Christ. He cannot be thought of by them but religiously or spiritually, the religious nature of his work is so pronounced, "The thoughts of many hearts shall be revealed." 2, Conscience is addressed, It is the king who fancies he detects the ghostly association. The guilty past started up in all its horror, John's faithful teachings and lofty example could not be forgotten. Was it the long-slumbering national conscience of the Jews that identified Christ with the prophets, whom their fathers had killed? It is the guilty conscience that fears him; the believer hails him with rapture and delight. So the Son of man judges the secrets of men all through time, and at the judgment day. IlL A.NY BUT THE IIIGBEST EBTillATE OF CHBIBT wn.L PROVE UNBATIBFAOTOBY, Popular opinion was at variance within itself; it falls below the true dignity of Obrist. 1. There was, of course, an el,e,m,ent of truth in their guesses. All true spiritual workers are represented by Christ, and their work is identified in greater or less degree with his. The kingdom of God is one in all its manifestations through all time. 'l'he higher personality and office of Christ is inclusive of all lesser ones. He was a Prophet, and more. 2. It was an inversion of the trtl,(J order of referenca which they perpetrated. Those prophets were but dependents of Christ, owing all their power and illumination to his indwellincr Spirit. 8. Their error was due to moral cause,, Had their fathers received the prophet's message instead of killing him, the generatio11 of Christ's day might better have understood hie gospel. The laws of heredity and traditional mental attitude had much to do with their blnnders, but most of all their own rejec- tio11 of John, or supine allowance of his death. It seemed as if the spiritual conscious- oa. v1. 1-56.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 259