The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 291

discovered himself, and told them who and what he was, in the characteristic words "You carry C1BSar and his fortunes." With Christ in the boat, the disciples might hav~ flung their fears to the winds, for One infinitely greater than Cmsar would have been there-One who could have stirred their hearts and raised their courage with the emboldening words, "You carry Christ and his Church." 11. Tm!: EYE OF CHRIST IS ON THE BOAT THAT OABBIEB HIS DISCIPLES. 1. llia omniscience. He saw it all-their difficulty and danger and 'distress. His eyes were upturned to heaven in prayer, yet be saw all that was transpiring. 'l'he night was pi.tchy dark, yet he saw that small speck tossed like a cork upon the waters of that st-0rmy sea. He had constrained them to embark, but he kept his eye upon them. He saw their fears, but he meant to teach them a new lesson of faith and confidence. He saw them from the distant mountain to which he had retired apart to pray. It is posi- tively stated that he saw them. He saw them, though he was on the mountain-side and they were on the sea; he saw them from a distance which the ken of no mortal eye could reach ; he saw them through the darkness of the night ; he saw them in their panic terror; he saw them and all their embarrassments; he saw them when they did not, and when they could not, see him. " Be of good cheer I " he said. I did not forget you ; 1 did not forsake you ; I had you on my heart; I had you in my eye all the time. I did not fail to look on you, though you failed to look to me; I did not shut up my cornpassions, though you restrained prayer. You were neither out of sight nor out of mind. I was resolved you should not perish, nor a hair of your head fall. Boisterous as the wind was, I had charged it not to presume to harm you; rough as the sea was, I had commanded it not to dare to destroy your frail craft or dama"e one of the crew. Absence does not limit my power; distance does not separate yo(; from my presence ; danger and difficulty and distress only make you dearer, and call forth my more tender care. 2. His love is unchanging. Jesus is the same Saviour still, "the same yesterday, ~ay, and for ever." "Be of good cheer!" he said. These words, though addressed to the first disciples, have sent their echo down along the centuries, and bring comfort to disciples still. In them Christ addresses you, reader, and myself. By them he ll3YB to every faithful follower, "Mine eye is on thee; it has been on thee hitherto; it will be on thee to the end. You may rest assured I will never fail thee-no, never forsake thee." Again, the words of the Saviour, "Be of good cheer!" a.re backed by another fact which presents itself to us in this passage, and that fact is the purpose for which our Lord had retired to the lone mountain-side. He was passing the night in prayer, not specially for himself but for his disciples-his disciples then and now; yes, for his disciples in that slight ship and on that stormy sea. They toiled and rowed ; he prayed. They were suffering ; he was supplicating. They were struggling; he was interceding. They were buffeting the waters; he was bearing them, as High Priest, on his heart before God in the holy of holies of that mountain solitude. They were ready to faint; he was praying for them that they might not faint, and that their faith might not fail. They were longing for the Master; he was exercising his love on their behalf. 3. A true picture of the Christian's life. It is so still-as it was it is, lllld ever shall be, on the part of our dear Redeemer and his redeemed ones. We have before us a true picture of li!e-<>f human life, of the Uhristian's life. We a.re toiling in tbis world below; the Saviour is employed on our behalf in the world above. We are in circumstances of peril and pain; the Saviour bids us "be of good cheer I" and look up to him; "he has overcome the world." We are afloat on the sea of life; our barque is fragile, the wind is high, the storm scaresome, the sea raging, and we are tossed upon its waters; but Jesus is over all, and looks down on all, and will save through all, for "he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." 4. Tile suitable s~asonfor succour. Once more he says,with yet another meaning, "Be of good cheer!" I .did not e-0me, it is true, when the storm began, nor when the first night-watch set in. I knew you would have wished me then, that you would have been glad to see me coming then, that you would have hailed my arrival then. Ilut you knew little of the difficulties that beset you thin, little of your own inability to cope with them.then, little of the impotence of yow own efforts then. You knew not, at lea· not sufficumtly then, that the power of man is weakness, and the wisdom of man is folly. You kne1v comparatively little of your need of a higher hand and a stronger arm to save you then, and little also of the great mercy of deliverance. For the like reason I came not ou. ,,1. 1-56.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. 289