IL Tuem MasTeR MADE THE DIFFIOULTY AN OCCASION FOR SPIRITUAL REBUKE AND INsTRUCTION. 1. 7’o the people, or generally. He laments their want of faith, and slowness to receive the things of God. They had the highest reasons for faith—~ his works and himself—in their midst, and yet would not believe. He gives vent to the feeling of weariness and moral disgust which overcame him, and in the face of which he still laboured and forbore. The want of faith, only immediately manifested towards the disciples, was in reality towards himself. That was the root and spring of their readiness to cavil, and their questionings and arguments. 2. To the father. His conversation with Christ is made by the latter a perfect spiritual discipline, Already the dealings of God had been experienced in his home and heart, and that which has been bsgun is carried to a successful issue. It is amongst the compensa- tions of great sorrows that, if they do not themselves induce a high spirituality of mind, they, at all events, help us to feel our need of the Saviour. There was a pre- paratory work already done, and Christ wastes no advantage thus gained. Having signified his willingness to undertake the cure, he begins to question the father, ly as an expression of sympathy, partly to show the true character of the case. this he succeeds in eliciting an expression of the sceptical spirit of the man: “If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.” Here there is room for a commencement, and the Saviour repeats in grieved astonishment, “ If thou canst!” It was a qualification that had no business in such a request, and it showed how poor was the spiritual life or power of the man. He then declares the grand condition of all his cures, “ All things are possible to him that believeth;” which in this connection meant that all the blessings Christ conferred were given only in response to faith, but where that was there was no limit with regard to their bestowal. He did not mean that any request, of whatever kind it might be, would be granted if it were only accompanied by faith, but that all requests’ that were the outcome of a Divine faith, and consequently subject to its conditions—as, for instance, their being agreeable to God’s will—would be granted, however hard they might appear to man. This remark awoke the slumbering spiritual nature of the father, whose love for his son was also at work to quicken his susceptibilities, and he cried out, “I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” There is great difference of opinion as to the true meaning of these words, and no certainty would seem to be attainable. Yet that they reveal a low, self-contradictory spiritual state is evident. Still, progress is perceptible. He at least knows his short- coming, and has asked for its removal. That was probably effected by the cure of his gon, which took place, not because of satisfaction with the father’s confession—a very faulty one at best—but through desire to prevent tumult, etc. ; for when “ he saw that a@ multitude came running together,” he quickly completed the miracle. But even in his expedition there isno hurry. The whole scene is solemn and expressive, and must have had a strong influence on all who looked on. 3. To the disciples. A call to a raore intense and elevated communion with God. Prayer (and fasting) was a means to that. Faith is thus seen to be a condition both of getting good and doing good, It is because Christians live habitually on such a worldly plane that they lack power.
22 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. | [ca. rx. 1—60.
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Oneness in heart and life with God would remove “mountams.” This power should be sought by all.
Ill. He MADE IT ALSO AN OCCASION FOR MORE SIGNAL DISPLAY OF HIS GLORY. The delay, failure of disciples, gradual extraction of all the circumstances of the case from the father, etc., all tended to increase the moral effect of the final exercise of power. His authority as the moral Governor of the universe, and Destroyer of the works of the devil, is also vindicated in addressing the demon. Not less, but far more, awful are the effects of sin upon the soul. Its expulsion is a work of Divine power and grace, and exhaustive of the nature in which it has dwelt. It is for Christ to raise up and revivify the poor wreck, the spiritual impotency that survives. So are the failures of weak disciples retrieved, and where disgrace is, humanly speaking, inevitable, the glory of God is revealed. The servants of Christ may despair of themselves, but never of him.—M.
Ver. 23.—The omnipotence of faith. This is a case in which the revisers have introduced a dramatic play of expression into what has seemed a merely conditional statement; and apparently with the authority of the best manuscripts. The words of Christ are seen to be those of surprise and expostulation, He sends back the qualifica- tion which the man had uttered, and asserts the virtual omnipotence of faith, and, at the same time, the dauntlessness of its spirit.
I. THE SPIRIT WHICH CHARACTERIZES THE BELIEVER. 1. Confidence and fearlessness, The true believer will never say, “If thou canst.” The greatest difficulties will not seem insuperable, and the testimony of sight and ordinary experience will be distrusted, Inward weakness and uncertainty will be conquered. The one thing of consequence will be, “Is this promised?” ‘Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job xiii. 15; cf. Hab. iii. 17). 2. Jt ts to be distinguished from self-confilence. There is no immediate reference to self in such a conviction; it bases itself upon the unseen and eternal, the laws and promises of God. Hence we may speak of the hemility of faith. 3. It ts eaceptionas and divinely produced. Most men are guided by their ordinary experience. When that experience is deliberately set aside or ignored, it must be because of some fact or truth not visible to the natura] mind. But such a discovery would be equivalent to a Divine communication. The faith which proceeds upon this must, therefore, be supernaturally inspired. It cannot exist save in one conscious of God, and of a peculiar relation to him.