Ver. 7.—For ye have the poor always with you, and whensoever ye will ye oan (dtvacée) do them good; but me ye have not always. The little clause, “ whensoever ye will ye can do them good,” occurs only in St. Mark, It is as though our Lord said, “ The world always abounds with poor; therefore you always have it in your power to help them; but within a week [ shall have gone from you, after which you will be unable to per- form any service like this for me; yea, no more to see, to hear, to touch me. Suffer, then, this woman to perform this ministry now for me, which after six days she will have uo other opportunity of doing.”
Ver. 8.—She hath done what she could. She seized the opportunity, which might not occur again, of doing honour to her Lord by anointing him with her very best, Our Lord might have excused this action, and have praised it as a practical evidence of her gratitude, her humility, and her love for him. But instead of dwelling on these things, he said, She hath anointed my body aforehand for the burying. Our Lord here, of course, alludes to the spices and oint- ments with which the Jews wrapped up the bodies of their dead before their burial. Not that this was what Mary intended. She could hardly have dreamed of his death and burial so near at hand. But she was moved by the Holy Spirit to do this, at this particular time, as though in anticipation of his death and burial.
Ver. 9.—Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whale world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (cis urqudov- voy avtjs). “ Mnemosyné was the mother of the Muses, and s0 called because, before the invention of writing, a retentive memory was of the utmost value in every effort of literary genius” (Dr. Morison on St. Mark), When our Lord delivered this prediction, none of the Gospels had been written; nor
oH. xIv. 1—72.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK.
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had the gospel been preached at this time throughout the then known world. Now it has been published for more than eighteen centuries ; and wherever it is proclaimed, this deed of Mary’s is published with it, in continual memory of her, and to her last- ing honour.
Ver. 10.—And Judas Iscariot, he that was one of the twelve (6 «fs ray 3é5exa), went away unto the chief priests, that he might deliver him unto them. ‘The betrayal fol- lows immediately after the anointing by Mary. We may suppose that the other dis- ciples who had murmured on account of this waste of the ointment, were brought to their senses by our Lord’s rebuke, and felt its force. But with Judas the case was very different. The rebuke, which had a salu- tary effect on them, only served to harden him. He had lost one opportunity of gain ; he would seek another. In his cupidity and wickedness he resolves to betray his Master, and sell him to the Jews. So while the chief priests were plotting how they might destroy him, they found an apt and unex- pected instrument for their purpose in one of his own disciples. Judas came to them, and the vile and hateful bargain was con- cluded. It marks the tremendous iniquity of the transaction that it was “‘one of the twelve” who betrayed him—not one of the seventy, but one of those who were in the closest intimacy and nearness to him.
Ver. 11.—And they, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought (<(jre:)—he was secking ; he made it his business to arrange how the infamous plot might be managed—how he might conveniently deliver him unto them (was cixalpws airoy wapadg); literally, how at a conventent season he might betray him. And they, when they heard tt, were glad ; glad, because they saw the prospect of the ac- complishment of their wishes; glad, because it was ‘one of the twelve ” who covenanted to betray him. The, promised to give him money. St. Matthew (xxvi. 15) tells us the amount, namely, thirty pieces of silver, ac- cording to the prophecy of Zechariah (xi. 12), to which St. Matthew evidently refers. These pieces of silver were shekels of the sanctuary, worth about three shillings each. This would make the whole amount about £4 10s. of our money; less than half the value of the precious ointment with which Mary had anointed him. Some commen- tators, however, think that this was only an iastalment of what they promised him if he completed his treasonable design. How he might conveniently deliver him unto them. St. Luke (xxii. 6) explains this by saying, “in the absence of the multitude; ” that is, when the people were not about him, and when he was in private with his dis-
ciples. And so he betrayed him at night, when he was alone with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Ver. 12.—And on the first day of un- leavened bread, when they sacrificed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and make ready that thou mayest eat the passover? The first day of unleavened bread would begin on the evening of the Thursday (the 14th day of the month Nisan). Where wilt thou that we prepare? They do not inquire in what city or town. The Passover could not be sacri- ficed anywhere but in Jerusalem. The question was in what house it was to be prepared.
Ver. 13.—And he sendeth two of his dis- ciples. St. Luke (xxii. 8) informs us that these two were Peter and John. It is cha- racteriatic of 8t. Mark’s Gospel throughout that Peter is never mentioned oftener than is necessary. Go into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. The bearing of the pitcher of water was not without its meaning. It was a solemn religious act preparatory to the Passover. This man bearing a pitcher of water was not the master or owner of the house. The owner is distinguished after- wards by the name oixodéomorns, or “ good« man of the house.” The owner must, there- fore, have been a man of some substance, and probably a friend if not a disciple of our Lord. ‘Tradition says that this was the house of John whose surname was Mark; and that it was in this house that the dis- ciples were assembled on the evening of our Lord’s resurrection, and where, also, they received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost. It was to this house that Peter betock himself when he was delivered by the angel out of prison. Hence it was known, as one of the earliest places of Christian worship, by the name of “ Coenaculum Sion ; ” and here was built a church, called the Ohurch of Sion. It was the oldest church in Jerusalem, and was called by St. Cyril, “the upper church of the apostles.” (See Joseph Mede, p. 322.)
Ver. 14.—Tho Master saith, Where is my guest-chamber («aTvAvua pov); literally, my lodging.