CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mark 1:35. A great while before day.—How Mark loves to emphasise the ceaseless activity and devotion of our Blessed Lord!
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Mark 1:35-39
(PARALLELS: Matthew 8:16-17; Matthew 4:23-25; Luke 4:40-44.)
The mutual relations of prayer and work.—Hitherto St. Mark has depicted in glowing colours the untiring activity of Him who “went about doing good” among men, instructing their ignorance, removing their woes, and infusing new hope into their burdened hearts. Now he fills up the picture with a view of Jesus in solitary communion with His Father, lifting up His eyes unto the heavenly hills from whence came His daily inspiration and motive-power.
I. Christ’s prayers in general.—Eighteen times our Lord’s own prayers are spoken of in the Gospels, bringing out the following facts respecting them.
1. His habit of prayer (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Mark 6:46; Luke 3:21; Luke 5:16; Luke 6:12; Luke 9:28; Luke 11:1).
2. His blending of thanksgiving with prayer (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21; John 11:41).
3. His use of intercession in prayer.
(1) For friends (Luke 22:32).
(2) For enemies (Luke 23:34).
(3) For Himself and His disciples as one with Him (John 17).
(4) His complete submission to the Father’s will (Matthew 26:39; Mark 15:34; Luke 22:42; John 12:27).
II. Christ’s prayer on this occasion.—
1. The time selected—“the morning, a great while before day.” No time could be more favourable for private communion with God—the body refreshed by its recent repose, the mind in its vigour, the passions at rest, the whole surroundings so calm and tranquil. The saints in every age have loved to give their freshest thoughts to God, and to seek His aid before the duties of the day begin.
2. The scene—“a solitary place.” Besides taking delight in the common prayers of the Church, and lifting up the heart secretly even in the most public thoroughfares, the man of God has his private oratory, into which he enters and shuts the door, and pours forth his soul in the presence of his Heavenly Father, laying bare his most secret feelings, confessing his inmost faults, making known his every trouble and desire.
3. Our Lord sets us here a notable example of prayer in spite of hindrances. After so laborious a day as that just closed, and with the prospect of another equally trying, the Saviour must have sorely needed rest. But aching limbs and weary mind are to Him as nothing in comparison with the longing of His pure and holy spirit for the refreshing streams of heavenly grace. And so, giving but few hours to sleep, He rises long before daybreak to pray.
III. Prayer and work.—With Christ these two things were always closely associated. Prayer was to Him the sequel of one day’s work, and the prelude of another. He will not on any account forego His daily devotions; but, on the other hand, He will not let them interfere with His work for God. There are some who think they may be excused from prayer because they are so busy; and others who think that God will be pleased with prayer in lieu of work, as the sole business of their lives; but the example of Christ rebukes all such trifling. It is only in combination that either prayer or work will gain the Divine approval, and draw down a blessing on ourselves and others. It is related of Colonel Gardiner that he used constantly to rise at four in the morning, and spend his time till six in private meditation and prayer, in which he acquired such fervency of spirit as, says his biographer, “I believe few men living ever attained. This certainly very much contributed to strengthen that firm faith in God, and reverent, animating sense of His presence, for which he was so eminently remarkable, and which carried him through the trials and services of life with such readiness and with such activity; for he indeed endured and acted as if always seeing Him who is invisible. If at any time he was obliged to go out before six in the morning, he rose proportionally sooner; so that, when a journey or a march has required him to be on horseback by four, he would be at his devotions by two.” There is a sentimentalism abroad which says, “Work is prayer.” So it is. And yet if we work without secret and constant prayer our work will be powerless. Work is only prayer in so far as it is done in a prayerful spirit. There must be distinct work and distinct prayer. We must pray in order to work, and work because we pray.
Mark 1:36-38. Jesus in request.—
I. Though Jesus had withdrawn, the interest and excitement created by His miracles continued in Capernaum (Mark 1:37).—
1. His miracles had taken the form of temporal benefits. They might look for more of these.
2. His miracles might prompt them to take Him by force, and make Him a king.
3. Erroneous notions of Christ still lead many to follow Him.
(1) Some, like the Jews, seek temporal advantages.
(2) Some come for the pardon of retained sins.
(3) Some come to purchase salvation by the performance of ceremonies.
(4) Some come to accompany others.
II. Such interest seems to have gratified the apostles (Mark 1:36).—
1. They loved their Master, and rejoiced in His praise.
2. They shared in the reputation of their Master.
3. They went to Christ, thinking to gratify Him.
4. They went to Christ, perhaps supposing that He would take advantage of His popularity to set up His kingdom.
5. They seem to have gone to induce Him to return to Capernaum.
6. Gratification with the world’s favour indicates a low standard in a believer or a Church.
III. Christ refused to return to Capernaum, on the ground that He had to preach elsewhere (Mark 1:38).—
1. In so far as the people of Capernaum were concerned;
(1) He had preached to them the gospel.
(2) He had confirmed His doctrine by miracles.
(3) He would not gratify a vain curiosity.
(4) He would not work miracles merely to confer a temporal good.
(5) Let us examine our motives for asking Christ’s presence.
2. He had to preach the gospel to others.
(1) He was the King of the Jews, not the ruler of a city.
(2) He was the Shepherd and Bishop of souls, not the pastor of a congregation.
(3) The Jews were to be dealt with nationally in judgment, and therefore nationally in mercy.
(4) Let Christ still preach everywhere.
(5) Let us not limit Christ’s presence.—Jas. Stewart.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mark 1:35. Christ’s habit of prayer.—Some have stumbled at the Saviour’s habit of prayer, as though it derogated from His Divine character that He should make petitions to God: they have explained it by saying that He prayed not from want, but for example’s sake. But away with such explanations: let us embrace the mystery; let us not care to explain it; and let us say, as we may say without passing the bounds of truth and without detracting an iota from our Saviour’s glory, that being perfect man He did that which perfect man ever ought to do—namely, find His chief joy and His chief source of support in communion with His Father in heaven.—Bishop H. Goodwin.
Prayer before work.—Our Lord in all His great works commenced with prayer. The same religious habit was common with the heathen. In all undertakings of moment they began with consulting or propitiating the gods: not only if they were about to engage in any expedition, or to encounter an enemy, or to form a treaty; but scarcely is there to be found a poem of any length in which the aid or inspiration of some reputed divinity is not invoked. It was reserved for the Christian—the disciple of Jesus, the decrier and improver of Gentile fashions—to discard prayer from his breast and home. It is the Christian by name that enters on matters of the first importance to his country, his neighbour, or himself, that ventures upon the thousand perils and hazards which threaten his health, fortune, and comfort by day, and the secret evils which walk by night, and all without prayer; often, without a single aspiration to Him whose providence noteth even a sparrow’s fall, and in whose hands are the issues of our weal and woe. What wonder if God forsake those who never acknowledge their dependence on Him, but on the contrary habitually demean themselves as if they were the sole or chief contrivers and builders of their fortunes!—A. Williams, M. A.
Mark 1:37. All men seek for Christ.—All ages and all lives have sought for Christ. The prophecy that bespeaks Him is no mere feature of the Jewish Scriptures. It is part of the equipment of the human heart. Messianic prophecy is the deepest department of psychology. The search for Christ is the profoundest fact of human life. Every life that has any moral value seeks for something by the aid of which it can rise above itself, of something which shall redeem it from its littleness, heal its sicknesses, answer its prophecies, and take its unrest away. In every human heart there is beneath all the carelessness and indifference the Christ-want—a want which men seek to satisfy in a thousand ways, or to forget in the whirl of life and the dissipation of trifles. Deep down in our mystic life—no matter how careless, or shallow, or slight we be—there is an unfulfilled prophecy for Jesus Christ. No man is so shallow, superficial, or bad as never to have felt in his heart of hearts, in those solemn hours that come to every man, the impulse of this prophecy. What else is the meaning of the hero-worship of bygone days but the declaration that man seeks a strength without, that each life is not self-sufficient, that it seeks for something perfectly holy, yet perfectly human, to which it can give itself up? The shrines of heroes and martyrs at which men and women have prayed—what are these but witnesses to the fact that human nature seeks its Christ, seeks by its worship of goodness or power to get back the goodness or the power it lacks? The whole travail of human life is its search for Christ; the pathos of life is the pursuit of the false Christs; the equation of life is solved, the prophecies of life fulfilled, when the soul finds its Christ—when the soul of man returns to its rest in God.
The true disciple always knows where to find the Master.—The disciples knew the habits of their Lord: they knew that in some hidden place He could be found in the early hours of the day; at all events, they knew that Jesus Christ would be found in the path of usefulness or preparation for usefulness. Do men know where they can find us? Are our Christian habits so distinct and unchangeable that our friends can with certainty explain our position?—J. Parker, D. D.
Mark 1:38. Christ’s eagerness to reach as many souls as possible.—He will not wait for people to come to Him, but hastens to carry the gospel to them. Thus He teaches us to make the most of our lives and opportunities, to scatter the seed of grace as widely as we can, to press forward with the tidings of God’s love with unflagging zeal.
The preaching of the kingdom of God was Christ’s vocation.—
1. Concerning Himself, as He who was come to save men.
2. Concerning the true righteousness which avails before God.
3. Concerning the worship of God in spirit and truth. Within these limits it was His vocation to spread that kingdom as far as He could.—F. Schleiermacher.
“Therefore came I forth.”—Christ does not mean that for this end He had come into the world, but that for this end He had come during the night from His house to the spot where He had been composed and tranquillised; and not that such was the intention with which He had come hither, but that such was the Divine purpose in His coming—that He had been brought hither to be composed and tranquillised, not for Himself, not for His personal benediction, but to be prepared and equipped for further ministry; that He had found comfort in the solitude, only to enable Him to be a Comforter. This is the true Christ-spirit, the feeling that nothing is given to us for ourselves, but for our helpful effluence thereof; that the raison d’être for all we have and are is service, sacrifice.—S. A. Tipple.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Mark 1:35. The early morning.—If you would see a likeness of heaven on earth, you must look for it in the early morning. The day then seems new-born; there are all sorts of beauteous sights and sounds; the air is balmy, the dew glistening on the open flowers like diamonds. Birds are singing their matin praises; cattle lowing, etc. Men, too, are scarce astir, and no evil passions exciting your peaceful contemplations. It is, indeed, a time for communing with God. The spiritual analogy or correspondence of the morning is also striking. It denotes a new state in the regenerate life, and this is a direct gift from the Lord, who is called in God’s Word the “Morning Star,” and “a morning without clouds.” All great workers have been early risers. Dr. Doddridge ascribed the preparation of most of his works to the circumstance of his rising at five o’clock every morning, saying that this course pursued for forty years would add ten years to man’s life. Dr. Homer observes that “there is a certain loveliness and a salutary or even curative influence in the morning atmosphere beyond that of any other portion of the day.” Those who habitually lie late in bed are generally the drones and dawdlers of society. This kind of self-indulgence is enervating to both body and mind, and we ought to watch and pray against it, as against a deadly sin.—O. P. Hiller.
Morning praises.—When St. Francis of Assisi used to hear the birds sing in the morning, he would say to his brethren, “Our little winged brothers are already praising their Creator, and are singing Him a song of gratitude for the new day that is shining above them. Shall we allow ourselves to be put to shame by the birds?”
Morning is the golden hour for prayer and praise.—The mind is fresh; the mercies of the night and the new resurrection of the dawn both prompt a devout soul to thankfulness. The buoyant heart takes its earliest flight, like the lark, toward the gates of heaven. One of the finest touches in Bunyan’s immortal allegory is his description of Christian in the chamber of Peace, “who awoke and sang,” while his window looked out to the sun rising. If even the stony statue of heathen Memnon made music when the first rays of the dawn kindled on its flinty brow, surely no Christian heart should be dumb when God causes the outgoings of the morning to rejoice.
Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.—At night it is our covering; in the morning it is our armour: so at all times it defends us from the malice of Satan, our own subordinations and betrayings, the unequal weather the world assaults us with, and preserves us in the favour and esteem of Heaven (Psalms 132:1-5; Psalms 119:148; Psalms 143:8-12; 1 Samuel 13:12).—O. Feltham.
Retirement with God is the only preparation for success, and the only medicine for failure. The secret of all strong souls lies in those times of loneliness when they were bound hand and foot as captives to the Everlasting Will. We deride such nowadays; call them mystic, contemplationist, fanatic. But if it were anything but religion, people would not laugh. Tell them of Demosthenes living in a cellar, with head half shaved to prevent his appearing in public, and there will be admiration: was it any wonder that he became an orator? But let a man be as bent on becoming a saint, let him give up one hour’s frivolous talk in order to commune with his Father in secret, then we suspect that such an one is becoming righteous overmuch. Mind, no one complains of a man being anxious to be wise overmuch, rich overmuch, healthy overmuch; he may burn the midnight oil and study, watch the markets and scheme, frequent the gymnasium and develop his muscle, and no one will find fault; but to spend time on what is at least as important as wisdom, wealth, and health, and in a sense involves them all—this is fanatical, and not to be encouraged or approved. We miss much through our want of separation from the world, and through our deficiency in insulation, or, which is the same word, in isolation. If we go into a science laboratory and examine the great brass machines for holding electrical charges, we find that they are all mounted on glass feet. These are the insulators; and if it were not for them, no electricity would remain on the surface; as it is, electricity is hard enough to keep in charge, even with the best insulators. And we know sometimes what it is to have life and power pass into us from above, but we do not know how to retain it, because we have never learnt true retirement of heart and insulation of life. Some one spoke to John Nelson, making unfavourable comparison of John Wesley with a prominent religious teacher of the day; and Nelson replied, “He has not stayed in the upper room like John Wesley.”—J. Rendel Harris.
Mark 1:38. Opportunities.—Cromwell said that it was his aim not only to strike while the iron was hot, but to “make the iron hot by striking!” Some men wait for opportunities, and others make opportunities and circumstances wait upon them.