Mark 6
MCGARMark 6:1-6
M 54-58; M 1-6; L 16-31. [from Capernaum] [As to this city, see , , ). For comment on this usage of the synagogue see , ; but the quotation embraces other lines from Isaiah.] [Anointing was the method by which prophets, priests, and kings were consecrated or set apart to their several offices. This prophecy says that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus because he was appointed to do [358] a work of divine helpfulness] [The prophecy set forth in physical terms what Jesus should perform in both the physical and spiritual realms. The prophecy closes with a reference to the jubilee year, which, being a time of liberation, forgiveness, and fresh starts, was a type of Christ’s ministry and kingdom.] [This officer corresponded to our sexton. Part of this duty was to take charge of the synagogue rolls] [Reader and congregation both stood during the reading; then, usually, both sat down to hear the passage explained. They stood out of reverence for God’s word] [They had heard of his miracles, and were curious to see what he would say and do.] [The word grace refers rather to the manner than to the matter.
The speech of Jesus flowed easily, and gracefully] [They admitted his marvelous teaching and miraculous works, but were at a loss to account for them because their extreme familiarity with his humanity made it hard for them to believe in his divinity, by which alone his actions would be rightly explained. Twice in the early part of his ministry Jesus had been at Cana, within a few miles of Nazareth, and turning away from it had gone down to Capernaum.
He did not call upon his townsmen to believe in him or his divine mission until [359] the evidences were so full that they could not deny them.] [They brought forth every item of trade and relationship by which they could confirm themselves in their conviction that he was simply a human being like themselves. The question as to his identity, however, suggests that he may have been absent from Nazareth some little time. As to Jesus’ kindred, see , and the second at . Palestine was filled with poor people even in times of plenty, so there must have been large numbers of hungry people during the long-continued period of famine. There has always been a large number of lepers in the land, and surely if any disease ought to prompt a man to lay aside his prejudices that he might obtain healing it was leprosy; but as Nazareth was now rejecting Jesus, so their ancestors had despised the two mighty prophets. Not one of all the hungry would have received bread from Elijah by an act of faith, nor did one of all the lepers ask healing from Elisha.] [The Nazarenes were jealous enough of the claims of Jesus when put in their most modest dress; but when Jesus placed himself alongside Elijah and Elisha, and likened his hearers to widows for want, and lepers for uncleanness, they were ready to dash him to pieces] [they evidently had hold of him] [Near the eastern end of Nazareth there is a cavern in the rock which forms a precipice down which, if a man were hurled, he would be killed.
At the western end there is a perpendicular cliff about forty feet high, with a naked floor of rock at the bottom. To which place they led Jesus we can not decide.] [361] [A simple statement of a marvelous fact.
Miracles are not explained in the Bible.] [As to this statement that Jesus felt surprised, see . “It should also be borne in mind,” says Canon Cook, “that surprise at the obtuseness and unreasonableness of sin is constantly attributed to God by the prophets.” The statement, therefore, is perfectly consonant with the divinity of Jesus.] [We have followed the chronology of Mark, according to which Jesus had already been living in Capernaum for some time. Luke tells of the rejection early in his narrative, and adds this line to show that from the earlier days of his ministry Jesus made Capernaum his headquarters.] [FFG 358-362]
Mark 6:6-13
M 35-38; 1, 5-42; 1; M 6-13; L 1-6. [In the first circuit of Galilee some of the twelve accompanied Jesus as disciples . As Jesus himself was sent only to the Jews, so during his days on earth he sent his disciples only to them.] [It was set up about a year later, on the day of Pentecost, under the direction of the Holy Spirit– .] [Here is the true rule of giving. Paul repeats it at . If we would obey this rule, we would make this a happy world.] [The prohibition is against securing these things before starting, and at their own expense. It is not that they would have no need for the articles mentioned, but that “the laborer is worthy of his food,” and they were to depend on the people for whose benefit they labored, to furnish what they might need. This passage is alluded to by Paul .
To rightly understand this prohibition we must remember that the apostles were to make but a brief tour of a few weeks, and that it was among their own countrymen, among a people habitually given to hospitality; moreover, that the apostles were imbued with powers which would win for them the respect of the religious and the gratitude of the well-to-do. The special and temporary commission was, therefore, never intended as a rule under which we are to act in preaching the gospel in other ages and in other lands.] [The customs of the East gave rise to this rule.
The ceremonies and forms with which a guest was received were tedious and time-consuming vanities, while the mission of the apostles required haste.] [364] [The form of salutation on entering a house was, “Peace to this house.” The apostles are told to salute each house, and are assured that the peace prayed for shall return to them if the house is not worthy; that is, they shall receive, in this case, the blessing pronounced on the house.] [Jesus here warns them that their experiences would not always be pleasant] [The word “house” indicates a partial and the word “city” a complete rejection] [The dust of heathen lands as compared with the land of Israel was regarded as polluted and unholy . The Jew, therefore, considered himself defiled by such dust. For the apostles, therefore, to shake off the dust of any city of Israel from their clothes or feet was to place that city on a level with the cities of the heathen, and to renounce all further intercourse with it.] [For comment on similar remarks, see , , ). When an apostle stood over a sick man to heal him by a touch or a word, he was about to send him out of his sick chamber, and just before the word was spoken, the oil was applied. It was, therefore, no more than a token or symbol that the man was restored to his liberty, and was from that moment to be confined to his chamber no longer. Comp. . This practice bears about the same relation to the Romish practice of extreme unction as the Lord’s Supper does to the mass, or as a true baptism does to the sprinkling of an infant.] [FFG 362-369]
Mark 6:14-29
M 1-12; M 14-29; L 7-9. [Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. See ), but there was a prevalent idea among the ancients that departed spirits were endowed with superhuman powers, and Herod therefore supposed that the risen John had brought these powers with him from the spirit world.] [Jesus purposely kept out of the reach of Herod, knowing the treacherous cunning of his nature , and Herod’s curiosity was not gratified until the day of Christ’s crucifixion , and then its gratification was without sanctification.] [Some thought that Elijah might have returned, as the Scripture declared, or that Jesus might be a prophet just like the great prophets of old. Matthew, by introducing what follows with the word “for,” gives us the reason why Herod clung to this singular opinion of Jesus. He did so because this opinion was begotten in the morbid musings of a conscience stained with the blood of John.] [370] [Herodias was the daughter of Aristobulus, who was the half-brother of Herod Philip I. and Herod Antipas, and these two last were in turn half-brothers to each other. Herodias, therefore, had married her uncle Herod Philip I, who was disinherited by Herod the Great, and who lived as a private citizen in Rome. When Herod Antipas went to Rome about the affairs of his tetrarchy, he became the guest of his brother Herod Philip I., and repaid the hospitality which he received by carrying off the wife of his host.] [The marriage was unlawful of three reasons: 1.
The husband of Herodias was still living; 2. The lawful wife of Antipas (the daughter of Aretas, king or emir of Arabia) was still living; 3.
Antipas and Herodias, being nephew and niece, were related to each other within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity.] [Herod feared both John and his influence. His fear of the man as a prophet caused him to shelter John against any attempts which his angry wife might make to put him to death, and led him to listen to John with enough respect to become perplexed as to whether it were better to continue in his course or repent. At other times, when the influence of Herodias moved him most strongly, and he forgot his personal fear of John, he was yet restrained by fear of John’s influence over the people.] [A day suited to the purposes of Herodias. The phrase refers to ] [the language seems to indicate that others had first come in and danced] [This dancer was Salome, daughter of Herod Philip and niece of Herod Antipas. The dancing of the East was then, as now, voluptuous and indecent, and nothing but utter shamelessness or inveterate malice could have induced a princess to thus make a public show of herself at such a carousal] [The rashness of the king’s promise is characteristic of the folly of sin. Riches, honors, kingdoms, souls are given for a bauble in the devil’s market.] [She may have known beforehand what to ask.
If so, she retired and asked her mother that the brunt of the king’s displeasure might fall upon her mother.] [she wished to make her request known before the king had time to put limitations upon her asking] [She asked for the prophet’s head that she and her mother might have the witness of their own eyes to the fact that he was dead, and that they might not be deceived about it.] [because the deed went against his conscience and his sense of policy as above stated] [The oath alone would not have constrained Herod to grant Salome’s request, for if left alone [372] he would rightly have construed the request as not coming within the scope of the oath. The terms of his oath looked to and anticipated a pecuniary present, and not the commission of a crime.
But Herod’s companions, being evil men, joined with the evil women against the man of God, and shamed Herod into an act which committed him forever to a course of guilt. Thus, a bad man’s impulses are constantly broken down by his evil companions] [To the anxious, unrestful soul of Herodias this seemed a great gift, since it assured her that the voice of her most dangerous enemy was now silent. But as Herod was soon filled with superstitious fears that John had risen in the person of Christ, her sense of security was very short-lived. The crime stamped Herod and Herodias with greater infamy than that for which John had rebuked them.] [Herod had feared that the death of John would bring about a popular uprising, and his fears were not mistaken. As soon as they had decently buried the body of the great preacher, John’s disciples go to Jesus, expecting to find in him a leader to redress the Baptist’s wrongs. They knew the friendship of John for Jesus, and, knowing that the latter intended to set up a kingdom, they believed that this would involve the overthrow of Herod’s power.
They were ready now to revolt and make Jesus a king. See , , , .
But Jesus would not aid them to seek the bitter fruits of revenge, nor did he intend to set up such a kingdom as they imagined.] [FFG 369-373]
Mark 6:30-32
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
M 13; M 30-32; L 10; J 1. [They had fulfilled the mission on which Jesus had sent them, and on returning each pair made to him a full report of their work.] [an uninhabited place] [Need of rest was one reason for retiring to the thinly settled shores east of the lake. Matthew proceeds to give us another reason for his retiring.] [Heard about John’s death. The excitement caused by this event, and the efforts to use Jesus as a leader in revolt, as indicated at the close of the last section, constituted another reason why Jesus should withdraw from the multitude] [the apostles] [They sailed to the northeastern shore of the lake to a plain lying near the city of Bethsaida Julius.] [374] [FFG 374]
Mark 6:33-44
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
M 13-21; M 33-44; L 11-17; J 2-14. [heard of Jesus and his disciples crossing the lake] [Jesus probably set sail from near Capernaum, and from thence across the lake to the narrow, secluded plain of El Batihah, where he landed is less than five miles. Seeing him start, the people followed him by running along the northern shore, and, though having a little farther to go, they traveled faster than the sailboat, and were waiting for him on the shore when he arrived.] [The level plain did not afford a good platform from which to address the people.] [This passover is computed to have been held on April 16, A. D. 29. This statement as to the time of year prepares us for his further statement that there was much grass in the plain. It also explains in part the gathering of a multitude in this secluded region. Pilgrims on their way to the passover would gladly go several miles out of their way to see the great Prophet perform a miracle.
The excitement, due to the mission of the twelve and the death of the Baptist, also tended to swell the [375] crowd.] [the time to seek lodging and provisions had gone by, and therefore the multitude must act quickly] [The apostles were the first to think of eating, and naturally enough, for they had started on empty stomachs, and their own discomfort made them anticipate the sad plight in which the multitude would soon find itself.] [Jesus tested Philip to see which way he would turn in his weakness. Jesus asked where the bread might be bought, knowing that power to feed the multitude resided in himself , but Philip wondered where the money was to be had to buy it.] [The word translated shilling is the Roman denarius, worth about seventeen cents.
The sum was not large, as we reckon money, but, considering the purchasing power of money in those days, it was an imposing sum, and it is to be doubted if the treasury-bag of Judas ever contained the fourth part of it. For a denarius was the regular price for a day’s labor.] [376] [When sent to see what was in their larder, it appears that they had nothing at all. Andrew reports the finding of the boy’s lunch while it was as yet the boy’s property. Some of the others, having secured it from the boy, report it now at the disposal of Jesus, but comment on its insufficiency. Eastern loaves were thin and small, like good-sized crackers, and around the Sea of Galilee, the salting and preserving of small fish was an especial industry. These fish, therefore, were about the size of sardines.
The whole supply, therefore, was no more than enough for one hungry boy. But each loaf had to be divided between a thousand, and each fish between twenty-five hundred men.] [By thus arranging them in orderly companies, Jesus accomplished several things.
He saved his apostles much time and labor in distributing the food. He insured that each one should be fed, and that the reality of the miracle could not be questioned, and he ascertained definitely how many men were fed.] [377] [He blessed the loaves and fishes by returning thanks for them. This and similar acts of Jesus are our precedents for giving thanks, or, “asking the blessing,” at our tables] [Christ is the economist of the universe. This command was in keeping with his laws which permit nothing to suffer annihilation. Ruin and destruction have no other effect than merely to change the form of things. Every atom of the material world which was here at the beginning of creation is here to-day, though it may have changed its form a million times in the progress of events.] [Considering the distance from any town, the women and children would not likely be numerous.
They form no part of the count, for Eastern usage did not permit the women to sit with the men. They, with the little ones, would stand apart.] [That is to say, this is the Messiah, the prophet promised at .
Their desire to avenge the death of John made them feverishly anxious for the appearance of the Messiah, but this faith was inconstant.] [378] [FFG 375-378]
Mark 6:45-56
(Spring, A. D. 29.)
M 22-36; M 45-56; J 15-21. [Jesus had descended to the plain to feed the multitude, but, perceiving this mistaken desire of the people, he frustrated it by dismissing his disciples and retiring by himself into the mountain.] [the suburb of Capernaum] [The obedience of the disciples in leaving him helped to persuade the multitude to do likewise.] [The news of John’s assassination was calculated to exasperate him in the highest degree, and also to deeply distress him. He needed the benefits of prayer to keep down resentment, and to prevent despondency. For this he started away as soon as he heard the news, but the people prevented him till night.] [They evidently expected that he would follow. Possibly they skirted the shore, hoping that he would hail them and come on board.] [379] [That is, it blew from the west, the direction toward which the disciples were rowing.] [from 3 to 6 ] [The disciples of Jesus can rest assured that the eyes of the Lord will behold their distresses, and that sooner or later the Lord himself will arise and draw near for their deliverance.] [that is, about three and a half miles, or about half way across the sea] [Their fears would probably have been greater if Jesus had approached the boat, for they were severe enough to make them cry out, even when he was seen to be passing by them.] [There was no mistaking that voice. If Isaac knew the voice of Jacob , Saul the voice of David , and Rhoda the voice of Peter , much more did the apostles know the voice of the great Master.] [Superstitious fears are not always so soon allayed. His voice brought great assurance.] [This scene comports with the character of Peter, who had always a rash willingness [380] to go into danger, and a lack of steadfastness to hold out through it.] [So long as the attention of Peter was fixed upon the Lord’s command he succeeded in his venture; but so soon as he let the power of the tempest distract his thoughts, his faith failed and he began to sink.] [Fear is a source of doubt and an enemy of faith.
Those who would achieve the victories of faith must overcome their fears.] [The disciples showed the hardness of their hearts in that the working of one miracle did not prepare them either to expect or to comprehend any other miracle which followed. They ought to have worshipped Jesus as the Son of God when they saw the five thousand fed, but they did not.
But when he had done that, and had walked upon the water, and quieted the wind, and transported the boat to the land, they were overcome by the iteration of his miraculous power, and confessed his divinity.] [The land of Gennesaret was a plain at the western end of the lake of Galilee. Josephus describes it as about thirty furlongs in length by twenty in average width, and bounded on the west by a semicircular line of hills.] [381] [Though the apostles had started their boat toward Capernaum, the storm appears to have deflected their course, and the language of the text suggests that they probably came to land at the south end of the plain, somewhere near Magdala, and made a circuit of the cities in the plain of Gennesaret on their way to Capernaum. As he did not stop in these cities, the sick were laid in the street that they might touch him in passing through. Moreover, as they knew the course that he was taking, by running ahead they could anticipate his arrivals and have the sick gathered to take advantage of his presence. The story of the woman who touched the hem of his garment had evidently spread far and wide, and deeply impressed the popular mind.] [FFG 379-382]