Mark 1

Mark 1:14

Rom. 8. 3. Coincides with Mat. iii. iv. viii. and exhibits (1) The ministry and success of John Baptist, answerable to Isaiah’s predictions; 1-8. (2) Christ’s baptism by John, and attestation from heaven; 9-11. (3) His temptation by Satan, and assistance from angels in the wilderness; 12, 13. (4) His labours in preaching; 14, 15, 21, 22, 38, 39; and prayer

Mark 1:35

(5) His calling of disciples; 16-20. (6) His rebuking and casting out an unclean spirit, to the astonishment of the spectators; 23-28. (7) His curing Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever; 29-31. (8) His healing all that came to him; 32-35. (9) His healing a leper, and charging him to conceal the cure

Mark 1:40-45

THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, 115 128* Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. Anno Domini cir. 27. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance *for the remission of sins. Is. 40. 3. Luke 3. 4. & 1. 76. John 1. 15. 23. Mat. 2. 3. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. Mar. 3. 1, 2. Act. 10. Act. 19. 4. & 2. 30. Or unto. Mar. 3. 5. Luke 1. 17. 76. John 3. 27. & 5. 38. Act. 2. 38. & 19. 19. Jer. 3. 13

REFLECTIONS UPON CHAP. I.—John delightfully, but humbly, prepares the way, that grace and truth may come through our incarnate God. But the greatest of ministers are but emptiness and nothing if compared with their divine Master. When multitudes attend their ministrations, all must issue in repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. And highly criminal is our unbelief of the gospel, which has been attested by concurrent reports of inspired evangelists, by the sermons of John and of Jesus, by victories over devils, the approbation of angels, by Jehovah’s testimony from heaven, by the Spirit’s descent, and by miracles unnumbered. O what do I owe to Christ! If I am accepted of God, it is in him:—if I receive the Spirit, it is through him:— If I am tempted as a Christian, it is in conformity to him:—if I resist the devil, and he flee from me, it is through his having been tempted, that he might succour them that are tempted:—if angels minister to me, it is at his command and for his sake:—if I am called or qualified as a Christian or minister, it is by him:—if I am delivered from diseases or devils, I owe all to him! Let me then never act the part of a devil in asking,—what have I to do with him? And if I have experienced his grace, let me gratefully employ all that I have in his service and praise