_MARY OF BETHANY’S OFFERING_ ‘And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster bor of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the bor, and poured it on His head.’ Mark 14:3 Matthew and Mark say, a little mysteriously, that... [ Continue Reading ]
_MARY’S ACT JUDGED_ ‘There were some that had indignation.… Jesus said, Let her alone.’ Mark 14:4; Mark 14:6 I. BY MAN.—John is our informant as to the origin of the indignation. It sprang up in the base heart of _ Judas_. The motives of Mary and of Judas were as opposite as the poles. Mary’s lov... [ Continue Reading ]
_A CAPTIOUS QUESTION_ ‘Why was this waste of the ointment made?’ Mark 14:4 The incident from which our text is taken is distinguished above all others by the fact that Jesus mentions it as one that shall be held in world-wide and undying remembrance (Mark 14:9). What is there said has been realis... [ Continue Reading ]
_MARY’S ACT JUDGED_ ‘There were some that had indignation.… Jesus said, Let her alone.’ Mark 14:4; Mark 14:6 I. BY MAN.—John is our informant as to the origin of the indignation. It sprang up in the base heart of _ Judas_. The motives of Mary and of Judas were as opposite as the poles. Mary’s lov... [ Continue Reading ]
_AN OPPORTUNE WORK_ ‘She hath wrought a good work on Me.’ Mark 14:6 It would be easy enough to make out a ‘good case’ against Mary for this impulsive act of hers. Censoriousness, not to speak of malignity, would readily discover a troop of reasons why it should have been left undone. But our Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
_NOTHING TOO SMALL_ ‘She hath done what she could.’ Mark 14:8 But you say, ‘Were the early workers for Christ not for the most part employed in such great works as the conversion of the heathen or the ministry of the word? The very grandeur of their pursuits gave a dignity to their life; while my... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GIFT AND ITS MOTIVE_ ‘She is come aforehand to anoint My body to the burying.’ Mark 14:8 It is difficult to suppose that Mary had any very distinct intention when she poured out her costly ointment upon Christ. She could hardly have had a special focus; and yet this is exactly what Christ ga... [ Continue Reading ]
_BETRAYED FOR MONEY_ ‘And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray Him unto them. And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money.’ Mark 14:10 It is impossible to conceive a more striking proof of the lengths a man may go in a false professi... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘IS IT I?’_ ‘And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Him one by one, Is it I? and another said, Is it I?’ Mark 14:19 In this question of each of the disciples we see— I. SELF-RECOGNITION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SIN. (_a_) _ This self-recognition is better than self-confidence_. Had St.... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE HOLY COMMUNION_ ‘And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is My body. And He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And He said unto them, This is My blood of the new testame... [ Continue Reading ]
_IN GETHSEMANE_ ‘And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane.… My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.’ Mark 14:32; Mark 14:34 A mere intellectual solution of the mystery of this Divine sorrow over human guilt and woe is impossible. There are depths here which... [ Continue Reading ]
_IN GETHSEMANE_ ‘And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane.… My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.’ Mark 14:32; Mark 14:34 A mere intellectual solution of the mystery of this Divine sorrow over human guilt and woe is impossible. There are depths here which... [ Continue Reading ]
_HARMONY OF WILL_ ‘Nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt’ Mark 14:36 As a man, Christ clung closely to the Father. He did not lose the consciousness of His Sonship in these trying moments of dark agonising burden and sorrow. It was Father still, amid the heart-crushing grief. Jesus and... [ Continue Reading ]
_SPIRITUAL SLEEP_ ‘Simon, sleepest thou?’ Mark 14:37 There is a strange pathos in these words. They were spoken by a Friend to His friend; by a Friend in trouble such as man never knew, to a friend for whom (amongst others) that trouble was being endured. The sleep described was bodily sleep. But... [ Continue Reading ]
_WAKEFULNESS_ ‘Couldest not thou watch one hour?’ Mark 14:37 ‘This story has no special meaning for my particular trouble of sleeplessness; in fact, my trouble is just the opposite to that of the disciples. I cannot sleep: they could not keep awake. How, then, does the story—how do the words of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_CHRIST’S EXHORTATION_ ‘Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.’ Mark 14:38 A special exhortation, addressed to particular persons, but it has a general meaning. Consider the circumstances set out in the text. What is its practical application? I. THE PRECEPT is one, but the idea is t... [ Continue Reading ]
_BETRAYED AND FORSAKEN_ ‘And they laid their bands on Him, and took Him.’ Mark 14:46 I. BETRAYED BY A KISS.—Of all preconcerted signs possible, this was the one selected; as if to show what sin has in it, and what sin can do. In Judas the sin of humanity culminates. The kiss of Judas removed wha... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘I AM’_ ‘Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses? Ye have heard the blasphemy: what thing ye?’ Mark 14:63 Christ Himself asserted His Godhead in a manner which could not possibly be misunderstood. He allowed Himself to be put to death on a charge of b... [ Continue Reading ]
_PETER’S FALL_ ‘And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.’ Mark 14:72 There is no more painful incident in the whole Bible than St. Peter’s fall. What are its lessons? It contains a thre... [ Continue Reading ]