Mark 1:38

And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, LET US GO - or, according to another reading, 'Let us go elsewhere' [though the word allachou (G237a), added by Tischendorf and Tregelles, has scarcely sufficient authority]. INTO THE NEXT TOWNS, [ eis (G1519) tas (G3588) echomenas (G2192) koomopoleis (G2969)] - rather, 'unto the neighbouring village-towns;' meaning those places intermediate between towns and villages, with which the western side of the sea of Galilee was studded....

Mark1:38._For on this account I came out. _Luke 4:43._For on this account am I sent. _These words deserve our attention: for they contain a declaration of his earnest desire to fulfill his office. But it will perhaps be asked, is it better that the ministers of the Gospel should run here and there, to give only a slight and partial taste of it in each place, or that they should remain, and instruct perfectly the hearers whom they have once obtained? I reply. The design of Christ, which is here mentioned, was agreeable to the injunction and call of the Father, and was founded on the best reasons. For it was necessary that Christ should travel, within a short period, throughout Judea, to awaken the minds of men, on all sides, as if by the sound of a trumpet, to hear the Gospel. But on this subject we must treat more fully under another passage.

29-39 Wherever Christ comes, he comes to do good. He cures, that we may minister to him, and to others who are his, and for his sake. Those kept from public ordinances by sickness or other real hinderances, may expect the Saviour's gracious presence; he will soothe their sorrows, and abate their pains. Observe how numerous the patients were. When others speed well with Christ, it should quicken us in seeking after him. Christ departed into a solitary place. Though he was in no danger of distraction, or of temptation to vain-glory, yet he retired. Those who have the most business in public, and of the best kind, must yet sometimes be alone with God....

Verse 38. _THE NEXT TOWNS_] κωμοπολεις properly signifies such towns as resembled cities for _magnitude_ and _number_ of inhabitants, but which were not _walled_ as were _cities_. The _Codex Bezae_, most of the versions, and all the _Itala_, read, _Let us go into the_ _neighbouring villages_, AND INTO THE CITIES. _FOR THEREFORE CAME I FORTH._] εις τουτο, _for this purpose am I_ _come forth _- to preach the Gospel to every creature, that all might hear, and fear, and return unto the Lord. The _towns_ and the _villages_ will not come to the preacher - the preacher _must go to_ _them_, if he desires their salvation. In this, also, Jesus has left his ministering servants an _example_, that they should follow his steps. Let no minister of God think he has delivered his own soul, till he has made an offer of salvation to every _city_ and _village_ within his

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM ... - This was said in answer to their “implied” request that he would go and meet the multitudes. “Since the anxiety to hear the truth is so great, since such multitudes are waiting to hear the word, let us go into the next towns,” etc. NEXT TOWNS - Towns in the neighborhood or vicinity of Capernaum. He proposed to carry the gospel to them, rather than that multitudes should leave their homes and attend him in his ministry. The word here rendered “towns” denotes places in size between “cities” and “villages,” or large places, but without walls. FOR THEREFORE CAME I FORTH - That is, came forth from God, or was sent by God. Luke, says Luke 4:43, “for therefore am I sent.” Compare John

EXPOSITION MARK 1:1 THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. These words mean, not the title of the book, but the commencement of the narrative; and so they depend upon what follows, namely, "as it is written" (καθῶς for ὠς), "even as it is written." The words "the gospel of Jesus Christ" do not signify the book which St. Mark wrote, but the evangelical teaching of Jesus Christ. St. Mark means that the gospel announcement by Jesus Christ had such a beginning as had been predicted by Isaiah and Malachi, namely, the preaching of John the Baptist, and his testimony concerning Christ, to be fully laid open by the preaching and the death of Christ. The preaching of repentance by the Baptist was the preparation and the beginning of the evangelical preaching by Christ, of whom John was the forerunner. It has been well observed that St. Matthew an

AND HE SAID UNTO THEM, LET US GO INTO THE NEXT TOWNS,.... Instead of returning with his disciples to Capernaum, as they expected he would, and especially since there was such a concourse of people got together, he proposes to go to "the next towns"; or "village cities"; towns that were neither villages, nor cities, but between both, as the word signifies: hence the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Persic versions render it, "villages and cities": and it designs such towns in which there were synagogues. The Jews distinguish between walled towns, villages, and large cities r. They ask, "what is a large city? every one in which there are ten leisure men; if less than so, lo! it is a village.'' And "every place in which there were ten Israelites, they were obliged to provide a house into which they might go to prayer, at every prayer time, and that place is called a synagogue s.'' These were...

Mark 1:28. _And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee._ «Immediately.» That is, as soon as Jesus had healed the man with an unclean spirit, his fame spread like wildfire. The miracle was reported from mouth to mouth till everybody in that region knew of it. It was said that the words and writings of Martin Luther were carried as by the wings of angels, so speedily was everything that he said and wrote made known far and wide. On this occasion, it was so with our Lord's wondrous deed of mercy and power: «Immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.» Mark 1:29. _And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John._ «Forthwith,» or

PART II. THE SERVANT'S WORK; NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, BUT TO MINISTER -- CHAPTER 1:14-10:52 Chapter 1:14-45. The Ministry in Galilee after John's Imprisonment. _ 1. The Servant in Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. (Mark 1:14 .Matthew 4:12; Luke 4:14 .)_ 2. The Calling of fellow servants. (Mark 1:16. Matthew 4:18; Luke 5:1 .) 3. The Servant in Capernaum. (Mark 1

THE DECISION TO LEAVE CAPERNAUM. The concourse of sick embarrasses Jesus, either because the work of healing tended to obscure His message or because Capernaum threatened to monopolise His attention. Simon may have remembered how the Master left the house and went out of the city to pray. To Simon's surprise, Jesus does not seize the favourable opportunity of Capernaum. God's herald may not remain stationary. Everywhere the proclamation is accompanied by the expulsion of demons. Their overthrow is proof of the nearness of God's kingdom. MARK 1:35. AND THERE PRAYED: No Christology is true which makes a Christ for whom prayer is either unnatural or impossible (H. R. Mackintosh, _Doctrine of the Person of Christ,_ p. 399). Mark 1:38. for to this end came I forth is interpreted theologically i