Worship service 09/06/26.

Greetings and call to worship.
—Greetings and good morning saints and fellow Christians, grace, mercy and peace be with you and follow you through the obedience of the Son of God Jesus Christ. We are gathered together once more on the Christian Sabbath to bless our Lord and Maker, and to praise, honor and glorify Him for His great work of redemption. Blessed be His holy name. Psalm 22:23-26 says, “Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.” Inasmuch as the Lord has rescued us from our misery, let us praise Him, and offer ourselves to Him as a true sacrifice, as is commanded especially on this His holy day.

A Christian minister writes, “God having rested on the seventh day, sanctified it, as well by example as by precept. By example, in as much as he brought man, whom he had newly formed, to the contemplation of his works, and revealed to him, both himself and his perfections, that he might love, thank, praise, and glorify him. And indeed, because God rested on the seventh day from all other works, and was only intent upon this, we may conclude that he sanctified it in an extraordinary manner. He likewise sanctified it by precept, enjoining man to employ it in glorifying his Creator. “To sanctify” (as Martyr, whom several commend, says well), “is to set apart something for the worship of God, as it is also taken here.” And it was very justly observed by Calvin, “that it was the will of God his own example should be a perpetual rule to us.” “and this is the sanctification of the sabbath, that, on that day, the soul of man be employed on nothing profane, but wholly on things sacred.”

 

Prayer unto the public reading of the Holy Scripture:
Our holy and righteous Father,
full of all glory, justice, mercy, and truth;
faithful and righteous, who will by no means clear the guilty,
yet thou showeth mercy unto thousands that love thee and keep thy commandments:

We come before thee in all holy reverence,
as those whom thou hast chosen in Christ,
redeemed by His precious blood,
called out of darkness,
and brought into the fellowship of the gospel
and the kingdom of thy dear Son.

We bow before thee in true humility,
acknowledging the severity of thy law,
the holy requirements of the gospel,
and our own vileness and unworthiness
to draw so near unto thee.

We confess, O Lord,
that apart from the grace and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ
we are worthy of thy wrath and curse,
without hope, and without access to the covenant promises.
For we are guilty and polluted by sin,
unable of ourselves to repent, believe, or return unto thee.

Therefore we call upon thee for grace and mercy through Him:
Pardon our iniquities,
cleanse us by the blood of Christ,
sanctify us by thy truth,
strengthen our faith,
subdue the lusts of the flesh,
and enable us to perform this holy service
in the strength which thou dost so freely supply.

And now, as we come to the reading of thy holy word,
grant a special blessing upon this portion of Holy Scripture.
Make it effectual by thy Spirit
to build up thy Church,
and establish thy kingdom.
Open our hearts to receive the word with meekness;
give us eyes to see and ears to hear;
and cause us by thine own grace to live by it,
that we may be built up a holy temple in the Lord—even through Jesus Christ.
Our Captain, Governor, and Deliverer,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King. The Author and Finisher of our faith.

In His most worthy name we pray,

Amen.

 

Devotional and doctrinal exposition on the Psalms:

Psalm 29 [9] : 1 The Prophet exhorteth the princes and rulers of the world (which for the most part think there is no God.) 3 At the least to fear him for the thunders and tempests, for fear whereof all creatures tremble. 11 And though thereby God threateneth sinners, yet he is always merciful to his, and moveth them thereby to praise his Name.

A Psalm of David.

1 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory maketh it to thunder: the Lord is upon the great waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is mighty; the voice of the Lord is glorious.

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He maketh them also to leap like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.

8 The voice of the Lord maketh the wilderness to tremble; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

10 The Lord sitteth upon the floods; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.

11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Exposition:
—Previously we saw the praise and glory which are given to God in His Church. David begins the Psalm by calling upon the mighty and the rulers of the earth to give to the LORD the glory due to His name; yet such men ordinarily do not do so willingly. They must be shaken out of their security, and compelled, as it were, by the works of God set before their eyes. The righteous, however, learn to read those works aright. They benefit from the book of nature, but their doctrine is drawn from the Word of God; and by that Word they interpret both the world around them and the hearts and actions of men.

Thus, when David says, “The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters,” he would have us understand once again that the storm is not governed by chance. The LORD Himself rules it. Every created thing moves beneath the direction of His providence, and all creatures serve His will.

There is also something here which naturally carries our thoughts back to the origin of the world, where it is written, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” There the LORD brought the world out of nothing by His Word; here He governs that same world by the same power. For he who once spake all things into being does not afterwards abandon it to chance.

And this is likewise a rebuke of all false gods, especially those which the heathen associated with storms and thunder. Baal and the gods like him were imagined as rulers of the tempest, inhabiting or commanding the powers of the sky. But David allows no such division of glory. The storm belongs to the LORD. What the nations ascribe to idols, Scripture ascribes to the living God alone.

Then we come to a most remarkable verse: “The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.”

Here the Psalm carries us beyond the present storm and reminds us of a far greater judgment. The Hebrew word translated “flood,” מַבּוּל—mabbûl—is an unusual word. Elsewhere in Scripture it is used of the great Flood in the days of Noah, when the old world was destroyed by water and only a few were saved. David therefore does not merely speak of an ordinary swelling of waters. The word calls to mind that ancient and terrible judgment by which God once swept away the corrupt world.

This makes the whole argument of the Psalm clearer. The waters move beneath His voice. The storm is governed by His command. And now we are reminded that the same LORD once opened the fountains of judgment upon the whole earth. Nothing escapes His rule, and nothing happens apart from His wisdom. He does all things deliberately, consciously, and according to His perfect counsel.

Yet while creation is everywhere in motion, the LORD Himself sits.

This is one of the great contrasts of the Psalm. Creation is moved beneath Him, yet He is not moved by creation. His power is not strained by His works. He is not exhausted when He judges, nor weakened when He saves. The LORD sits enthroned above all things.

And even if David had said no more than, “The LORD sitteth upon the flood,” the image itself would already suggest royal authority. To sit above the waters is to rule them. But the Holy Ghost makes the meaning plain: “Yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.”

Several things are therefore taught us here.

First, the LORD is unmoved by the turbulence of creation. He stretches forth His hand to judge, to condemn, to save, or to deliver, and none of these works diminish His strength. The greatest act of divine power costs Him no more effort than the least.

Second, the LORD alone is King. He is above all gods, and all the gods of the nations are vanity and the works of men’s hands. 

Third, the LORD was not made King, nor established as King by another. He did not attain to Godhood, nor receive His authority from any creature. He sits King for ever. From everlasting to everlasting He is God; therefore His dominion has no beginning, no rival, and no end.

Fourth, the mention of the Flood naturally carries our thoughts from past judgment to judgment yet to come. The same God who once destroyed the old world by water has reserved a day in which He will judge the world again. Every man shall stand before Him and give account. The first great judgment of the world therefore becomes a witness of the last.

This is why the words, “The LORD sitteth upon the flood,” are so weighty. The world which He created is still entirely under His authority. He made it when He would; He preserves it as long as He pleases; and He may bring it to judgment when He will.

Thus the Psalm gathers together creation, providence, judgment, and kingship. It calls our attention back to the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters and to the world brought forth by His Word. It reminds us of the corruption of mankind and of the Flood by which the old world was swept away. And it points us forward to the final judgment, when all shall again stand before the same King and shall be judged by His Word.

Calvin— “Some think that David here alludes to that memorable instance of God’s vengeance, when he drowned the world at once by the flood, and thus testified to all ages that he is the judge of mankind. I agree to this in part, but extend his meaning still farther. In my opinion, he prosecutes the former subject, putting us in mind that those floods, which still threaten destruction to the earth, are controlled by the providence of God in such a way, as to make it evident that it is he alone who governs all things at all times. David, therefore, mentions this among other proofs of God’s power, that even when the elements appear to be mingled and confounded together by the utmost fury of the weather, God controls and moderates these commotions from his throne in heaven.”

David Dickson— “A third reason, to move Princes to give to God glory and strength, is, because his Kingdome reacheth to the ruling of the waters, and because he is a King immortal. Whence learn, 1. As the strength of the Lord appeareth in all his works, so especially that he ruleth the raging sea, whereby once he did drown the world, and now bindeth up, that it should do no more so again, The Lord sitteth upon the floods. No King is King over every Kingdom and King, but God is King above all Kings; No King is of long continuance, but the Lord is the everlasting King, He sitteth King for ever; and therefore every mighty man should do him homage, as his King, his Lord, and supreme Superior.”

 

Opening Prayer.
—

Amen.

Lesson 99. [1.2.72.] The Contents of Holy Scripture: The Gospels. Mark. The Gospel of the Suffering Servant. Part 2.

Westminster Confession of Faith 1.2.

Under the name of holy Scripture, or the Word of God written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
Genesis—Matthew. Mark.
All which are given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life.

Intro.

Matthew — abstract
Mark — concrete
Luke — anthropological
John — theological

Matthew is obviously historical and concrete, but he has a remarkable tendency to take historical material and arrange it into doctrinal, legal, moral, typological, and ecclesiastical forms.

Here are several complementary sets of categories.

Category	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
Mode of thought	Abstract / categorical	Concrete / particular	Philosophical / human	Theological / contemplative
Primary question	What is it?	What happened?	What does it mean for man?	Who is He?
Knowledge	Definition	Observation	Reflection	Revelation
Presentation	Teaching	Showing	Considering	Contemplating
Human faculty	Understanding	Senses	Affections	Soul as spiritual
Literary character	Ordered discourse	Vivid narrative	Cultivated history	Theological testimony
Christ before us	Teacher, King	Suffering Servant	Perfect Man	Eternal Son
Movement	Principle → application	Action → reaction	Event → human significance	Sign → eternal antitype
Dominant relation	Christ and the kingdom	Christ and the world immediately around Him	Christ and humanity	Christ and the Father
Effect upon reader	Learn	See	Understand	Believe/know

 

1. Universal and particular

This may be the philosophically cleaner terminology for abstract and concrete.

Matthew tends toward the universal; Mark toward the particular.

Matthew asks what belongs to the kingdom generally:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”
“Ye are the salt of the earth…”
“Whosoever looketh on a woman…”
“When ye pray…”
“Judge not…”
“Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit…”

Historical circumstances continually yield universal propositions.

Mark gives us particulars:

four men carried him;
Jesus was on a pillow;
the grass was green;
the swine were about two thousand;
the blind man saw men as trees walking;
Bartimaeus cast away his garment.

Thus:

Matthew abstracts the universal truth from the event.
Mark preserves the particularity of the event.

Not absolutely, of course, but characteristically.

This is philosophically useful because universals and particulars rely on each other. Christianity consisting only of universals could become unnecessary speculation; one consisting only of particulars becomes history without meaning. The canonical Gospel gives us both.

2. Matthew gives definition; Mark gives instantiation

This we might say may be even more precise.

Matthew:

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

There is the principle.

Mark:

“And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms…”

There is the principle instantiated before your eyes.

Again:

Matthew gives extensive teaching concerning humility and service.

Mark 10:32 gives Christ walking ahead toward His death while His disciples follow afraid.

Therefore:

Matthew defines the Christian life; Mark exhibits it embodied in Christ.

Mark’s theology is frequently incarnational in literary method: truth appears embodied in action.

3. Luke as philosophical or anthropological

Philosophical works for Luke, provided we define what we mean. Luke is not “philosophical” because he borrows from Plato or Aristotle. He continually considers the Gospel in relation to human nature, human society, moral action, happiness, misery, wealth, poverty, friendship, neighbourliness, justice, mercy, history, civilization, and the nations.

Luke asks questions that resemble moral philosophy:

Who is my neighbour?
What constitutes true riches?
What makes a man blessed?
How should possessions be used?
What does pride do to man?
What is mercy?
What happens when the lost is restored?
How do men respond differently to grace?
What is man’s place among other men?

Hence material peculiarly characteristic of Luke:

the Good Samaritan;
the Rich Fool;
the Lost Coin;
the Prodigal Son;
the Rich Man and Lazarus;
the Pharisee and Publican;
Zacchaeus;
the Emmaus road.

These are profoundly anthropological stories.

So another formulation would be:

Matthew categorizes divine order; Mark particularizes historical reality; Luke considers human nature; John contemplates divine nature.

Luke and John then form a magnificent pair:

Luke asks: What is man before God?
John asks: Who is God come among men?

Hence Luke’s genealogy goes backward until:

Luke 3:38— “which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”

John goes beyond Adam:

John 1:1— “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Luke traces Christ through humanity to the beginning of man.

John passes beyond the beginning of man, beyond creation itself, into eternity.

4. History, philosophy, theology—and Matthew as jurisprudence

Matthew — jurisprudential
Mark — historical/empirical
Luke — philosophical/anthropological
John — theological/metaphysical

“Jurisprudential” does not mean Matthew is merely legalistic. Rather, he repeatedly presents divine order:

the law;
righteousness;
kingdom;
authority;
judgment;
church discipline;
marriage;
oaths;
Sabbath;
tribute;
forgiveness;
binding and loosing;
reward;
punishment.

Matthew is remarkably interested in questions resembling:

What is lawful? What is righteous? Who possesses authority? What does the King command? How shall His subjects live? How shall judgment proceed?

Hence the Sermon on the Mount occupies such an enormous place in Matthew.

Mark, meanwhile, is almost empirical in literary effect:

Here is what happened. Here is where He stood. Here is what He touched. Here is what He said. Here is how they reacted.

Luke then reasons about man within the moral world.

John penetrates to being itself:

life, light, truth, being, glory, unity, knowledge, love, Word, Father, Son, Spirit.

John’s language is often grammatically simple while theologically deep.

5. The four causes might even provide an analogy

Not as a rigid exegetical scheme, but pedagogically:

Matthew — formal: What form does the kingdom take?
Mark — material: What did the incarnate ministry concretely consist of?
Luke — final/human: Toward what human good and restoration does salvation move?
John — efficient/originative: Whence does all this proceed? From the Father through the eternal Son.

Passages unique in form to Mark’s gospel:
Mark 1

• • Mark 1:7 — “stoop down and unloose.”
    Matthew 3:11 says, “whose shoes I am not worthy to bear”; Luke 3:16 has the unloosing of the latchet, but Mark alone adds the bodily picture of stooping down.

• Mark 1:10 — the heavens opened/rent.
  Matthew 3:16 and Luke 3:21 speak of heaven being opened. Mark’s Greek is stronger, schizomenous, being rent or torn apart. It gives the baptism a more violent visual immediacy.

• Mark 1:12 — “the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.”
  Matthew 4:1 says Jesus was “led up of the Spirit”; Luke 4:1, “led by the Spirit.” Mark uses ἐκβάλλει, the same vigorous verb commonly used for casting out devils: the Spirit drives/thrusts Him forth. 

• • Mark 1:13 — “and was with the wild beasts.”
    Entirely absent from Matthew’s and Luke’s temptation accounts. One of Mark’s most memorable wilderness details.
  • Mark 1:20 — “they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants.”
    Matthew 4:22 says they left the ship and their father. Only Mark remembers the hired servants who remained with Zebedee.
  • Mark 1:29 — “the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.”
    Matthew 8:14 calls it Peter’s house; Luke 4:38 Simon’s house. Mark alone names Andrew as sharing the house and places James and John there.

• Mark 1:31 — “he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up.”
  Matthew 8:15 says He touched her hand; Luke 4:39 says He stood over her and rebuked the fever. Mark gives the characteristic bodily action: Christ grasps her hand and raises her.

• • Mark 1:33 — “all the city was gathered together at the door.”
    Matthew and Luke record the healings; Mark gives the visual scene at the house door.

• Mark 1:35 — “rising up a great while before day.”
  Luke 4:42 has Jesus departing “when it was day.” Mark preserves the more precise circumstance: very early, while it was still night, He goes to pray.

• • Mark 1:36 — “Simon and they that were with him followed after him.”
    Luke has the people seeking Him. Mark specifically remembers Peter and his companions pursuing Him.

• Mark 1:40 — the leper comes “beseeching him, and kneeling down to him.”
  Matthew says he worshipped Him; Luke says he fell on his face. Mark’s form gives both his pleading and kneeling.

• Mark 1:43 — “he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.”
  Matthew gives the command; Luke says He charged him. Mark’s language is unusually forceful.

Mark 2

• Mark 2:2 — “no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door.”
  The crowded doorway belongs to Mark’s picture.

• Mark 2:4 — “they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up…”
  Luke 5:19 says they let him down “through the tiling”; Matthew omits the roof entirely. Mark makes us watch them open and dig through the roof.

• Mark 2:27 — “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.”
  Entirely absent from Matthew’s and Luke’s parallel accounts. One of the most important sayings peculiar to Mark.

Mark 3

• Mark 3:5 — “when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.”
  Matthew 12:13 passes directly to the healing. Luke 6:10 says only that Jesus “looking round about upon them all” commanded the man to stretch forth his hand. Only Mark tells us what was in the look: anger mingled with grief.

• Mark 3:6 — the Pharisees take counsel “with the Herodians.”
  Matthew 12:14 mentions only the Pharisees. The politically unnatural alliance is a Markan detail.

• Mark 3:10 — “they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.”

• Mark 3:13 — He “calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.”
  Mark emphasizes Christ’s sovereign selection.

• Mark 3:14 — “that they should be with him.”
  Matthew and Luke describe the Twelve’s commission; Mark uniquely makes personal fellowship with Christ the first purpose of their appointment.

• Mark 3:17 — James and John surnamed“Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.”
  Found nowhere else.

• Mark 3:20 — “they could not so much as eat bread.”
  Unique description of the pressure of Christ’s ministry; compare the similar Mark-only remark at 6:31.

• Mark 3:21 — “[his family (called friends, or those of his circle)] went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.”
  The incident itself is peculiar to Mark. Matthew and Luke record His family coming, but not this extraordinary explanation. This is one of the small blocks traditionally identified as wholly Markan.

• Mark 3:22 — the scribes “which came down from Jerusalem.”
  Matthew has Pharisees; Luke “some of them.” Mark identifies their provenance.

• Mark 3:34 — “he looked round about on them which sat about him.”
  Matthew 12:49 has Christ stretching His hand toward His disciples. Mark remembers the encircling look.

Mark 4

• Mark 4:10 — “they that were about him with the twelve.”
  Matthew simply has “the disciples.” Mark distinguishes a larger inner group surrounding Christ from the Twelve themselves.

• Mark 4:13 — “Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?”
  The rebuke/question is absent from Matthew and Luke.

• Mark 4:19 — “the lusts of other things entering in.”
  Matthew has the care of the world and deceitfulness of riches; Luke adds pleasures of this life. Mark’s “lusts of other things” is his own. Abstract, concrete, philosophical, theological

• Mark 4:24 — “Take heed what ye hear.”
  Luke 8:18 says, “Take heed therefore how ye hear.” Mark’s emphasis is upon what is received.

• Mark 4:26–29 — the seed growing secretly.
  Entire parable unique to Mark: the man sleeps and rises, the seed springs and grows “he knoweth not how,” then “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” This is Mark’s one wholly distinctive extended parable.

• Mark 4:33 — “as they were able to hear it.”
  Unique qualification concerning Christ’s accommodation of His public teaching.

• Mark 4:34 — “when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.”
  Matthew gives individual private explanations; Mark gives this general description of Christ’s habitual practice.

• Mark 4:38 — “in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow.”
  Matthew and Luke say He slept; Mark tells us where and upon what.

• Mark 4:38 — “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”
  Matthew: “Lord, save us: we perish.” Luke: “Master, master, we perish.” Mark alone preserves the almost reproachful, “carest thou not?”

• Mark 4:39 — “Peace, be still.”
  Matthew and Luke say Christ rebuked the wind/sea. Mark alone preserves the actual command addressed to the storm.

Mark 5

• Mark 5:3–5 — the demoniac’s terrible condition.
  Luke gives chains and fetters; Matthew is much briefer. Mark alone develops the picture: no man could bind him, chains torn apart, fetters broken, no man could tame him, night and day in mountains and tombs, “crying, and cutting himself with stones.”

• Mark 5:26 — the woman “had suffered many things of many physicians… and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.”
  Luke says she had spent her living upon physicians and could not be healed. Mark adds both what she suffered from them and that her condition deteriorated.

• Mark 5:29 — “she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.”
  Unique interior description of the healing.

• Mark 5:41 — “Talitha cumi.”
  Mark preserves Christ’s actual Aramaic words and then translates them. Neither Matthew nor Luke does so.

Mark 6

• Mark 6:6 — “he marvelled because of their unbelief.”
  Matthew mentions the unbelief but not Christ’s wonder. Mark repeatedly records His emotions.

• Mark 6:20 — Herod “feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy,” and “heard him gladly.”
  Matthew says Herod wanted John killed but feared the multitude. Mark gives the strange mixture in Herod himself: fear, respect, perplexity, pleasure in hearing, and moral weakness.

• Mark 6:31 — “Come ye yourselves apart… and rest a while,” because “they had no leisure so much as to eat.”
  Entire explanation of the withdrawal is peculiar to Mark. Compare 3:20.

• Mark 6:33 — the people “ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them.”
  Matthew says they followed on foot. Mark shows the race around the lake.

• Mark 6:34 — they were “as sheep not having a shepherd.”
  Matthew uses the same image at 9:36, but not in the feeding narrative. It is therefore unique to Mark’s form of this event, though not unique to Gospel tradition.

• Mark 6:39 — “upon the green grass.”
  Mark 6:40 — “in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.”
  Unique visual arrangement.

• Mark 6:48 — “he saw them toiling in rowing.”
  Matthew says the ship was tossed; Mark portrays their exhausted labour.

• Mark 6:48 — “he would have passed by them.”
  Entirely absent from Matthew.

Mark 7

• Mark 7:2 — “defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands.”
  Mark translates the Jewish conception for his reader.

• Mark 7:3–4 — explanation of Jewish washing customs.
  Entirely absent from Matthew 15. Mark explains washing of hands, cups, pots, brasen vessels, and tables. This is one of the strongest internal signs of readers needing Jewish customs explained.

• Mark 7:11 — “Corban, that is to say, a gift.”
  Matthew uses “a gift”; Mark preserves the Hebrew/Aramaic term and translates it.

• Mark 7:13 — “and many such like things do ye.”
  Mark makes clear that Corban is merely one specimen of a wider abuse.

• Mark 7:24 — “he would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.”
  Matthew omits this attempt at concealment.

• Mark 7:26 — “The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation.”
  Matthew calls her “a woman of Canaan.” Mark gives the more precise contemporary ethnic/cultural description.

• Mark 7:27 — “Let the children first be filled.”
  Matthew has the children’s bread and dogs but omits “first.” That one word is important: the Gentiles are not denied absolutely; there is an order of redemptive history—children first.

• Mark 7:29 — “For this saying go thy way.”
  Matthew says, “O woman, great is thy faith.” Mark makes Christ expressly answer the wisdom and humility of her reply.

• Mark 7:31 — the detailed route through Sidon and Decapolis.
  Matthew simply has Him departing to the Sea of Galilee.

• Mark 7:32–37 — healing of the deaf man with the speech impediment.
  The entire miracle is peculiar to Mark. Particularly Markan are: taking him aside privately, putting fingers into his ears, spitting, touching his tongue, looking to heaven, sighing, and speaking the actual word “Ephphatha.”

• Mark 7:34 — “he sighed.”
  One of Mark’s unique windows into Christ’s emotional response to human misery.

• Mark 7:37 — “He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”
  Unique conclusion to the miracle, with obvious echoes of Isaiah.

Mark 8

• Mark 8:12 — “he sighed deeply in his spirit.”
  Matthew records the answer but not this profound inward sigh. Another Markan emotion.

• Mark 8:12 — “There shall no sign be given unto this generation.”
  Matthew 16:4 adds “but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Mark gives the uncompromising shorter form.

• Mark 8:14 — “neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf.”
  Unique physical circumstance.

• Mark 8:15 — “the leaven of Herod.”
  Matthew 16:6 has “the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” Mark’s Herod is distinctive and fits his recurring Pharisee–Herodian opposition.

• Mark 8:19–20 — Christ makes them recount the baskets from both feedings.
  Matthew mentions both feedings but Mark gives the interrogative catechism: How many baskets? Twelve. How many? Seven.

• Mark 8:22–26 — the blind man at Bethsaida.
  Entire miracle peculiar to Mark and one of his most remarkable passages. Christ leads him outside the town, spits upon his eyes, lays hands upon him, asks whether he sees, and heals him in two stages.

• Mark 8:24 — “I see men as trees, walking.”
  Absolutely unique: the man’s own report of partial sight.

• Mark 8:32 — “he spake that saying openly.”
  Matthew and Luke record the passion prediction; Mark emphasizes that Christ now speaks plainly, in contrast to concealment and parable.

• Mark 8:33 — “when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter.”
  Matthew has the rebuke but not Christ’s turning and looking upon the disciples before giving it.

• Mark 8:34 — He calls “the people unto him with his disciples also.”
  Matthew addresses the disciples; Luke says to them all. Mark explicitly brings the multitude and disciples together for the doctrine of the cross.

• Mark 8:35 — “for my sake and the gospel’s.”
  Matthew and Luke say “for my sake.” Mark adds “and the gospel’s.”

• Mark 8:38 — “in this adulterous and sinful generation.”
  The descriptive phrase is peculiar to Mark’s form.
  
  Part II.

Mark 9

• Mark 9:1 — “the kingdom of God come with power.”
  Matthew 16:28 speaks of the Son of man coming in His kingdom; Luke 9:27 of seeing the kingdom. Mark specifies “with power.”

• Mark 9:3 — “so as no fuller on earth can white them.”
  Matthew says His raiment was white as light; Luke that it was white and glistering. Mark uses the homely comparison of an earthly cloth-cleaner.

• Mark 9:6 — “he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid.”
  Luke says Peter did not know what he said. Mark expressly connects it to their terror.

• Mark 9:10 — “questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.”
  Neither Matthew nor Luke records this private perplexity.

• Mark 9:12 — “how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.”
  Unique addition to the Elijah discussion.

• Mark 9:14–15 — scribes questioning the disciples; the multitude sees Jesus, is “greatly amazed,” runs to Him and salutes Him.
  Matthew and Luke begin much more abruptly with the afflicted child.

• Mark 9:17 — “a dumb spirit.”
  Matthew describes the boy as lunatick; Luke describes the spirit. Mark specifically identifies the spirit’s effect on speech.

• Mark 9:18 — “he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away.”
  Mark’s description is substantially fuller.

• Mark 9:20 — the boy “fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.”
  Unique vivid detail.

• Mark 9:21 — “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” — “Of a child.”
  Entire exchange peculiar to Mark.

• Mark 9:22 — “if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.”
  Only Mark gives the father’s desperate qualification.

• Mark 9:23–24 — “If thou canst believe…” / “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
  Entire dialogue unique to Mark and among the most psychologically exact passages in the Gospels.

• Mark 9:25 — “Thou dumb and deaf spirit… enter no more into him.”
  Unique full form of Christ’s command.

• Mark 9:26 — “he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.”
  Absent from Matthew and Luke.

• Mark 9:27 — “Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up.”
  Again Mark remembers the touch following the miracle.

• Mark 9:30 — Christ “would not that any man should know it.”
  Unique secrecy note during the journey through Galilee.

• Mark 9:33–34 — “What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace.”
  Matthew has the disciples ask who is greatest; Luke says a reasoning arose among them. Mark tells the embarrassing story: Christ asks what they were arguing about, and they are ashamed to answer.

• Mark 9:35 — “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
  Distinctive Markan formulation of greatness.

• Mark 9:36 — Christ takes the child “in his arms.”
  Matthew and Luke have the child placed beside/in the midst; Mark gives the embrace.

• Mark 9:39 — “there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.”
  Luke’s parallel has “he that is not against us is for us,” but not this explanatory sentence.

• Mark 9:41 — “because ye belong to Christ.”
  Matthew 10:42 has giving a cup “in the name of a disciple.” Mark explicitly grounds it in belonging to Christ.

• Mark 9:44, 46, 48 — “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
  Matthew has hell-fire in the parallel warning but not Mark’s repeated Isaiah 66 refrain. Textual note below.

• Mark 9:49 — “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.”
  Unique saying.

• Mark 9:50 — “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
  Unique conclusion.

Mark 10

• Mark 10:10 — “in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.”
  The private second discussion is absent from Matthew.

• Mark 10:12 — “if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.”
  The reciprocal case of a wife divorcing her husband is peculiar to Mark’s formulation and is especially intelligible in a Roman legal environment.

• Mark 10:14 — “he was much displeased.”
  Matthew and Luke record Christ receiving the children; Mark alone records His indignation at the disciples.

• Mark 10:16 — “he took them up in his arms… and blessed them.”
  Matthew says He laid His hands upon them. Mark gives the embrace.

• Mark 10:17 — the rich man came “running, and kneeled to him.”
  Matthew simply says one came; Luke calls him a ruler. Mark preserves his eager entrance.

• Mark 10:21 — “Jesus beholding him loved him.”
  Entirely unique. This is one of Mark’s most precious additions: before the severe demand, Christ looks upon the man and loves him.

• Mark 10:23 — “Jesus looked round about.”
  Another Markan look, preceding His warning concerning riches.

• Mark 10:24 — “Children…”
  Unique tender address to the astonished disciples.

• Mark 10:24 — in the KJV, “how hard is it for them that trust in riches…”
  Matthew and Luke simply speak of the rich entering the kingdom. Textual qualification below.

• Mark 10:26 — “they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves…”
  Matthew says exceedingly amazed; Mark adds the private conversation.

• Mark 10:27 — “Jesus looking upon them saith…”
  Again the saying concerning divine possibility is attached to Christ’s look.

• Mark 10:30 — “with persecutions.”
  Matthew and Luke promise manifold restoration; Mark alone deliberately inserts persecutions into the hundredfold blessing.

• Mark 10:32 — “Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid.”
  Entirely peculiar to Mark. The picture of Christ walking ahead toward Jerusalem while His followers trail behind in amazement and fear is enormously important for Mark’s suffering-Servant theme.

• Mark 10:34 — the passion prediction includes “shall spit upon him.”
  Matthew and Luke’s corresponding predictions omit this particular indignity.

• Mark 10:35 — James and John themselves make the request.
  Matthew 20:20 presents their mother as approaching Jesus with them.

• Mark 10:46 — “blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus.”
  Matthew has two unnamed blind men; Luke one unnamed blind man. Mark alone preserves his name.

• Mark 10:49 — “Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.”
  Unique words of the crowd to Bartimaeus.

• Mark 10:50 — “casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.”
  Unique sudden physical action.

• Mark 10:52 — “followed Jesus in the way.”
  Luke says he followed Him glorifying God. Mark’s phrase “in the way” fits his larger discipleship motif: healed sight becomes following Christ on the road to Jerusalem.

Mark 11

• Mark 11:4 — the colt was “tied by the door without in a place where two ways met.”
  Characteristically precise location.

• Mark 11:10 — “Blessed be the kingdom of our father David.”
  Matthew emphasizes “the Son of David”; Luke “the King.” This form of the acclamation is peculiar to Mark.

• Mark 11:11 — Jesus “looked round about upon all things” in the temple, then because it was evening returned to Bethany.
  Matthew moves directly into the cleansing. Mark makes Christ first survey the temple deliberately, then return the next day. This makes the cleansing appear judicial rather than impulsive.

• Mark 11:13 — “if haply he might find any thing thereon… for the time of figs was not yet.”
  Matthew’s fig-tree account omits both details.

• Mark 11:14 — “his disciples heard it.”
  Mark specifically notes that the curse was heard by them, preparing for Peter’s recollection next morning.

• Mark 11:16 — Christ “would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.”
  Entirely absent from Matthew and Luke. Mark shows the thoroughness of His cleansing.

• Mark 11:17 — “My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer.”
  Matthew 21:13 quotes “My house shall be called the house of prayer” but omits “of all nations.” Especially significant in Mark.

• Mark 11:18 — “all the people was astonished at his doctrine.”
  Matthew does not give this reason for the rulers’ fear.

• Mark 11:19 — “when even was come, he went out of the city.”
  Unique chronological transition.

• Mark 11:20 — the fig tree was “dried up from the roots.”
  Matthew simply says it withered away.

• Mark 11:21 — “Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold…”
  Matthew has the disciples collectively marvel. Mark identifies Peter.

• Mark 11:22 — “Have faith in God.”
  The following mountain saying is shared, but this compact introductory imperative is peculiar to Mark’s setting.

• Mark 11:25–26 — forgiveness while standing in prayer.
  Matthew gives the doctrine elsewhere, especially Matthew 6; Mark alone attaches it to this instruction arising from the fig tree.

Mark 12

• Mark 12:4 — the second servant is “wounded… in the head, and sent away shamefully handled.”
  Matthew gives a general catalogue of beatings, killings, and stonings. Mark individuates the servants.

• Mark 12:5 — “many others; beating some, and killing some.”
  Mark stretches out the history of prophetic rejection.

• Mark 12:6 — “Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved.”
  Luke has “my beloved son”; Matthew simply “his son.” Mark’s “one son, his wellbeloved” gives the sending extraordinary pathos and echoes the baptism/transfiguration.

• Mark 12:15 — “Bring me a penny, that I may see it.”
  Matthew says, “Shew me the tribute money.” Mark’s direct form is characteristic.

• Mark 12:29 — “Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord.”
  Matthew 22 begins immediately with loving God. Mark alone preserves the Shema introducing the commandment.

• Mark 12:32–33 — the scribe answers Christ approvingly and says love is “more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
  Entire response absent from Matthew.

• Mark 12:34 — “when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”
  Entirely unique. Matthew’s questioner remains part of the testing controversy; Mark gives us a scribe whom Christ solemnly commends.

• Mark 12:37 — “the common people heard him gladly.”
  Unique evaluation of Christ’s popular audience.

• Mark 12:41 — Jesus “sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money.”
  Luke simply says He looked up and saw the gifts. Mark establishes the sustained observation.

• Mark 12:42 — “two mites, which make a farthing.”
  Luke gives two mites but not Mark’s Roman monetary explanation.

• Mark 12:43 — He “called unto him his disciples.”
  Unique transition turning the widow into a deliberate lesson for the Twelve.

Mark 13

• Mark 13:3 — “Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately.”
  Matthew says “the disciples”; Luke simply gives the teaching. Mark names the four hearers.

• Mark 13:11 — “neither do ye premeditate.”
  Matthew 10 and Luke 12 contain related teaching elsewhere; Mark’s particular form within the Olivet discourse is distinctive.

• Mark 13:32 — in the KJV, “neither the Son.”
  KJV Matthew 24:36 says only “my Father.” Mark explicitly includes the Son. There is an important manuscript qualification concerning Matthew, noted below.

• Mark 13:33 — “Take ye heed, watch and pray.”
  Distinctive compact exhortation.

• Mark 13:34–36 — the travelling householder.
  A form peculiar to Mark: the master leaves his house, gives authority to his servants, “to every man his work,” and commands the porter to watch. Matthew has related watchfulness parables but not this form.

• Mark 13:35 — “at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.”
  Only Mark names the four Roman night watches.

• Mark 13:37 — “what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”
  Unique universal conclusion. The distinctive Markan watch-parable is one of the blocks traditionally counted as peculiar to this Gospel.

Mark 14

• Mark 14:3 — she “brake the box.”
  Matthew says she poured the ointment. Mark remembers the breaking/opening of the alabaster vessel.

• Mark 14:5 — “they murmured against her.”
  Matthew has indignation; Mark gives the harsher action of angrily rebuking her.

• Mark 14:8 — “She hath done what she could.”
  Entirely peculiar to Mark, and a beautiful summary of Christ’s judgment of her act.

• Mark 14:8 — “she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.”
  Matthew says she did it for His burial; Mark gives the vivid idea of anticipating the burial anointing.

• Mark 14:30 — “before the cock crow twice.”
  Matthew and Luke say before the cock crows. Mark alone preserves the two cock-crows.

• Mark 14:31 — Peter “spake the more vehemently.”
  Unique description of his escalating confidence.

• Mark 14:33 — Christ “began to be sore amazed.”
  Matthew says sorrowful and very heavy. Mark adds this extremely strong expression of inward horror/amazement.

• Mark 14:36 — “Abba, Father.”
  Mark alone among the Gospels preserves Abba in Gethsemane.

• Mark 14:36 — “all things are possible unto thee.”
  Distinctive element in the prayer.

• Mark 14:37 — “Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?”
  Matthew addresses Peter but speaks to the group: “could ye not watch with me one hour?” Mark gives the piercing singular address, “Simon.”

• Mark 14:40 — “neither wist they what to answer him.”
  Matthew says their eyes were heavy. Mark adds their speechless shame—compare 9:6.

• Mark 14:41 — “it is enough.”
  Unique enigmatic phrase before “the hour is come.”

• Mark 14:44 — Judas instructs them to “lead him away safely.”
  Matthew has the kiss-signal but not this additional order.

• Mark 14:51–52 — the young man in the linen cloth who flees naked.
  Entire incident peculiar to Mark. Whether the young man was Mark himself cannot be proved, but the event is absolutely characteristic of his minute recollection.

• Mark 14:56 — “many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.”
  Matthew says the council sought false witness and finally found two. Mark emphasizes the successive failure of the witnesses to agree.

• Mark 14:59 — “neither so did their witness agree together.”
  A second insistence upon the legal insufficiency of the testimony.

• Mark 14:61 — “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
  Matthew has “the Son of God”; Mark preserves the Jewish reverential circumlocution “the Blessed.”

• Mark 14:62 — “I am.”
  This is a major distinction. Matthew 26:64 gives, “Thou hast said”; Luke 22:70, “Ye say that I am.” Mark gives the most direct answer: “I am.”

• Mark 14:68 — “I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest.”
  Matthew has only “I know not what thou sayest”; Luke, “Woman, I know him not.” Mark’s denial is fuller and more evasive.

• Mark 14:68 — Peter goes “out into the porch; and the cock crew.”
  The first cock-crow is uniquely Markan in the KJV form.

• Mark 14:69 — the same maid sees him again.
  Matthew speaks of “another maid.” Mark’s account preserves the same maid’s continued pursuit.

• Mark 14:70 — “thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.”
  Matthew has “thy speech bewrayeth thee”; Mark explicitly identifies him as Galilaean.

• Mark 14:72 — “the second time the cock crew.”
  Unique fulfilment of Mark’s more precise prophecy.

• Mark 14:72 — “when he thought thereon, he wept.”
  Matthew and Luke say Peter wept bitterly. Mark’s unusual expression gives Peter’s reaction a different form; the old comparative literature particularly noticed the vividness of the denial narrative.

Mark 15

• Mark 15:1 — “the whole council.”
  Mark emphasizes the full Sanhedrin involvement.

• Mark 15:7 — Barabbas was bound “with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection.”
  Luke says Barabbas himself had been imprisoned for sedition and murder. Matthew merely calls him a notable prisoner. Mark places him among an insurrectionist band.

• Mark 15:8 — the multitude “began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.”
  Mark makes the people initiate the appeal to the Passover amnesty.

• Mark 15:15 — Pilate was “willing to content the people.”
  Matthew explains his fear of tumult; Mark gives the blunt political motive.

• Mark 15:21 — Simon of Cyrene was “the father of Alexander and Rufus.”
  Matthew and Luke name Simon but not his sons. This is one of Mark’s most striking personal-name details and may imply that Alexander and Rufus were known to his readers.

• Mark 15:23 — “wine mingled with myrrh.”
  Matthew 27:34 gives vinegar/wine mingled with gall. Mark’s form is distinct.

• Mark 15:25 — “it was the third hour, and they crucified him.”
  Neither Matthew nor Luke gives this precise hour of crucifixion.

• Mark 15:28 — “And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered with the transgressors.”
  Unique in the KJV’s Markan text; textual note below.

• Mark 15:34 — “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”
  Matthew gives “Eli, Eli.” Mark preserves the cry in a different Semitic form before translating it.

• Mark 15:39 — the centurion “saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost” and then confessed Him Son of God.
  Matthew ties the confession to the earthquake and attendant events; Luke says the centurion saw “what was done.” Mark remarkably connects it with the manner in which Jesus Himself died.

• Mark 15:42 — “because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath.”
  Mark explains the Jewish term for readers who might not understand it.

• Mark 15:43 — Joseph “went in boldly unto Pilate.”
  Matthew calls him rich and a disciple; Luke good, just, and a counsellor. Mark emphasizes his courage.

• Mark 15:44 — “Pilate marvelled if he were already dead.”
  Entirely absent from Matthew and Luke.

• Mark 15:44–45 — Pilate summons the centurion and verifies the death before releasing the body.
  Unique and historically important detail: Mark expressly records an official confirmation of death.

• Mark 15:47 — the women “beheld where he was laid.”
  Matthew says they sat opposite the sepulchre; Mark specifically makes them observe the place of burial, preparing for their return.

Mark 16:1–8

• Mark 16:1 — Salome is named.
  Matthew names the two Marys. Mark adds Salome.

• Mark 16:3 — “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
  Unique conversation of the women on the road.

• Mark 16:4 — “for it was very great.”
  Unique parenthetical description of the stone.

• Mark 16:5 — “a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment.”
  Matthew describes an angel who descends and sits upon the stone; Luke has two men. Mark’s presentation is distinct.

• Mark 16:7 — “tell his disciples and Peter.”
  “And Peter” is unique to Mark. Given the Gospel’s extraordinary candour concerning Peter’s denial, this is one of its most moving peculiarities: the apostle who denied Him is expressly named in the summons to meet the risen Lord.

• Mark 16:8 — “they trembled and were amazed… neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.”
  Matthew gives fear and great joy and their running to tell the disciples; Luke has them report the news. Mark ends the undisputed narrative in trembling, astonishment, and fearful silence.

The longer ending, Mark 16:9–20

• 16:10 — the disciples are “mourned and wept.”

• 16:11 — they refuse to believe Mary’s testimony.

• 16:12 — Christ appears to two disciples “in another form.”

• 16:13 — the others initially do not believe those two either.

• 16:14 — Christ “upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart” because they did not believe the resurrection witnesses.

• 16:15 — “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Matthew’s commission is to disciple all nations; Mark’s form is preaching the Gospel to every creature.

• 16:16 — “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

• 16:17–18 — the catalogue of signs: devils cast out, new tongues, serpents, deadly drink, healing by laying on hands.

• 16:19 — Christ “was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.”

• 16:20 — “the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.”

 

Conclusion.

Closing Prayer. 

Administration of the Supper.

 

Scripture verse to meditate upon:

Mark 3:31-35
There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

• 
  1 Cor. 11:23-32 “This is my body.

Prayer.

Benediction.

YouTube Audio: https://youtu.be/jeco7X983GY