“CHRIST BROUGHT LIFE AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT
THROUGH THE GOSPEL”
MARK
7:24-37.-APRIL 3.
GOLDEN TEXT-“Without faith it is impossible to please him.”-Heb. 11:6.
With this lesson we
start a new quarter in studies of the earthly life of Christ. Since it falls
on what is generally ob-served as Easter Sunday, those who have arranged the
lessons suggest, without breaking the narrative of Christ’s ministry, that this
lesson be treated from the resurrection standpoint. The thought is a good one,
especially for those whose eyes of understanding have been opened to some
realization of the glorious things of the Millennial kingdom, for which the
whole creation is groaning and waiting. These and not others can properly get
a connection between our Lord’s miracle and the resurrection life of the
Millennial age.
LIFE-RIGHTS FOR THE WORLD SECURED BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
From this standpoint we perceive that while our Lord Jesus came into the
world to die on man’s behalf, to redeem Adam and his race from the sentence of
sin-namely, death-he did, additionally, two other important works. The
redemptive work was the principal one, without which there could be no future life
of any kind. The laying down of life daily until the sacri-fice was finished
at Calvary may, therefore, be designated the principal or foundation work
accomplished by our Lord. With-out that nothing else could have been of any
avail, but on that foundation the other two works could proceed. The Apostle
declares that the Lord brought life and immortality to light through the
Gospel. This means that no clear and definite hope respecting eternal life had
ever previously been given to any one-even to the Jews. While other nations
were without God, having no hope, the Jews did have a sufficiency of divine
revela-tion to inspire a hope in the resurrection; though the philos-ophy of
it-how God could be just and yet release those whom he had justly sentenced to
death-they could not see, because it was not time, and therefore was not yet
revealed.
Christ brought LIFE to light by explaining to those who had ears to hear that
he had come into the world to “give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
He explained further that the time would come when all in their graves should
hear His voice in kingly authority, and awaken from the sleep of death-come
forth from the prison house of the tomb. The people even then might have
wondered what advantage there would be in such a release from the tomb if they
would still be subject to the pains and aches and demon oppositions of the
present time. Our Lord fortified the testimonies of the prophets respecting the
Millennial age, which they declared would be a period of universal blessing,
with nothing to hurt or destroy in all the holy kingdom. He showed how this
could be by the various miracles which he performed; for he not only preached
the kingdom of God, taught his disciples to look forward to it and to pray for
its coming and blessing and power, but in the various miracles which he
performed he illustrated that its powers would prevail amongst men for their
blessing.
He healed all manner of diseases and cast out demons, and thus gave
evidence that in God’s due time, as the great Physician, he will be armed with
the abundant power which will com-pletely restrain Satan and all the fallen
angels from all work of evil in respect to the human family, and when he will
lift up the poor, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the dumb, out of their present
tribulation. And moreover, this temporary release which he brought to those
who by faith accepted his favor, illus-trated still higher blessings, labors
and privileges-the opening of the eyes of the understanding, the curing of the
leprosy of sin, the returning of the withered powers, as well as the awak-ening
of the dead-that all might see and hear and know of the righteousness which God
approves and of the life everlasting which will be its reward, and that all
might be helped out of the present bondage to sin and imperfection, etc., into
the full liberty of the sons of God. Thus the Lord brought life-ever-lasting
life-to the view, to the knowledge, of those who bear his message of the
Kingdom and the blessings to flow from it.
IMMORTALITY OR DIVINE NATURE ONLY FOR THE ELECT
He brought IMMORTALITY to light also. In addition to ever-lasting life for
the world, he opened up a way by which a special class of footstep-followers
might share with himself the glory, honor and immortality of the divine
nature. The world in gen-eral was not expected to understand or appreciate
this. On the contrary, the natural eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
hath it entered into the heart of man the things which God hath in reservation
for them who love him-for the new crea-tures-for those who are begotten of the
holy Spirit, and that make their calling and election sure to joint-heirship
with him In the kingdom.
Our Lord’s ministry and teachings can only be rightly ap-preciated when
viewed from these three standpoints:-(1) His own sacrifice as the redemption
price for Adam and his race laying down his life day by day until he cried, “It
is finished.” (2) His general teachings-which in due time will be applicable
to the whole world respecting the outcome of the redemptive work, the
reconciliation of the world to God, the complete forgiveness of the
world’s sins, the great trial or judgment or opportunity then to come to the
world through the mediator between God and man, will establish for the
deliverance of mankind from the adverse conditions within and without, and for
the assistance of all who desire to return to harmony with the Creator. (3)
The call to special discipleship, to walking in the narrow way, to be baptized
with the baptism of death that he was baptized with-and thus by divine grace
through this arrangement to be fitted and prepared for a share in the heavenly
kingdom-to sit with Christ in his throne, and participate in the dispensing of
all the wonderful blessings of the Millennium to all the families of the Earth.
It is with this thought that we follow the lesson before us. Jesus and his
disciples, after the feeding of the five thousand and the stormy night upon the
sea of Galilee, spent some time in Capernium. There the Lord gave the sermon
which illus-trated that his hearers should think less about the loaves and
fishes which he had given them, and should appreciate more the higher things.
They should recognize him as the Bread of Life that came down from heaven; they
should feed upon his words and thus gain life everlasting. The time had not
yet come, however, for the general dispensing of this life everlasting-that
work belongs to the Millennial age. He therefore was seek-ing specially for
such as were particularly hungering and thirst-ing after righteousness. Of
this class were the apostles, whom he was now training for the future work
which he would accom-plish through them after the new dispensation, to begin at
Pen-tecost.
GOD’S FAVORS
FOR HIS CONSECRATED PEOPLE
With his disciples our Lord traveled north-westward to the borders of the
country called Tyre and Sidon, so named because of the prominent cities by
these names which were there situ-ated. He did not announce himself publicly to
the people there, but his presence soon became known, showing that the fame of
his miracles and teaching had spread throughout the whole of Palestine. A
Canaanitish woman living as a Greek was amongst the first to hear of his
presence, and coming before him she cried or wailed for assistance for her
daughter. Our Lord on this occasion acted very differently from his custom,
and doubtless for the purpose of imparting a lesson. Although usually so
prompt to hear and to sympathize and to heal, on this occasion he paid no
attention to the woman, according to Matthew’s account, who tells us that the
disciples came to the Lord and urged him to send her away-either grant her
request and send her away or refuse her request and authorize her expulsion.
The poor woman’s importunities were not for herself, but for her daughter,
who was possessed of a demon, an unclean spirit; and, so far as we have any
knowledge, most of these fallen spirits, demons, are unclean, depraved, and
their influence upon those possessed by them is an unclean, injurious one.
Sometimes they do indeed simulate purity, and on numerous occasions we
have heard of their attempts to personate holy ones, -even the Lord,
nevertheless the whole tendency of these evil spirits seems to be toward
impurity of thought and conduct on the part of those possessed and through them
upon others.
Finally, in answer to the woman’s cries and to the expostu-lations of the
disciples, our Lord did speak, but very differently from his usual message. He
merely intimated to the woman that his miracles and services were not intended
for the world in general but for God’s covenanted people, the Jews. He
fol-lowed the Jewish custom of the time, of speaking of the Gen-tiles as dogs,
yet he modified the matter, for instead of using the word which would signify
the detestable brutes which infest the Orient and are the scavengers of the
streets, he used an-other word signifying the little or pet dogs of the
family. The woman, strong in her faith in the Lord’s power, was equal to
turning the unfavorable answer to her own benefit, and to urge that as the
little pet dogs got some of the surplus from the table of the children, so she
as an outsider might be granted some of the Lord’s favors without in any degree
working disadvantage to the Jews, to whom our Lord’s ministry was specially
sent and given.
WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM
This shows the earnestness and faith of the woman. Such an exhibit
would surely be pleasing to the Lord. Indeed we can see in our own experiences
as Christians that many of the Lord’s dealings with us are along the lines of
developing and testing of our faith. He is good and gracious of heart, however
we may have misunderstood him in the past, and however his character and plan
may have been maligned and misrepresented by the adversary. It is impossible for us to come near to the Lord except as
we shall exercise faith and trust in him, in his goodness, in his power, in his
wisdom, in his love. All things are possible, only believe-is the
lesson which the spiritual Israelite of today needs continually to learn, as
the apostles of old prayed, “Lord, increase our faith.” Along this line it were
well that we should pray, and that we should seek continually to accept the lessons
of life from this standpoint-as lessons or instructions in faith. We are not
in this ignoring the necessity of obedience to the divine Word, but are holding
that wherever faith exists the works will correspond to it and be
proportion-ately large or small. Hence the stronger our faith, the more our
works are sure to be under the divine arrangement. Our Golden Text well says
that without faith it to impossible to be pleasing to the Lord.
Faith is a matter of cultivation, of
development. The same apostles who cried out in terror when the storm was upon
the Sea of Galilee gradually grew stronger and stronger in faith until, as the
records show,-they could-and did trust the Lord in his absence and where they
could not trace him. Similarly it should be a part of our daily lesson to
cultivate trust in the Lord, and to think of the experiences in the past in our
lives and all of these lessons in his Word, that thus our faith in him may
become rooted and grounded.
FAITH REWARDED AFTER BEING TESTED
The Lord said unto her, “O, woman, great is thy faith.” (Matthew) Her
faith was strong in its love for her daughter, in its perseverance and
persistency, in its humility, recognizing matters just as the Lord recognized
them, and not according to the general sentiments of the Greeks and
Gentiles-that the Jews were merely pretentious and not more in divine favor
than other peoples. It was strong in overcoming great obstacles-even our
Lord’s apparent repulsion. We would not consider this heathen woman’s conduct
to be in every sense of the word a pattern for the Lord’s consecrated and
enlightened people. The strength of faith is the only one that we should
copy. As for us who have become the Lord’s people, and are no longer
strangers, foreigners, dogs, but children adopted into the Father’s family and
recognized by the Lord as “brethren,” it would be no longer appropriate that we
should cry or entreat or beseech in any wise for things which the Lord is not
pleased to give us.
The Master himself represented the difference between the things which the
Gentiles might do and the things which we as his disciples might do, saying
that our petitions and seeking should not merely be for the bread that
perisheth, for after such things do the Gentiles seek-merely the earthly things
and with importunity; but seek ye first, chiefly, the kingdom of God and the
righteousness which is appropriate thereto, and all these things of an earthly
kind will be added unto you-in such meas-ure as will be for your best
interests. Our petitions, our re-quests, our cries to
the Lord, therefore, should be for the holi-ness of heart, for the filling of
his Spirit, for the spiritual food, refreshment strength; and as for the
natural things, he knoweth the way we take and what would be to our best
interests as new creatures. We are to leave this to him; he would not be
pleased to see us importuning him for things which he did not give us, for to
do so would not be an exemplification of faith in him, but the reverse-an
exemplification of doubt, a manifestation of fear, that he was forgetting or
neglecting his promise to give us the things needful.
Our Lord informed the woman that the faith manifested in her saying was
sufficient, that her request was granted, that the demon was gone from her daughter.
The woman’s faith was further manifested by her immediate withdrawal. She took
the Lord’s word implicitly; if he were what he claimed and had the power that
she believed, he would not lie to her. Many of the Lord’s people today seem to
lack faith along these lines-to have less than this poor heathen woman. Many
of them hear the Lord’s word assuring them that those who come to him have
their sins forgiven, yet Little Faith bids them doubt and keep on bemoaning
their sins and requesting forgiveness, which the Lord has assured them would be
accomplished from the time of their acceptance of it. They fail to exercise
the faith and they fail proportionately of the blessing and peace and joy.
So far as the record goes our Lord did nothing in that quar-ter except for
this poor woman, and the spiritual lessons con-nected with it were evidently
less for her than for the disciples, for we have no record that he taught her
or taught anyone of that vicinity. Departing thence, our Lord took an easterly
course along the northern borders of Palestine, and crossing the river Jordan
began to come southward toward the Sea of Gali-lee. Matthew says that he made
a stop in the mountain, and that a great multitude brought their sick to him;
the lame, blind, dumb, maimed and many others they led to Jesus’ feet and he
healed them, and the multitude wondered and glorified the God of Israel.
Our lesson gives one particular instance from this multitude of healings.
A man who was both deaf and dumb was brought to Jesus, and his treatment was
peculiar; the Lord took him apart privately, perhaps to impress upon him the
lesson. The man could not hear, and hence the Lord imparted the lesson through
signs, touching his tongue and touching his ears, and then with a sigh he glanced
heavenward, as indicating that the sympathy of heaven was moved for the man’s
assistance, and immediately the blessing came and he was healed.
This may have been the first miracle in that region, and possibly the
multitude coming, as Matthew records, were attracted by it. Our Lord’s
injunction that it should be kept quiet seems to have been understood, not as a
command, but rather as a suggestion that he was not seeking publicity.
Nevertheless, when the faith was manifested and the poor afflicted ones were
before him the Lord never refused to give the blessing. Thus we are taught
that when the due time shall come for the blessing of all the families of the
earth, the Lord will not withhold a blessing from any; all who desire to be
blessed may then have his favor.
BLESSED ARE OUR EYES AND EARS OF UNDERSTANDING
As new creatures who have already in a figurative sense risen with
Christ to walk in newness of life, to walk in his foot-steps, we have our eyes
opened and our ears unstopped and our tongues loosed, so that we may not only
see and enjoy the grace of God ourselves, but we may speak of his goodness and
love to others. In many respects those to whom the Lord grants the special
knowledge of the truth in this present time have a suggestion that it is not
for everybody, that we are to be discriminating in our endeavors to dispense
the truth, and that some of these great blessings of the Lord which are to us
like pearls are not meant for all; that we should not cast our pearls before
swine, or before those who manifest no disposition to know of or receive the
Lord’s favors. But with us, as with the healed one in this lesson, the message
is too good to keep; we love to tell the story, it did so much for us; we
desire that all who are blind and deaf may come to the great Physician and be
healed; we desire that all who are stammering in their endeavors to tell the
good tidings may have their lips touched by the Master and henceforth speak
plainly the glorious things of the Gospel of Christ. And as the Master would
not reprove this one in the lesson, neither does he reprove us if in our zeal
we go some-times to the extreme of trying to tell the good tidings to those
who have no ear to hear, or endeavor to make disciples of those who are swinish
and not at all inclined to spiritual things, or of following the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth.
The heart of this lesson is that we who are risen with Christ in the
spirit of our minds should walk in newness of life while still in this mortal
body and still amongst men; that we should look forward to the glorious change
of the first resurrection, when we shall be actually in the Lord’s likeness and
see him as he is, sharing his glory and participating with him in dispens-ing
all these blessings of life and healing to whosoever will ac-cept these favors
in the glorious kingdom time which we rejoice to know is near at hand.