Author: JC Ryle

These verses show us our Lord again working a miracle. He heals a man in the synagogue, “which had a withered hand.” Always about His Father’s business,–always doing good,–doing it in the sight of enemies as well as of friends,–such was the daily tenor of our Lord’s earthly ministry. And He “left us an example that we should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21) Blessed indeed are those Christians who strive, however feebly, to imitate their Master!

These verses set before us a remarkable scene in our Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry. We see our blessed Master and His disciples going “through the corn fields on the Sabbath day.” We are told that His disciples, “as they went, began to pluck heads of grain.” At once we hear the Pharisees accusing them to our Lord, as if they had committed some great moral offence. “Why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? ” They received an answer full of deep wisdom, which all should study well, who desire to understand the subject of Sabbath observance.

The person who is called Levi, at the beginning of this passage, is the same person who is called Matthew in the first of the four Gospels. Let us not forget this. It is no less than an apostle and an evangelist, whose early history is now before our eyes.

This passage shows our Lord once more at Capernaum. Once more we find Him doing His accustomed work, preaching the word, and healing those that were sick.

We read in these verses how our Lord Jesus Christ healed a leper. Of all our Lord’s miracles of healing none were probably more marvellous than those performed on leprous people. Two cases only have been fully described in the Gospel history. Of these two, the case before us is one.

Every fact in our Lord’s life on earth, and every word which fell from His lips, ought to be deeply interesting to a true Christian. We see a fact and a saying in the passage we have just read, which deserve close attention.

These verses begin the long list of miracles which Mark’s Gospel contains. They tell us how our Lord cast out devils in Capernaum, and healed Peter’s wife’s mother of a fever.

This passage is singularly full of matter. It is a striking instance of that brevity of style, which is the peculiar characteristic of Mark’s Gospel. The baptism of our Lord, His temptation in the wilderness, the commencement of his preaching, and the calling of His first disciples, are related here in eleven verses.

The Gospel of Mark, which we now begin, is in some respects unlike the other three Gospels. It tells us nothing about the birth and early life of our Lord Jesus Christ. It contains comparatively few of His sayings and discourses. Of all the four inspired histories of our Lord’s earthly ministry, this is by far the shortest.