Commentary on the Gospel of Mark

In our previous commentary, we discussed the apostles Simon Peter and the sons of Zebedee, and the epithets Petros and Boanerges which rested upon them respectively. Now we are left with nine more of the original twelve, of whom for the most part we know comparatively less, but that does not mean that there is not still much to discuss. Sometimes less is more, and a small set of interesting details concerning one apostle can reveal a volume of wisdom.

When Cornelius fell at Peter’s feet, the apostle lifted him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself also am a man!” (Acts 10:26) Being a Roman, the actions of Cornelius in that instance can be interpreted as a type foreshadowing the shameful conduct of the later Roman so-called “Catholic” Church, which seeking to lord over men would go on to falsely claim that Peter was the first so-called “pope”. The difference between Cornelius and the Catholic Church, is that Cornelius actually got up from off the floor.

One troublesome tradition of men, largely “Catholic” and “Orthodox”, but with various shades among the Protestant so-called churches as well, is that the apostles were supernaturally astute or even infallible. No true Christian thinks that way, of course, but old assumptions in how we view Scripture and history can still linger around unnoticed sometimes, even for those of us in Christian Identity.

Earlier in this Mark commentary we discussed the Pharisees and Herodians in a presentation titled, Sons of Herod, and we explored how many Christians today are themselves unknowingly both Pharisees and Herodians in their doctrine and worship of government.

Throughout this gospel we have already seen several miracles, such as the cleansing of the leper, the lifting of the paralytic, and most recently, the restoration of a man’s withered hand, and these have all been types in one form or another for the bruises and breaches of Israel being healed through th

The previous account of Mark ended with the Pharisees and Herodians taking counsel on how to kill Christ, which is how they sought to reward Him for the love He displayed to a withered kinsman on the Sabbath. The measure with which they measured was ultimately brought back to them, because in the end, the fruitless fig tree of Jerusalem was made withered with the Roman sword.

The accounts of the plucking of the grain and the man with the withered hand are both recorded as having occurred on Sabbath days, and for that reason they are deliberately paired together in all three synoptic gospels. This thematic pairing is more apparent in Matthew and Luke, because the later medieval chapter division in Mark splits the pairing between the end and beginning of its second and third chapters. We should always remember to discard these artificial chapter divisions in our minds, since no passage of Scripture exists in a vacuum apart from the larger context of its book.

In our previous commentary, we observed how the Pharisees had the audacity to criticize those who did not follow in the unrighteous traditions of their elders; and today their successors attempt to condemn men who do not abide in their unrighteous church tradition. Such men will fast according to supposed “holy days” such as Lent, which are found nowhere in the Bible, and think themselves righteous for doing so, while they promote the abominations which God hates.

In His engagements with the hypocritical scribes of the Pharisees, who were ostensibly of the portion Solomon would have described as pure in their own lofty eyes yet not washed from their filthiness (Proverbs 30:12-14), we saw Christ describe Himself as a physician healing the sick. These concepts appear often in the prophets as a picture of sin and repentance, and Christ elucidated on the familiar parable when He said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but wrongdoers!” (Mark 2:17)