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"I think there are four portions of Scripture which refer to the Lord as "Servant", namely, Isaiah, Zechariah,
Mark and Philippians, with perhaps the addition of such passages as Luke 22:27 and John 13:16.
"Is it correct to say that in His "servantship" lies the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (the stripping of
Himself John 13; Phil. 2) the Servant being the sufferer, and is the servantship a priestly one? If it is, a completed
work, as in Hebrews, seems indicated in Mark 16:19, "Sat down at the right hand of God". This seems to have been
the line taken by Campbell Morgan, but he links Mark with the Pentateuch " the answer to the unfulfilled aspiration
*
and sigh of humanity for a priest.
"Amongst the omissions (no miraculous birth; no reference to childhood at Nazareth; no claim to authority,
e.g., in the parable of the tares where the command to the reapers is omitted; no woes upon the Pharisees; no
reference in Gethsemane, to the legions of angels; no statements as to His having all power in heaven and in earth) "
amongst such is the omission of nomos "law" which occurs in Matthew eight times, in Luke nine times, in John
fifteen times. Service SUCH AS HIS was the free offering of His heart of love and knew no urge save that of His own
nature or that He came to do the will of His Father.
"There is something that is very comforting in the thought that of all of whom God might have used to write
along the lines of this gospel for our learning, it is the failing servant, who draws back from the path of service he
had entered, but who later, through grace, was made "serviceable" to whom it is given to set before us, so
graphically and so entrancingly, the unfailing, the perfect Servant, Christ Jesus our Lord (see Acts 12:25; 15:36-41).
"The narrative in Mark seems to have behind it the training of the twelve; in the book from which the
prophecy of Mark is quoted, namely Isaiah, the disciples would have read of a ministry to be exercised by the
Servant of God " now they SEE IT LIVED OUT under their very eyes; there they would have read the passages
containing, I suppose, the fullest setting forth of Messiah in the Old Testament, now they are in daily contact with
One Whose very living amongst them draws from them (one being spokesman for the rest) "THOU art the Messiah"
and immediately (8:29,31) He began to teach them concerning His suffering, as if He would lead them on from
Isaiah chapters 40 - 42 to 52:13 - 53:12 (compare Isa. 53:1 and Mark 8:27), while the whole gospel ends with His
quietly dismissing them FOR SERVICE, but going forth "working with (them)"".
"They went forth, and preached ... the Lord working WITH (them)" (sun Mark 16:20).
"How dependent we are on Him both for equipment and then for performance. There seem to be two avenues
to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus--through the Book and by companionship with Him. It is possible to know
more of the
Book than of Him " oh for commensurate knowledge" "That I may know HIM". Living, walking,
with Him, they learnt Him to be what the Book says He is and was. Blessed fruitful knowledge. May it be ours".
A word must be given on the last twelve verses of Mark 16. The Revised Version margin reads "The two
oldest Greek manuscripts and some other authorities omit from verse nine to the end".
Scrivener, one of the foremost authorities in textual criticism wrote :
"The twelve concluding verses of this gospel are still found in every Greek Manuscript except the two oldest.
Cod. B, however, betrays consciousness on the scribe's part that something is left out, inasmuch as after ephobounto
gar verse 8, a whole column is left perfectly blank (the only blank one in the whole volume), as well as the rest of
the column containing verse 8, which is usual at the end of every book of Scripture".
In the Companion Bible Appendix 168, the reader will find a summary of the controversy, and will observe
that Dean Burgon's work is indicated as the basis of the argument presented.
It lies quite outside the scope of our pages to attempt textual criticism, for if it is not dealt with exhaustively it
is valueless. Those of our readers who are interested can find all the material necessary for arriving at a sound
*
This aspiration is fulfilled for Gentile believers, by Christ as the one Mediator and Head. Paul never refers to
Christ as a Priest outside of the epistle to the Hebrews. "That they should be WITH Him, and that He might send
them forth to preach" (meta Mark 3:14).