Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

“"Every one" probably means "Every follower of mine"; and the "fire" with which he "must be salted" probably means "a fiery trial" to season him. (Compare Mal 3:2, &c.). The reference to salting the sacrifice is of course to that maxim of the Levitical law, t…”

“Salt is good; but if the salt have lost his saltness--its power to season what it is brought into contact with. wherewith will ye season it?--How is this property to be restored?”

“These artless, lifelike touches--not only from an eye-witness, but one whom the noble carriage of the Master struck with wonder and awe--are peculiar to Mark, and give the second Gospel a charm all its own; making us feel as if we ourselves were in the midst o…”

“That they should have clung so tenaciously to the popular notion of an "unsuffering" Messiah, may surprise us; but it gives inexpressible weight to their after-testimony to a suffering and dying Saviour.”

“The thought was doubtless suggested to her sons by the recent promise to the Twelve of "thrones to sit on, when the Son of man should sit on the throne of His glory" (Mt 19:28); but after the reproof so lately given them (Mr 9:33, &c.) they get their mothe…”

“And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?--Though well aware what was in their mind and their mother's, our Lord will have the unseemly petition uttered before all.”

“Here it is the cup of suffering. and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?--(Compare for the language, Ps 42:7). The object of this question seems to have been to try how far those two men were capable of the dignity to which they aspired and…”

“And they said unto him, We can--Here we see them owning their mother's petition for them as their own; and doubtless they were perfectly sincere in professing their willingness to follow their Master to any suffering He might have to endure.”

“All we are sure of is, that their asking it was displeasing to Him "to whom all judgment is committed," and so was not fitted to gain their object, but just the reverse.”

“And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John--or "were moved with indignation," as the same word is rendered in Mt 20:24. The expression "began to be," which is of frequent occurrence in the Gospels, means that more passed t…”

“But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule--are recognized or acknowledged as rulers. over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them: and their great ones exercise authority upon them--as superiors exercisi…”

“And whosoever of you will be the chiefest--or "first." shall be--that is, "let him be," or "shall be he who is prepared to be." servant of all--one in the lowest condition of service.”

“The Served of all came to be the Servant of all; and His last act was the grandest Service ever beheld by the universe of God--"HE GAVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY!", &c. "Many" is here to be taken, not in contrast with few or with all, but in opposition to one…”

“And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon--surveyed. all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out into Bethany with the twelve--Thus briefly does our Evangelist dispose of this His first day in Je…”

“And on the morrow--The Triumphal Entry being on the first day of the week, this following day was Monday. when they were come from Bethany--"in the morning" (Mt 21:18). he was hungry--How was that?”

“Perhaps all that is meant is, that as the proper fig season had not arrived, no fruit would have been expected even of this tree but for the leaves which it had, which were in this case prematurely and unnaturally developed.”

“And his disciples heard it--and marked the saying. This is introduced as a connecting link, to explain what was afterwards to be said on the subject, as the narrative has to proceed to the other transactions of this day.”

“And in the morning--of Tuesday, the third day of the week: He had slept, as during all this week, at Bethany. as they passed by--going into Jerusalem again. they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots--no partial blight, leaving life in the root; but it wa…”

“Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away--so connecting the two things as to show that he traced the death of the tree entirely to the curse of his Lord. Matthew (Mt 21:20) gives this simply as a general exclamation of surprise by th…”

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them--This verse only generalizes the assurance of Mr 11:23; which seems to show that it was designed for the special encouragement of evang…”

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses, &c.--This is repeated from the Sermon on the Mount (see on Mt 6:12); to remind them that if this was necessary to the …”

“And he saith unto them, Whose is this image--stamped upon the coin. and superscription?--the words encircling it on the obverse side. And they said unto him, Cæsar's.”

“Then come unto him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection--"neither angel nor spirit" (Ac 23:7). They were the materialists of the day. See on Ac 23:6. and they asked him, saying--as follows:”

“A beautiful clause is added in Luke (Lu 20:36) --"and are the children of God"--not in respect of character, which is not here spoken of, but of nature--"being the children of the resurrection," as rising to an undecaying existence (Ro 8:21, 23), and so be…”

“It was because the Pentateuch was regarded by all classes as the fundamental source of the Hebrew religion, and all the succeeding books of the Old Testament but as developments of it, that our Lord would show that even there the doctrine of the Resurrection w…”