II.-The Quotations From The Old Testament (1:2, 3)
“Even as it is written in Isaiah the prophet, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face who shall prepare thy way. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (1:2, 3, R.V.).
In the abrupt manner characteristic of this Gospel a citation from the ancient prophecies is placed as a preface without any such introductory phrase as is used, for instance, by Matthew: “Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,” etc.; and again, speaking of John the Baptist, “This is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice,” etc. (Matthew 1:22; 3). Luke also, like Matthew, places the historical fulfillment before the prediction itself. He records that John came preaching the baptism of repentance, “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, The voice,” etc. (Luke 3:3, 4). Mark, in contra-distinction from these two, first quotes the written prophecy and then relates the historical fact of John's preaching and baptism. Why is this inversion of the usual order which we find in John's Gospel (19:24, 28, 36), as well as in the two Synoptists? Believing as we do in the plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, we believe this reversed order is designedly so arranged. Before, however, seeking to discover the purpose of this arrangement, another noteworthy circumstance must be mentioned which can hardly escape the diligent student of this Gospel. The quotation is singular in this respect, viz., that it is the only reference made by Mark, in the course of his narrative, to the Old Testament as prophecy, or authority. The other Evangelists, especially Matthew and Luke, make more frequent reference. Mark's first word almost is the recital of an inspired utterance, but it is the only instance. Many examples occur in which this Evangelist gives the words of our Lord Himself containing His quotation of the scriptures (see chaps. 4:12; 10:6, 7, 8, 19; 12:1, 10, 19, 26, 29, 31, 36, et al.), while he also in the course of the narrative makes more or less evident allusion to Old Testament phrases (see 1:44; 2:26; 4:29, 32; 6:34; 11:9, 19; 15:24, 29, 36; 16:19); but in the latter instances the fact that the phrases occur elsewhere is not mentioned.
Here, however, the quotation is made by Mark himself, and is introduced impressively by the statement, “As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,” showing (1) that it is a written record, not an oral tradition, and (2) that it is an ancient prediction by a prophet of God. Then the terms of the prophecy having been recited, its historical fulfillment in the preaching of John the Baptist is duly stated.
Let us now consider why this Old Testament scripture is brought before us here, and why it is placed before, rather than after, the notice of the event to which it is shown to relate.
And the first general consideration is that this passage, so strikingly emphatic by its singularity, establishes before the history begins an unmistakable connection between this “gospel of Jesus Christ” and the burden of ancient prediction concerning the coming One. It is true that here in Mark “there is no blowing of trumpets to usher in the King in due style and title” as in Matthew. Neither have we the fullness of detail concerning the birth and early days of the Son of man amid circumstances of lowly Jewish piety such as are given by Luke. In John, human genealogy would obviously he out of place in the Gospel that treats of Him as the Word who was God, as it would equally be, for contrasted reasons, in Mark's Gospel, where He is portrayed as the Servant. As another has said, “Mark is devoted to the details of His service, especially His service in the gospel, accompanied by suited power and signs.... Hence as the Lord was the perfect Servant, so the perfect account of it says nothing here of a genealogy; for who would ask the pedigree of a servant?”
But if the genealogy of a servant is not an essential preface to an account of his labors, is it not fitting that his credentials should be stated? Here was the One from God, even “as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been since the world began” (Luke 1:70). God, “having raised up his Servant Jesus, sent him to bless” the people in accordance with the testimony of the prophets of Israel (Acts 3:26, R.V.). Jehovah's guarantee that Jesus was the promised Servant should have ensured His acceptance by the people who were the chosen guardians of the prophetic oracles. And the gravamen of Peter's charges against the Jews for their guilt in delivering up and denying in the presence of Pilate God's Servant Jesus was that they did so in face of the united testimony of the prophets, who had, moreover, testified of this particular guilt of theirs (Acts 3:13, 18, 21-26). Here, in Mark, a couple of pregnant sentences are sufficient to indicate that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Jehovah's Servant, is the One whose coming had been long foretold, and these should he ample to awaken our adoring contemplation of Jesus Christ come in flesh.
But, in the second place, as we consider the position of this citation in relation to its context, are we not entitled to ask whether it may not be connected with the antecedent verse as well as with the subsequent one? The words of the prophecy quoted have certainly a general reference to One whose advent was imminent as well as to one who was to herald that advent. His coming One is referred to in the first verse, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God"; and His forerunner is introduced in vers. 3-8. In this view the Gospel opens not only with the assertion of the deity of the Servant by the Evangelist himself (ver. 1), but with the confirmatory prophetic testimony that He was Jehovah (vers. 2, 3).
Let us now examine this passage more closely, and in our further consideration notice—
The phrase, “as it is written;”
The phrase, “in Isaiah the prophet” (substituted by the Revisers for “in the prophets");
The quotation (ver. 2) from Malachi;
The quotation (ver. 3) from Isaiah.
(1) The phrase, “as it is written” (καθώς γέγ Rev. Text), is that occurring frequently in the N.T. as an introduction to scriptural quotations, and it is found about fourteen times in the Epistle to the Romans alone. The general sense in which it is used seems to be that the written words cited have a direct bearing upon the person or event named in the context. The historical event is thus authoritatively declared to be in accordance with what had been prophesied of old, while it is not thereby necessarily implied that the prophecy has received its complete fulfillment. It may, or it may not, have done so, but this is to be determined apart from grounds afforded by the words “as it is written.”
On examination of the various occurrences of this phrase, it will be found that this is not the only instance in which it precedes a composite quotation. In Romans 9:33, Isaiah 8:14 is combined with Isaiah 28:16; in Romans 11:8-10 we find Isaiah 29:10, Deuteronomy 29:4, Psalm 69:22, 23; and in Romans 3:10-18 several passages are united. Here in Mark, Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3 are conjoined.
(2) “In Isaiah the prophet” is the accepted reading in place of “in the prophets.” It may be mentioned that this is the only case in which the name of a prophet is given after the phrase “as it is written.” In Luke 2:23 we have, “As it is written in the law of the Lord,” and in Acts 7:42; “As it is written in the book of the prophets"; but in all other places no personal reference is made.
The amended reading obviously creates a difficulty, as the passage is cited partly from Malachi and partly from Isaiah. Scriptural difficulties, however, only call for patient waiting upon God for light, which when given reveals the hidden beauty and subtle perfections of Holy Writ. To regard the words as a blunder on the part of the Evangelist is unthinkable. In the words of another, “Even on human ground it is absurd to suppose that the writer did not know that the first words quoted were from Mal. 3:1, and, if inspiration he allowed, the only question is as to the principle of thus merging a secondary in a primary quotation. Compare the somewhat different use of Jeremiah (from that of Isaiah 40:3) in Matthew 27:9, 10. There is purpose in both, which cursory readers have not seen, and so they have been as quick to impute a slip as the later copyists were to eliminate it. But it is as irreverent as unwise and evil to obscure or deny the truth even in such points as these, because the modes of scripture application differ from those of ordinary men, and we may not at a first glance be able to appreciate or clear up the profound wisdom of inspiration.”
The author goes on to say: “Kilster's conjecture that the reading was originally 'in the prophet' seems a mere effort to get rid of what he did not understand, which really, like such attempts generally, leaves the chief point where it was.” Dr. William Lee's suggested explanation is also inadequate. He assumes that Malachi's prophecy is no more than a quotation from Isaiah. He says, “Malachi is merely the auctor secundarius; and the Evangelist points out that this is the case by ascribing both commentary and text to Isaiah, whom he thus represents as the auctor primarius, the commentary being placed first, as it serves to elucidate the text." Whether Malachi only echoes Isaiah's prediction, as here stated, we will now proceed to inquire.
(3) The quotation from Malachi. “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way.” (The words, “before thee,” are here omitted, though they are quoted in Matthew 11:10 and Luke 7:27.)
Now there are two very striking features prominent in this prophecy—(1) the personality of Jehovah's messenger, who is honored and dignified by being such; and (2) the personality of the coming One who is declared to be Jehovah Himself. In regard to the first of these points, it will be remembered that the passage from Malachi occurs in Matthew and Luke, not in connection with John's preaching, as is Isaiah's prophecy (Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4), but with John himself. When the Baptist's testimony was past and he was in prison, and to outward appearance he and his work had failed, the Lord said definitely,
“This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face who shall prepare thy way before thee. Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:10, 11; Luke 7:27, 28). He was the “prophet of the Highest,” and indeed much more than a prophet—the immediate forerunner of the Lord, going before His face to prepare His way. But it is well to see that while he abased himself in accordance with the prophecy of Isaiah (John 1:23), the Lord exalted him in accordance with the prophecy of Malachi.
In the second place we have here Jehovah speaking, and Jehovah sending— “Behold, I send my messenger.” And as it is Jehovah sending, so it is Jehovah who is coming. In Malachi the language is precise as to this, “Behold, I send my messenger before my face.” The pronoun in Mark is changed from the first person to the second— “before thy face” —because of the incarnation. He who sends had taken the place of the sent One, but the Sender and the Sent are one. “I and my Father are one.” Thus He who is before us in this Gospel as Jehovah's Servant is the One who sends the greatest of all servants beside Himself. Elsewhere we read John was a “man sent from God,” while the Servant-Son was God.
It is further to be observed that the prophecy of Malachi is in particular connection with the day of Jehovah. The One predicted is the coming Judge, for the prophet continues, “Behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.” This looks forward to a day of judgment yet future; but the same Person who is then to come as supreme Arbiter came to John to be baptized of him in Jordan.
(4) The quotation from Isaiah. “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” A scrutiny of this passage in comparison with the previous verse makes it plain that there are such differences as forbid the thought that the later prophecy is a repetition of the earlier.
In the first place, while Malachi foretells the messenger who was to usher in the promised One, Isaiah prophesies of the message which should be proclaimed in anticipation of Messiah's advent by a nameless and obscure “voice” crying in the wilderness. In Malachi the messenger prepares the way; in Isaiah the voice calls upon the audience to make ready the way. The later prophet looks on to coming judgment, the earlier to coming salvation— “all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6). Each prophet has therefore a distinct point of view; and Dr. Lee's theory of one being an echo of the other is not tenable. Neither can Malachi he regarded as amplifying the prophecy of Isaiah, though it is clear from the coupling of the two passages by Mark that there is a connection, but surely not that of commentary and text, as has been alleged. Such an explanation is confessedly a weak one, since it states that the Evangelist names Isaiah because the quotation from Malachi which is prefixed “only serves to elucidate the text.”
But is not the true connection between the two passages to be traced in the manner and measure of the fulfillment of the prophecies in question What was the preparation made for the coming Jesus Christ? John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Those who confessed their guilt were those who were most truly ready for the coming of Him who had power on earth to forgive sins. This moral preparedness therefore as the result of the strenuous call to repentance by the voice crying in the wilderness is the burden of Isaiah's prophecy. And this prediction was actually fulfilled before the coming of the Lord. And because it was accomplished, a specific reference is made to Isaiah by this Evangelist, as also in a similar connection by Matthew and Luke. But Malachi's prophecy, on the other hand, only received a partial accomplishment. John was the messenger to prepare Jehovah's way, but not yet as the Judge of Israel. And the very omission of the prophet's name to this prophecy, making it appear to be an interpolation, becomes significant of some special sense in which it is quoted. And this sense is, it is submitted, that of its partial accomplishment in John the Baptist, somewhat in the same way that Malachi's other prophecy (4:5) concerning the coming of Elijah the prophet received an anticipatory fulfillment in the same person (Matthew 11:11; 17:11, 12) so far as relates to the inward effects of his testimony for God. The application of the two prophecies quoted by Mark to the Baptist is also seen in the words of the angel to Zacharias, “He shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient [to walk] in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared [for him]” (Luke 1:17, R.V.). In the last clause we have the words of both Malachi and Isaiah, as given by Mark. John was to prepare the way; the people were to prepare their hearts; even as those holy men of old foresaw and spake accordingly, being moved by the Holy Spirit. To sum up: the moral preparation which was the result of John's preaching being the subject of the Evangelist's history, the prophetic reference is accordingly made, by name, to Isaiah who prophesied of this rather than of the future day of judgment which will be heralded by a messenger of Jehovah even as the present day of salvation. And from this point of view, the deliberate and evident exclusion of Malachi's name, although his words are quoted, becomes as strikingly emphatic as the Lord's abrupt closing of the roll of Isaiah's prophecies in the synagogue at Nazareth. Most, if not all, of His hearers must have known that He had suddenly ceased in the middle of a sentence. He would thus impress upon them that He had not come to introduce “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 4:16-21). Similarly the omission of Malachi's name here is eloquent of the truth that “the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” is in accordance with the prophecies of mercy rather than with the prophecies of retribution.
[W. J. H.]
(Continued from page 268)
(To be continued)