Mark 11

• In verses 1-11

In vv. 20-26 the Master exhorts his disciples to be steadfast, and willing to forgive their enemies. The phrase in v. 22, "have faith in God" is better translated as the mg., "Have The faith of God" (see Rom. 10:17; 11:16-17). Finally, in vv. 27-33, Yahshua defends his actions by the witness of John Baptist, who all recognised was a man sent of God, being a prophet. In this section of the Gospel is found the key to the record of the ministry of Yahshua: By whose authority are these things done?

Mark 11

Triumphal entry into Jerusalem

1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

It is SATURDAY 10th Abib, and the crowds are gathering in Jerusalem for the time of Passover. There is a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, as the Lord Yahshua approached for the last time. For a moment the people responded, realising to some extent the significance of this prophet of Nazareth, until the leaders of the ecclesia turned them against him. **

2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

The colt had never been sat upon previously, and might have been expected, therefore, to be rough-coated, even unkempt. But the action of the Lord was significant in accordance with the typical presentation of the Law, for Exo. 34:20 declares: "the firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a lamb." **

The ass was a very common animal, a beast of burden and humility and peaceful activity, in sharp contrast to the horse, a symbol of pride, rulership and war.

Israel were forbidden to multiply horses, and in harmony with this we find in their early history their judges riding upon asses. Later their kings, in earthly splendour, turned to horses.

The ass was one "on which never man had sat." Two points are emphasized in this, uniqueness and separation. Jesus, we remember, was laid in a tomb "where never man had laid." In his life and death, he broke new ground - opening a "new and living way" which never man before had trod.

But there is another aspect. In the Law, the red heifer which was sacrificed and burnt to provide the ashes of separation that were used to cleanse anyone unclean, must be one which had never borne a yoke - never been used for any other purpose. Its whole life and existence must be entirely devoted to the one cause.

No man can satisfactorily serve two masters. If he tries, he will fail in both. "No man that is called to be a soldier entangleth himself in the affairs of this life." (What an unsuspected depth of meaning there is in that word "entangleth!")

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

No request, no explanation.

Is not this the lesson of Job? "The Lord hath need of him." The Lord's purposes and the deep counsel of His wisdom requires things a certain way. Man may not understand, but his wisdom lies in believing and readily accepting the will of the Lord in faith.

There is something marvellous in the statement itself: "The Lord had need of him." How could the Lord have need of anything? Of all the wonders of creation, there is nothing to compare with the wonder of creating personalities which can, through trial and sorrow, become fit to minister to God's eternal pleasure and fellowship. "The Lord hath need of him." God does not rest upon His Own divine all-sufficiency, but seeks the love and companionship of man.

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

What is the reason for putting that in? Perhaps it is to give us a sense of sign and symbolism in these events. We remember that the events of this day were the climax and turning-point of Christ's mission to Israel. All that went before was building up to this.

This day he was to be presented to them as the divinely-sent King and Saviour, and they were to joyfully accept him as such. But, within a week, what a change was to occur, and with what long and bitter consequences for Israel!

Surely Israel stood, this day, "by a door - ('I am the Door') - in a place where two ways met." One way was "Hosanna to the Son of David" - the other was: "Crucify him!"

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?

6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.

He who in all his journeying throughout the land generally travelled like a poor man on foot, without noise, and without ceremony, now enters Jerusalem proceeding over the Mount of Olives, to face the accusations of the elders of the Jews and to lay down his life in accord with his Father's great plan from the beginning. **

In this coronal procession, as the King came to his royal city, the furnishings of his mount were not the usual jewelled and gorgeous equipage of royalty, but the common clothes of his humble followers.

The natural mind will say: "What a haphazard makeshift for such an important occasion! How much better it would have been to have planned it properly and have gotten suitable equipment! How much more orderly and impressive it would have been!"

We need only think back to the splendours of Solomon's court-the wonder of his age-to see the contrast with this one who came claiming to be his greater and more majestic son.

But there is far more depth and significance and beauty in this scene, and in the use of the common work-clothes of his followers, than in all the empty trappings of Solomon's external splendour.

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Branches were 'strawed in the way', an episode also recorded in Mat. 21:8 and John 12:13, and in each case the word for 'branches' is different. Matthew uses the Gk. 'klados' = a young tender shoot, broken off for grafting; Mark has the Gk. 'stibas' (stee-bas') or 'stoibas' (stoy-bas'); from a primary word 'steibo' (to "step" or "stamp") = a spread (as if tramped flat) of loose materials for a couch; i.e., (by implication) a bough of a tree so employed. John uses the Gk. 'baion' = a palm branch. This is significant, and for vv. 9-10 see Psa. 118:24-26, one of the Passover Songs. **

9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:

10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

à Here we see enacted a symbol of Christ's later approach from the east to the Holy City with the 144,000, bearing the palms of victory in their hands and singing the Song of Moses and the Lamb.

And so this ever-increasing procession advanced toward the Holy City, just as eventide was approaching. The road led over the southern slope of the Mount of Olives, which up to this point in the journey obscured the view of the city. But Luke says that as they came to the descent of the Mount of Olives - that is, as they reached the crest of the road and the city came into view-there was a spontaneous burst of song-

"The whole multitude began to rejoice and to praise God with a loud voice" (19:37).

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

In Jerusalem

11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

The barren fig tree

12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:

Bethphage and Bethany v1

àBethphage (meaning 'House of Unripe Figs,' and representing Israel and Bethany (meaning 'House of Dates,' representing the Gentiles).

13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

àHere was his final survey - his final evaluation. And how sadly short it fell of what might, and should, have been! - -nothing but outward pretence and show.

Fig leaves. Ever since the Garden of Eden they have been a symbol of a vain attempt to conceal barrenness and nakedness. The fig was a slowly-maturing tree, requiring several years of patient, hopeful labour. When matured, it was very prolific, bearing two crops a year. Hence it became a symbol of well-established plenty and prosperity, long waited for.

In the Kingdom age, every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree. So Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, saw Nathanael - the "Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile"- sitting under his fig tree.

In connection with a former destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah in vision saw Israel as figs-good and evil.

The fig tree was remarkable in that the fruit began at the same time as the leaves, unless the tree were barren. The statement "For the time of figs was not yet" seems a little out of harmony with the picture, but the simplest meaning seems to be that the ripe-fruit time, the picking time, was not yet, so there should be fruit. A comparison of the wording of similar passages supports this.

We note, "He was hungry." He needed the fruit, just as we have seen in the case of the ass-"The Lord hath need of him"-The fig tree had the honored opportunity of ministering to his needs, and it failed. He was hungry, and it gave him no meat.

In the parable of the fig tree, in Luke 13, the householder says: "These three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none." We wonder whether God has come to inspect our accounts, and has said: "No fruit yet - just leaves." And how much longer before the edict is pronounced: "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?"

It is notable that this was Christ's only miracle of cursing, and it was upon a tree. The only other miracle in any way comparable is the destruction of the swine in connection with the healing of the demoniac. There it was animals. To round out the picture, it was fitting and necessary that his judicial, as well as healing power be manifested, but only in a symbolic way, on animals and trees, for his mission at that time was to save men's lives, not to destroy them.

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

Second cleansing of the temple

15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

àThe Temple was both the proudest and the most sacred spot in the nation - the center of the glory, dignity and responsibility of the ruling priesthood.

"Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise" (Jn. 2:16). What was wrong with selling sacrificial animals and providing the necessary money-changing facilities? These were not only not wrong - they were essential. But the trouble was that these necessary things kept growing and closing in until they obscured, and then overshadowed, and finally smothered the spiritual.

"It is written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer" (Matt. 21:13).

That was the great and central divine purpose in the Temple and in the Jewish nation-a nation of priests to manifest His Holy Name to the Gentiles - but it had become hopelessly bogged down in merely natural, fleshly things.

This is one of the biggest things we have to fight today - to keep the perfectly legitimate natural from swamping the spiritual. The Gospel of God is the most wonderful and most holy thing among men - it is the power of eternal perfection and redemption - but the great problem is to keep it held up high and clean and separate from natural things.

We have no illusion about this hall being the House of God, but inasmuch as it is devoted to the service of God and proclamation of His eternal, saving Truth, we are under responsibility to keep it clear from all that is merely natural or social.

Paul emphasized the same lesson and the same ever present danger when he wrote to the Corinthians: "What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in?" The spiritual - never too strong in this dispensation of weakness - was, as ever, being crowded and suffocated by the robust companionship and pleasure of the flesh.

Bro Growcott - He Found Nothing But Leaves

Murderous hatred of the priests

18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.

19 And when even was come, he went out of the city.

Lesson of the withered fig tree

20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.

21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

A human majesty would not be considered too strongly asserted which ordered the filling up of a well that failed to supply water at a moment of need. Why, then, should there be any difficulty about the Prince of the Kings of the earth? His life was a teaching life, in word and deed, toward his disciples and toward the populace according to occasion, and the great object of all his teaching was to convince the hearers that God was working and speaking by him. No fairly disposed mind realising this, could make any difficulty with the fig tree. But in addition to these obvious reflections, there is the use that Jesus made of the incident, which of itself is all-sufficient to explain it.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 48

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

We have before had occasion to remark on the connection of faith with the performance of miracle. Faith is powerless in the absence of the power to do the works; and the power to do the works is not sufficient in the absence of the faith. Here is doubtless the key to a difficulty which has shaken some -- the difficulty, namely, caused by the total absence in our day of any such experience as Jesus describes in his words on this occasion.

Neither mountains nor pins move at the intercession of prayer, nor does faith do anything beyond the power of nature. People are apt to inquire -- Why is this? and in the absence of reasonable answer, they sink into a feeling, perhaps unconfessed, that there is something radically wrong in the representations of the original matter. The glory of Christ and the hope of salvation become dimmed in their minds through the absence of a right interpretation.

Prayer and faith have no reference to miracle in an age when miracle is by plan suspended. But prayer and faith are not therefore unavailing. They operate in another line of things; that is all. They have power to affect that form of divine operation which we understand by the ways of Providence. God will choose our steps for us if we commit our way to Him, though He will not show His hand in the way peculiar to the apostolic "ministration of the Spirit." The lesson of the fig tree remains good in all circumstances: "Have faith in God."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 48

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

There is a form of forgiveness - cold, patronising and self-righteous - that is worse than no forgiveness at all. True forgiveness, as Jesus makes clear, is that kind we ourselves hope to get from God. It is not a matter of writing off the offence, and letting the barrier remain-unless we are quite content to be so treated by God.

There is a proud and evil human saying, "I forgive, but I do not forget" - a selfish attitude that seeks the personal gratification of granting forgiveness without assuming any of its humility or burden. Here again - would that type of forgiveness from God satisfy us, when we ask Him to blot out our failures from His memory?

Jesus is always slipping a few words that upset our carefully - framed picture, and make it so hard for the flesh. Speaking of the fate of the unmerciful debtor, he says -

"So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother" (Matt. 18:35).

"From your hearts" - there is the key. We must get resentment and irritation clean out of our hearts, or they will poison us and bring us down to death. *

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Yahoshua's authority questioned

27 And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,

28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?

It was the question of the temptation in the wilderness, the constant accusation of the elders, and the question by which the Master would later be condemned. In his answer, the Master points to his own baptism by John as the reason: a baptism that represented his crucifixion, and by which the diabolos (sin in the flesh) might be destroyed. No wonder they would not respond to the question, although shortly after, they were the means by which the "sign of the prophet Jonah" was fulfilled in the sacrifice which took away sin. — GEM, Logos.

www.logos.org.au

29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me.

31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?

32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed.

33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

àThe point and relevantly of his answer lay in the fact that John proclaimed himself as being sent for the very purpose of testifying to, and preparing the way for, Christ. John publicly and dramatically, as the climax of his mission, identified Christ as the Messiah.

Jesus simply reminded his questioners that he and John stood or fell together, and that they could answer their own question by telling where John got his authority.

Here the divine wisdom and mercy is shown in sending John to lay the foundation for the work of Christ. John was in line with what the people would naturally expect of a prophet. He was wholly and harmoniously within the established framework of the Mosiac system. But his work was to teach them to expect and be prepared for a change.

So it is with the unfolding of the divine purpose. It is precept upon precept, line upon line, each built upon that which preceded. The rulers rejected Christ because they rejected John. But the people accepted John and still rejected Christ. How could that be? In the same way they accepted Moses and rejected Christ. Jesus told them, "He (John) was a burning and a shining light, and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light" (Jn. 5:35).

"For a season." But there was no permanent effect - no depth of earth - no true comprehension of the purpose - above all, no fundamental change of life, for John's basic mission was to bring about a national purification and renewal of heart. His warning was:

"The axe is laid to the root of the tree" (Lk. 3:9) - the barren Israel fig tree. Therefore he exhorts with imperative urgency - "Bring forth fruits-fruits meet for repentance" (3:8).

But no fruit came - only more leaves - a prolific and showy display of the fig leaves of piety and religious pretence. But no fruit - none of the essential inward fruits of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness - so the Roman axe descended, and the Israel fig tree fell, and lay downtrodden and prostrate for eighteen long and terrible centuries.

But now, in the great cycles of God's purpose, the fig tree is again putting forth leaves, and soon the King will come again from the east to seek the fruit, and to present himself to the royal city.

Godly Resolutions

Our Loving heavenly father, In the name of our Lord Yahoshua Anointed we offer our thanksgiving to THEE

"WE will hear thee speak."—Ps. 85:8.

"WE will sing unto thee O Yahweh as long as we live."—Ps. 104:33.

"WE will run the way of thy commandments."—Ps. 119:32.

"WE will never forget thy precepts."—Ps. 119:93.

"WE will meditate on all thy works, and talk of thy doings."—Ps. 70:12.

"Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil."—Ps. 23:4.

"We will freely sacrifice unto thee."—Ps. 54:6.

"We will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy."—Ps. 31:7.

"Our  tongues shall speak of righteousness, and of thy praise all the day long."—Ps. 35:28.

"Thou art Yahweh, our  refuge and fortress: our Elohim in whom we trust."—Ps. 91:2.

For WITH THY HELP we will be perfect before thee, through the merciful provision of the precious blood offering of thy holy one our high priest and faithful mediator in heaven, they beloved son.

amen

Gospel Prayers

Our Loving heavenly father, In the name of our Lord Yahoshua Anointed we offer our thanksgiving to THEE 

"Show us thy ways, O Yahweh; teach us thy paths, and lead us in thy truth."—Ps. 25:4, 5.

"Keep us as the apple of thine eye; hide us under the shadow of thy wings"—Ps. 17:8.

"Let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just."—Ps. 7:9.

"Arise, O Yahweh; let not man prevail; let the heathen be judged in thy sight."—Ps. 9:19.

"Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem."—Ps. 51:18.

"that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion."—Ps. 53:6.

"Let Elohim arise, let thine enemies be scattered; let them also that hate thee flee from before thee."—Ps. 18:4.

"Arise, Elohim, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations."—Ps. 82:8.

"Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself."—Ps. 80:15.

"Peace be within the walls of Jerusalem and prosperity within thy palaces."—Ps. 122:7.

"Arise, O Yahweh, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy."—Ps. 132:8, 9.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

"Satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days."—Ps. 90:14.

"Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth."—Ps. 77.

"Send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me to thy holy hill."—Ps. 43:5.

"Come, Lord Yahoshua."—Rev. 21.

In his name we offer all our thanks and praise to thee our loving father in heaven

Amen

The Christadelphian, Oct 1876

The power of death destroyed

Heb 2: 14

It has been objected that the putting-away of sin cannot have been the putting-away of the mortal nature, because Christ rose with the same nature, and it is said that the same infirmities clung to him until he was changed to immortality.

There is no evidence, however, that Jesus rose from the dead with the same infirmities that he had before he died: it is simply assumed, and we have quite as much reason for assuming the contrary; but as we do not desire to base any argument on a mere supposition, we pass it by.

As to Christ having risen with the same nature that he died with, this of course is admitted, but this fact is no proof that the sin he put away was not sin in the flesh, for the necessity for destroying sin in the flesh lay in the fact that it had the power of death, and that power had been destroyed in him when he rose from the dead.

So that even though he rose in the same nature that he had before his death—and even if his nature was in precisely the same condition—the power of sin over him had been destroyed, and God could then change him to immortality, so that his victory over sin might be thus perfected or perpetuated.

The body of sin, or the devil, having been destroyed, a way was thus opened for its destruction in others on their availing themselves of the appointed way, viz., immersion into the death and resurrection of Christ, by which they obtain the remission of sins, and a title to the redemption he obtained by his death and resurrection—using "resurrection" here in its fullest sense, as including resurrection to immortality.

The consistency of this plan may be seen in view of a principle exemplified in certain passages of Scripture, namely, that the removal of the punishment for a sin implies or involves the forgiveness of that sin. For instance, when God had decreed the death of Hezekiah, and then, in answer to Hezekiah's prayer, permitted him to live, Hezekiah said,

"Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back,"

i.e., blotted them out.—(Isaiah 38:17.) The case of David also is perhaps to the point. When he had sinned "in the matter of Uriah the Hittite," and God sent Nathan to charge him with it, "David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said unto David,

"The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."—(2 Sam. 12:13.)

Then, again, when Christ was about to cure the palsied man, he said to him, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee;" and when some of the Scribes said, "This man blasphemeth," Jesus said,

"Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house."—(Matt. 9:2–6.)

This would imply that the disease from which this man was suffering was a punishment for sin, and that the removal of the disease carried with it the forgiveness of his sins. Let us now apply this principle to the matter in hand. Death is the punishment for sin; Christ has "abolished" death, and therefore on men associating themselves with this abolition, by union with Christ, death is accounted as being prospectively abolished in them, and this therefore carries with it the forgiveness of their sins.

In bearing the condemnation resting on the sin-nature, of which Christ, in common with the rest of the race, was a partaker, and in being raised from the dead, the power of sin was destroyed, while at the same time God's law was not set aside, but was upheld in him, and therefore, on the basis of that destruction of sin, God can consistently forgive those who, believing "the truth," recognise that the evils resulting from the breaking of His law have been removed in Christ, and that they can obtain redemption through him alone—on their manifesting their recognition of this fact in the appointed way. Hence we read in Col. 2:10–13:—

"Ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened (or made alive) together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses."

The Christadelphian, Sept 1876

 the holy thing she bore was called a Son of Deity, and named JESUS (Luke 1:35, 31).

Thus,

"the Logos became flesh, and dwelt among us," says John, "and we beheld his glory, glory as of an only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth;" for "the law was given through Moses; the grace and the truth came through Jesus Anointed" (John 1:14, 17).

Now, "Theos was the Logos," says John; that is, Deity was the Word; and this Word became flesh in the manner testified.

Eureka 1.2.2.

If it be argued that Thus is referring to 30 years after the birth the following proves that not to be so...

The mystery of godliness is practically exhibited in the incarnation of the Word in the conception and anointing of Jesus; in the perfecting of his body at its resurrection, when Deity in Spirit was as visible to the apostles as Deity in Flesh had been to them before the crucifixion.

Eureka 2.0.

THE WORD MADE FLESH - DIFFERENT STAGES

S.B.‭—‬We have duly received,‭ ‬in common with you,‭ ‬a copy of Friend Jardine's second letter to the Editor of the‭ ‬Christadelphian,‭ ‬in response to our review of his first.‭ ‬We think it unnecessary to make it the subject of reply.‭ ‬We must refer to our review as containing all the answer required.‭ ‬The only point requiring notice is where the writer is able to quote from an early production of Dr.‭ ‬Thomas's,‭ ‬in support of his contention that the Word was not made flesh till the baptism of Jesus.‭ ‬This is best answered by the following quotation from a letter written by the Dr.‭ ‬in‭ ‬1870:

‭ "‬My faith and hope are what they have been for years,‭ ‬only that they are‭ ‬enlarged,‭ ‬strengthened and increased,‭ ‬because I have obeyed the exhortation of the apostle,‭ ‬and added to our faith knowledge‭"—(‬Christadelphian,‭ ‬August,‭ ‬1870,‭ ‬p.‭ ‬237.‭)

On the principle expressed in this extract,‭ ‬the Dr.‭ ‬came to see that the manifestation of God began with the birth of Jesus,‭ ‬and was perfected in two subsequent stages—his anointing of the Spirit and his resurrection.‭ ‬He was consequently able to say,‭ ‬only a year or so after writing the words quoted by Friend Jardine.

‭ "‬There was no Word made flesh till the birth of Mary's Son.‭"

The Christadelphian p581 ‭March 1, 1875