; Salome, the mother of Zebedee's children (xv.
40); and Boanerges, their surname (iii. 17). Equally remarkable is the
manner in which the emotions of our Lord and others are recorded. We
notice the indignation and grief which He felt in the synagogue (iii.
5); His compassion for the unshepherded people (vi. 34); His deep sigh
at the sceptical demand for a sign from heaven (viii. 12), {55} His
displeasure at the disciples for keeping the children from Him (x. 14);
His undisguised love for the rich young man who yet lacked one thing
(x. 21); His tragic walk in front of the apostles (x. 32); the
intensity of feeling with which He was driven into the wilderness (i.
12), and overturned the tables and seats in the temple (xi. 15). St.
Mark always seems to be painting our Lord from the life.

In spite of the fact that St. Mark shows that he knew well how to
compress the material which was at his disposal, there is hardly a
story which he narrates in common with the other synoptists without
some special feature. We may notice the imploring words of the father
of the lunatic boy (ix. 2), the spoken blessing on little children (x.
16), the view of the temple (xiii. 3), and Pilate's question of the
centurion (xv. 44). None of these things are narrated in the other
Gospels. In ix. 2-13 we have the story of the Transfiguration, with
the statement that the garments of our Lord "became glistering,
exceeding white; _so as no fuller on earth can whiten them_." We are
also told that St. Peter then addressed our Lord as "Rabbi," and that
"he wist not what to answer." The same significant phrase, "they wist
not what to answer Him," occurs in St. Mark's account of the agony in
the garden (xiv. 40). These are only a few instances out of many which
show St. Mark's originality, and they are just such personal
reminiscences as we might expect St. Peter to retain.

[Sidenote: Character and Contents.]

Just as the style is realistic and the narrative circumstantial, so the
contents are practical. "He went about doing good" is the impression
which this Gospel gives us of our Lord. The teaching which He
announced to the people is made less prominent than in Matt. If we
count even the shortest similitudes as parables, we find only nine
parables in Mark. Equally remarkable is the absence of quotations made
by the writer. He records numerous references made by our Lord to the
Old Testament, though fewer than Matt. or Luke, but the onl