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Marcus Dods
Marcus Dods (1834–1909) was a Scottish preacher and biblical scholar whose ministry and scholarly work significantly influenced the Free Church of Scotland during the 19th century. Born on April 11, 1834, in Belford, Northumberland, he was the youngest son of Rev. Marcus Dods, a Church of Scotland minister, and Sarah Pallister. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated in 1854, Dods pursued divinity studies and was licensed to preach in 1858. After facing rejection from 23 churches during a challenging probationary period, he was ordained in 1864 as minister of Renfield Free Church in Glasgow, a position he held for 25 years. Dods’s preaching career blended pastoral service with academic leadership. In 1889, he became Professor of New Testament Exegesis at New College, Edinburgh, and upon the death of Robert Rainy in 1907, he assumed the role of principal, serving until his death. Known for his eloquent sermons, he preached a gospel grounded in theological depth, though his 1878 sermon on inspiration sparked controversy and charges of unorthodoxy, which were dismissed by the Free Church General Assembly. He married Catherine Swanston in 1871, with whom he had three sons and one daughter. Dods died on April 26, 1909, in Edinburgh, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose extensive writings, including commentaries on Genesis and John, enriched biblical scholarship and church teaching.
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Marcus Dods reflects on the profound truth that despite Jesus being the Creator of the world, when He came to earth, the world did not recognize Him. The sermon delves into the missed opportunity of the Roman Empire to welcome their true Sovereign and the lack of preparation for His arrival. It highlights the irony of the world not acknowledging the very One who made it, emphasizing the need for humanity to open their hearts to receive and know Him.
Not the Way It Should Have Been
"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not" (John 1:10). When our Lord came to earth the heathen world was mainly represented by the Roman Empire, and one of the earliest events of His life on earth was His enrolment as a subject of that empire. If we had been invited before His coming to imagine what would be the result upon this empire of His appearance, we should probably have expected something very different from that which actually happened. The real Sovereign is to appear; the Being who made all that is is to come and visit His possessions. Will not a thrill of glad expectancy run through the world? Will not men eagerly cover up whatever may offend Him, and eagerly attempt, with such scant materials as existed, to make preparations for His worthy reception? The one Being who can make no mistakes, and who can rectify the mistakes of a worn-out, entangled world, is to come for the express purpose of delivering it from all ill: will not men gladly yield the reins to Him, gladly second Him in all His enterprise? Will it not be a time of universal concord and brotherhood, all men joining to pay homage to their common God? "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him"--that is the true, bare, unvarnished statement of the fact. There He was, the Creator Himself, that mysterious Being who had hitherto kept Himself so hidden and remote while yet so influential and supreme; the wonderful and unsearchable Source and Fountain out of which had proceeded all that men saw, themselves included,--there at last He was "in the world" Himself had made, apparent to the eyes of men, and intelligible to their understandings; a real person whom they could know as an individual, whom they could love, who could receive and return their expressions of affection and trust. He was in the world, and the world knew Him not.
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Marcus Dods (1834–1909) was a Scottish preacher and biblical scholar whose ministry and scholarly work significantly influenced the Free Church of Scotland during the 19th century. Born on April 11, 1834, in Belford, Northumberland, he was the youngest son of Rev. Marcus Dods, a Church of Scotland minister, and Sarah Pallister. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated in 1854, Dods pursued divinity studies and was licensed to preach in 1858. After facing rejection from 23 churches during a challenging probationary period, he was ordained in 1864 as minister of Renfield Free Church in Glasgow, a position he held for 25 years. Dods’s preaching career blended pastoral service with academic leadership. In 1889, he became Professor of New Testament Exegesis at New College, Edinburgh, and upon the death of Robert Rainy in 1907, he assumed the role of principal, serving until his death. Known for his eloquent sermons, he preached a gospel grounded in theological depth, though his 1878 sermon on inspiration sparked controversy and charges of unorthodoxy, which were dismissed by the Free Church General Assembly. He married Catherine Swanston in 1871, with whom he had three sons and one daughter. Dods died on April 26, 1909, in Edinburgh, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose extensive writings, including commentaries on Genesis and John, enriched biblical scholarship and church teaching.