21 And another of His disciples said unto Him, A.D. 28. Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead. 23 And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him. 24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the 1 See 1 Kin. 19, 20. of God. Yet even then these words of Christ "do not come out to us "in all their depth of meaning, till we realize that hour when upon "His cross He bowed His Head, not having where to lay it, and having "bowed it thus gave up the Ghost" (Archbishop Trench.). Observe how Jesus here (as so often) calls Himself the "Son of Man." By this title did Daniel prophesy of Him (See Dan. vii. 13.), for was He not to be the second Adam, taking upon Himself our fallen nature that He might exalt it to heaven? This is the first time we meet with the expression in the Gospels, and we may well pause to note how constantly He, whom we should rather delight to honour as the "Son "of God," Himself delights to claim His brotherhood with us as the "Son of Man." "He made Himself of no reputation" (Phil. ii. 7.). 22. "Let the dead bury their dead." Again doubtless the answer needed by him to whom it was spoken. There is some little doubt as to the meaning of the request made to our Lord in this instance. Some imagine it to be made by one whose father was old, and to be a petition to be allowed to wait till his father was dead. This certainly takes away from the apparent harshness of the Saviour's answer. But it is probably best to accept the words in their more literal sense, and to understand that the father was really dead. In that case our Lord possibly knew that this disciple was one who was ready to seize excuses for putting on one side the self-denying work to which he had been called. The strange refusal to be allowed to do this work of piety would try this man's faith, as the strange command to Abraham to slay his son tried his. The words "Let the dead bury their dead" seem to be spoken as a sort of proverb, and mean, Let those who are still engrossed in this world attend to the things of this world.' In their application to the disciple to whom they were spoken they would mean, Let those who are still dead to the new life of the Spirit attend to this *matter which is one of death. Let the dead in spirit care for him who 'is dead in body. There are enough to do this work. Thou art called 'to a work which will suffer no delay: "follow me"; and' (as St. Luke adds) "go thou and preach the kingdom of God."' 23-27. The stilling of the tempest. St. Mark iv. 35-41. St. Luke viii. 22-25. 24. "He was asleep." It has been well pointed out how great a contrast there is here with the sleep of Jonah in another storm. Jonah 23. This miracle is related most fully by St. Mark, whose account of it should be carefully studied. A.D. 28. sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves but He was asleep. & 89, 9. 25 And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, m m Ps. 65. 7. O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. & 107.29. 27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him! sleeps from a hardened conscience; Jesus from a divine peace. Jonah by his presence brings the danger; Jesus by His presence brings the safety. It has also been beautifully remarked that, just as Noah and his family in the ark tossed upon the waves of the deluge were the seed and kernel of the old family of man, so Christ and His Apostles in the boat on the stormy waves of the Sea of Galilee were the seed and kernel of the new family of the Church of Christ. That Church has been ever tossed about by the storms of this world; but, helpless as she has often seemed, her Saviour was in her, and when the waves were roughest and the peril greatest He has been mighty to save with His Peace, be still." He is still in His Church, and we are sure that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (xvi. 18.). 26. "Rebuked." St. Mark alone gives the words of this rebuke, "Peace; be still." How mightily does this rebuke of the elements, like that of the fever (St. Luke iv. 39.), display the Saviour as nature's God and King! "A great calm." When the wind drops suddenly the sea is a long time before it becomes calm again. This was a sudden calm. Who can help remembering the words of the Psalmist, "O Lord God of Hosts, "who is like unto Thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them" (Psalm lxxxix. 8, 9.). 66 We may most fitly apply this beautiful miracle to ourselves individually. Do storms of trouble and distress threaten to engulf us? Or does the tempest of some strong temptation rage within us? Let us awake Jesus by our earnest cries for help, and He will rebuke the tempest, and bring a "great calm." 25. "Lord, save us, we perish." We have in our Lord's words to His disciples conhere an instance of a slight difference in cerning their faith. His "O ye of little the form of words given by the three E- "faith," and "How is it that ye have no vangelists relating this miracle. St. Au-"faith?" and "Where is your faith?" all gustine (as quoted by Trench) speaks very wisely on the point, saying that we are not to look at the truth as tied down to only one form of expression, but to remember that the same thing may be told with equal and perfect truth in varied forms of language. The meaning of the cry of the terrified Apostles is in all three Evangelists the same. There is precisely the same sort of difference to be noticed express the same thought, that namely of wonder at the poverty and helplessness of their faith. We must also not forget that in truth none of the Evangelists give the exact words which our Lord spoke; for He would use the Syro-Chaldaic, that is, the popular language of Palestine at the time, whereas the Gospels were written in Greek, the language most widely known by all educated persons. 28¶ And when He was come to the other side into A.D. 28. the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. - 29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time? 28-34. The healing of the Gadarene Demoniacs. 28. "Two." St. Mark and St. Luke speak only of one. There is nothing strange or difficult in this. It is easy to suppose that one of these miserable men was more conspicuous and more dangerous than the other, and that he was the one who came forward to converse with our Lord. "Possessed with devils." This awful affliction was something different from, and more terrible than, mere madness. The time of our Lord's coming in the flesh was the time of Satan's greatest power. We cannot doubt, from the various Scriptural accounts of this dreadful possession, that the devil and his evil spirits were at that time enabled to exercise a power over the body, as well as the spirit, of man, which power Christ, in His triumph over the kingdom of darkness, took away. if not entirely, yet at least in its most terrible forms. The devil was the "strong man armed," but Christ was the "stronger than he," and so robled him of his power. Observe how, when "the seventy returned "again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us "through Thy Name," "He said unto them, I beheld Satan as light"ning fall from heaven" (St. Luke x. 17, 18.). The account of this great miracle is recorded most fully by St. Mark, who describes most terribly the state of the wretched being who met Jesus on His landing. "The tombs." These were caves in the rocks, disused tombs, such as even now often afford shelter to robbers and outcasts in the same country. 29. "To torment us before the time." Ol serve how "the devils "believe, and tremble" (St. James ii. 19.). They acknowledge Jesus as "Son of God." They are constrained even to worship Him (St. Mark v. 6.), no doubt in grovelling fear of His divine power. They speak of "the "time" when He will come to " torment" them, for they know that they are "reserved" "unto the judgment of the great "day" (St. Jude 6.). 28.“ Gergésenes." St. Mark and St. Luke say "Gadarenes." There is a good deal of difference as to the word in the ancient copies, and possibly "Gadarenes" is the correct reading in all three Gospels. Gadlara lay at some little distance from the lake, but the part of the shore nearest to it might very well be spoken of as "the "country of the Gadarenes." There is no record of the existence of a place called Gergasa, but there may have been such a place, and, if so, a spot lying between [. that and Gadara might equally be spo ken of as being in the neighbourhood of either. It has been suggested that a district between Gadara and the lake may have had the name of the "country of "the Gergesenes" (possibly from the ancient Gergashites, one of the Canaanitish tribes), and St. Matthew would from his former occupation in this very district be perfectly familiar with all such local names. E A.D. 28. in See Deut. 5. 25. 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32 And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. m 34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet 1 Kin. 17. 18, Jesus: and when they saw Him, they besought Luke 5.8 Him that He would depart out of their coasts. Acts 16. 39. 31. "Suffer us to go away into the herd of swine." This request fills us with wonder. We know not how the evil spirits could take possession of the soul-less beasts. Yet we may perhaps see in the request that love of tormenting and destroying which the spirits were forbidden any longer to exercise upon man, that senseless rage and despair with which they would flee any where from the face of their conquering Judge. 32. "Go." It is sometimes asked, How could our Lord permit such destruction of harmless beasts? Various reasons may be suggested. Perhaps it was that the healed man might have a visible proof of the going forth of the evil spirits from him. Indeed the immediate effect upon the swine would afford to all the by-standers a startlingly vivid proof of the reality and personal existence of those unseen spirits, concerning which many might have been disposed to doubt. Again, perhaps our Lord would prove the owners of the swine by taking from them worldly possessions that they might the more readily embrace the offer of heavenly. Perhaps too Jesus knew that the traffic in the swine was a snare to the Jews, who thereby were tempted to break the law of Moses, and despise those ordinances by which their obedience was tried. 34. "They besought Him that He would depart." "The country seems to rise up to shake Him from them. Thus is He taken from "place to place at the call of duty, and as One already bearing the cross on which He was to suffer; and driven from every place of His "choice by men who rejected Him" (Isaac Williams). We may trace in this (as the same thoughtful writer points out) one law which ruled our Lord's human conduct, namely a submission to all outward occasions and events. He flees from persecution; He does not overawe or prevent it. He leaves the unbelieving; He does not miraculously convert them. He bows to human necessities; He does not, as God, over-ride them. The keepers of the swine had "told everything," not their loss only, but also the miracle they had witnessed. How fearful then is this request of "the whole city"! They fear the loss of worldly possessions, CHAPTER IX. 2 Christ curing one sick of the palsy, 9 calleth Matthew from the receipt of custom, 10 eateth with publicans and sinners, 14 defendeth His disciples for not fasting, 21 cureth the bloody issue, 23 raiseth from death Jairus' daughter, 27 giveth sight to two blind men, 32 healeth a dumb man possessed of a devil, 36 and hath compassion of the mul titude. ND He entered into a ship, and passed over, AND He entered a and came into His own city. a A. D. 28. a ch. 4. 13. 2 And, behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: band Jesus seeing b ch. 8. 10. their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. and so lose the heavenly. They value their wretched swine above the Saviour of the world. The men who had been the scourge and terror of the neighbourhood are cured. But they have lost the swine. And so they pray Jesus to depart. O blind worldliness! God give us grace gladly to lose all rather than lose the Saviour! CHAPTER IX. 1-8. Healing of the paralytic man at Capernaum. St. Mark ii. 1-12. St. Luke v. 17-26. 1. "His own city." This was Capernaum (See iv. 13.). 2. “Sick of the palsy." The original word is paralytic,' which is a stronger expression than "sick of the palsy." Palsy,' according to our modern use of the word, is simply the trembling and shaking of the limbs: paralysis' is the total loss of their use and power. For a fuller account of this miracle we must study the parallel passages in St. Mark and St. Luke, in which we learn especially with what pains and trouble the poor sufferer was brought to Jesus. "Seeing their faith." There is no reason why the faith here spoken of should not be that of the paralytic himself as much as that of his bearers. This faith was rendered visible by the anxious desire to gain approach to Christ. But He needed no such outward proof, as we learn in the fourth verse, where we find that He knew the unspoken thoughts of the Scribes. And throughout the Gospels we must notice how He "needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew "what was in man" (St. John ii. 25.). This is one of those lesser, but no less clear, proofs of Divine and miraculous power, which the careful reader will not fail to observe. "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." "Whosoever "hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance" (xiii, 12.). "The paralytic comes with faith for bodily health, and he "receives a greater gift-health of the soul, and bodily health also" (Wordsworth.). It is sometimes imagined that the words "Thy sins be "forgiven thee" are of the nature of a wish or prayer; as though it were, May thy sins be forgiven thee.' This is an error. The words 2. "Son, be of good cheer," &c. With address between the several Evangelists, gard to the slight difference in this see Note on viii. 25. E2 |