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النشر الإلكتروني

LECTURE XLII.

LUKE VIII. 26-31.

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"And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. 27. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. 28. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 29. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains, and in fetters: and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) 30. And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. 31. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. 32. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. 33. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. 34. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. 35. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 36. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. 37. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear. And he went up into the ship, and returned back again. 38. Now the man, out of whom the devils were departed, besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39. Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him."

MATTHEW and Mark both give us an account of this miracle, the former at the end of his 8th chapter, and the latter at the beginning of his 5th. Our Lord and his disciples, having, as we had occasion to consider in our last Lecture, passed over the Lake of Gennesaret, called also the Sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias, during which passage the tempest was miraculously stilled, "arrived at" that part of the coast opposite to Galilee, here called by Luke, as it is by Mark, "the country of the Gadarenes." This appears to have been the same, or part of the same, country, which is called by Matthew "the country of the Gergesenes," or, as the word is in the Old Testament, Girgashites. This terri

tory is said to have belonged to the half tribe of Manasseh, and to have been afterwards called Trachonitis.

When Jesus had gone ashore, "there met him out of the city (of Gadara) a certain man who had devils”—who was afflicted with a demoniacal possession. Matthew says that there met Christ "two men possessed with devils." Though there may be an apparent, there is no real, contradiction here. There were doubtless two men; but Mark and Luke mention only one of them-the one, we must suppose, who was the speaker on the occasion, and the more remarkable of the two; and what he spoke he spoke both for himself, and for the other. Somewhat in this way it is, that certain things which were spoken by one of the disciples, Peter, for example, are represented as spoken by the disciples in general, and that Matthew speaks of both the malefactors reviling Christ, and Luke only of one of them.

Having taken occasion to defend the commonly received opinion as to the literal sense of demoniacal possessions, when considering the case of the man with the unclean spirit in the synagogue, mentioned in the 4th chapter, we shall now only remark, on that point, that the minutely circumstantial account here given of this case, is such as must have confirmed the Jews in their literal idea of possessions, and as cannot now but with the most unjustifiable violence be made to bear any other meaning. This will abundantly appear as we proceed.

Observe, here, that this was a very dreadful case. Various aggravating circumstances are stated. It was of long standing; the man had "had devils long time." The inveteracy of the case rendered it more hopeless. The violence of the possession further appeared from such circumstances as these,-"He ware no clothes:" they could not prevail on him to go properly clad; but he tore his clothes, and went about naked, or almost naked. "Neither abode he in any house, but in the tombs," he not only fled from his own house, but shunned every human dwelling, and took shelter in the tombs. Their sepulchres, or burying-places, in the East, were generally caves dug into the earth, or into the sides of rocks and rising grounds, in places set apart for the purpose, and without the towns. These sepulchres were usually closed with a flat stone laid on their mouth. As some of them were sometimes left open, or in a state easy of access, they then afforded a lurking-place for robbers, and a place of shelter for wretched and houseless outcasts. Such a place

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of tombs was, no doubt, a retreat which well suited the gloomy disposition of this demoniac.

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We may here take in the further description of his dismal case, in the latter part of the 29th verse: Oftentimes it had caught him "—the satanic influence had come on him with extraordinary violence. On such occasions, his friends, or others, had endeavoured to restrain him, but in vain: "he was kept bound in chains, and in fetters"—(the former word signifies chains for the hands, and the latter chains for the feet);* "and he brake the bands," both these kinds of chains, "and was driven of the devil into the wilderness;" -though he frequently resorted to the tombs, he sometimes ran wild into the common, or waste country. His superhuman strength enabled him to burst asunder all bands, and to make his escape. Matthew says that the men, coming out of the tombs, 66 were exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way." And Mark gives this, even still more terrible, account of the more furious of the two: "He had his dwelling among the tombs: and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."

Exceeding fierce, however, as he was, and untamable as he was by man, his violence soon fell before the presence of the Son of God. Verse 28: “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him." He was constrained to fall down, and do homage to him, before whom the devils believe and tremble. "With a loud voice he said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high?" The devil could not have anything to do with Christ as a Saviour, and he did not desire to have anything to do with him in any way; and yet, in spite of himself, he had to do with him as his Lord and Judge. This testimony to the Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus, though it came from the father of lies, was a true testimony; and it was a glorious evidence to the divinity of the Saviour, as it came from that great enemy, who, however he might labour to deceive men, was quite capable of judging, and constrained, in this case, to declare the truth. -“I beseech thee, torment me not," added he. He entreated a continuance of partial respite from that extreme suffering * άλυσεσι και πέδαις.

which he well knew awaited him at last. That this was the meaning, appears from the question of alarm recorded by Matthew: "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" This question was spoken in such a manner, and had such a distinct reference to the fate awaiting the fallen angels, that it could not possibly have been suggested by mere lunacy, and plainly indicated, if words have any meaning, the actual presence and agency of devils. The evangelist now states a circumstance which he had not introduced in the order of time, namely, that our Lord had "commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man," previous to his expressing himself to the effect just mentioned. The demoniac, feeling that the command must be obeyed, had time, notwithstanding, to put in the forementioned request. And not only so, but, before the actual dispossession, "Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name?" He who knew all things, could not request an answer to remove any ignorance of his own; but the question was intended and contrived, to elicit important information, for the benefit of men. And the unclean spirit, using the man's organs of speech, "answered, saying (according to Mark), “My name is Legion; for we are many:" or, as in Luke, he said, "Legion: because many devils were entered into him." A legion was a body of Roman soldiers, not always consisting of the same number, though conveying the idea, pretty nearly, of a particular number. As we might say of a regiment of soldiers with us, that it consists of a thousand men, more or less; so we may say of the Roman legion, that it contained six thousand men, more or less. From this question and its answer, we may infer that the fallen angels have proper names; that they are orderly (we read, indeed, of their prince, and of the devil and his angels); that they are arrayed in rebellion against God; and that they are very numerous and powerful. If so many evil spirits as deserved to be called a legion, were associated on this one occasion, their number altogether must be very great, and the subject relating to them must, as considered in itself, appear very alarming.

Luke tells us, in the 31st verse, and, changing the mode of description from the singular to the plural number, that the devils "besought Christ that he would not command them to go out into the deep." The word in our language, which corresponds exactly with the original word here rendered "the deep," is, "the abyss." The word signifies the bottomless place; and is used here as in other places, for hell, or the

of tombs was, no doubt, a retreat which well suited the gloomy disposition of this demoniac.

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We may here take in the further description of his dismal case, in the latter part of the 29th verse: Oftentimes it had caught him "—the satanic influence had come on him with extraordinary violence. On such occasions, his friends, or others, had endeavoured to restrain him, but in vain: "he was kept bound in chains, and in fetters”—(the former word signifies chains for the hands, and the latter chains for the feet);* ;* “and he brake the bands,” both these kinds of chains, “and was driven of the devil into the wilderness;” -though he frequently resorted to the tombs, he sometimes ran wild into the common, or waste country. His superhuman strength enabled him to burst asunder all bands, and

to make his escape. Matthew says that the men, coming out of the tombs, "were exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way." And Mark gives this, even still more terrible, account of the more furious of the two: "He had his dwelling among the tombs: and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day. he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."

Exceeding fierce, however, as he was, and untamable as he was by man, his violence soon fell before the presence of the Son of God. Verse 28: "When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him." He was constrained to fall down, and do homage to him, before whom the devils believe and tremble. "With a loud voice he said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high?" The devil could not have anything to do with Christ as a Saviour, and he did not desire to have anything to do with him in any way; and yet, in spite of himself, he had to do with him as his Lord and Judge. This testimony to the Messiahship and Sonship of Jesus, though it came from the father of lies, was a true testimony; and it was a glorious evidence to the divinity of the Saviour, as it came from that great enemy, who, however he might labour to deceive men, was quite capable of judging, and constrained, in this case, to declare the truth. -“ I beseech thee, torment me not," added he. He entreated a continuance of partial respite from that extreme suffering

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