Mark 5
1 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country
of the Gadarenes.” And they
came to the other side of the sea. The other side
of the sea would be the southeast side of the
sea. Into the country of the Gadarenes,
or rather, Gerasenes,
which is now generally admitted to be the true reading, from
Gerasa, Gersa, or Kersa. There
was another Gerasa, situated at some distance from
the sea, on the borders of Arabia Petraea. The ruins of the Gerasa,
here referred to,
have been recently discovered by Dr. Thomson,
('The Land and the Book').
Immediately
over this spot is a lofty mountain, in which are ancient tombs; and
from this mountain there is an almost
perpendicular declivity, literally (κρημνός –
kraemnos – steep
place) corresponding accurately to what is required by the
description in the narrative of the miracle. Dr.
Farrar ('Life of Christ') says
that in the days of Eusebius and Jerome,
tradition pointed to a "steep place" near
"Gerasa" as the scene of
the miracle. The foot of this steep is washed by the
waters of the lake, which are at once very deep.
2 “And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out
of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among
the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not
with chains: 4 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.
5 And always, night and day, he was in the
mountains, and in
the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with
stones.” There met Him out of the
tombs a man with an unclean spirit. Matthew
says that there were two. Luke, like
Mark, mentions
only one, and him “possessed
with devils,” The one mentioned by
Mark was no
doubt the more prominent and fierce of the two. This does not mean
merely a person with a disordered intellect. No doubt,
in this case, as in that of insanity,
physical causes may have helped to lay the victim
open to such an incursion; and this
may account for cases of possession being enumerated
with various sicknesses, though
distinguished from them. But our Lord
evidently deals with these persons, not as
persons suffering from insanity, but as the subjects of an alien spiritual
power,
external to themselves. He
addresses the unclean spirit through the man that was
possessed, and says, “Come forth thou unclean spirit” (v 8). “There
met Him out
of the tombs”
- The Jews did not have their burial-places in their
cities, lest they
should be defiled; therefore they buried their dead without the
gates in the fields or
mountains. Their sepulchres
were frequently hewn out of the rock in the sides of
the
limestone hills, and they were lofty and spacious; so
that the living could enter them,
as into a vault. So this demoniac dwelt in the tombs, because
the unclean spirit drove
him thither, where the associations of the place would accord
with his malady and
aggravate its symptoms. Matthew, speaking of the two,
says that they were
“exceeding fierce, so that no man might
pass that way.” (Matthew
9:28) The
demoniac particularly mentioned by Mark is described as
having been possessed
of that extraordinary muscular strength which maniacs so often
put forth; so that all
efforts to bind and restrain him had proved
ineffectual. No man could any more bind
him, no, not with a chain (οὐδὲ ἁλύσει
- oude halusei – not even to chains). Chains
and fetters had often been tried, but in vain. Frequently
too, in the paroxysms of
his malady, he would turn his violence against himself, crying out, and cutting
himself with stones.
6 “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and
worshipped Him”
When he
saw Jesus from afar. These
words, “from afar,” explain the fact
of our Lord being immediately met by the man as soon as He left the boat. Vs.
3-5
inclusive must be regarded as parenthetical. They
describe the ordinary condition
of the demoniac, and his sad wild life from day
to day. From the high ground which he
frequented he had seen the boat,
in which Jesus was, nearing the shore. He had seen
the other boats.
Perhaps he had seen the sudden rise of the storm and its
equally
sudden suppression; and he, like others who witnessed
it, was affected by it. So he
hastened to the shore.
He ran
and worshipped him. He felt the power of
His
presence, and so he was constrained through fear to do
Him reverence, for “the
devils also believe
and shudder (φρίσσουσι – phrissousi
– are shuddering;
tremble)”- (James 2:19).
The Demoniac of
This is the
most detailed and important account given in the Gospels of
demoniacal
possession. Some are content to identify this phenomenon with
lunacy or
epilepsy, and suppose that our Lord used current phraseology
upon the
subject, although it expressed a popular delusion. We are slow to
accept an
explanation which would seem to credit Him, who was always
true, and Himself “the Truth,” with thus
sanctioning error; especially as He
used the
same language when He was alone with His disciples, to whom He
said it was
“given to know the mysteries of the kingdom” (ch. 9:28-29).
On the
other hand,” possession “was not identical with moral degradation.
The idea
that Mary Magdalene was one of peculiarly evil life, because
“out of her the Lord cast seven demons” (Luke
8:2), is untenable; and there
is little
doubt that Caiaphas, who was shrewd, callous, and
self-controlled to
the last,
was morally worse than such sufferers. Yet a weak yielding to
animal
passions was possibly the primary cause of possession by evil
spirits, in
whose existence we cannot but believe. Good was incarnate in
those days,
and evil also appeared as in a special sense incarnate. Buckle
shows that
there have been ebb and flow in the currents of national history;
and so
there have been in moral history, and in the days of our Lord
spiritual forces were at the flood. (As it will be in the Last Days –
I Timothy
4:1 - CY – 2019) The more we study the
works and the
Word of
God, the more we are convinced that the inexplicable is not to
reverently
thoughtful men incredible or absurd. We enter on the study of
this scene
not with the hope of clearing up all mystery, but with the prayer
that we may
gain from it some spiritual help. Depicted as it is in strong,
dark
colors, it may enable us to understand the nature of Christ’s work in
the soul.
We see here:
spirit, and the strange willingness to enter “the swine,” denote the nature of
the man. By the indulgence of appetite, habit had conquered
will, and he
had no mastery over
himself. That is the essence of “possession.” Modern
forms of it are not difficult to find. Describe the drunkard in his downward
progress. At last, although he knows that ruin is before
him, if temptation
is in his way, his resolutions go to the winds. He is
fascinated, or
“possessed.” So with the gambler and others. The condition of the
demoniac resembled theirs.
Ø Domestic
comfort was gone;
Ø the respect
of others was lost;
Ø life was
laid waste.
He could see fingers pointing at him, eyes glaring on him, hell yawning f
or him, and his foes seemed coming on him resistlessly as the advance of
the dreaded Roman “legion.” Notice also the deranging
effects of evil!
He was “dwelling in the tombs” — a
dreary, fearsome place, in harmony
with his melancholy state. “All they that
hate me, love death.” (Proverbs
8:36) The prodigal
must “come to himself” (Luke
15:17) before he returns
to the Father. As this demoniac cut himself with stones,
caring nothing for
pain, so some destroy their moral sensibility; as he was a
cause of misery or
of terror, so is it with them; as he dreaded
the near approach of a Judge he
could not deceive, of a
King he could not escape, so do they. BEWARE
OF TAMPERING
WITH SIN.
without those who loved him. They had done their best to
restrain or cure
him. As they saw the growth of the evil, his parents would
try to make the
home attractive, inviting companions who would divert his
thought; sisters
would give up their innocent pleasure to fall in with his
wishes; and when
the outburst came, he was “bound with
fetters and chains,” lest he should
harm himself or others. All
in vain. Human restraint will never conquer
moral evil. It represses it or alters its form, but does not root it out. The
disorder
and restlessness now seen in society portend serious issues, and
indicate
a breaking down of much in our boasted civilization. Education
only changes Bill Sykes (the main antagonist of Oliver
Twist), the burglar,
into Carker, the smooth, lying in
villain. We may restrain dishonesty,
drunkenness, swearing, etc., so that they are no longer in
respectable homes;
but though we shut our eyes to the fact, the demoniac has
only slipped his
chains, and is there in “the tombs” and dens
of our land. Parental restraint
does much, but a time comes when independence and
self-assertion make
themselves felt, and the father or mother can only pray. Speak to
those
who still remember the old home in which they were so
different from what
they are now. (This
is why it is so important to “Train up a child in the
way he should go and when he is old he will not depart
from it.”
(Proverbs 22:6)
sensibility he knew who Jesus was, and had a presentiment of
what was
coming. His abject prostration, coupled with his daring
misuse of the
sacred name, indicate the distraction and disorder
characterizing him.
Christ dealt with him wisely, firmly, lovingly. He asked, “What is thy
name?” He tried to
summon the man’s better self, to bring about a
severance in his thought between himself and the evil; He
gave him time to
think what need he had of help, and what hope and
possibility there was of
it. Then to the demons came the decisive word, “Go!” and in a short time
he was to be seen “sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right
mind.” In each of us
the dominion of sin must be broken, AND CHRIST
ONLY CAN BREAK IT! Appeal to
those who have long been under the
dominion of sin, not to despair of themselves, on the ground
that Christ
does not despair of them. It was when his friends had given
up this
demoniac as hopeless that his redemption came. So, when self-reform
has proved useless (Luke 11:24-26) and
benefactors fail, and friends
lose heart, He proves “able to save
to the uttermost.” (Hebrews 11:25)
Dealing pitifully with the sinner, He deals ruthlessly with his sin, and
will hurl it into the depths of the sea. (See Micah 7:19)
7 “And cried with a loud voice,
and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee
by God, that thou torment
me not.” He
cried
with a loud voice - that is, the evil spirit cried out,
using the organs
of the
man whom he possessed. “What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of the
Most
High God?” From
hence it appears that, although at the great temptation of
our
Lord in the wilderness, Satan had but an imperfect knowledge of Him: yet now,
after
the evidence of these great miracles, and more especially of His power over the
evil
spirits, there was a general belief amongst the hosts of evil that He was
indeed
the Son of
God, the Messiah. “I adjure thee by
God, torment me not.” The
torment
which he dreaded was that which he might suffer after expulsion. So Luke
says
that they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the
abyss.
(Luke 8:31) Great as this mystery of
evil is, we may believe that the evil
spirits,
although while they roam about upon this earth they are in misery, still it
is
some alleviation that they are not yet shut up in the prison-house of hell, but
are
suffered to wander about and their depraved pleasure in tempting men; so that,
if
possible, they may at last drag them down with them into the abyss. For they
are
full of hatred of God and envy of man; and
they find a miserable satisfaction in
endeavoring
to keep men out of those heavenly mansions from which, through pride,
they
are themselves now for ever excluded. (I
recommend The Spirit World - a
book by Clarence
Larkin – can be found in Second Baptist Library – it can also
be bought
on the internet - CY – 2009)
8 “For He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
And He asked him, 9 What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name
is Legion: for we are many.” For He said unto him, Come forth, thou unclean
spirit, out of the man; literally,
for he was saying - ἔλεγεν – elegen. The unclean
spirit endeavored
to arrest, before it was spoken, that word of power which he
knew he must obey. So in what follows, He was asking him (ἐπηρώτα – epaerota –
He inquired of), What is thy name? Why does our Lord ask this question? Clearly
to elicit
from him an answer that would reveal the multitude of the evil spirits,
and so
make His own power over them to be fully known. And he saith
unto Him,
My name is Legion; for we are
many. The Roman
legion consisted of six thousand
soldiers.
But the word is here used indefinitely for a large number. Luke so explains
it where he
says (Luke 8:30), “And he said, Legion: for
many devils were entered into
him.” This
revelation is designed to teach us
how great is the number as well as the
malignity of
the evil spirits. If one human being can be possessed by so many, how
vast must be
the host of those who are permitted to have access to the souls of men,
and if
possible lead them to destruction! Satan here
imitates Him who is “The Lord
of hosts.” He too marshals his hosts,
that he may fight
against God and His people.
But “for this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the
works of the devil.” (I John 3:8)
10 “And he
besought Him much that He would not send them away out
of the
country” It would appear as though this evil spirit felt (speaking
in the
name of the
other evil spirits) that if they were driven out from their present
dwelling-places,
their condition would be changed for the worse; and that until
the time
should come when they were to be cast into the abyss, their best relief
was
to possess
some materialism, to occupy flesh and blood, and that flesh and blood
tenanted by
a spiritual being, through whom they might torment others. They could
find no
rest, no relief, but in this.
“The unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the
man, passeth through waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth it not”
(Matthew
12:43-45). Even the swine were better than nothing; but that
dwelling
did not
serve the evil spirits long.
Satanic
Possession a Destruction of Personal Identity
(vs. 9-10)
I. INSTANCES
AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
II. IMPORTANCE
OF PERSONALITY FOR TRUE RELIGIOUS AND
MORAL LIFE.
III. THE
RESTORATION OF THIS THE GREAT WORK OF CHRIST
11 “Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine
feeding.”
Now there was there nigh unto
the mountains — literally, on the mountain side
(πρὸς τὰ ὅρη
– pros ta orae
– toward the mountains) — A great herd of swine
feeding. Matthew says (Matthew 8:30), “There was a good way off
from them:”
our Lord’s interview
with the demoniac was on the seashore. “The herd of swine,”
two
thousand in number (as Mark tells us (v. 13), with his usual attention to details),
were at a
distance, feeding on the slopes of the mountain;
The Jews were not allowed
to eat swine’s
flesh. But Jews were not the only
inhabitants of that district. It had
been
colonized, at least in part, by the
Romans immediately after the conquest of
to have
been rebuilt by the Romans, whence the territory acquired the name of
“the
of food,
yet they were not forbidden to breed swine for other uses, such as
provisioning
the Roman army.
12 “And all the devils besought Him, saying, Send us into the swine, that
we
may enter into them. 13
And forthwith Jesus gave
them leave. And the unclean
spirits went out, and entered into the
swine: and the herd ran violently down
a steep place into the sea, (they were
about two thousand;) and were choked
in the sea.” Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And .... He gave
them leave.” They could not enter even into the swine
without Christ’s permission;
how much
less into “the sheep of His pasture”! The unclean spirits came out,
and entered into the
swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep
place
(κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ - kata tou kramnou – down the precipice) — literally,
down
the steep – into the sea,... and were choked in the sea. By this Christ
shows of how little worth are
earthly possessions when set in the balance with
the souls of men. (This is for PETA [People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals –
CY –
2019) The recovery
of this demoniac was worth far more than the value
of the two thousand swine.
14 “And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.
And they went out to see what it was that
was done.” And they that fed them fled,
and told it in the city, and
in the country.”Matthew mentions
only the city. Mark’s
narrative
is more full. No doubt many of these swine-herders lived in the country
districts;
and so the fame of the miracle was spread far and wide. The swine-herders
would take
care that the owners should understand that it was through no fault or
carelessness
on their part that the swine had perished; but that the
destruction was
caused by A POWER over which they had NO CONTROL! And they — i.e.
the owners
— came to see
what it was that had come to pass. Their first care
was to see
the extent of their loss; and this was soon revealed to them. They must
have seen
the carcasses of the swine floating hither and thither in the now calm
and
tranquil sea; and when they had thus satisfied themselves as to the facts,
They came to Jesus. Mark here
uses the historic present, “they come to
Jesus,” that they might behold Him
of whom these great things were told,
as well as
the man out of whom the evil spirits had gone when they entered into
the swine.
They were, of course, concerned to know the magnitude of their loss,
and the
mode in which it had happened, that they might see whether there were
any means
by which it might be made up to them.
(There was actually people
THEN, AS NOW who cared
more for animals than a human being.
There is
to be A JUDGMENT which will sort this out and
God has given assurance to
all men that it will be so – See Acts 17:31 – CY – 2019)
Unfriendly Heralds
of Christ (v. 14)
I. DIFFICULTY
OF GETTING THE GOSPEL TRULY AND
FAITHFULLY PREACHED.
II. CONTRAST
THIS WITH THE RAPID SPREAD OF FALSE NOTIONS
ABOUT
CHRIST, HERESIES, UNSETTLING ALARMS, ETC,
III. COMPENSATIONS.
1. The
existence of Christ is made known. By-and-by His character will
vindicate itself.
2. Curiosity
is aroused and feeling excited. Almost anything is better than
indifference.
And the witnesses of His truth and grace are
everywhere.
3. The disciples of Christ are compelled to vindicate
their Master.
15 “And they come to Jesus, and see him that
was possessed with the devil,
and had the legion, sitting, and clothed,
and in his right mind: and they were
afraid.” And they come to Jesus, and
behold him that was possessed with devils
sitting, clothed and in his
right mind, even him that had the legion; and they
were afraid. Luke adds that they found him sitting
at the feet of Jesus. It is likely
enough that
the man, as soon as he found himself dispossessed, had cast himself at
the feet of
Jesus, and was worshipping Him; but that, when bidden by Christ to sit,
he chose to
place himself at His feet. “He was clothed, and in his
right mind.”
What a contrast
to the previous description! “And they were afraid.” They dreaded
Christ’s power. (You think so in this
world! What about the next? See Revelation
6:12-17 – CY – 2019)
They saw that HE WAS
ALMIGHTY but they did
not seek to
know His love, and so to
attain to that love which “casteth out fear.” (I John 4:18)
Monumental Miracles (v. 15)
The tableau
(a graphic description or representation
: picture) — Christ, and
the demoniac sitting at His feet. This is more impressive and sublime than
even the rebuking of the storm. Such trophies are better than sermons, because:
I. THEY ARE
AN ABIDING REMINDER AND EXAMPLE.
II. THEY ARE
PATENT (open to public inspection) TO ALL, AND
CAN BE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL. “Living epistles, known and
read
of all men.” (II Corinthians
3:2)
III. THEY DEFY
REFUTATION, AND DEMAND TO
BE
EXPLAINED.
16 “And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was
possessed with
the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17
And they began to pray
him to
depart out of their coasts.” How it befell him that was possessed with devils,
and concerning the swine. The loss of the swine, they could
not get over that.
They thought far more of the worldly loss than
of the spiritual gain – and they
began to beseech Him to
depart from their borders - Luke (Luke 8:37)
says that
“they were taken (συνείχοντο – suneichonto
– they were pressed) [literally, were
holden] with great fear.” This was the dominant feeling. They did not entreat Him
to depart
out of humility, as though they felt themselves unworthy of
His presence;
but out of servile, slavish fear, lest His continued presence
among them might
bring upon them still greater losses.
18 “And when He was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with
the
devil prayed Him that he might be with
Him. 19
Howbeit Jesus suffered
him
not, but saith
unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things
the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had
compassion on thee. 20 And he
departed, and began to publish in
for him: and all men did marvel.” And as He was entering into
the boat,
he that had been possessed
with devils besought Him that he might be with Him.
It was
natural that he should desire this. He would be grateful and it would be
soothing to
him to be near to Christ, from whom he had received so great a benefit
and yet hoped for more. And He suffered him not, but saith unto
him; Go to thy
house unto thy friends, and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.”
Our Lord
here takes a different course from what He so often took. He saw, no
doubt,
that this
restored demoniac was fitted for missionary work; and there was no
reason
to
apprehend any inconvenience to Himself in consequence from a people who
wished to
get rid of Him. (Contrast the attitude of the ACLU and their
leadership
role in this very similar
circumstance! Is Christ’s reaction any different? - CY –
2009; 2019;
ten years later, I ask the same question, but with more fervency!)
And he went his way, and
began to publish in
things Jesus had done for him. This would
bring him into contact alike with
Gentiles
and with Jews; and so this dispossessed demoniac became a missionary to
both Jew and Gentile. Here he planted the standard of the cross.
Prayers Granted and Denied
(vs.
10, 12-13, 17- 19)
No caprice
visible in our Lord’s decisions. On the contrary, great moral
principles
are revealed. The whole conduct of Christ on this occasion,
therefore,
is of importance for the practical guidance of Christians.
much that He would not send
them away out of the country.” No heed is
paid to this request, notwithstanding its passionate
earnestness. Why?
Ø The man
himself was not praying.
He was depersonalized and
besotted
by the possession of the devils, and not responsible for his
words or
actions. It was to free him from this thraldom
Christ had undertaken his
case.
Ø
It
would have neutralized the intended mercy to the man to inflict the
evil
upon others.
Ø There
was no real submission in the real petitioners. They were still
devils, unchanged in their character, and desirous of working further
mischief. Powerless, they
still desired to do evil.
notwithstanding the character of those who made it. A
marvel, truly; devils
heard and answered by Christ! Is He in league with them?
Ø It
was a choice of a lesser of two evils. It seemed necessary that some
visible form should receive the dispossessed spirits, that
all, especially
the man himself (compare on the probable principle of cure,
the
preceding sketch), might be able to realize that the
dispossession had
actually taken place. As simply dispossessed, they might
have taken
up their abode in some other soul; but by
giving direction to them
after dispossession, they were confined to brutes; and the
catastrophe
that resulted was probably foreseen by Christ. In the
destruction of
the swine the demons were dismissed speedily right out of
the
terrestrial sphere.
Ø And in
that destruction a punishment was inflicted upon the Gadarenes,
who as yet were sordid, neglectful of the Law (forbidding
the rearing of
swine), and unspiritual.
once answered, Because:
Ø It
involved a deliberate and intelligent rejection of the Saviour. They
had seen His wondrous moral triumph and the destruction of
the swine;
but in their estimate the material loss far outweighed the
spiritual gain.
Ø There
were others elsewhere who were “waiting for Him.”
Ø
The healed demoniac might be even more
effectual as a preacher than
Himself. He was a lasting monument of His power and grace.
Time
Might be needed to let the miracle sink into the popular
conscience.
natural desire under the circumstances. Fear lest the devils
should return if
he were left to himself, and gratitude and love for his
Benefactor, doubtless
actuated him. But he is denied! This must have wounded his
feelings, and
disappointed him. But:
Ø
It was not prudent for Christ at that
time to have one so closely
identified with devils in His company and occupied
in His service. The
charge had been made(ch. 3:22)
that He was in league with Satan.
Ø It
was not the best life for him to lead in his present condition. Privation
and excitement were not suited to one who had been emaciated
and
weakened by the devils.
Ø
A work of greater use and personal
obligation awaited him where he
was. He was the only disciple of Christ in that
benighted land. Those
who had been scandalized by his previous life, and had
suffered from it,
were to be first considered. The home that had been
desolated was to be
revisited, and cheered by the kindly presence and saving
influence
of the redeemed one.
·
GENERAL LESSONS.
1. Prayers may be granted in anger, and denied in love.
2. Lesser evils may be
allowed to prevent greater ones.
3. Duties are to be
considered before privileges.
The
Lord of Spirits (vs. 1-20)
There was
for Christ, during His earthly ministry,
no escape from personal toil —
from the
claims made upon His benevolence by human misery, or from man’s
ingratitude.
He crossed the lake to seek repose, but at once, on landing, was
met by a
case of the utmost wretchedness and need, demanding the exercise
of His compassionate
authority. His stay was brief, yet long enough to earn
the thanks
and the devotion of one poor liberated captive, and long enough to
qualify and
to commission that healed one for a sacred ministry of benevolence.
Ø That state
is attributable to possession
by an evil power. This does
not, indeed,
affect man’s responsibility, but it affirms the action of
supernatural
agency. Sinners “have fallen into the
snare of the
devil.”
(II Timothy 2:26)
Ø The signs
of that state are many and distressing. Like the
demoniac,
the sinner is
injurious to himself, is harmful to others, and consequently
is unfit for
society.
Ø A picture
is here painted of the sinner’s hopeless
condition. As the
demoniac’s
possession was manifold (“we are
legion”), was
prolonged, and was so
severe that all human efforts had failed to
bring relief, so was the
condition of the heathen world when the
Saviour
came to earthen condition so debased and so confirmed in its
misery that to the human
eye no dawn-streak of hope was visible. And
the heart, abandoned to
the control of evil, is in a state for which no
human relief or help is
available.
the wretched and raving maniac and the calm and
holy Jesus it would not be
possible to
imagine. Yet the two came together.
Divine authority and
compassion
encountered human sin, foulness, and degradation, and the
demon was
exorcised and the sufferer made whole.
Ø Observe the
Divine authority of the Lord is acknowledged. It is
certainly
remarkable that from the mouth of the demoniac should come
the confession
that Jesus is “the Son
of the Most High God.” This
Christ is; and,
were He not this, His approach would bring no comfort
to the sinner’s
heart.
Ø
In addition to this verbal acknowledgment, we
observe an actual
submission to and
experience of Christ’s power. “The
unclean
spirit
came out.” Jesus is
“mighty to save.” As during His ministry,
so wherever the gospel is preached, the power of
Christ is proved in
actual experience. However
formidable the foe may be, Jesus is
the
Conqueror.
Ø There is complete deliverance from the tyranny
of former enemies.
A great and spiritual
transformation which brings the soul into a
new and better life.
Ø Sanity is a consequence of our Lord’s
interposition. “When he came
to
himself” (Luke 15:17) is the description
of the change which took
place in the repenting prodigal son. Only he
who turns to God can be
truly said to be “in his right mind.”
Ø Tranquility is a natural sign of a spiritual
restoration. The Saviour is
the Prince of Peace, and the gospel is a gospel of peace, and peace is
a fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians
5:22) True religion calms agitation,
stills the tempests of the soul, and brings
harmony to human life.
conduct of the healed demoniac is an emblem of
the consecrated testimony
of the ransomed
soul to the great Deliverer.
Ø It is prompted by grateful affection — A
affection that would fain
abide in the
valued society of the Redeemer.
Ø It is
appointed and authorized by the Lord Himself: “Go to thy house,”
Ø It is borne
especially to those nearest and dearest: “thy friends.”
Ø It consists
of personal experience: “how
great things the Lord hath
done for thee.”
Ø It excites
interest and wonder. Such testimony from such a witness
cannot be without
effect. The saved lead others to the same Saviour
whose virtue they have
themselves experienced.
Legion (vs. 1-20)
General
question of demon-possession. An aggravated form of Satanic
influence.
Intelligible enough on the principle of provocation and
desperation: light and
darkness are strongest side by side. The advent of
Christ roused to
intense activity and excitement of the whole
demoniacal
realm. In this scene there is exemplified —
Ø Instinctive. Spontaneous;
prescient; yet furnishing no intelligible reason.
“An intensified spiritual presentiment” (Lange).
Ø
Weakness of the demoniac shown by:
o
Excitement.
o Self-contradiction.
Attraction and repulsion alternating.
o Use of borrowed weapons.
The exorcism, doubtless so often uttered over him by
magicians and
ecclesiastics, is all the lore he seems to possess in the
way of religion.
Ø Strength
of Christ proved by calmness and self-possession, and
resolute
pursuit of His object.
Ø
Utter and absolute. “What have I to do with thee?… Torment me not.”
Ø Instant exercise of authority. Calm,
self-possessed, and fearless. He had
already discerned and measured His opponent, and
decided as to how He
would deal with him.
Ø Spiritual insight and skill.
The great Physician had made
diagnosis of his
case. Mental surgery was needed, based upon the
most profound truths of
psychology. The man had to be discriminated and
freed from the indwelling
demon. The
former had little or no sense of his own personal identity. A
Roman legion had probably been quartered near,
and when he saw their
number and power he felt that they somewhat
resembled that which had
quartered itself within his own nature. With
maniacal vanity he readily
adopted the title, “Legion.” Pride and
wretchedness were probably both
involved in the retention of the name; it
represented the dominant principle
in his confused consciousness. Christ asked him,
“What is thy name?” that
he might rouse him to a sense of personal
identity: a wise measure.
their minds with respect to the great Stranger.
Ø
The data. (vs. 14-16.)
Material and moral stood forth in
opposition, as in so many other instances. How
was their relative
importance to be estimated?
Ø The decision. A unanimous petition for Him to depart. How could such
men be expected to judge otherwise? They had
grand ideas of Christ, but
of the wrong sort.
Ø The response. Instant
departure. He took them at their word. “They
believed not
on Him,” and acting upon their unbelief urged their
request.
The conflict of anger and fear, fawning and
obstinacy. A word was enough;
nay, a wish, even unexpressed, has often secured
the same result. Not the
storm, not the evil repute of the people, not
even the horror of the
demoniac, could deter Him from coming; but a
word sent Him away! How
careful should men be in their attitude to the
heavenly Visitant! He went,
but not without having, in the person of the
restored maniac, a monument
of His saving power and grace. Every region and
every heart has its witness
to the same.
A Man with an Unclean Spirit (vs. 1-20)
It is no
part of the office of the homilist to enter upon the field of
apologetics
or exegesis. Criticism and interpretation provide the words
with their
definite meanings. Homiletics unfold and apply practical lessons.
The
difficulties of this narrative must, therefore, be discussed elsewhere.
this case of possession by “an unclean
spirit.” The sadness of this spectacle
is amply exhibited in the words of vs. 2-5. The
overpowering of the
entire personality of the victim by “an unclean spirit” points to a fearful
possibility of the human life. Does sin open the
door to the spirit of evil?
The man was under the power of an unclean spirit, was led to
do unclean
acts. He dwelt remote from his fellows, “in the tombs.” He was possessed
of unusual physical strength; he could not be bound, “no, not with a chain.”
“No man had strength to bind
him.” This unusual power was exercised in
“crying out and cutting
himself with stones.” Whatever the precise nature
of this affliction, the scene exhibits the human life in its uttermost
derangement.
expressed as one of utter repudiation: “What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
the Son of the Most High
God?” They had
nothing in common. What can
the spirit of evil have to do with Jesus? They mutually
recede; they are
mutually opposed. These appear before us as representing two
kingdoms,
wholly diverse in
character.
Ø The one is a kingdom of evil and uncleanness;
the other a kingdom of peace and righteousness.
Ø In the one the human life is disorganized;
in the other it attains its true dignity, harmony, and blessedness.
Ø The one is
for it a kingdom of darkness;
the other a kingdom of light.
Ø In the one is death;
life is found in the other.
They have nothing in common; they are mutually exclusive,
mutually
destructive.
sphere of the human life is again illustrated, as also His
attitude towards all
human suffering. “With authority He commands,”
“Come forth, thou
unclean spirit, out of the
man,” and in pitifulness he releases the
oppressed.
Thus is fulfilled that “which was
spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
Himself took our infirmities,
and bare our diseases.” (Matthew 8:17;
Isaiah 53:4)
Elsewhere is this more amply illustrated.
power, and evicted the spirit of uncleanness, is simply and
beautifully
portrayed in the picture presented to the eyes of the
multitude who “came
to see what it was that had
come to pass,” and beheld “him that was
possessed with devils
sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.” With
affectionate gratitude he now cleaves to Jesus, beseeching “Him that he
might be with Him.” The
refusal was not in harsh judgment against the
redemed one, but for the instruction
and profit of all others — that he may
go and “publish how great things
Jesus had done for him.” Out of this
incident let the central words, “What have I to
do with thee?” be chosen as
a test by which each may prove his nearness to Jesus or his
recession from
him. At one extreme lies this word of utter rejection — the
word of Satanic
repudiation; at the other, words which express the most
complete
absorption of the life in devotion to Him — “ For me to live is Christ.”
(Philippians 1:21)
This declares the perfect identification of the individual
life with the person, the mission, the spirit of Jesus. The
one affirms,
“I know no life within the
sphere of Christ’s kingdom;” the other,
“I know no life beyond it. His name
defines the boundary of my aims, my
activities, my hopes. I am lost, buried, absorbed in Him; to
all things else
I die.” How many are
the gradations between these extremes! Let each test
himself as to the attitude he assumes towards Jesus.
1. As to a supreme submission to His authority as
“the Son of the Most
High God.”
2. As to a calm and loving reliance upon him as “Jesus,” the “Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.”
3. As to a sincere alliance with Him in the work
of raising men from the
dominion of evil —
casting out the spirit of all foulness from the human
life.
4. As to a perfect fellowship with Christ in the
communion of sympathy
and love.
Christ, the Redeemer of the Intellect (vs. 1-20)
Bondage, impotent violence, suicidal mania. We cannot make
out a theory
of the facts; the facts are certain, and sad enough in this as in that age.
There may be a duplicity in the
consciousness of man, so that the being is
threatened with a rending asunder. There is a certain
reflection of this
duplicity in all of us.
crises when we dread the presence of the power of good; it
means a sharp
struggle at hand in the depths of the soul for our very
life. Men will
sometimes endure the present misery rather than undergo the pain which is
to cure it. But the surgeon is no cruel tormentor; nor is the faithful
teacher
of the truth to be feared, but loved.
the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound
mind!”
(II Timothy 1:7) It may be lost; thank God it
may be recovered. As there are
parasites which
prey upon the lower forms of animal and vegetable life, so
there are ideas
which may possess the imagination and confound the whole
conscious life of
the soul. Nowhere do we find the hope
of salvation in all
its senses, from
physical and moral maladies, and those inscrutable to science,
so clearly held
out as in the gospel.
Lord has done for thee, and
that He pitied thee.” Power and pity FUSED
IN LOVE; this is the
soul of the world, the principle of its redemption. It has
infused its strong enchantment into
nature, and healing is ever open to us if
we will yield to its influence on our being.
Gadarene or Gergesene Demoniacs (vs. 1-20)
Parallel passages:
Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 8:26-40.
Ø
The district. The country called
period and in the New Testament goes by the name
of Peraea. It was south
of
(anciently Hieromax)
on the north, Arnon (now Wady
el Mojeb) on the
south, and
and Jabbok at present Wady Zurka, is now Jebel Ajlun; while the
section
south of the Jabbok is
the Belka. In this region was a district called
except Scythopolis,
east of the
identified with the ruins of Urn Keis, the capital of Peraea; while Gergesa
was the name of a little town, identified with
the present Kerza, on the
Wady Semakh, opposite Magdala.
Either the territory adjacent was named
after one or other of these towns, or
indication of the district that was the scene of
the miracle, when they call it
the country of the Gadarenes;
while St. Matthew gives the exact name,
when he places it in the country of the Gergesenes. Dr. Thomson, in ‘The
land and the Book,’ says, “The city itself where
it was wrought was
evidently on the shore..... And in this Gersa, or Chersa, we have a
position
which fulfils every requirement of the
narratives, and with a name so near
that in Matthew as to be in itself a strong
corroboration of the truth of this
identification. It is within a few rods of the
shore, and an immense
mountain rises directly above it, in which are
ancient tombs, out of some of
which the two men possessed of the devils may
have issued to meet Jesus.
The lake is so near the base of the mountain,
that the swine, rushing madly
down it, could not stop, but would be hurried on
into the water and
drowned. ..Take your stand a little south of
this Chersa. A great herd of
swine, we will suppose, is feeding on this mountain
that towers above it.
They are seized with a sudden panic, rush madly
down the almost
perpendicular declivity, those behind tumbling
over and thrusting forward
those before; and, as there is neither time nor
space to recover on the
narrow shelf between the base and the lake, they
are crowded headlong
into the water and perish.” (I would like to liken this unto humanity wildly
following Satan to their doom as described in The Sermon on the Mount –
Jesus said “Enter
ye in at the strait gate: for wide is
the gate, and broad
is the way
that leadeth unto destruction, and many there be that
go in
thereat.” (Matthew 7:13 – CY – 2019) The name Gergesa has led to the
supposition that the Girgashites,
one of the seven Canaanitish nations,
originally occupied this territory. Be this as
it may, the district was pleasantly
situated east and southeast of the Sea of
Galilee, and the towns of
Gergesa were flourishing. The former was much the larger, and, according
to Josephus, was rich — he says, “Many of the
citizens of
rich men “ — while that of Gergesa
was of considerable importance.
Ø
A sad contrast. We cannot forbear noticing, as we pass, how
much
wretchedness
may exist at the same time and in the same place with
material
wealth and mercantile prosperity, and amid all the beauties of
natural scenery. This world itself all through
is a strange mixture of:
o
mercy and of wrath;
o
the
beautiful and the
terrible;
o
plenty and of poverty;
o
sorrow and of joy;
o
sunshine and of shower.
(I
recommend Psalm ch.
18 v. 16 – Spurgeon Sermon – Divine Interpositions
#1266a this website –
CY – 2019 – ctrl and click on above)
No April day was ever
more variable. Here, in the country of the Gadarenes,
with its well-to-do and wealthy inhabitants, and
their profitable herds of swine,
were two wretched creatures in extreme misery,
both mental and bodily.
While others bought and sold and got gain, these
creatures were a terror
to themselves and all around. While others
occupied comfortable dwellings,
these unfortunates tenanted sepulchral caverns
which abounded in the
district, and of which, as we have seen, some
remain to the present day.
While others were decently clad, or even
gorgeously attired, these
miserable individuals refused the decency of
raiment. While others went
at large, enjoying the sweets of life and that liberty which makes life sweet,
these demoniacs had to be bound with chains and
fetters (πέδαις – pedais –
equivalent to shackles for the feet, and ἁλύσεσι – alusesi - equivalent to
chains in general).
Ø
The number accounted for. Matthew mentions
two; Mark and Luke
speak
of one. How are we to explain this? The one mentioned by two
of the evangelists was fiercer than his fellow;
he was wilder and worse than
the other. Or perhaps he had belonged to a
higher class in society, and had
moved in a better rank of life; or perhaps his
position had been in some
respect more prominent, whether owing to wealth,
or profession, or
education; and so the calamity that had befallen
him was more
conspicuous, and he himself better known.
Something of this sort seems
hinted at by Luke, when he speaks of the
demoniac who met Jesus, as
“a certain
man out
of the city.” (Luke 8:27) At all events, from
any or
all these causes Luke separates his case from
the other, and singles him
out from his comrade in affliction.
Ø
A distinct feature added by each evangelist. Matthew tells us that
they made the way impassable for
traveler’s; Luke, that he was without
clothing; and Mark, in the passage specially
under consideration, that
he cried night and day, and cut himself with
stones. Matthew’s narrative
of this case is somewhat meager, Luke’s fuller,
and Mark’s more
circumstantial than either.
Ø
The period in particular of demoniac possession. That demoniac
possession was distinct from disease, or lunacy,
or epilepsy, is sufficiently
evident from a single Scripture, namely, Matthew
4:24, where we read
that they “brought
unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers
diseases and
torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and
those which
were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed
them.” If asked why demoniac possession so manifested itself at the time of
our Lord’s appearance on earth, and not before,
nor at least in the same
way since? we must simply reply, in addition to
what we have formerly said
on this subject, that we can no more tell this
than we can tell why smallpox
manifested itself as a terrible scourge to our
race at a certain time, and
not sooner; or why cholera ravaged
beginning of this century, and not before; or
why that fearful plague, which
the Greek historian has described with such
graphic power and thrilling
effect, never visited them till the time of the
Peloponnesian war, and has
never returned again, as far as history informs
us, to renew its work of
desolation there. But, though Scripture does not
explicitly specify the
cause, we can readily suppose a reason which has
the appearance at least
of probability. That reason we have already
alluded to as found in Satan’s
well-authenticated
powers of imitation, and we shall only subjoin in this
place a few additional circumstances to confirm
its probability. In early
times, when the Lord afflicted
Moses and Aaron, wrought miracles in the field
of Zoan, Satan had his
servants there also, and Jannes
and Jambres (II Timothy 3:8) either
possessed or pretended the power to work
miracles too, counterfeiting or
counteracting to the utmost of their capacity
those of Moses and Aaron. From
time to time, in the subsequent history of
instruct and forewarn the people; but who can be
ignorant of the fact that Satan
at times employed his prophets — false prophets
to beguile and mislead?
When our Saviour was
on earth He warned His disciples that false Christs
would arise and deceive many. Satan raised them
up, and so history
confirmed the statement. In like manner, when the Lord Jesus Christ
had
taken to Himself a true body and a soul — when the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among men — Satan, by himself or by his servants,
took
possession of the bodies of men, cruelly torturing their flesh and
agonizing
their spirit. Nor are we prepared to say
that demoniac possession
has altogether ceased. We have seen men so act,
and heard men so speak,
and have been informed of such fiendish atrocity
on their part, that we
could account for their violent and outrageous
conduct, or for their
mischievous and diabolical acts, or for their
horrid and blasphemous
expressions, in no other way than that some
demon, or the devil himself,
had been permitted to take temporary possession
of them.
DEMONIAC.
Ø
His madness. When we compare
and combine the account given of this
poor demoniac by Mark and Luke, as also the
brief notice of both
demoniacs by Matthew, we have a most affecting
picture. He had lost
his senses and become exceeding fierce, so that
no man could tame him,
and no man could in safety pass that way. To the
folly of the lunatic he had
added the furiousness of the madman. Reason had
reeled and left the helm;
the once goodly ship had lost compass and chart
and helmsman; it was
drifting along, the sport of furious winds and
stormy waves.
Ø
His wretchedness. This wretched man had not lost life, it is true, but all
that could
make life
desirable, or
render it happy. Unclothed, uncared for,
he had fallen back into the condition of savage
life, and to some extent had
sunk lower than the brute. Houseless and
homeless, he led a vagrant life —
now a dweller in the mountains, now a tenant of
the tombs. His agony of
mind was
fearful. When not attacking others he acted the part of a self-
tormentor.
His cries waked the echoes of the mountains, or made the
gloom of the sepulcher more dreadful. But cries
were insufficient to vent
the deep anguish of his spirit. He cut himself
with stones, and, by making
gashes in his body, sought to transfer his
suffering from the mind to the
body, or at least divide it between them. All this had
lasted for years, as it
would appear from the statement, “he had devils long time.” Neither had
he known much of respite or aught of relaxation; “always night and day”
this sorrowful and suffering condition continued;
no lucid interval that we
read of; no pleasant period of relief, however
short, that we know of. At
times, moreover, he was deprived of his liberty. (A condition that modern
libertines
should ponder! CY – 2019) This had frequently occurred. “He
had
often been
bound with fetters and chains,” until, by a sort of
superhuman
power, he plucked them asunder or broke them in
pieces.
Ø
The lessons to be learned from all this. There are two lessons to be learned
from this part of the subject.
o
The first lesson we may learn from it is the
condition of the sinner, and
o
the second is the hostility
of Satan.
Confirming attention to the first, while we have
examined the condition of the
demoniac as a fact — a stern fact, and a sad one
— we cannot help
thinking that it furnishes us at the same time
with a figure of what the
sinner more or less is. He may, indeed,
have the use of all his faculties, both
of mind and body; nevertheless, he is a fool. “The fool hath said in his
heart, There
is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)
He is beside himself; for we read of
the prodigal, on his repentance and return to
his father’s house, that “he came to
himself.” (Luke
15:17) Was ever
folly greater than that of the man who prefers
the
trifles of time to the realities of eternity; who day by day barters the
salvation
of the soul for some gratification of sense; who, amid all the
uncertainty of
life, braves the danger of delay;
I met with a striking sentence in the works of
William Mason which is well worthy
to be written among your memoranda: “Every day of delay leaves a day more to
repent of, and a day less to repent
in.” What if
this day shall be the last I live;
shall it be spent in refusing to hear the word
of my Maker? Shall my last breath
be spent in rejecting my Savior? God forbid! I
see that I am bound as His creature
to obey Him, and as His sinful creature to seek
pardon of Him; help me,
therefore,
blessed
Spirit, to attend to these things THIS DAY WITHOUT DELAY!
who, not withstanding the shortness of time, neglects
from one season of
opportunity to another, from one period of existence to
another, the things
that belong to his peace? (Luke 19:42) What madness can equal his who
treats all these things as though they were cunningly devised fables;
who turns his back on God and His Word, on the sabbath
and the
sanctuary, on prayer and praise; who trifles with the great things of
God UNTIL DEATH STARES HIM IN THE FACE entertaining the
vain fancy
that a few tears, or prayers, or sighs on the bed of death will
reverse
all the past, make amends for A LIFE
OF SIN and serve as a
passport to heaven? That man is a demoniac in very fact,
whom Satan
so possesses, so leads captive at his
will, and whose
eyes he so blinds,
that, though
his own frailty is pleading with him in the silence of his chamber
(as mine is, but I thank God for a
different reason – CY – 2019), and during
the night-watches; though mortality in sundry ways forces itself on his
attention (Christ satisfies me in the night-watches because He has brought
LIFE AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT! (II Timothy 1:10 – CY – 2019)
though conscience is upbraiding, until it becomes
so seared that it upbraids
no longer (the conscience is seared with a hot
iron – I Timothy 4:2); though
the Spirit of
grace is striving, as he has been striving long;
though the Saviour
with outstretched arms is saying, “Come,
come and welcome,” “Come unto me,
all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew
11:28); though the eternal Father is waiting to
embrace the returning penitent,
and swearing, “As
I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;”
(Ezekiel 33:11) yet
that sinner, in
spite of all, keeps running along the
downward way
to hell, plunging
deeper and deeper into wretchedness,
rushing upon ruin, and rushing at the same time against the thick bosses
of Jehovah’s buckler.
o
If you exhort him, he is sullen;
o
if you remonstrate with him, he is offended;
o
if you reprove him, he is outrageous;
o
if you speak plainly, yet affectionately, it may be he returns a
surly answer,
proving himself to be what Scripture
describes, as “such a son
of Belial,
that a man
cannot speak to him.” (I
Samuel 25:17) What
though he is neither naked, nor houseless, nor
dwelling among the tombs,
nor bound with fetters! Are not the fetters of sin the worst that ever bound
any man? “What
fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed?
for the end of those things is death.” (Romans
6:21) Has not a
course of iniquity clothed thousands in rags,
yea, left them without anything
like decent clothes at all? Has not drunkenness,
or lewdness, or idleness left
hundreds without either house or home? Does not
willful waste make woeful
want? Who can ever forget the story of the
prodigal, when “he would
fain have
filled his
belly with the husks which the swine did eat,” when “no man gave
unto him,” and when he said, “I perish
with hunger”? (Luke
15:16-17)
Has not the devil’s service brought many a man
to his tomb, humanly
speaking, before his time? for the wicked do not live half their days.
(Psalm 55:23)
We need not speak of the misery which the sinner feels
when:
o
the iron
enters into his soul,
o
the bitter
regret,
o
the unavailing
remorse,
o
the terrors of
conscience,
o
the second
death, and
o
the smoke of
their torment ascending up for ever and ever.
Ø
The great change. “The unclean spirits went
out;” or, as Luke
expresses it, “Then
went the devils out of the man.” Here was a
practical
exemplification of the Saviour
entering into the strong man’s house and
spoiling his goods. The strong man was expelled
by One stronger than
himself. His terrible hold was loosened, his
power paralyzed, captivity led
captive, and the prey taken from the mighty. It
is thus with every one who
has been rescued from the grasp of Satan, who
has been “snatched as a
brand out of
the burning” (Zechariah 3:2), who has been convinced of sin
and its attendant miseries and everlasting
wretchedness, who has been
enlightened with the knowledge of the grace and
mercy of the Saviour,
whose will has been renewed by the Spirit of
God, and who has thus
been made willing
in the day of Divine power. (Psalm 110:3) Oh that
the time may soon come, when in every land, and
through all parts of
the habitable globe, God in His great mercy
shall open the blind eyes,
and smite the fetters off the gyved limbs, and emancipate the oppressed
of Satan, setting the captives for ever free!
Ø
Evidences of the change. People were curious to see the mighty miracle
that had been wrought, and came to Jesus to see
the strange sight about
which, no doubt, they had heard much. And,
arriving at the place, they “see
him that was
possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting.” Ah!
there is a change, and clear evidence of it. What a subject for a painting!
The madman is come to his right mind; the maniac
is tamed; reason, that
godlike faculty, is restored; his fierceness is subdued. The anguish of his
spirit has subsided; his wild cries have ceased;
his self-inflicted bodily pains
— those shocking wounds — are healed. People
talk of the man who
could tame the most savage horses, and hold them
for a time as if spellbound;
they speak of menagerie-men who can tame lions
and conquer
bears; they laud the poet’s comic humor in his
piece entitled ‘The Taming
of the Shrew;’ but the taming of shrew, or lion,
or bear, or horse is nothing
compared
with the taming of this demoniac man, or of any other
man
whose fierce passions have been let loose, whose
soul and body have been
subjected to Satan’s sway, and whoso wicked and
wayward career has
been marked with as bad, if not worse, than
demoniac madness. There he
sits! as though the lion had become a lamb; as though the tiger had
forgotten his fury, and laid aside his
fierceness; as though the bear had
changed its nature, and become a mild domestic
creature — an emblem of
that better day when all men shall become such,
and a foreshadow of that
coming time which the prophet describes so
beautifully, when “the wolf
also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
and the calf
and the young lion and the fatling together.”
(Isaiah 11:6)
Ø
His posture a proof of docility. There he sits, with
the docility of the
child and the guileless simplicity of the
Christian. There he sits, as Saul did
in the days of his youth, an apt scholar at the
feet of Gamaliel. Rather,
there he sits, as Mary, at the feet of the same Saviour who bestowed on her
the high encomium, “One
thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen the good
part, that
shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42) There he sits,
with thoughtful countenance and attentive mind,
and listening ear, to drink in
every word that falls from the Saviour’s lips. There he sits, humbly at the
Saviour’s feet, while his eye rests placidly on that Saviour’s
face, as though
he said, “Lord, how I love thee for all thy
grace to me! Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do, that I may express that warm love
which glows in my breast,
and exhibit the effects of that wondrous grace?”
It is thus with every converted
sinner. We sit at Jesus’ feet, and whether He
speaks Himself to us in His
Word, or by His servants who preach to us from
that Word, or by His Spirit
who applies that Word, it is all the same. Willingly we will lose no lesson,
we will miss no opportunity, we will neglect no means of grace, where we
expect that Jesus will manifest Himself to our
souls and talk to us by the
way, opening to us the Scriptures. The whole of
the hundred and
nineteenth psalm is a commentary on this teachableness
of spirit, and
willingness
to sit at the Master’s feet; vs. 33-40
inclusive may be
specially read in this connection. Down to old
age we will sit at the
Saviour’s feet, in order to learn of Him. like Simeon, like Anna, like the
picture of the righteous set before us in Psalm
92:12, “The righteous
shall
flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in
“Those that
be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts
of our God.” (ibid. v. 13)
And when and why do they flourish so? “They
shall still
bring forth fruit in old age,” and “to show
that the Lord is upright.”
(ibid. vs.
14-15) We are
bound to make all due allowance for the decay of
nature and such
weakness as is incident to the decline of life;
but it is
distressing to find at times the aged
magnifying their infirmities as an excuse
for absenting
themselves from the house of God; worse still,
perhaps, when
they stay
away without pretending any excuse. It is one of the worst signs;
for none
that ever truly followed the Lord in youth or in
maturity ever forsook
Him in old age. We remember well seeing a very old man, much above ninety
years of age, helped into his pew in church
every sabbath; and there was
the patriarchal man leaning on his staff, as he
sat at Jesus’ feet, a devout
and venerable and earnest worshipper. Even when
age may have blunted
the faculties and dulled the hearing, it is still our duty to forsake not the
assembling
of ourselves with the people of God. (Hebrews 10:25)
We knew the case of a deaf man who, though he could not hear a word
preached, came regularly to church, because, as he said, he could see to
read the psalms and lessons and other parts of
the service, and in any case
could help the attendance by his presence and
example.
Ø
His place of safety was there. This demoniac sat at Jesus’ feet for
safety. May we
suppose that he had heard of the man, of whom we read in
the parallel passage of another Gospel (Luke
11:24-26), from whom the
unclean spirit, having gone out, came back again
with seven other spirits more
wicked than himself, and entered in and dwelt
there, so that “the last
state
of that man
was worse than the first”? At all events, he felt that
there was
no safety but in nearness to Christ; and this is the proper sentiment
for
every follower and friend of Jesus to entertain. When Peter followed Christ
afar off, Peter fell. Nearness to Christ is safety, separation or distance from
him is insecurity and danger. We need:
o
His grace, for by it we stand;
o
His strength, for by it we are fortified against temptation;
o
His blood, for by it we are cleansed, and we need a fresh
application
of it daily;
o
His sacrifice, it is the ground of our
acceptance, and we must
look
to it always;
o
His example, it must be our daily pattern;
o
His faith, “the life
which we now live in the flesh we must live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
us and gave Himself
for us;” (Galatians 2:20)
o
His person, “Christ in you, the hope of glory;” (Colossians 1:27)
o
His presence, it is our comfort, for He has said, “I
will never leave
thee nor forsake thee;” (Hebrews 13:5)
o
His protection, that, where Satan would sift
us as wheat, He
may
intercede for us, that our faith fail not;
o
His love, to keep up the flame, that would otherwise burn
low
or go
out altogether.
Ø
His clothing evidence of restored sanity. He was sitting as a scholar at
Jesus’ feet, as also for safety, as we have
seen; he was clothed, and in
his
right mind, the former being, as well as his
sitting, evidence of the latter.
We dislike and disapprove of those naked figures which we see in books
and paintings and statues; of whatever use
they may be to the anatomist or
painter or statuary, they are, we think, unsuitable to Christian refinement
and inconsistent with Christian purity. (Written two centuries ago, I
wonder what they would think of HBO and
prime time television today?
CY – 2019) Their
usefulness to people in general is questionable. The
passions of fallen humanity are bad enough of
themselves, and in their
own nature, without exciting them. The demoniac cured by our Lord is
clothed; the
sinner converted to Christ is clothed likewise. When brought
to the foot of the cross, and seated at the feet
of Jesus, he is clothed. He
has on the “fine
linen, clean and white,” which is“the righteousness of
saints.” (Revelation 19:8) He is “found in Christ, not having on his own
righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is by the faith of Christ,
the
righteousness of God by faith.” (Philippians
3:9) He has obeyed the
precept, accepted the advice, feeling the
benefit of the counsel, “I counsel
thee
to buy of me
gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment,
that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do
not
appear; and
anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see.”
(Revelation 3:18) A practical question is here suggested.
Do you, Reader,
possess that robe? It is put on by the hand of faith. Have you that precious
faith? If not — if you have not already “good hope
through grace,” pray
for that faith. Do not be ashamed or afraid to do
so. Do not neglect or delay
to ask it. Ask the Holy Spirit to work faith in your
heart, and so unite you to
Christ, for “if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (II
Corinthians
5:17) and God
gives His Holy Spirit to them thatask Him.
Ø
Restoration to reason. His mind is right
about sin, as “that
abominable
thing which
God hates,” and hurtful to man as hateful to God; right
about
Satan, “as
a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter
5:8);
“ a murderer
from the beginning” (John 8:44); right about the Saviour,
as “the chief among ten thousand” and “altogether
lovely” (Song of
Solomon 5:10,16); and right about holiness, as the way of
happiness
and the way
to heaven.
WRETCHEDNESS
AND RUIN.
Ø
The greatness of that power. The possession of this demoniac was
something singularly shocking. It was not one
demon, but many, that had
made him their prey. “My
name,” he said, “is legion: for we are many.”
The name is a latin
name, and denotes a levying or enlisting, then, a body
of troops so levied. The full complement of a
Roman legion was six
thousand infantry, and a squadron of three hundred
cavalry. Each legion
was divided into ten cohorts; each cohort into
three maniples; and each
maniple into two centuries. Then again, when
arrayed in order of battle,
there were three lines —
host! How
powerful, and how numerous! The host and the hostility, the
multitude and
the enmity, the strength and the skill thus conveyed by the
name here
applied to the demons which had had possession of this man, are
fearful to contemplate. Yet the power of Christ expelled them, mighty,
multitudinous, and malicious though they were.
It was the power of Christ
that did it all. Demons owned that power. They
had faith in Him, but not of
the right sort; “they
believed, and trembled.” (James 2:19) So here they
feared He was coming to judge them and consign
them to torment before
the time. Jesus has the self-same power still; “He is able to save to the
uttermost
all that come unto God by Him.” (James 2:19)
Ø
The miserable home of those demons. They would rather go anywhere
than go home. They trembled at the power of
Christ, while they dreaded
the torments He will one day inflict. They would
rather enter into swine,
rather go into the sea, rather go into the worst
and filthiest spot of earth,
than go back into the deep abyss of hell. It was
not the abyss of earth or
the abyss of ocean, but the abysmal depth of
that unfathomed pit of hell,
which they so much dreaded. And oh! are sinners
not afraid of rushing with
eyes open into that dreadful, deep abyss?
Ø
Their fiendish malice. Now that they are cast out, and can no longer
destroy their victim, they are actuated by demon-like malevolence, and try
to keep others from the Saviour
by causing the loss of their swine. In this
way they seek to prejudice and even enrage them
against the Saviour. They
seem to have succeeded, for the Gadarenes “began to
pray him to depart
out of their
coasts.”
Ø
The sufferings of the brute creation. Why, it may naturally enough be
asked, are poor dumb animals subjected to sufferings?
Or how is it possible
that the demons could exert any influence of the
kind stated upon them? In
reply to the latter question, it may be
sufficient to mention the influence
which man exerts upon animals such as the dog,
the horse, the elephant, in
the way of training and teaching. If animals are
thus receptive of human
influence, why-should they not be receptive of
other and, in some respects,
more powerful influence? Why should they not be
accessible to, and
receptive of, demoniac influence, as well as
that of men? The other
question stands on different ground. The lower
animals, placed under
man’s control at the first, and granted to man
for useful service, share to
some extent in man’s varying fortunes, and are
entitled to humane and
kind treatment at the hands of man; but that
they suffered in consequence
of man’s fall and sin is, we think,
unquestionable. Their position now is
abnormal just as man’s
own position is abnormal, for does not “the whole
creation
groan and travail in pain together until now”? (Romans 8:22)
Besides, they often suffer, in common with man,
in special disasters —
such as conflagrations, shipwrecks, and
catastrophes of similar kinds.
Ø
A mixture of mercy and judgment. While mercy was shown to the
demoniac in his miraculous cure, judgment was
inflicted on the owners of
the swine for their sin. Jesus performed the act
of mercy, and permitted the
exercise of the other. The demons could not have
moved an inch without
His permission. This side of the miracle was
judgment, and well deserved.
Who were these Gadarenes
or Gergesenes? Were they Gentiles or were
they Jews? If the former — if Gentiles, they
were tempting their Jewish
neighbors, and they had no right to do that. If
they were Jews, they were
breaking the law of God, and they could not long
expect to prosper, and to
continue doing that. If they were Jewish
proprietors, who employed
Gentile swineherds for the purpose of tending
and herding their swine, they
were both sinning themselves and tempting others
to sin; and so both
partook of the result and shared the
consequences of their crime. Here,
too, we must notice the hardening effect of sin long persevered in. These
Gadarenes, whatever their nationality, whether Jew or Gentile, had become
like swine themselves — swinish in spirit and disposition. They actually
preferred their swine to the Saviour,
and “besought Him to depart out of
their
coasts!"
Desire and Duty (vs.
18-20)
There was
wonderful variety in the methods of treatment adopted by our
Lord in
dealing with those who surrounded Him. He touched the eyes of
the blind;
He gave His hand to those prostrate by illness or stricken with
death; He
sometimes spoke the word of healing first, and sometimes the
word of
pardon, always suiting Himself to the special condition of each,
according
to His perfect knowledge of his deepest need. The same
completeness
of knowledge and of consideration reveals itself in His
relations
with those who had been blessed, and were now among His
followers. Some
were urged to follow Him, others were discouraged by a
presentation
of difficulties. A beautiful example of this is given by Luke
(Luke
9:57-62), in his account of those who spoke to our Lord just
before He
crossed the lake. The same gracious consideration of what was
really best
for one of His followers is seen here. And His disciples now do
not all
require the same treatment, nor have they all the same work to do
or the same
sphere to fill.
ship,” or, more
correctly (Revised Version), “as He was entering into the
boat,” the
delivered demoniac prayed that he might be with Him. It was a
natural desire, and a right one, although all the motives
which prompted it
were possibly not worthy. As in us, so in him, there was a
mingling of the
noble with the ignoble. let us see what actuated him.
Ø
Admiration. No wonder that he
sat at the feet of this Mighty One, and
gazed upon Him with adoring love. Angels bow
before Him; the redeemed
cast their crowns at His feet. Reverence and awe
are too rarely felt now.
Proud self-sufficiency characterizes the
civilized world, and even the
professedly Christian Church. It is well to know, but it is
better to adore.
Consciousness of ignorance and weakness, in the
presence of God, leads to
worship. let reverence characterize our search
into the Divine Word, our
utterances in God’s name, our approaches to His
throne. (And “Let
us
therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and
find help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 – CY – 2019)
Ø
Gratitude. Having received
salvation, this man longed to prove his
thankfulness, and he naturally thought that an
opportunity would be found,
while following Jesus, to defend His reputation
or to do Him some lowly
service. Under the old economy many
thank-offerings were presented. The
firstfruits of the fields and flocks were offered to the Lord, and any special
blessing received from Him called forth special
acknowledgment. Show
how thank-offerings have dieD
out of the Church, and how they might be
profitably revived. Point out various modes of
showing thankfulness to
God.
Ø
Self-distrust. Near the Deliverer he was safe, but might there not be
some relapse when He was gone? A right feeling
on his part and on ours.
See the teaching of our Lord in John 15 on the
necessity of the branch
abiding in the
vine.
Ø
Fear. The people were
greatly excited. They had begged Christ to go
out of their coasts, lest He should destroy more
of their possessions. It was
not improbable that they would wreak their
vengeance on a man whose
deliverance had been the cause of their loss. They did not believe, as Christ
did, that it was better that any
lower creatures should perish if only
one
human soul
was rescued. But this is in
harmony with all God’s works, in
which the less is being constantly destroyed for
the preservation and
sustenance of the greater. The luxuriant growth
of the fields is cut down
that the cattle may live; myriads of creatures
in the air and in the sea are
devoured by those higher in the scale of
creation than themselves; living
creatures are slain that we may be fed and
clothed. In harmony with all this,
the destruction of the swine was the
accompaniment of, or the shadow cast
by, the redemption of the man. And high above all
these mysteries rises the
cross of
SACRIFICE for the sins of the
world. In this event we can see glimpses
of Divine righteousness and pity; but these people of
eyes to them, and were angry at their loss. Amongst them this man must
“endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (II Timothy 2:3)
Ø
His work was to begin at home. “Go home to thy friends.” His presence
there would be a
constant sermon. In the truest sense he was “a living
epistle.” Sane instead of mad, holy instead of unclean, gentle instead of
raving; he was “a
new creation.” (II
Corinthians 5:17) All true work for
God should
commence in the home. Self-control and self-sacrifice,
gentleness and patience, purity and truth, in
the domestic circle — will
make the home a
Ø
His work was to be found among old acquaintances. Some had scorned
him, others had hated and perhaps ill-treated
him. But resentment was to
be conquered in him by God’s grace, and to those
who knew him at his
worst he was now to speak for Christ. Such witness-bearing
is the most
difficult, but the most effective. John the
Baptist told the penitents around
him, whether publicans or soldiers, to go back to their old spheres, and
prove
repentance by changed life and spirit amid the old temptations.
Ø
His work was to be quiet and unostentatious (not showy). Perhaps Christ saw
that
publicity would injure him spiritually, for it does injure some; or it may
be
that the excitement involved in following the Lord would be unsafe for him
so soon after his restoration. For some reason
He had assigned to him a
quiet work, which was not the less true and
effective. Luke says that he
was to show “how great
things God had done for him,” as if the
witness-
bearing was to be in
living rather than in talking. There are quiet
spheres in
which many can still serve God.
Ø
His work was to spread and grow. The home was too small a sphere for
such gratitude as his. He published the fame of
the Lord in “all
This was not wrong, or forbidden, for there were
not the reasons for
restraint of testimony in Peraea
which existed in
and legitimate enlargement of commission. Similarly the apostles were
to
preach to all nations, but to begin in
few things is made ruler over many things
(Matthew 25:23), sometimes on
earth, and
invariably in heaven.
21 “And when Jesus was passed over again by
ship unto the other side, much
people gathered unto him: and He was nigh
unto the sea.” Jesus now
crosses over
the sea
again, and apparently in the same boat, to the other side, the opposite shore,
near to
with regard
to Zebulun and Nephthalim. (Isaiah
9:1-2) The circumstances under
which He
quitted
(Matthew
9:1) calls
by His
birth,
honored
speak, of
His preaching and miracles. When Jesus returned, a great multitude
was gathered unto Him; and He
was by the sea. Luke says that
the people
welcomed
Him, for they were waiting for Him.
Again He placed Himself
by the sea,
probably for the conveniences of addressing a multitude, and of
relieving
Himself of the pressure, as before, by taking refuge in a boat.
The Rejection and the Reception of Jesus (vs. 17, 21)
Our text
presents us with a striking contrast. Only a few miles of sea separated these
people
physically, but morally what a gulf was between them. On both sides of the
different
were the results! If He had been like us, variable in temper and disposition —
at one time
moody, at another genial — we might more easily account for this. For
the
dispositions of sinful men are like the
and now
calm and still under the smiling heavens. But there was no such
variableness
in the Perfect Man. He was not cheery when the palm
branches
were waved on Olivet, and angry when His disciples forsook Him
and fled.
He was not one thing in
is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8) We must look
elsewhere
to account for this phenomenon, and we shall find its causes to be
those which
sever so widely in character and destiny, two hearers who sit in the
same
church, or two children who kneel beside the same mother’s knee.
HIMSELF. His
relations to those around Him were not simple, but
complex. We may be great in one aspect of our character, but
He was great
in every aspect.
Ø He appeared as a Teacher. In the
synagogue, on the beach, amidst the
crowd, He uttered Divine truth, and expected on the part of
His hearers
humble and obedient minds. He assumed that He knew what they
did not
know, respecting the nature of God, the meaning of the old
dispensation,
the phenomena of life, the coming future, etc. He adduced no arguments,
but demanded (as He still demands), on the ground of what He
was and is,
the acceptation, or the rejection of His words. “He spake as one having
authority.” “This is my beloved Son; hear him.” The
acceptance of
Christ as a Teacher implied much, because He taught no
abstract theories,
but enunciated principles which would revolutionize the
views held about
the Jewish economy, and would banish popular sins. Show what
Christ
demands of disciples now, and the spirit in
which we should receive
HIS REVELATION!
Ø He appeared as a Saviour. Thought and
action were blended
harmoniously in Christ, and should be blended in every
Christian. The
Teacher of
the people was the Healer of their bodies and the Purifier
of their
souls. This complex work is entrusted to the Church. Christ
cured the demoniac,
and restored sight to the blind, and health to the
leper, as signs of what He
had come to effect for men.
Ø He appeared as a Friend. He entered the homes of the people at
children in another home, to share festivity in
mourners in
The presence of that Friend had delivered them in the storm.
As such He presents Himself at each heart, saying, “Behold,
I stand at the door and
knock,” etc. (Revelation 3:20)
THE PEOPLE. This may
be illustrated not only by the conduct of the
disciples and of the cured demoniac, but by contrasting the
condition of the
people of
Ø The rejection of Christ. The most astounding miracle will not produce
faith in those who care more for their
possessions than for purity and
love, such as
Christ had imparted to the man who had the unclean spirit.
The loss of the
swine first awakened terror, but shortly afterwards
indignation, amongst the
people, who with mingled fawning and
obstinacy “began topray
Him to depart out of their coasts.” He yielded
to their wish, and, so far as we
know, never returned again. Similarly
He was rejected at
23:37). In the instance before us
the people feared the Holy One more
than they had feared the demoniac.
Their greed was up in arms against
the destroyer of their swine; they cared
more for them than for the
rescue of a fellow-man. Even now sometimes
property is more jealously
defended than personal rights. Christ laid down the principle that a
man is better than a sheep (Matthew 12:12), and He expressed that
principle in His action at
are preferred to simple obedience to our Lord’s will, so
that from love
to the
World He is still rejected.
Ø The reception of Christ. A right royal welcome was awaiting Him on the
other side of the lake. There the people had seen changes
wrought in their
homes by His power, and they had listened eagerly to His
words of
wisdom and love. They could not go back to their work as if
there were
no Christ who had come to save and comfort them. When He was
gone,
they prayed that the little boat might again come over the
sea; and when
the first glimpse of its sail was seen, the news spread
swiftly far and wide.
Fishers left their nets, and ran to call their mates,
saying, “Jesus is
coming!” old people
tottered down to the sea because Jesus was
coming;
women who were mourning over their dear ones thought with
thankfulness and love of His sympathy; and little children
left their
games in the market-place in order to be made glad by His smile.
And still He comes amongst us in earnest words, in sacred
song,
in holy thought, in solemn memories. Then fling open the
door of
your heart, pour out the treasures of your love, wake up the
songs
of praise, as you say, “Even so, come,
Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)
22 “And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by
name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His
feet, 23
And besought Him greatly,
saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay
thy hands on her, that she may be healed;
and she shall live.” One of the
rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. He
appears to have been one of
the
“college of elders,” who administered the affairs of the synagogue. The name
Jairus, or “Ya-eiros,” is
probably the Greek form of the Hebrew Jair, “he will
illuminate.” He fell at His feet, and besought Him greatly - it is literally
(πίπτει .....καὶ παρεκάλει – piptei ...kai
parekalei - he falleth
at His feet, and
beseecheth Him). We picture
him to ourselves, making his way through the
crowd, and
as he approached Jesus, kneeling down, and then bending his head
towards
Him, until his forehead touched the ground. My little daughter is at the
point of death. Matthew
9:18 says, is even now dead; Luke
8:42 says, she lay
a dying. The broken
sentences of the father are very true to nature. All the
expressions
point to the same
conclusion, that she was in articulo
mortis (in
the article of death). In each narrative the ruler is represented as asking that
Christ
would hasten to his house. He had not reached
the higher faith of the
Gentile
centurion, “Speak
the word only.” (Matthew 8:8-9)
The Faith of Jairus (v.
22)
Faith was the
one thing which Christ demanded of every suppliant who
came to
Him. He asked the blind man the question, “Believest thou that I
am able to do this?” (Matthew
9:28) He said to the father of the
lunatic child,
“All things are possible to him that believeth.” (here, ch. 9:23) Here He assured
the woman
in the crowd who had been healed, “Thy faith hath saved thee;” (v. 34)
and to Jairus He said, “Be not afraid, only
believe.” (v. 36) All these are
exemplifications
of the words, “Without faith it is impossible
to please God.”
(Hebrews
11:6) Faith is the hand which the soul
stretches out to receive the
blessings
of pardon, salvation, and peace. If two men have sinned, and are
both
conscious of guilt, one may walk at liberty, while the other is burdened;
because,
though he is grieved about his sin, and hates it, and therefore has truly
repented,
the latter fails to believe the assurance, “Thy sins are
forgiven thee.”
Similarly,
in trouble a Christian may exhibit a serenity which fills onlookers with
wonder, not
because his trouble is lighter or his sensibility less, but because
he has
faith to believe that God is doing good through the trouble, or that
He will
ultimately bring good out of it. This faith in Christ Jairus
had,
though
imperfectly, and his peace was in proportion to his trust.
synagogue;” in other
words, he was the president of one of the synagogues
in
preside over its college of elders. As a pastor and
professor — to use
modem terms — he would have strong prejudices against a
heretical
teacher, such as our Lord was esteemed to be. We all know
how difficult it
is to go out of the usual course in any professional work;
but although
those who were associated with Jairus
were hostile to our Lord, he dared
to fall humbly at His feet. Sometimes the least hopeful, in
human opinion,
are the most richly blessed by Divine favor. Those who have
often been
taught and prayed for in our congregations may remain
untouched, while
some poor waif who has drifted in from the sea of life may find rest in
Christ. Many shall come from the east and from the west. to sit down in
the kingdom, while those
who are favored by circumstances and birth will
be shut out. (Matthew
8:11-12)
with his little daughter who was ill, and for a time had
been cut off from
ordinary duties and associations. We can picture him to
ourselves sitting
beside her, with her little hand in his, while her eyes
would often seek his
with filial love. She had heard of Christ (what child in
not?); possibly she had seen Him, and loved Him, as most of the children
did. And while
she spoke to her father, when his heart was specially tender,
he could not but drink in thoughts of
the love and power of Jesus, until,
daring the worst that his friends could say of him, he fell
at Jesus’ feet.
Sometimes those who have been associated with Churches or
Sunday
schools remain untouched by holy influence, until, having
left their old
connections, they fall into sin and shame, and then, knowing not
whither in
the world to turn, they look to Jesus. (I recommend Spurgeon sermon:
Isaiah 45 – Spurgeon Sermon – Life for a Look - # 748 – this
website –
CY – 2019) Sometimes professing
Christians feel that they are far from
God, and that even in their prayers He appears vague and
unreal; till trouble
comes — illness assails one whose life is precious,
and then they pray in an
agony of earnestness, as Jairus did, when “he besought Jesus greatly,
saying,
My little daughter lieth at the point of death.” (v. 23) Faith often
springs up
in the soil of trouble.
quickened when he saw Jesus rise up at once to follow him;
but the crowd
would not let our Lord hasten, and the poor woman meanwhile
stole her
blessing, and Christ delayed to speak with her and with
others. Looking
towards his home with ever-growing anxiety, at last Jairus saw what he
dreaded seeing — a
messenger, who said, “Thy daughter is dead: why
troublest thou the Master any further ?” But he had to learn that no one in
earnest
was ever a “trouble” to the Lord; that when
He seemed to be caring
for another He was really thinking of him, and preparing him to receive a
far greater blessing than
any he had come to seek. Christ delayed that “the
trial of this man’s faith,
being much more precious than that of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found to God’s glory.”
(I Peter 1:7) We often
find that there is delay in the coming of answers to
prayer. We cry for light, and yet our way is dark, and
we see not even the
next step. We ask for deliverance, but the disaster comes
which overwhelms
us with distress. We entreat the Lord to spare some cherished
life, but the
dear one is taken away. Nevertheless, “let patience
have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and
entire, wanting nothing.” (James 1:4)
tested this tree till its roots struck deeper; but when
there appeared some
risk of its falling, Christ said to the tempest, “Peace, be still.” When the
messengers said, “Thy daughter is dead” (v. 35),
at once Jesus spoke; and
“as soon as Jesus heard the word
that was spoken, He saith,… Be not
afraid, only believe.” (v.
36) Again, when Jairus
entered his house, you can
imagine how the
father’s heart sank as he saw the mourners for the dead
already there. Till then he had been
hoping against hope, as sometimes
we do till we actually,
enter the darkened house where the dead one lies.
Again Jesus interposed,
saying, “The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth”
(v. 39); for so would He keep alive trust and hope till the
blessing came,
for which they were the preparation.
“He will not break the bruised reed,
nor quench the smoking
flax.” (Isaiah
42:3; Matthew 12:20)
24 “And Jesus went with him; and much people followed
Him, and thronged
Him.”
And
Jesus went (καὶ ἀπῆλθε μετ
αὐτοῦ - kai apaelthe
met autou - and He
went
away with him) and a great multitude
followed Him
and they thronged Him
(συνέθλιβον αὐτόν
– sunethlibon auton – they crowed Him; pressed
close upon
Him, compressed
Him).
This is mentioned purposely by Mark, on account of
what
follows. Matthew says (Matthew 9:19), “And Jesus arose, and
so did his disciples.” Observe
here the promptitude of Christ to assist the
afflicted. St. Chrysostom
suggests that our Lord purposely interposed
some
delay, by healing, as He went, the woman with the issue of blood, in
order
that the actual death of the daughter of Jairus might
take place; and
that
so there might be full
demonstration of His resurrection power.
The Lord Amongst the Needy (v.24)
The two miracles
recorded in this passage were blended both in fact and in
narrative,
and together they illustrate some of the beauties of our Lord’s
character
and work. Of these we select the following:
attestations of Divine power, but none of them were wrought
with the idea
of gaining personal fame. On the contrary, He endeavored to
silence the
demands of gaping curiosity, and rebuked those who sought
for signs and
wonders. He refused the worldly homage which the people
proffered when
they wished to make Him a king. He checked the spread of His
own fame,
lest men should care too much for material blessings, or
should offer Him
the adulation a wonder-worker would have sought. If He had
willed it, all
the riches of the world would have been poured at His feet;
but He had not
where to lay His head; and although Jairus
and others would have given all
their possessions as the price of the benefits they sought,
Christ bestowed
the blessing “without money and
without price.” (Isaiah 55:1)
Herein He
appeared as the true Representative — “the express image” (Hebrews 1:3)
of Him who delights in mercy for mercy’s own sake. God gives
air and sunshine
without any effort, or solicitation, or thanksgiving on the
part of man. He makes
the garden of the cottager as fruitful as the fields of the
rich, who can do so
much more in return for His gifts. Ferns grow in shady
hollows, and flowers
adorn lonely cliffs, and even heaps of refuse. With a lavish hand the Creator
bestows
His gifts. “He is good to all, and his
tender mercies are over all His
works.” (Psalm 145:9)
we are acquainted with many subjects, our knowledge of each
is often
proportionately inaccurate; if we know many persons, our
acquaintance
with them is but casual. If we concentrate our thought upon
a person or a
thing, that concentration is often exclusive of other
persons and things. It
was never thus with our Lord. Though He rules the worlds, there is not a
single prayer unheard, or a
feeble touch of faith unfelt. One who has been
left alone to battle with his griefs
may still say to himself, “But the Lord
cares for me.” He will no
more hurry over a case than over that of the poor
woman in the crowd, nor will He allow any delay to prevent
the full coming
of a blessing such as that which Jairus
had at last.
temporal was to be the channel of the eternal. Healing of
the soul often
accompanied His healing of the body, and for the former He
chiefly cared.
On this occasion every moment was precious. The result of
delay would be
death and mourning in Jairus’s
home; yet He stayed not only to cure the
woman, but to get her acknowledgment, and to give her and
others fuller
instruction. Had it been only her physical cure he sought,
she could have
waited a few hours; but the delay was largely for the
spiritual good of
Jairus. This ruler had not the faith
of the centurion, who believed that
Christ need not touch his servant, or even enter his house. Jairus’s faith
needed strengthening, and it was with this end in view that
he saw what He
did — a woman shut out from the synagogue of which he was
ruler, who
was saved by her simple faith, and this with the greatest
possible ease on
the part of the Lord. Hence it was that when the news came, “Thy
daughter is dead,” Jairus was not utterly dismayed, and under the influence
of the cheering words of our Lord his faith revived in purer
form. It is still
true that delay in answer to prayer, during which grief and
loss comes, is
meant to work in us the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
was not like some little stream which is confined between
its two banks,
and must be so confined if it is to be a blessing; but it
was like the sea,
which, when the tide rises, floods the whole shore, and
fills every tiny
creek as well as every yawning bay. He was never so absorbed
in one
mission as to neglect the side opportunities of life. Some
of us have a
tendency to absorption in one single duty, and the
temptation is strong in
proportion to the intensity and earnestness of our nature.
But intenseness
must not be allowed to make us narrow. To set before
ourselves a special
end is good, but this may lead to a neglect of other duties
which is
unnecessary and sometimes sinful. For example, some
concentrate their
interests in business or in pleasure, and declare that they
have no time for
devout thought; and at last they
will find that they have grasped shadows
and lost the substance. Christians
fall into a similar error. Some do public
service, and their names are widely known in the Church, but
they have
scarcely exercised any good influence at home. The Church
benefits, but
the children are neglected. And often the opposite is true;
for to many the
home is everything, and the Church is nothing. Others,
again, are so
absorbed in one special work (that of the Sunday school, or
temperance
reform, for example), that they have little sympathy for
their brethren who
are engaged in other spheres of the manifold life of the
Church. And there
are others more guilty by far than these, who are absorbed
in future work.
They are always “going to
do” this or that; but meanwhile their neighbors
are uninfluenced and their own children are neglected. As
they are not
faithful with the few things, it would be contrary to God’s
law if they
became rulers over many things. If our Lord had been
animated by the
spirit displayed by any of these, He would have said to the
woman, “My
errand is one of life and death; there must be no touching
even the skirts of
my garment now. All else must wait till I have discharged
this mission?
But, by the course He took, He taught us this lesson. There
is nothing
within the range of our power that is beyond the range of
our
responsibility. In all these respects Christ has left us an example, that we
should follow His
steps. (I
Peter 2:21)
vs. 25-34 –
The Incident with the Woman with the Issue of Blood
25 “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all
that she had, and was nothing bettered, but
rather grew worse,”
A woman, which had an issue
of blood twelve years. All the synoptic
Gospels
mention the length of time during which she had been
suffering.
Eusebius records a tradition that she was a Gentile, a native
of Caesarea
Philippi. This disease was a chronic hemorrhage, for which
she had
found no relief from the physicians. Lightfoot, in his ‘Horae
Hebraicae,’ gives a list of the remedies applied in such
cases, which seem
quite
sufficient to account for Mark’s statement that she was nothing
bettered, but rather grew
worse. Luke, himself a physician, says that
she “had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed
of
any.” (Luke 8:43)
27 “When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His
garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but His
clothes, I shall be whole.”
This woman, having heard of
Jesus — literally (τὰ περί τοῦ
Ἰησοῦ - ta peri tou
Iaesou - the
things concerning Jesus; about the Jesus — came in the crowd
behind, and touched His
garment - Both Matthew and Luke say “the
border (τοῦ κρασπέδου –
tou kraspedou – the
tassel) of His garment.”
Matthew
9:21 tells us that “ she said within herself, If I may but touch
His garment, I shall be
whole.” From this it appears that, though she had faith,
it was an
imperfect faith. She seems to have imagined that a certain magical
influence
was within Christ and around Him. And the touching of the border of
His garment
(the blue fringe which the Jews were required to wear, to remind
them that
they were God’s people) was supposed by her to convey a special
virtue. Yet
her faith, though imperfect, was true in its essence, and therefore
was not
disappointed.
29 “And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt
in
her body that she was healed of that plague.” And straightway — Mark’s
favorite
word — the
fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt (ἔγνω –
egno - she knew
)—
in her body
that she was healed of her plague -
(ὅτι ἴαται ἀπὸ τῆς
μάστιγος – hoti iatai
apo taes mastigos - that
she
hath been healed of her scourge). The cure was instantaneous!
30 “And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out
of Him, turned Him about in the press, and
said, Who touched my clothes?”
The words
in the Greek are ἐπιγνοὺς ἐν ἑαυτῷ
τὴν ἐξ
αὑτοῦ δύναμιν
ἐξελθοῦσαν
–
epignous en heauto
taen ex autou dunamin exelthousan – recognizing
in Himself
the
power coming out of Him: Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power
emanating from Him had gone
forth, turned Him about in the crowd, and said,
Who touched my garments? Christ sees the invisible grace in its hidden operations;
man only
sees its effects, and not always these.
31 “And His disciples said unto Him, Thou seest
the multitude thronging thee,
and sayest thou,
Who touched me?” Luke (Luke 8:45) adds here, “When all denied,
Peter said, and they that
were with Him, Master, the multitudes press thee and crush
thee.
But Jesus said,
Some one did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone
forth from me.” This
incident shows the mysterious connection
between the spiritual
and the physical. The miraculous virtue or
power which went forth from the Savior
was spiritual in its source and in the conditions on which it
was imparted, but it
was
physical in its operation; and that
which brought the two together was faith.
Multitudes thronged the Saviour, but only one of the
crowd touched Him.
The Touch of Faith (v.
31)
We may see
in this poor woman what our Lord expects to see in all who
would
receive His blessing.
her: that her name was Veronica; that she maintained the innocency of our
Lord before Pilate; that she wiped His face on the road to
napkin, which received the sacred impress of His features;
that she erected
a memorial to Him at Paneas, her
native town; etc. Improbable as much of
this may be, it indicates that her faith was highly esteemed
by the early
Christians. The evangelists describe her as a certain woman
who was worn
by suffering, haggard from poverty (v. 26), and ceremonially
unclean, so
as to be excluded from the consolations of public worship.
She stole into
the crowd, and by her touch of faith won the blessing she
sought,
Ø
Illness brought her to Jesus. Most of those who came to him were
affflicted — the blind, the leprous, the bereaved, the hungry, etc. Every
sorrow is a summons to us to go to Him.
Ø
Faith prepared her for a blessing. Even material gifts are received by
the hand of faith. We all act in daily faith
that the laws of God will continue
— the farmer, the tradesman, etc. When Christ
wrought a miracle (which
was an epitome of one of God’s works) He
demanded faith. “He could
not
do many
mighty works” where there was unbelief. (Matthew 13:58) He
demanded trust in Himself, both of Jairus (v. 36), of this woman (v. 34),
and of us (Acts 16:31). If faith was truly exercised,
erroneous views,
such as this woman had, did not prevent a
blessing.
Luke with more definiteness refers, was a sign of belonging
to the chosen
people (Numbers 15:38), and Christ blamed the Pharisees for
making it
specially broad, as if they would assert their peculiar
sanctity. The woman
touched it, not only as the most convenient, but as the most
sacred, part of
the robe, and her superstition required to be cleansed away.
Ø
There may be close outward contact with Christ
without the effectual
touch (v. 31). The crowd represents many who are in Christian lands and
congregations.
Ø
There cannot be living
contact between us and Him without His
knowledge (v. 30). Though
there was only one in the crowd who so
touched Him as to win salvation, that one was
not unrecognized. So, if in
the large congregation one earnest prayer, one
praiseful song, is offered, it
is
accepted of Him. The garment may represent to us our Lord’s
humanity,
which is most within the reach of our
understanding and love.
speaks of his “flesh” as a “veil,” through which we pass into God’s
presence (Hebrews 10:20). Our Lord Himself says,
in another figure which
sets forth the same truth, “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the
angels of
God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” (John
1:51) He
was the true ladder between heaven and earth, between God
and man, of which Jacob once dreamed.
wrought in us by Divine grace is for God’s glory, for the
development of
our own faith, and for the encouragement of others. We have
responsibilities to the Church as well as to the Lord, which
even shame and
modesty must not lead us to ignore. Our Lord called for
acknowledgment
on this occasion, and it led to fuller
instruction and to a deeper peace. He
did not ask His question because He was ignorant, any more
than Elisha did
after his heart had gone with Gehazi,
or Jehovah did when He asked of
Adam, “Where art thou?” (Genesis
3:9) If we know which of our children
has done a certain act, we may nevertheless ask, “Which of
you did this? “
and whether it has been a right act or a wrong, the confession on such
occasions is for the
child’s own good. With truer wisdom than we ever
display Christ Jesus asked, “Who touched my
clothes?” although He knew
perfectly the life of her whose faith in Him had made her
whole; “For with
the heart man believeth unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)
32 “And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing.”
He looked round about (περιεβλέπετο – perieblepeto – He
looked about) –
another
favorite word of Mark – to see her that had done this
thing.
.
33 “But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her,
came and fell down before Him, and told Him
all the truth.”
The woman fearing and trembling. Every word in this
verse is
expressive. It was her own act. She seemed to herself as though
without permission
she had stolen a blessing from Christ; and so she could
hardly
venture to hope that the faith which had prompted her would be
accepted.
Hence her fear and terror, and her free and full confession. We
thus see
the gentleness of Christ in His dealings with us. Perhaps the
woman had
intended to escape, satisfied with a temporal benefit, which
would
hardly have been a blessing at all, if she had been suffered to carry it
away
without acknowledgment. But this, her loving Savior would not
permit her
to do. It was the crisis of her spiritual life. It was necessary that
all around
should know of the gift which she had endeavored to snatch in
secret. Our
Lord might have demanded from her this public confession of
her faith beforehand.
But, in His mercy, He made the way easy to her. The
lesson,
however, must not be forgotten, that it is not enough to believe
with the
heart. The lips must do their part, and “with the mouth confession
must be made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10).
Who Touched
Me? (vs. 30-33)
I. CHRIST’S
SAVING GRACE IS ALWAYS CONSCIOUSLY EXERCISED.
II. IT IS
FAITH WHICH MAKES EFFECTUAL AND PECULIAR THE
SINNER’S
TOUCH OF THE SAVIOUR.
III. THE
SECRET BELIEVER IS SUMMONED TO AN OPEN
TESTIMONY. For the sake of:
(1) honor;
(2) spiritual
health; and
(3) the advantage of others.
34 “And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in
peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Our Lord
here reassures this trembling woman,
who feared,
it may be, lest, because she had abstracted the
blessing secretly, He
might punish her with a return of her malady. On the
contrary, He confirms the
benefit,
and bids her be whole of her plague. The Greek expression here is
stronger
than that which is given as the rendering of what she had used
when we
read that she said within herself, “I shall be saved (σωθήσομαι –
sothaesomai – I
shall be being saved” v. 28). Here our Lord says, Go in peace,
and be whole (ἴσθι ὑγιὴς
– isthi hugiaes
– be you sound). It is as though He said,
“It is not
the mere fringe of my garment, which you
have touched with great faith,
and with
some hope of obtaining a cure — it is not this that
has cured you. You
owe your
healing to my omnipotence and your faith.
Your faith (itself my gift)
has
delivered you from your issue of blood; and
this deliverance I now confirm
and
ratify. ‘Go in peace.’” The
original Greek here (ὕπαγε εἰς εἰρήνην – hupage
eis eiraenaen
– be you going away in peace) implies more than this. It means
“Go for peace.” Pass into the realm, the element of peace, in which henceforth
thy life
shall move. It is here obvious to remark that
this malady represents to us
the
ever-flowing bitter fountain of sin, for
which no styptic (capable
of causing
bleeding to stop when it is
applied to a wound) treatment can be found in human
philosophy. The remedy is
only to be found in Christ. To touch Christ’s garment
is to
believe in His incarnation, whereby He has touched us, and so has enabled
us by faith
to touch Him, and to receive His blessing of peace.
Faith Conquering
Timidity (vs. 25-34)
Far from
withdrawing from scenes of distress and woe, our Lord Jesus was found
wherever
human sin or misery invited His compassion and invoked His aid. On
this
occasion He
was passing towards the house of mourning, the chamber of death, and
on His way
paused to pity and to heal a
helpless, timid,
trembling sufferer.
the thronging multitude were persons
of various circumstances, character,
and wants. In all companies there
are those who have spiritual ills which
only Christ can heal, spiritual desires which only Christ can satisfy. Sin
and doubt, weakness, sorrow, and
fear, helplessness and despondency, -
these are to be found on every side.
The case of this poor woman deserves
special attention:
Ø
Her need was conscious and
pitiable.
Ø It was of long
continuance: for twelve years had she suffered and had
obtained no relief.
Ø Her case
was beyond human skill and power. She had gone to many
physicians, had endured
much in undergoing treatment, had expended
all her means, and yet,
instead of being better, was worse than before.
And now apparently hope
was taking flight, and the end
seemed near.
An emblem this of many a
sinner’s case - conscious of sin and of a
tyranny
long endured, yet helpless and despairing of deliverance.
TREMBLING
FAITH, The graphic narrative of the evangelist is very
suggestive as well as very impressive:
Ø There was
faith, in the woman’s coming to Christ at all. She
might
have questioned
the possibility of His curing her. She might have
fancied that,
lost in the crowd, she should not gain His notice and help.
Ø The faith,
however, seems to have been imperfect. Something
of
superstition probably
impelled her to seize the hem or sacred fringe of
His garment, as though
there were magic virtue in the bodily presence
of the Savior.
Ø Yet the
venture of faith overcame
the natural shrinking and timidity
she experienced.
Doubt and diffidence would have kept her away;
faith drew her
near, and she stole to Him. It was the last resort; as
it were, the
dying grasp.
“I
have tried, and tried in vain,
Many
ways to ease my pain;
Now
all other hope is past,
Only
this is left at last:
Here
before thy cross I lie;
Here
I live or here I die.”
Ø Faith led
to personal contact, to the laying hold of the Redeemer.
Jesus often
healed with a touch, by the laying on of His hand; and
here He
acknowledged the grasp of trembling confidence. They that
come to Jesus
must come confessing their faults and needs, applying
for His mercy,
and laying hold upon Him with cordial faith.
APPLICANT. The
conduct of Christ has been recorded in detail,
for the
instruction and encouragement of all to whom
the gospel comes.
Ø Notice His
recognition of the individual. This woman was one of a
multitude, yet she was
not unobserved by the all-seeing and
affectionate Savior. He
never overlooks the one among the many;
His heart can enter into every case, and succor
every needy soul.
Ø Notice the
immediate and efficacious exercise of His healing power.
What others could not
accomplish in long years, the Divine
Healer
effected
in a moment. Thus Jesus ever acts. His grace
brings pardon
to the penitent, justification to the
guilty, cleansing to the impure.
Immediate grace is the earnest of grace
unfailing.
Ø We see our Lord
accepting grateful acknowledgments. Pleasing to
Him was the
courage that, spite of timidity, “told
him all the truth.”
He ever delights in the
thankful tribute of His people’s praise and
devotion.
Ø We hear our
Lord’s gracious benediction. The language is very rich
and full. There
is an authoritative assurance of blessing; there is the
adoption of the
healed one into the spiritual family, conveyed in the
one word, “Daughter;” there is the recognition of
her saving faith;
there is the dismissal
in peace; and there is the
assurance that the
healing is COMPLETE and PERMANENT.
Let every hearer of the gospel
bring his case to Jesus. Let every applicant
to Christ be encouraged by the assurance of the Lord’s individual regard
and interest. Let faith lay firm hold of Christ, and that AT ONCE
WITHOUT DELAY!
.
Ministries Broken in Upon (vs. 21-34)
Seldom do
we find Christ going straight through with a course of teaching
or work. Interruptions
constantly occurring; many ministries making up the
one great ministry. The more intimate connection of v. 21 is
given in
Matthew
9:18 (“while he yet spake
these things”). Not that
Matthew
means that Christ
was still at table, nor that Mark’s order is wrong. The
feast of
Matthew (here ch. 2:15) is not stated by Mark to have
taken
place in
immediate succession to the conversion, but is narrated in the
second
instead of the fifth chapter, because of the obvious connection of
the two
events. Accepting, therefore, the order of the first Gospel, we see:
Ø In His teaching. (v. 21; Matthew 9:18.) Yet how full of interest
the subjects — eating with publicans, and fasting! How
significant
these breaks! How natural, in a world so full of disturbing
and
changing influences as this!
Ø In His
intended mercy. As He goes to the
ruler’s house the incident
of the woman in the crowd takes place (vs.
25-34), and He is delayed.
Yet the prayer of Jairus was urgent, and broken with apprehensive
emotion. Only this was still more pressing, for it
was”
o
actual, present, long-endured suffering and
shame;
o a demand of
faith on behalf of its own possessor (not, as in
Jairus’s case, for another).
time to lament the breaking off — the seeming incompleteness
— ere we
are astonished at the commentary which is furnished in the
incidents that
follow. He is the great Physician — to the ruler’s daughter,
the woman
with the issue, and the two blind men alike; the Bringer of
joy, too, to
many by His healing mercies and gracious words. All need Him, if they only
knew it; and, participating in the blessings of His
presence, they cannot
mourn or fast, but must needs rejoice. And so in the case of
the ruler; the
delay really rewarded his faith by an actual illustration of Christ’s
power,
and so sustained him in the higher exercise of faith. “My daughter is even
now dead: but come and lay thy
hand upon her, and she shall live”
(Matthew 9:18). This is a picture of many lives. We cannot
escape
interruptions. Yet are we not therefore to abandon unity
of purpose. We
may fail to finish all we seek to do, or to do it as we
would; but God holds
the connecting harmony, and will
reveal it at last — or even sooner. The
sermon broken off, the merciful intention delayed or
frustrated, may prove
greater blessings in the event than if suffered
uninterruptedly to proceed to
a visible or immediate completeness within themselves. The
life or work
divinely interrupted, but pursued with unity of faith and
purpose to the end,
will be a grander, more Divine thing than
otherwise it could possibly have
been.
1. How infinite the
resources of the Saviour!
2. His teaching is inseparable from action
and life.
The Healing of the Issue of Blood (vs. 25-34)
The
magnifying power of faith.
‘Twas
but a touch, humanly speaking; yet
was it a
means of salvation to the believing soul.
Ø
Many touches, but only one touch of faith. This alone was effectual and
saving. It is not human effort that
saves, but the
spirit of faith that lays
hold of
Christ.
Ø
Only the hem of His garment. Yet as effectual as if she had touched the
body of Christ. How so? Because she touched Him
spiritually. All
ordinances and outward means of grace are in
themselves little — no better
than the hem of the garment of Christ. It is the Saviour who is great when
appealed to by a great faith.
Ø
Making use of what was within reach. Not perhaps the best means
possible. But enough when accompanied by faith.
SPIRITUAL
ONES. The trembling and fearing woman not only secured
the physical bond; the Saviour
said, “Thy faith hath saved thee,” — a word
that had a larger meaning than could be exhausted by a
merely temporal
relief or physical wholeness.
Salvation Without Money and Without Price. (vs. 25-34)
A figure of
the spiritual experience of man.
These are expensive because:
Ø
They waste the spiritual nature of man.
Ø
They increase rather than diminish the
evil. How forlorn the poor
woman! How great the contrast with the “sleeping” child! Death in
life is far worse
than the natural death. It is not mourned for as the
latter, and has all the added sorrow of disappointment and
despair.
Ø
They keep away from THE
TRUE SAVIOUR!
cannot be stolen. The Saviour knows when a sinner receives His “virtue.”
There is only
one way — THE WAY OF FAITH! The
salvation of God is
given, not taken
by force or stealth; graciously given, with a benediction
and a confirming assurance.
EVERYTHING.
The Little of Things of Christ are Great Things for
Men
(vs. 25-34)
How great an
idea this woman had of Christ! If there was any fault, it was
that she
believed in the power, but did not trust the love of Christ. Yet her
humility,
which was as manifest as her faith, and her shame may account in
great part
for the stealth and surreptitiousness of her action.
THEY APPEAR
OUTWARDLY INSIGNIFICANT. Superstition,
ritualism, etc., deprecated; yet an error incident to the
opposite extreme.
We are not saved by works, neither (literally) are we saved
by faith. It is
CHRIST that saves. This woman was touching
Christ. God’s sufficiency is
so different from man’s.
SPIRIT IN
WHICH IT IS DONE, IS TO BE CONSIDERED CHIEFLY.
The great end of religious acts is to bring us into
communion with Christ.
This of the woman was a mere touch, scarcely perceptible in
the pressure
of the crowd. The disciples had not observed it. But Christ
felt that it had
taken place, and had been effectual. There are manifold ways
in which He
reaches souls and is reached by them. The common experiences
of life may
be channels of greater blessing than the ordinances of the
Church, when
they are regarded in a believing, pious spirit.
ADVANTAGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES.
Ø
Small
things way often bring people to Christ,
or keep them away
from
him.
Ø
Faith
may often discover itself in the midst of ignorance and the
absence
of conventional religion.
Ø
Spiritual
privileges may hinder instead of helping religious progress if
they
be not spiritually used. This poor woman will rise in judgment
against many who have made great show of religious
observance, and
condemn them. We may hear too often, if we do not lay to
heart and
obey. We require “grace for grace.”
The Magic of Faith (vs.25-34)
CURE. Magical
belief universally prevailed. The principle of it was, an
operation on the nervous system through the wishes and the
imagination. A
representation in the mind of a cure
is
assumed, and acted on as a reality.
So mysterious and great is the power of imagination over the
mechanism of
life, that cures might occasionally occur without any real
cause external to
the sufferer’s mind.
with the touch of the woman was the knowledge of curing
virtue going
forth from Him, in the mind of Christ. Here is something
impossible to
explain — a connection that defies thought; but a real
connection. And the
great general lesson remains. Every change in the mind from
sickness to
health implies the correspondence of a thought on the
sufferer with a
reality without him. Whenever and however the energy of God
is reflected
as a thought of reality or a faith in us, a change for the
better must and will
occur.
(Back
to Jarius’ Daughter)
35 “While He yet spake, there came from the
ruler of the synagogue's house
certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any
further?”
Our Lord had lingered on the way to the house of Jairus, perhaps, as has
already
been suggested, that the crisis might first come, and that so there might be
full
evidence of His resurrection power. The ruler must have been agonized with the
thought
that, while our Lord lingered, the life of his dying child was fast ebbing
away. And now comes the fatal message to
him. Thy daughter is dead. - (ἀπέθανεν –
apethanen - died); the
aorist expresses that her death was now a past event. Why
troublest thou the Master any further? (τί ἔτι σκύλλεις
τὸν διδάσκαλον
– ti eti
skulleis ton didaskalon
– why still are you bothering the teacher). The
Greek word
here is very
strong. It is to vex or weary; literally, to flay. The
messengers from
the ruler’s house had evidently abandoned all
hope, and so probably would
Jairus, but for the cheering words of our Lord, “Fear not, only believe.”
Why Troublest thou the
Master any Further? (v. 35)
A complaint
that gives a glimpse of the harassing nature of Christ’s work;
drawn
hither and thither by human distress and want, He was ever on the
march, as
men discovered their need of Him.
complaint very rarely occasioned, still more rarely
justified. On the present
occasion, however, it seemed reasonable enough. For:
Ø
Would not further urgency be useless? “Thy daughter is dead;” and there
was
an end of the matter. Nothing more could be done. The sufferer had
been
taken out of the power of man. Surely it could not be expected that
death
would yield up its prey? Circumstances like this are constantly
occurring
in human experience. A distinction is made, often must be made,
between
things in which help may be looked and prayed for, and those in
which
it is inadmissible to pray. Are there
not desperate cases of unbelief
and sin for which we have given over
praying?
Ø
There were others requiring His
attention and help. It seemed wrong to
monopolize
Christ, especially when nothing could be done. Our grief may
become
a form of selfishness if it makes us inconsiderate of those who have
perhaps
suffered more than ourselves. If religion does anything for us, it
should
take us out of ourselves, and make us sympathetic with others.
Ø
Christ was probably weary. It had been an exciting day. The multitude
thronged
and pressed Him. One poor sufferer had ventured to touch His
garment,
and at once He detected the action. Was it because He had to
husband
His force that He had taken such notice of it? Perhaps there were
signs
of weariness in His features and gait. It was thoughtfulness and
respect
for Him that dictated the words. “The Master:” there were,
therefore,
disciples of Jesus in the family of Jairus” (Bengel).
of the previous considerations apply only to the human state
of Christ, the
days of His flesh and feebleness. But there are many
objections to
importunate and unceasing prayer that depend for their
validity upon very
human and limited conceptions of God the Son. It will be
evident,
therefore, that if the conduct of Jairus
can be defended in “troubling the
Master” when He
was on earth, and subject to the conditions and infirmities
of our nature, much more the urgency of those who besiege
the throne of
grace night and day with their requests. Doubtless Christ
was often
troubled by suitors for His aid and sympathy; but:
Ø
It troubled Him more when men did not care to seek him. He reproved
the unbelieving Jews: “Ye will not come to me, that ye may have life”
(John 5:40). Indifference is more hateful to
Him than the greatest
importunity. It is better to have a
superstitious faith than no faith at all.
let us bless the weakness or the sorrow that
brings us to Him, making
us feel our need of Him. For, whether we think
it or not, we cannot do
without
Him. (John
15:5)
Ø
He Himself encouraged men to “trouble” Him. What bold promises
were
His!
o
“I am the
bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and
he that believeth on me shall never
thirst,”(John 6:35);
o
“I am the
resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me,
though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25);
o
“He that
believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12);
o
“All things
are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23);
and how often as here: “Only
believe”! How universal His invitations!
o
“ If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37);
o
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will
give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
o
“Ask, and it
shall be given you,” etc. (Matthew 7:7).
Ø
There is no case too desperate TO BRING TO CHRIST! No disease
could
baffle Him whilst He was amongst men; even the
grave gave up its dead at
His potent word. And now “all power in
heaven and earth” is His. let us
“trouble” Him, therefore, with our sorrows and
difficulties until He gives us
relief. The care or desire which is not brought
to Him will sever us from
Him. We need not fear offending Him; He is the Saviour, and it was that He
might comfort and save men He came. Even whilst
we think our case
desperate, or say within ourselves, “It is no
use; it is not seemly to trouble
him,” we grieve His Spirit and resist His grace.
The sinner who has sinned
above measure, and is altogether vile, may come. How is that promise
fulfilled in Him, “Come
now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool!” (Isaiah
1:18.)
36 “As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler
of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only
believe.” The words
of the narrative, as
they stand
in the Authorized Version, are: As soon as Jesus heard the
word that
was spoken, He saith
unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe”
But there
is good authority for the reading παρακούσας – parakousas
instead of
εὐθέως ἀκούσας
– eutheos akousas
– immediately hearing which requires the
rendering, but Jesus, not
heeding, or overhearing. This word (παρακούω –
parakouo – disobey;
neglect to hear) occurs in one other place in the Gospels,
namely, in
Matthew 18:17, “And
if he refuse to hear them”(ἐὰν δὲ παρακούσῃ
αὐτῶν – ean
de parakousae auton – if
ever yet he should be disobeying them ).
Here the
word can only have the meaning of “not heeding,” or “refusing to hear.”
This seems
to be a strong reason for giving the word a somewhat similar meaning
in this
passage. And therefore, on the whole, “not heeding” seems to be the best
rendering. Indeed, it seems to cover both meanings. Our
Lord would overhear,
and
yet
not heed, the word spoken.
37 “And He suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John
the brother of James.” Here we have the first occasion of the selection
of three
of the
apostles to be witnesses of things not permitted to be seen by the rest. The
other two
occasions are those of the transfiguration, and of the agony in the
garden.
We now
follow our Lord and these three favored disciples, Peter and James and John,
to the house of death.
They are about to witness
the first earnest of the
resurrection.
38 “And He cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the
tumult, and them that wept and wailed
greatly.” Matthew
here says (Matthew 9:23)
that when
Jesus came into the ruler’s house, He “saw the minstrels (τοὺς αὐλητὰς
–
tous aulaetas
– the flutists),” i.e. the flute-players, “and the people making a
noise.”
This was
the custom both with Jews and with Gentiles, to quicken the sorrow of
the
mourners by funeral dirges. The record of these attendant circumstances is
important
as evidence of the fact of death having actually taken place.
39 “And when He was come in, He saith unto them, Why make ye this ado,
and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” Some have
regarded the words
of our
Lord, the
child is not dead, but sleepeth as really
meaning that she was only
in a swoon.
But although she was actually dead in the ordinary sense of that word,
namely, that
her spirit had left the body, yet Christ was pleased to
speak of death
as a sleep; because
all live to Him, and because all will rise at the last day.
Hence in
the Holy Scriptures the dead are constantly described as sleeping,
in order that
the terror of death might be mitigated, and immoderate grief for
the dead be
assuaged under the name of sleep, which manifestly includes
the hope of
the resurrection. Hence the expression with regard to a
departed
Christian, that “he sleeps in Jesus.” Then,
further, this child was
not
absolutely and irrecoverably dead, as the crowd supposed, as though she could
not be
recalled to life; since in fact our Lord, who is the Lord of life, was going at
once to call her back by His almighty power from the
realms of death into which
she had
entered. So that she did not appear to Him to be dead so much as to sleep
for a
little while. He says elsewhere, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that
I may awake him out of
sleep.” (John 11:11)
Christ, by the use of such language
as this,
meant to show that it is as
easy with Him to raise the dead from death as
sleepers from their slumbers.
40 “And they laughed Him to scorn. But when He had put them all out, He taketh
the father and the mother of the damsel,
and them that were with Him, and
entereth in where the damsel was lying.” They laughed Him to scorn. He suffered
this, in
order that the actual
death might be the more manifest, and that so they
might the more wonder at her resurrection, and thus pass
from wonder and
amazement
to a true faith in Him who thus showed
Himself to be the
Resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25-26) He now put them all forth; and then,
with His
three apostles, Peter, James, and John, and the father and the mother of the
child, He
went in where the child was. The common crowd were not worthy to see
that in
which they would not believe. They were unworthy to witness the great reality
of the
resurrection; for they had been deriding Him who wields this power. In the
same manner
Elisha (II Kings 4:33) cleared the room before he
raised the son of the
Shunammite.
41 “And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which
is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto
thee, arise.” The house was now set free
from the
perfunctory and noisy crowd; and He goes up to the dead child, and takes
her by the
hand and says, “Talitha cumi” – literally Little maid, arise.
The
evangelist
gives the words in the very language used by our Lord — the
ipsissima verba (the precise words), remembered no doubt and recorded by
Peter; just
as he gives “Ephphatha” in another miracle – (ch.
7:34)
The Dead Maiden (v. 41)
There are
three instances of Christ’s raising the dead recorded by the
evangelists.
In them a suggestive progression may be observed. On this
occasion, a
child had but recently died, and was laid upon the bed in her
own home,
amongst those who could still see the dear face, which was
now void
and irresponsive. On another occasion (Luke 7:11-17) a young man had
been
dead
long enough for his funeral to have begun, and he was being carried
forth on a
bier through the village in which he had lived. On the third
occasion
(John 11:17) we read that when Jesus came to
Lazarus “had been dead four days already,” and that
the grave had closed on him.
In all
these He gave evidences of His life-giving power, and this with ever-growing
intensity
until that glorious day when He Himself, in spite of the
Sanhedrim’s
seal and the Roman guard, appeared as being in His own
person the Conqueror of death and the grave. In answer
to the prayer of
Jairus, and perhaps to the prayer of his child before
she died, Jesus came
into the ruler’s
house. He found it filled with hired mourners, and heard the
music of
their flutes, the droning of liturgical chants, the wails and cries by
which they
sought, not only to express grief, but further to excite
it.
There
was
something stern about His utterance — “Give place!” Such an
exhibition
could not be other than offensive to One so sincere and true and
natural as
He was. And they who have His Spirit would rather be lamented
by the few
whose hearts are really touched with sadness, than by a
multitude
who offer ceremonial lamentation. Christ Jesus “put them all
out.” And we must get rid of all that is artificial
and false if we would feel
that Jesus
is near, and we must be out of the company of the mockers who
“laugh Him to scorn” if we would hear His voice. It is in the quiet
hour that
he speaks,
and we then can say —
“In secret silence of the mind,
My God and there my heaven I find.”
We may look
upon that dead maiden:
not dead,” He did not
mean, as some suppose, that she was in a trance. He
spoke metaphorically, just as He did when He said, “Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth” (John
11:11) though immediately afterwards He said “plainly,
Lazarus is dead.” (ibid. v. 14) A
boaster would have laid stress on the
fact of her death in order to exalt his own power in
restoring her, but Christ
spoke of it as a sleep, because He wished, not to magnify
Himself, but
lovingly to prepare her friends for the overwhelming joy
that awaited them.
Sleep is a true image of death. like it, death follows
weariness when the
work of life has been hard and its sorrows many; it gives
quietude of which
the stillness of the body is but an outward sign; and it will be followed by
a glorious awakening on the
morning of the eternal day. CHRIST IS
“the resurrection and the life.” (ibid. v. 25) He who gave this
child back
to her parents, and the lad at Nain
back to his widowed
mother, and Lazarus
back to his sisters, will restore
to us all those dear ones who now “through
faith and patience inherit
the promises.” (Hebrews
6:12)
unconscious that her friends were weeping for her, and that
Jesus Christ
was near. But suddenly she felt the touch of His hand. She
heard His voice
in language such as her mother and nurse used — the language
of the
children — saying, “Talitha cumi!” — “Dear child, arise!” and she opened
her eyes and saw Jesus, and from
that moment her heart was His. As truly
He speaks now, in the stirring of sacred feeling, in the
revival of old
memories, in the loving influence of Christian friends; and they who obey
His voice begin from that
moment a happier life than they ever knew
before. Very
significant is the command of Christ “that something
should
be given her to eat.” It was a
reminder that she really lived, that she had
natural appetite, that He lovingly thought of the little
things His dear ones
needed, and that she was back again in the old life and
home, though with a
new love in her heart. So, many now
who are dead to the old life and alive
unto righteousness are
called upon by their Lord to go back to their former
work and companionship to
serve Him by shedding on these the light
of holiness and love. From some
He demands the public confession that
they are on His side which He asked of the woman who had
been secretly
cured; but there are others to whom publicity is painful,
whose experience
is not to be blazed abroad, lest the beauty of childlike
trust and the bloom
of early piety be destroyed.
42 “And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of
twelve years. And they were astonished with
a great astonishment. 43 And He
charged them straitly
that no man should know it; and commanded that
something should be given her to eat.” Here, as in other miracles, the restoration
was immediate and complete: And straightway the damsel
rose up, and walked.
Well might
the father and the mother of the maiden and the three chosen apostles be
amazed with a great
amazement (ἐξέστησαν ἐκστάσει μεγάλῃ - exestaesan ekotasei
megalae – they were beside
themselves in great amazement). And then, for the
purpose of strengthening
that life which He rescued from the jaws of the grave,
our Lord commanded that something
should be given her to eat. It has
often
been
observed that in the examples of His resurrection power given by Christ
there is a
gradation:
ü The daughter
of Jairus just dead..
ü The widow’s
son from his bier.
ü Lazarus
from his grave after four days.
The more
stupendous miracle is yet to come, of which our Lord’s own resurrection
is at once the example and the pledge, when “All that are in their graves shall hear
His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done evilo,
unto the resurrection of damnation”
(John
5:28-29)
The Maiden’s Spirit
Recalled (vs. 21-24, 35-43)
This narrative
is a striking example of intercession, and of its appreciation and
reward by
the Lord Jesus. The suppliant, Jairus, pleaded for
his daughter, and
he did
not plead in vain. Jesus wrought upon his behalf one of the three
miracles
of raising
from the dead which have been recorded by the evangelists.
distress of a father’s heart, when
his child lies at the point of death, is
intense indeed. Jesus comprehended
and entered mentally into all
relations and all experiences of
humanity, for He was Himself the Son of
man. How touching in its simplicity
is the record of our Lord’s response to
the ruler’s appeal: “He went with him “! He is ever the
same, “touched
with
a feeling of our infirmities.” (Hebrews 4:15) He will go with us to
the
house of mourning, to the chamber of sickness, to the bed of death;
and
His presence will lighten the sufferer’s load and soothe the
sufferer’s
heart.
father and the concern of the
thronging multitude are vividly portrayed.
How natural that, in so critical a
case, there should be a general anxiety to
reach the abode where the dying
maiden lay! Yet the great Physician
pauses to entertain another application
for relief, to speak words of grace
to another — to a timid, downcast
spirit. There is no haste in Christ’s
methods. It often seems to those who
seek Him that He delays His succor.
In their impatience they may think themselves
unheeded. But it is not so;
the Divine leisure with which the
Lord of grace is wont to act should
awaken our admiration and our
confidence.
the faith which was cherished
towards Christ. It was thought that He
could heal the sick, but it was not dreamt that He could raise the dead.
When the little maiden had breathed
her last, the household was abandoned
to
hopeless grief. But this was the moment when the Divine Friend
displayed
the deepest tenderness of His
nature. “Fear not, only believe.”
Such were
His words of comfort, fitted to
soothe and to inspire desponding hearts
with heavenly hope. Let us learn the
lesson that, where
Jesus is, there is no
place
for despair. These words of His come to us when downcast,
cheerless, and oppressed beneath the
cares and woes of life.
contrast between the demeanor of the
friends of Jairus and the demeanor
of Jesus. A tumult of weeping and
wailing is quite in accordance with
Eastern manners, and it is in
accordance with human nature that the same
persons who bewailed the maiden’s
death should, when another turn was
given to their excited dispositions,
have laughed the Lord to scorn. How
noble and dignified in such a scene
appears the demeanor and the
language of Christ! He rebukes
the noisy crowd and puts them forth, and
with tranquil and authoritative mien
leads the parents, with the three
favored apostles, into the sad
chamber of death. “The world is for
excitement, the gospel for
soothing.” There is but One
whose presence
can banish alarm and disquietude,
and can shed a sweet calm over the
dwelling agitated by fear and
anguish.
SAVE. The anxiety of the parents,
the lamentations of the mourners, were
vain and powerless to save the child
from death or to recall her to life; but
the touch and the call of Christ
summoned back the spirit that had fled. In
the deepest woe the grace and might
of Jesus are most conspicuous. He is
able to quicken such as are dead in
trespasses and sins, to breathe upon
them the breath of life. The soul
that hears His word, “Arise!” awakens
from the long, deep lethargy of sin
and lives anew.
CONSIDERATE. No wonder
that the parents of the girl were
overwhelmed with astonishment. And
how like the Lord, to display an
interest so tender in the reanimated
damsel as to direct that she should be
supplied with food! And how like
Him, too, instead of seeking to increase
His fame and favor with the people,
to arrange that the miracle should for
the present, as far as possible, be
concealed! Wisdom, consideration for
others, were apparent in His whole
demeanor.
Here is a striking instance
of the efficacy of intercessory prayer. We may
well be encouraged to imitate the believing and urgent entreaties
of Jairus.
Avowed and Hidden Faith (vs. 21-43)
The two incidents
here grouped together show that in the neighborhood of
be wondered
at, seeing the many instances of healing with which the
people must
be acquainted. The picture is striking. The “Teacher” has
returned
from His sail across the lake, where truly “the power
proceeding
from Him had gone forth,” even the stormy wind yielding to it. A crowd
gathers
around Him. He is standing by the sea speaking, when “one of the
rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by
name,” who had come seeking Him, “and
seeing Him, he falleth at his feet,” making
supplication for his “little
daughter,” who is “at the point
of death.” Yet does he believe that if the
hands of
the Healer be laid upon her she shall “be made whole
and live.”
Therefore
his earnest entreaty, “Come thou.” He who
would that children
should come
to Him refused not to go to them — a single child’s life is
precious in His sight. Presently the sad tidings are brought, Why,
therefore,
should the Master
be troubled any further? The faith of the father might well
fail since
now all hope of recovery is cut off. Is
this man mighty enough
“in hope” to believe “against
hope”? (Romans 4:18)
Perhaps not without
the
strengthening word, “Fear not, only believe, and
she shall be made whole.”
(Luke 8:50)
Truly “belief cometh of hearing,
and hearing by the word
of Christ.” (Romans 10;17)
Then, as on another occasion (compare
Luke
7:11-17), the word of command — “Arise” — is
uttered to the dead by the
“Lord of both the dead and the
living” (Romans
14:9) and another handful of
the firstfruits of His resurrection power is plucked by His
hand. Thus is the
resurrection
presented to us as the awaking of a little child, for in His view
the dead “but sleepeth.” Who can
wonder that “they were amazed
straightway with great amazement”? But this
instance of open and avowed
faith is
for ever intertwined with an example of hidden faith of equal
strength,
though less obtrusive. The faith of the woman was hidden “within
herself,” its ingenuity only was showed, in that she came in the crowd
behind, and touched His garment. Surely
this was not faith in the touch
which was
the supposed appropriate medium, the contact judged to be
needful by
the many that “pressed upon Him that they
might touch Him.”
(You know
how many folk are touchy and like to touch others when they
speak. I would say many of us would like to have
touched Jesus and in a
spiritual
way touch Hiim now! CY –
2019) This, if a suitable sign,
was not a
necessary one, as the faith at least of one declared; “but say the
word, and my servant shall be healed.” (Matthew 8:8; Luke 7:7) All faith in
the
nostrums of physicians had died out from this woman’s heart, for she
had “suffered many things” of them, and was “nothing
bettered, but rather
grew worse.” (v. 26)
But in this Healer she did believe, and her faith, which the
Lord
detected as truly as He “perceived in Himself” that the
healing power
which could
proceed from Him alone “had gone forth,” He amply
rewarded.
“Who,” of the many thronging me, “touched me” with that touch of faith?
Faith was
united with humility and truth; and “trembling and fearing, she
fell down and confessed all.” Once more, and for the
instruction of the
needy in
all time, Jesus points to the “faith” thus
honored: it “hath made
thee whole.” (v.
34) Yes, the faith instrumentally, as
our fathers have said, the
touch mediately; but in reality, “I have healed thee in response
to thy faith
— I, who
only can say, ‘Go in peace, and be whole of
thy plague.’”
Hence are
we to learn:
1. The power
of Christ to raise the dead and heal the sick, so that we may
sleep calmly in death till He bid us arise.
2. His
pitiful consideration towards even struggling faith, whether assailed
by the rude doubt, “it is too late,” or is
too timid to declare itself openly.
So that they of little faith need not
doubt.
3. The true
attitude of suffering in its confident approach to Christ for
healing and help; even patient
trustfulness, fearing not, and though
persistent, yet humble.
4. The real
support of all faith, the word of Christ, with such patient
consideration of His works as leads to
an apprehension of HIS DIVINE
ABILITY! May we not now stretch out our hand and touch Him?
Jarius’s Daughter
or,
The
Course of a True Faith
(vs.
21-43)
OBSCURE. The general ministry of
Christ, Perhaps Jairus had been a
witness of the centurion’s faith.
II. CALLED INTO
EXERCISE BY GREAT AFFLICTION AND NEED.
III. TRIUMPHING
OVER DIFFICULTIES.
IV. REWARDED
BY INEFFABLE (indescribable)ANSWERS AND
CONFIRMATIONS.
Touching in the Throng (vs. 21-43)
Parallel passages: Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 8:41-56.
Ø
A painful disease. The woman mentioned in this section had been a sorely
afflicted
sufferer. For twelve long and weary years she had suffered from
a
painful and weakening malady (ἐν ῥύσει – en rhusei - in gushing – (v. 25)
- the preposition ἐν here resembles the beth essentive of Hebrew,
denoting in
the capacity, character, or condition of, i.e. in the condition of an issue).
During that time, we may well suppose, she had
sought every means of cure;
and found none. During that time she had applied
to various physicians; but
obtained no
relief. During that time she had, no doubt, taken many
a bitter
draught and many a nauseous drug; but all to no
purpose. During that time
she had, doubtless, submitted to many severe
experiments or even some harsh
operations; but all in vain. During that time
she had expended much, yea,
all her means; she “had
spent,” we are told,
“all her living upon
physicians,” and that in addition to her sufferings, as is implied by the
prepositional element in the word (προσαναλώσασα – prosanalosasa –
spending; consuming) employed by Luke; while Mark tells us plainly in
this passage that she “had suffered many things of many physicians,
and
had spent
all that she had.” And now she remains poor and destitute,
diseased
and weak, and miserable as ever; for she “was nothing bettered,
but rather grew worse;” “neither could be healed of any.” What is she now
to do? Where is she to seek relief? To whom can she
further go? Is there any
application she can yet make? Or is there any remedy
still remaining to be
tried?
Ø
One resource yet remains. She has tried all the physicians; she has tried
all means of cure that have been prescribed, or
suggested, or that she has
ever heard of; she has, besides, spent her all
in quest of health. Still one,
and only one, remains to be tried. She has heard of a wondrous Man who
goes about continually, doing good; she has been
told of most wonderful
cures He has effected; of diseases, previously
deemed incurable, which He
has healed; of sufferers whom, when all else failed,
he has relieved. She has
never seen Him, it is true — she has only heard
of Him; but what of that?
Though she has not seen Him, she has no reason
to doubt the reports she
has heard of Him; she has no reason to doubt the
greatness of His power
and the might of His mercy, in accordance with
these reports; she believes
the accuracy of these reports, she has somehow
confidence in their
correctness. She has schooled herself into faith
in His power to effect her
cure and heal her disease.
Ø
Obstacles to be overcome. A difficulty here presents itself. Her disease is
peculiar — such a one as she is loath to name in
public. She cannot bring
herself to talk of it in presence of so many
people; womanly delicacy
forbids her. Besides, it was such a disease as
caused ceremonial
uncleanness, so that her contact was polluting.
People would, not without
reason, upbraid her for coming among them, or
thrust her away from them,
as impure and contaminating.
Ø
A happy thought. A happy thought occurred to her in her difficult
position — a thought which we may regard at once
as the outcome of
strong faith, and the suggestion of deep
affliction. It flashed on her mind as
a bright idea. She had
heard that the great
Physician, to whom her thoughts
now turned, often accomplished His cures and
conferred health by a touch.
She naturally infers that if she could but touch
Him even stealthily, her cure
would be effected. Accordingly she conceived the
thought of stealing a
cure; she thought within herself, “If I may touch but His clothes,” or His
garment, or even the border of it, “I shall be whole.”
Ø
Pressure of the crowd. Our Lord at this time was on His way to the
house of Jairus, the
ruler of the synagogue, in order to cure his daughter.
The crowd that followed Him on the occasion was
unusually large. It was
drawn together by respect for the distinguished
official whose daughter
was so ill, as also by the remembrance of past
miracles, and the prospect of
seeing the performance of another. Dense as the
crowd was, she kept to
her purpose, pressing onward through it, and
elbowing her way till she
had
got up to
His very side.
Ø
The cure effected, but concealment impossible. She attains her object;
she touches the hem of His garment, and all at
once — strange
circumstance! blessed relief! — the malady of
many years’ standing is
healed, the issue is staunched, the pain and
grief have ceased. But a
disquieting circumstance still remains; a matter
of some uneasiness has now
to be got over. She is cured, it is true, but
she is struck with terror at her
own boldness she is filled with alarm when she
sees Jesus looking round
inquisitively (περιεβλέπετο – perieblepeto - imperfect, equivalent to
“He kept looking all round”), and hears Him
earnestly asking those about
Him, “Who touched
me?” She knew that her touch was polluting; she was
well aware that it
conveyed ceremonial defilement. She had, indeed,
only
touched the hem —
the extreme border of His garment, as if in hope
that
so slight a touch
would defile Him but little, while it might
benefit her so
much.
Ø
Astonishment of the bystanders. The persons next our Lord in the crowd
were amazed at the question; some would be
disposed to say in reply, “All
touched
thee,” and others, again, would be inclined to think and
to say,
when they gave expression to their thought,
“None touched thee.” At
length, after all had denied, Peter as usual,
acting as spokesman of the
disciples, said, “Master,
the multitude throng thee and press thee
[συνθλίβοντά - sunthlibonta - equivalent to ‘pressing
greatly, or pressing
upon on every side’], and sayest thou, Who
touched me?” “Not so,” says
our Lord; “all the persons in this large crowd do indeed throng and press
around me, and yet but one touched me — ‘ somebody touched me.’”
Ø
Surprising graciousness of the Saviour. Our Lord looked round to
discover the one individual in all that crowd
who had touched Him. At last
His eye rested on the abashed, affrighted woman;
when, lo! instead of a
rebuke for her boldness, instead of a sharp reproof
for her audacity, instead
of a harsh reprimand for her polluting touch,
instead of blaming her for her
presumption, instead of a single unkind
expression of any sort, He
commends her faith, confirms her cure,
ratifies her desire, and gladdens her
heart by these most gracious words, “Daughter, be of good
comfort: thy
faith hath
made thee whole; go in peace.”
Ø
There must be contact. The first thing we are taught by it is that, in
coming to Christ and in seeking cure from Him,
there must be not merely
contiguity (proximity) but actual
contact, and that of a peculiar kind. All
the persons in the great crowd that followed our
Lord on this occasion were
near Him comparatively, some were quite close to
Him; yet only one derived
benefit from Him. There were, moreover, several,
we can scarcely doubt, in
that multitude who needed some temporal boon or
spiritual blessing; yet only
one obtained such a blessing. There were numbers
of persons all around
and on every side of Him; yet virtue proceeded
from Him only in one
direction. Not only so; mere contact itself is not sufficient. Intelligent
connection — special and spiritual contact — is
needed. There were many
crowding on and crushing our Saviour,
yet only one touched Him in the
true and proper sense. The motives that moved
that multitude were
various.
o
Some were borne thoughtlessly along with the
mass of persons
that
formed the procession; they went with the crowd.
o
Others, and perhaps the major part, were
attracted by curiosity —
they
were desirous of seeing some miracle; or they had itching ears,
and
hoped to hear some startling statement.
o
Others, again, were, no doubt, drawn into the
crowd by feelings
of
admiration for the Saviour.
While various motives thus actuated the
individuals that composed that crowd –
the units that made up that multitude; only one,
it would seem, was influenced
by the right motive; only one approached the Saviour in the right way; only
one at that time was healed.
Ø
Her feelings and her faith. That one
individual felt the misery of her
condition, the iron had entered deeply into her
soul; that one felt intensely
her need of health. That one, besides, had
resolved to overcome every
obstacle in order to obtain relief. That one,
also, was fully persuaded that
Christ
could confer health and cure. Nay, she felt
assured that, as He
frequently touched the persons cured by Him, a
touch of His person, or even
of His clothes, or if it were but of the border
of His garment or of the fringe
of His robe, would make her whole. Now, here was
faith — true faith,
strong faith; and this faith it was that made the difference between her
touch and that of the crowd that pressed upon
Him — between the
multitude that thronged
Him and the woman that touched Him. Others
touched Him, but their touch was incidental;
hers was intentional. Others
touched Him, but it was owing to the pressure
around; hers was from a
deliberate purpose within. Others touched Him,
not feeling any need of help
at His hand, or, if they felt any need, yet not
expecting any relief in that
way; she touched Him, conscious of her malady and convinced
of His power
to effect her cure. Others touched Him, but then
it was curiosity, chance as
the world calls it, the crowd, the multitude,
the pressure that brought them
into such close proximity to Christ; she touched
Him, but it was the result
of deliberation
on her part, design, earnest purpose, strong desire, anxious
hope of
cure, and confident expectation of deliverance. There was thus all
the difference in the world between the
thronging of that multitude and the
touching of that invalid. Faith is thus seen to
be the means of union with
Christ, and union not mechanical and physical,
but union rational and
spiritual. We may approach
Him by ceremonies, by profession, by lifeless
prayers, by dead works; but in none of these cases do we really touch
Him:
and not coming into living contact with Him, we
cannot expect to be
recognized by Him.
Ø
An example worth imitation. We may profit by the example of this poor
invalided woman as contrasted with that great
crowd. We cannot agree
with those who disapprove of thronging the Saviour, while they approve of
touching Him. We approve of both. It is good to be in the
throng that
crowds round Christ, if only one
should be healed at a time, for you
yourself may be that one, while all that are far
from Him shall perish. It is
good to be near the pool of
every time the angel troubles the waters, and
you yourself may be the
happy individual. It is good to wait at the
posts of wisdom’s door, for that
is the way of duty, and the way of duty is the
way of safety. But while it is
good to be in the crowd that throngs Christ, it is better — far better to
touch
Christ. There must be real union — complete connection
with
Christ. The electric telegraph, one of the
greatest wonders of a marvelous
age — those wonderful wires that pass over lands
and under seas,
connecting
continent with another; that link the
messages over more than half the globe, thus
facilitating the
intercommunion of nations, and expediting the
exchange of intelligence
from East to West and from West to East; — if
those electric wires
stretched from one place on the earth’s surface
to another hundreds of
miles remote, and if they reached very near to
that other place, just within a
yard, or a foot, or an inch, and yet stopped
short by that small interval; no
communion
could be carried on, and no intelligence conveyed. Its hundreds
of miles of extent would be unavailing; that
yard, or foot, or inch would
render the whole useless, and cause all the
labor to be lost. It might as
well stretch only three-fourths of the way, or
one-half the way, or one
quarter of the way, or no part of the way at
all. Nothing short of a close
and complete uniting of the two places, and that
without any interval, will
do. Alas! how many come close up to Christ, but never close with Him.
How many are in the throng that never touch
Him! How many there are like
the young man in the Gospel — that amiable young
man whom our Lord
loved, who did so much, and went so far, and yet
after all came short!
(Matthew 19:16-22) They seem to be very close to Christ, and
very near
His cross; but there is one link wanting — “One thing thou lackest.”
How many are at the very threshold of the
to say with Agrippa, “Almost thou
persuadest me to be a Christian:”
(Acts 26:28) and yet they never cross the
threshold, nor enter the kingdom,
nor become Christians, in the true and proper
sense, at all! How many are
on the spot at the very time when Christ is
passing by, without ever touching
so much as the fringe of His garment! How many
frequent the place where
His
presence is promised and His blessing bestowed; and yet they never
feel the one nor enjoy the other! There is nourishment in food, but
you must
partake of
it; or the most wholesome food will do you no good and give you
no strength. There is
sweetness in music, but you must have an ear for
it and
give ear to it; else
the sweetest music will be but mere noise — an
empty
sound. There is
fragrance in the rose, but your olfactory nerves
must be
sound and
sufficiently near the odoriferous flower; or its
fragrance will be
wasted on
desert air! The electric current is a potent
agency, as we have
seen, but it
must needs have the electric wire to pass along;
or it loses its
practical
utility. In view of such facts and
considerations, our duty as well
as interest
is, by grace,
to realize union with Christ; we should give no
sleep to our
eyes, nor slumber to our eyelids, until by
grace, through faith,
we are united to Christ, and ONE
WITH HIM! — Christ in us and we
in Christ, Christ our life, and our life
devoted to Christ. For while Christ
is able to save, and
waiting and willing to save, and while God sent
His Son
to seek and save
that which was lost; yet there must be faith, or
we cannot
be saved. let
us, therefore, SEEK THE AID OF
GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT,
that He may form the link of faith between our
soul and the Saviour; or,
if it already exists, that He may strengthen and brighten it!
Ø
How healing virtue is obtainable from Christ. There was healing power
in the Saviour — inherent in Him, in Him alone, and in none besides.
This poor invalid drew it forth by the touch of
faith. The virtue to heal that
proceeded from Christ may be compared to the
electric current, while the
faith of the woman may be likened to the wires
along which it passed.
Now, if faith be the gift of God, as it is, and
the operation of His Spirit as
we know from His Word, it may be asked, “Why
blame any for the want of
it?” We do not and cannot with fairness, blame
for want of it; but we may
blame persons for not asking it, for not wishing
for it, for not seeking it, or
for not accepting it. If God gave His Son before
you asked Him, (“While
we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 8:5) and
without you asking Him, “will He not with Him also freely give you all
things”- ibid. ch. 8:32); in other words, will He not give you faith in Him
for the asking? If He have given the greater
gift, will He withhold or refuse
the less? If He has promised His Spirit to them
that ask Him, and if He
invites us and presses us to ask Him, do we not tempt God when we refuse
to ask Him, seeing it is the Spirit that works
faith in the heart of man? We
are far, very far, from ignoring or overlooking
the sovereign grace of God,
whereby He takes one
out of a city and two out of a family and brings them
to
to us; if we reject the conditions on which He
offers grace and every mercy;
if we neglect the ordinances where He has
appointed to meet and bless us,
or if, attending them, we forget the object for
which we are urged to attend
them, or if we use the means without thinking of
the great end we should
have in view, or if:
o
we are not at pains to examine our motives,
o
we have no care to meet Christ in His
ordinances,
o
no longing for His presence,
o
no thirsting for His grace,
o
no hungering for His righteousness,
o
no earnest inquiry, “What must we do to be saved?” and
o
no seeking of the fulfillment of the promises;
In all such, or any such cases, are we not
thronging Christ instead of touching
Him? If custom, or curiosity, or the crowd, or
habit, or respectability, or
worldly advantage, or early training, brings us
near to Christ, and if we
have no higher object and no holier end in view,
are we not thronging
Christ, and yet not touching Christ? “Many,” we know from the
declaration of God’s own Word, “will say, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied
in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy
name done
many wonderful works? And then,” adds the Saviour, “will I
profess unto
them, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23) What was all
this more or better than thronging Christ
without touching Him?
Ø
Confession consequent on cure. She sought Christ privately, but was
obliged to confess publicly. So with ourselves;
we must confess His name
before men, and tell of the gracious Saviour we have found; just as the
psalmist says, “Come
and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what
He hath done
for my soul.” (Psalm 66:16) “With the heart men believe unto
righteousness,
and with the mouth make confession unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:10)
Ø
Character of the cure. The cure was immediate; “from that hour.” It
was complete; the fountain was staunched. It was
perpetual; “Be thou
whole.” This our Lord probably added lest she should
think the cure too
sudden to continue, too speedy to last, too
good news to be true. Not so; it
was no transient remedy, no mere temporary
relief. All that
God does is
well done (Genesis 1:31); He does not
leave any part of His work
unfinished. Having “begun a good
work in us, He will perform [rather,
perfect] it till the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) The testimony
to the Saviour’s work
on earth was that “He hath
done all things well.”
(ch.
7:37)
Ø
Peculiarity of expression. The words εἰς εἰρήνην – eis eiraenaen
–
are properly “into
peace,” which refer more to the future than to the
present.
Peace is not only the present element in which she finds
herself,
but
the future sphere in which her life is to move. Brought into peace by
the
great
Peacemaker, she is ever after to continue therein. The addition
of the
words
ἴσθι ὑγιὴς
– isthi hugiaes
– be you sound - was not superfluous,
but
most reassuring, in order to ratify the stolen cure and to convince her
of
its durability and permanence.
Further, we may notice the relation of
the πίστις – pistis – faith of the woman to the δυνάμις - dunamis – power
– of the Saviour. The former saved her mediately, or instrumentally, that is,
as
the connecting link between
herself and Christ; the latter was the healing
power of Christ, which, working along the line
of that faith, saved her as
the energetic
and efficient cause.
Ø
Position of Jairus. The official position of Jairus
was highly respectable.
He was ruler of the synagogue. Though there is
some difference of opinion
on the subject, yet the officers of the
synagogue appear to have been the
following:
o
The ruler or president of the synagogue, on whom
devolved the right
ordering and regulation of the service, and with
whom were conjoined
the elders;
o
the sheliach tsibbor, the angel or messenger of the congregation, who
offered up the public prayers, and who acted as
secretary to conduct
the correspondence, or to serve as deputy, when
required, between
one synagogue and another;
o
the chazzan (ὑπηρέτης - hupaeretaes), or ordinary reader, who read the
appointed portions, or who handed the book to an
occasional reader;
he also had charge of the sacred books;
o
the διάκονος - diakonos or, or sexton.
Ø
The substantial harmony of the narratives. The ruler of the synagogue,
according to Mark, tells our Lord that his
daughter (ἐσχάτως ἔχει -
eschatos echei - lastly is having) is extremely, ill, “at the
point of death”
- in fact, in
extremis; according to Matthew 9:18), that (ἄρτι ἐτελεύτησεν
-
arti eteleutaesen - at present decease) she is dead by
this time — “even
now dead;" she was so ill when he left that he did not now expect
to see
her again alive
when he returned; according to Luke 8:42, that
(ἀπέθνησκεν - apethnaesken - died) she was dying, or “lay a
dying;” —
all perfectly consistent.
Ø
The special tenderness of the parent. Though Mark very frequently
employs diminutives with little, if any,
difference from the simpler form, yet
we see good reason for his use of the diminutive
θυγάτριον - thugatrion -
little daughter here. It becomes a
term of special endearment and affectionate
tenderness in this place, from the circumstance,
of which another evangelist,
St. Luke, apprises us, namely, that this little
girl was an only daughter
(θυγάτηρ μονογενὴς
- thugataer monogenaes
- one only daughter),
perhaps, indeed most probably, an only child. We
can easily
imagine the terrible uneasiness of the father,
when our Lord had been
delayed by the unwelcome incident of the cure of
the woman with the
bloody issue. Jairus
must have looked on this as a most provoking and
unpleasant interruption; and now that the messengers
bring word that his
daughter is dead, and so his worst fears
realized, he and they evidently give
up all for
lost. The great
Healer might have restored her to health, however
ill, or however far gone she might have been; but how can He restore her
to
life now
that she is dead?
Ø
Jesus’ power over death. He had heard, or, if we read a compound of
the same word, though slightly supported παρακούσας - parakousas -
He had overheard the conversation between the
messengers and Jairus;
He had heard them dissuade the ruler from
fatiguing with the length of
the journey, or in any other way worrying the
Physician (σκύλλεις -
skulleis - you are bothering; root σκῦλον
- skulon - spoils, means
“to spoil, despoil, flay, trouble, harass, or worry”),
as it was only bootless
labor — quite useless work — for the child was
dead. Our Lord tried to
revive the father’s hopes, encourage his
fainting heart, and strengthen his
weak faith, saying, “Do
not be afraid, only believe.” The mourners,
especially the hired mourners, who were making
so much ado, and beating
themselves (ἐκόπτοντο - ekoptonto), in grief more seeming than sincere,
began to deride our Lord, or laugh Him down (κατεγέλων - kategelon -
they ridiculed). In fact., they
did not wish her restored, lest perhaps their
occupation would be gone. Taking the maiden by
the hand, He addressed
her, in the vernacular Aramaic of the district,
saying, "Talitha cumi,
Maid,
arise.” Straightway she arose and walked; her motion proved
strength, and strength and motion belong to
life; and so death, after all,
is a sleep, from which the Saviour brings awakening. His power over
every stage of death appears by:
o
the restoration of one just departed as this maiden;
o
one being carried out to burial, as the son of the widow of Nain;
(Luke 7:11-17)
o
one already in the grave four days, as Lazarus. (John 11)
Ø
Practical character of our Lord. When Simon’s mother-in-law was
cured, she turned to her domestic duties; when
this young girl of twelve
years of age was restored, she walked about (περιεπάτει - periepatei -
walked) — how natural when others
wondered, Jesus thought of the keen
appetite of the young girl, and ordered her food.
Jairus’s Daughter
or,
The Uses of Bereavement
(vs. 21-43)
I. DISCOVERING
THE NEED OF A SAVIOUR.
II. PERFECTING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THE BEREAVED.
II. REVEALING
THE INFINITE MERCY, SYMPATHY, AND
POWER OF CHRIST.
Life
Victorious (vs. 35-43)
life of those we love are hushed by the voice of Jesus. He
ignores death,
being the resurrection and the life. We are under a
deception of the senses,
which Christ saw through. “The child did
not die, but is sleeping.” From
another point of view our saddest facts may be lustrous with
the
significance of joy.
obeyed. Richer as a parable than as a mere story. The fact
is soon
exhausted; the allegory is infinite. The voice is ever
speaking, and
resurrections are ever taking place. lost joys are being
recovered, dead
forms reanimated. Who knows, as the Greek asked, whether what we call
dying BE NOT LIVING and living dying? (“Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth
my word and believeth on Him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life.” John 5:24 – In v. 29 of this chapter the
condemnation is
called EONIAN DAMNATION – CY –
2019) But where Christ is, there is
NO DEATH, NO LOSS, only change
from less life TO MORE!
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