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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>L U K E.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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Most of this chapter is a repetition of divers passages of Christ's
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preaching and miracles which we had before in Matthew and Mark; they
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are all of such weight, that they are worth repeating, and therefore
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they are repeated, that out of the mouth not only of two, but of three,
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witnesses every word may be established. Here is,
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I. A general account of Christ's preaching, and how he had subsistence
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for himself and his numerous family by the charitable contributions of
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good people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The parable of the sower, and the four sorts of ground, with the
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exposition of it, and some inferences from it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:4-18">ver. 4-18</A>.
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III. The preference which Christ gave to his obedient disciples before
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his nearest relations according to the flesh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:19-21">ver. 19-21</A>.
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IV. His stilling a storm at sea, with a word's speaking,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:22-25">ver. 22-25</A>.
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V. His casting a legion of devils out of a man that was possessed by
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:26-40">ver. 26-40</A>.
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VI. His healing the woman that had the bloody issue, and raising
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Jairus's daughter to life,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:41-56">ver. 41-56</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Lu8_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Ministry of Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every
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city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the
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kingdom of God: and the twelve <I>were</I> with him,
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2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and
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infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven
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devils,
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3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna,
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and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We are here told,</P>
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<P>
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I. <I>What</I> Christ <I>made</I> the <I>constant business</I> of his
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<I>life</I>--it was <I>preaching;</I> in that work he was indefatigable,
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and went about doing good
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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<I>afterward</I>--<B><I>en to kathexes</I></B>--<I>ordine,</I> in the
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proper <I>time</I> or <I>method.</I> Christ took his work before him
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and went about it regularly. He observed a <I>series</I> or order of
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business, so that the end of one good work was the beginning of
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another. Now observe here,
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1. <I>Where</I> he preached: <I>He went
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about</I>--<B><I>diodeue</I></B>--<I>peragrabat.</I> He was an
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<I>itinerant</I> preacher, did not confine himself to one place, but
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diffused the beams of his light. <I>Circumibat--He went his
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circuit,</I> as a judge, having found his preaching perhaps most
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<I>acceptable</I> where it was <I>new.</I> He went about <I>through
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every city,</I> that none might plead ignorance. Hereby he set an
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example to his disciples; they must traverse the nations of the earth,
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as he did the cities of Israel. Nor did he confine himself to the
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<I>cities,</I> but went into the <I>villages,</I> among the plain
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country-people, to preach <I>to the inhabitants of the villages,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:11">Judg. v. 11</A>.
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2. What he preached: <I>He showed the glad tidings of the kingdom of
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God,</I> that it was now to be set up among them. Tidings of the
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<I>kingdom of God</I> are <I>glad tidings,</I> and those Jesus Christ
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came to bring; to tell the children of men that God was willing to take
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all those <I>under his protection</I> that were willing to return <I>to
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their allegiance.</I> It was <I>glad tidings</I> to the world that
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there was hope of its being <I>reformed</I> and <I>reconciled.</I>
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3. Who were his attendants: <I>The twelve were with him,</I> not to
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preach if he were present, but to learn from him what and how to preach
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hereafter, and, if occasion were, to be sent to places where he could
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not go. Happy were these his servants that heard his wisdom.</P>
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<P>
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II. <I>Whence</I> he <I>had</I> the <I>necessary supports</I> of life:
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He lived upon the kindness of his friends. There were <I>certain
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women,</I> who frequently attended his ministry, that <I>ministered to
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him of their substance,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:2,3"><I>v.</I> 2, 3</A>.
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Some of them are named; but there were <I>many others,</I> who were
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zealously affected to the doctrine of Christ, and thought themselves
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bound <I>in justice</I> to <I>encourage</I> it, having themselves found
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benefit, and in <I>charity,</I> hoping that many others might find
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benefit by it too.</P>
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<P>
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1. They were such, for the most part, as had been <I>Christ's
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patients,</I> and were the monuments of his power and mercy; they had
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been <I>healed by him of evil spirits and infirmities.</I> Some of them
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had been troubled in mind, had been melancholy, others of them
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afflicted in body, and he had been to them a powerful healer. He is the
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physician both of body and soul, and those who have been <I>healed by
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him</I> ought to study what they shall <I>render to him.</I> We are
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bound in <I>interest</I> to attend him, that we may be ready to apply
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ourselves to him for help in case of a relapse; and we are bound in
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<I>gratitude</I> to serve him and his gospel, who hath <I>saved</I> us,
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and saved us <I>by it.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. One of them was Mary Magdalene, out of whom had been <I>cast seven
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devils;</I> a certain number for an uncertain. Some think that she was
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one that had been <I>very wicked,</I> and then we may suppose her to be
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the woman that <I>was a sinner</I> mentioned just before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+7:37"><I>ch.</I> vii. 37</A>.
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Dr. Lightfoot, finding in some of the Talmudists' writings that Mary
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Magdalene signified <I>Mary the plaiter of hair,</I> thinks it
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applicable to her, she having been noted, in the days of her iniquity
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and infamy, for that <I>plaiting of hair</I> which is opposed to
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<I>modest apparel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+2:9">1 Tim. ii. 9</A>.
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But, though she had been an immodest woman, upon her repentance and
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reformation she found mercy, and became a zealous disciple of Christ.
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Note, The greatest of sinners must not despair of pardon; and the worse
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any have been before their conversion the more they should study to do
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for Christ after. Or, rather, she was one that had been <I>very
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melancholy,</I> and then, probably, it was Mary the sister of Lazarus,
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who was a woman of a <I>sorrowful spirit,</I> who might have been
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originally of Magdala, but removed to Bethany. This Mary Magdalene was
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attending on Christ's cross and his sepulchre, and, if she was not Mary
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the sister of Lazarus, either that particular friend and favourite of
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Christ's did not attend then, or the evangelists did not take notice of
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her, neither of which we can suppose; thus Dr. Lightfoot argues. Yet
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there is this to be objected against it that Mary Magdalene is reckoned
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<I>among the women that followed Jesus from Galilee</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+27:55,56">Matt. xxvii. 55, 56</A>);
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whereas Mary the sister of Lazarus had her residence in Bethany.</P>
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<P>
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3. Another of them was <I>Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's
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steward.</I> She had been his wife (so some), but was now a widow, and
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left in good circumstances. If she was now his wife, we have reason to
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think that her <I>husband,</I> though preferred in Herod's court, had
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received the gospel, and was very willing that his wife should be both
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a hearer of Christ and a contributor to him.</P>
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<P>
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4. There were many of them that <I>ministered to Christ of their
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substance.</I> It was an instance of the meanness of that condition to
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which our Saviour humbled himself that he needed it, and of his great
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humility and condescension that he accepted it. Though he was rich, yet
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for our sakes <I>he became poor,</I> and lived upon alms. Let none say
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that they scorn to be beholden to the charity of their neighbours, when
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Providence has brought them into straits; but let them ask and be
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thankful for it as a favour. Christ would rather be beholden to his
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known friends for a maintenance for himself and his disciples than be
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burdensome to strangers in the cities and villages whither he came to
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preach. Note, It is the duty of those who are taught in the word to
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<I>communicate to them who teach them in all good things;</I> and those
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who are herein liberal and cheerful honour the Lord with their
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substance, and bring a blessing upon it.</P>
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<A NAME="Lu8_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Lu8_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Parable of the Sower.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to
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him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
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5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell
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by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the
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air devoured it.
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6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up,
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it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
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7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it,
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and choked it.
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8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit
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a hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He
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that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
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9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable
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be?
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10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of
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the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they
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might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
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11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
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12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the
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devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they
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should believe and be saved.
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13 They on the rock <I>are they,</I> which, when they hear, receive
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the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while
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believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
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14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they
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have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and
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pleasures of <I>this</I> life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
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15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and
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good heart, having heard the word, keep <I>it,</I> and bring forth
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fruit with patience.
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16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a
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vessel, or putteth <I>it</I> under a bed; but setteth <I>it</I> on a
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candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
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17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest;
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neither <I>any thing</I> hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
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18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him
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shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
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even that which he seemeth to have.
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19 Then came to him <I>his</I> mother and his brethren, and could
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not come at him for the press.
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20 And it was told him <I>by certain</I> which said, Thy mother and
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thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
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21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my
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brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The former paragraph began with an account of Christ's industry in
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<I>preaching</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
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this begins with an account of the people's industry in hearing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He <I>went into every city,</I> to preach; so they, one would think,
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should have contented themselves to hear him when he came to their own
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city (we know those that would); but there were those here that came
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<I>to him out of every city,</I> would not stay till he came to
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<I>them,</I> nor think that they had enough when he left <I>them,</I>
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but <I>met him</I> when he was coming towards them, and <I>followed
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him</I> when he was going from them. Nor did he excuse himself from
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going <I>to the cities</I> with this, that there were some <I>from</I>
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the cities that <I>came to him;</I> for, though there were, yet the
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most had not zeal enough to bring them to him, and therefore such is
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his wonderful condescension that he will go to them; for <I>he is found
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of those that sought him not,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:1">Isa. lxv. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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Here was, it seems, a vast concourse, <I>much people were gathered
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together,</I> abundance of fish to cast their net among; and he was as
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ready and willing to <I>teach</I> as they were to be <I>taught.</I> Now
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in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:4-21">these verses</A>
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we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. Necessary and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in
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the parable of <I>the sower</I> and the explanation and application of
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it, all which we had twice before more largely. When Christ had put
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forth this parable,
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1. The disciples were <I>inquisitive</I> concerning the meaning of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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They asked him, <I>What might this parable be?</I> Note, We should
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covet earnestly to know the true <I>in</I>tent, and full <I>ex</I>tent,
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of the word we hear, that we may be neither mistaken nor defective in
|
|
our knowledge.
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2. Christ made them sensible of what great advantage it was to them
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|
that they had opportunity of acquainting themselves with the mystery
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and meaning of his word, which others had not: <I>Unto you it is
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given,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Note, Those who would receive instruction from Christ must know and
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|
consider what a privilege it is to be instructed by him, what a
|
|
distinguishing privilege to be led into the light, such a light, when
|
|
others are left in darkness, such a darkness. Happy are we, and for
|
|
ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a <I>parable</I>
|
|
to others, with which they are only <I>amused,</I> is a <I>plain
|
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truth</I> to us, by which we are <I>enlightened</I> and
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|
<I>governed,</I> and into the mould of which we are
|
|
<I>delivered.</I></P>
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<P>
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Now from the parable itself, and the explication of it, observe,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) The <I>heart of man</I> is as <I>soil</I> to the <I>seed of God's
|
|
word;</I> it is capable of receiving it, and bringing forth the fruits
|
|
of it; but, unless that seed be sown in it, it will bring forth nothing
|
|
valuable. Or care therefore must be to bring the <I>seed</I> and the
|
|
<I>soil</I> together. To what purpose have we the <I>seed</I> in the
|
|
scripture, if it be not <I>sown?</I> And to what purpose have we the
|
|
soil in our own hearts, if it be not sown with that seed?</P>
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<P>
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|
(2.) The <I>success</I> of the <I>seeding</I> is very much according to
|
|
the nature and temper of the <I>soil,</I> and as that is, or is not,
|
|
disposed to receive the seed. The word of God <I>is to us,</I> as <I>we
|
|
are,</I> a <I>savour of life unto life,</I> or <I>of death unto
|
|
death.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The devil is a subtle and spiteful enemy, that makes it his
|
|
business to hinder our profiting by the word of God. He takes the word
|
|
out of the hearts of <I>careless</I> hearers, <I>lest they should
|
|
believe and be saved,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is added here to teach us,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That we cannot be <I>saved</I> unless we <I>believe.</I> The word
|
|
of the gospel will not be a saving word to us, unless it be mixed with
|
|
faith.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That therefore the devil does all he can to keep us from
|
|
<I>believing,</I> to make us not believe the word when we read and hear
|
|
it; or, if we heed it for the present, to make us forget it again, and
|
|
let it slip
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:1">Heb. ii. 1</A>);
|
|
|
|
or, if we remember it, to create prejudices in our minds against it, or
|
|
<I>divert</I> our minds from it to something else; and all is <I>lest
|
|
we should believe and be saved,</I> lest we should believe and
|
|
<I>rejoice,</I> while he believes and <I>trembles.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) Where the word of God is heard <I>carelessly</I> there is commonly
|
|
a <I>contempt</I> put upon it too. It is added here in the parable that
|
|
the seed which fell by the way-side was <I>trodden down,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
They that wilfully shut their ears against the word do in effect
|
|
trample it under their feet; they <I>despise the commandment of the
|
|
Lord.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(5.) Those on whom the word makes <I>some</I> impressions, but they are
|
|
not <I>deep</I> and <I>durable</I> ones, will show their hypocrisy in a
|
|
time of trial; as the seed sown upon the rock, where it gains no root,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
These <I>for awhile believe</I> a little while; their profession
|
|
promises something, but in <I>time of temptation they fall away</I>
|
|
from their good beginnings. Whether the temptation arises from the
|
|
smiles or the frowns, of the world, they are easily overcome by it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(6.) The <I>pleasures of this life</I> are as dangerous and mischievous
|
|
thorns to choke the good seed of the word as any other. This is added
|
|
here
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
which was not in the other evangelists. Those that are <I>not entangled
|
|
in the cares of this life,</I> nor inveigled with the <I>deceitfulness
|
|
of riches,</I> but boast that they are dead to them, may yet be kept
|
|
from heaven by an affected indolence, and the love of ease and
|
|
pleasure. The delights of sense may ruin the soul, even lawful
|
|
delights, indulged, and too much delighted in.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(7.) It is not enough that the fruit be brought forth, but it must be
|
|
<I>brought to perfection,</I> it must be fully ripened. If it be not,
|
|
it is as if there was no fruit at all brought forth; for that which in
|
|
Matthew and Mark is said to be <I>unfruitful</I> is the same that here
|
|
is said to <I>bring forth none to perfection.</I> For <I>factum non
|
|
dicitur quod non perseverat</I>--<I>perseverance is necessary to the
|
|
perfection of a work.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(8.) The good ground, which brings forth <I>good fruit,</I> is an
|
|
<I>honest</I> and <I>good heart,</I> well disposed to receive
|
|
instruction and commandment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
a heart free from sinful pollutions, and firmly fixed for God and duty,
|
|
an upright heart, a tender heart, and a heart that <I>trembles at the
|
|
word,</I> is an honest and good heart, which, having heard the word,
|
|
<I>understands</I> it (so it is in Matthew), <I>receives</I> it (so it
|
|
is in Mark), and <I>keeps</I> it (so it is here), as the soil not only
|
|
<I>receives,</I> but keeps, the seed; and the stomach not only
|
|
receives, but keeps, the food or physic.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(9.) Where the word is well kept there is fruit brought forth <I>with
|
|
patience.</I> This also is added here. There must be both
|
|
<I>bearing</I> patience and <I>waiting</I> patience; patience to suffer
|
|
the <I>tribulation</I> and <I>persecution</I> which may <I>arise
|
|
because of the word;</I> patience to continue to the end in
|
|
well-doing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(10.) In consideration of all this, we ought to take <I>heed how we
|
|
hear</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
take heed of those things that will hinder our profiting by the word we
|
|
hear, watch over our hearts in hearing, and take heed lest they betray
|
|
us; take heed <I>lest</I> we hear carelessly and slightly, lest, upon
|
|
any account, we entertain prejudice against the word we hear; and take
|
|
heed to the frame of our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we
|
|
lose what we have gained.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Needful instructions given to those that are appointed to preach
|
|
the word, and to those also that have heard it.
|
|
|
|
1. Those that have <I>received the gift</I> must <I>minister the
|
|
same.</I> Ministers that have the dispensing of the gospel committed to
|
|
them, people that have profited by the word and are thereby qualified
|
|
to profit others, must look upon themselves as <I>lighted candles:</I>
|
|
ministers must in solemn authoritative preaching, and people in
|
|
brotherly familiar discourse, diffuse their light, for a <I>candle</I>
|
|
must not be <I>covered with a vessel</I> nor <I>put under a bed,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Ministers and Christians are to be lights in the world, <I>holding
|
|
forth the word of life.</I> Their light must shine before men; they
|
|
must not only <I>be good,</I> but <I>do good.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. We must expect that what is now done <I>in secret,</I> and from
|
|
unseen springs, will shortly be <I>manifested</I> and <I>made
|
|
known,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
What is committed to you <I>in secret</I> should be made manifest <I>by
|
|
you;</I> for your Master did not give you talents to be buried, but to
|
|
be traded with. Let that which is now hid be <I>made known;</I> for, if
|
|
it be not manifested <I>by you,</I> it will be manifested <I>against
|
|
you,</I> will be produced in evidence of your treachery.
|
|
|
|
3. The gifts we have will either be continued to us, or taken from us,
|
|
according as we do, or do not, make use of them for the glory of God
|
|
and the edification of our brethren: <I>Whosoever hath, to him shall be
|
|
given,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that hath gifts, and does good with them, shall have more; he that
|
|
<I>buries his talent</I> shall lose it. From him that hath not shall be
|
|
taken away even <I>that which he hath,</I> so it is in Mark; that which
|
|
he <I>seemeth to have,</I> so it is in Luke. Note, The grace that is
|
|
lost was but <I>seeming</I> grace, was never <I>true.</I> Men do but
|
|
<I>seem</I> to have what they do not <I>use,</I> and shows of religion
|
|
will be lost and forfeited. They <I>went out from us, because they were
|
|
not of us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+2:19">1 John ii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let us see to it that we have grace in sincerity, the <I>root of the
|
|
matter</I> found in us; that is a good part which shall never be taken
|
|
away from those that have it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Great encouragement given to those that prove themselves faithful
|
|
<I>hearers of the word,</I> by being <I>doers of the work,</I> in a
|
|
particular instance of Christ's respect to his disciples, in preferring
|
|
them even before his nearest relations
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:19-21"><I>v.</I> 19-21</A>),
|
|
|
|
which passage of story we had twice before. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. What crowding there was after Christ. There was no coming near for
|
|
the throng of people that attended him, who, though they were crowded
|
|
very so much, would not be crowded out from his congregation.
|
|
|
|
2. Some of his nearest kindred were least solicitous to hear him
|
|
preach. Instead of getting <I>within,</I> as they might easily have
|
|
done if they had come in time, desiring to <I>hear him,</I> they stood
|
|
<I>without,</I> desiring to <I>see him;</I> and, probably, out of a
|
|
foolish fear, lest he should spend himself with too much speaking,
|
|
designing nothing but to interrupt him, and oblige him to break off.
|
|
|
|
3. Jesus Christ would rather be busy at his work than conversing with
|
|
his friends. He would not leave his preaching, to speak with his
|
|
<I>mother</I> and his <I>brethren,</I> for it was his <I>meat and
|
|
drink</I> to be so employed.
|
|
|
|
4. Christ is pleased to own those as his nearest and dearest relations
|
|
that <I>hear the word of God and do it;</I> they are to him more than
|
|
<I>his mother</I> and <I>brethren.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_36"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_37"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_38"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_39"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Christ's Power over the Winds; Christ's Power over the Devils.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a
|
|
ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over
|
|
unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
|
|
23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a
|
|
storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled <I>with water,</I> and
|
|
were in jeopardy.
|
|
24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master,
|
|
we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of
|
|
the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
|
|
25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being
|
|
afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is
|
|
this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey
|
|
him.
|
|
26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is
|
|
over against Galilee.
|
|
27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the
|
|
city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no
|
|
clothes, neither abode in <I>any</I> house, but in the tombs.
|
|
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him,
|
|
and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus,
|
|
<I>thou</I> Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
|
|
29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the
|
|
man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with
|
|
chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of
|
|
the devil into the wilderness.)
|
|
30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said,
|
|
Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
|
|
31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go
|
|
out into the deep.
|
|
32 And there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the
|
|
mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to
|
|
enter into them. And he suffered them.
|
|
33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the
|
|
swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the
|
|
lake, and were choked.
|
|
34 When they that fed <I>them</I> saw what was done, they fled, and
|
|
went and told <I>it</I> in the city and in the country.
|
|
35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus,
|
|
and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting
|
|
at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they
|
|
were afraid.
|
|
36 They also which saw <I>it</I> told them by what means he that was
|
|
possessed of the devils was healed.
|
|
37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes
|
|
round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken
|
|
with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back
|
|
again.
|
|
38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought
|
|
him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,
|
|
39 Return to thine own house, and show how great things God
|
|
hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published
|
|
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
|
|
him.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here two illustrious proofs of the power of our Lord Jesus
|
|
which we had before--his power over the <I>winds,</I> and his power over
|
|
the <I>devils.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+4:1-5:43">Mark iv. and v</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His power over the winds, those <I>powers of the air</I> that are so
|
|
much a terror to men, especially upon sea, and occasion the death of
|
|
such multitudes. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Christ ordered his disciples to put to sea, that he might show his
|
|
glory upon the water, in stilling the waves, and might do an act of
|
|
kindness to a poor possessed man on the other side the water: <I>He
|
|
went into a ship with his disciples,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
They that observe Christ's orders may assure themselves of his
|
|
presence. If Christ sends his disciples, he goes <I>with them.</I> And
|
|
those may safely and boldly venture any where that have Christ
|
|
accompanying them. <I>He said, Let us go over unto the other side;</I>
|
|
for he had a piece of good work to do there. He might have gone by
|
|
land, a little way about; but he chose to go by <I>water,</I> that he
|
|
might show his <I>wonders in the deep.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Those that put to sea in a calm, yea, and at Christ's word, must yet
|
|
<I>prepare for a storm,</I> and for the utmost peril in that storm;
|
|
There <I>came down a storm of wind on the lake</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
as if it were there, and no where else; and presently their ship was so
|
|
tossed that it was filled with water, and they were in jeopardy of
|
|
their lives. Perhaps the devil, who is the <I>prince of the power of
|
|
the air,</I> and who <I>raiseth winds</I> by the permission of God, had
|
|
some suspicion, from some words which Christ might let fall, that he
|
|
was coming over the lake now on purpose to cast that legion of devils
|
|
out of the poor man on the other side, and therefore poured this storm
|
|
upon the ship he was in, designing, if possible, to have sunk him and
|
|
prevented that victory.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Christ was <I>asleep</I> in the storm,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Some bodily refreshment he must have, and he chose to take it when it
|
|
would be least a hindrance to him in his work. The disciples of Christ
|
|
may really have his gracious presence with them at sea, and in a storm,
|
|
and yet he may seem as if he were <I>asleep;</I> he may not immediately
|
|
appear for their relief, no, not when things seem to be brought even to
|
|
the last extremity. Thus he will try their faith and patience, and
|
|
quicken them by prayer to awake, and make their deliverance the more
|
|
welcome when it comes at last.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. A complaint to Christ of our danger, and the distress his church is
|
|
in, is enough to engage him to awake, and appear for us,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
They cried, <I>Master, master, we perish!</I> The way to have our fears
|
|
silenced is to bring them to Christ, and lay them before him. Those
|
|
that in sincerity call Christ <I>Master,</I> and with faith and
|
|
fervency call upon him as <I>their Master,</I> may be sure that he will
|
|
not let them <I>perish.</I> There is no relief for poor souls that are
|
|
under a sense of guilt, and a fear of wrath, like this, to go to
|
|
Christ, and call him <I>Master,</I> and say, "I am <I>undone,</I> if
|
|
thou do not <I>help me.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Christ's business is to <I>lay storms,</I> as it is Satan's business
|
|
to <I>raise</I> them. He can do it; he has done it; he delights to do
|
|
it: for he came to <I>proclaim peace on earth.</I> He <I>rebuked the
|
|
wind and the raging of the water,</I> and immediately <I>they
|
|
ceased</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>);
|
|
|
|
not, as at other times, by degrees, but all of a sudden, <I>there was a
|
|
great calm.</I> Thus Christ showed that, though the devil pretends to
|
|
be the prince of the power of the air, yet even there he has him in a
|
|
chain.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. When our dangers are over, it becomes us to take to ourselves the
|
|
shame of our own fears and to give to Christ the glory of his power.
|
|
When Christ had turned the <I>storm</I> into a <I>calm, then were they
|
|
glad because they were quiet,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+107:30">Ps. cvii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
And then,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Christ gives them a rebuke for their inordinate fear: <I>Where is
|
|
your faith?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Many that have <I>true faith</I> have it to seek when they have
|
|
occasion to use it. They tremble, and are discouraged, if second causes
|
|
frown upon them. A little thing disheartens them; and <I>where is their
|
|
faith</I> then?
|
|
|
|
(2.) They give him the glory of his power: <I>They, being afraid,
|
|
wondered.</I> Those that had feared the storm, now that the danger was
|
|
over with good reason feared him that had stilled it, and <I>said one
|
|
to another, What manner of man is this!</I> They might as well have
|
|
said, <I>Who is a God like unto thee?</I> For it is God's prerogative
|
|
to <I>still the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+65:7">Ps. lxv. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. His power over <I>the devil,</I> the <I>prince of the power of the
|
|
air.</I> In the next passage of story he comes into a closer grapple
|
|
with him than he did when he commanded <I>the winds.</I> Presently
|
|
after the winds were stilled they were brought to their desired haven,
|
|
and <I>arrived at the country of the Gadarenes,</I> and there went
|
|
ashore
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:26,27"><I>v.</I> 26, 27</A>);
|
|
|
|
and he soon met with that which was his business over, and which he
|
|
thought it worth his while to go through a storm to accomplish.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We may learn a great deal out of this story concerning this world of
|
|
infernal, malignant spirits, which, though not working now ordinarily
|
|
in the same way as here, yet we are all concerned at all times to stand
|
|
upon our guard against.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. These <I>malignant</I> spirits are very <I>numerous.</I> They that
|
|
had taken possession of this one man called themselves <I>Legion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
because <I>many devils were entered into him:</I> he had <I>had devils
|
|
a long time,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
But perhaps those that had been long in possession of him, upon some
|
|
foresight of our Saviour's coming to make an attack upon them, and
|
|
finding they could not prevent it by the storm they had raised, sent
|
|
for recruits, intending this to be <I>a decisive</I> battle, and hoping
|
|
now to be too hard for him that had cast out so many unclean spirits,
|
|
and to give him a defeat. They either were, or at least would be
|
|
thought to be, a <I>legion,</I> formidable as an <I>army with
|
|
banners;</I> and now, at least, to be, what the <I>twentieth legion</I>
|
|
of the Roman army, which was long quartered at Chester, was styled,
|
|
<I>legio victrix</I>--a <I>victorious legion.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They have an <I>inveterate enmity</I> to man, and all his
|
|
conveniences and comforts. This man in whom the devils had got
|
|
possession, and kept it long, being under their influence, <I>wore no
|
|
clothes, neither abode in any house</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
though <I>clothing</I> and a <I>habitation</I> are two of the necessary
|
|
supports of this life. Nay, and because man has a natural dread of the
|
|
habitations of the dead, they forced this man to <I>abide in the
|
|
tombs,</I> to make him so much the more a terror to himself and to all
|
|
about him, so that his soul had as much cause as ever any man's had to
|
|
be weary of his life, and to <I>choose strangling and death
|
|
rather.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. They are very <I>strong, fierce,</I> and unruly, and hate and scorn
|
|
to be restrained: <I>He was kept bound with chains and in fetters,</I>
|
|
that he might not be mischievous either to others or to himself, but he
|
|
<I>broke the bands,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that are <I>ungovernable</I> by any other thereby show that
|
|
they are under Satan's government; and this is the language of those
|
|
that are so, even concerning God and Christ, their best friends, that
|
|
would not either bind them <I>from</I> or bind them<I>to</I> any thing
|
|
but for their own good: <I>Let us break their bands in sunder. He was
|
|
driven of the devil.</I> Those that are under Christ's government are
|
|
<I>sweetly led</I> with the cords of a man and the bands of love; those
|
|
that are under the devil's government are <I>furiously driven.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. They are much enraged against our Lord Jesus, and have a great dread
|
|
and horror of him: <I>When the man</I> whom they had possession of, and
|
|
who spoke as they would have him, <I>saw Jesus,</I> he <I>roared
|
|
out</I> as one in an agony, and <I>fell down before him,</I> to
|
|
deprecate his wrath, and owned him to be <I>the Son of God most
|
|
high,</I> that was infinitely above him and too hard for him; but
|
|
protested against having any league or confederacy with him (which
|
|
might sufficiently have silenced the blasphemous cavils of the scribes
|
|
and Pharisees): <I>What have I to do with thee?</I> The devils have
|
|
neither inclination to do service to Christ nor expectation to receive
|
|
benefit by him: <I>What have we to do with thee?</I> But they dreaded
|
|
his power and wrath: <I>I beseech thee, torment me not.</I> They do not
|
|
say, <I>I beseech thee, save me,</I> but only, <I>Torment me not.</I>
|
|
See whose language <I>they</I> speak that have only a dread of hell as
|
|
a place of torment, but no desire of heaven as a place of holiness and
|
|
love.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. They are perfectly <I>at the command,</I> and under <I>the
|
|
power,</I> of our Lord Jesus; and they knew it, for they <I>besought
|
|
him that he would not command them to go</I> <B><I>eis ton
|
|
abysson</I></B>--<I>into the deep,</I> the place of their torment, which
|
|
they acknowledge he could easily and justly do. O what a comfort is
|
|
this to the Lord's people, that all the powers of darkness are under
|
|
the check and control of the Lord Jesus! He has them all in a chain. He
|
|
can send them to <I>their own place,</I> when he pleaseth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. They delight in <I>doing mischief.</I> When they found there was no
|
|
remedy, but they must quit their hold of this poor man, they begged
|
|
they might have leave to take possession of a <I>herd of swine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the devil at first brought man into a miserable state he brought a
|
|
curse likewise upon the whole creation, and that became subject to
|
|
enmity. And here, as an instance of that extensive enmity of his, when
|
|
he could not destroy the man, he would destroy the swine. If he could
|
|
not hurt them in their bodies, he would hurt them in their goods, which
|
|
sometimes prove a great temptation to men to draw them from Christ, as
|
|
here. Christ <I>suffered them to enter into the swine,</I> to convince
|
|
the country what mischief the devil could do in it, if he should suffer
|
|
him. No sooner had the devils leave than they entered into the
|
|
<I>swine;</I> and no sooner had they entered into them than the herd
|
|
ran violently <I>down a steep place into the lake,</I> and were
|
|
<I>drowned.</I> For it is a miracle of mercy if those whom Satan
|
|
possesses are not brought to destruction and perdition. This, and other
|
|
instances, show that that roaring lion and red dragon seeks <I>what</I>
|
|
and whom he may devour.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. When the devil's power is broken in any soul that soul recovers
|
|
itself, and returns into a right frame, which supposes that those whom
|
|
Satan gets possession of are put out of the possession of themselves:
|
|
<I>The man out of whom the devils were departed sat at the feet of
|
|
Jesus,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
While he was under the devil's power he was ready to <I>fly in the
|
|
face</I> of Jesus; but now he <I>sits at his feet,</I> which is a sign
|
|
that he is come to his <I>right mind.</I> If God has possession of us,
|
|
he preserves to us the government and enjoyment of ourselves; but, if
|
|
Satan has possession of us, he robs us of both. Let his power therefore
|
|
in our souls be overturned, and let <I>him</I> come whose right our
|
|
hearts are, and let us give them to him; for we are never more our own
|
|
than when we are his.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Let us now see what was the effect of this miracle of casting the
|
|
legion of devils out of this man.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) What effect it had upon the people of that country who had lost
|
|
their swine by it: <I>The swineherds went and told it</I> both <I>in
|
|
city and country</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>),
|
|
|
|
perhaps with a design to incense people against Christ. They told <I>by
|
|
what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
that it was by sending the devils into the swine, which was capable of
|
|
an invidious representation, as if Christ could not have delivered the
|
|
man out of their hands, but by delivering the swine into them. <I>The
|
|
people came out, to see what was done,</I> and to enquire into it; and
|
|
<I>they were afraid</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>);
|
|
|
|
they were <I>taken with great fear</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:37"><I>v.</I> 37</A>);
|
|
|
|
they were surprised and amazed at it, and knew not what to say to it.
|
|
They thought more of the destruction of the swine than of the
|
|
deliverance of their poor afflicted neighbour, and of the country from
|
|
the terror of his frenzy, which was become a public nuisance; and
|
|
therefore <I>the whole multitude besought Christ to depart from
|
|
them</I> for fear he should bring some other judgment upon them;
|
|
whereas indeed none need to be afraid of Christ that are willing to
|
|
forsake their sins and give up themselves to him. But Christ took them
|
|
at their word: <I>He went up into the ship, and returned back
|
|
again.</I> Those lose their Saviour, and their hopes in him, that love
|
|
their swine better.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) What effect it had upon the poor man who had recovered himself by
|
|
it. He <I>desired</I> Christ's company as much as others <I>dreaded</I>
|
|
it: he besought Christ that <I>he might be with him</I> as others were
|
|
<I>that had been healed by him of evil spirits and infirmities</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
that Christ might be to him a protector and teacher, and that he might
|
|
be to Christ for a name and a praise. He was loth to stay among those
|
|
rude and brutish Gadarenes that desired Christ to depart from them.
|
|
<I>O gather not my soul with these sinners!</I> But Christ would not
|
|
take him along with him, but sent him home, to publish among those that
|
|
knew him the great things God had done for him, that so he might be a
|
|
blessing to his country, as he had been a burden to it. We must
|
|
sometimes deny ourselves the satisfaction even of spiritual benefits
|
|
and comforts, to gain an opportunity of being serviceable to the souls
|
|
of others. Perhaps Christ knew that, when the resentment of the loss of
|
|
their swine was a little over, they would be better disposed to
|
|
consider the miracle, and therefore left the man among them to be a
|
|
standing monument, and a monitor to them of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_40"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_41"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_42"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_43"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_44"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_45"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_46"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_47"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_48"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_49"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_50"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_51"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_52"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_53"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_54"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_55"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Lu8_56"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Issue of Blood Healed; The Ruler's Daughter Raised.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TR><TD><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>40 And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the
|
|
people <I>gladly</I> received him: for they were all waiting for him.
|
|
41 And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a
|
|
ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and
|
|
besought him that he would come into his house:
|
|
42 For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and
|
|
she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
|
|
43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had
|
|
spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of
|
|
any,
|
|
44 Came behind <I>him,</I> and touched the border of his garment:
|
|
and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
|
|
45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and
|
|
they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee
|
|
and press <I>thee,</I> and sayest thou, Who touched me?
|
|
46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive
|
|
that virtue is gone out of me.
|
|
47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came
|
|
trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him
|
|
before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how
|
|
she was healed immediately.
|
|
48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy
|
|
faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
|
|
49 While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the
|
|
synagogue's <I>house,</I> saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble
|
|
not the Master.
|
|
50 But when Jesus heard <I>it,</I> he answered him, saying, Fear
|
|
not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
|
|
51 And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go
|
|
in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the
|
|
mother of the maiden.
|
|
52 And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she
|
|
is not dead, but sleepeth.
|
|
53 And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
|
|
54 And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and
|
|
called, saying, Maid, arise.
|
|
55 And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he
|
|
commanded to give her meat.
|
|
56 And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that
|
|
they should tell no man what was done.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Christ was driven away by the <I>Gadarenes;</I> they were weary of him,
|
|
and willing to be rid of him. But when he had crossed the water, and
|
|
returned to the <I>Galileans,</I> they <I>gladly received him,
|
|
wished</I> and <I>waited</I> for his return, and <I>welcomed</I> him
|
|
with all their hearts when he did return,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
|
|
If some <I>will not</I> accept the favours Christ offers them, others
|
|
<I>will.</I> If the Gadarenes be not gathered, yet there are many among
|
|
whom <I>Christ shall be glorious.</I> When Christ had done his work on
|
|
the other side of the water he returned, and found work to do in the
|
|
place whence he came, fresh work. They that will lay out themselves to
|
|
do good shall never want occasion for it. The needy you have always
|
|
with you.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here two miracles interwoven, as they were in Matthew and
|
|
Mark--the raising of Jairus's daughter to life, and the cure of the
|
|
woman that had an issue of blood, as he was going in a crowd to
|
|
Jairus's house. We have here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. A <I>public address</I> made to Christ by <I>a ruler of the
|
|
synagogue,</I> whose name was <I>Jairus,</I> on the behalf of a little
|
|
daughter of his, that was very ill, and, in the apprehension of all
|
|
about here, <I>lay a dying.</I> This address was very humble and
|
|
reverent. Jairus, though a <I>ruler, fell down at Jesus's feet,</I> as
|
|
owning him to be a ruler <I>above</I> him. It was very importunate. He
|
|
<I>besought him</I> that he would <I>come into his house;</I> not
|
|
having the <I>faith,</I> at least not having the <I>thought,</I> of the
|
|
centurion, who desired Christ only to <I>speak the</I> healing
|
|
<I>word</I> at a distance. But Christ complied with his request; <I>he
|
|
went along</I> with him. Strong faith shall be applauded, and yet weak
|
|
faith shall not be rejected. In the houses where sickness and death
|
|
are, it is very desirable to have the presence of Christ. When Christ
|
|
was going, <I>the people thronged him,</I> some out of curiosity to see
|
|
him, others out of an affection to him. Let us not complain of a crowd,
|
|
and a throng, and a hurry, as long as we are in the way of our duty,
|
|
and <I>doing good;</I> but otherwise it is what every wise man will
|
|
keep himself out of as much as he can.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is a <I>secret application</I> made to Christ by a woman ill
|
|
of a <I>bloody issue,</I> which had been the consumption of her body
|
|
and the consumption of her purse too; for <I>she had spent all her
|
|
living upon physicians,</I> and was never the better,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>.
|
|
|
|
The nature of her disease was such that she did not care to make a
|
|
public complaint of it (it was agreeable to the modesty of her sex to
|
|
be very shy of speaking of it), and therefore she took this opportunity
|
|
of coming to Christ <I>in a crowd;</I> and the more people were present
|
|
the more likely she thought it was that she should be <I>concealed.</I>
|
|
Her <I>faith</I> was very <I>strong;</I> for she doubted not but that
|
|
by the <I>touch</I> of the <I>hem of his garment</I> she should derive
|
|
from him healing virtue sufficient for her relief, looking upon him to
|
|
be such a full fountain of mercies that she should <I>steal</I> a cure
|
|
and he not <I>miss it.</I> Thus many a poor soul is <I>healed,</I> and
|
|
<I>helped,</I> and <I>saved,</I> by Christ, that is <I>lost in a
|
|
crowd,</I> and that nobody takes notice of. The woman found an
|
|
immediate change for the better in herself, and that her disease was
|
|
cured,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:44"><I>v.</I> 44</A>.
|
|
|
|
As believers have comfortable communion with Christ, so they have
|
|
comfortable communications from him <I>incognito</I>--<I>secretly, meat
|
|
to eat</I> that the <I>world knows not</I> of, and <I>joy</I> that a
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<I>stranger does not intermeddle with.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Here is a <I>discovery</I> of this secret cure, to the glory both
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of the physician and the patient.</P>
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|
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<P>
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1. Christ takes notice that there is a cure wrought: <I>Virtue is gone
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out of me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:46"><I>v.</I> 46</A>.
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Those that have been healed by virtue derived from Christ must
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<I>own</I> it, for he <I>knows it.</I> He speaks of it here, not in a
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|
way of <I>complaint,</I> as if he were hereby either <I>weakened</I> or
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|
<I>wronged,</I> but in a way of <I>complacency.</I> It was his delight
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|
that <I>virtue</I> was gone out of him to do any good, and he did not
|
|
grudge it to the meanest; they were as welcome to it as to the light
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|
and heat of the sun. Nor had he the less virtue <I>in him</I> for the
|
|
going out of the virtue <I>from him</I> for he is an <I>overflowing</I>
|
|
fountain.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
2. The poor patient owns her case, and the benefit she had received:
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|
<I>When she saw that she was not hid, she came, and fell down before
|
|
him,</I>
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|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:47"><I>v.</I> 47</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, The consideration of this, that we cannot be <I>hid from
|
|
Christ,</I> should engage us to <I>pour</I> out <I>our hearts
|
|
before</I> him, and to show before him all our sin and all our trouble.
|
|
<I>She came trembling,</I> and yet <I>her faith saved her,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, There may be <I>trembling</I> where yet there is saving faith.
|
|
She <I>declared before all the people for what cause she had touched
|
|
him</I> because she believed that a touch would cure her, and it did
|
|
so. Christ's patients should communicate their experiences to one
|
|
another.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The great physician confirms her cure, and sends her away with the
|
|
comfort of it: <I>Be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee
|
|
whole,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:48"><I>v.</I> 48</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jacob got the blessing from Isaac clandestinely, and by a wile; but,
|
|
when the fraud was discovered, Isaac ratified it designedly. It was
|
|
obtained <I>surreptitiously</I> and <I>under-hand,</I> but it was
|
|
secured and seconded <I>above-board.</I> So was the cure here. He is
|
|
<I>blessed,</I> and he <I>shall be blessed;</I> so here, She <I>is</I>
|
|
healed, and she <I>shall be</I> healed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. Here is an <I>encouragement</I> to Jairus not to distrust the power
|
|
of Christ, <I>though his daughter was now dead,</I> and they that
|
|
brought him the tidings advised him not to give <I>the Master any
|
|
further trouble</I> about her: <I>Fear not,</I> saith Christ, <I>only
|
|
believe.</I> Note, Our <I>faith in Christ</I> should be bold and
|
|
daring, as well as our <I>zeal for him.</I> They that are willing to do
|
|
any thing for him may depend upon his doing great things for them,
|
|
above what they are able to ask or think. When the patient is dead
|
|
there is no room for prayer, or the use of means; but here, though the
|
|
child is dead, yet <I>believe,</I> and all shall be well. <I>Post
|
|
mortem medicus</I>--<I>to call in the physician after death,</I> is an
|
|
absurdity; but not <I>post mortem Christus</I>--<I>to call in Christ
|
|
after death.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The <I>preparatives</I> for the raising of her to life again.
|
|
|
|
1. The <I>choice</I> Christ made of witnesses that should see the
|
|
miracle wrought. A <I>crowd</I> followed him, but perhaps they were
|
|
rude and noisy; however, it was not fit to let such a multitude come
|
|
into a gentleman's house, especially now that the family was all in
|
|
sorrow; <I>therefore</I> he sent them back, and not because he was
|
|
afraid to let the miracle pass their scrutiny; for he raised Lazarus
|
|
and the widow's son <I>publicly.</I> He took none with him but Peter,
|
|
and James, and John, that triumvirate of his disciples that he was most
|
|
intimate with, designing these three, with the parents, to be the only
|
|
spectators of the miracle, they being a competent number to attest the
|
|
truth of it.
|
|
|
|
2. The <I>check</I> he gave to the mourners. <I>They all wept, and
|
|
bewailed her;</I> for, it seems, she was a very agreeable hopeful
|
|
child, and dear not only to the parents, but to all the neighbours. But
|
|
Christ bid them <I>not weep; for she is not dead, but sleepeth.</I> He
|
|
means, as to her peculiar case, that she was not dead for good and all,
|
|
but that she should now shortly be raised to life, so that it would be
|
|
to her friends as if she had been but a few hours asleep. But it is
|
|
applicable to all that die in the Lord; therefore we should not sorrow
|
|
for them as those that have <I>no hope,</I> because death is but a
|
|
<I>sleep</I> to them, not only as it is a <I>rest</I> from all the
|
|
<I>toils</I> of the <I>days of time,</I> but as there will be a
|
|
<I>resurrection,</I> a waking and rising again to all the
|
|
<I>glories</I> of the <I>days of eternity.</I> This was a comfortable
|
|
word which Christ said to these mourners, yet they wickedly ridiculed
|
|
it, and <I>laughed him to scorn</I> for it here was <I>a pearl cast
|
|
before swine.</I> They were ignorant of the scriptures of the Old
|
|
Testament who bantered it as an absurd thing to call death a
|
|
<I>sleep;</I> yet <I>this</I> good came out of <I>that</I> evil that
|
|
hereby the truth of the miracle was evinced; for they <I>knew that she
|
|
was dead,</I> they were certain of it, and therefore nothing less than
|
|
a <I>divine power</I> could restore her to life. We find not any answer
|
|
that he made them; but he soon <I>explained himself,</I> I hope to
|
|
their conviction, so that they would never again laugh at any word of
|
|
his. But he <I>put them all out,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:54"><I>v.</I> 54</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were unworthy to be the witnesses of this work of wonder; they who
|
|
in the midst of their mourning were so merrily disposed as to laugh at
|
|
him for what he <I>said</I> would, it may be, have found something to
|
|
laugh at in what he <I>did,</I> and therefore are justly shut out.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. Her return to life, after a <I>short</I> visit to the
|
|
<I>congregation of the dead: He took her by the hand</I> (as we do by
|
|
one that we would awake out of sleep, and help up), and he called,
|
|
saying, <I>Maid, arise,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:55"><I>v.</I> 55</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus the <I>hand of Christ's grace</I> goes along with the <I>calls of
|
|
his word,</I> to make them effectual. Here that is expressed which was
|
|
only implied in the other evangelists, that <I>her spirit came
|
|
again;</I> her soul returned again to animate her body. This plainly
|
|
proves that the soul exists and acts in a state of separation from the
|
|
body, and therefore is immortal; that death does not extinguish this
|
|
<I>candle of the Lord,</I> but takes it out of a <I>dark lantern.</I>
|
|
It is not, as Grotius well observes, the <B><I>krasis</I></B> or
|
|
<I>temperament</I> of the body, or anything that dies with it; but it
|
|
is <B><I>anthypostaton ti</I></B>--<I>something that subsists by
|
|
itself,</I> which, after death, is somewhere else than where the body
|
|
is. Where the soul of this child was in this interval we are not told;
|
|
it was in the hand of the <I>Father of spirits,</I> to whom all souls
|
|
at death return. When <I>her spirit came again</I> she arose, and made
|
|
it appear that she was alive by her motion, as she did also by her
|
|
appetite; for Christ <I>commanded to give her meat.</I> As babes newly
|
|
born, so those that are newly raised, desire spiritual food, that they
|
|
may grow <I>thereby.</I> In the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+8:56">last verse</A>,
|
|
|
|
we need not wonder to find <I>her parents astonished;</I> but if that
|
|
implies that <I>they only</I> were so, and not the other by-standers,
|
|
who had laughed Christ to scorn, we may well wonder at their stupidity,
|
|
which perhaps was the reason why Christ would not have it proclaimed,
|
|
as well as to give an instance of his humility.</P>
|
|
|
|
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