f : f : ■: : • , i . ■ THE LIFE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: A COMPLETE CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ORIGIN, CONTENTS, AND CONNECTION OF THE GOSPELS. TRANSLATED EROM THE GERMAN OF J, P.^ANGE, D.D., PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BONN. EDITED, WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES, THE REV. MARCUS DODS, A.M. IN SIX VOLUMES. VOL. III. EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. LONDON : HAMILTON AND CO. DUBLIN : JOHN ROBERTSON AND CO. MDCCCLXIV. MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. CONTENTS OF VOL. III. BOOK II. PART IV.— THE PUBLIC APPEARANCE AND ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION OF CHRIST. Page * Sect. 13. The Return of Jesus from His Tour through Galilee. The Centurion of Capernaum. The Candidates for Discipleship. The second Discourse on the Sea-shore. The Crossing the Sea to Gadara, and the Return Home, 1 t 14. The Return of Jesus to Capernaum from His Journey to Gadara. The Throng of People. The Paralytic. The Calling of Matthew. More decided Conflicts with the Pharisees and with John's Disciples. A Succession of Miracles, ...... 20 15. Preparations for a new Journey. The Separation of the Twelve Apostles. The Instructions given to the Apostles, ...... 42 . 16. The first Journey of the Apostles. The Progress of Christ through the Towns. The Woman who was a Sinner. The Followers of Jesus. The Young Man at Nain, . "i*- . 8 17. The Baptist's Embassy, . . . . . 96 / PART V.— THE TIME OF JESUS' APPEARING AND DISAPPEARING AMID THE PERSECUTIONS OF HIS MORTAL ENEMIES. Sect. 1. Jesus in Jerusalem at the Feast of Purim. His Conflict with the Hierarchy, and its first attempt to bring about His Death, . . . . . .117 2. The Return of Jesus to Galilee. The News of the Baptist's Execution. The first Feeding of the Multitude in the Wilderness. Christ Walking on the Sea, . . 130 VI CONTENTS. Page Sect. 3. Jesus' Discourse in the Synagogue at Capernaum concern- ing the Manna from Heaven, .... 142 4. The Feast of the Passover in the Year of Persecution, . 158 5. Jesus accused of Heresy in the Corn-field, . .163 6. The Man with the Withered Hand. Christ's Ministry in Retirement, . . . . . .169 7. The Public Decisive Conflict between Jesus and the Gali- lean Pharisees. Great Opposition between the Popular Sentiment and the Sentiment of the Hierarchy in Galilee. Animated Scenes in continuous succession. (The Healing of a Twofold Demoniacal Suffering, in one both Blind and Dumb. The second Calumniation of the Miraculous Power of Jesus. The second Demand of a Sign from Heaven. The Family of Jesus. The Disturbed Feast in the Pharisee's House. The Crowding f in of the Populace. The Warning against the Hypo- crisy of the Pharisees and against Covetousness. The Discourse in Parables on the Sea-shore,) . . 173 8. Accounts given by Persons returning from the Feast, of the Galileans whom Pilate had slaughtered in the Temple, 201 t 9. A Fresh Sabbath Cure : the Woman who was bowed together, . . . . . .204 1 0. The Deputation from Jerusalem which takes the Lord to task on account of the free Behaviour of His Disciples. Jesus' distant Mountain Journeys to the Borders of the Phoenician District, and through Upper Galilee to Gaulonitis, on the other side of the Sea. (The Canaan- itish Woman. The Mute. The second Miraculous Feeding. The Passage to the Western Shore of Galilee,) 206 ^ 11. The Public Attack made upon Jesus at Magdala, and His Return across the Sea to the Hill Country of Gaulonitis. The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida. Peter's Confession, and Peter's Shrinking from the Cross, . 222 12. The Transfiguration of Jesus, .... 249 13. The Healing of the Lunatic, . . . . 263 14. The Private Journey of Christ through Galilee, and the Exhortation of his Brethren that He should step out of this Concealment, by taking part in the approaching Pilgrimage to the Feast. His Rejection of their Advice, and Secret Journey to Jerusalem, . . . '271 CONTENTS. Vll • Page Sect. 15. The Sudden Public Appearance of Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. He charges His Enemies before all the People -with Seeking His Death, and announces His Departure from the Jewish People, . . . . . .276 16. Jesus begins to announce the Contrast between the Old Testament Symbols of the Temple, and the Reality of New Testament Salvation in Himself. His Testimony respecting the Living Fountain in contrast to the Fountain of Siloah, on the Last Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Frustration of the Purpose of the Sanhedrim to take Him Prisoner, . . . 288 • 17. Jesus the Light of the World in contrast with the Lights of the Temple, . . . . . .298 18. The more distinct Announcement of Jesus, that He was on the Point of taking leave of the Jewish People, . 807 19. The Contrast between Christian Freedom and Jewish Bondage, and between the Faith of Abraham and the Seeing of Christ, . . . . .313 20. The Cure of the Man Born Blind, . . .328 21. Jesus gives the False Shepherds of Israel the Tokens by which they might know the True Shepherd, and sets Himself forth as the True Shepherd who was ready to give His Life for His Flock, .... 338 22. The Last Public Appearance of Jesus at Capernaum. Discussions among the Disciples relative to the Primacy, 350 v 23. The Danger of Offences, . . . . .358 24. An Intimation of Jesus of the Falling Away of a Large Body of the People, . . . .369 * 25. The Artifices of the Pharisees, . . . .371 26. The Entertainment in the Pharisee's House. The Man with the Dropsy. Observations addressed by Christ to His Fellow-Guests, ..... 375 27. The Train which followed Jesus in departing from Galilee. The Warning addressed to Undecided Followers, . 381 28. Christ receiving Publicans and Sinners. The Communion existing among the Disciples of Christ, . . 387 29. Jesus prevented from Travelling through Samaria, . 399 30. The Sending Forth of the Seventy, and the Retrospect of Jesus on His Galilean Ministry, . . . 403 Vlll CONTENTS. • Page Sect. 81. The Journey of Jesus through the Borders between Galilee and Samaria to Perea, . . . . .411 32. The Eeturn of the Seventy. The Narrow -hearted Lawyer and the Good Samaritan, .... 415 83. Jesus' First Abode in Perea, and His Ministry there, . 423 34. Jesus in Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication, . . 431 35. Last Stay of Jesus in Perea. The Discussion concerning Divorce. The Children. The Eich Youth, . . 440 . 36. The Raising of Lazarus at Bethany, . . . 462 37. The Definite Resolution of the Sanhedrim to put Jesus to Death. The Abode of Jesus in Retirement at the Town of Ephraim, until His going up to celebrate the Last Passover, ...... 483 PAET IY. THE PUBLIC APPEARANCE OF CHRIST AMID THE ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME' OF HIS PEOPLE. SECTION XIII. THE RETURN OF JESUS FROM HIS TOUR THROUGH GALILEE. THE CENTURION OF CAPERNAUM. THE CANDIDATES FOR DISCIPLESHIP. THE SECOND DISCOURSE ON THE SEA- SHORE. THE CROSSING THE SEA TO GADARA, AND THE RETURN HOME. (Matt. viii. 5-13, 18-34; chap. ix. 1; chap. xiii. Mark ir. 1-41; chap. v. 1-21. Luke vii. 1-10; chap. viii. 4-15; chap. viii. 22-39 ; chap. ix. 57-62.) N His entrance into Capernaum, Jesus found Himself anxiously expected by one who needed His help, and who, on account of his extraordinary faith, has obtained everlasting renown in the Gospel history as The Centurion of Capernaum. We can hardly imagine, as has been already observed,1 a greater contrast between two characters than that which is pre- sented to us between this centurion who sought help for his sick servant and that nobleman who came to the Lord on behalf of 1 Comp. Book I. v. 5, Note, and Book II. iv. 10, Note 1 . VOL. III. A 3 2 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. his son.1 That nobleman wanted the Lord to take a journey of some distance to Capernaum; he seemed impetuously to seek in Him merely a Saviour for the body ; and as his humility did not at once show itself, so it seemed to the Lord that his faith was at first doubtful. The centurion, on the contrary, from the very first appears remarkably strong as well in the humility as in the faith which he exhibited. And this great spiritual difference between the two men is quite in accordance with the treatment which they received at the hand of Jesus. Whilst He was at first very slow in responding to that nobleman, and expresses His doubts respecting the sincerity of his faith, He is here at once willing to come and to help ; and soon He has occasion loudly to extol the faith of this Gentile, and to hold him up before the Israelites as an example which might well put them to shame. Thus, throughout, the spiritual features of the two narratives are quite distinct. It is evident that Luke gives the more exact account of this transaction. We learn from Matthew that the centurion's servant ' lay sick of a palsy, grievously tormented.' 2 Luke tells us that he was ' ready to die ;' and we learn likewise from him that this centurion's servant was dear unto his master. The first Evangelist tells us in general terms that he applied to the Lord for help ; from the third Evangelist we learn that he was encouraged to do so by others, and that he made use of an honourable embassy to send to the Lord. He engaged the elders of the synagogue at Capernaum to go to meet the Wonder-worker, and desire Him to come down. These pleaded his cause very earnestly, and sought to give addi- tional weight to it by adding, that he loved the Jews, and had 1 With good reason does Ebrard draw attention to the fact that the Bot/Ao? of the centurion is in Luke (ver. 7) called nuts, just as in Matthew. This is sufficient to show how we are to understand Matthew's use of t«?j in this narrative. 2 Although ' paralysis does not at other times occur as a disease quickly- bringing on death,' yet the circumstance that it may occur as an illness which at last is fatal, and at last therefore is also speedily fatal, is sufficient to put aside the observations of Schleiermacher (iiber die Schriften d. Luk. p. 92) and of Strauss (Leben Jesu, ii. p. 96), according to which there is a contradiction between the account of St Matthew and that of St Luke respecting this illness. Why might not a paralytic fall into such fearful agony as to make people apprehensive of his dying? Comp. Ebrard, Gospel History, p. 281 (Clark). THE CENTURION OF CAPERNAUM. 3 built them a synagogue ; from which we may well conclude that he was a proselyte of the first degree, that is, a Proselyte of the Gate. But immediately afterwards the heart of this lowly man was struck with remorse at having given this honoured Deliverer of men the trouble of coming to his house. He immediately despatched a second embassy to Jesus, with the declaration that he was not worthy that Jesus should enter tinder his roof, or even admit him to come into His presence, and entreating that He would cure his servant by a word of power spoken at a distance. He might, perhaps, have heard of the healing at a distance which had fallen to the share of the nobleman's son, and very likely had explained the wonderful character of this deed accord- ing to his own fashion. At any rate, he had a reason to give for his petition, in which was contained the most delicate and hearty fealty to the Lord. He founds his petition upon the remark that he himself was a man holding authority under a higher power. But yet he had to command his soldiers who were placed under him. This, in military language, he amplifies in a lively manner : ' I say unto one, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he corneth.' Then he comes back to his beloved servant : ' And I say unto my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.' He had an idea that just in this manner Jesus must act in the kingdom of the powers of healing, or of the genii of recovery and of help, and all the more, since that in His kingdom He had no superior. According to his declaration, he considered Him as the real Csesar in the kingdom of the wonder-working powers of life, that is, in the kingdom of spirits. According to his view, all the genii of life were bound to obey the word of this great Cassar ; by a word, then, He could send as His ser- vant a genius of healing power to his own sick servant. This sublime and thoroughly original view of faith, coupled with as great a humility, astonished even the Lord Himself, and turning to His followers, He exclaimed : ' I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.' He seized this opportunity to widen the view of the Gospel horizon for His disciples, by giving them the assurance ' that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.' Perhaps a later occasion gave rise to His expressing also the contrast (Luke xiii. 28, 29) : ' But 4 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer dark- ness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Jesus dismissed the embassy with the command to return to the house ; * that it should be done according to the faith of the centurion. On their return they found the sick servant already restored. The miraculous aid wrought by this word spoken at a distance was accomplished through a twofold drawing of sympathizing and awakened hearts, through a well-prepared road of warmest sympathy. An invisible highway, as one might say, for the victorious health-giving eagles of the great Emperor. Very soon the Lord was again surrounded by those who sought His help and desired to listen to His words. But it was not His intention at present to tarry again in Capernaum. He desired to carry His help also to the country lying on the other side of the sea, to that region of Northern Perea where the Jews lived in the midst of Gentiles, and much mixed up with them, — namely, in the district which belonged to the union of Decapolis, or the ten cities. The opportunity for making this journey was in the highest degree favourable. The faith of the heathen centurion had made an impression upon the disciples, so that just now they would have the least difficulty in entering into His plan of visiting such a mixed neighbour- hood, where even the Jewish life was obscured by such min- gling with Gentile life. But not even yet would the Lord forsake altogether the chosen people. Instead of that, again for the second time (Mark iv. 1) He taught from the ship the multitude assembled on the sea-shore. He spoke to the people as one who was taking His leave of them, which must have heightened still more the effect of His words. But we find that His discourse now takes a new character. The crowd which surrounded Him had gradually very much increased ; but it had now become of a very mixed character. Even in His second Sermon on the Mount, we saw Him make a marked difference between susceptible disciples and suspicious worldly followers.2 As hearers of this description now form a considerable part of His audience, and these being joined by a 1 Matthew inexactly gives the words as addressed immediately to the centurion. 2 This would explain the expression, d'K'h iip.lv "hkyu (Luke vi. 27), which has been considered strange. See Schleiermacher, p. 90. THE CANDIDATES FOR DISCIPLESHir. 5 number even of disaffected, unfriendly listeners, the Lord feels that He must veil the real life-giving meaning of His discourse under the form of parables. This time He feels that it is now already quite clear that He is strongly opposed by a hostile spirit in His audience. Therefore He preaches in parables. It would seem that on this day He did not deliver all the parables which Matthew has grouped" together in chap, xiii., but only some of them. The interpretation which, according to ver. 10, He gave to the disciples He might have given them in the vessel immediately after delivering the parable, whilst He gave the people a longer pause to think over what He had said to them. The Parable of the Tares, on the contrary, according to ver. 36, supposes another scene, and from its contents, likewise a later time. According to Mark's narrative, Jesus spoke not only the Parable of the Sower on this day, but also the Parable of the gradual Development of the Seed, and finally that of the Mustard-seed. This discourse forms an entire whole. First, then, Jesus impresses upon His hearers that, in the sowing of His word, He does not find in them all the same susceptibility to receive it. He pointed even then to the noxious birds which already were devouring the seed fallen by the way-side, to the hostile principle by which He was counteracted, and which was ever increasing in strength. He showed them how that much that He should plant would perish in precipitate levity, and much in sluggish despondency. But He also expressed I lis assurance that He found amongst them some good ground. And now He comforted these thus ready to receive Him by assuring them that His seed in their life should not result immediately in flowers and fruit, but should first gradually develop itself. But to those who were in danger of being per- plexed at the smallness of the number of His real disciples, He gave the true explanation of the marvellous increase of God's kingdom in the parable of the mustard-seed. When the even was come, the Lord hastened to cross over to the eastern shore of the sea. But now some individuals, struck with especial veneration, stepped forth from the outer circle of disciples, and wished to bind themselves to full and unreserved discipleship (Matt. vih. 19-22). The Evangelist Luke removes this occurrence to a later time, when Jesus was preparing for His last journey into Jerusalem (chap. ix. 51- G2). 6 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. But it is easy to be seen that he was led to do so by the trans- action which here occurred between Jesus and the two Sons of Thunder. Whilst it was his intention to exhibit the mastery of Christ in dealing with various kinds of minds, we may say of the four different temperaments, he has made a psychological combination. But it is not likely that just at this time, when His cause appeared to be so doubtful, scribes of the character of this enthusiast should have wished to join themselves to the Lord with the expression of an enthusiasm which promised too much, and was therefore little to be relied upon. This moment, on the contrary, when Jesus was about to cross over into the country of the Gadarenes, was peculiarly f avoidable. The influence of Christ with the people was now at its height. Even the proposed expedition was rich in promise ; only there was against it the scruples of an orthodox shrinking from contact with Gentiles. Therefore a scribe, who felt himself attracted by the prospect which discipleship to Jesus seemed to open, might easily make some merit of his being now ready to follow Him. Besides the Lord's dealing with the sorrowful one who wanted first to bury his father, there certainly also belongs to this place His dealing with the hesitating one who desired to take a formal farewell of those who were at home in his house. As it is clearly an adherence to Jesus for an unreserved out- ward following of Him which is here spoken of, so it seems to be in fact a question of future claims to the apostolic office. And we are all the more driven to this conclusion, since a more indefinite adherence to Jesus would not readily have occasioned such a particular discussion concerning the outward proof of discipleship, and since, very soon after this occurrence, Ave learn that the Lord separated off His first circle of disciples. Per- haps, therefore, it would be well more accurately to ascertain the individuals here spoken of. But, first, we must put aside those apostles who had been already enlisted at an earlier period, thus : Andrew, John, Peter, James the elder, Nathanael or Bartholomew, and Philip. Now, if we recognise James the younger and Judas Lebbeus or Thaddeus to be the Lord's brothers, who did not, we may believe, give in their adhesion to Jesus in so public and sudden a manner, and if, according to the supposition of ancient Church history,1 we leave the pos- 1 See Winer s. v. THE CANDIDATES FOR DISCIPLESHIP. 7 sibility as yet undisputed of Simon the Zealot being a third brother of the Lord, then certainly the names of Judas Iscariot, Thomas, and Matthew would come under consideration as the three candidates here spoken of. The first of these aspirants offered himself to Jesus as His follower with the forward and enthusiastic word, ' Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest I'1 But the word seems to inspire with no confidence the Master in the knowledge of souls. His answer is serious and full of warning : ' The foxes have holes, and the buds of the air have dwelling-places ; 2 but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head' (either to sleep or to die) ! Was it with these words, may we imagine, that Jesus replied to the offer of Judas Iscariot % We only know of him that he was the son of one Simon (John vi. 71), apparently a man of Kerioth, of the tribe of Judah (Joshua xv. 25). He might very likely have been a scribe, discharging his office in Galilee. Some people have thought the Lord's answer to this candidate very strange.3 But that He might very possibly have spoken of foxes in a figurative sense, is shown by the message which He sent to the Galilean prince Herod (Luke xiii. 32). Many have marvelled how Jesus could have received amongst His disciples such a man as Iscariot. The passage before us might give us a key to this How. Here is a man who comes forward and enthusiastically declares that nothing shall separate him from Jesus, that he will and shall follow Him everywhere. Could Jesus altogether give the lie to the expression of such an enthusiastic self-surrender from so important a man ? But that He meets him with a tone designed to test his character, and which seems to betray a feeling of mistrust, is evident. He means to say to him, that in connection with the needy Son of man, one should not, one might be sure, look for any earthly 1 Schleiermacher refers the expression oVoy »v d^ip-jcyi to the different roads which Jesus might travel (towards Jerusalem). See the work already referred to, p. 169. 2 ' Dwelling-places, not nests; for birds do not live in nests.' — De Wette, Comment, p. 86. 3 "Weisse, in his Evan. Gcschichte, vol. ii. p. 57. Besides, according to Weisse, the Lord's words must be taken in an allegorical sense, and mean that the Divine Spirit, which had become incarnate in Christ, never reposes or rests, never allows Himself to be enclosed under any roof or between any four walls, etc. O PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. gain. The foxes even axe better off than one could outwardly be with Him ; they, at all events, have their holes. As con- cerning the birds of the air, we do not wish to attach any im- portance to the fact that, but a short time before, in the parable of the sower, He had spoken of birds in an evil sense, of the seed-destroying birds. But the expression, 'the Son of man hath not where to lay his head,' might very well have been spoken here in an especial presentiment of that moment when, in dying, He should have no pillow on which to support His head. Yet it certainly is remarkable that Jesus neither positively rejects this candidate, nor yet does He receive him with joyful sympathy. The second candidate is desired by Jesus Himself to follow Him. But he meets this request with words of sorrow and dejection : ' Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.' Now, we can hardly imagine that this disciple wanted still to devote himself to the care of his aged father, so as not to be- come a follower of Jesus until after his death.1 It would have been senseless his promising to follow the Lord at such an un- certain period. Besides which, it would have been unfeeling to describe the care of an aged father by such an expression. The father of this man was therefore dead. His grave stood ready. But as Jesus was on the point of setting sail, this man must at once decide which he would do : either he must forego his personal attendance at the funeral, or else he must give up his departure with Jesus. But the melancholy, irresolute man could not bear to make the decision. He therefore begged for permission first to do the funeral honours to his father : perhaps he hoped thereby to effect a delay in Jesus' departure. But the Lord met the grief of this honest man for the death of his relative with re- buking and encouraging decision : ' Let the dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.' Thus, in spite of his wavering, Jesus does not reckon this man amongst the spiritually dead, of which there were enough in Ca- pernaum who remained at home to attend to the funerals there. In his sorrowful irresolution, he sees the valuable kernel of 1 Compare De Wette's Commentar. z. Matt. p. 87. According to a tra- dition in Clem. Alex. (Stromata iii. 4), this other disciple was Philip. But Jesus had admitted Philip before this into the inner circle of disciples. THE CANDIDATES FOR DISCIPLESHIP. 9 faithfulness, as perhaps in the flaring enthusiasm of the first aspirant He may have discerned the smoke of egotistical self- deceit. When, afterwards, the Lord was journeying towards Judea to go to the grave of Lazarus, Thomas uttered those mournful words, ' Let us also go, that we may die with him !' And again, after Jesus' resurrection, he could not again get free from the idea of His death, His grave. It would therefore have been quite in accordance with his character to have at first encountered the Lord in this manner, and if the Lord had even already now proclaimed to him the advance of victorious life over the graves of the dead. Concerning the third aspirant Matthew is altogether silent. This one said to Jesus : ' Lord, I will follow thee ; but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house.' This request Jesus gently reproved in His reply as a mark of indecision : ' No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.' Soon after His return from the country of the Gadarenes, Jesus called Matthew from the receipt of custom. Immediately he rose up, left all, and followed Him (Luke v. 28). But he now pre- pared a great feast, at which he entertained the Lord in com- pany with several publicans, of whom he now seemed to be taking leave as of his former professional comrades. Hence that third disciple reminds us of Matthew. Perhaps he would fain have made this great supper at once, before the departure for Gadara, in order immediately afterwards to follow the Lord. But Jesus could not approve of such a farewell feast, at which the young ploughman would have looked back unduly upon his old course of life, instead of looking forward, keeping his eye fixed on the plough, intent on serious labour in God's field, which requires decided self-surrender and renunciation of the world,1 — a farewell feast, therefore, calculated to hinder the work of the kingdom. Later, however, when circumstances so ordered it that this feast opened up for Jesus Himself a most appropriate sphere of labour, and when the disciple had proved by deeds his determination to follow Him, then He gladly took part in such a feast. It is not said whether, notwithstanding, this third disciple followed Him. At all events, He was not yet decidedly received into the inner circle of disciples. 1 See Stier's Words of the Lord, i. 369 (Clark). 10 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. Thus the disciples of Jesus were gathered together, appa- rently increased by the new companions whom Matthew mentions, and they at once proceed to depart. Jesus determined to set out just as He was. The vessel which bore Him was accom- panied by other vessels. It, together with them, formed the little fleet of Christ's increasing company. His fame now fills the whole country of Galilee ; the anticipations and hopes of the disciples soared bright and vast away over the Galilean Sea. But a great trial was soon to shake this rising enthusiasm. A sudden mighty hurricane1 broke upon the sea and brought the vessels into danger. The billows dashed over the ship in which the disciples were ; the water in the ship got higher and higher, until, as Mark tells us, it was near being full, or getting overloaded ; and even the disciples, accustomed as they were to the sea, began to lose courage. It seemed to them that there was something especially fearful in this sudden storm. And if they thought now of Jonah's voyage, when a storm of wind beat over the ship because he was flying from God, then the apprehension might have seized them, that perhaps there was an accursed thing in the breast of one of their companions in the ship, perhaps in that one who had entered last just as they were about to sail. But why should they commence any inquiry of this sort, when they could have recourse to the Master ? They turned to Him in this trouble of then- souls. They found Him lying in the hinder part of the vessel asleep on a pillow, as in the peaceful rest of childhood : the howling storm awoke Him not ! And even the disciples' cry of anguish, ' Master, save us, we perish ! ' filled Him with no alarm. With perfect composure He rebuked first the disciples for their faintheartedness, then He rose up, and with His garments fluttering, full of majesty, confronting the storm like a second storm from heaven, He cried out into the din and whirl the holy word : ' Peace, be still !' He had uttered the word from the heart of God. The wind ceased, a great nocturnal calm was soon again spread over 1 [ ' To understand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests, we must remember . . . that the water-courses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the bead of this lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains.' — Thomson, Land and Book, 374. — Ed.] THE STORM ON THE LAKE OF GENNESARET. 11 the sea. And as the night was restored to serenity and bright- ness, and seemed fain to array herself with festal splendour amid the glittering lights of the sky and the mirroring sea, so also peace and joy were restored to the souls of the disciples. But a great awe of Jesus had taken possession of them. ' What manner of man is this,' they inquired of one another, ' that even the winds and the sea obey him ! ' Thus it is likewise with the ship of the Church, in which the disciples of Christ traverse the world's sea : it cannot go to the bottom, even if the spurious characters existing among disciples themselves should arouse the most dangerous storms, for He Himself is ever with them in the ship ; His righteous- ness outweighs unrighteousness within the circle of His disciples. The direct mastery which Christ here exhibited over nature1 does not militate against the fact, that Christian humanity again obtains this mastery in the indirect way of the use of means ; rather it points out just the creative juncture [Moment] in which humanity becomes again fully conscious of her spiritual supe- riority in God over menacing nature, and consequently the juncture in which the foundation is laid of the whole Christian era, so far as it developes itself into an overcoming of nature by the use of means. For it is quite certain that even the sub- duing of nature by the use of means to the service of man supposes the ever-increasing development of Christian enlight- enment. This, perhaps, is most especially to be seen when steamers burst, and steam-ships, with all their appliances for subduing nature, blow up in the air. In such a case, some- thing has always been wanting somewhere in the right con- junction of immediateness with the use of means, perhaps in prayer or sobriety of spirit. The voyagers landed in the neighbourhood of Gadara, the chief city of Perea, which lay to the south-east of the southern extremity of the Lake of Gennesaret ; it was built on a hill, and was for the most part inhabited by Gentiles. Immediately on His arrival, Jesus was induced to cast the spirit out of a de- moniac ; and this healing stands out as the greatest of all His 1 [Hase, Leben Jesu, p. 138 (4th edition, 1854), mentions the doubt of some, whether Jesus only, through His knowledge of nature, predicted the calm, or through His power over nature, brought it about ; and be observes that the eye-witnesses, who were seafaring men, decided for the latter. — Ed.] 12 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. miraculous cures of this nature.1 In relating this occurrence, the Evangelist Matthew differs in two particulars from the other Evangelists. Both differences are, no doubt, to be explained from one cause, and testify to either a greater or a less degree of accuracy in his account in comparison with that which the other Evangelists had received. But we assume that the Gospel, in its essential substance, is in its form before us from Matthew himself, and that Matthew, just in this circle of facts which cluster round his call, is deserving of particular attention. Besides, the circumstance is to be considered that he was a tax- gatherer on the western shore of the lake, so that the opposite shore must have been well known to him. Hence, when Matthew speaks here of the country of the Gergesenes, whilst the others speak of the country of the Gadarenes, we may assmne that he points out more precisely the place where they landed, giving it the name which it may have had from a town not so well known as Gadara.2 Besides this, the Evangelist mentions two demoniacs as having hastened out to meet the Lord, whilst the others only speak of one. It would be alto- gether unpsychological to suppose that the Evangelist had the peculiarity of liking to make two individuals out of one. As little can we imagine that the number two arose out of the name of Legion, which the demoniac gave himself. For it would not only suppose a most entire misunderstanding of the narrative, but also the most pitiful endeavour in the compila- tion of the Gospel, if we were to assume that the plurality of the possessing demons was meant to be thus in some measure confirmed through the duality of the demons. Also is it surely quite impossible to suppose that Matthew, who was so well acquainted with the localities in the neighbour- hood of the lake, should have brought hither that demoniac out of the synagogue at Capernaum, and have joined him to this 1 [On the connection of this miracle with the preceding, see Trench. — Ed.] 2 [On the disputed reading in this passage, see the author's Comm. on Matt. vol. i. 331 ; Ebrard, p. 248 ; Ellicott, p. 188 ; and Alford in he. Ellicott reads Tspyienvau with the Textus Eec. ; and it is obvious that the reading Yothctpyvav may be easily explained as an attempt to bring Matthew into harmony with the other Gospels. For deciding the reading, the remarks of Thomson, Land and Book, p. 375, on the ruins of Gersa are important. His description of the locality answers point for point, in remarkable coincidence, to the scene required by the narrative. — Ed.] THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 13 demoniac of Gadara.1 Rather, we have here surely to recognise more exact precision in the introduction of the second demoniac, of the same kind as when he observes that the shore of Gadara where Jesus landed, was more precisely described as the coun- try of the Gergesenes. The one difficulty bears evidence for the other, and botli bear evidence for the originality of the Gospel. Jesus there- fore cured two demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes ; but that characteristically important one which caused His speedy return was only one of the two. Thus the first Evan- gelist, according to his habit of grouping together several inci- dents, has represented both cures as one fact. All the Evangelists have considered it characteristic that this neighbourhood should have so decidedly turned its dark side to the Gospel. The road from the sea to the nearest town was insecure. Rocky fissures extended through this region, which were used as sepulchres. In these caves dwelt two demoniacs, terrifying the passers-by. Jesus healed them ; and one of them under most remarkable circumstances. This possessed man, who stands forward more prominently, would no longer allow himself to be kept at home. They had often tried to bind him. He had even been placed in chains and fetters, but he was always free again : the fetters were broken, the chains snapped as if he had rubbed them asunder, his clothes he tore off, and fled into the desert, which resounded with his cries. His paroxysms were so fearful that he raved against himself, wounding himself with stones. This savage being rushed then towards the Lord immediately on His land- ing. There was something self-contradictory in his behaviour, as we have seen above, which is explained, on the one hand, by the foreboding sense of Christ's superior might, which came upon him in his demoniacal power of apprehension, and, on. the other hand, by the ungovernable defiance which the demons inspired. This contradictory circumstance, that he hastened to the Lord and fell down before Him, and yet cried out to Him, 'What have I to do with thee?' quite agrees, therefore, with his condition.2 Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to 1 So Ebrard, p. 247. 2 By this the difficulty is solved which Strauss and others have found in this apparent contradiction. 1 4 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. come out of the sick man. We have seen what delayed the cure. The possessed man, in accordance with his distracted consciousness, felt as if a legion of spirits were within him : therefore with this consciousness Christ had to deal. The demons now besought Him that He would only not send them into the deep, but allow them to go into the herd of swine. Those who have not caught aright the difference between the great Shepherd of men and the well-conditioned swine- keeper in the country of the Gadarenes, imagine here that Jesus ought to have forbidden the demons to work this mis- chief, that it was a violation of the Gadarenes' rights of owner- ship to have granted their request, and that this proceeding can be only falsely defended by referring to the sovereign right of Christ's Godhead. It is quite true that the demons acknow- ledge in Him this Divine fulness of power ; but yet we explain His decision on the ground of His human consciousness of right : yes, on the very ground of His perfect unassumingness with reference to legal rights. He had not to administer justice nor the laws, nor to undertake the guardianship of swine in the country of the Gadarenes ; and therefore He per- mitted that to take place which He could not have forbidden without mixing Himself up with local affairs of justice. Con- sequently modern lawyers who bring an action for damages in consideration of these Gadarenian swine, and who would thereby make the Gospel history also answerable for what the Prince of the Gospel once did, have to take the part of that wild legion of malicious demons.1 But now follows what is indeed a very obscure history. Even defenders of the Gospel narrative have been ahnost tempted to see here some mythical traits. But yet it seems to us that we should rather speak only of highly mysterious features in a circumstance clearly enough delineated. It has been explained above, how first of all we are to under- stand demonaical operations among the demons, according as they took hold of the consciousness of the possessed sufferer ; perhaps in such a way as generally a fixed idea becomes the central point in the consciousness of a crazy person. We there- fore consider these demoniacal operations on their natural side 1 Concerning this point, the narrative in the two other Evangelists evi- dently clears up the more obscure account in St Matthew. THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 15 as proceeding from a frame of mind spiritually powerful, and physically diseased. Now it is quite certain that such states of mind, according to the measure of their powerfulness, pass over from men to men, particularly to the weak, or that they can make an agitat- ing impression upon those men. But here the question forces itself upon us, how far animals also may be susceptible of such impressions. Now, first of all, it is quite certain that they, especially dogs and horses, are very susceptible of physical impressions from man. The dog has a great disposition to receive into his animal condition, and to exhibit, human peculiarities. The horse has a great disposition to physical terror from impressions — one might almost say to ghost-seeing.1 But as for the pig, he seems, in his dull, obstinate nature, to represent quite the opposite pole to the aforesaid noble animals. Nevertheless it is capable of receiving terrifying impressions ; and such a shock once received by the whole herd of swine, manifests itself sympathetically. It hurries along a whole herd in wild senseless fury. Now, if we return to the demoniacs, we must first of all again bear in mind that the healing of demoniacs was each time ac- companied by a final paroxysm. This paroxysm appeared gene- rally to be in proportion to the grievousness of the complaint. Here, therefore, in this moment, when the demoniac called Legion knew that his last attack was come, we may expect a most frightful paroxysm. It certainly is contrary to the mean- ing of the Gospel narrative to suppose that he rushed into the herd of swine : the herd was a good way off from them, Matthew says. And even the final paroxysm of a demoniac would hardly exhibit itself in so very strange a manner. Yes, this form of healing would be opposed to his own consciousness. Besides, the outward entrance of a man into a herd of two thousand swine, by itself alone, considered as a material influence, would not have called forth the results here recorded. The real matter is therefore set forth in the following simple mysterious form. The demoniac has a final paroxysm. And if he before made the place unearthly by his fearful cries, the thousand 1 We are reminded here of Balaam's ass, which we are to imagine to be a lively oriental ass, more nearly approaching to a horse ; perhaps a very strong type of this class of animals. 1 10 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. voices of the demons which were being driven out of him now make themselves heard in the most horrible howl. His outcry is like the shrill, confused savage sound of a wild hunt. This roar acts like an electric shock upon the herd of swine, which is feeding at some distance off on the slope of the hill overhang- ing the sea. The terror which comes upon them seizes the whole herd like a storm ; and with senseless, stupid excitement, they rush down from the steep mountain side into the sea ; in their flight, perhaps, deceived by a rush-covered bank, which makes them hope to find a refuge in their most congenial home, a swamp. Thus they perish.1 Without doubt, this obscure occurrence is not without its significance. One explanation is, that the Gadarenes deserved to have been punished for their un-Israelitish breeding of swine ; but against this it has been urged, that though certainly the Jews dared not eat swine's flesh, yet that they were not for- bidden to trade in swine. Only, this last distinction does not exactly hold good ; for the breeding of swine must in any case have been opposed to the feeling of Jewish purity. But also it is not to be supposed that immediately on His crossing over to the eastern shore of the sea, Jesus could have found nothing but simple heathenism and Gentile ways. The herd of swine characterized, therefore, the mixed neigh- bourhood, where perhaps even the Jews gained their livelihood by swine, • in furnishing them to Gentiles. Under these cir- 1 [This explanation, however, will be considered superfluous, and in- deed out of place, by those who accept the simple statement of the narrative, that they were not demoniacal dispositions but personal devils which pos- sessed the man. These persons, by their request (which must have some meaning), provided for their reception in the swine when they should be ex- pelled from the man. They were conscious that, as persons, they must now go elsewhere ; and when they entered the swine, they produced effects similar to those they had been producing in the man. And it was this, apparently, which completed the man's cure. He knew now that they were persons which had been in him ; he saw them going elsewhere, and knew himself in distinct conscious separation from his tormentors. By those who would have the swine to be merely affected in sympathy with the man, the event is misunderstood as a whole, the case of the swine being disconnected from the cure of the man. No doubt there are cases in which the feeling of a man is communicated to animals ; but it is forgotten that such communica- tion does not diminish but rather increases the original feeling in man, and cannot therefore be applied to the present case. — Ed] THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 17 cumstances, the occurrence was very significant, even if we cannot say that Jesus here inflicted a punishment on the Gada- renes ; still less, since He did not Himself order the accident, but merely permitted it to happen as a decree of God. When such an accident as this took place at the very entrance of Jesus in that neighbourhood, it showed how far removed was His course of life from the lawlessness with which it has been often charged.1 Yes, this occurrence, happening at a time when the Old Testament laws concerning meats were about to end for the kingdom of Christ, threw a wondrous streak of light at the end of their existence across the centre-point of these laws, by bringing out in strong relief the ideal significance which might have been couched under the prohibition to eat swine's flesh. The remark has recently been made with truth, that the aver- sion which ancient civilised nations had to eat horse flesh, pro- ceeded apparently from the fact that the horse is peculiarly dis- posed to receive within himself human influences, and to come into a certain friendly relation with man.2 The horse so often becomes inspired by the physical disposi- tion of his rider, even by his heroism, that one might indeed venture to say, that he who feeds on a riding horse, eats like- wise something of the life of his rider. A lap-dog is entirely interwoven, as it were, with the reflection of his mistress's humours and fancies. Hence, no doubt, arises the deep-seated aversion to eating the flesh of such an animal, in which can be imprinted such varied reflections of humanity. But as con- cerning swine, they seem to have a susceptibility to receive dark impressions of wild sylvan terror, which caused their flesh to appear unclean to the ever watchful spirit of the theo- cracy.3 But for mature Christian nations, this disposedness of 1 See Hess's LebensgescTiiclite Jesu i. 533. ' It is well known how much scorn, ay, and even persecution, the Jews must have had to endure in con- sequence of their being forbidden to eat swine's flesh. Did Jesus desire, perhaps, to justify His nation in this respect, and to show to the Gentile Gadarenes that even in this point the Jewish law had divine authority to support it?' 2 Comp. the article Pferdefleischessen, in Tippelskirch's Volksblatt, 1844. 3 Just so the Arabians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Phoenicians. Comp. Von Ammon, vol. i. p. 396. VOL. III. B 3 18 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. swine's flesh to disease no longer carries with it in general any weight ; but just as theocratical humanity was passing out of the legal into the Gospel period, it would seem that the spirit of the ancient theocracy was, by a singular occurrence, to appear justified in the severity of its prescriptions intended for the nonage of God's people. At all events, this fact may be considered as a great primary phenomenon concerning the relation between the demoniacal dispositions of men and the psychical nature of animals, and especially of swine ; and let those who have no better explana- tion to give, refrain at least from all such glosses as do no more than throw a certain gloss of tolerable respectability over the Gospel narrative, impoverishing the great reality of the fact recorded, in order that the wisdom of the day may find no diffi- culty in the passage, i.e^ may be relieved of this riddle likewise. The keepers of the swine beheld the terrible disaster, and flew to the city to proclaim it there. The city here spoken of seems to have been a small provincial town near the sea. On hearing the frightful news, the people from the villages and hamlets hasten out to meet Jesus. They see the evidence of the misfortune which the swine-keepers announced, in a most gratifying sight ; for they see the demoniacal man healed, and sitting quietly on the ground at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right man. From some quarter his clothing has been promptly provided ; and by his speech he shows that he is restored to his right mind. They now hear the full particulars from those who witnessed the transaction. But immediately a great fear falls upon them, and with courteous entreaties they implore the mighty Stranger to leave their neighbourhood. The destruction of two thousand swine outweighs with them even the deliverance of a man whose misery had disturbed the whole neighbourhood. At any rate, the fear of faith certainly as yet outweighs with them the joy of faith. The working of the spiritual glory of Jesus has therefore, for the present, agitated quite powerfully enough this neighbour- hood, and a stronger exhibition of it they could not have borne. Besides which, He forces Himself nowhere. He therefore agrees to their courteous rejection. But in return, when about to depart, He takes care that the healed man should stay behind, to be a witness amongst them of this deed of His. This man THE GADARENE DEMONIAC. 19 seems to have been deeply grieved that his countrymen should banish his Deliverer ; at all events, He was dearer to him now than his home. Therefore, when Jesus was entering the ship, he beaded ^0 be allowed to remain with Him. But Jesus charged him to return to his own house, and proclaim to his family how that God had had mercy upon him. And this charge he fulfilled most energetically : throughout the whole neighbourhood of the ten towns he declared what had befallen him, and together with the praises of God he proclaimed like- wise the name of Jesus. Thus in the dark country of the Gadarenes, during a very short sojourn, Jesus had changed an inhuman wretch, driven hither and thither, and absolutely con- trolled by the darkest sentiments of the country, into a faithful and zealous preacher of God's delivering grace, and of the sal- vation which had been set forth in him. And this great bless- ing of His Spirit He leaves behind for a people who had been punished through the judicial severity of His appearance, and who were fast chained to earthly interests. 1 NOTES. 1. That the centurion of Capernaum (centurio, commander of a company) was a Gentile, may clearly be gathered from the narrative. But as concerning the corps to which he belonged, many have expressed the opinion that there was at Capernaum a Roman garrison, and that to this he belonged. By others, again, this has been doubted. Compare Kuinoel on this passage. As Herod Antipas was by the Romans the acknowledged prince of Galilee, the garrison at Capernaum probably belonged to his 1 [The remarks of Westcott (Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles, pp. 83 ff.) on the judgment which is involved in the miracles on the spirit- world are very worthy of consideration. And regarding the different effect of this miracle on the demoniac himself and on his countrymen, he says (p. 70), ' The one, in the consciousness of a restored being, entreats that he may still follow the author of his blessing ; the others, in the anti- cipation of greater sacrifices, seek still to retain for a while that which could not abide the ordeal of the divine presence. The one petition is refused, the other granted ; yet so that what seems in both cases the withdrawal of a blessing, is really the counsel of tenderest love. The Saviour departs, but the witness of His love remains. The greater blessing is replaced by one which was less overpowering.' Augustine (Qiisest. Evan. ii. 13) compares the healed demoniac's case to Paul's : ' To depart and be with Christ is far better ; nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.' — Ed.] 20 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. own military, in which case the centurion was attached to this Galilean corps. Herod Antipas had many Gentiles among his subjects, and, no doubt, therefore among his officers as well. 2. Concerning the locality of Gadara, compare Ebrard, p. 248 ; concerning Decapolis, or the ten cities, see Winer's E. W. s. v. 3. It is self-evident that the many other difficulties which recent critics have found in the foregoing Gospel narrative, — for example, why the demons wTere so foolish as to drive the herd of swine down a precipice, and thus deprive themselves of their lodirinff, — it is self-evident that these difficulties are set at rest by our view of the demoniac state. The examples which Strauss, vol. ii. p. 37, brings forward are interesting, concern- ing the manner and means by which, in former times, exorcists sometimes made the demons give them a sign that they were gone out. [Westcott, Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles, p. 73, gives a tabular view of the various phrases which express the idea of possession, and serve to bring out some of its cha- racteristics.— Ed.] SECTION XIV. THE RETURN OF JESUS TO CAPERNAUM FROM HIS JOURNEY TO GADARA. THE THRONG OF PEOPLE. THE PARALYTIC. THE CALLING OF MATTHEW. MORE DECIDED CONFLICTS WITH THE PHARISEES AND WITH JOHN'S DISCIPLES. A SUCCESSION OF MIRACLES. (Matt. ix. 1-34. Mark ii. 1-22 ; chap. v. 21-43. Luke v. 17-39; chap. viii. 40-56.) In Gadara Jesus had met with a fresh repulse. He there- fore returned again to His own city (Matt. ix. 1). Matthew seems to lay stress upon His being thus sent home, but also on the fact that His home was in Capernaum, where he himself most probably dwelt. Here they still received Him with open arms, as if they had . been looking out towards the eastern shore in anxious expecta- THE PARALYTIC AT CAPERNAUM. 21 tion of Him. On His arrival a crowd is very soon again col- lected, and surrounds the dwelling into which He has entered, probably Peter's house, with whom He was accustomed to lodge. The crowd increases, blocking up the entrance, so that those seeking help cannot approach the door, whilst Jesus is either talking to those immediately around Him, or else preaching to the people from the house. But now something extraordinary occurred, which Matthew mentions with admiration (%cci iftov, ver. 2). The roof of the chamber or hall in which Christ was, opened, and upon a litter, borne by four persons, a paralytic man was let down and laid at the feet of Jesus. The men who bore this sick man had not been able to gain an entrance by the door of the house in consequence of the crowd. Then they had hit upon this expedient, either gaining the summit of the house by an outside staircase, or else by the roof of a neighbouring house, and then removing the bricks from the platform at the top of the house where Jesus was, until the opening was effected.1 This was indeed a breaking through of faith in its most literal sense, and only to be ex- plained as proceeding from the most fearless confidence, which seemed almost to border on impertinent presumption.2 Ante- cedently, it is not likely that the lame man allowed himself to be thus dealt with against his will ; rather his courageous faith seems first to have given rise to this undertaking. Yes, from the way and manner in which the Lord took this affair, we might conclude that he had been the real leader of this bold expedition ; thus resembling General Torstenson, who once gained a victory whilst he was being carried sick and lame in a 1 It is evident from Mark's account that it was not an enlarging of a trap-door which is here spoken of. This is apparent also from the circum- stance itself. See Ebrard, p, 263. 2 ' Criticism,' in its usual narrow-minded littleness of spirit, has been shocked at this heroism of faith, and has expressed concern lest this break- ing open of the roof might possibly have injured those who were under- neath. Dr Hug, with reference to this concern of theirs, has described the whole operation in his Gutachten, Part ii. p. 22, showing how such an opening could be made without endangering those who were below. [Thomson (p. 358) recounts a number of facts regarding Eastern roofs, which shows the whole affair to have been a very simple matter, — ' the ex- temporaneous device of plain peasants, accustomed to open their roofs and let down grain, straw, and other articles, as they still do in this country.' —Ed.] 22 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. litter.1 But now, when the man lay there on his litter before the Lord, and looked Majesty Itself in the face, he might per- haps have been frightened at his own boldness. It seems as if ' now he coidd not bring out a single word. But well Jesus saw that it was not merely the longing of a sick man for health, but rather the longing of a conscience-stricken, salvation-craving soul for pardon, which had thus been able to burst open for him this spirited and high-soaring method of refuge. He saw in the deed of this bold little company their common faith, and He said to the sick man : ' Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee ! ' But He immediately knew in His spirit that He had spoken this word in a mixed company. Around Him were seated Pharisees, and scribes or lawyers, some of whom were from the immediate neighbourhood, others from a distance (Luke v. 17). These changed colour at this word of Jesus. They probably looked at one another with signs of horror ; perhaps even murmuring together. And though none dared speak aloud the word in which they all immediately agreed, yet Jesus read in their souls the sentence : ' This man blas- phemeth.' They had, perhaps, already been in quest of some such word from His lips, and now in every look and gesture was to be plainly read : We have it ! But the Lord must have deeply felt the significance of this juncture, when a narrow circle of opposers in the midst of those who revered Him first condemned Him in this brightest moment of His spiritual activity. But that which had stirred up these men of ordi- nances was in reality the fact, that He had absolved this man not through any medium, but of His own self, whilst in their opinion the man should have first brought the appointed sin- offering to the temple to perform the ceremony of repentance, and have waited until he heard his absolution from the mouth of the priest, who pronounced it in the name of Jehovah. They imagined they could draw this inference, that Jesus set aside the temple-service, and encroached wantonly upon the high pre- rogative of Jehovah. This was all based on the supposition that this man must have sinned in the Levitical sense. That any one without Levitical guilt could feel himself a sinner, and in need of the forgiveness of sins, was just what they had no 1 [Westcott perhaps too decidedly ranks this among the Miracles of In- tercession, p. 50, Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles. — Ed.] THE PARALYTIC AT CAPERNAUM. 23 conception of. Their want of this conception must have most deeply troubled the Redeemer.1 He immediately blamed them aloud and openly, because they had judged Him with gross error, secretly and with cowardice in their hearts. And then entering with the loftiness of a king into their ways of thought, He gave them a theological riddle : ' Whether is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee ! or to say to such an one, Arise, and walk ? ' Then perhaps He made a pause, and left them to guess. They still gave Him no answer, although, according to their habit of thought, they might have imagined the first to be easier, because a man could pronounce the word without any one being in a position to judge of its effect in the spiritual life. In the omnipotence of His Divine certainty, Christ thus stood triumphantly opposed to their senseless impotence. It was not, however, His triumph that He cared for, but God's cause, and so, first fixing His eyes upon His opponents, and then turning to the paralytic, He said in one breath : ; But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.' The man understood Him. He arose, took up his bed, and departed, glorifying God. He went forth in the sight of every one, before them all (Mark ii. 12). The royal authority of Christ, His triumph, opened through the crowd a way for the pardoned sinner, which before had been closed against him. In his feet Christ had given a visible proof of what He had just before wrought invisibly in his heart, and all the unpre- judiced spectators were struck with the fear of God : they were filled with joy, and joined the happy man in glorifying God. That promise of the prophet (Isa. xxxv. 6), that in Messiah's time the lame man should leap as a hart, had now been literally fulfilled before their very eyes. We have not to inquire how far the healed man's state of sickness was connected with his sins. That it was connected with his consciousness of guilt is evident ; and this idea is agreeable to pious minds. The truly religious man will ever refer his sufferings to his sins, even if he has not immediately through those sins drawn upon himself these sufferings ; and in his sufferings he will ever consider it to be his first need most particularly to reconcile himself with God in 1 ' In fact, from their traditional standing-point, these men had by no means wrongly judged,1 etc. — Yon Ammon, vol. i. p. 421. 24 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. respect to his sins. Yet it is even possible that this paralytic might have drawn his suffering upon himself immediately through his sins. But even if this were not the case, in his religious frame of mind his sin must have been to him his greatest suffering ; and it was upon just this frame of mind that Jesus fixed His eyes first of all with pity and healing sym- pathy. Therefore we have no need to enter at length into the profane and foolish remarks which have been made here con- cerning this master-word of the Saviour, that is, the Prince of healing art, whose healing begins from the very fountain of life.1 We may venture to trust the penetration of the master- mind of Christ, as well as the clear certainty of the fact of the healing, to believe that in this case the most definite absolution was the previous requisite of the healing. At all events, to this high-soaring paralytic his absolution seems to have been the first object. Immediately after this cure, Jesus again helped another man to walk. For He went forth by the sea-side, and after He had taught and dismissed the assembled multitude He called upon the publican Matthew, whilst sitting at the receipt of custom, to follow Him. It wTas as if the pharisaical spirit, by its positive enmity to His mercy in the healing of the para- lytic, had led Him now in this formal manner to call the pub- lican to be amongst the number of His disciples ; just as afterwards in like manner the Apostle Paul was induced, in consequence of the unbelief of the Jews, to turn himself all the more decidedly to the Gentiles (Acts xviii. 6). And the Evan- gelist himself seems to have perceived the significance of the moment in which he was called (Matt. ix. ver. 9). For Jesus saw that He must display a decided opposition to the enmity on the part of the Pharisees against His free compassion, and so, by calling this publican, He gave a great sign that He was turning Himself with especial hope to the publican body. After what has gone before, there can hardly be a doubt that Matthew had already previously stood in a nearer relation to Jesus, even if he could not have been the disciple who was nearly ready to follow Him before the passage across to Gadara. For not only does the scene of the calling presuppose such a friendly relation, 1 According to Von Amnion, vol. i. p. 419, the sick man had ' a fixed idea that his bodily condition was in consequence of his previous sins.' THE CALL OF MATTHEW. 25 but also more especially the circumstance, that the new apostle is able at once to introduce to the Lord a number of publicans who honour Him likewise. But yet what the Evangelist has particularly wished to stand out prominent is, that it was the determination of the disciple now to follow Jesus at once, and that this determination was in consequence of a startling and mighty summons from Jesus. Also, it is difficult to see how such a call to the apostolic office could have been partially followed, or how a tax-gatherer's business could have been gradually given up.1 There lies no difficulty in the fact that Matthew the Evangelist speaks of his own call in the third person. Putting out of view the fact that he herein follows the example of other right-minded historians,2 he had here the especial motive of wishing to set forth in the strongest contrast, how Christ turned Himself from those Pharisees, and went forth to call a man, named Matthew, who was sitting at the receipt of custom. By the introduction of the first person this contrast would not only have been weakened, but would have been made indistinct. But as it is evident that the three first Evangelists relate the same account of the calling of a publican under the same circumstances, the question here arises, how the riddle is to be solved, that Mark and Luke call the newly called one Levi, whilst the first Evangelist designates him as Matthew % Now it is obvious to conjecture, that the Lord might have given a new name to Levi when receiving him amongst His apostles, just as He had done to Simon and others.3 He named him Matthew, perhaps because he was come to Him above the others as a gift of God. Therewith might have been connected the fact, that the name of Nathanael, which is almost identical with that of Matthew, was changed into Bartholomew.4 Now, when the second and third Evangelists related the calling of Matthew, it was likely that they should assign to him his earlier 1 With cutting irony, Ebrard, p. 265, has dismissed the supposition of ' criticism,' that the called man would have been induced gradually to leave his office of publican. 2 Besides the example of the four Evangelists, that of Josephus is parti- cularly to be observed. Cf. Strauss, i. 572. 3 See Hug, i. 193. 4 See Von Amnion, i. 424, on the etymology of the name Matthew. The author combats the customary reference of it to the meaning : Gift of God. 26 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. name, as it was reported to them, because it might be of interest to the Church. But Matthew loves best to call himself by the new name which the Lord has given him. But besides that, in his Christian modesty, he dwells too little upon himself to mention his earlier name, or to bring out so prominently as Luke does the circumstance, that he made the Lord a great feast. But otherwise he does not conceal this fact.1 He began his disciple's course and closed his publican's life by making a joyful feast to the Lord. It was certainly with the heartiest concurrence of Jesus, that at this feast, not only He should associate with Matthew, but that His disciples also should associate with many of Matthew's old companions, publicans and sinners. Sinners of course are spoken of in the Jewish sense; they appear apparently to have been men who were under Levitical excommunication, or who might be considered levitically unclean, either on account of then intercourse with Gentiles or with unclean persons. In the condition of the pub- lican already there subsisted a transition to the condition of those who were fallen from pharisaical temple-righteousness. In company, then, with such a group, Jesus brought His disciples to a social meal. Here was a bold step ; but not too bold for Him who felt how wide amongst this class of men the doors were opened to Him of a longing for salvation, and how clearly and prominently it behoved Him to set forth and to show by outward deed that it was His desire to save sinners, and therefore that He was even willing to associate with them according to the measure of their readiness to receive Him. That the Pharisees and scribes could not but soon know of this event, is clear. But it was also immediately seen what great offence Jesus had given them through accepting this invitation. They took His disciples to task because He ate with publicans and sinners. The fact of their always coining to His disciples with their complaints, not only shows the in- voluntary fear with which His majesty inspired them, but it also exhibits the cowardly, perfidious disposition which generally belongs to zealous superstition, ever hunting after heresy, — 1 [The English version of Matt. ix. 10 unduly conceals the fact that it was Matthew's house into which the Lord entered. The words I* ri5 oUiet are precisely what Matthew would have used to mean ' in his house.' See Scholefield's Hints for an Improved Translation, p. 2. — Ed.] JESUS EATS WITH PUBLICANS. 27 the disposition, namely, to calumniate the bearers of a better spirit chiefly behind their backs, and in this way to seek to alienate their followers from them. But the disciples faithfully report to their Master, and Jesus gives His answer direct to His opponents openly and freely : ' They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick ! ' If they were at all willing to allow that He was a prophet, then, according to their own supposition of a contrast subsisting in the nation between righteous men and sinners, they could not but have expected that this prophet must bring back sinners again to their pro- per position, and therefore that they must form the chief centre of His activity. Thus He convicted them according to their own hypothesis. And yet they were not to be won by this argument, since they were imagining a Pharisee under the notion of a prophet, and therefore also a despiser and con- demner of the publicans par excellence, just as narrow-minded Christians can never see anything but an excellence of their own one-sidedness in the man whom they expect to help them. Therefore Christ spoke His sententious word not only in their sense, but also in His own. The matter now stands thus, He means to say, that you can be in no need of Me, with the fancied soundness which you possess by virtue of your temple- righteousness ; while those, on the contrary, who are in a fallen condition with respect to the superstitious righteousness of the common people may be in want of Me. To the first, it was their temple-righteousness which was a snare in the way of their conversion ; whilst to the others, the open condemnation by which they were oppressed was a salu- tary agitation. In single cases, however, a greater and even a radical freedom of spirit might be brought into play, as well as a deeper trait of humanity, if a Jew would enter into greater intimacy with Gentiles, particularly through the publican's office, just as, on the other hand, it was plain enough that the spirit of illiberality and inhumanity had participated in the rejection of Gentiles, publicans and sinners. The Lord strengthened His remonstrance by reminding them of the prophet's words : ' I will have mercy and not sacrifice' (Hos. vi. 6). They were to learn the meaning of this word. We shall more exactly understand the connection of this passage with Christ's words if we remind ourselves that 28 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. the publicans and sinners were guilty in consequence of their neglect of the sacrificial worship, whilst the Pharisees sinned through their want of mercy for these guilty ones. But now God desires much more particularly the mercy of pious love to men than the sacrifice of pious worship. But if men will fain offer Him sacrifice without joining it with mercy, or even joined in fanatical zeal with unmercifulness, He then cuts asunder with the sword of His word the hateful combination : He rejects the oblation thus destitute of mercy, and chooses rather free, unfettered mercy, even though not supported by sacrifice. The opposite to that, and the disavowal contained in it, is indeed not altogether absolute, but rather relative. It cannot be said unreservedly that God rejects sacrifice, but only when it is offered to Him in opposition to mercy. But when this opposition does confront the Lord, then that disavowal is certainly absolute : the sacrifice devoid of mercy He rejects, because it has thus become a lie ; mercy He chooses, because it contains within itself the cheerfulness of self-sacrifice. Thus does Christ, in the name of the Lord, explain to these Pharisees that they are much more wanting in what is essential than the publicans ; and He puts the seal to what He says by a solemn explanation of the object of His mission : ' I come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' Not to the self- righteous, nor to the temple-righteous, nor to the righteous according to the letter, is His divine message addressed ; but to those who know and feel and confess that they are sinners, who judge themselves as sinners, to them does His mission ex- tend,— with those He has to do. Thus did Jesus turn aside the reproach of His having eaten with publicans, and made it into a shaming of His enemies. But now these ill-wishers had an eye upon another feature in this same feast, — namely, that it had been a festive banquet, a feast of rejoicing ; and forthwith they found on this circumstance a new cause of offence. But it is a remarkable phenomenon, that it was more particularly the disciples of John who came forward with this complaint, and disciples of John, too, in the stricter sense, not merely admirers of him, such as were to be found scattered everywhere among the people. For it lies quite in the nature of the case, if we find John's own disciples about this time sometimes in attendance upon the THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN OFFENDED AT JESUS. 29 Baptist, and sometimes near Jesus among His observers ; and if we recall to our minds the situation which they were thus placed in, this occurrence, at first so surprising, becomes quite intelligible. We last found the Baptist in full activity at Enon, near to Salim, in the summer of the year 781 (John iii. 23). But at this time, when the publican-apostle, Levi Matthew, made the Lord a feast, it is probable that he was already in prison, since soon afterwards, and indeed before Christ's journey to the feast of Pimm in the year 782, he sent his well-known deputa- tion to Jesus (Matt. xi. 2). We must at a subsequent stage return to the more definite inquiry concerning the time of his imprisonment by Herod. But if we clearly apprehend the effect which his apprehension must have had both upon him and upon his disciples, we shall see that his disciples, who were at liberty to visit him in his imprisonment, though they could not live with him, would about this time have been more likely than ever to occupy themselves with Jesus. It is with these disciples of John that we have to do, who already felt them- selves in some measure to be in opposition to the higher spiritual life of Jesus. They could not yet have broken with Jesus, as later they did with His Church. They were pre- vented from doing this by the authority which their master exercised over them. Yes, about this time they would certainly have been willing gladly to put up with His guidance, if He had commenced some dashing work, if He had given them any sort of prospect whatever of His being about to burst open the fortress of Machserus in which their master lay imprisoned. And in this hope they would be disposed to come round Him, and attentively to observe His behaviour. But it must have gone sadly to their hearts when they saw how the people flocked round Him, and exulted in Him, and followed His steps as exclusively as if there were no longer any John the Baptist in the world. And when, besides, they now observed that even Jesus did not seek to obtain the outward freedom of this great man, but that He seemed rather to be drawing away from him the means by which he might be released — the hearts of the people, and then actually saw that He could feast with publi- cans, whilst in their opinion, He, together with the country at large, ought to be fasting and mourning for the imprisoned 30 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. prophet, — then it was natural that, with the line of thought which they had once adopted, their feeling of irritation against Jesus should rise to bitter indignation. But they were more honourable than the Pharisees, and therefore they addressed themselves immediately to Him with the inquiry of partisan- like surprise : ' Why do we, as disciples of John, and the Pharisees fast oft, but Thy disciples fast not ; and thy disciples eat and drink, hold merry feasts ? ' Matthew distinctly tells us that this question was addressed by the disciples of John to the Lord. From Mark we learn that the Pharisees also joined in this attack. Luke introduces both the scribes and the Pharisees as questioners, and in such a way that this second attack follows immediately upon that first one. Apparently Luke has made the succession of the attacks his chief attention. Matthew, on the contrary, settles the motive of this second question, namely, the irritation of John's disciples. Finally, Mark gives us the picture of the occurrence. Just as often two parties, between whom there is ill-will, will often become friends in an overpowering ill-wrill against a third party or person, so was it here. It very likely happened that men with the disposition of Pharisees would stir up yet more the indignation of the disciples of John wTho were amongst them. And when these latter were wanting to come forward with the reproach that the school of Jesus w-as wanting in the due severity of pious fastings, and in the definite exer- cises of devotion (Luke v. 33), it was likely that they would be glad to support the assertion of their observances by refer- ring to the same observances of the Pharisees, and all the more, because in this point they were really related to the latter, and because the established weight of the Pharisees might mate- rially strengthen their reproach. On the other hand, we can imagine how willing the Phari- sees would be to edge and to support these sad and earnest scholars of the great prophet, in order to give a blow to Christ's authority with the people. It was apparently a well- contrived plan of theirs, an imposing and threatening coali- tion. Jesus' answer appears all the more striking if we remember the Baptist's last witness concerning Him : ' He that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the friend of the bridegroom, THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN OFFENDED AT JESUS. 31 which stancletli and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.'1 Thus had the Baptist set forth the spiritual glory of Jesus, and his own relation to Him. Hence Jesus now appeared to meet the disciples of John with only a continuation of their master's words (John iii. 29) when He replied ' Can the companions of the bridegroom mourn or fast so long as the bridegroom is with them % Ye cannot make them do that (Mark ii. 19 ; Luke v. 34). But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.' In those days, as it is more particularly specified ; for the separation between the Bridegroom and His companions shall be indeed but a temporary one. So long as the wedding festivities continue, the children of the bride- chamber cannot mourn and fast : that would be altogether unnatural, even to the minds of John's disciples. The Messiah was now holding His marriage feast. In the crowds of be- lievers who embraced Him, His future Church was hastening to meet Him, His bride. Now the disciples of Jesus ought at all events to be recognised as friends of the Bridegroom at this feast. Therefore they would have been real disturbers of the mar- riage feast if at this time they had chosen to fast. Now, according to the full meaning of the words of Jesus, He not only justified Himself to John's disciples with their master's word, but He also rebuked them with it. They were now disturbing the pleasure of the Messianic marriage feast ; and they were especially culpable, in that they refused any longer to see in their master himself the friend of the Bridegroom. When the Lord now intimated to them that at the end of a short feast He Himself would he withdrawn from His disciples, and that then His disciples would mourn for Him, and in their mourning would fast, this reference was highly significant for them. They were to remember that true fasting has its truth only in a corresponding disposition of the mind, in great and profound sorrow. They were to feel that Christ entered into then' sorrow ; but that He could not and would not remove it by outward help, but rather that in holy sympathy He saw Himself already consecrated to death. And that too might have helped them to divine that the death of Christ would assume 1 Corap. Stier, vol. up. 380. 32 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. a greater importance for His disciples and for the world than the martyrdom of John. But the tenderest thought in these words of Christ is this, that it was possible in spirit to hold a heavenly feast of joy over the salvation of sinners even during the imprisonment of a prophet, ay, even in the foreboding of approaching death to Himself. But in order that these complainers might know once for all in what position they stood towards Him, Jesus distinctly explained His relation towards them in two parables. In the first parable the Lord says, that it is not customary to put a piece of new, unwrought cloth upon an old garment in order to repair it. If any one were to do that, it would be a great mistake ; for the new piece itself (by its contraction) would again tear the old garment, and thus the rent in it would be worse than it was before. Surely by this explanation the Lord gave the disciples of John clearly to understand that He was not minded to force the rich stuff of His fresh new life into the worn-out form of the ascetic prophet's teaching, which they wanted to set forth, still less into that of pharisaical Judaism. At the same time, the word was a rebuke to them for beginning now with the comparatively fresher life of the school of the Baptist to patch on Pharisaism. In this parable He does not draw their attention to the fact that it looks both beggarly and extravagant, that it has a miserably patchy appearance, to see an old garment mended with new cloth. But He leads them to the thought, that they ought better to understand their own interest ; that their worn-out religious forms of life would be torn and destroyed if He were to join with them His new, spiritual ways in a mixed patchwork. Since the Lord has ex- pressed His thought so clearly in this parable, we might be disposed to inquire why He should have found it necessary to express it over again in another parable. But we shall soon see that in this second parable He heightens and completes the same thought. At first, these ascetics had the expectation that He would provide them with His stuff, His spiritual ways, to serve to patch up the old garment of their life. But although He set aside this expectation, although He should refuse thus to reform Judaism as such with His Christianity, yet the com- plaint might recur, it might take a milder form. They might expect that He would at least exhibit His life, Christianity, in THE NEW WINE AND THE OLD BOTTLES. 33 Jewish forms — of fasting, for example, and of the asceticism of prophets, or pharisaical ordinances, or of Leviticism. But even this expectation He sets aside ; and for this very purpose He makes use of the second parable, at the same time further un- folding in it His thoughts concerning the relation of new to old. In the first parable, Christianity appeared (according to Stier) more ' as a custom and a way, a mode of life, or even doctrine ;' in the second, it appears as a ' spiritual principle, as the spirit which creates the doctrine, as the life which fashions the mode of life.' ( Neither,' He adds, ' is it customary for men to put new fermenting wine into old bottles.' If it is done, the bottles burst, and the damage is twofold. The old bottles are destroyed, and that is an annoyance for those who love and pre- serve those old bottles. But what is worse, the noble wine is spilt. It is therefore customary to pour new wine into new bottles : in this way both are preserved, the wine through the bottles, the bottles (as casks) through the wine. Thus the Lord at once explains that He cannot entrust His new wine to old bottles, His Christian spirit of life to old Judaical forms. This sentence of Christ's is in every age of the highest signifi- cance. It shows what great stress the Lord lays on the impor- tance to the contents of the form which holds it ; it shows how much He recognised the necessity that the form of Christianity should be in keeping "with its inward being. Those who would fain show their skill in blending discordant materials in the sphere of religion — the advocates of Interims and of A di- aphoras1 — find here no warrant. When, nevertheless, it has happened that men have again poured the new wine of Gospel life into the bottles of worn-out forms of life, the harm of such a proceeding has been already sufficiently clear. It is abundantly seen with what power the new wine bursts the old bottles, and how much then of the noble substance of life is spilt, mixes with the dust of the earth, and becomes mud. Hence God so disposed and ordered it, that the new wine of Gospel life in the Reformation was poured into new bottles. But for every age the warning of Christ holds good, that the pure life of His Church must not be destroyed by forcing it into worn-out forms. But His sentence contains 1 [Cf. Guericke's Handbucli der Kirchengeschichtc, vol. iii. p. 394. — Tn.] VOL. III. C 3 34 PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. this too, that pure Christian forms must be preserved together with the wine. Thus the Lord deems His cloth too good to adorn with if the old garment of pharisaical Judaism. For it would make of it a proud beggar's garment; consisting half of righteousness of works, and half of righteousness of faith. It is His will that the new garment of righteousness by faith must be made entirely out of the cloth of His life. And as He insists upon the unity and pureness of faith, of faith as the contents, so He does like- wise upon the safe preservation of His life in corresponding and vigorous forms. The new living wine of Gospel joy, blessed- ness, love, holiness, and freedom must be set forth in the new forms of really evangelical, heart-rejoicing sermons, of really festive songs, of really brotherly communions, of genuine New Testament discipline, of radical freedom in spiritual movement and mutual influence. The disciples of John could gather with certainty from this explanation of Jesus, that He would not allow Himself, through their importunity, to be drawn into their gloomy, ascetic cast of character, or even into that of the Pharisees ; but that He meant to set forth the new spiritual life in a new form as well. Certainly the Lord closed this decisive explanation by a word which in some measure excused their individual weakness : 'No man also, having drunk old wine, straightway desireth new ; for he saith, The old is better.' Thus the matter did not, indeed, certainly stand between the spiritual ways of the Pharisees or of the Baptist on one side, and those of Christ on the other ; but the taste of these scrupulous spirits would fain have it that it did, and the Lord gave them to understand that, considering the weakness of their taste, He would generously allow them time to reconcile themselves gradually to His new institution of life. We ought not to forget that Christ dismissed the disciples of John with this categorical explanation. Apparently they did not receive it in the best possible way, and reported the Lord's words in such a manner to the imprisoned Baptist as might very much have contributed to lead him into a gloomy state of mind, and into temptation. Immediately after this transaction, Jesus had an opportunity of showing that His way of joining in a joyous meal did not THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD. 35 estrange Him from those who were sorrowing. A ruler of the synagogue at Capernaum, Jairus by name, had sought Him out in anguish of heart. As soon as he found Him, he fell at His feet, and excitedly, with many words, begged Him to hasten to his house. ' My little daughter,' he said, ' lieth at the point of death.' Apparently reckoning the time that had been lost since his departure from home, and distracted by his grief, he expresses himself stronger still : She is even now dead ! * he wailed out ; and then again correcting himself, and in the hope that every spark of life was not yet extinct in her, he prayed : ' Come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed ; and she shall live.' Jesus immediately went with him, followed by His disciples, and a crowd of people, who thronged Him almost to suffocation. A woman needing help, and ashamed to tell openly of her woman's disorder, an issue of blood, availed her- self of this throng. She had already suffered twelve years from this complaint, and had spent all that she had on doctors, whilst her complaint only continued to get worse.2 In her conflict between womanly modesty and her longing for deliver- ance, it came into her thoughts that if she would only touch secretly the garment of this much extolled miraculous Physician — even that would bring her help. With the strength of despair she forced her way till she came immediately behind Jesus, and, 1 If we combine together the accounts of the different Evangelists, we shall find that they give us a most graphic picture of the extreme agitation of this man. When he left his daughter, she still lived, but signs of the death-struggle seemed to have made their appearance. Therefore, among the many words which, according to Mark, he uttered in his confused ad- dress, he might have dropped also the word which Matthew records, ' Even at that moment his daughter was dead,' and yet he might then have again recurred to the hope that she might still be saved and live. That his daughter was dead, and that the Lord should raise her from the dead — this, surely, could not have been distinctly contained in his petition. But that Jesus could save her even in the last gasp, he was sure ; and whilst contra- dicting himself in his agitation, his words unwittingly expressed a yet stronger confidence. "We should therefore deprive this narrative of its most lively features, if we were here to correct Matthew's account by Mark, merely in order that the man may give a clear connected statement, which does not so well become him as the confused utterance of extreme agita- tion. 2 The long continuance of this complaint ' not only endangered her health and her life, but was also a positive ground for divorce, and laid her under the obligation of avoiding every public assembly.' — Yon Amnion, i. 408. 3G PUBLIC MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO HIS PEOPLE. not very gently, perhaps, in her extreme agitation, she grasped a corner of His garment — the hem, or perhaps the tassel which hung at the shoulder of the garment. To feel this pull, to understand it, and to accept it : this was but the work of a single moment in the soul of Jesus. The woman felt a shock from the touch, and was immediately conscious also that she was healed. But Jesus, who with superintending consciousness il'Ziyvovg, Mark v. 30) had felt His own life stirred, and conse- quently the streaming forth from Him of healing power, turned Himself about, thus directly facing the woman, and said : ' Who touched My clothes % ' This question seemed marvellous to Peter and the other disciples. ' Master,' they say, ' the people throng Thee and press Thee ; and sayest Thou, Who touched Me ? ' But Jesus let His eyes wander over the crowd (T£p/£|3ASTSro ihzlv, Mark) as if inquiringly, though she whom He was in quest of was just opposite to Him. He was wishing for her free confession : only through that could the healing receive its last sanction, and become a spiritual blessing to the woman. For it was necessary that she should not only be brought out of the natural reserve of womanly feeling, but also out of the present reserved form of her faith. She was not to take this blessing home with her as a secret, beneath the veil of modesty or of superstition. And now for the first time did there pass through her life the true terrors of the Spirit like holy fire from heaven. The reserved and fettered Jewess became an unreserved and unfettered Christian : trem- bling and yet determined, and with her spirit freed, she stepped close in front of Him, fell down before Him, and before all the people told Him her whole history up to the moment of her feeling herself healed. Upon which the Lord gave her His blessing : ' Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in peace. ' Thus He blessed her in like manner as He blessed the paralytic. And, indeed, both these supplicants must be compared together in order that we may see two wholly characteristic forms of bold faith, a manly as well as a womanly exhibition of faith in direct contrast. Both supplicants broke through with heroic confidence, and forciblv laid hold on help : the man did it in a manlike way, breaking through the roof of a house, almost like a robber ; the woman, in a womanly fashion, almost like a skilful thief. But both were RAISING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER. 37 acknowledged by the Lord in the pure heroism of their con- fidence. The delay occasioned by this transaction almost makes one forget that Jesus was on His way to a dying person. It re- minds one of a later tarrying, when His delay in coming was such a sore trial to His friends Mary and Martha ; and it gives us an idea as to the way in which He might then also have been employed. But for Jairus too this pause was a heavy trial. He appears to have been silent ; and this was, no doubt, much accounted of in his favour. But, in the meantime, messengers came from his house with the intelligence that his daughter was dead. There almost seems to have been some irony and bitter- ness mixed with the wTords which they added : l Why troublest thou the Master any further ? ' Perhaps they meant to say that this man knew verv well before that he could do nothing more here ; at all events, it is characteristic that Mark and Luke should both have preserved the strong expression, ' Why troublest thou him any further V x But Jesus spoke to him words of encouragement : he was not to be afraid, but only believe. But when entering into the house of mourning itself, He made a careful selection. Of His disciples He only took Peter, James, and John with Him ; and besides them, only the father and mother of the child, the last having apparently hastened out to meet Him at the door. We have here the first instance of His choosing out some peculiarly trusted ones from among those who were properly His. The others in the mean- time had an office assigned to them amongst those who remained without. But besides this, the Lord doubtless wished only to be surrounded by the perfectly pure sympathy of the purest and greatest among His disciples, for even in sympathetic delicacy He showed the majesty of His nature. But the reason why He chose out these three is explained by His per- fect insight into the very depths of personal character, and by the equally great freedom and sovereignty of His spirit : just these were His most chosen ones. But this selection is an evidence to us of the elevated and holy feeling with which He now approached this work, and beforehand prepares us to expect some new and singular act, such as has not yet come before us. But the house was already filled with the noisy tumult of the 1 ri ert ox.v~A~hsi; (Mark) ; fty