_WOMEN MINISTER UNTO CHRIST OF THEIR SUBSTANCE. CHRIST, AFTER HE HAD PREACHED FROM PLACE TO PLACE, ATTENDED BY HIS APOSTLES, PROPOUNDETH THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER, AND OF THE CANDLE; DECLARETH WHO ARE HIS MOTHER, AND BRETHREN; REBUKETH THE WINDS; CASTETH THE LEGION OF DEVILS OUT OF THE MAN, INTO THE... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTERWARD— Εν τω καθεξης; that is, _The day after_ our Lord dined with Simon,—he and his twelve apostles departed from Capernaum with an intention to go up to Jerusalem to the passover. He did not, however, keep the direct road; he set out early, and preached in many towns and vi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CERTAIN WOMEN, &C.— Our Lord was accompanied in his journey by certain pious women, who in all probability were going likewise to the passover, and who supplied him with money, not on the present occasion only, but as often as he stood in need of it. St. Mark, as well as St. Luke, relates the ci... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT SEEING, THEY MIGHT NOT SEE,— As much as to say, "Take this mark, among others, of the truth of my pretensions. My offers of salvation, as was foretold, (see Isaiah 6:8.) are rejected by my countrymen; and I have delivered my message to them in such terms, and attended with such circumstances, a... [ Continue Reading ]
ARE CHOKED WITH CARES— St. Luke expresses it thus, perhaps, to intimate the uneasy situation of the mind, while clogged and straitened with such incumbrances as these, and rendered utterly unfit to breathe and delight itself in celestial and eternal objects. Choking arises from something which strai... [ Continue Reading ]
A CANDLE,— _A lamp._... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR NOTHING IS SECRET, &C.— The author of the version of 1729 translates these two verses elegantly enough, in the following manner: Luke 8:17. "Whatever is now obscure, shall hereafter be made clear: whatever is now concealed shall then be publicly known: Luke 8:18. Improve therefore what you hear;... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME TO HIM HIS MOTHER— Our Lord's mother made this visit probably with a design to carry him to Nazareth, where she might hope that he would work miracles, and bless his countrymen with the benefits which he so freely dispensed wherever he came. She seems to have succeeded in her design; for n... [ Continue Reading ]
HE FELL ASLEEP:— Some are of opinion, that on this occasion our Lord fell asleep designedly, to give as it were an opportunity for the full display of this extraordinary miracle: however, as hewent on board in the evening, his falling asleep may have happened in the nighttime, and in common course;... [ Continue Reading ]
MASTER, MASTER, WE PERISH!— How concise, how abrupt, and how ardent is this exclamation! therefore how strongly significant of imminent danger,and of the utmost distress! they have not time to be explicit; a moment's delay may be fatal. What they utter is conciseness itself, and all rapidity.—This i... [ Continue Reading ]
WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?— The disciples, having seen their Master perform many miracles, had abundant reason to rely on his power and goodness, even in a greater danger than this; for though their vessel had sunk, they could not have imagined that God would have suffered him to be lost; and might have b... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY ARRIVED AT THE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES,— Though we have given, in the notes on St. Matthew, an explanation of the principal circumstances of this remarkable miracle; yet, as it contains so full and satisfactory an account of _real possession,_ and demoniacal agency, I cannot refuse my read... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH THEE, &C.?— This way of speaking has been used bywriters in all the ancient languages, and is applied both to personsand things. With respect to persons, it is used, sometimes by superiors towards inferiors; at other times, by one equal to another; and again, at other times, b... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT IS THY NAME, &C.?— Our Saviour probably asked the name of the evil spirit, to shew the extreme misery of the demoniac who was possessed by him. There is no need of concluding from the answer, that the number of these evil spirits was exactly the same with that of a Roman _legion,_ which at this... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY BROUGHT HIM, &C.— It seems from Daniel 10:13; Daniel 10:20 that different evil genii presided over distinct legions, by the directionsof Satan their prince. These, who perhaps were spirits of distinguished abilities, might be appointed to reside hereabouts, to oppose as much as possible the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SUFFERED THEM— The town of Gadara, near which this miracle was wrought, was a Grecian city: see Matthew 8:28.; and as there was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles in those towns which bordered upon Judea, many of the Jews who lived there complied in some things with the Gentile customs, and among... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WHOLE MULTITUDE—BESOUGHT HIM, &C.— The inhabitants of the neighbouring town seem to have known no more of Christ than the demoniac; for when those who fed the swine fled thither, and told them what had happened, they immediatelycame to the place, and seeing the great alteration made in the man,... [ Continue Reading ]
SHEW HOW GREAT THINGS GOD HATH DONE UNTO THEE.— The divinity of our Saviour is strongly and emphatically expressed in this verse; where what _Jesus had done,_ is placed in direct and immediate apposition with what _God had done._... [ Continue Reading ]
AN ISSUE OF BLOOD— _A bloody flux._... [ Continue Reading ]
DAUGHTER, BE OF GOOD COMFORT:— What is here said of this woman, is frequently asserted by our Saviour upon other occasions, namely, that the miraculous cure which he performed was in some measure in consequence of the patient's faith. We find likewise that faith was actually required, sometimes of t... [ Continue Reading ]
HER SPIRIT CAME AGAIN,— This expression implies that she was really dead, and that the soul exists separately after the body dies. See the note on Mark 5:42. _Inferences_ drawn from the healing of the bloody issue, Luke 8:43 of this chapter, and Matthew 9:20. In this memorable event our blessed Lor... [ Continue Reading ]