Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 4:33
And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
33. a spirit of an unclean devil ] The word ‘unclean’ is peculiar to St Luke, who writes for Gentiles. The word for devil is not diabolos, which is confined to Satan, or human beings like him (Joh 6:70); but daimonion, which in Greek was also capable of a good sense. The Jews believed daimonia to be the spirits of the wicked (Jos. B. J. vii. 6, 3). Here begins that description of one complete Sabbath-day in the life of Jesus, from morning till night, which is also preserved for us in Mat 8:14-17; Mar 1:21-31. It is the best illustration of the life of ‘the Good Physician’ of which the rarest originality was that “He went about doing good” (Act 10:38). Into the question of the reality or unreality of ‘demoniac possession,’ about which theologians have held different opinions, we cannot enter. On the one hand, it is argued that the Jews attributed nearly all diseases, and especially all mental and cerebral diseases, to the immediate action of evil spirits, and that these ‘possessions’ are ranged with cases of ordinary madness, and that the common belief would lead those thus afflicted to speak as if possessed; on the other hand, the literal interpretation of the Gospels points the other way, and in unenlightened ages, as still in dark and heathen countries, the powers of evil seem to have an exceptional range of influence over the mind of man. The student will see the whole question fully and reverently discussed in Jahn, Archaeologia Biblica, E. T. pp. 200 216.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Luk 4:33-37
And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil
The expulsion of the unclean spirit
I.
Observe THE CONFESSION THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT MADE concerning the Redeemer. Here Christs righteousness and purity are admitted.
1. He is declared to be the Holy One of God.
(1) Gods Son–Gods Servant.
(2) Having Gods holy nature and attributes.
(3) Formal as to His manhood by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost.
(4) Coming into the world to exhibit in all its complete excellency Gods holy law.
(5) On the holy mission of redeeming men from sin, and bringing them to the blessedness of personal holiness.
(6) In the world for the express purpose of setting up a holy kingdom–a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
2. This confession was bold and public.
3. It was deprecatory. The language of dread. The demons knew their time was limited, their power circumscribed, and that their hellish rule and dominion was to be overthrown by the Son of God.
II. Observe THE COURSE CHRIST ADOPTED.
1. Rebuke.
2. Expulsion.
III. Notice THE RESULTS WHICH FOLLOWED.
1. The unclean spirit gives a last struggle to injure his victim.
2. He came out of the man.
3. The people gave homage and glory to Christ.
4. The fame of Christ was spread abroad.
Application:
1. The unrenewed mind is under the power of the unclean spirit.
2. Those who are thus influenced are in circumstances of misery and peril.
3. Christ alone has power to save and deliver.
4. In the gospel this deliverance is proclaimed. (Jabez Burns, D. D.)
Demoniacal possession
Should the possessed mentioned by the evangelists be regarded simply as persons afflicted after the same manner as our lunatics, whose derangement was attributed by Jewish and heathen superstition to supernatural influence? Or did God really permit, at this extraordinary epoch in history, an exceptional display of diabolical power? Or, lastly, should certain morbid conditions, now existing, which medical science attributes to purely natural causes, either physical or psychical, be put down, at the present day also, to the action of higher causes? These are the three hypotheses which present themselves to the mind. Several of the demoniacs healed by Jesus certainly exhibit symptoms very like those which are observed at the present day in those who are simply afflicted; e.g., the epileptic child (Luk 9:37). These strange conditions in every case, therefore, were based on a real disorder, either physical or physicopsychical. The evangelists are so far from being ignorant of this, that they constantly class the demoniacs under the category of the sick, never under that of the vicious. The possessed have nothing in common with the children of the devil. Nevertheless these afflicted persons are constantly made a class by themselves. On what does this distinction rest? On this leading fact, that those who are simply sick enjoy their own personal consciousness, and are in possession of their own will; while in the possessed these faculties are, as it were, confiscated to a foreign power, with which the sick person identifies himself. How is this peculiar system to be explained? Josephus, under Hellenic influence, thought that it should be attributed to the souls of wicked men who came after death seeking a domicile in the living. In the eyes of the people the strange guest was a demon, a fallen angel. This latter opinion Jesus must have shared. Strictly speaking, His colloquies with the demoniacs might be explained by an accommodation to popular prejudice, and the sentiments of those who were thus afflicted; but in His private conversations with His disciples, He must, whatever was true, have disclosed His real thoughts, and sought to enlighten them. But He does nothing of the kind; on the contrary, He gives the apostles and disciples power to cast out devils (Luk 9:1), and to tread on all the power of the enemy (Luk 10:19). In Mar 9:29 He distinguishes a certain class of demons that can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. In Luk 11:21 He explains the facility with which He casts out demons by the personal victory which He had achieved over Satan at the beginning. He therefore admitted the intervention of this being in these mysterious conditions. If this is so, is it not natural to admit that He who exercised over this, as over all other kinds of maladies, such absolute power, best understood its nature, and that therefore His views upon the point should determine ours? Are there not times when God permits a superior evil power to invade humanity? Just as God sent Jesus at a period in history when moral and social evil had reached its culminating point, did not He also permit an extraordinary manifestation of diabolical power to take place at the same time? By this means Jesus could be proclaimed externally and visibly as the conqueror of the enemy of men, as He who came to destroy the works of the devil in the moral sense of the expression. As to the present state of things, it must not be compared with the times of Jesus. Not only might the latter have been of an exceptional character; but the beneficent influence which the gospel has exercised in restoring man to Himself, and bringing his conscience under the power of the holy and true God, may have brought about a complete change in the spiritual world. Lastly, apart from all this, is there nothing mysterious, from a scientific point of view, in certain cases of mental derangement, particularly in those conditions in which the will is, as it were, confiscated to, and paralyzed by, an unknown power? And after deduction has been made for all those forms of mental maladies which a discriminating analysis can explain by moral and physical relations, will not an impartial physician agree that there is a residuum of cases respecting which he must say: Non liquet? Possession is a caricature of inspiration. The latter, attaching itself to the moral essence of a man, confirms him for ever in the possession of his true self; the former, while profoundly opposed to the nature of the subject, takes advantage of its state of morbid passivity, and leads to the forfeiture of personality. The one is the highest work of God; the other, of the devil. (F. Coder, D. D.)
The demoniac in the synagogue
Strange men in strange places I Think of a devil being in the synagogue! It is the same to-day. The sanctuary draws into itself all sorts of human character; not only the rich and the poor, but the best and the worst are there. Evil knows good and hates it. Evil is not so powerful in reality as goodness, though apparently much mightier. Jesus is greater than all evil spirits. Art Thou come to destroy us? is a significant inquiry. For this purpose was He manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The King casting out evil spirits
The superstition which connects demons with a wilderness has been used to explain our Lords temptation. That explanation has nothing to do with the story given us by the evangelists. They describe the encounter of the Spirit of Christ with the spirit of evil; the test of their veracity lies in the experience of human beings in cities as much as in deserts, in one period as much as another. It seems to me, then, most reasonable, not only for the sake of anything which may have been peculiar to that time, but for the sake of every time, that the evangelist should give these victories over demons a prominent place in the history of Redemption. The impression produced in the synagogue of Capernaum is the simplest testimony to the nature of such a sign. What a word is this? they said. There was the sense of One who did not charm away evils by a look or a touch. The calm Divine energy with which He declared that the kingdom of God was indeed among men–that Gods power was manifesting itself as of old in breaking fetters, insetting captives free–this came forth in the command that the unclean spirit should depart. The evil spirit was not the mans lord. The kingdoms of this world and the glory of them were not his. Holiness was mightier. (F. D. Maurice.)
Possessed by the devil
An affecting case was that of William Pope, of Bolton, in Lancashire. At this place there is a considerable number of deistical persons, who assemble together on Sundays to confirm each other in their infidelity. The oaths and imprecations that arc uttered in that meeting are too horrible to relate, while they toss the Word of God upon the floor, kick it round the house, and tread it under their feet. This William Pope, who had been a steady Methodist for some years, became at length a professed Deist, and joined himself to this hellish crew. After he had been an associate of this company some time, he was taken ill, and the nature of his complaint was such, that he confessed the hand of God was upon him, and he declared he longed to die, that he might go to hell, many times praying earnestly for damnation. Two of the Methodist preachers, Messrs. Rhodes and Barrowclough, were sent for to talk to and pray with the unhappy man. But he was so far from being thankful for their advice and assistance, that he spit in their faces, threw at them whatever he could lay his hands upon, struck one of them upon the head with all his might, and often cried out, when they were praying, Lord, do not hear their prayers! If they said, Lord, save his scull he cried, Lord, damn my scull often adding, My damnation is sealed, and I long to be in hell! In this way he continued, sometimes better and sometimes worse, till he died. He was frequently visited by his deistical brethren during his illness, who would fain have persuaded the public he was out of his senses, which was by no means the ease. The writer of this account saw the unhappy man once, but never desired to see him again. Mr. Rhodes justly said he was as full of the devil as- he could hold. (Simpsons Plea for religion.)
The testimony of the evil spirit to Christ, and His refusal to accept it
Earth has not recognized her King; but heaven has borne witness to Him, and now hell must bear its witness too. But what could have been the motive to this testimony, thus borne? It is strange that the evil spirit should, without compulsion, proclaim to the world the presence in the midst of it of the Holy One of God, of Him who should thus bring all the unholy, on which he battened, and by which he lived, to an end. Might we not rather expect that he should have denied, or sought to obscure, the glory of Christs person? It cannot be replied that this was an unwilling confession to the truth, forcibly extorted by Christs superior power, seeing that it displeased Him in whose favour it professed to be borne, and this so much that He at once stopped the mouth of the utterer. It remains, then, either to understand this as the cry of abject and servile fear, that with fawning and flatteries would fain avert from itself the doom which, with Christs presence in the world, must evidently be near; or else to regard this testimony as intended only to injure the estimation of Him in whose behalf it was rendered. There was hope that the truth itself might be brought into suspicion and discredit, thus receiving attestation from the spirit of lies; and these confessions of Jesus as the Christ may have been meant to traverse and mar His work. The fact that Christ would not allow the testimony goes some way to make this the preferable explanation. Observe it is not here as elsewhere, The Lord rebuke thee, but He rebukes in His own name and by His own authority. (Archbishop Trench.)
Christ at Capernaum
I. HIS PREACHING–He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. And they were astonished at His doctrine: for His Word was with power.
1. Observe the place–Capernaum.
2. The season–The Sabbath days. Not that He forebore on other days; His lips always dropped like an honey-comb.
3. Then the impression.
II. LET US PASS FROM HIS TEACHING TO HIS MIRACLE.
1. Let us glance at the subject of this miracle. It was a man who was possessed of a spirit of an unclean devil. Satan has much to do in the synagogue–much more than in many other places. In Macgowans Dialogues of Devils there is this relation. Two infernal spirits having met, one of them very warm and weary, and the other cool and lively; after a little explanation it was found that he who was cool and lively, had been at the playhouse where he had nothing to do, where they were all with him, where they were all of one mind, all doing his work: whereas the other who was warm and weary, said, I have been at a place of worship, and I had much to do there; to make some sleep; to induce some to hear for others instead of themselves; to lead the thoughts of some, like the fools eye, unto the ends of the earth; to pick up as fast as I could the seed which was sown in the heart; and to turn away the point of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, lest it should pierce even to the dividing of soul and body, and of the joints and marrow, and be a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I hope, none of you employ him thus.
(1) First, aversion. Let us alone–as it is in the margin,–away; be off. Satan wished to have nothing to do with Christ.
(2) Then it expressed fear–Art Thou come to destroy us?
(3) It expressed commendation– I know Thee, who Thou art, the Holy One of God.
Here, you see, the devil not only believed much, but talked well.
2. Let us look at the Author of this miracle, and we shall see how the enemy of souls is under the dominion of the Lord Jesus; that though an adversary, yet he is restrained, he is chained.
3. Then, as to the spectators– They were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a Word is this l for with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. Oh! if they had but improved as well as admired!
III. THEN HERE IS HIS FALSE–And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about. Who does not rejoice in this spread of His fame? Who does not wish His fame everywhere spread abroad? Gratitude requires you to be thus employed. For benevolence requires you to be thus employed, Many are perishing; and they are perishing for lack of knowledge, and the knowledge of Him; for to know Him is eternal life. (W. Jay.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 33. A spirit of an unclean devil] As demon was used both in a good and bad sense before and after the time of the evangelists the word unclean may have been added here by St. Luke, merely to express the quality of this spirit. But it is worthy of remark, that the inspired writers never use the word , demon, in a good sense. See the whole of this case explained, Mr 1:23, &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We met with the same history related as done in Capernaum, and with the same circumstances, See Poole on “Mar 1:21-22“, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
33. uncleanThe frequency withwhich this character of impurity is applied to evil spirits isworthy of notice.
cried out, c.(SeeMat 8:29 Mar 3:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And in the synagogue there was a man,…. That is, in the synagogue at Capernaum, as Christ was there teaching, on one of the sabbath days before mentioned; there was a certain man,
which had a spirit of an unclean devil: who was possessed with the devil, who is by nature and practice unclean; and was filled with the spirit of the devil, with a spirit of divination, and was acted by him, to impose upon the people; he influenced his mind as an enthusiast, as well as possessed his body: and this was on the sabbath day; whereas the Jews say y, that
“Satan and the evil demon flee on the sabbath day to the mountains of darkness, and do not appear all the sabbath day, because that day is holy, and they are “unclean”; but in the evening of the sabbath they prepare themselves, and meet the children of men, and hurt them.”
And cried out with a loud voice;
[See comments on Mr 1:23].
y Ib pr. affirm, 29.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Which had (). Mark has .
A spirit of an unclean demon ( ). Mark has “unclean spirit.” Luke’s phrase here is unique in this combination. Plummer notes that Matthew has ten times and twice as an epithet of ; Mark has thirteen times and eleven times as an epithet of . Luke’s Gospel uses twenty-two times and as an epithet, once of as here and once of . In Mark the man is in () the power of the unclean spirit, while here the man “has” a spirit of an unclean demon.
With a loud voice ( ). Not in Mark. Really a scream caused by the sudden contact of the demon with Jesus.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A spirit of an unclean devil. Where the rendering should be demon. This is the only case in which Luke adds to that word the epithet unclean.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And in the synagogue there was a man,” (kai en te sunagoge en anthropos) “And there was in the synagogue a (particular) man,” on that sabbath in Capernaum, Luk 4:31. Luk 4:33-41 seem to recount successive events on one Sabbath day, from morning until night, Mat 8:14-17; Mar 1:21-31.
2) “Which had a spirit of an unclean devil,” (echon pneuma daimonious akathartou) “Who was possessing, having, or housing within him, an unclean demon spirit,” a mentally deranged man, of emotional seizures. Matthew who wrote to the Jews never used the term “unclean” devils, for all devils or demon spirits were unclean to them.
3) “And cried out with a loud voice.” (kai anekrakaen phone negale) “And he screamed out with a great voice,” with an air-crackling scream, with a blood curdling scream, when suddenly seized with fear lunacy, Luk 4:34. He recognized Jesus and who He was. Both unclean (morally unclean) men and demons must fall and confess Jesus, here or hereafter, Php_2:10; Rom 14:11-12.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Luk 4:33
. A man having a spirit of an unclean devil. This mode of expression, which Luke employs, conveys the idea, that the man was driven by the impulse of the devil. By the permission of God, Satan had seized the faculties of his soul in such a manner, as to drive him not only to speak, but to perform other movements, at his pleasure. And thus, when the demoniacs speak, the devils, who have received permission to tyrannise, speak in them and by them. The title, Holy One of God, was probably taken from a manner of speaking, which was, at that time, in ordinary and general use. The Messiah was so called, because he was to be distinguished and separated from all others, as endued with eminent grace, and as the Head of the whole Church.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(33-37) And in the synagogue.See Notes on Mar. 1:23-27. The narrative, as being common to these two Gospels, and not found in St. Matthew, may be looked on as having probably been communicated by one Evangelist to the other when they met at Rome (Col. 4:10; Col. 4:14). See Introduction to St. Mark.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. HEALING OF THE DEMONIAC IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPERNAUM, Luk 4:33-37 .
Mar 1:21-28
See notes on parallel passages in Mark.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And in the synagogue there was a man, who had a spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,’
In the synagogue at Capernaum where He was preaching there was a man who had an unclean spirit (or ‘demon’. This word would make clear to Gentiles what an ‘evil spirit’ was) within him. The fact that it is ‘unclean’ emphasises that it has no approach to God. It is excluded by its condition. This was a spiritual power of evil which had taken possession of him. Probably in some way he had been disobeying the Law, which was quite clear on such matters, and messing around with the occult, and had thus become possessed. Christians should always avoid the occult.
At certain times this evil spirit spoke through him, for he had possessed his body so that he could live through him. Such spirits did not make their presence too obvious as they wanted to allay people’s suspicions. But when this one was faced with Jesus Christ it either could not, or did not want to, keep quiet. The very act of Jesus in entering the synagogue would have alerted the evil spirit, and it was afraid because it recognised Him, and cried through the man’s mouth with a loud voice. It wanted to know what Jesus proposed to do.
‘Spirit of an unclean demon.’ Only here. Being the first instance Luke wants all to be clear about what these evil spirits are, whatever expressions they use. He does, however, use daimonion twenty three times, and ‘unclean spirit’ five times, linking daimonion and unclean once. Matthew has diamonion ten times and ‘unclean spirit’ twice. Mark has daimonion thirteen times and unclean spirit eleven times. They are thus interchangeable.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Delivering One Who Was A Captive of Evil Spirits (4:33-36).
Second to His work of preaching and proclaiming the Kingly Rule of God (Luk 4:43) is His work of defeating the Devil and all his minions. He has come to break the tyranny of darkness (Col 1:13) and to release the captives, and thus reveal that the finger of God is at work (Luk 11:20).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Healing of a Demoniac and Other Miracles. Luk 4:33-44
The healing of the demoniac at Capernaum:
v. 33. And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
v. 34. saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee who Thou art; the Holy One of God.
v. 35. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
v. 36. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
v. 37. And the fame of Him went out into every place of the country round about. Matthew commonly speaks of these unfortunates whom we meet in this passage as demoniacs, Mark as people with unclean spirits. The man was possessed of a devil, who worked in the body to harm him. He was evidently not always violent, otherwise the man could hardly have come to the synagogue service. But in the course of the morning worship the sick man had an attack, the evil spirit took possession of his members. He screamed with a loud voice, whether from aversion, or horror, or wrath, or fear, or from them all together. The devil knows the Lord, and his words were a revelation concerning Him. He knows His name: Jesus; he knows whence He hails: of Nazareth; he knows Him to be the true Son of God, the Holy One of God, of equal majesty and power with the Father. He wants nothing to do with Jesus, for he fears lest the last destruction will be meted out to him and all his companions at once. Mark well: The devil is a mighty spirit and, together with his angels, can work a great deal of harm, if God permits it. The evil spirits are busily engaged in hurting the souls and the bodies of men wherever this is possible, and they are working with all speed, since they fear the Judgment Day, which will bring to them the final confirmation and the consummation of their eternal damnation. But Jesus earnestly rebuked the evil spirit because of his words. He wants no confession and proclaiming of His name and power from these spirits of darkness. Not by the revelation of devils, but by the preaching of the Gospel people should learn to know Him. The Lord bade him keep silence, and also come out from the man, from the victim of his spite. The spirit had to obey, but in doing so, he took the last opportunity to wrench the poor man in a frightful manner, throwing him down in the midst of the synagogue. But beyond that he could not hurt him; Jesus would not permit it. But the effect upon the congregation was such as to throw a stupor upon them all. They were inclined to doubt the evidence of their own eyes and ears. To hear a man speak words of command, with power and authority, lay down the law to unclean, evil spirits and receive unquestioned obedience, was an entirely new thing in their experience; it filled them with something like horrified relevance. But they thought of promises like Isa 49:24-25, and were soon busily engaged in spreading the news of this deed to every town of the entire neighborhood. The miracle was a proof that Jesus was indeed the Holy One of God, and that He had come to destroy the works of the devil and to deliver men from the bonds of Satan.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
DISCOURSE: 1488
AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT CAST OUT
Luk 4:33-34. And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
IF any doubt the existence and agency of devils, the history before us is well calculated to satisfy them upon that head. It is evident that though Satan spake by the mouth of the man whom he possessed, he spake in his own person, and in the name of those other spirits that were leagued with him. To represent this man as disordered with an epilepsy or falling sickness is to confound things which the evangelist was most careful to distinguish [Note: ver. 40, 41.]. Besides, we cannot conceive that a physician (for such was St. Luke) should mention it as a remarkable circumstance that a disorder did not hurt a man by leaving him [Note: ver. 35.]; whereas, if we suppose this to have been a demoniacal possession, the observation is just and proper; for we may be sure that when Satan threw down his poor vassal, he would have hurt, yea, killed him too, if Jesus, by an invisible but almighty agency, had not interposed to prevent it. There being many accounts of evil spirits cast out by our Lord, we shall not advert to every circumstance of this miracle, but endeavour to improve that particular incident mentioned in the text; viz. the request of Satan that Jesus would let him alone. In order to this we shall,
I.
State the grounds of Satans request
In acknowledging Jesus to be the Holy One of God, Satan might be actuated by a desire to bring the character of Jesus into suspicion, as though they were in confederacy with each other; or perhaps he wished to impress the people with an idea that none but madmen and demoniacs would make such an acknowledgment: but in requesting Jesus to let him alone he was instigated rather by his own fears
1.
He knew Jesus
[Jesus was like any other poor man; his own Disciples, except on some extraordinary occasions, did not appear acquainted with his real character. But Satan knew him, notwithstanding the lowly habit in which he sojourned among men. He knew Jesus to be the Son of God, who had left the bosom of his Father, that he might take our nature, and dwell amongst us. He was well aware that this Holy One must of necessity feel an irreconcileable aversion to such an unclean spirit, such a wicked fiend as he was; while at the same time there was no hope of prevailing against him either by fraud or violence. Hence he wished to be left to himself, and to be freed as much as possible from his interposition.]
2.
He dreaded Jesus
[It is not impossible but that Satans expulsion from heaven might have arisen from his refusal to do homage to the Son of God. However this be, he well knew that Jesus was the promised seed, who should ultimately bruise his head. He had already been foiled in a conflict with this despised Nazarene, and had learned by experience the impossibility of resisting his command. Nor could he be ignorant that Jesus was to be his judge in the last day, when the full measure of his sins should be meted out to him, and his present miseries be greatly augmented. Hence, while he believed, he trembled. Hence those requests which he offered on other occasions, Torment me not; send me not into the deep, that is, the depths of hell. Hence also that question, in the passage before us, Art thou come to destroy us? No wonder that, under such circumstances, he should be filled with terror, and ask, as the consummation of his highest wishes, to have a respite granted him.]
That such desires were not peculiar to Satan will appear, while we,
II.
Inquire whether similar requests be not offered by many amongst us
It is certain that many hate the declarations of Christ in his Gospel
[Men will endure to hear those sins, from which they themselves are free, exposed and condemned; but when the light is brought to discover their besetting sins, they hate it, and wish to have it removed from them. This is found to be the case even in the public ministration of the word. But it obtains in a still higher degree in private and personal admonition. Let a servant of Christ come in his masters name to a man that is proud or covetous, lewd or dissipated, or under the dominion of any particular lust, and let him set before that man the enormity of his besetting sin, and the judgments denounced against it; will he find a welcome? will not the sinner wish to change the conversation? will he not say in his heart, perhaps too with his lips, Let me alone; what hast thou to do with me? Will not he regard such a monitor as an enemy to his peace, and be ready to ask, Art thou come to destroy all my hope and comfort? Yes; nor is this aversion to the light peculiar to the sensual and profane: it is rather found to be more inveterate among those, whose regularity in outward things has afforded them a ground for self-admiration and self-complacency.]
Such persons accord with Satan both in sentiment and inclination
[To hate the authority of Christ in his word is exactly the same as to hate his personal authority when he was upon earth: and to wish to have the light of his truth withheld from us, is the same as to desire the restraint of his personal interposition. Nor is this a mere fallible deduction of mans reason; it is the express declaration of God. They, who would not hear the law of the Lord, are represented by the prophet as saying to him, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us [Note: Isa 30:9-11.]. Job speaks yet more plainly to the same effect: he represents those who spent their days in wealth and pleasure, as saying to the Almighty, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways: what is the Almighty that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him [Note: Job 21:13-15.]? It is evident, that not only the sentiments of these sinners, but also their very expressions, are almost the same with those of Satan in the text.]
To evince the folly of harbouring such dispositions, we shall,
III.
Shew the inefficacy of such requests, by whomsoever they may be offered
It was in vain that Satan pleaded for a temporary liberty to indulge his malice
[Jesus would not even receive his acknowledgments, but peremptorily enjoined him silence. Nor would he suffer Satan to retain possession of his wretched slave: he would not even permit this cruel enemy to hurt him; so little were the wishes of Satan consulted by our Lord and Saviour.]
In vain also will be all our wishes to retain with impunity our beloved lusts
[God may indeed forbear to counteract us for a season, and say, Let him alone [Note: Hos 4:17.]. When he sees that we will none of him, he may justly give us up to our own hearts lusts [Note: Psa 81:11-12.]. But this would be the heaviest curse that he could inflict upon us. It would be even worse than immediate death, and immediate damnation; because it would afford us further opportunities of treasuring up wrath without any hope of obtaining deliverance from it: besides, it would be only for a little time, and then wrath would come upon us to the uttermost. When we stand before the judgment-seat we shall in vain say, Let us alone; What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Our doom will then be fixed, and our sentence executed with irresistible power and inexorable firmness. When once we are fallen into the hands of the living God, all hope of impunity or compassion will have ceased for ever.]
This subject affords us occasion to suggest a word or two of advice
1.
Rest not in a speculative knowledge of Christ
[We observe that Satan was well acquainted with the person and offices of Christ: but, notwithstanding all he knew, he was a devil still. To what purpose then will be all our knowledge, if we be not sanctified by it? It will only aggravate our guilt, and consequently enhance our condemnation also. We never know Jesus aright till we love his presence, and delight in an unreserved compliance with his will.]
2.
Endeavour to improve his presence for the good of your souls
[He comes to us in the preaching of his Gospel: he has promised to be with us whenever we are assembled in his name. Shall we then either by our aversion or indifference say to him, Let us alone? Let us rather say, Lord, expel this evil spirit from my heart; take me under thy care; and fulfil in me all thy good pleasure. Thus shall the prince of this world be cast out: and we, his poor vassals, be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
(33) And in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil; and cried out with a loud voice, (34) Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. (35) And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. (36) And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. (37) And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
We have the relation of this miracle, in very nearly the same words, Mar 1:23 , etc. I refer therefore to the observations on it there offered.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
Ver. 33. And in the synagogue ] See Trapp on “ Mar 1:23 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
33 37. ] HEALING OF A DMONIAC IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPERNAUM. Mar 1:23-28 , where see notes. The two accounts are very closely cognate being the same narrative, only slightly deflected; not more, certainly, than might have arisen from oral repetition by two persons, at some interval of time, of what they had received in the same words .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
33. ] . is the influence , . the personality , of the possessing dmon. “Both St. Mark and St. Luke, writing for Gentiles, add the epithet to , which St. Matthew, writing to Jews (for whom it was not necessary), never does.” Wordsw. The real fact is, that St. Mark uses the word thirteen times, and never adds the epithet to it (his word here is only); St. Luke, eighteen times, and only adds it this once . So much for the accuracy of the data, on which inferences of this kind are founded. The true account of the use of here seems to be, that this evil spirit was of a kind, in its effects on its victim, especially answering to the epithet.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 4:33 . , added by Lk.: in Lk.’s narratives of cures two tendencies appear (1) to magnify the power displayed, and (2) to emphasise the benevolence . Neither of these is conspicuous in this narrative, though this phrase and , and in Luk 4:35 , look in the direction of (1).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Luke
A SABBATH IN CAPERNAUM
Luk 4:33 – Luk 4:44
There are seven references to Christ’s preaching in the synagogues in this chapter, and only two in the rest of this Gospel. Probably our Lord somewhat changed His method, and Luke, as the Evangelist of the gospel for Gentile as well as Jew, emphasises the change, as foreshadowing and warranting the similar procedure in Paul’s preaching. This lesson takes us down from the synagogue at Nazareth, among its hills, to that at Capernaum, on the lakeside, where Jesus was already known as a worker of miracles. The two Sabbaths are in sharp contrast. The issue of the one is a tumult of fury and hate; that of the other, a crowd of suppliants and an eager desire to keep Him with them. The story is in four paragraphs, each showing a new phase of Christ’s power and pity.
I. Luk 4:33 – Luk 4:37 present Christ as the Lord of that dark world of evil.
Napoleon called ‘impossible’ a ‘beast of a word.’ So it is in practical life,-and no less so when glibly used to discredit well-attested facts. We neither aspire to the omniscience which pronounces that there can be no possession by evil spirits, nor venture to brush aside the testimony of the Gospels and the words of Christ, in order to make out such a contention.
Note the rage and terror of the demon. The presence of purity is a sharp pain to impurity, and an evil spirit is stirred to its depths when in contact with Jesus. Monstrous growths that love the dark shrivel and die in sunshine. The same presence which is joy to some may be a very hell to others. We may approach even here that state of feeling which broke out in these shrieks of malignity, hatred, and dread. It is an awful thing when the only relief is to get away from Jesus, and when the clearest recognition of His holiness only makes us the more eager to disclaim any connection with Him. That is the hell of hells. In its completeness, it makes the anguish of the demon; in its rudiments, it is the misery of some men.
Observe too, the unclean spirit’s knowledge, not only of the birthplace and name, but of the character and divine relationship of Jesus. That is one of the features of demoniacal possession which distinguish it from disease or insanity, and is quite incapable of explanation on any other ground. It gives a glimpse into a dim region, and suggests that the counsels of Heaven, as effected on earth, are keenly watched and understood by eyes whose gleam is unsoftened by any touch of pity or submission. It is most natural, if there are such spirits, that they should know Jesus while men knew Him not, and that their hatred should keep pace with their knowledge, even while by the knowledge the hatred was seen to be vain.
Observe Christ’s tone of authority and sternness. He had pity for men, who were capable of redemption, but His words and demeanour to the spirits are always severe. He accepts the most imperfect recognition from men, and often seems as if labouring to evoke it, but He silences the spirits’ clear recognition. The confession which is ‘unto salvation’ comes from a heart that loves, not merely from a head that perceives; and Jesus accepts nothing else. He will not have His name soiled by such lips.
Note, still further, Christ’s absolute control of the demon. His bare word is sovereign, and secures outward obedience, though from an unsubdued and disobedient will. He cannot make the foul creature love, but He can make him act. Surely Omnipotence speaks, if demons hear and obey. Their king had been conquered, and they knew their Master. The strong man had been bound, and this is the spoiling of his house. The question of the wondering worshippers in the synagogue goes to the root of the matter, when they ask what they must think of the whole message of One whose word gives law to the unclean spirits; for the command to them is a revelation to us, and we learn His Godhead by the power of His simple word, which is but the forth-putting of His will.
We cannot but notice the lurid light thrown by the existence of such spirits on the possibility of undying and responsible beings reaching, by continued alienation of heart and will from God, a stage in which they are beyond the capacity of improvement, and outside the sweep of Christ’s pity.
II. Luk 4:38 – Luk 4:39 show us Christ in the gentleness of His healing power, and the immediate service of gratitude to Him.
Here again Christ puts forth divine power in producing effects in the material sphere by His naked word. ‘He spake and it was done.’ That truly divine prerogative was put forth at the bidding of His own pity, and that pity which wielded Omnipotence was kindled by the beseechings of sorrowing hearts. Is not this miracle, which shines so lustrously by the side of that terrible scene with the demon, a picture in one case, and that the sickness of one poor and probably aged woman, of the great truth that heartens all our appeals to Him? He who moves the forces of Deity still from His throne lets us move His heart by our cry.
Luke is especially struck with one feature in the case-the immediate return of usual strength. The woman is lying, the one minute, pinned down and helpless with ‘great fever,’ and the next is bustling about her domestic duties. No wonder that a physician should think so abnormal a case worthy of note. When Christ heals, He heals thoroughly, and gives strength as well as healing. What could a woman, with no house of her own, and probably a poor dependant on her son-in-law, do for her healer? Not much. But she did what she could, and that without delay. The natural impulse of gratitude is to give its best, and the proper use of healing and new strength is to minister to Him. Such a guest made humble household cares worship; and all our poor powers or tasks, consecrated to His praise and become the offerings of grateful hearts, are lifted into greatness and dignity. He did not despise the modest fare hastily dressed for Him; and He still delights in our gifts, though the cattle on a thousand hills are His. ‘I will sup with him,’ says He, and therein promises to become, as it were, a guest at our humble tables.
III. Luk 4:40 f11 – Luk 4:41 show us the all-sufficiency of Christ’s pity and power.
But men are quite sure that they want to be well when they are ill, and bodily healing will be sought with far more earnestness and trouble than soul-healing. Crowds came to Jesus as Physician who never cared to come to Him as Redeemer. Offer men the smaller gifts, and they will run over one another in their scramble for them; but offer them the highest, and they will scarcely hold out a languid hand to take them.
But the point made prominent by Luke is the inexhaustible fullness of pity and power, which met and satisfied all the petitioners. The misery spoke to Christ’s heart; and so as the level rays of the setting sun cast a lengthening shadow among the sad groups, He moved amidst them, and with gentle touch healed them all. To-day, as then, the fountain of His pity and healing power is full, after thousands have drawn from it, and no crowd of suppliants bars our way to His heart or His hands. He has ‘enough for all, enough for each, enough for ever more.’
The reference to demoniacs adds nothing to the particulars in the earlier verses except the evidence it gives of the frequency of possession then.
IV. Luk 4:42 – Luk 4:44 show us Jesus seeking seclusion, but willingly sacrificing it at men’s call.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
man. Greek anthropos. App-123.
spirit = Greek. pneuma. App-101.
of. Genitive of Apposition. App-17.
unclean. Occurs thirty times, of which twenty-four apply to demons.
devil = demon.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
33-37.] HEALING OF A DMONIAC IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT CAPERNAUM. Mar 1:23-28, where see notes. The two accounts are very closely cognate-being the same narrative, only slightly deflected; not more, certainly, than might have arisen from oral repetition by two persons, at some interval of time, of what they had received in the same words.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
We are going to read the inspired records of several of our Saviours Sabbath cures, for they are very instructive.
Luk 4:33-36. And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out, This was a very remarkable cure wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ on the Sabbath-day. Now let us turn to another, which is recorded in the sixth chapter of this same Gospel. (See Luk 6:6-11)
This exposition consisted of readings from Luk 4:33-36; Luk 6:6-11; Luk 13:10-17; Luk 14:1-6; Joh 5:1-9; ND 9:1-14.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Luk 4:33. , a spirit of an unclean demon) A peculiar phrase. The word Spirit denotes its operation or mode of working; demon, its nature. The Vulg. simply renders it, dmonium immundum.[53]-, commenced to cry out) It does not seem to have become known to the people until now, that this man was one possessed.
[53] So abcd. These and Vulg. evidently omit and read, with D, . Comp. Mar 1:26.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mar 1:23
Reciprocal: Mat 4:24 – possessed Luk 8:28 – he cried Act 10:38 – healing Act 19:15 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3
Unclean means in regard to moral character, and this was one of the fallen angels that sinned and’ were cast down to hell (2Pe 2:4), which is explained in the notes at Mat 8:28-29.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
[Who had a spirit of an unclean devil.] An expression something unusual. Perhaps it points towards the pythonic or necromantic spirit: how these are distinguished amongst the doctors we may see in Ramban in Sanhedrin; cap. 7. hal. 4. Both of them (though in a different manner) invited and desired the inspirations of the devil. But of this thing I shall treat more largely at Luk 13:11.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
WE should notice, in this passage, the clear religious knowledge possessed by the devil and his agents. Twice in these verses we have proof of this. “I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God,” was the language of an unclean devil in one case.-“Thou art Christ the son of God,” was the language of many devils in another.-Yet this knowledge was a knowledge unaccompanied by faith, or hope, or charity. Those who possessed it were miserable fallen beings, full of bitter hatred both against God and man.
Let us beware of an unsanctified knowledge of Christianity. It is a dangerous possession, but a fearfully common one in these latter days. We may know the Bible intellectually, and have no doubt about the truth of its contents. We may have our memories well stored with its leading texts, and be able to talk glibly about its leading doctrines. And all this time the Bible may have no influence over our hearts, and wills, and consciences. We may, in reality, be nothing better than the devils.
Let it never content us to know religion with our heads only. We may go on all our lives saying, “I know that, and I know that,” and sink at last into hell, with the words upon our lips. Let us see that our knowledge bears fruit in our lives. Does our knowledge of sin make us hate it? Does our knowledge of Christ make us trust and love Him? Does our knowledge of God’s will make us strive to do it? Does our knowledge of the fruits of the Spirit make us labor to show them in our daily behavior? Knowledge of this kind is really profitable. Any other religious knowledge will only add to our condemnation at the last day.
We should notice, secondly, in this passage, the almighty power of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see sicknesses and devils alike yielding to His command. He rebukes unclean spirits, and they come forth from the unhappy people whom they had possessed. He rebukes a fever, and lays his hands on sick people, and at once their diseases depart, and the sick are healed.
We cannot fail to observe many like cases in the four Gospels. They occur so frequently that we are apt to read them with a thoughtless eye, and forget the mighty lesson which each one is meant to convey. They are all intended to fasten in our minds the great truth that Christ is the appointed Healer of every evil which sin has brought into the world. Christ is the true antidote and remedy for all the soul-ruining mischief which Satan has wrought on mankind. Christ is the universal physician to whom all the children of Adam must repair, if they would be made whole. In Him is life, and health, and liberty. This is the grand doctrine which every miracle of mercy in the Gospel is ordained and appointed to teach. Each is a plain witness to that mighty fact, which lies at the very foundation of the Gospel. The ability of Christ to supply to the uttermost every want of human nature, is the very corner-stone of Christianity. Christ, in one word, is “all.” (Col 3:11.) Let the study of every miracle help to engrave this truth deeply on our hearts.
We should notice, thirdly, in these verses, our Lord’s practice of occasional retirement from public notice into some solitary place. We read, that after healing many that were sick and casting out many devils, “he departed and went into a desert place.” His object in so doing is shown by comparison with other places in the Gospels. He went aside from His work for a season, to hold communion with His Father in heaven, and to pray. Holy and sinless as his human nature was, it was a nature kept sinless in the regular use of means of grace, and not in the neglect of them.
There is an example here which all who desire to grow in grace and walk closely with God would do well to follow. We must make time for private meditation, and for being alone with God. It must not content us to pray daily and read the Scriptures,-to hear the Gospel regularly and to receive the Lord’s Supper. All this is well. But something more is needed. We should set apart special seasons for solitary self-examination and meditation on the things of God. How often in a year this practice should be attempted each Christian must judge for himself. But that the practice is most desirable seems clear both from Scripture and experience.
We live in hurrying, bustling times. The excitement of daily business and constant engagements keeps many men in a perpetual whirl, and entails great peril on souls. The neglect of this habit of withdrawing occasionally from worldly business is the probable cause of many an inconsistency or backsliding which brings scandal on the cause of Christ. The more work we have to do the more we ought to imitate our Master. If He, in the midst of His abundant labors, found time to retire from the world occasionally, how much more may we? If the Master found the practice necessary, it must surely be a thousand times more necessary for His disciples.
We ought to notice, lastly, in these verses, the declaration of our Lord as to one of the objects of His coming into the world. We read that He said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore was I sent.” An expression like this ought to silence forever the foolish remarks that are sometimes made against preaching. The mere fact that the eternal Son of God undertook the office of a preacher, should satisfy us that preaching is one of the most valuable means of grace. To speak of preaching, as some do, as a thing of less importance than reading public prayers or administering the sacraments, is, to say the least, to exhibit ignorance of Scripture. It is a striking circumstance in our Lord’s history, that although He was almost incessantly preaching, we never read of His baptizing any person. The witness of John is distinct on this point: “Jesus baptized not.” (Joh 4:2.)
Let us beware of despising preaching. In every age of the Church, it has been God’s principal instrument for the awakening of sinners and the edifying of saints. The days when there has been little or no preaching have been days when there has been little or no good done in the Church. Let us hear sermons in a prayerful and reverent frame of mind, and remember that they are the principal engines which Christ Himself employed, when He was upon earth. Not least, let us pray daily for a continual supply of faithful preachers of God’s word. According to the state of the pulpit will always be the state of a congregation and of a Church.
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Notes-
v33.-[An unclean devil.] This expression is one which occurs frequently in the Gospels. It is probably intended to teach the awful truth that works of uncleanness, in breach of the seventh commandment, are works which Satan especially labours to promote. It may also teach us that those who were given over to satanic possession, were often people who had been specially addicted to sins of uncleanness and impurity.
v34.-[What have we to do with thee?] The words so translated are the same expression that we find used by our Lord to His mother at the marriage of Cana in Galilee. (Joh 2:4.) It seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that they imply something of rebuke.
v35.-[Hold thy peace.] The literal meaning of the word so translated is, “Be muzzled.” (1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18.) It is the same expression that our Lord addresses to the stormy sea, (Mar 4:39,) where it is rendered “Be still.”
[Thrown him into the midst.] This is one of those expressions in the Gospels, which show clearly that satanic possession was a distinct thing from lunacy, epilepsy, or any other common form of mental or physical disease.
v36.-[All amazed.] The word would be translated more literally, “amazement was upon all.” The expression is one peculiar to Luke, (Luk 5:9; Act 3:10,) and specially describes that state of mind which is produced in people by the sight of something supernatural or divine.
[What a word is this.] Scholefield says that this would be better translated, “What is this word?”
v37.-[The fame.] The word so rendered is translated in the only other place where it is used, “the sound.” “A sound from heaven,” Act 2:2, and the “sound of a trumpet,” Heb 12:19.
v38.-[Simon’s wife’s mother.] Let it be carefully noted here that the Apostle Simon Peter was a married man. The Romish doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy finds no countenance in the Bible.
v39.-[Stood over.] The word so rendered is more commonly translated, “coming in,” “coming upon,” and “standing by.” Luk 2:9, Luk 2:38, and Act 22:20, and Act 23:11. The present is the only place where it is translated, “standing over.”
v39.-[Immediately she arose and ministered.] The completeness of our Lord’s cures is shown in this expression. It is notorious that fevers leave people too weak for any exertion, even when they begin to recover and are out of danger.
Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels
Luk 4:33-37. THE HEALING OF A DEMONIAC in the synagogue at Capernaum. See on Mar 1:23-28.
A spirit of an unclean demon (Luk 4:33). Mark: in unclean spirit Spirit is defined by unclean demon; the word unclean being inserted, either because in Greek demon might be either good or bad, and Luke, when speaking of a demon for the first time, would naturally define which kind he meant; or perhaps, because the effect upon the possessed person made the word peculiarly appropriate.
Ah! The word occurs only here. In the parallel passage (Mar 1:24) it is to be omitted. It means either let be, let us alone, or more probably, Ah! a cry of wonder mixed with fear.
Having done him no hurt. This detail is added by Luke, the physician.
What is this word? Of what kind is it?
For, or that, with authority and power (Luk 4:36). The former refers to the power which He had, the latter to its exercise.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 4:33-37. See this paragraph explained at large in the notes on Mar 1:23-28. What have we to do with thee Thy present business is with men, not with devils. I know thee who thou art But did he, did even the prince of devils know Jesus, some time before, when he dared to say to him, Luk 4:6, All this power is delivered to me, and to whomsoever I will I give it? The Holy One of God Either this confession was extorted from him by terror, (for the devils believe and tremble,) or, he made it with a design to render the character of Christ suspected. And Jesus rebuked him The Holy One of God was a title of the Messiah, Psa 16:10; but Jesus did not allow the devils to give it him, for the reason mentioned in the notes on Mar 1:25; Mar 1:34. Possibly, however, it was from hence the Pharisees took occasion to say, He casteth out devils by the prince of devils. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst That is, had cast him down on the ground, the effect of this possession being an epilepsy.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2 d. Luk 4:33-37. Should the possessed mentioned by the evangelists be regarded simply as persons afflicted after the same manner as our lunatics, whose derangement was attributed by Jewish and heathen superstition to supernatural influence? Or did God really permit, at this extraordinary epoch in history, an exceptional display of diabolical power? Or, lastly, should certain morbid conditions now existing, which medical science attributes to purely natural causes, either physical or psychical, be put down, at the present day also, to the action of higher causes? These are the three hypotheses which present themselves to the mind. Several of the demoniacs healed by Jesus certainly exhibit symptoms very like those which are observed at the present day in those who are simply afflicted; for example, the epileptic child, Luk 9:37 et seq., and parall. These strange conditions in every case, therefore, were based on a real disorder, either physical or physico-psychical. The evangelists are so far from being ignorant of this, that they constantly class the demoniacs under the category of the sick (Luk 4:40-41), never under that of the vicious. The possessed have nothing in common with the children of the devil (John 8). Nevertheless these afflicted persons are constantly made a class by themselves. On what does this distinction rest? On this leading fact, that those who are simply sick enjoy their own personal consciousness, and are in possession of their own will; while in the possessed these faculties are, as it were, confiscated to a foreign power, with which the sick person identifies himself (Luk 4:34, Luk 8:30). How is this peculiar symptom to be explained? Josephus, under Hellenic influence, thought that it should be attributed to the souls of wicked men who came after death seeking a domicile in the living. In the eyes of the people the strange guest was a demon, a fallen angel. This latter opinion Jesus must have shared. Strictly speaking, His colloquies with the demoniacs might be explained by an accommodation to popular prejudice, and the sentiments of those who were thus afflicted; but in His private conversations with His disciples, He must, whatever was true, have disclosed His real thoughts, and sought to enlighten them. But He does nothing of the kind; on the contrary, He gives the apostles and disciples power to cast out devils (Luk 9:1), and to tread on all the power of the enemy (Luk 10:19). In Mar 9:29, He distinguishes a certain class of demons that can only be driven out by prayer (and fasting?). In Luk 11:21 and parall., He explains the facility with which He casts out demons by the personal victory which He had achieved over Satan at the beginning. He therefore admitted the intervention of this being in these mysterious conditions. If this is so, is it not natural to admit that He who exercised over this, as over all other kinds of maladies, such absolute power best understood its nature, and that therefore His views upon the point should determine ours?
Are there not times when God permits a superior evil power to invade humanity? Just as God sent Jesus at a period in history when moral and social evil had reached its culminating point, did not He also permit an extraordinary manifestation of diabolical power to take place at the same time? By this means Jesus could be proclaimed externally and visibly as the conqueror of the enemy of men, as He who came to destroy the works of the devil in the moral sense of the word (1Jn 3:8). All the miracles of healing have a similar design. They are signs by which Jesus is revealed as the author of spiritual deliverances corresponding to these physical cures.
An objection is found in the silence of the fourth Gospel; but John in no way professed to relate all he knew. He says himself, Luk 20:30-31, that there are besides many miracles, and different miracles ( ), which he does not relate.
As to the present state of things, it must not be compared with the times of Jesus. Not only might the latter have been of an exceptional character; but the beneficent influence which the gospel has exercised in restoring man to himself, and bringing his conscience under the power of the holy and true God, may have brought about a complete change in the spiritual world. Lastly, apart from all this, is there nothing mysterious, from a scientific point of view, in certain cases of mental derangement, particularly in those conditions in which the will is, as it were, confiscated to, and paralyzed by, an unknown power? And after deduction has been made for all those forms of mental maladies which a discriminating analysis can explain by moral and physical relations, will not an impartial physician agree that there is a residuum of cases respecting which he must say: Non liquet?
Possession is a caricature of inspiration. The latter, attaching itself to the moral essence of a man, confirms him for ever in the possession of his true self; the former, while profoundly opposed to the nature of the subject, takes advantage of its state of morbid passivity, and leads to the forfeiture of personality. The one is the highest work of God; the other of the devil.
The question has been asked, How could a man in a state of mental derangement, and who would be regarded as unclean (Luk 4:33), be found in the synagogue? Perhaps his malady had not broken out before as it did at this moment.
Luke says literally: a man who had a spirit (an afflatus) of an unclean devil. In this expression, which is only found in Rev 16:14, the term spirit or afflatus denotes the influence of the unclean devil, of the being who is the author of it.
The crisis which breaks out (Luk 4:34) results from the opposing action of those two powers which enter into conflict with each other,the influence of the evil spirit, and that of the person and word of Jesus. A holy power no sooner begins to act in the sphere in which this wretched creature lives, than the unclean power which has dominion over him feels its empire threatened. This idea is suggested by the contrast between the epithet unclean applied to the diabolical spirit (Luk 4:33), and the address: Thou art the Holy One of God (Luk 4:34). The exclamation , ah! (Luk 4:34) is properly the imperative of , let be! It is a cry like that of a criminal who, when suddenly apprehended by the police, calls out: Loose me! This is also what is meant in this instance by the expression, in frequent use amongst the Jews with different applications: What is there between us and thee? of which the meaning here is: What have we to contend about? What evil have we done thee? The plural we does not apply to the devil and to the possessed, since the latter still identifies himself altogether with the former. The devil speaks in the name of all the other spirits of his kind which have succeeded in obtaining possession of a human being.
The perdition which he dreads is being sent into the abyss where such spirits await the judgment (Luk 8:31). This abyss is the emptiness of a creature that possesses no point of support outside itself,neither in God, as the faithful angels have, nor in the world of sense, as sinful men endowed with a body have. In order to remedy this inward destitution, they endeavour to unite themselves to some human being, so as to enter through this medium into contact with sensible realities. Whenever a loss of this position befalls them, they fall back into the abyss of their empty self-dependence (vide subjectivit).
The term Holy One of God expresses the character in which this being recognised his deadly enemy. We cannot be surprised that such homage should be altogether repugnant to the feelings of Jesus. He did not acknowledge it as the utterance of an individual whose will is free, which is the only homage that can please Him; and He sees what occasion may be taken from such facts to exhibit His work in a suspicious light (Luk 11:15). He therefore puts an end to this scene immediately by these two peremptory words (Luk 4:35). Silence! and Come out. By the words , of him, Jesus forcibly distinguishes between the two beings thus far mingled together. This divorce is the condition of the cure.
A terrible convulsion marks the deliverance of the afflicted man. The tormentor does not let go his victim without subjecting him to a final torture. The words, without having done him any hurt, reproduce in a striking manner the impression of eyewitnesses: they ran towards the unhappy man, expecting to find him dead; and to their surprise, on lifting him up, they find him perfectly restored.
We may imagine the feelings of the congregation when they beheld such a scene as this, in which the two powers that dispute the empire of mankind had in a sensible manner just come into conflict. Luk 4:36-37 describe this feeling. Several have applied the expression this word (What a word is this! A. V.) to the command of Jesus which the devil had just obeyed. But a reference to Luk 4:32 obliges us to take the term word in its natural sense, the preaching of Jesus in general. The authority with which He taught (Luk 4:32) found its guarantee in the authority backed by power (), with which He forced the devils themselves to render obedience. The power which Jesus exercises by His simple word is opposed to the prescriptions and pretences of the exorcists; His cures differed from theirs, just as His teaching did from that of the scribes. In both cases He speaks as a master.
The account of this miracle is omitted by Matthew. It is found with some slight variations in Mark (Mar 1:23 et seq.). It is placed by him, as by Luke, at the beginning of this sojourn of Jesus at Capernaum. Instead of , having thrown him, Mark says, , having torn, violently convulsed him.
Instead of What word is this? Mark makes the multitude say: What new doctrine is this?an expression which agrees with the sense which we have given to in Luke. The meaning of the epithet new in the mouth of the people might be rendered by the common exclamation: Here is something new! According to Bleek, Mark borrowed his narrative from Luke. But how very paltry and insignificant these changes would seem! According to Holtzmann, the original source was the primitive Mark (A.), the narrative of which has been reproduced exactly by our Mark; whilst Luke has modified it with a view to exalt the miracle, by changing, for example, having torn into having thrown, and by adding on his own authority the details, with a loud voice, and without having done him any hurt. Holtzmann congratulates himself, after this, on having made Luke’s dependence on the Proto-Mark quite evident. But the simple term word, which in Luke (Luk 4:36) supplies the place of Mark’s emphatic expression, this new doctrine, contradicts this explanation. And if this miracle was in the primitive Mark, from which, according to Holtzmann, Matthew must also have drawn his narrative, how came the latter to omit an incident so striking? Holtzmann’s answer is, that this evangelist thought another example of a similar cure, that of the demoniac at Gadara, the more striking; and to compensate for the omission of the healing at Capernaum, he has put down two demoniacs, instead of one, to Gadara…! How can such a childish procedure be imputed to a grave historian?
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Messiah’s appearance served notice on the demon world that He purposed to destroy their work. Consequently the demons began to oppose Jesus immediately. Jesus continued this holy war throughout His ministry, and His disciples extended it after His departure (Luk 9:1-2; Luk 10:9-10; Luk 10:17). The Gospel writers used the terms "evil" and "unclean" interchangeably to describe these demons. They were evil in their intent and they produced uncleanness in contrast to the goodness and holiness that the Holy Spirit produces in those whom He inhabits. [Note: See Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. "Demon, Demoniac, Demonology," by R. K. Harrison, 2:92-101.] Possibly Luke specified that this was an unclean demon because the Greeks thought there were good and evil demons. [Note: Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, s.v. "daimon," by W. Foerster, 2:9.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 16
THE MIRACLES OF HEALING.
IT is only natural that our Evangelist should linger with a professional as well as a personal interest over Christs connection with human suffering and disease, and that in recounting the miracles of healing He should be peculiarly at home; the theme would be in such thorough accord with his studies and tastes. It is true he does not refer to these miracles as being a fulfillment of prophecy; it is left for St. Matthew, who weaves his Gospel on the unfinished warp of the Old Testament, to recall the words of Isaiah, how “Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases”; yet our physician-Evangelist evidently lingers over the pathological side of his Gospel with an intense interest. St. John passes by the miracles of healing in comparative silence, though he stays to give us two cases which are omitted by the Synoptists-that of the noblemans son at Capernaum, and that of the impotent man at Bethesda. But St. Johns Gospel moves in more ethereal spheres, and the touches he chronicles are rather the touches of mind with mind, spirit with spirit, than the physical touches through the coarser medium of the flesh. The Synoptists, however, especially in their earlier chapters, bring the works of Christ into prominence, traveling, too, very much over the same ground, though each introduces some special facts omitted by the rest, while in their record of the same fact each Evangelist throws some additional coloring.
Grouping together the miracles of healing-for our space will not allow a separate treatment of each-our thought is first arrested by the variety of forms in which suffering and disease presented themselves to Jesus, the wideness of the ground, physical and psychical, the miracles of healing cover. Our Evangelist mentions fourteen different cases, not, however, as including the whole, or even the greater part, but rather as being typical, representative cases. They are, as it were, the nearer constellations, localized and named; but again and again in his narrative we find whole groups and clusters lying farther back, making a sort of Milky Way of light, whose thickly clustered worlds baffle all our attempts at enumeration. Such are the “women” of chap. 8. ver. 2 {Luk 8:2}, who had been healed of their infirmities, but whose record is omitted in the Gospel story; and such, too, are those groups of cures mentioned in {Luk 4:40; Luk 5:15; Luk 6:19; Luk 7:21}, when the Divine power seemed to culminate, throwing itself out in a largesse of blessing, fairly raining down its bright gifts of healing like meteoric showers.
Turning now to the typical cases mentioned by St. Luke, they are as follows: the man possessed of an unclean demon; Peters wifes mother, who was sick of a fever; a leper, a paralytic, the man with the withered hand, the servant of the centurion, the demoniac, the woman with an issue, the boy possessed with a demon, the man with a dumb demon, the woman with an infirmity, the man with the dropsy, the ten lepers, and blind Bartimaeus. The list, like so many lines of dark meridians, measures off the entire circumference of the world of suffering, beginning with the withered hand, and going on and down to that “sacrament of death,” leprosy, and to that yet further deep, demoniacal possession. Some diseases were of more recent origin, as the case of fever: others were chronic, of twelve or eighteen years standing, or lifelong, as in the case of the possessed boy. In some a solitary organ was affected, as when the hand had withered, or the tongue was tied by some power of evil, or the eyes had lost their gift of vision. In others the whole person was diseased, as when the fires of the fever shot through the heated veins, or the leprosy was covering the flesh with the white scales of death. But whatever its nature or its stage, the disease was acute, as far as human probabilities went, past all hope of healing. It was no slight attack, but a “great fever” which had stricken down the mother-in-law of Peter, the intensive adjective showing that it had reached its danger point. And where among human means was there hope for a restored vision, when for years the last glimmer of light had faded away, when even the optic nerve was atrophied by the long disuse? And where, among the limited pharmacopoeias of ancient times, or even among the vastly extended lists of modern times, was there a cure for the leper, who carried, burned into his very flesh, his sentence of death? No, it was not the trivial, temporary cases of sickness Jesus took in hand; but He passed into that innermost shrine of the temple of suffering, the shrine that lay in perpetual night, and over whose doorway was the inscription of Dantes “Inferno,” “All hope abandon, ye who enter here!” But when Jesus entered this grim abode He turned its darkness to light, its sighs to songs, bringing hope to despairing ones and leading back into the light of day these captives of Death, as Orpheus is fabled to have brought back to earth the lost Eurydice.
And not only are the cases so varied in their character, and humanly speaking, hopeless in their nature, but they were presented to Jesus in such a diversity of ways. They are none of them arranged for, studied. They could not have formed any plan or routine of mercy, nor were they timed for the purpose of producing spectacular effects. They were nearly all of them impromptu, extemporary, events, coming without His seeking, and coming often as interruptions to His own plans. Now it is in the synagogue, in the pauses of public worship, that Jesus rebukes an unclean devil, or He bids the cripple stretch out his withered hand. Now it is in the city: amid the crowd, or out upon the plain; now It is within the house of a chief Pharisee, in the very midst of an entertainment; while at other times He is walking on the road, when, without even stopping in His journey, He wills the leper clean, or He throws the gift of life and health forward to the centurions servant, whom He has not seen. No times were inopportune to Him, and no places were foreign to the Son of man, where men suffered and pain abode. Jesus refused no request on the ground that the time was not well chosen, and though He did again and again refuse the request of selfish interest or vain ambition, He never once turned a deaf ear to the cry of sorrow or of pain, no matter when or whence it came.
And if we consider His methods of healing we find the same diversity. Perhaps we ought not to use that word, for there was a singular absence of method. There was nothing set, artificial in His way, but an easy freedom, a beautiful naturalness. In one respect, and perhaps in one only, are all similar, and that is in the absence of intermediaries. There was no use of means, no prescription of remedies; for in the seeming exception, the clay with which He anointed the eyes of the blind, and the waters of Siloam which He prescribed, were not remedial in themselves; the washing was rather the test of the mans faith, while the anointing was a sort of “aside,” spoken, not to the man himself, hut to the group of onlookers, preparing them for the fresh manifestation of His power. Generally a word was enough, though we read of His healing “touch,” and twice of the symbolic laying on of hands. And by the way, it is somewhat singular that Jesus made use of the touch at the healing of the leper, when the touch meant ceremonial uncleanness. Why does He not speak the word only as He did afterwards at the healing of the “ten?” And why does He, as it were, go out of His way to put Himself in personal contact with the leper, who was under a ceremonial ban? Was it not to show that a new era had dawned, an era in which uncleanness should be that of the heart, the life, and no longer the outward uncleanness, which any accident of contact might induce? Did not the touching of the leper mean the abrogation of the multiplied bans of the Old Dispensation, just as afterwards a heavenly vision coming to Peter wiped out the dividing-line between clean and unclean meats? And why did not the touch of the leper make Jesus ceremonially unclean? For we do not read that it did, or that He altered His plans one whir because of it. Perhaps we find our answer in the Levitical regulations respecting the leprosy. We read in {Lev 14:28} that at the cleansing of the leper the priest was to dip his right finger in the blood and in the oil, and put it on the ear, and hand, and foot of the person cleansed. The finger of the priest was thus the index or sign of purity, the lifting up of the ban which his leprosy had put around and over him. And when Jesus touched the leper it was the priestly touch; it carried its own cleansing with it, imparting power and purity, instead of contracting the defilement of another.
But if Jesus touched the leper, and permitted the woman of Capernaum to touch Him, or at any rate His garment, He studiously avoided any personal contact with those possessed of devils. He recognized here the presence of evil spirits, the powers of darkness, which have enthralled the weaker human spirit, and for these a word is enough. But how different a word to His other words of healing, when He said to the leper, “I will; be thou clean,” and to Bartimaeus, “Receive thy sight!” Now it is a word sharp, imperative, not spoken to the poor helpless victim, but thrown over and beyond him, to the dark personality, which held a human soul in a vile, degrading bondage. And so while the possessed boy lay writhing and foaming on the ground, Jesus laid no hand upon him; it was not till after He had spoken the mighty word, and the demon had departed from him, that Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up.
But whether by word or by touch, the miracles were wrought with consummate ease; there were none of those artistic flourishes which mere performers use as a blind to cover their sleight of hand. There was no straining for effect, no apparent effort. Jesus Himself seemed perfectly unconscious that He was doing anything marvelous or even unusual. The words of power fell naturally from His lips, like the falling of leaves from the tree of life, carrying, wheresoever they might go, healing for the nations.
But if the method of the cures is wonderful, the unstudied ease and simple naturalness of the Healer, the completeness of the cures is even more so. In all the multitudes of cases there was no failure. We find the disciples baffled and chagrined, attempting what they cannot perform, as with the possessed boy; but with Jesus failure was an impossible word. Nor did Jesus simply make them better, bringing them into a state of convalescence, and so putting them in the way of getting well. The cure was instant and complete; “immediately” is St. Lukes frequent and favorite word; so much so that she who half an hour ago was stricken down with malignant fever, and apparently at the point of death, now is going about her ordinary duties as if nothing had happened, “ministering” to Peters many guests. Though Nature possesses a great deal of resilient force, her periods of convalescence, when the disease itself is checked, are more or less prolonged, and weeks, or sometimes months, must elapse before the spring-tides of health return, bringing with them a sweet overflow, an exuberance of life. Not so, however, when Jesus was the Healer. At His word, or at the mere beckoning of His finger, the tides of health, which had gone far out in the ebb, suddenly returned in all their spring fullness, lifting high on their wave the bark which through hopeless years had been settling down into its miry grave. Eighteen years of disease had made the woman quite deformed; the contracting muscles had bent the form God made to stand erect, so that she could “in no wise lift herself up”; but when Jesus said, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity,” and laid His hands upon her, in an instant the tightened muscles relaxed, the bent form regained its earlier grace, for “she was made straight, and glorified God.” One moment, with the Christ in it, was more than eighteen years of disease, and with the most perfect ease it could undo all the eighteen years had done. And this is but a specimen case, for the same completeness characterizes all the cures that Jesus wrought. “They were made whole,” as it reads, no matter what the malady might be; and though disease had loosened all the thousand strings, so that the wonderful harp was reduced to silence, or at best could but strike discordant notes, the hand of Jesus has but to touch it, and in an instant each string recovers its pristine tone, the jarring sounds vanish, and body, “mind and soul according well, awake sweet music as before.”
But though Jesus wrought these many and complete cures, making the healing of the sick a sort of pastime, the interludes in that Divine “Messiah,” still He did not work these miracles indiscriminately, without method or conditions. He freely placed His service at the disposal of others, giving Himself up to one tireless round of mercy; but it is evident there was some selection for these gifts of healing. The healing power was not thrown out randomly, falling on any one it might chance to strike; it flowed out in certain directions only, in ordered channels; it followed certain lines and laws. For instance, these circles of healing were geographically narrow. They followed the personal presence of Jesus, and with one or two exceptions, were never found apart from that presence; so that, many as they were, they would form but a small part of suffering humanity. And even within these circles of His visible presence we are not to suppose that all were healed. Some were taken, and others were left, to a suffering from which only death would release them. Can we discover the law of this election of mercy? We think we may.
(1) In the first place, there must be the need for the Divine intervention. This perhaps goes without saying, and does not seem to mean much, since among those who were left unhealed there were needs just as great as those of the more favored ones. But while the “need” in some cases was not enough to secure the Divine mercy, in other cases it was all that was asked. If the disease was mental or psychical, with reason all bewildered, and the firmaments of Right and Wrong mixed confusedly together, making a chaos of the soul, that was all Jesus required. At other times He waited for the desire to be evoked and the request to be made; but for these cases of lunacy, epilepsy, and demoniacal possession He waived the other conditions, and without waiting for the request, as in the synagogue {Luk 4:34} or on the Gadarene coast, He spoke the word, which brought order to a distracted soul, and which led Reason back to her Jerusalem, to the long-vacant throne.
For others the need itself was not sufficient; there must be the request. Our desire for any blessing is our appraisement of its value, and Jesus dispensed His gifts of healing on the Divine conditions, “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.” How the request came, whether from the sufferer himself or through some intercessor, it did not matter; for no request for healing came to Jesus to be disregarded or denied. Nor was it always needful to put the request into words. Prayer is too grand and great a thing for the lips to have a monopoly of it, and the deepest prayers may be put into acts as well as into words, as they are sometimes uttered in inarticulate sighs, and in groans which are too deep for words. And was it not truest prayer, as the multitudes carried their sick and laid them down at the feet of Jesus, even had their voice spoken no solitary word? And was it not truest prayer, as they put themselves, with their bent forms and withered hands right in His way, not able to speak one single word, but throwing across to Him the piteous but hopeful look? The request was thus the expression of their desire, and at the same time the expression of their faith, telling of the trust they reposed in His pity and His power, a trust He was always delighted to see, and to which He always responded, as He Himself said again and again, “thy faith hath saved thee.” Faith then, as now, was the sesame to which all Heavens gates fly open; and as in the case of the paralytic who was borne of four, and let down through the roof, even a vicarious faith prevails with Jesus, as it brings to their friend a double and complete salvation. And so they who sought Jesus as their Healer found Him, and they who believed entered into His rest, this lower rest of a perfect health and perfect life; while they who were indifferent and they who doubted were left behind, crushed by the sorrow that He would have removed, and tortured by pains that His touch would have completely stilled.
And now it remains for us to gather up the light of these miracles, and to focus it on Him who was the central Figure, Jesus, the Divine Healer. And
(1) the miracles of healing speak of the knowledge of Jesus. The question, “What is man?” has been the standing question of the ages, but it is still unanswered, or answered but in part. His complex nature is still a mystery, the eternal riddle of the Sphinx, and Oedipus comes not. Physiology can number and name the bones and muscles, can tell the forms and functions of the different organs; chemistry can resolve the body into its constituent elements, and weigh out their exact proportions; philosophy can map out the departments of the mind; but man remains the great enigma. Biology carries her silken clue right up to the primordial cell; but here she finds a Gordian knot, which her keenest instruments cannot cut, or her keenest wit unravel. Within that complex nature of ours are oceans of mystery which Thought may indeed explore, but which she cannot fathom, paths which the vulture eye of Reason hath not seen, whose voices are the voices of unknown tongues, answering each other through the mist. But how familiar did Jesus seem with all these life-secrets! How intimate with all the life-forces! How versed He was in etiology, knowing without possibility of mistake whence diseases came, and just how they looked! It was no mystery to Him how the hand had shrunk, shriveling into a mass of bones, with no skill in its fingers, and no life in its clogged-up veins, or how the eyes had lost their power of vision. His knowledge of the human frame was an exact and perfect knowledge, reading its innermost secrets, as in a transparency, knowing to a certainty what links had dropped-out of the subtle mechanism, and what had been warped out of place, and knowing well just at what point and to what an extent to apply the healing remedy, which was His own volition. All earth and all heaven were without a covering; to His gaze; and what was this but Omniscience?
(2) Again, the miracles of healing speak of the compassion of Jesus. It was with no reluctance that He wrought these works of mercy; it was His delight. His heart was drawn towards suffering and pain by the magnetism of a Divine sympathy, or rather, we ought to say, towards the sufferers themselves; for suffering-and pain, like sin and woe, were exotics in His.
Fathers garden, the deadly nightshade an enemy had sown. And so we mark a great tenderness-in all His dealings with the afflicted. He does, not apply the caustic of bitter and biting words. Even when, as we may suppose, the suffering is the harvest of earlier sin, as in the case of the paralytic, Jesus speaks no harsh reproaches; He says simply and kindly, “Go in peace, and sin no more.” And do we not find here a reason why these miracles of healing were so frequent in His ministry? Was it not because in His mind Sickness was somehow related to Sin? If miracles were needed to attest the “Divineness of His mission, there was no need of the constant succession of them, no need that they should form a part, and a large part, of the daily task. Sickness is, so to speak, something unnaturally natural: It results from the transgression of some physical law, as Sin is the transgression of some moral law; and He who is mans Savior brings a complete salvation, a redemption for the body” as well as a redemption for the soul. Indeed, the diseases of the body are but the shadows, seen and felt, of the deeper diseases of the soul, and with Jesus the physical healing was but a step to the higher truth and higher experience, that spiritual cleansing, that inner creation of a right spirit, a perfect heart. And so Jesus carried on the two works side by side; they were the two parts of His one and great salvation; and as He loved and pitied the sinner, so He pitied and loved the sufferer; His sympathies all went out to meet him, preparing the way for His healing virtues to follow.
(3) Again, the miracles of healing speak of the power of Jesus. This was seen indirectly when we considered the completeness of the cures, and the wide field they covered, and we need not enlarge upon it now. But what a consciousness of might there was in Jesus! Others, prophets and apostles, have healed the sick, but their power was delegated. It came as in waves of Divine impulse, intermittent and temporary. The power that Jesus wielded was inherent and absolute, deeps which knew neither cessation nor diminution. His will was supreme over all forces. Natures potencies are diffused and isolated, slumbering in herb or metal, flower or leaf, in mountain or sea. But all are inert and useless until man distils them with his subtle alchemies, and then applies them by his slow processes, dissolving the tinctures in the blood, sending on its warm currents the healing virtue, if haply it may reach its goal and accomplish its mission. But all these potencies lay in the hand or in the will of Christ. The forces of life all were marshalled under His bidding. He had but to say to one “Go,” and it went, here or there, or any whither; nor does it go for naught; it accomplishes its high behest, the great Masters will. Nay, the power of Jesus is supreme even in that outlying and dark world of evil spirits. The demons fly at His rebuke; and let Him throw but one healing word across the dark, chaotic soul of one possessed, and in an instant Reason dawns; bright thoughts play on the horizon; the firmaments of Right and Wrong separate to infinite distances; and out of the darkness a Paradise emerges, of beauty and light, where the new son of God resides, and God Himself comes down in the cool and the heat of the days alike. What power is this? Is it not the power of God? Is it not Omnipotence?