Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 1:32
And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
32. when the sun did set ] All three Evangelists carefully record, that it was not till the sun was setting or had actually set, that these sick were brought to Jesus. The reason of this probably was (1) either that they waited till the mid-day heat was past and the cool of the evening was come, or (2) the day being the Sabbath (Mar 1:29-32), they were unwilling to violate the sacred rest of the day, and so waited till it was ended.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See the notes at Mat 8:16-17.
And at even, when the sun did set – See the notes at Mat 8:16.
Mar 1:33
All the city – A great part of the city. A great multitude from the city.
Mar 1:34
And suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him – They knew that he was the Messiah.
If they had spoken, they would have made that known to the people. Jesus was not desirous at that time that that should be publicly known, or that his name should be blazoned abroad. The time had not come when he wished it to be promulgated that he was the Messiah, and he therefore imposed silence on the evil spirits.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mar 1:32-34
And at even when the sun did set.
In ministering to the sick, we follow and find Christ
I. Describe the scene at Capernaum to which text alludes. Presence of Christ among sick. Wonderful change His visit wrought. What happy hearts and homes; what prayers and praises; what jubilant psalms.
II. If we be true Christians, we believe we shall see that same Jesus coming forth to reward those who have done works of mercy in His name. Such works are the only proof of our possessing that charity which is the development and excellence of faith and hope. Such works are within the reach of all.
III. Of such works none can be more merciful than the visitation of the sick. Let us all do our best to prevent disease. Better to keep sickness away than to repair its ravages.
IV. Help those who help themselves, by providing against the time of sickness-life assurance societies, benefit clubs, etc.
V. And those who cannot help themselves. The parish doctor should have less work and more pay.
VI. Do we honour the physician.
VII. And those who nurse and wait upon the sick?
VIII. Do we ourselves visit the sick? So finding Jesus, so taught to suffer and to die.
IX. Appeal in His name and in His words. (Canon S. R. Hole, M. A.)
Hospital healing
When one of the greatest of Gods heroes, one of the most illustrious saints of Christendom, made an oration-preached, as we should say, a funeral sermon-concerning a brother, holy and heroic, whose soul was in Paradise-when Gregory of Nazianzum would show unto the people how, though Basil rested from his labours, his works did follow, and he being dead yet spoke-he pointed towards the hospital which Basil had built, and said, Go forth a little out of the city, and see the new city, his treasure of godliness, the storehouse of alms which he collected; see the place where disease is relieved by charity and by skill, where the poor leper finds at last a home! It was Basil who persuaded men to care for others; it was Basil who taught them thus to honour Christ. (Canon S. R. Hole, M. A.)
Power to heal
I. Its design twofold.
1. To do good.
2. To prove the Messiahship of Jesus (Joh 14:11).
II. Its effect twofold.
1. It awakened general interest in Him.
2. It led many to believe on Him.
III. Its all-comprehensiveness.
1. Over material nature-e.g., walking on the water, curing diseases, etc.
2. Over spiritual nature-e.g., expelling demons, etc.
IV. Its lessons for us. We should learn from the miracle working power of Jesus
(1) His real and personal interest in us.
(2) That nothing can baffle His skill or resist His power if we put our case in His hands. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Christ the restorer of humanity
If we may reverently compare this scene with its modern analogies, it bears less a resemblance to anything that occurs in the life of a clergyman, than to the occupation of a physician to a hospital on the day of his seeing his out-patients. There is, indeed, all the difference in the world between the best professional advice and the summary cure such as was our Lords. But we are, for the moment, looking at the outward aspects of the scene; and it shows very vividly how largely Christs attention was directed to the well-being of the bodily frame of man. Now it would be a great mistake to suppose that this feature of our Saviours ministry was accidental or inevitable. Nothing in His work was accidental: all was deliberate, all had an object. Nothing in His work was inevitable, except so far as it was freely dictated by His wisdom and His mercy. To suppose that this union in Him of Prophet and Physician was determined by the necessity of some rude civilization, such as that of certain tribes in Central Africa and elsewhere, or certain periods and places in medieval Europe when knowledge was scanty, when it was easy and needful for a single person at each social centre to master all that was known on two or three great subjects-this is to make a supposition which does not apply to Palestine at the time of our Lords appearance. The later prophets were prophets and nothing more-neither legislators, nor statesmen, nor physicians. In John the Baptist we see no traces of the restorative power exerted on some rare occasions by Elijah and Elisha; and when our Lord appeared, dispensing on every side cures for bodily disease, the sight was just as novel to His contemporaries as it was welcome. Nor are His healing works to be accounted for by saying that they were only designed to draw attention to His message, by certificating His authority to deliver it; or by saying that they were only symbols of a higher work which He had more at heart in its many and varying aspects-the work of healing the diseases of the human soul. True it is that His healing activity had this double value: it was evidence of His authority as a Divine Teacher; it was a picture in detail, addressed to sense, of what, as the Restorer of our race, He meant to do in regions altogether beyond the sphere of sense. But these aspects of His care for the human body were not, I repeat, primary; they were strictly incidental. We may infer with reverence and with certainty that His first object was to show Himself as the Deliverer and Restorer of human nature as a whole: not of the reason and conscience merely without the imagination and the affections-not of the spiritual side of mens nature, without the bodily; and, therefore, He was not merely Teacher, but also Physician, and therefore and thus He has shed upon the medical profession to the end of time a radiance and a consecration which is ultimately due to the conditions of that redemptive work, to achieve which He came down from heaven teaching and healing. (Canon Liddon.)
A great hospital Sunday near a great city
I. This is the story of a wonderful Sabbath-a true Sunday-One of the days of the Son of Man.
II. What a picture it gives us of his power as the healer. And do not these healing powers exerted by Christ declare that there is a spiritual order in the universe outside of the natural order, and beneath whose powers all the natural disorder will be at last reduced to subjection. These miracles are illustrations of the character and intention of God loving us.
III. This is the doctrine; but what is any doctrine without an application? What is the use of faith in Christ without appropriation? Jesus has not come into the world to condemn, but to heal and save it. His love is universal. Fly to the healing of God in Jesus Christ. (E. Paxton Hood.)
The house of mercy
Once it was given to me to see the soul of man as a poor creature out at night in a wild storm and hurricane, flying through the tempest over a wild moor houseless; the wild lightnings blazed across the heath, and revealed one house, and thither fled the soul. Who lives here? Justice. Oh, Justice, let me in, for the storm is very dreadful. But Justice said, Nay, I cannot shelter thee, for I kindled the lightnings and the hurricanes from whence you are flying. And I saw the poor spirit hastening over the plain, and the storm flash lit up another house, and thither fled the soul. Who lives here? Truth. Oh, Truth, shelter me. Nay, said the white-robed woman, Truths handmaid, Hast thou loved Truth so much and been so faithful to her that thou canst fly to her for shelter? Not so; there is no shelter here. And away in weariness sped the soul through that wild night. Still through the gleams of the blue heavens looked out a third house through the drenching storm. And who lives here? said the lost soul. Peace. Oh, peace, let me in! Nay, nay; none enter the house of Peace but those whose hearts are Peace. And then near to the house of Peace rose another house, white and beautiful through the livid light. Who lives here? Mercy. Fly thither, poor soul. I have been sitting up for thee, and this house was built for thy shelter and thy home. I read and hear such lessons as I watch Christ moving through the sick multitude that Sabbath evening in that old city. (E. Paxton Hood.)
Christs miracles
These may be divided into distinct classes.
I. Miracles of restoration. Raising up the afflicted from a helpless, incapable state, to a condition of self-help and usefulness. This Christs grace is continually doing. Sin works evil results on mans nature similar to, and worse than, those wrought by fever, paralysis, or impotency, making men vicious, shiftless, indolent, useless. The gospel brings back our fallen nature to its proper dignity and worth.
II. Miracles delivering from evil spirits. Do we not sometimes feel, even the best of us, as demoniacs act? The power of Christ can cure us.
III. Miracles of cleansing. Sin defiles the purity of the soul, and, so far as this defilement is felt and perceived, it separates the sinner from others. He feels that a gulf divides him from the pure and good; his conscience often drives him into voluntary solitude; and if his sin is particularly gross and shameful, the sentiment of society sends him into banishment. The seeds of evil which produce this defilement are hid in every soul. They are the source of evil thoughts and base suggestions which we are glad are not visible to all. Who could bare to expose his secret thoughts to the gaze of the world? Who has not need to pray, Make and keep me pure within? Christs grace is able to do this. He cleanses from the foulest leprosy of sin. (A. H. Currier.)
There is in man something akin to the diabolical
He is subject to violent and wasting passions, often dominated by a fierce and ungovernable temper; exhibits, upon slight provocation, anger, impatience, hatred, revenge; is ill-natured, moody, capricious, sullen; ready at times to take up arms against all the world, and shunned and detested in turn for his spirit of malicious mischief. We have all seen pronounced examples of this sort-probably have suffered from their malice and ill-temper. They may be persons of great energy and ability. They are not indolent or shiftless. They know how to make money, and how to use it for their own advantage. They are keen, shrewd, and successful in business. Sometimes they bestow magnificent gifts-exhibit strange freaks of generosity; but of true kindness and amiability, or the disposition to make others happy, they have but little. They seem, in short, to be possessed by a devil. The fault may be often due to inherited qualities, or to neglect of early training. They were not disciplined to self-control. One of the princes of the old French monarchy manifested in childhood and youth an unhappy disposition of this kind. But he was placed under the care of a wise and pious teacher, who laboured so successfully to correct his violent temper, that he became one of the most amiable of men. A painstaking Christian mother often amends the faults of nature. (A. H. Currier.)
Sunset
1. The natural sun set, but the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings. Evening and morning Christ was at work.
2. Men come to Christ according to the urgency of their want. Here it was physical. It is well if men can feel their need of Christ at any point.
3. When men begin with their lower wants they should ascend to the higher. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The attraction of Jesus
Leaving the Paris exhibition as the sun went down, I noted an electric light that, revolving round and round, shot its ethereal pencilled rays far across the sky, touching with a momentary radiance the vegetation or the buildings across which they passed; and looking up I noted innumerable sparks wavering, vibrating in the illumination. For a moment I could not think what this meant, for there is scarcely any scintillation, and certainly no sparks, thrown off from the electric light. Then in an instant it occurred to me that these bright lights were myriads of insects attracted from the dark ocean of air around, and which, protected from the burning luminary by the strong glass, were safely rejoicing in the ecstasy of those beams. So here, around the beams of spiritual light and love that radiate from the Saviour, the innumerable hosts of suffering, struggling men and women of that day come within the field of our vision. (J. Allanson Picton, M. A.)
Diverse elements in humanity dealt with by Christianity
A wild, strange flame rages in human nature, that in combinations of great feeling and war and woe, is surpassed by no tragedy or epic, nor by all tragedies and epics together. In the souls secret chambers there are Fausts more subtle than Faust, Hamlets more mysterious than Hamlet, Lears more distracted and desolate than Lear; wills that do what they allow not, and what they would not do; wars in the members; bodies of death to be carried, as in Paul; wild horses of the mind, governed by no rein, as in Plato; subtleties of cunning, plausibilities of seeming virtues, memories writ in letters of fire, great thoughts heaving under the brimstone marl of revenges; pains of wrong, and of sympathy with suffering wrong; aspirations that have lost courage; hates, loves, beautiful dreams and tears; all these acting at cross purposes, and representing the broken order of the mind. If some qualified teacher by many years of study could worm out a thoroughly perceptive interpretation of sin, or lecture on the working or pathology of mind under evil, he would offer a contribution to the true success of Christian preaching, greater than, perhaps, any human teacher has ever yet contributed. (H. Bushnell, D. D.)
Miracles at Capernaum
I. Christ healing. And at even, when the sun did set, etc.
1. The season was interesting. It was on a Sabbath evening.
2. The ailments of the sufferers were various.
3. The excitement produced was great.
4. The number of those who were cured was considerable.
II. Christ praying.
1. When He prayed.
2. Where He prayed.
III. Christ preaching.
1. The importance He attached to its For therefore came I forth.
2. The places in which He exercised His ministry-Throughout all Galilee.
3. The encouraging indications which appeared-All men seek for Thee. (Expository Outlines.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 32. When the sun did set] See Clarke on Mt 8:14.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It was upon the sabbath day, (as appeareth from what went before), therefore the time is noted,
at even, when the sun did set. Before that time, when the sabbath was determined, the Jews thought it unlawful to carry any burdens, but after sunset they judged it lawful. The usage of the particle all here, Mar 1:32,33, is again observable to show the vanity of those who will from general particles conclude propositions contrary to the analogy of faith, those particles being often used in a restrained sense. Luke saith, that the devils cried out, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak, because (or that) they knew him. Christ desired not to be published so soon under that notion, but he much less desired the devils testimony in the case: see Mar 1:25; Act 16:18. The good words of the devil and his seed are indeed a defamation to Christ and his seed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32. And at even, when the sun didsetso Mt 8:16. Luke (Lu4:40) says it was setting.
they brought unto him allthat were diseased, and them that were possessed with devilsthedemonized. From Lu 13:14 wesee how unlawful they would have deemed it to bring their sick toJesus for a cure during the sabbath hours. They waited, therefore,till these were over, and then brought them in crowds. Our Lordafterwards took repeated occasion to teach the people by example,even at the risk of His own life, how superstitious a straining ofthe sabbath rest this was.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And at even, when the sun did set,…. At which time the Jews’ sabbath was ended; [See comments on Mt 8:16], for this was a sabbath day, Mr 1:21, when according to them, it was not lawful to heal; nor did they offer to bring their sick to him on that day; but the last of the two evening days being come, and the sun set, the sabbath was over; and therefore being under no restraint on account of that,
they brought unto him all that were diseased; with any sort of disease whatever, even all that were in their city;
and them that were possessed with devils. The Persic version renders it “epileptics”, such as were troubled with the falling sickness, as many of those were, whose bodies the devils possessed.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When the sun did set ( ). This picturesque detail Mark has besides “at even” ( , genitive absolute, evening having come). Matthew has “when even was come,” Luke “when the sun was setting.” The sabbath ended at sunset and so the people were now at liberty to bring their sick to Jesus. The news about the casting out of the demon and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law had spread all over Capernaum. They brought them in a steady stream (imperfect tense, ). Luke (Lu 4:40) adds that Jesus laid his hand on every one of them as they passed by in grateful procession.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
At even, when the sun did set
An instance of Mark’s habit of coupling similar words or phrases.
That were sick
See on Mat 4:23, 24.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
A SUNSET HEALING SERVICE, V. 32-34
1) ”And at even, when the sun did set,” (opsias de genomenes hote eclusen ho helios) “Then when evening came, when the sun set,” to avoid a breach of the sabbath law, when the sabbath had ended, Mat 8:16-17; Luk 4:40-41.
2) “They brought unto Him all that were diseased,” (epheron pros auton pantas tous kakos echontas) “They brought to Him all those who were ill,”
3) “And them that were possessed with devils.” (kai tous diamonizomenous) “And those who were demon-possessed.” Distinction is here made between those that were physically sick and those who were demoniacs, the mentally and emotionally deranged by demon spirits, Mat 7:22.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(32) And at even.See Notes on Mat. 8:16-17. The special features in St. Mark are (1) the fuller description, in Mar. 1:33, that all the city was gathered together at the door; and (2) the omission of St. Matthews reference to the prophecy of Isa. 53:4.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And at evening, when the sun set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed with devils, and all the town was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and cast out many devils, and he did not allow the devils to speak because they knew him.’
This was now the reaction to what was done in the Synagogue. As soon as the Sabbath was over at sunset (the Jewish day began in the evening) the whole town came to the house bringing both sick and demon-possessed people. We should note that the latter are distinguished from each the former. Sickness and demon possession are not directly connected. Note how the incident emphasises the Jewish background. Many wanted to be healed, but until the Sabbath had passed they could not come for healing, for they knew that that would have been looked on by the Pharisees as ‘work’. Thus the people wait for the Sabbath to end before they sprang into action.
We should picture the small fisherman’s house with the large crowds gathered around, bringing with them the sick and needy. Jesus’ reputation was growing. And Jesus healed ‘many’ of them, (that is many of the crowd not many of the sick. He healed all the sick – compare Mat 4:24; Luk 4:40; Luk 6:19) and cast out many evil spirits. In this way was His power revealed in this small town, and this helps to explain why later He is so scathing of their unbelief (Mat 11:23). And that was the tragedy. They came to Him only as a physician of the body and not to receive the greater truth. But Jesus considered that it was the acceptance of that truth that was His prime mission (compare chapter 4).
What then was His purpose in so healing when He had really come to proclaim the Kingly Rule of God? The question need hardly be asked. How could One Who was so compassionate fail to respond to the need and faith of the people (compare Mar 8:2)? Indeed He never refused anyone who came to Him in faith. Any shortage of miracles was because unbelieving people did not bring their sick (Mar 6:5). And not only were the sick healed, evil spirits were also cast out. The power of Jesus was seen to be greater than that of the unseen world.
We must not think of His miracles as something done to convince people of Who He was. He had in fact no confidence in those who believed because He performed miracles (Joh 2:23-25). He rather performed them in response to faith. Yet what they did do was reveal the truth about Him. They not only revealed His compassion, for healing was exhausting work as power went out of Him (Mar 5:30), but they also revealed that He was from God, for no one could do such things unless God be with Him (Joh 3:2; Mat 11:4-5). For as Jesus Himself pointed out later, His ability to cast out evil spirits with a word demonstrated that the Spirit of God was at work through Him, and that the Kingly Rule of God was come (Mat 12:28; Luk 11:20). Meanwhile the miracles revealed Him to be a Spirit anointed prophet (Luk 4:18-21), and he cited them as a witness to John the Baptiser languishing in prison in order to restore his faith (Mat 11:2-6).
It should also be noted that while Jesus did not relate disease to evil spirits, He did sometimes relate it to the activity of Satan (Luk 13:16), although there He may only be referring to Satan’s activity indirectly, that is, He might have been saying that sickness is in the world because of sin, and that sin was caused by the activity of Satan. Or that may have been a special case in that possession can result in apparent sickness. Either way Satan was being defeated. So His casting out of evil spirits was a light to faith.
But He can later point out that others also heal and cast out evil spirits, (although, it should be noted, not as comprehensively as He did). For the fact is that some do have strange and unaccountable healing powers which they can exercise to a certain extent, and the efforts of some exorcists were certainly well known (Mat 7:22; Mat 12:27; Luk 11:19). But their methods were very different from His as the crowds recognised. He alone could heal by a word. And even though He said that false Messiahs would also arise who would seemingly perform signs and wonders (Mar 13:22), they would not, and could not, heal all who came to them. So while what He does should certainly be seen as revealing God at work through Him (‘My Father works up to now, and I work’ – Joh 5:17), He does not point to it as conclusive proof of Who He is, and even specifically silences the evil spirits who would have testified to it. He does not want men to follow Him as a wonder-worker. He wants them to heed His message.
‘And He did not allow the devils to speak because they knew Him.’ At no stage would He allow devils to testify to Him. He did not want to be associated with them in any way. He wanted awareness of Who He was to sink home in men’s hearts from the overall picture He presented, and especially through His teachings, not because of some spectacular statements made by devils which could cause a sensation and easily later be forgotten, and might even be seen as aligning Him with them. Indeed He knew that these could by their acknowledgement of Him prevent the deeper work from taking place. He did not want admiration through the spectacular, but obedience to the Kingly Rule of God based on a true response to His words. So He told the evil spirits to be quiet, and they obeyed Him. A further revelation of His authority.
‘Because they knew Him.’ Mark leaves this unexplained until Mar 3:11, unless we refer it back to Mar 1:24. He wants his readers to be asking the right questions.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Comments – Jesus touched them in the process of healing them.
Mar 1:32-34 Jesus Heals the Multitudes ( Mat 8:16-17 , Luke 40-41) Mar 1:32-34 gives us the account of Jesus healing the multitudes.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Healing of various diseases:
v. 32. And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
v. 33. And all the city was gathered together at the door.
v. 34. And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him. Jesus had little chance for rest, once the power was known which people had witnessed in Him. The people waited indeed until the Sabbath was past, for the day came to an end with the setting of the sun. But then they brought to Him, they carried to Him all those that were in a bad way, that were not feeling well, together with such as were troubled with demons. So quickly had His fame spread that practically all the inhabitants of the city had come together and were assembled before the door of the house where He was staying. And they were not disappointed in their trust. No matter what the disease was (and many different forms of sickness were represented in that great multitude), He healed them. And many demons He cast out; by a word of command from Him they had to leave their victims and take their disagreeable presence elsewhere. Note: Christ did not permit the demons to speak, lest they tell the people the truth concerning Him. The Lord desires no testimony from the devil and from all those that are willingly in His service. He wanted to reveal Himself to the people of Galilee in His own way and at His own time.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mar 1:32-33. And at even, &c. The news of the miracle above related being spread through the town, those who had sick relations or friends resolved to apply to Jesus for a cure: only, because it was the sabbath, they did not immediately come to him; they waited till the holy rest was ended, which, according to the Jewish form of the day, was at sun-setting; and then they brought their sick in great numbers to him, fullypersuaded that he would heal them. The persons who attended the sick, or who brought them to be cured, together with the towns’ people, whose curiosity and admiration were excited by the reports of the two miracles performed that day, made such a crowd at St. Peter’s house, that it looked as if all the city had been gathered together. See the notes on Mat 8:4; Mat 12:16 for some reasons why our Saviour suffered not his miracles to be publicly spoken of.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mar 1:32 f. ] an exact specification of time (comp. Matthew and Luke) for the purpose of indicating that the close of the Sabbath had occurred. “Judaeos religio tenebat, quominus ante exitum sabbati aegrotos suos afferrent,” Wetstein, and, earlier, Victor Antiochenus.
] presupposes that before the evening He has returned again to His own dwelling (Mar 2:1 ; Mar 2:15 ). It is not Peter’s house that is meant.
. . .] all whom they had.
Here and at Mar 1:34 , as also at Mat 8:16 , the naturally sick are distinguished from the demoniacs; comp. Mar 3:15 .
] comp. Mat 3:5 . So also in the classical writers (Thuc. vii. 82.1; Soph. O. R. 179); comp. Ngelsbach, Anm. z. Ilias , Exo 3 , p. 103.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Ver. 32. When the sun did set ] And the Sabbath was ended; for till then many held it not lawful.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 1:32-34 . Cures on Sabbath evening (Mat 8:16-17 ; Luk 4:40-41 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mar 1:32 . , etc.: exact indication of time by two phrases, on the arrival of evening when the sun set; evening a vague phrase = late afternoon. It was Sabbath , and the people would wait till sunset when Sabbath closed. Hence the double note of time. So most recent commentators, also Victor Ant. in Cramer’s Catenae ( , ). Matthew and Luke divide Mark’s phrases between them. The first sufficed for Matthew because he says nothing of its being Sabbath . This instance of duality in expression in Mark has done service in connection with Griesbach’s hypothesis that Mark is made up from Matthew and Luke. , such as were ailing, peculiar to Mark. : them specially, because of what happened in the synagogue.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mark
MIGHTY IN WORD AND DEED
Mar 1:21 – Mar 1:34
None of the incidents in this section are peculiar to Mark, but the special stamp of his Gospel is on them all; and, both in the narration of each and in the swift transition from one to another, the impression of Christ’s strength and unpausing diligence in filial service is made. The short hours of that first Sabbath’s ministry are crowded with work; and Christ’s energy bears Him through exhausting physical labours, and enables Him to turn with unwearied sympathy and marvellous celerity to each new form of misery, and to throw Himself with freshness undiminished into the relief of each. The homely virtue of diligence shines out in this lesson no less clearly than superhuman strength that tames demons and heals all manner of sickness. There are four pictures here, compressed and yet vivid. Mark can condense and keep all the essentials, for his keen eye and sure hand go straight to the heart of his incidents.
I. The strong Son of God teaching with authority.
The feature of His teaching which astonished the villagers most was its ‘authority.’ That fits in with the impression of strength which Mark wishes to make. Another thing that struck them was its unlikeness to the type of synagogue teaching to which they had been accustomed all their lives. They had got so accustomed to the droning dreariness and trivial subtleties of the rabbis, that it had never entered their heads that there could be any other way of teaching religion than boring men with interminable pedantries about trifles of ritual or outward obedience. This new Teacher would startle all, as an eagle suddenly appearing in a sanhedrim of owls. He would shock many; He would fascinate a few. Nor was it only the dissimilarity of His teaching, but also its authority, that was strange. The scribes spoke with authority enough of a sort, lording it over the despised common people-’men of the earth,’ as they called them-and exacting punctilious obedience and much obsequiousness; but authority over the spirit they had none. They pretended to no power but as expositors of a law; and they fortified themselves by citations of what this, that, and the other rabbi had said, which was all their learning. Christ quoted no one. He did not even say, ‘Moses has said.’ He did not even preface His commands with a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ He spoke of His own authority: ‘Verily, I say unto you.’ Other teachers explained the law; He is a lawgiver. Others drew more or less pure waters from cisterns; He is in Himself a well of water, from which all may draw. To us, as to these rude villagers in the synagogue of the little fishing-town, Christ’s teaching is unique in this respect. He does not argue; He affirms. He seeks no support from others’ teachings; He alone is sufficient for us. He not only speaks the truth, which needs no other confirmation than His own lips, but He is the truth. We may canvass other men’s teachings, and distinguish their insight from their errors; we have but to accept His. The world outgrows all others; it can only grow up towards the fulness of His. Us and all the ages He teaches with authority, and the guarantee for the truth of His teaching is Himself. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you.’ No other man has a right to say that to me. But Christ dominates the race, and the strong Son of God is the world’s Teacher.
II. The strong conqueror of demons.
What a contrast to the tempest of the demoniac’s wild and whirling words is the calm speech of Christ! He knows His authority, and His word is imperative, curt, and assured: ‘Hold thy peace!’ literally, ‘Be muzzled,’ as if the creature were a dangerous beast, whose raving and snapping must be stopped. Jesus wishes no acknowledgments from such lips. They who bear the vessels of the Lord must be clean. He had taught with authority, and now He in like manner commands. His teaching rested on His own assurance. His miracle is done by His own power. That power is put forth by His simple word; that is to say, the bare exercise or expression of His will is potent.
The third step in the narrative is the immediate obedience of the demon. Reluctant but compelled, malicious to the last, doing the house which he has to leave all the harm he can, and though no longer venturing to speak, yet venting his rage and mortification, and acknowledging his defeat by one parting howl, he comes out.
Again, we are bid to note the impression produced. The interrupted buzz of talk begins once more, and is vividly reported by the fragmentary sentences of Mar 1:27 , and by the remark that it was ‘among themselves’ that they compared notes. Two things startled the people:-first, the ‘new teaching’; and second, the authority over demons, into which they naturally generalise the one instance. The busy tongues were not silenced when they left the synagogue. Mar 1:28 shows what happened, in one direction, when the meeting broke up. With another ‘straightway,’ Mark paints the swift flight of the rumour over all the district, and somewhat overleaps the strict line of chronology, to let us hear how far the echo of such a blow sounded. This first miracle recorded by him is as a duel between Christ and the ‘strong man armed,’ who ‘keeps his house.’ The shield of the great oppressor is first struck in challenge by the champion, and His first essay at arms proves Him mightiest. Such a victory well heads the chronicle.
III. The tenderness of the strong Son.
Their confidence was not misplaced. No moment intervened unused between the tidings and the cure. ‘He came,’ as if He had been in some outer room, or not yet in the house, and now passed into the sick chamber. Then comes one of Mark’s minute and graphic details, in which we may see the keen eye and faithful memory of Peter. He ‘took her by the hand, and lifted her up.’ Mark is fond of telling of Christ’s taking by the hand; as, for instance, the little child whom He set in the midst, the blind man whom He healed, the child with the dumb spirit. His touch has power. His grasp means sympathy, tenderness, identification of Himself with us, the communication of upholding, restoring strength. It is a picture, in a small matter, of the very heart of the gospel. ‘He layeth not hold of angels, but He layeth hold of the seed of Abraham.’ It is a lesson for all who would help their fellows, that they must not be too dainty to lay hold of the dirtiest hand, both metaphorically and literally, if they want their sympathy to be believed. His hand banishes not only the disease, but its consequences. Immediate convalescence and restoration to strength follow; and the strength is used, as it should be, in ministering to the Healer who, notwithstanding His power, needed the humble ministration and the poor fare of the fisherman’s hut. What a lesson for all Christian homes is here! Let Jesus know all that troubles them, welcome Him as a guest, tell Him everything, and He will cure all diseases and sorrows, or give the light of His presence to make them endurable. Consecrate to Him the strength which He gives, and let deliverances teach trust, and inflame grateful love, which delights in serving Him who needs no service, but delights in all.
IV. The strong Son, unwearied by toil and sufficient for all the needy.
So ended this first of ‘the days of the Son of Man,’ which our Evangelist records. It was a day of hard toil, of merciful and manifold self-revelation. As teacher and doer, in the synagogue, and in the home, and in the city; as Lord of the dark realms of evil and of disease; as ready to hear hinted and dumb prayers, and able to answer them all; as careless of His own ease, and ready to spend Himself for others’ help,-Jesus showed Himself, on that Sabbath day, strong and tender, the Son of God and the servant of men.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 1:32-34
32When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
Mar 1:32 “When evening came” Apparently this was after twilight, so the Sabbath was officially over and physical healings were now rabbinically legal.
“bringing to Him” This is an Imperfect tense which means “continually carrying.” Jesus did not want to be known as a miracle worker, but a proclaimer of truth (cf. Luk 4:43), yet the word was out (cf. Mar 1:28).
“ill” Mar 1:32 implies that “all” who were sick or demon possessed in the entire town were brought to Jesus. Mar 1:34 states that He healed or delivered “many” of them, but not everyone. It is interesting that the terms “all” and “many” are often used synonymously in the Bible (cf. Isa 53:6 vs. Isa 53:11-12 and Rom 5:18. Mar 1:19). It is uncertain whether Jesus healed everyone brought to Him or many of them. At the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, it is recorded that Jesus only healed one of many sick persons. Jesus did not go out of His way to heal, but if the situation presented itself (i.e., a teaching moment for the disciples plus Jesus’ compassion for the hurting and needy) He acted in power. He did go out of His way for the purpose of evangelism (i.e., the Samaritan woman, cf John 4, especially Mar 1:4). Healing was a sign, but evangelism was the purpose and focus of His ministry.
There is some confusion about Jesus’ methodology in healing; sometimes it is dependent on the faith response of the sick person, sometimes on the faith of one of their friends or loved ones and often for the purpose of showing His power, unrelated to faith on the receiver’s part. Salvation did not automatically accompany physical deliverance or healing.
“these who were demon possessed” Notice the distinction between illness and demon possession.
Mar 1:33 These townspeople were curious and some were desperate for physical health and spiritual wholeness.
Mar 1:34 “He healed many” This verse is the first of many in Mark (cf. Mar 1:34; Mar 1:43-44; Mar 3:12; Mar 4:11; Mar 5:43; Mar 7:24; Mar 7:36; Mar 8:26; Mar 8:30; Mar 9:9) which have often been referred to as “Mark’s Messianic Secret.” Jesus tells the disciples and those He heals not to tell about His healing acts. Jesus did not want to be known merely as a healer or miracle worker. These were only signs that pointed to His Messiahship, which at this point in His life had not been fully revealed. Jesus came to (1) reveal the Father; (2) give Himself as a sacrifice for sin; and (3) give believers an example to follow. The healings and deliverances were only signs of His compassion for the weak, sick, and outcast. This was also an OT predicted sign of the ministry of the Messiah (cf. Isa 61:1).
“was not permitting the demons to speak” This is imperfect tense, implying several exorcisms (cf. Mar 1:24). See Special Topic on the Demonic at Mar 1:24.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
when the sun did set. A Divine supplement, here.
brought = kept bringing.
that were diseased. Compare Mat 4:23, Mat 4:24.
possessed with devils = possessed with demons. Greek. daimonizomai. Derivation uncertain. See note on Mat 8:16, Mat 8:28.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mar 1:32. , at even) Implying the assiduity of Jesus. Comp. Mar 1:35, in the morning.-, and) specially.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mar 1:32-34
5. MANY OTHERS WERE HEALED
Mar 1:32-34
(Mat 8:16-17; Luk 4:40-41)
32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were sick, and them that were possessed with demons.–[These miracles occurred on the Sabbath day. There was a feeling against even the healing of the sick on the Sabbath. Jesus, from the beginning, healed as occasion offered on the Sabbath, and spoke not a word during his ministry urging the observance of the Sabbath. Many of the Jews, especially the scribes and Pharisees about Jerusalem, insisted rigidly on the observance, and as the Sabbath ended at six o’clock in the evening, it is generally thought that those sick were not brought until this hour to avoid breaking the Sabbath, or to avoid the condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees. But it is certain that those living in Galilee did not so sacredly observe the day as did the Jews. In Galilee they had failed to retain the strong religious feelings of the Jews. So while this feeling may have influenced them it is probable that the sun was hot, and they waited until the setting of the sun and the cool evening shadows made it more favorable to bring them out. Whatever the cause, all that were sick in Capernaum and many possessed of evil spirits at even were brought unto him.]
33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.–[All the well were gathered at the door, curious and interested to see what they could of his wonderful deeds in healing the diseased and casting out the evil spirits. Many followed him from curiosity and to see and hear something wonderful.]
34 And he healed many that were sick with divers diseases, and cast out many demons; and he suffered not the demons to speak, because they knew him.–They knew him as the Holy One of God (Luk 4:41), but he adhered to his steady purpose to accept no testimony from them. Mar 3:22 and its parallels show how ready the scribes, etc., were to ascribe these miracles to a compact with Beelzebub. To such a charge Jesus will furnish no help. [Luke (Luk 4:40) says, “He laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” The persons were many, the diseases were manifold. He laid his hands on everyone suffering and healed them. He cast out the demons from all that were possessed with them, and suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him. If they spoke they would declare who he was, and he would not permit this.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
devils
demons. (See Scofield “Mat 7:22”)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
at even: Mar 1:21, Mar 3:2, Mat 8:16, Luk 4:40
Reciprocal: Mat 4:23 – healing Mat 9:2 – they brought Mat 9:35 – General Mat 15:30 – great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Chapter 9.
The Balanced Life
“And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him. And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”-Mar 1:32-35.
Service and Supplication.
One of the most difficult things in the religious life is to keep the balance true as between service and devotion, between work and prayer. Instances of failure to preserve the true balance quickly suggest themselves. On the one hand there is the monk, who spends his days in the cloistered cell, who has sacrificed service to devotion. His is an ill-balanced life in the one direction. Then on the other hand there is the man who is so occupied with his manifold activities and philanthropies that he is too busy to pray. His is an ill-balanced life in the opposite direction.
The Balanced Life of Christ.
But what a beautifully-balanced life these verses reveal 1 Mar 1:32-33 and Mar 1:34 show Christ to us in the midst of His activities; Mar 1:35 shows Him to us in the midst of His devotions. In the evening He is busy with the crowd; in the morning before the dawn He is alone with God. Christ’s piety issued in practical service. His practical service was nourished and sustained by His piety. In our Lord’s life, service and communion, work and prayer, each had its due and proper place. His was a perfectly “balanced” life.
A Crowded Day.
Here we have, to begin with, a picture of Christ in the midst of His activities. What a Sabbath this was in the history of Christ! How crowded with work! First of all He preached in the synagogue; and let us never forget Christ’s life-blood was in every sermon He preached. Then He cast the evil spirit out of the demoniac. Then after leaving the synagogue yet another call had been made on His compassion, and He had healed Simon’s wife’s mother. And let us never forget that what is true of Christ’s sermons is also true of Christ’s miracles-they cost. Power, one of the evangelists tells us, went forth from Him (Luk 8:46, R.V.). Every act of healing was a drain upon His vitality. It cost Him life to restore life to others.
A Wearied Toiler and New Labours.
Now if that be so He must have been a tired Christ that Sabbath evening. The day had cost Him much in desire and compassion and sympathy, and He might fairly claim to have earned His rest. But it is not of rest we read, but of new and costly activities. “At even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were sick, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door,” (Mar 1:32-33, R.V.).
All the city at the door, and within a tired Christ! But he makes no mention of weariness. Out of Simon’s house into the midst of that pathetic crowd He passes, carrying healing and blessing with Him. What tireless activity is this! Christ spent Himself in the service of men. He lived under the constraint of a great urgency. “We must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (Joh 9:4, R.V.).
The Worker at Prayer.
And side by side with this picture of Christ in the midst of His activities, we have a picture of Christ in the midst of His devotions. “In the morning, a great while before day, He rose up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there prayed” (Mar 1:35, R.V.). There is the most close and intimate connexion between the one picture and the other.
I was once taken through the engineering shops in the Devonport dockyard. I saw innumerable machines busy at various kinds of work, most of them making considerable noise in the process. Then my conductor took me to a room which by contrast was almost silent, where a great engine was working smoothly and quietly.
“The Power-room”
“This,” said he, “is the power-room.” In that quiet room I found the secret of the multifarious activities of the machines in the various shops. In Mar 1:32-34, Mark has been showing us our Lord’s various activities. In Mar 1:35 he takes us to the “power-room.” Back of all the activities of the synagogue and the street lay a life of secret prayer. In communion with His Father, Jesus refreshed and renewed Himself for further labour and toil amongst men. “A great while before day”-Jesus made time for prayer! He snatched it from His sleep.
An Example for us.
What an object-lesson as to the indispensable necessity of prayer! We realise the obligation of service in these days, and consequently we have become very “busy.” But are we neglecting the “power-room”? We must keep the balance true. We must never become too busy to pray.
“This kind,” said our Lord, “can come out by nothing, save by prayer” (Mar 9:29, R.V.).
Fuente: The Gospel According to St. Mark: A Devotional Commentary
2
This verse includes regular diseases and also the being possessed with devils which shows there was a difference between the two kinds of afflictions. The presence of devils sometimes caused diseases similar to those to which mankind was always subject, but such cases could be cured only by casting out the devils.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mar 1:32. And when evening was come, after the sun was set. The Sabbath had ended, and they felt at liberty to bring the sick and possessed.
Them that were possessed with demons, or, more literally, those demonized, under the power of evil spirits. The two afflicted classes are distinguished.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The evangelist here declares sundry other miracles wrought by our Saviour before the door of St. Peter’s house, where he now was; he healed all the diseased that were brought unto him, and cast devils out of them that were possessed with them.
But how comes it to pass, that we read of so many possessed with devils in our Saviour’s time, and so few either before or since?
Ans. 1. Probably Satan, perceiving that the Messiah was come in the flesh to destroy his kingdom, did rage the more, and discover great malice and enmity against mankind.
2. Perhaps Almighty God permitted Satan at that time to possess so many, that Christ might have occasion to manifest his divine power by casting Satan out: and accordingly we find our Saviour dispossessing all that were possessed by Satan.
It is added, that he suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. That is, Christ would not be made known to be the Son of God by the preaching of the devil, to whom it belonged not to publish the gospel, lest the world should take from thence an occasion to think that our Saviour held a correspondence with those wicked spirits, and that the miracles he wrought were performed by the devil’s assistance, as being one in combination with him. Possibly the devil’s owning Christ to be the Holy One of God, the Pharisees concluded that there was a compact and agreement betwixt them, and thereupon their affirmation was grounded, He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, &c.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Mat 20:17-19; Luk 18:31-34; Mar 1:32-34. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them, and they continued to be excited, and following, they were afraid. Our Lord is still over in Perea, east of the Jordan, walking along toward Jerusalem, accompanied by the vast multitudes. The disciples know that if He goes back to Jerusalem, something decisive will take place, as only a dozen days previously He had fled away from there for His life. As the Passover is now at hand, and the metropolis will be thronged with the people of Israel, not only from Judea and Galilee, but from their dispersions in all heathen lands, they know that His enemies are determined to do everything they can against Him. As it is said here that they were much excited and afraid, doubtless they were apprehensive that the thousands from Galilee, where He had spent by far the greater part of His ministerial life, would be at the Passover, and as His enemies were so hostile against Him, in all probability a bloody civil war would break out, in which they were all likely to lose their lives. Meanwhile the hopeful side of the matter was, that He would be crowned King there in Jerusalem, in the presence of the vast multitudes from all parts of the earth, who might fall in line and propagate His kingdom, and permanently establish Him on the throne of David.
And again taking the twelve, He began to speak to them the things which were about to happen to Him, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and will scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise. Luke says: And they understood nothing of these things; and this word was hidden from them, and they knew not the things spoken. This is the third time our Savior has told them plainly that He is going to be arrested, arraigned, condemned, scourged, crucified, and will rise the third day. Now you see that Luke here says that they understood none of those things, and we see in the subsequent history that they were utterly ignorant of His impending fate till it took place. Now why did Jesus tell them three times, and the Holy Spirit withhold it from them? N. B. The Holy Spirit is not only the Author of the Word, but the Revelator of that Word to every person who ever understands it. It was really important that Jesus should tell them all about it, as He did three times, distinctly, by way of emphasis. The importance of this revelation is seen in the fact that it was a most important item in the prophetical curriculum, which constitutes the basis of Christian faith in all ages.
Therefore it must be revealed. Now why must it be withheld from them till after His resurrection? Do you not know that if they had understood it, they would have mustered the countless hosts to whom He had preached during the three years of His ministry and have prepared for war, in order to defend their beloved Leader and preserve His life? Thus a terrible civil war would have broken out in Jerusalem while the city was thronged with the myriads from all parts of the earth attending the Passover, and a grand army would have rallied to prevent them from killing Him, thus defeating the great end for which He came into the world; i.e., to suffer and die to redeem the lost millions of Adams fallen race. Hence you see the pertinency on the part of the Divine administration, that the Holy Spirit should withhold these tragic, sublime, and wonderful events appertaining to their Master, so that they should not understand them till after they had all transpired. The same fact is true in all ages, despite all the efforts of human learning to fathom and comprehend the Bible. While these are not to be depreciated, it is an incontestable fact that we only know the Word as it is revealed to us by the Holy Ghost. After the Constantinian apostasy, during the Dark Ages, when the Church was monopolized by Romanism, and retrogressed into semi-paganism, every great, cardinal, spiritual truth having evanesced, and the Holy Spirit apparently retreating away and leaving her in the dismal midnight of ignorance and superstition, even collapsing so egregiously into human infatuation and folly as to become a secret society, like Freemasonry, her mystic rites only known to her muttering priests, and locked up in a dead language, incomprehensible by the laity, amid this dismal night of ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, she remained a thousand years, till the light again broke in, God raising up Wyclif, a Roman Catholic priest, justly denominated the Morning Star of the Reformation; followed by John Huss, of Bohemia, whom the Roman Catholics burned, and threw his ashes into the Rhine, on whose waters they floated down, impinging on many lands, germinating quite a crop of martyrs, who sprang up spontaneously, like mushrooms in the night; and like the armed men who sprang up from the dragons teeth which Cadmus sowed in Greece, so a magnificent crop of martyrs were soon testifying amid the flaming fagots in different European countries; finally, Luther comes to the front, the hero of the Reformation, the multitudes falling in line, getting their eyes open to the glorious truth of justification by the free grace of God in Christ, received and appropriated by faith alone, independently of Church rites, priestly manipulations, and clerical absolutions, presenting a rank and file too formidable for the papistical power to overawe by thundering anathemas, bulls of excommunication, or the fires of Inquisition. We may here observe that during this long period of a thousand years, while the dismal Pagan night darkened the escutcheon of the historic Church, ignorance, superstition, priestcraft, prelacy, and popery, with their human institutions, autocracy, and tyranny having supplanted, and, to all human observation, obliterated every vestige of experimental godliness from the historic Church, yet God had a people in the world who knew Him experimentally, and walked with Him in the beauty of holiness, despite the terrible persecutions waged against them by the Catholic Church, A. D. 251. The Novatians, the holiness people of their day and time, withdrew from the Catholic Church on account of her corruptions. The same people in later centuries were denominated the Waldenses and Albigenses, and despite all efforts to exterminate them in blood, survived several centuries; and finally the movement received a new impetus under the leadership of the Moravians, who were instrumental in the sanctification of John Wesley, who, in the providence of God, became exceedingly prominent in the great holiness movement of his day. While Luther was evidently a sanctified man, yet he never gave the doctrine or the experience any especial attention, having all he could possibly do to rescue the primary truths of justification, regeneration, and adoption from the black grip of Satanic oblivion, long fastened on them by the tyrannical intrigues of Romanism. I am satisfied that God had His way with Luther and his compeers, using them, pursuant to His own will and purpose, in the restoration of these grand fundamental doctrines of experimental salvation. As Wycli was the morning star and Luther the rising sun of the great justification revival, in a similar manner George Fox, the founder of Quakerism; John Bunyan, the Baptist; and John Knox, the Presbyterian, were the morning stars of the great sanctification revival, whose sun arose with Wesley and his compeers. As the great doctrine of entire sanctification, so prominent in the apostolic age, had gone into eclipse with oncoming Romanism, and had slumbered in oblivion more than a thousand years, God raised up these mighty men to rescue from oblivion, formulate, and elucidate the profound and majestic-truth of Christian perfection. These heroic saints of bygone ages have faithfully and courageously done their work, and are now resting in glory. While experience is substantially identical in all ages, not so with exegesis. The Bible is our text-book, and the Holy Ghost our Teacher; but some of us are very slow scholars. The Holy Ghost is leading us on, and teaching us as we are able to receive it. Wesley and his coadjutors profited by the work of Luther, as Wesley was actually converted while listening to the reading of Luthers preface to the Pauline Epistles; but the labor of their lives was not on justification, but Christian perfection.
Our holiness brethren who would confine our investigations and elucidations to sanctification, make a great mistake. The Holy Spirit is still opening the Scriptures, and revealing them more and more, to the saints of God. If we should stop with sanctification, we would make no progress beyond our predecessors, whereas the school of Christ is the most progressive institution in all the world. The notable fact that the Holy Spirit is so wonderful opening the Scriptures revelatory of the Lords second coming, is to me an auspicious omen that the time is at hand. We are now living in the last century of the worlds six thousand years, the millennium being the seventh thousand. As the popular chronology is believed by the ablest critics to be too long, many authorities expiring the six thousand years already, we have many reasons to open our eyes to the incoming light shed by the blessed Holy Spirit on those numerous Scriptures revealing the return of Jesus to this world. During the last year I have traveled twenty thousand miles in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In all lands, and upon all seas, I met the Lords dear people, looking out for His coming, and believing Him to be very nigh. The Holy Spirit is wonderfully lighting up the Scriptures on the coming of the Lord, Divine healing, and womans ministry. We so much need the ministry of the sisterhood to help us carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, and expedite the return of our glorious King. It is very pertinent that we should all sit, meek and lowly, at the feet of Jesus, perfectly appreciative and acquiescent in the teaching of the Holy Ghost. If we refuse to move forward responsive to His leadership, we will certainly grieve Him.
Why did He not reveal the great doctrine of sanctification to Luther? Because he and his generation had enough to do to teach and establish justification. Why did He not lead out Wesley to elaborate the coming of the Lord? Because he had all he could do, in his long, laborious, and useful life, to expound and establish the great doctrine of entire sanctification. Now, with the full benefit of the proficiency achieved by our predecessors, shall we make no decisive process in the school of Christ? Shall we stand still, or go round like the blind horse in the treadmill? Gods commandment to Israel is, Go forward. This will be true indefinitely in the department of Biblical exegesis, which, like God its Author, is absolutely illimitable. We will not only learn during this life, but on through all eternity, and more rapidly after we get to heaven than ever before. God forbid that we should command Israel to stand still when He says, Go forward!
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Mar 1:32-34. at even when the sun did set: Simons wifes mother was healed on the Sabbath. When the Sabbath was over, the house was besieged with sick persons. Jesus healed many. Each case seems to be treated individually. Mk. especially mentions the cure of the possessed.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 32
When the sun did set. The fame of the miracle performed in the synagogue, and of that at the house of Simon, produced great public excitement; but as it was the Sabbath, the people would not bring other sick persons to be healed until the sun went down.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
In reading the synoptics you will note two items. Matthew relates this occurrence to Isa 53:4 where it mentions “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” Now Matthew only mentions the first half of the verse. He states, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases.” The last half of the verse had not occurred yet and indeed Matthew would not have grasped the meaning of it at that point in time.
One must wonder if later in Matthew’s life if he remembered this passage and related the last half of the verse with what he saw occurring in the Savior’s life.
The second item of note is that Christ “suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.” Luke in verse 41 states “And devils also came out from many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Son of God. And rebuking them, he suffered them not to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
Imagine Jewish leaders that might have been in the audience hearing demons tell the crowd that this was the Son of God and the Christ. In their minds they had to wonder if this was a fake show of some sort or if this was really the Messiah. (Since the whole town came out it would seem that Jewish leaders would have been present.)
One might ponder how the demons knew who Christ was. Simple answer to that one – they knew Him from the beginning of their existence. He – God – was part of their rebellion – they knewHim intimately, for they had sought to help Lucifer to usurp God. Indeed He was their creator – of course they knew Him!
Just a note about Harmony of the Gospel works. Be careful in choosing a Harmony since there are some good ones and some that are not so good. Example: The Harmony by Robertson lists this account in Matthew, Mark and Luke, but one Harmony I checked left out the Matthew account. This is obviously the same occurrence since it is specifically Peter’s mother-in-law sick with a fever.
There is a very important item that would have been missed by folks using the erroneous Harmony – the fact that Matthew related this to Isa 53:4.
I might mention in passing and leave the detail to another study that the Charismatic movement camp on this passage for partial basis for their belief in healing. They often quote the Isaiah passage and tell us that healing is part of the atonement made by Christ on the cross.
Uhhh LOGIC break please. Matthew relates this to the ministry of the Messiah to the Jewish people long before the cross and just one further point – this is not the church, this is Jewish and Millennial in nature.
Care must be taken when looking into the Gospels as there is material for both the millennial kingdom and information for the church age. Christ came to set up the millennium but the Jews rejected Him and His kingdom because it was not what they wanted. They wanted someone to overrun the Roman government and set them free of their heavy hand but Christ was offering them a different pattern of attack which they did not want to hear.
They were confronted with miracle after miracle but still rejected their king.
Even today lost people can see item after item that points to the Lord and yet they continue to reject Christ. Long years ago I worked with an old man in an American Missionary Fellowship church. One day we were talking of this and he shared a story from his life from long before, yet his eyes were still full of tears when recounting about his father on his deathbed. The father had been confronted many times by his son with the Gospel yet the old man continued to reject. Even after one final plea as his father was dieing the son pleaded with his father asking him to trust Christ but the father went to eternity without making that decision. He had seen his son’s life of commitment to the Lord yet he rejected everything his son loved.
Just a short note about the healing in verse 34. The Lord healed all that came to Him for healing he didn’t heal some and not others as the healers of today do. All comers were made whole, not just a few of the easy ones to fix. To heal as the Lord healed or as Paul healed you could heal everyone in the hospital, close the doors and stand outside and heal all that came for care.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
3. Jesus’ healing of many Galileans after sundown 1:32-34 (cf. Matthew 8:16-17; Luke 4:40-41)
This little pericope shows that the former two healings were not isolated cases. Jesus’ power benefited many people who came to Peter’s house after sundown ended the Sabbath and enabled the Jews to travel farther to obtain His help (cf. Exo 20:10; Mar 3:1-5).
"The two-step progression is the most pervasive stylistic feature in the gospel. It occurs in phrases, sentences, pairs of sentences, and the structure of episodes. It is a key to understanding many lines and episodes. A simple example is, ’When it was evening, after the sun set. . . .’ The time reference, ’When it was evening,’ is repeated in ’after the sun set.’ However, this is no mere repetition, for the second part adds precision and clarifies the first part. Both parts comprise a two-step progressive description. The first part is important, yet the emphasis often lies on the second step which usually contains the more significant element. In this example, the second step refers to the setting sun, which denoted precisely the end of the Sabbath when people were again permitted to travel and could therefore seek out Jesus for healing." [Note: Rhoads and Michie, p. 47. See pp. 47-49 for several other examples of this narrative device.]
"Jesus forces healing on no one. He does not seek people out to heal but heals only those who come to him. He initiates a healing only when he takes responsibility for healing on the Sabbath. And Jesus heals freely, with no strings attached to those healings. He does not demand that people believe he is the anointed one (none do) or even believe in the Jewish God. He does not require a person to be morally good . . . . Jesus does not expect to gain personally from healing, for he never asks anyone he heals to follow him. Usually he orders them, often harshly, to keep quiet or go home. They proclaim or follow on their own, and Jesus does not consider either action a condition for healing." [Note: Ibid, p. 110.]
"What a symbol of this world’s misery, need, and hope; what a symbol, also, of what the Christ really is as the Consoler in the world’s manifold woe! Never, surely, was He more truly the Christ; nor is He in symbol more truly such to us and to all time, than when, in the stillness of that evening, under the starlit sky, He went through that suffering throng, laying His hands in the blessing of healing on every one of them, and casting out many devils. No picture of the Christ more dear to us, than this of the unlimited healing of whatever disease of body or soul. In its blessed indefiniteness it conveys the infinite potentiality of relief, whatever misery have fallen on us, or whatever care or sorrow oppress us." [Note: Edersheim, 1:487.]
Jesus’ healings demonstrate His compassion for people.
"No scene [sic is] more characteristic of the Christ than that on this autumn evening at Capernaum." [Note: Ibid., 1:486.]
Probably Jesus did not permit the demons to identify Him because this would have encouraged the people to think of Him as most of the Jews then thought of the Messiah. He wanted to avoid this stereotype as much as He could because it did not represent the type of Messiah He was. Notice the clear distinction between demon influence and mere physical illness (cf. Mar 6:13).
This section of the Gospel (Mar 1:21-34) shows Jesus doing miracles to identify Himself as God’s Servant and to authenticate His message (Mar 1:15).