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the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

g Isaiah liii. 4; 1 Peter ii. 24.

-That is, thus were fulfilled the words of Isaiah, liii. 4, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." St. Matthew's quotation differs a little from the Hebrew, and somewhat more from the present copies of the LXX.; but is, in sense, the same. The only difficulty lies in this application of the words of the prophet to the taking and bearing of bodily diseases, when they refer primarily to the taking away of sin, by those vicarious sufferings of the Messiah of which Isaiah unquestionably speaks. This has led many commentators to consider this quotation as another instance of the use of prophecy by the evangelist in an accommodated sense; on which some remarks will be found in the note on chapter i. 22. But this objectionable theory is applied, in the instance before us, under very defective views of our Lord's atonement, and the import of the prophet's words respecting it. Through that atonement all our blessings come; and as all our sufferings are the consequences of sin, none of them could have been removed had not propitiation been made for sin, and the right to deliver us from all its consequences been acquired by our Redeemer. Whatever blessings, therefore, our Lord bestowed during his ministry on earth, were given with reference to that "bearing" of the PENALTY of sin which he was ultimately to sustain, and by virtue of which he was to take it away, in all its consequences, as to all those who should come to him in faith. And as by virtue of that anticipated atonement he, whilst on earth, "forgave sins," so by virtue of the same anticipated atonement he healed the diseases of the body, all which are the fruits of sin. Whenever, therefore, he did either of these, removing either sin itself from the consciences of men, or any of its consequences from their persons, in virtue of his being the appointed sin-offering, those words of the prophet, "Surely he hath

borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows," were directly fulfilled: since these were the proofs and effects of his substitution in our place as the accepted sacrifice; they were all, in a word, demonstrations of the efficacy of his atonement. Nor are we to suppose, as the criticism here objected to does, that Christ "bore our griefs and carried our sorrows" by actual vicarious suffering only when upon the cross. He bore them, as the penalty of sin, in his agony as well as at his crucifixion; and often previously, whenever he " groaned in spirit," and was "troubled.” All his humiliations, and all his mental distresses, in coming into a world so full of sin and misery, formed a part of the grand sum of vicarious suffering by which "the sin of the world" was to be taken away; and upon his spirit the sight of that accumulated misery, so often presented by the multitudes of sick and possessed and tormented persons, produced a sorrowful effect. We see this often exemplified: we see it at the tomb of Lazarus, although he was about to raise him to life. His sorrow then was not common sorrow; his groaning in spirit cannot be thus explained; and the "compassion" of Christ on other occasions, to the miserable, was not the common compassion of men, but a distinct and deeper feeling; a part of the load and pressure of trouble laid upon his infinitely tender spirit, which he was to sustain. Hence after his miracles of healing we have no expressions of exultation arising from the triumphs of his benevolence; no indications of that joyous feeling which relieves the painful sympathy of merely humane persons when they have succeeded in conveying relief. The whole mass of the world's woe lay upon his spirit from the beginning to the end; for as his office was to take away the "sin of the world," he must first bear its weight. It was in this sense that St. Matthew says, he took our infirmities and bore our sick

18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

h

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

h Luke ix. 57.

nesses; not, certainly, by transferring the infirmities and sickness to his own person, for he became neither infirm nor sick; nor do the words used signify simply to take or bear away, much less the Hebrew term used by Isaiah, but that he took them and carried them as A LOAD or BURDEN, the sustaining of which was a part of the process of the great atone

ment.

In the strictest sense, therefore, the prophecy quoted by the evangelist was here" fulfilled;" not, indeed, fully, for Christ had much more to sustain; but still directly and properly. It is remarkable, too, that this is the comprehensive sense in which some of the Jewish writers view this passage; which is no small confirmation of the meaning attached by Matthew to the words of Isaiah, since all their prejudices lay against a suffering Messiah. Thus, in their book of Zohar it is said, "There is one temple which is called the temple of the sons of affliction; and when the Messiah comes into that temple, and reads all the afflictions, all the griefs, and all the chastisements of Israel, which came upon them, then all of them shall come upon him; and if there were any that would lighten them off from Israel, and take them upon himself, there is no son of man that can bear the chastisements of Israel, because of the punishment of the law, as it is said, Surely he hath borne our griefs," &c.

Verse 18. The other side.-That is of the lake or sea of Galilee. He departed by water to the south-eastern side, and thus evaded the crowd, to obtain some space for retirement; and probably to avoid keeping great multitudes for any

long time together, lest the jealousy of the government might be excited.

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Verses 19, 20. A certain scribe came and said, &c.-That this man was influenced only by sordid motives, hoping for rank and wealth, if Jesus should prove the Messiah, is very probable from our Lord's reply. The foxes have holes, &c. He was about to pass over the lake, wearied and exhausted by his labours; and in the place to which he was going, there was no house, no family, to receive him. To his own poverty he therefore alludes, since he had no means of providing accommodation where no friendly family was found to receive him. There is great emphasis here in the application of the phrase 'Son of Man" to himself. "A son of man" is the Jewish phrase for a real human being; but "THE Son of Man" is a designation of Messiah, and is taken from Psalm lxxx. 17; and especially from Daniel vii. 13, 14, where the holy prophet says, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him, and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom," &c. This prophecy was by the Jews uniformly applied to the Messiah; and our Lord, in his answer to the scribe, applies it to himself; yet as though he had said, I am indeed the Son of Man spoken of by Daniel, and, as thou professest to believe, the Messiah; but instead of a kingdom, and glory, and dominion, I have not where to lay my head,-no house of my own, much less a palace and a kingdom. Of a spiritual reign the scribe had no notion; and being cut off from

21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

23

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24 i And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us we perish.

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

i Mark iv. 37; Luke viii. 23.

the hope of a visible and earthly one, he probably retired. I will follow thee, said this forward professor, whithersoever thou goest; but he secretly meant, only into the paths of publicity and enjoyment, not into those of humility and suffering. Yet wherever Christ leads, the true disciple must follow him.

and

Verses 21, 22. Suffer me first to go bury my father.-The father probably was not dead, but aged; and the request was for permission to cease from a constant attendance on Christ, which those were obliged to who were called to the ministry of the word, until his parent should die and be interred. Probably also some worldly feeling, as well as filial affection, might have a share in dictating the request. He was therefore to be put to the test and proved. Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead; let those who are dead to all sense of spiritual things, bury those who are corporally dead: in other words, Let worldly men take care of worldly interests; thou art called to follow me, and to be trained up to impart spiritual instruction and life to others, and for this every thing is to be forsaken. This is a saying which ought to sink deep into the ears of ministers, and of those who are called to this office. In the phrase,

K

Let the dead bury their dead, is an instance of the use of the same word in a sentence in two different senses. It is a rhetorical figure called antanaclasis, and occurs often in scripture, and particularly in the pointed sayings of our Lord, without attending to which they are liable to be misinterpreted. The figurative representation of earthly and wicked men, as in a state of death, was frequent both among Jews and heathens. Thus Philo, "dead to virtue, alive to evil;" and Clemens Alexandrinus remarks that "the philosophers esteem those dead who subject the mind to sense." The disciple who made this request is by tradition said to be Philip. Whoever it might be, it would seem that he remained with Christ.

Verse 23. And when he was entered into a ship.-Rather one of the small vessels used for navigating the lake, a fishing vessel, though of considerable size, for his disciples embarked with him. The conversation with the scribe and the disciple just mentioned, took place whilst our Lord was preparing to embark.

Verse 24. A great tempest.-The sea of Galilee, though generally calm, was liable to heavy and sudden hurricanes, coming down from the surrounding mountains.

Verse 26. O ye of little faith.-Faith

27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

j Mark v. 1; Luke viii. 26.

here, as in most places of the New Testament, includes in it the idea of trust. Some degree of faith they had, for they came to Christ and awoke him, praying him to save them; but it was mingled with great fears. Why are ye fearful? Their faith was not that entire trust which tranquillizes and assures the soul in the greatest danger: in such a case as this, great fear was the evidence of little faith: for how could they perish when their Master was with them; he whose power over nature they had so often seen and acknowledged? For this they were justly reproved. He rebuked the winds, and the sea, &c. So that it was in the height of the tempest, amidst the very rage and fury of the elements, and in the extremity of danger, that he issued his authoritative command, and there was a great calm. The very simplicity of the narrative heightens the sublimity of the whole scene as it passes before us :-the sudderness and fury of the storm; the vessel labouring among the overwhelming waves; the terror of the disciples; the calm repose of Jesus, asleep amidst all this uproar; the majesty of his action,-" he arose and rebuked the wind and the sea;" the immediate effect,-"there was a great calm," so nobly expressed in the original, και εγενετο γαληνη μεγαλη, that one almost feels the absolute repose which one almighty word produced. Not only was the wind laid, but the surface of the sea," says Bishop Pearce, "became smooth and level, which yaλnun properly signifies; whereas after a storm is over, the water of the sea is for a long time in motion. This circumstance, therefore, helps to show the full force of the miraculous power exerted."

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Verse 27. What manner of man is this? &c. -Man is not in the original; and the text would have been better translated, What kind of person or being is this? rolamos EOTIV Ovlos; for there was here an overwhelming manifestation of the glory and power of Christ's divine nature; though, like light from a parted cloud, it was quickly shrouded again in the veil of his humble condition and demeanour Hence it is said by Mark, that the disciples "feared exceedingly ;" and by Luke, that they being afraid wondered." The danger was over, their fears as to that had subsided; but fear of another kind, a deep and amazing awe in the presence of him who had just exhibited an attribute of omnipotence. The wonder was great but indefinite; it dazzled rather than enlightened them; but after the resurrection of their Lord they knew how to interpret the whole case. "The waters saw thee, O GOD, the waters saw thee, and were afraid; at thy rebuke they fled.” “JEHOVAH on high is mightier than the noise of many waters."

Verse 28. Country of the Gergasenes.— Mark and Luke say, "the country of the Gadarenes," St. Matthew probably naming it from Gergesa, and the others from Gadara, which were near each other; but the ancient reading was probably T Tadagnyov, as in Mark and Luke.

Out of the tombs.-Tombs or sepulchres, not only among the Jews, but other easterns also, were often spacious subterranean caves excavated in the rock, and sometimes served as places of abode to those outcasts who were expelled from the habitations of men. A recent traveller, Mr. Light, visited the scene of this miracle, and observes, "The tombs still

29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

exist in the form of caverns, in the sides of the hills that rise from the lake; and from their wild appearance may well be considered the habitation of men 'exceeding fierce,' possessed by devils. They extend to a distance of more than a mile from the present town."

Verse 29. What have we to do with thee? &c. This phrase implies impatience at being troubled at the presence or interference of another. They apprehended, no doubt, that Christ would dispossess them; and they not only feared this, but that he might inflict upon them some signal punishment before their time; that is, before the day of judgment, when evil spirits and wicked men will receive their final and irreversible sentence. Future torment is the sad prospect of both. Let the still living sinner make haste to escape it.

Verse 30. A herd of swine feeding.-The Jews were forbidden to eat swine's flesh; but the baser sort of them, for gain, would often breed these animals to sell to foreigners, which was probably the case here, as this part of the country had many Gentiles residing in it. Such Jews were, however, detested by their brethren: hence their Rabbins say, "Cursed be the man that bringeth up hogs and dogs!" It was no doubt to punish these degenerate Jews that our Lord suffered the swine to be destroyed by the demons: and as to the question of property, they could have no legal right in such animals; for, by a law made in the time of Hyrcanus, the Jews were forbidden to keep any swine in their country, which, with all other of their country laws in force in the time of Hyrcanus, as we learn from Josephus, Augustus commanded by an edict to be respected by the Roman governors. No injustice was therefore done them. Gadara, however, as we learn from Josephus,

was so much inhabited by Gentiles, as to be popularly called a Grecian city; and, as such, was annexed by Augustus to Syria. Here, then, a regular market for swine's flesh was at hand; and this was a temptation to gain which many of the Jewish inhabitants could not resist.

So the devils besought him.-St. Luke mentions but one possessed man, confining his attention, probably, to him with whom our Lord spoke; but he also states the devils to be numerous : "What is thy name? And he said, Legion; because many devils had entered into him."

This history is decisive against those who would resolve the possessions mentioned in the New Testament into cases of madness. For here the whole conversation is evidently carried on, not with the afflicted men themselves, but with some other beings using their organs. For could these men, if mere lunatics, have known our Lord? Or, if they knew his person, which is unlikely, how should they know him to be the Son of God, and give him his most appropriate designation? What could insane men mean by being tormented before their time? Or how could they impel the swine into the sea, when they remained still present with Christ, perfectly curea, as appears from St. Luke? Such forced attempts at interpretation, in compliment to the proud but vain philosophy of man, more become an infidel than a professed Christian expositor. On the contrary, the circumstances of this miracle appear to have been minutely recorded in order to demonstrate the reality of these possessions. devils being permitted to enter the herd of swine, whilst the men they had before possessed remained at the feet of Christ, calm and still, was a visible proof that a number of distinct though invisible beings had previously employed their malignant

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