40 preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst 41 make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou 42 clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy 43 departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly 44 charged him, and forthwith sent him away; and saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which 45 Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter. CHAPTER II. The Paralytic. Conversations of Jesus. AND again he entered into Capernaum, after some days; and 2 it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached. 3 the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one 4 sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let. of his coming was to proclaim every where his glad tidings. 39. Compare Mat. iv. 23.- Cast out devils, i. e. cured diseases and insanity, attributed to demons. 40-45. See Mat. viii. 1-4. The miracle here recorded occurred after the Sermon on the Mount, which Mark has entirely omitted. Jesus could no more openly enter into the city. The healed leper, contrary to the strictest charge from Jesus, blazoned his cure abroad so as to embarrass his benefactor. If too great popular excitement were produced,, the seditious spirit of the Jewish people, or the quick jealousy of the priests and Romans, might be arous-ed, and the gospel perish in its embryo state. CHAPTER II. 1-14. Compare Mat. ix. 1-9, and the comments thereupon. 4. The press. The dense crowd. Uncovered the roof-broken it up. A knowledge of the construction of houses in Judea is here necessary. down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus 5 saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting 6 there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus 7 speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And 8 immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the 9 sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the 10 Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, 11 and go thy way into thy house. And immediately he arose, 12 took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. And he went forth again by the sea-side; and all the multi- 13 tude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed 14 by, he saw Levi the son of Alpheus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, that as Jesus sat at meat in 15 his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many, and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with 16 publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When 17 Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole, have They brought the sick man on a litter, and, finding it impossible to approach Jesus below, they went up by the stairs, usually placed in the gateway of the house, to the flat roof. They then rolled back the awning, which was spread over the court, and which is called the roof in the text, and broke up, or removed, a part of the balustrade, or parapet, and let down the couch, by the tiling, directly into the midst of the place where Jesus was teaching. Their perfect confidence in his healing power was thus most strikingly manifested. 10. Power on earth to forgive sins. The same power which God had delegated to his Son, was also given to the apostles. Mat. xvi. 19, xviii. 18; John xx. 23. 14. Levi, supposed to be the same as Matthew, for two names were not uncommon among the Jews. 15-22. See notes on Mat. ix. 10 -17. 18 no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. And the disciples of John, and of the Pharisees, used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John, 19 and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom 20 with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they 21 fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up, taketh away from 22 the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new 23 wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred but new wine must be put into new bottles. : And it came to pass, that he went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck 24 the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, 25 why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was a hungered, he and they that were with 26 him? how he went into the house of God, in the days of Abiathar the high-priest, and did eat the show-bread, which is not lawful to eat, but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with 27 him? And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, 28 and not man for the Sabbath: therefore, the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. 17. To repentance. These words are generally regarded as spurious. 21, 22. New cloth on an old garment t-new wine into old bottles. Expressions to denote great incongruity and unfitness. 23-28. See Mat. xii. 1-8, and the notes. 23. The ears of corn. The heads of grain. 26. In the days of Abiathar the high priest. From 1 Sam. xxi. 1, 2, 8, we infer, that the chief actor in the scene with David was not Abiathar, but his father, Ahimelech. Various modes have been resorted to for the explanation of this difficulty. It is sufficient to say, that the event in question did in fact occur in the days of Abiathar, who was afterwards, if he was not then, high-priest; and that his name may have been mentioned rather than that of Ahimelech, as being more famous. 1 Sam. xxii. 20, 21, 22, xxiii. 6. 27. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The institutions, and means, and influ CHAPTER III. Miracles of Jesus, and his Choice of the Twelve. man there which had a withered hand. AND he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a And they watched him, 2 whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered 3 hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do 4 good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round 5 about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. ences, of religion were given for the benefit of man. The Sabbath follows the general rule. Man is not a secondary appendage to this system of things, but its centre and prime object. He is the lord of this lower world, and heir of God. Not simply the sweet and hallowed rest and devotion of the Sabbath were prepared for him, but all Nature, Providence, and Grace, are tasked for his good. What a wretch must he be, if no throbbings of gratitude, no tears of contrition, no breathings of devotion, no efforts of obedience, no cheerful surrender of himself into the hands of his mighty Father, ever testify that he recognizes and praises this blessed nurture of Heaven! God forgive us, that we are so slow to appreciate, and so cold to feel, his infinite kindness! The Sabbath was made for man. Man did not make it himself. He is so blind to his highest, spiritual interest, and so bound up in his earthly cares, that he never would have devised for himself such an institution. Its nature and object carry with them intrinsic marks of a divine origin, apart from the proofs of Scripture. God made it for his child in his twofold condition of laborer and sinner, that he might have rest from toil, and victory over sin. And in both lights, what an un speakable blessing it is to us! The weary find repose, the young instruction, the erring the way of peace, the indifferent the needed rebuke, and the sad consolations to reach their inmost griefs. The judicious observance of this institution is the pillar of morality and religion. Every returning Sabbath sun beholds a wider, purer worship of the Almighty Father, a closer knitting of the ties of human brotherhood, and a fleeing away of the darkness of sin and sorrow before the spreading light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "The Sabbath-the jubilee of the whole world; whose light dawns welcome alike into the closet of the philosopher, into the garret of toil, and into prison cells, and every where suggests, even to the vile, a thought of the dignity of spiritual being. Let it stand, forevermore, a temple, which new love, new faith, new sight, shall restore to more than its first splendor to mankind.” CHAPTER III. 1-12. See on Mat. xii. 9-16. 5. Few descriptions can be found more graphic than this. As Jesus asked his questions, and paused for a reply, he looked round upon the circle of hollow-hearted, cautious religionists, with strong indignation, And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the 6 other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. 7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they 9 had heard what great things he did, came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him, because 10 of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, 11 as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son 12 of God. And he straitly charged them, that they should not make him known. 13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom joined with the tenderest compassion for their perverseness. In that look, what depth, and power, and sensibility, were concentrated, that it should have been remembered ever after by his disciples! The anger of Jesus was not a mere impulse of irascible or petulant feeling, but a sorrowful indignation, the emotion of a deeply-stirred, but compassionate and forgiving spirit. The evangelist relates the fact as it was, without comment or explanation, and trusts, without one shade of suspicion, to the good sense and candor of the reader, never fearing that any inference could be drawn from it, in the least degree, unfavorable to the character of his spotless Master. Such conduct attests his guileless honesty and veracity. 6. Herodians. Milman remarks, in his late History of Christianity, that "this appellation probably includes all those who, estranged from the more inveterate Judaism of the nation, and having, in some degree, adopted Grecian habits and opinions, considered the peace of the country 2 VOL. II. best secured by the government of the descendants of Herod, with the sanction and under the protection of Rome. They were the foreign faction, and, as such, in general, in direct opposition to the Pharisaic or national party." 8. Idumea. Usually called Edom, a country lying south of Palestine. The fame of Jesus had gone out beyond the confines of his native land. - Tyre and Sidon. See note, Mat. xi. 21. 10. Plagues. Literally, scourges, or judgments from God, as all diseases were regarded by the Jews. 11. Unclean spirits, i. e. those who were supposed to be possessed by evil spirits, as epileptic and insane persons. 13-15. Compare Luke vi. 12, 13, where we learn he went up into a mountain to pray. Jesus uniformly resorts to the exercises of devotion in the great emergencies of his life, as at his baptism, Luke iii. 21; at the raising of Lazarus from the dead, John xi. 41; at this appointment of the twelve; after the supper, John |