LESSON IV.--OCTOBER 23.
THREE MIRACLES.--MATT. 9:18-31.
GOLDEN TEXT.--According to your faith be it unto
you.--MATT. 9:29.
TIME.--A. D. 28.
PLACE.--Capernaum.
HELPFUL
READINGS.--Matt. 9:9-17;
Mark 5:22-43;
Luke 8:41-56;
Mark 10:46-52.
LESSON ANALYSIS.--1. Death in the House;
2. The Woman's Faith.
3. The Dead Made Alive;
4. The Blind See.
INTRODUCTION.
One always loves to think of the surrounding circumstances of this miracle--Christ called to the ruler's house filled with mourning and death, with his heart absorbed in the great work which lay before him. The thronging press of the people is around him, curious and expectant. But nothing, far off or near, future or present, can shut out from him the appeal of misery. He is, always and everywhere, alive to a suppliant's touch. His very garment, to its hem, is instinct with his own spirit and sensitive to the most trembling hand. It is not less so now far up in heaven. The place which increases the sympathy of all hearts that enter there has not diminished, his. His garment, wide spread and dropping [289]
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low, is near our hand, and he feels a sinner's and a sufferer's touch upon his throne, with circle on circle of glory gathering round him, and saints and angels thronging in. He came down that, in his nearness to our misery, we might learn to know his heart, and he rose that we might be assured of his power to help and heal. So let us seek to read this incident and consider what it teaches.--Ker.
I. DEATH IN THE HOUSE.--18. While he spake these things unto them. Having been besought by the Gadarenes to leave their country, Christ passes over the lake, again to the western side, to Capernaum, where he was immediately surrounded by the multitude, who had been waiting for him. He healed the paralytic and then being invited by Matthew to a feast at his house, he there held conversation with some Pharisees, and afterwards with some disciples of John (Matt. 9:10-17). While yet speaking with them, Jairus, a ruler of the Capernaum synagogue, came to him, praying him to heal his daughter. There came a certain ruler. One of the rulers of the synagogue (probably of the synagogue of Capernaum). One of the elders and presiding officers, who convened the assembly, preserved order, invited readers and speakers. Mark says his name was Jairus. Worshiped. Reverenced him by falling at his feet; not necessarily denoting divine worship. With beautiful Oriental facility, he would drop upon his knees, and bring his forehead to to the ground, in the direction of the Savior's feet. My daughter is even now dead. Luke says she was twelve years old. Mark and Luke speak of her as dying when her father came, and Matthew as already dead. Yet these differences are not hard to adjust: he left her at the last gasp; he knew that she could scarcely be living now; and yet, having no certain notices of her death, he in one moment expressed himself in one language, at the next in another.--Trench. Come; lay thy hand on her. The language of the original is peculiar and broken, indicating great emotion. The best explanation is: He states the condition of his daughter "in order that coming thou mayest lay thy hands on her, in order that she may be made whole and live." He thus expresses his faith.--Schaff. Here is an instance of prayer for a temporal benefit; and that prayer which the ruler offered for his daughter twelve years of age, you may offer for your relatives. I have often said that in prayer we are to express to God every want that we feel, temporal, spiritual, or eternal. It is not your part to discriminate, and say, "I will not pray for this blessing, lest it be not for my good." It is the prerogative of Him who gives the blessing to determine what is for your good, and what is not. You pray for the blessing you most need, and leave God to give when and how he pleases.--Cumming. [291]
19. And Jesus arose and followed him. Our blessed Redeemer refuses none who come to him with a sincere faith, though in much weakness of faith. Disciples followed. Mark says that much people followed. Perhaps drawn by curiosity to see whether he could heal the maiden.
II. THE WOMAN'S FAITH.--20. And, behold, A certain woman. I think the circumstances of the New Testament narrative render the inference almost certain that this account was meant for the consolation of those multitudes of stricken women in all ages who seem to be afflicted with sorrows in very unequal measure, compared with the stronger, and so generally, also, the more depraved, sex.--W. H. Thomson, M. D. An issue of blood. A hemorrhage either from the bowels or the womb, probably the latter. The precise nature of the malady is of no importance. Instead of dwelling upon this point the Evangelists direct attention to its long continuance and hopeless state. Came behind and touched the hem of his garment. Matthew and Luke
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21. Touch but his garment. The Jews paid to this fringe a superstitious reverence. Sharing the superstition, and imagining that Christ healed by a sort of magic, this woman touched it in hope of cure. An ordinary teacher would have rebuked her superstition; Christ used it to teach her better. Observe that Christ complied with Jewish law and Jewish usage in his attire.--Abbott. She believed that she was to receive something, a real blessing from Christ. This was that in her which was not in the crowd around her. They all traveled on in the highway together, [292] talked about Christ, were interested in him in various ways, discussed his origin and nature, hoped that some good would come of him to the nation. But the woman believed that she should personally receive new life from him.--F. D. Huntington.
22. Jesus turned . . . saw her, and said. The narrative of Mark is fuller and gives some facts that Matthew has omitted. Daughter. A term of affection, but, no doubt, as employed by our Savior, implying that all that was spiritually distinctive in her character had been derived from himself. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Literally thy faith hath saved thee. In the higher and in the lower sense, soul and body. Her faith, of course, had not been the efficient cause of her cure. Christ's power had been that. And behind his power was his person, the real healer. But her faith was the condition on her part, that rendered it fitting on his part to put forth his curative efficiency. Hence it might be represented as having in a certain subordinate respect "made her whole."--Morison. The student should observe that hers was not a passive faith, but it led to action. A passive faith is a dead faith. The cure was effected by an exercise of Jesus' will, which responds to the woman's faith in his miraculous power, not through the mere touching of the garment. The result was instantaneous and complete.--Meyer.
III. THE DEAD MADE WHOLE.--23. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house. He healed the woman on the way. As he spoke his last words to her, according to Mark, they reached the house. Jesus had likely been delayed before starting, and, as preparations for burial commence as soon as breath leaves the body, the corpse had likely been washed and laid out, in the customary way for the grave, before he came. Saw the minstrels. The Jews, like other orientals, were wont to employ professional mourners, minstrels who made plaintive music, or wailed. This purchased grief was intended to make the occasion of death important, to distribute the impression of sorrow over many, and lighten the grief of the friends. Thus it was mere heathenish vanity.
24. Give place, for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. The reality of the death is not denied, but only the fact implicitly assumed, that death will be followed by a resurrection, as sleep is by an awakening. He, the Lord of life, takes [293] away that word of fear, "She is dead," and puts in its room that milder word which gives promise of an awakening, "She sleepeth."--Trench. The whole account of this incident is inconsistent with the idea that the maiden was simply raised from slumber or a fainting fit. She is reported dead by the messenger (Mark 5:35), is known to be dead by the bystanders (Luke 8:53), on Christ's taking her by the hand her spirit returns to her again (Luke 8:55; comp. 1 Kings 17:21, 22), though this does not of itself necessarily imply her death (compare Judges 15:19), and the account of the cure implies, not a natural awakening from sleep, but a miraculous resurrection from the dead. It seems to me unquestionable that the historian believed in the death and the miraculous resurrection from the dead of this maiden.--Abbott. Laughed him to scorn. The company of mourners was certain that the child was dead, and, understanding neither the language nor the power of Jesus, laughed him to scorn, in derision. With the consent of the ruler Jesus orders them to leave, and they depart. He had entered the house, now he enters the room where the child was.
25. When the people were put forth. Luke (8:51) says that Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the maiden were permitted to remain. He took her by the hand. As we learn from the parallel accounts, he said to her, Talitha cumi. This is Aramaic, the language generally spoken by the common people in Palestine at the time of Christ. Talitha, in the ordinary dialect of the people, is a word of endearment to a young maiden, so that the words are equivalent to "Rise, my child." It is in harmony with the sublime familiarity of Jesus on all the points of this subject, which men had consecrated with all solemn symbols as the one great dread of the race, that he should have used the dear mother-call to this little girl,--Talitha cumi,--as if she only had slept soundly for a night. . . . Over every silent grave the ear of faith can hear the words, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me never dies.--C. H. Hall. The maid arose. Mark says, "Straightway." The cure was immediate. He says she "walked." The cure was complete.
26. The fame went abroad. Mark dwells emphatically upon the astonishment felt by the parents (see St. Luke), but shared doubtless by the three apostles. It was the first miracle which manifested their Master as Lord over death and life, the first which prepared their minds for the resurrection.--Cook.
IV. THE BLIND SEE.--27. Two blind men follow him. This account is given [294] only by Matthew. Other evangelists give the very similar case which occurred at Jericho, related also by Matthew in 20:30-34. This miracle occurred at Capernaum, probably as he left the house of Jairus. Blindness is still very common under the burning sun and among the blinding sands of the East. To follow Christ these two men would only need to follow the crowd. They had doubtless heard of the wonderful work of that day. Have mercy on us, thou son of David. The title, "son of David," applied to Jesus by these blind men, as well as by those healed at Jericho, implied his Messiahship, as it was understood that the Christ was to be the son of David.
28. The blind men came to him. Not until he was come into the house he was seeking. The Lord did Dot heed their cry until they had been drawn out of the great throng, probably because he did not wish to publicly respond to the title that he was the son of David. It was too early in his ministry for him to publicly confess to his Messiahship. He wished to demonstrate it, rather than claim it. Believe ye that I am able to do this? He demands, as a condition of the blessing, that there should be a confession of faith.
29. According to your faith be it unto you. Faith is the hand which takes what God offers, the spiritual organ of appropriation, the conducting link between man's emptiness and, God's fulness.--Schaff.
30. Jesus strictly charged them, etc. They had already shouted on the streets a title that had annoyed the Master. After this he wished them to keep their mouths closed. Their changed condition would sufficiently tell the story without their indiscreet babbling.
31. But they . . . spread abroad his fame in all that country. This was wrong. It was their duty to obey whether they understood why or not. Christ had not commanded silence without good reasons. Loud-mouthed and prating zeal often does harm, even when the parties intend well.
PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE.
It is right to pray for temporal as well as spiritual blessings,--for whatever we want. [295]
We should act with as much energy as those who expect every thing from themselves; and we should pray with as much earnestness as those who expect everything from God.
Those who come to Christ for benefits should approach him earnestly, directly, and with humility.
Christ's purpose to heal the ruler's daughter does not lessen his willingness to heal the suffering woman on the way. He has power enough and grace enough for all who need.
THE HELPER.--He had an ear open for every tone of wail; a heart ready to respond to every species of need. Specially the Redeemer of the soul, he was yet as emphatically the "Savior of the body." He "taught the people;" but he did not neglect to multiply the loaves and fishes. The peculiar need of the woman, the father's cry of anguish, the infant's cry of helplessness, the wail of oppression, and the shriek of pain--all were heard by him, and none in vain.--F. W. Robertson.
FAITH ESSENTIAL.--The faith, which in itself is nothing, is yet the organ of receiving every thing. It is the conducting link between man's emptiness and God's fullness; and herein is all the value which it has. It is the bucket let down into the fountain of God's grace, without which the man could not draw up out of that fountain the purse which does not itself make its owner rich, but which yet effectually enriches him by the treasure which it contains.--Trench.
WHO TOUCHED ME?--There is a vast difference between the world-touch and the faith-touch. Christ has untold blessings for all; but what men receive from him depends on the faith and love with which they come to him. It is the common experience. We receive from nature according to what we bring to nature. Multitudes of men have seen apples fall, but only Newton received from the falling apple the law of gravitation. Men still go through the world with "eyes and no eyes," and one writes a book where another sees nothing. Arthur Helps compares some men to the birds on a telegraph-wire, who are utterly unconscious of the messages of sorrow and joy, of business and friendship,--messages sometimes affecting whole nations, which are passing right under under their feet. It needs the battery and connecting instruments in order to read what passes on the wire. It needs hearts of love and faith, longings for holiness, and the spirit of prayer, if we would receive the blessings which Christ has for us all.--P.
POINTS FOR TEACHERS.
1. Note the three great lessons about our Lord: (1) He is the Life. He not only breaks the bonds of mortal death but endows the soul with spiritual life. (2) He is the infallible Physician. Diseases of the body, sorrows of the heart, and sins of the soul that no man could heal, disappear at his touch. (3) He is the Light of the world. At his word sightless eyes see. At his word darkened souls are flooded with light. 2. Note the three lessons for us: (1) In time of Deed we must pray if we would be heard, and we may ask for whatever We need. (2) We must come near to Christ, so near as to touch [296] the hem of his garment. If we can lay the hand of faith upon him we will be made whole. (3) We must not only believe, but confess our faith by word and by act. 3. Peloubet suggests that this lesson teaches that faith in Christ is the cure for all human ills, and the nature of that faith. (1) We see the dying girl, and faith leading her father to Jesus for help. (2) The suffering woman comes to Jesus, having sought cure as earnestly as we should seek salvation; but seeking in vain, as we often seek from the law, and good works, and good resolutions, the cure for sin. (3) The faith cure, showing the nature of true faith,--strong, humble, patient, confessing, and in Jesus. (4) We see certain trials of faith in the delay of Jesus while the child was dying, and in the report of her death; but the trials were to lead to greater blessings. (5) The rewards of faith: first to the disciples, by receiving this privilege of being with Jesus; and, second, to Jairus, whose daughter Jesus brought to life.
Source: Barton Warren Johnson.
The Christian International Lesson Commentary for 1887.
Des Moines, IA: