Luke 8:1-3. The Ministering Women. 1. _And it came to pass afterward_ The expression marks a new phase, a new departure, in Christ's mode of action. Hitherto He had made Capernaum His head-quarters; regarded it as "His own city," and not gone to any great distance from it. At this period the exact... [ Continue Reading ]
_certain women_ This most remarkable circumstance is prominently mentioned by St Luke alone, though alluded to in Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:41. It accords alike with the probability that some of his peculiar sources of information had been derived from women; and with the certainty that he is fond o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joanna_ She is mentioned only in Luke 24:10, but had apparently been healed of some infirmity. _the wife of Chuza Herod's steward_ The court of Antipas was well aware of the ministry and claims of Jesus. Not only had John the Baptist been a familiar figure there, but Manaen, Herod's fosterbrother,... [ Continue Reading ]
4-15. The Parable of the Sower. 4. _when much people were gathered together_ Rather, were coming together. Our Lord, though ready at all times to utter the most priceless truths even to one lonely and despised listener, yet wisely apportioned ends to means, and chose the assembling of a large multi... [ Continue Reading ]
_A sower went out_ Rather, THE SOWER; as also THE rock, THE thorns. St Mark (Mark 4:3) preserves for us the graphic detail that Jesus prefaced this new method of teaching by the one emphatic word _"Hearken!"_as though to prepare them for something unusual and memorable. _some fell by the way side_... [ Continue Reading ]
_upon a rock)_St Matthew and St Mark say "upon stony places," and add its speedy growth, and its withering after sunrise from want of root; St Luke dwells rather on the lack of moisture than on the lack of soil.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thorns_ In rich soils and hot valleys like Gennesareth the growth of weeds and thorns is as rapid and luxuriant as that of good seed. In summer and autumn there are parts of the plain which are quite impervious from the forest of gigantic thistles which covers them "so tall and so dense that no ho... [ Continue Reading ]
_bare fruit an hundredfold_ St Luke passes over the -growing and increasing" of the fruit (Mark 4:8) and its various degrees of productiveness thirty and sixty as well as an hundredfold. _he cried_ This word spake with a loud voice shews, like the _"Hearken!"_in St Mark, the special attention which... [ Continue Reading ]
_his disciples asked him_ St Mark says "those about Him, with the Twelve;" and that they came to Him afterwards when they found Him alone.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he said_ This verse is rather an answer to the other question, recorded in St Matthew, _"why_dost thou speak to them in parables?" _it is given_ Rather, it has been given. _to know the mysteries_ i.e. to grasp the revealed secrets, the -apples of gold" hid in these -networks of silver." The p... [ Continue Reading ]
It has been granted _you_to grasp these mysteries unveiled; to the rest it has been only given to grasp them under the veil of parables. _that seeing they might not see_, _and hearing they might not understand_ These words are difficult, and (without dwelling on the fact that the particle ἵνα loses... [ Continue Reading ]
_Those by the way side_ These are hearers who are _hardened_either beaten (i) flat by lifeless familiarity heartless formalists, Pharisaic theologians, and insincere professors; or (ii) by perversity and indifference, the habit and custom of a worldly and dissolute life. Notice the intensity of thou... [ Continue Reading ]
_They on the rock_ Shallow, impulsive listeners, whose enthusiasm is hot and transient as a blaze in the straw. _with joy_ "Yet they seek me daily, and _delight_to know my ways," Isaiah 58:2 _._"Thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice...for they hear thy words, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_that which fell among thorns are they_ Here the grand paradox which identifies the seed with its recipient is very marked. See especially Matthew 13, where "_he that received the seed_by the way side, &c." should be "_he that was sown_by the way side, &c." The class here described are worldly, ambi... [ Continue Reading ]
_keep it_ Comp. Luke 11:28; John 14:21. "Thy word have _I hid in my heart_, that I might not sin against Thee," Psalms 119:11. The opposite of the "forgetful hearers," James 1:25. For them the seed does not fall -on the way." _bring forth fruit with patience_ not as in thorns, not as on the rocky g... [ Continue Reading ]
16-18. How TO USE THE LIGHT. 16. _a candle_ Rather, A LAMP. _with a vessel_ S.t Luke uses this word as more intelligible to his Gentile readers than "bushel." _under a bed_ Rather, UNDER A COUCH. The ancient Jews had nothing resembling our _bed._They slept on divans, or on mats laid upon the floo... [ Continue Reading ]
_For nothing is secret_ This verse, like the parallel (which occurs in a different connexion in Matthew 10:26), is usually quoted of the discovery of secret crimes. The truth which would in that case be illustrated is often mentioned _elsewhere_in Scripture (1 Corinthians 4:5), but here in both inst... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take heed therefore how ye hear_ and also "_what_ye hear," Mark 4:24. _to him shall be given_ Comp. Luke 19:26. It was evidently a thought to which our Lord recurred, John 15:2. _that which he seemeth to have_ Rather, THAT WHICH HE THINKETH HE HATH. This fancied possession is mere self-deception.... [ Continue Reading ]
19-21. Christ's Mother and His Brethren. 19. _Then came to him his mother and his brethren_ Our text has the plural; the reading _paregeneto (sing.)_would imply that the Virgin took a specially prominent part in the incident. Joseph is never mentioned after the scene in the Temple. This incident can... [ Continue Reading ]
_are these_ The word implies the "looking round at those sitting in a circle about Him" of Mark 3:34, and the "stretching forth His hand towards His disciples" of Matthew 12:49. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you," John 15:14 (comp. Luke 2:49; John 14:21; John 14:21; Hebrews 2:11)... [ Continue Reading ]
22-25. CHRIST STILLING THE STORM. 22. _Now it came to pass on a certain day_ Rather, ON ONE OF THE days. From Mark 4:35; Matthew 8:18, we should infer that this event took place in the evening on which He began to teach the crowd in parables, and that attracted by the beauty and novelty of His teac... [ Continue Reading ]
_he fell asleep_ Rather, HE FELL INTO DEEP SLEEP. The day had been one of incessant toil; and He was resting (as St Mark tells us, reflecting the vivid reminiscence of St Peter) -in the stem on the steersman's leather cushion," Mark 4:38; contrast with this Jonah 1:5. _there came down a storm of win... [ Continue Reading ]
_we perish_ Rather, WE ARE PERISHING! "Lord! save! we are perishing," Matthew 8:25. "Rabbi, carest thou not that we are perishing?" Mark 4:38. The peril was evidently most imminent. _Then he rose_ Rather, BUT HE, BEING ROUSED FROM SLEEP. _rebuked the wind_ speaking to the wind and the billows of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_What manner of man_ Rather, WHO, THEN. The _ara_expresses the same surprise and emotion conveyed by _the potapos,_-what kind of Being," of St Matthew. Psalms 107:23-30.... [ Continue Reading ]
26-39. The Gergesene Demoniac. 26. _at the country of the Gadarenes_ In all three narratives, here, Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-19, the MSS. vary between Gergesenes, Gadarenes, and Gerasenes, and Tischendorf follows N in reading Gadarenes (by a clerical error Gazarenes) in St Matthew, Gerasenes in St... [ Continue Reading ]
_there met him out of the city a certain man_ This rendering contradicts what follows. Rather, there met him a man of the city. He had been a native of Gergesa till his madness began. St Matthew (as in the case of Bartimaeus) mentions two demoniacs, but the narrative is only concerned with one. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_What have I to do with thee_ i.e. Why should'st thou interfere with me? 2 Samuel 16:10; 2 Samuel 19:22. See Luke 4:24. Baur refers to obvious imitations of this narrative in the story of the Lamia expelled by Apollonius of Tyana (Philostr. Luke 4:25). _Son of God most high_ Probably the epithet wa... [ Continue Reading ]
_he had commanded_ Rather, He commanded. _oftentimes Pollois chronois_usually means "_for a long time."_ he was kept bound with chains and in fetters This rendering misses a curious point in the narrative, preserved by St Luke only, namely, that "he was bound in chains and fetters, being under gua... [ Continue Reading ]
_What is thy name?_ The question was no doubt asked in mercy. Gently to ask a person's name is often an effectual way to calm the agitations and fix the wavering thoughts of these sufferers. _And he said, Legion_ A legion consisted of 6000 soldiers, and this man (who was probably a Jew) would have... [ Continue Reading ]
_they besought_ If _parekalei_be the right reading, it should be rendered "_he_besought Him," for the plural is used in the next verse. _to go out into the deep_ The -abyss" (Hebrew _tehom)_intended is perhaps the prison of wicked spirits (Romans 10:7; Judges 6; Revelation 20:3). St Mark says "tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_a herd of many swine_ St Mark says "about 2000." Of course, if the owners of these swine were Jews, they were living in flagrant violation of the law; but the population of Peraea was largely Greek and Syrian. _that he would suffer them to enter into them_ The Jews, as we have already seen, believe... [ Continue Reading ]
_down a steep place_ Rather, down THE PRECIPICE. Near Kherza is _the only spot on the entire lake_where a steep slope sweeps down to within a few yards of the sea, into which the herd would certainly have plunged if hurried by any violent impulse down the hill. If it be asked whether this was not a... [ Continue Reading ]
_what was done_ Rather, what had happened.... [ Continue Reading ]
_clothed_ Perhaps one of the disciples had thrown a cloke (_himation)_over his nakedness or his rags.... [ Continue Reading ]
_besought him to depart_ The opposite to the request of the Samaritans (John 4:40). Unlike Peter, they _meant_what they said. Preferring their swine to Christ, they felt that His presence was dangerous to their greed. And our Lord acted on the principle of not casting that which was holy to dogs, no... [ Continue Reading ]
_shew how great things God hath done unto thee_ This command valuably illustrates one of the _reasons_ why our Lord commanded reticence in other instances. To the region of Gadara He did not intend to return, and therefore the proclamation of a miracle would not cause Him to be surrounded by curious... [ Continue Reading ]
40. THE WAITING MULTITUDE. 40. _the people gladly received him_ They would see the sail of His boat as it started back from Geigesa, and the storm had probably driven back the other boats. He would naturally sail to Bethsaida or Capernaum. It is impossible here to enter into the uncertain question... [ Continue Reading ]
41-56. The Daughter of Jairus and the Woman with the issue of Blood. 41. _behold_ St Matthew places this message of Jairus after the farewell feast which he gave to his friends before abandoning for ever his office of tax-gatherer. At that feast arose the question about fasting, and St Matthew (Matt... [ Continue Reading ]
_one only daughter_ St Luke, whose keen sympathies are everywhere observable in his Gospel, mentions the same touching fact in the case of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:12), and the lunatic boy (Luke 9:38). _she lay a dying_ St Matthew says _"is even now dead"_Perhaps we catch in these varia... [ Continue Reading ]
_which had spent all her living_ Literally, -having _in addition_ spent" her-whole means of livelihood. _neither could be healed op any_ St Luke, perhaps with a fellow- feeling for physicians, does not add the severer comment of St Mark, that the physicians had only made her worse (Mark 5:26). The... [ Continue Reading ]
_came behind him_, _and totiched the border of his garment_ Rather, APPROACHING FROM BEHIND TOUCHED THE TASSEL OF HIS OUTER ROBE. This is a miracle -by the way" _(obiter),_but, as Fuller says, "His _obiter_is more to the purpose than our _iter"_She sought to steal (as it were) a miracle of grace, an... [ Continue Reading ]
_Peter and they that were with him_ St Mark merely says His disciples, but the question is in exact accordance with that presumptuous impetuosity which marked the as yet imperfect stage of Peter's character.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Somebody hath touched me_ Rather, SOME ONE TOUCHED ME. "They _press; she_touches." Aug. "Flesh presses; faith touches." Id. Our Lord's question was meant to reach the woman's heart, comp. Genesis 3:9; Genesis 4:9; 2 Kings 5:25. _I perceive that virtue is gone out of me_ Literally, "_I recognised p... [ Continue Reading ]
_she came trembling_ Because by her touch she had communicated to Him Levitical uncleanness; and this by one of the Rabbis or Pharisees would have been regarded as an intolerable presumption and wrong. To this day the Jewish Rabbis (or Chakams) in the East are careful not even to be touched by a wom... [ Continue Reading ]
_Daughter_ The only recorded occasion on which our Lord used that tender word to a woman. _thy faith hath made thee whole_ Literally, "_hath saved thee"_Thy faith not the superstitious and surreptitious touch of my _tallith's_fringe. Jesus thus compelled her to come forth from her timid enjoyment o... [ Continue Reading ]
_trouble not the Master_ Literally, "_worry not the Rabbi."_ For the colloquial verb preserved also in St Mark see Luke 7:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when Jesus heard it_ The remark was addressed to Jairus, and St Mark says that Jesus "_overheard_it.... [ Continue Reading ]
_save Peter, and James, and John_ as at the Transfiguration and at Gethsemane, Mark 9:2; Mark 14:33.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bewailed her_ The word means that they were beating their breasts for her (Nahum 2:7). St Mark gives a graphic picture of the tumult, and loud cries, and wailings (_alalai_, the Egyptian _wilweleh)._ Even the poorest were obliged to provide for a funeral two flute- players and one wailing woman. Se... [ Continue Reading ]
_laughed him to scorn_ Literally, "_were utterly deriding Him"_ -To laugh to scorn" is used by Shakespeare, e.g. "Our castle's strength Will laugh a siege to scorn." _Macbeth_, v. 5. __... [ Continue Reading ]
_he put them all out_ These words being omitted by א, B, D, L, X, are probably interpolated here, from the other Synoptists. Our Lord could not feel the smallest sympathy for these simulated agonies of people, who (to this day) "weep, howl, beat their breasts, and tear their hair according to contra... [ Continue Reading ]
_that they should tell no man_ See on Luke 5:14. And as usual the injunction was probably unheeded. Matthew 9:26 _._... [ Continue Reading ]