(gm Cf<x0s ^vimm. 
 
 JfiDITED BY 
 
 PROf F3i30E SALMOND, aD., ABERDEEN 
 
 MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 LI85 
 
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IFrom tly^ ICtbrarg of 
 
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Bible Cla66 ipinntcre- 
 
 BY PROFESSOR SALMOND, D.D.. ABERDEEN 
 
 
 HiR- THE K^"hi:'j^ 
 
 iACLES OF OUR LORD' 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. Professor LAIDLAW, D.D. 
 
 iV(?7w College, Edinburgh 
 
 ©btnbuvgli: 
 
 [& T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET. 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO. (Ltd.) 
 
PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 This Primer is, in substance, though in greatly 
 reduced form, an adaptation of the Author's fuller 
 work, " The Miracles of our Lord : Expository and 
 Homiletic " (London : Hodder & Stoughton. Third 
 edition. 1896). Those who use the Primer will, 
 at places, only see the full connection of what is 
 here given by referring to the larger work. For 
 teaching purposes, however, the present little book 
 will be found in one respect a distinct improvement 
 upon the former. There the Miracles were arranged 
 on a principle of classification. Here they are 
 given in the generally accepted order of their occur- 
 rence in the Gospel Narratives taken as a whole. 
 This will have the advantage of leading the users of 
 it over the " Great Biography " — making it a study 
 of the Life of our Lord from a particular and in- 
 structive point of view. In arranging the Para- 
 graphs or Lessons I have not attempted to adhere 
 to the traditional number of thirty-three or thirty- 
 five miracles ; as it is of advantage in one or two 
 cases to group some miracles together in one Lesson. 
 But the result (thirty Lessons or Paragraphs) is very 
 nearly the same. 
 
 J. L. 
 
 New College, Edinburgh, 
 March 1897. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I, The First Miracle .... 
 II. The Healing of the Nobleman's Son 
 
 III. The Demoniac in the Synagogue ; the 
 
 Healing of Peter's Wife's Mother 
 
 IV, First Miraculous Draught of Fishes 
 V. The Leper Cleansed .... 
 
 VI. The Paralytic made to rise and walk 
 VII. The Impotent Man of Bethesda 
 VIII. The Withered Hand . 
 IX. The Centurion of Great Faith 
 X. The Widow's Son at Nain 
 XI. The Stilling of the Tempest . 
 XII. The Gadarene Demoniac . 
 
 XIII. The Raising of Jairus' Daughter 
 
 XIV. The Woman with the Issue of Blood 
 XV. Two Blind Men and a Dumb Demon 
 
 XVI. Feeding Five Thousand . 
 XVII. Walking on the Water . 
 XVIII. The Syrophenician's Daughter 
 
 XIX. The Deaf Man of Decapolis . 
 XX. Feeding Four Thousand . 
 
 PAGE 
 
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 12 
 
 i6 
 
 20 / 
 
 23 V 
 25 
 
 27 
 30 
 
 33 
 36 
 39 
 42 
 
 45 
 47 
 50 
 S3 
 56 
 58 
 61 
 63 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 fAGE 
 
 XXI. The Blind Man at Bethsaida . . 65 
 
 XXII. The Epileptic Boy 68 
 
 XXIII. The Coin in the Fish's Moltii . . 71 
 
 XXIV. The Man Born Blind .... 73 
 XXV. The Woman with a Spirit of Infir- 
 mity AND THE Dropsical Man . . 76 
 
 XXVI. Ten Lepers Cleansed .... 80 
 
 XXVII. Blind Bartimeus 83 
 
 XXVIII. The Raising of La/arus. ... 86 
 
 XXIX. The Withering of the Fig Tree . . 88 
 XXX. The Second Miraculous Draught of 
 
 Fishes 90 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 I. The Purpose of our Lord's Miracles has been 
 usually stated as furnishing evidence of the Divinity 
 of His Person, and as producing credentials of His 
 "Mission, or seals to the Divineness of His Revelation. 
 In a general sense this definition is true ; but so 
 stated it is crude, and as often expounded it is worse 
 than crude. It tends to obscure the grand fact 
 which all the Gospel Miracles illustrate — the In- 
 carnation. It is worth while to note the exclama- 
 tion which, according to the Evangelists, several of 
 them elicited from the actual beholders of them ; 
 " What manner of man is this ?" Our answer, with 
 all the aids of Christian history, ought to be — " This 
 is the God-man, the Word made flesh." If we follow 
 the obvious classification of the Miracles into those 
 wrought upon Nature, and those wrought upon 
 Man, we shall arrive at a more discriminating and 
 instructed answer to the question of their purpose 
 than the vague and general one above cited. 
 
 I. The Nature-Miracles bear a special relation to 
 the person and work of Jesus. They were com- 
 paratively few. Probably all that were wrought by 
 Him are recorded. They are not like the Healing- 
 Miracles, samples out of a mass which remain un- 
 told. Further, they are entirely peculiar to Jesus. 
 Apostles healed the sick, and even raised the dead, 
 but they never turned water into wine, nor walked the 
 waves. This class of miracles must have in them an 
 element evidentially unique. They show Jesus as 
 more than prophet, or Divine messenger in a dele- 
 gated sense. They are better than proofs of His 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Godhead, they are the insignia of His God-manhood. 
 They illustrate the idea of Psalm viii., as interpreted 
 in Hebrews ii. In them we see the Son of Man 
 under whose feet all things are placed, to whom all 
 power over the Universe of Nature is given for the 
 sake of His Divine mission and the establishing of 
 the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth. The Nature- 
 ^/Miracles are usually reckoned as \fiine in all— The 
 First Miracle at Cana ; Simon's Draught of Fishes ; 
 Stilling the Storm ; Feeding Five Thousand ; Walk- 
 ing on the Water ; The Second Miraculous Feeding ; 
 The Coin in the Fish's Mouth ; The Withering of 
 the Fig-tree ; The Second Draught of Fishes in 
 John xxi. 
 
 2. The HeaHng-Miracles again, and those usually 
 classed with them bear more directly on the fact 
 that Jesus came into the world to redeem. They 
 are more than mere evidence of His power and 
 commission to redeem, — far more than figures or 
 emblems of redemption. They were in themselves 
 an integral part of His redemption work. When 
 He cared for sick people and restored them to 
 health ; when He recalled the lunatic and the 
 maniac to quietness and sanity; when He set the 
 " possessed " free from the yoke of demons, He was 
 claiming man's entire nature, — body, mind, and spirit, 
 for redemption ; He was doing a part of the same 
 redeeming work which He completed when He drew 
 men from their sinful life into pardon and peace 
 with God. In a number of instances, express deal- 
 ings of His with these healed ones as to their 
 deliverance from sin are recorded. It was as the 
 Friend of man and the Saviour of sinners that He 
 did His miracles of healing. The one Gospel of 
 glad tidings is preached in our Lord's deeds of 
 mercy and in His words of truth. The healing 
 ministry was, in short, a proclamation of redemp- 
 tion ; and though far more than a mere " bid " for 
 men's attention, it was intended to call their atten- 
 
INTRODUCTORY, 
 
 tion to what was more necessary for man than his 
 temporary rescue from physical ills. It proclaimed 
 that the Christ had come to work out a whole salva- 
 tion of man from evil, root and branch, — that He 
 came as the Physician of a sin-sick world. The 
 recorded Healing-Miracles are some twenty or 
 twenty-two in number, but these are evidently a 
 mere handful of the scores or hundreds of the like 
 which He wrought. On the other hand the three 
 raisings from the dead, like the Miracles on Nature, 
 are pretty plainly all that He saw fit to do in that 
 kind. 
 
 n. The Distribution of the Miracle-narratives 
 in the several Gospels is a topic of some moment, 
 but nothing more can be done here than to indicate 
 the facts. Eleven Miracles belong to what is called 
 the triple tradition, /.<?., they occur in all the Synoptic 
 Gospels. And it is significant that this group in- 
 cludes at least one specimen of each class of our 
 Lord's wonderful works ; e.g.^ Two Nature-miracles 
 — the Storm-stilling and the Feeding Five Thousand 
 (which is also recorded in the Fourth Gospel) ; 
 Eight Healing-miracles — two of them being in- 
 stances of demon-expulsion ; and one restoration 
 from the dead — the raising of Jairus' daughter. 
 These eleven therefore are typical and help to 
 accredit those narratives in other Gospels, where 
 other instances but no other kinds of miracles are 
 recorded. 
 
 There is one demon-expulsion common to Mark 
 and Liike^ viz. : that in the Synagogue at Capernaum. 
 There are three narratives common to Matthew and 
 Mark : The Syrophenician's Daughter, the Feeding 
 of Four Thousand, and the Withering of the Fig- 
 tree. The Walking on the Water is also three 
 times recorded, viz., in Matthew., Mark and/^//«. 
 
 Peculiar to Matthew are the opening of the eyes 
 of the two blind men who followed him into the 
 house, and the casting out of a dumb demon which 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 is related in close consecution to it (Matt. ix.). 
 Perhaps also peculiar to the first Gospel is the very 
 briefly told Miracle of the Blind and Dumb pos- 
 sessed (ch. xii. 22), although this may also be the 
 incident alluded to in Luke xi. 14, where blindness, 
 however, is not mentioned. The similarity of the 
 passages rests mainly on the incident giving occa- 
 sion in both Gospels to the discussion between 
 Jesus and the Pharisees as to the source of His 
 power in that direction. This is not made a 
 separate lesson in our sketch. Also in Matthew 
 only occurs — The Coin in the Fish's Mouth (ch. 
 xvii.). 
 
 PecuHar to Mark are the BHnd Man at Bethsaida 
 (ch. viii.), and the Deaf Man at Decapolis (ch. vii.). 
 
 PecuHar to Luke are Simon's Miraculous Draught 
 of Fishes (ch. iv.). The Widow's Son at Nain(ch. vii.), 
 The Woman bent together (ch. xiii.), The Dropsical 
 Man (ch. xiv.), The Ten Lepers cleansed (ch. xvii.), 
 and the healing of Malchus' ear (ch. xxii.), an in- 
 cident not expanded as a separate lesson. 
 
 Peculiar to the Fourth Gospel are the Water 
 turned to Wine (ch. ii.), the Cure of the Courtier's 
 Son (ch. iv.), the Man at the pool of Bethesda 
 (ch. v.), the Man born blind (ch. ix.), the Raising of 
 Lazarus (ch. xi.), and the second Miraculous Draught 
 of Fishes (ch. xxi.). The obvious peculiarity of those 
 recorded in this Gospel is their introduction in 
 almost every instance for a didactic purpose. They 
 are followed by some lesson, discussion, or discourse. 
 
THE 
 
 MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 I. The First Miracle (John ii. 1-12). 
 
 I. The Time, Place, and Occasion (vv. 1-5). 
 Vv. I, 2. — The opening words link this narrative to 
 that of the preceding chapter. "The third day" is 
 likely counted from the day named in chap. i. 43, 
 when Jesus set out with His first five disciples to 
 go into Galilee. They were now come to the little 
 town there, to which Nathanael, the latest convert 
 of the five, belonged. Here, at a marriage-feast, 
 was found the " mother of Jesus," apparently in 
 some charge of it ; perhaps related to the bridal 
 pair. On her account Jesus and His followers 
 were asked and went in. Jesus at a wedding party ! 
 — not hindering but helping true human gladness. 
 He is no enemy, neither is His Gospel, to cheerful- 
 ness and innocent joy, to the pleasures of society 
 and friendship, far less to human affection. He 
 honoured and beautified marriage by His presence, 
 and by His first miracle being wrought on such an 
 occasion. Vv. 3, 4. — The giving-out of the supply 
 was perhaps due to the unexpected addition to the 
 company made by His arrival with His following, 
 and this led His mother at once to tell Him about 
 
 9 
 
10 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 it. She had a belief that He would do something 
 to the purpose ; not only the lesser one of relieving 
 the situation, but the greater one of showing forth 
 His glory. His answer was not harsh, but it had 
 some grave hints in it. He says, "Woman," not 
 "Mother," because (as we shall see) He had to 
 disengage Himself at the beginning of His public 
 ministry from merely private and family ties. But 
 the name is not stern. He uses it again on the 
 Cross (John xix. 26), when in the act of providing a 
 son and a home for Mary ; and the words which 
 follow mean, " You and I don't see this quite in the 
 same way ; you would like a big, startling display 
 of my glory as Messiah, but for that the time is not 
 yet come." For all this, Mary read into His words 
 her own sense, which was not really wrong. So she 
 said to the servants, " Be ready to do whatever He 
 tells you, and you will see something." 
 
 2. The manner of the Miracle (vv. 6-10). {a) It 
 was a real turning of water into wine (compare 
 chap. iv. 46). It was not making the guests think 
 that the water He sent them was wine. It was a 
 genuine creation, production, or miraculous change 
 of material. How it was done we cannot guess. 
 It was a direct divine work, and therefore wholly 
 beyond our powers of explanation. But it was 
 done, and the wine was real, and of the best which 
 the vines of that country could have produced, as 
 the playful remark of the man at the head of the 
 table shows. Many of the mixtures used under 
 the name of "wine" now, have nothing to do with 
 grapes or vineyards. 
 
 (b) It was done in a way so quiet that nobody 
 
THE FIRST MIRACLE 
 
 knew about it except His mother, the servants, and 
 the disciples. There were large jars standing out- 
 side for water to wash in ; these He bade the ser- 
 vants fill, amounting to a good many gallons. 
 Water it was, and water it remained. Then, all 
 this being seen to be pure water. He bade them 
 " draw out " for the guests, either out of the filled 
 water-jars, or from the original well. When the 
 guests tasted what was taken to them it was wine, 
 and of the best. The servants knew that nothing 
 but water was drawn. Those at the table only 
 knew that what they drank was wine. Thus there 
 was no prodigy ; no solemn pause and magic trans- 
 formation before a gaping company. Only those 
 who were in the secret knew of it at all, and were 
 conscious of His glory. Whatever fame of it leaked 
 out by-and-bye, no immediate stir was made by it, 
 and none was intended. 
 
 3. The purpose and meanhtg of the Miracle 
 (v. 11). This is brought out by the place which 
 the Evangelist accords to it in the forefront of our 
 Lord's public ministry, {a) To mark the transition 
 from the Old to the New. The Baptist, His im- 
 mediate forerunner, was a hermit and an ascetic. 
 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking." 
 Moses' first miracle was one of judgment— turning 
 water into blood. Jesus begins His miracles with 
 one of bounty and kindness. And this has a mean- 
 ing deeper still : " The law was given by Moses, 
 hit grace and truth came by Jesus Christ " (chap. i. 
 17). {b) To be a sample and symbol of all Christ's 
 work foYmen, to "manifest forth" His peculiar glory. 
 He came to serve others. He who would make no 
 
12 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 bread for His own hard hunger (see the Tempta- 
 tion narrative) supplied this wedding-party with 
 wine out of His social and family kindness. He 
 came not only to save and to give mere life, but 
 more abundance. His gospel and His spirit turn 
 the water of human existence into the wine of His 
 new kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Lessons. — Besides the ge?ieral one, about Christ 
 being no "kill-joy," but rather making all our true 
 delight, better and more sacred, notice these special 
 ones : — 
 
 (i) Those who work for Christ and follow Him, 
 see His way and His glory — not the mere lookers on. 
 Compare v. 9, "but the servants knew," etc., with 
 V. II, " His disciples believed on Him." 
 
 (2) Sin and the world give what they call their 
 " good " first ; afterwards that which is " worse." 
 Jesus gives His best last (v. 10). 
 
 (3) The way of the world turns good into bad 
 and worse. The way of Christ turns good into 
 better and best. 
 
 II. The Healing of the Nobleman's Son (John iv. 43-54). 
 This Fourth Gospel recounts a brief visit of Jesus 
 to Jerusalem at the First Passover of His public 
 ministry, and then His return journey through 
 Samaria (John ii. 13 ; iv. 43). Now we have Him 
 back in Galilee and beginning again His works of 
 mercy in the same little town of Cana, where His 
 first miracle had been wrought. The remark in 
 v. 44 calls for explanation. Some think it means 
 He chose Galilee rather than Judea, because, though 
 He was born in Judea, He was not honoured there. 
 
HEALING OF THE NOBLEMAN'S SON 13 
 
 But Judea is never elsewhere called " His own 
 country " ; always Galilee. The other and better 
 explanation depends on v. 45. In His youth, 
 and at the beginning of His ministry His own 
 country-folks of Galilee had thought nothing of 
 him ; but now, since he had been up at the capital, 
 and been heard of there, and people of His own 
 place had been there too and brought back the 
 report, Galilee received Him as it had never done 
 before. His honour began to sound forth from 
 another district than His own ; but now the echo 
 of it had come to be heard even there. 
 
 This is the first of Jesus' miracles of healing ; 
 and probably because these were so important and 
 influential in Galilee, John records at length this one 
 which has not been given in the miracle-narratives 
 of the other three Gospels. It fitly heads the list, as 
 it makes so emphatic the link between Miracle and 
 Faith. In all these healings Jesus takes the utmost 
 pains to call out faith on the part of those to be 
 healed, or (as in this case) those who sought healing 
 for their dear ones. Notice the instructive variety 
 which these narratives give us, of kinds and actions 
 of faith. Sometimes Jesus is tenderly directing a 
 weak faith. Again, by apparent refusal, He is 
 drawing into view the strength of a strong faith. 
 Another time, teaching that miracle is not the cause 
 of faith so much as its reward ; that bodily cures 
 are chiefly of use to bring spiritual help ; that behef 
 in Him as a healer is meant to lead men to faith in 
 Him as a Saviour. 
 
 I. The case stated (vv. 46, 47). — The man who 
 came from Capernaum to Cana (twenty miles) to ask 
 
14 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Jesus to go down and heal his child is called a 
 "nobleman," or courtier, or king's officer, most 
 likely therefore connected with the only king in 
 these parts, — Herod of Gahlee. His young son 
 was in a fever. The courtier perhaps had some 
 previous acquaintance with the fame of Jesus ; 
 at all events, the news mentioned in v. 45 had 
 reached him and quickened his expectation that 
 Jesus could save his son's life. Accordingly he 
 came to ask that He would at once, for the case was 
 urgent, go down with him to Capernaum for the 
 purpose. 
 
 2. Jesus draws out desire by seeming to repel the 
 request (w. 48, 49). — The words '''■ Except^^ etc., are 
 both corrective and educative in their purpose. It 
 was not the request for healing that He demurred 
 to meet. It was a mistaken idea He wanted to 
 correct ; as if He were a sort of magician, a miracle- 
 monger, who must make a hurry and fuss and 
 hasten to the sick bed, and strike His hand over the 
 patient, and so on. Also, it was meant to educate 
 the faith of this man, and lead him to a higher kind 
 than that which depends upon actual wonders 
 paraded before men's eyes. Jesus says the best 
 kind of faith is when men have not seen and yet 
 believe in Him (John xx. 29). The treatment suc- 
 ceeds. The father comes out with an earnest and 
 touching appeal. " I don't want signs and wonders," 
 he says ; " I just want my boy saved any way." The 
 faith is not quite strong or clear yet ; for he still 
 thinks Jesus must come down to Capernaum to do 
 the cure. But it is earnest and hearty, and that is 
 what Jesus likes. 
 
HEALING OF THE NOBLEMAN'S SON 15 
 
 2,. Jesus puts faith to the test and rewards it 'whe?t 
 tested (vv. 50, 53). — The meaning of the words (ver. 
 50, "Go thy way," etc.) is this : "You say you don't 
 care about signs and seeing them, but just that your 
 son may be healed. Well then, your son is healed, 
 without your seeing it. The thing is done already 
 without any sign. Can you trust Me for that ? " The 
 courtier says, " Yes ; I believe it entirely. I take 
 your word for it and ask no more ; not even that 
 you should move a step from the spot." And to 
 show that he did thoroughly believe Jesus, he quietly 
 acted on it, and " went his way." The reward of 
 this faith, so successfully tested, came to him on the 
 way home. The news met him on the road. The 
 time of the cure was found exactly to coincide with 
 the time when Jesus uttered the word. The whole 
 was crowned, not only by the boy's recovery, but by 
 the conversion of the courtier and his household to 
 the faith of Christ. 
 
 4. Notice the degrees by which faith mounts in 
 this case — {a) It begins with such confidence in the 
 testimony about Jesus as to make the man take this 
 twenty mile journey ; {b) His faith mounts a quite 
 other height when he trusts to the word of Jesus 
 that the thing is done, though he hasn't seen it. {c) 
 When all this is confirmed by the fact of the instant 
 and miraculous cure of his son, faith mounts to the 
 highest stage ; he and his family accept Jesus as 
 their Saviour and the Christ of God. 
 
 Lessons. — i. The steps of faith. Jesus welcomes 
 even weak faith, the smallest grain of it, and takes 
 pains to make it grow. 2. Faith helps faith. What 
 of it there is in you will help those around you ; if 
 
i6 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 you only let it be really felt. It becomes fruitful, 
 especially to those closest to us. This man's " whole 
 house" went with him in the faith of Christ. 3. 
 The variety in Christ's ways of dealing with us. 
 This man got the blessing in a way different from 
 what he expected, and unknown up to that time. 
 We should not be surprised or cast down if things, 
 in our spiritual experience, should be very different 
 from that of others, or entirely new in our own. 
 
 III. The Demoniac in the Synagogue. The Healing of 
 Peter's Wife's Mother, etc. (A Sabbath Day's Work). 
 (Luke iv. 30-41 ; Mark i. 23-35 ; Matt. viii. 14-17). 
 
 The whole passage, especially as given in Luke 
 and Mark, presents a remarkable view of our Lord's 
 labours on one single day, and that a Sabbath. 
 In the earUer part of the day He goes to the 
 Synagogue, teaches there with great impression, 
 and deepens it by the first instance of His power 
 over one "possessed with a demon." In the 
 after part of the day He raises Peter's mother- 
 in-law from her fevered bed to perfect health. 
 Later on the same evening the afflicted people of 
 the whole town are gathered round the door, and 
 He heals them all. The night's rest which followed 
 must have been of the briefest, for He rose next 
 morning long before day-break and retired into the 
 desert for prayer. Thus, the narrative allows us to 
 follow His footsteps for about twenty-four hours on 
 end, and gives us a glimpse into the wondrous 
 activities of His ministry. 
 
 I. The Demoniac in the Synagogue (Luke iv. 31- 
 
THE DEMONIAC IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 17 
 
 37). — Our Lord had just got some of His disciples 
 about Him, and with them as His followers He 
 immediately commenced His teaching and healing 
 ministry. He had now fixed upon Capernaum as the 
 centre of it, and so He began there, and made it 
 His special care to preach on the Sabbath. Thus 
 at the outset Jesus took possession both of the 
 Sabbath Day and of the Synagogue. He was Lord 
 of both. So, before He was done with them. He 
 had turned the old Sabbath into the new Lord's 
 Day, and the Jewish Synagogue into the Christian 
 meeting. From this first instance began the aston- 
 ishment of the people at His "teaching" (ver. 32). 
 Both the matter and manner were new, especially 
 the last. It was so plain and fresh and different 
 from the dry hair-spKtting of the Scribes. Above 
 all, it had a majesty and force which sprang 
 from the person of the speaker, Himself the 
 Truth. His word was with authority (Luke iv. 33, 
 34). — As He was thus teaching, the discourse 
 was strangely interrupted. A voice burst out — 
 a shriek, rather — that stopped the sermon and 
 appalled the audience, " Let alone ! Go away, Jesics 
 of Nazareth! Art Thou coine to destroy us? I 
 know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." 
 Unnoticed perhaps by those in charge of the meet- 
 ing, one of these unhappy creatures, " the possessed,' 
 had crept in, and the Evil One tried, through him, 
 to break the spell of the Master's words and bring 
 discredit on His work. v. 35. — Jesus was not to be 
 taken at unawares. ^^ Hold thy peace ^^ He said. 
 He will have no testimony from such a quarter 
 (compare v. 41 ; also Mark i. 34, iii. 12 ; Acts xvi. 18). 
 
1 8 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Then, addressing the unclean spirit as distinct from 
 the man, he added, " Come out of Him P This word, 
 hke His teaching, had " authority." For, when the 
 demon had thrown his victim into violent fits, had 
 hurled him with a convulsive leap into the midst 
 of the astonished congregation, and had uttered 
 a cry of helpless rage, he came out, and left the 
 man prostrate but unhurt. This instance so clearly 
 marked out Jesus as the Destroyer of the works of 
 the Devil and the Deliverer of men, that it is no 
 wonder to find the whole town and neighbour- 
 hood at His feet before that Sabbath day was 
 ended. 
 
 2. Simon^s wife's mother (Luke iv. 38, 39). — As 
 soon as the Synagogue service was over, Jesus went 
 into the house of Simon, which was near. Before 
 He sat down to refresh Himself with His disciples 
 at table. He had another work of mercy to do. The 
 elder lady of the house was down of a fever. Luke, 
 the beloved physician, gives us its technical name. 
 It was the "big" or " great " fever. Mark informs 
 us (i. 30, 31) of two incidents of the story not given 
 here: [a) That Jesus was told about the case as 
 soon as He entered the house, and Luke adds that 
 the household asked Him to cure her. Often Jesus 
 healed people of His own motion and mercy ; but 
 He also liked to be asked to do it. And it is so 
 still (Matt. vii. 7). (^) Mark says He accompanied 
 the cure with a specific action — " He took her by 
 the hand and lifted her up" (i. 31). This action of 
 the touch, or the laying on of His hands, was a 
 frequent one with Him, though not invariable. It 
 seems to have been His method all this first great 
 
THE DEMONIAC IN THE SYNAGOGUE. 19 
 
 day of healings, as we read here in v. 40. We may 
 read it, as giving to the cures a sort of sacramental 
 character. He laid His hand even upon lepers, 
 though never, so far as we read, upon demoniacs, 
 (c) Another feature of this cure given in all three 
 Gospels is the immediate and entire recovery of the 
 patient, which was proved by the good dame's being 
 able to help at the meal, which was now served. 
 How natural and beautiful this "home-specimen" 
 of Jesus' healing power. It was not in large public 
 gatherings only that He did miracles. His charity 
 emphatically began at home. 
 
 3. Cure of all the sick in a whole town (Luke iv. 
 40, 41). — The miracles of the day soon spread their 
 report through the place, and before nightfall the 
 whole city "was gathered together at the door" of 
 Simon's house. Those who had heard of the fore- 
 noon miracle in the Synagogue brought all the 
 "possessed " persons they could get, and " He cast 
 out the demons, not suffering them to speak," z>., 
 as much as possible repressed them for the reasons 
 above given. Again, the miracle of the afternoon— 
 instant and entire cure of fever — suggested that He 
 would be able to heal every sort of disease. Forth- 
 with, the entire ailing persons of the town were 
 brought to Him. They waited till sunset, indeed, 
 perhaps for the coolness ; but also because of their 
 scruples about carrying or curing on Sabbath. For 
 at the setting of the sun the Sabbath ended. Jesus 
 did not agree with them about that, as He soon 
 showed. Yet he respected their scruples, but spared 
 not His own body. He began afresh, and carried 
 on probably far into the night His toilsome work. 
 
20 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 until it could be literally said that He had " healed 
 them all." 
 
 Lessons. — i. Jesus cast out demons, because He 
 came to destroy Satan's kingdom and set up the 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 2. He healed diseases, because He came to save 
 us from our sins. It is here that Matthew brings in 
 Isaiah's word, " Himself took our infirmities and 
 bare our sicknesses" (Matt. viii. 17), because first 
 the Lord "laid on Him the iniquities of us all" 
 (Is. liii. 6). 
 
 IV. First Miraculous Draught of Fishes (Tlie Call of 
 
 the Fishermen). (Luke v. i-ii.) 
 
 I. The Scene (vv. 1-3). In last lesson we had a Sab- 
 bath day's labours of Jesus. Here we have a delight- 
 ful glimpse of His week-day or e very-day work. One 
 morning He is walking on the shore of the lake. 
 The people see Him and rush together in crowds to 
 hear Him. This brings Him to a standstill. He 
 looks round for some place where there is room 
 and height to speak from. His eye lights upon an 
 empty boat drawn upon the land, — that of his disciple 
 Simon Peter. He enters and asks Simon to push 
 her off a little, so as to command the audience. 
 Then, with the prow for His pulpit. He teaches the 
 people clustered before Him on the sloping beach. 
 This is week-day ministry, open-air preaching, an 
 off-hand service ; just as before we had Jesus con- 
 ducting the regular course of public worship on the 
 Sabbath in the Synagogue. It was immediately 
 after this, that the deed or sign followed which is 
 the subject of our lesson. It shows well how every- 
 
FIRST MIRACULOUS DRA UGHT OF FISHES. 21 
 
 day religion helps every-day work. Simon had 
 waited on Jesus at his preaching and lent his boat 
 for a platform. Jesus now helps Simon at his fish- 
 ing, with an astonishing result. 
 
 2. The Sign, or Miracle (vv. 4-7). Jesus rewards 
 these helpers of His by a blessing on their own 
 natural work. A great " take of fish," at an occa- 
 sional time, is not of itself miraculous ; but that 
 this was a designed miracle appears from Peter's 
 words in v. 5. He says, that if left to his own 
 knowledge and experience as a fisherman, he would 
 not have cast the net. As much as to say, what- 
 ever is caught at this time, happens not by chance, 
 or according to mere nature, but because of Christ's 
 bidding. Therefore it was an act of His Sovereignty 
 and Christhood. How He wrought the miracle is 
 not for us to say, but we call it a Nature-miracle 
 as the work of the Son of God, of Whom and by 
 Whom are all things in the Universe ; and a Christ- 
 miracle as showing that all things are put under the 
 Son of Man to use for His Kingdom's sake (com- 
 pare Ps. viii. 6-8 with Heb. ii. 8). 
 
 3. The effects (vv. 8-1 1) were these— («) an im- 
 pression of astonishment on all who witnessed it, so 
 that the miracle was a seal to the whole neighbour- 
 hood of Jesus' Divine Commission and of the truth 
 of His teaching which they had just heard (v. 9), 
 Then {b) a spiritual crisis in the soul of Peter (v. 8). 
 He had been gradually learning more of Jesus in 
 the previous weeks or months (See John i. and ii.). 
 Now it suddenly bursts upon him Who it is that sits 
 beside him in his own boat. It is none other than 
 the Lord God of Israel. Next comes the thought, 
 
22 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 "How can such as Peter serve and dwell with 
 Israel's Holy One?" He falls down at Jesus' 
 knees, and in the confused feeling of this over- 
 whelming moment, he cries, " Depart from me ; I 
 am a sinful man and Thou art Lord and God." 
 Jesus answers at once with His " Fear not." " De- 
 part ! no, never ! " It is just such sinful men, come 
 to themselves, that Jesus wants, through whom to 
 gain others. These are the degrees or steps, in 
 His college, for His ministers and workers, (i) A 
 real sight of God. (2) A deep sense, therefore, of 
 their own sinfulness. (3) A conviction that the 
 Lord has got hold of them for His own service. 
 Trace these degrees in Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
 Saul of Tarsus, as the Bible describes their experi- 
 ences, and see how like to that of Peter here. Then 
 you may trace it beyond Bible history in many a 
 Christian biography. 
 
 {c) A complete surrender and prompt decision on 
 the part of all the four disciples present on this occa- 
 sion (v. 11). No doubt, they had all been met and 
 dealt with by Jesus before this ; but this was the 
 deed followed by the word, which brought their con- 
 version to a head. They took now the decisive step, 
 left their boats and nets, and put themselves under 
 Jesus to be trained for the Ministry. This was the 
 call of the Fisher-Apostles, to be Fishers of men. 
 How fit the miracle to lead up to this result which 
 Jesus had purposed ! By a great catch of fish. He 
 caught the fishermen. None were so prepared to 
 judge the greatness of the miracle as they. No kind 
 of miracle was so fitted to impress " toilers of the 
 deep " hke them. So He took them, as it were, in 
 
THE LEPER CLEANSED. 23 
 
 their own net. How constantly we see this principle 
 at work in the Gospel story ! The Lord meets His 
 converts in the way of their own walk and work. 
 The wise men from the East, whose business and 
 dehght were to study the heavens, were guided to 
 Jesus by a star. The woman that came to Sychar's 
 well at noon for water went home with the water of 
 life eternal springing up in her soul. Those who 
 followed Jesus for bread, because they had seen the 
 loaves multiplied, were taught that He was the Bread 
 from heaven. 
 
 Lesson. — Analogy between the work oifishers and 
 that of the workers for souls. In both, there must 
 be art and skill, patience and toil. The fisher " takes 
 his prey alive^'' and Jesus here uses exactly this word, 
 to express the winning of men to His Kingdom. 
 
 V. The Leper Cleansed (Matt. viil. 14-17; Mark i. 40- 
 45 ; Luke v. 12-16). 
 As in last paragraph we had a Nature Miracle, 
 now we have two closely following instances of 
 Christ's Healing Miracles. These have always a 
 reference to His Saviour-work, for diseases are at 
 once effects and emblems of sin. In the case of the 
 leper, there is proof given of Jesus removing the 
 pollution of sin ; in that of the paralytic, delivering 
 from its power or bondage. 
 
 I. (vv. 12-16). The disease itself v^2iS a loathsome 
 and disfiguring affection of the skin. It is very 
 often mentioned in the Bible, though it ought not to 
 be confounded with the more terrible disease, of 
 the same name, known in mediaeval and modern 
 times. A chief point in its use in Bible teaching is 
 
24 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 the fact that in the Mosaic Law, it was treated as 
 a defilement or uncleanness, separating those who 
 had it from society. But it was not, Hke its modern 
 namesake, either certainly fatal or absolutely in- 
 curable. To dispel it in a moment, as Jesus did, 
 was, however, utterly beyond the power of man and 
 therefore a true miracle. The Bible treats leprosy 
 as an emblem of sm^ in its aspect of pollution or de- 
 filement. Notice how, in its removal, it is never 
 said to be cured or healed^ but always cleansed. 
 
 2. This 7nan^s case and his prayers (v. 12). It was 
 a very bad case ; " he was full of leprosy." When 
 he met Jesus in the public road or street, everybody 
 drew back in horror. Only Jesus stood still. The 
 sufferer "knelt down," "fell on his face" before 
 Him, called Him "Lord"; in short, as Matthew 
 has it, "worshipped Him." "If Thou wilt, Thou 
 canst make me clean," he cried. We are not to 
 think his faith was wanting because he said " If 
 Thou wilt." He fully believed Christ's power. 
 Only, as he was the first "leper" that came to 
 Jesus, he could not know whether He would be 
 pleased to treat such cases. He was sure that if 
 He pleased He could do it. That was faith enough 
 for Jesus' purpose. 
 
 3. The Lord^s answer (v. 13). First, a deed^ then 
 a word, and the thing was done. Such a deed ! 
 He put forth His hand and touched him. The first 
 thing Jesus did here was the last thing that any 
 other would have dreamt of doing. To touch a 
 leper was defilement and social death. But here 
 is the Lord of hfe and the Conqueror of death. He 
 reaches forth the hand of the Brother, Healer, and 
 
THE PARALYTIC TO RISE AND WALK. 25 
 
 Saviour of men. He accompanies the deed with 
 the kingly word^ " I will." " You had no doubt of 
 my power^ you shall now be made sure of my 
 luiUiiignessP And immediately the disease left 
 him. 
 
 4. The Lord^s com7na?id (v. 14) to the cleansed 
 man was twofold ; {a) to keep it quiet meanwhile, 
 probably because of the too great stir it would 
 make ; {b) to go through the regular legal process 
 of getting himself declared clean by the priests, that 
 the cure might be properly witnessed and confirmed. 
 The man appears to have done neither, and thus 
 occasioned his Healer much immediate annoyance, 
 and, perhaps, ultimate danger. Zeal in converts, 
 without discretion, often does harm to Christ's cause. 
 
 VI. The Paralytic made to rise and walk (vv. 17-26). 
 
 1. How the patie7it was brought to the Healer 
 (vv. 17-19). This cure was done not on the open 
 road or street, as in the former cure, but in a house. 
 The house was filled to the door with people listen- 
 ing to Jesus — rooms, passages, central court, all 
 crowded. Four men came carrying their palsied 
 friend. How to get him in? First they mounted 
 by an outside stair, or through the next house, on 
 to the flat roof. Then, with ropes, they let him 
 down on his bed, having first lifted off some part 
 of the tiling, or, perhaps, a projecting verandah — a 
 proof of their faith in Jesus, and their determination 
 to get their friend healed. 
 
 2. Christ pardons the man^s sins before He 
 gives power to his body (vv. 20-25). Imagine the 
 sermon stopped, — the whole congregation look- 
 
26 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 ing eagerly on ; the Scribes and Pharisees pres- 
 ent particularly watchful. Then their further 
 astonishment when Jesus, instead of curing the 
 man of his palsy, says, " Son, be of good cheer, 
 thy sins are forgiven thee." " What blas- 
 phemy ! " thought his enemies, " He professes to 
 forgive sin, which belongs to God alone." But, 
 reading their thought, Jesus says again, " Which is 
 easier to say (not easier to do), what every rabbi or 
 so - called priest would, ' your sin is forgiven,' or 
 what none of them would dare to say to a palsied 
 man, 'Rise up and walk?'" But He adds, I will 
 prove my power or right to say and do both. So, 
 turning to the man. He bids him " take up his bed," 
 and the man went forth strong and hale before them 
 all. Among all the many miracles done in Caper- 
 naum [s£e Paragraph HI.] none struck the people 
 with such amazement and produced such praise to 
 God (v. 26) as this. Because it proved that Jesus was 
 not only the Healer of men's bodies, but the Saviour 
 of their souls, and the Forgiver of their sins — was, 
 in short, the Christ of God. 
 
 3. The spiritual meaning of the miracle, Pardon 
 sealed by Power. Just as the cleansing of the leper 
 presents Jesus as taking away the filth and defile- 
 ment of our sins, this miracle presents Him as can- 
 celling the bondage of sin, and raising us from its 
 moral weakness. Note, too, the course He takes — 
 first, pardon, then power. Whenever He says, 
 " Your sin is forgiven," He says also, " Rise up and 
 walk." He never leaves His pardoned ones under 
 the paralysing yoke of sin. When He frees us 
 from its guilt. He delivers us also from its service. 
 
THE IMPOTENT MAN OF BETHESDA, 27 
 
 General Lesson. — From both V. and VI. gather 
 how Jesus honoured faith in connection with all 
 His heahngs. The leper who had faith to say- 
 confidently, " Thou canst make me clean," had his 
 reward. The paralytic and the four men who had 
 faith to carry their friend over all these obstacles 
 into Jesus' presence, got their reward. " When He 
 saw their faith," etc. (v. 20). 
 
 VII. The Impotent Man of Bethesda (John v. 1-18). 
 
 I. At the Pool (vv. 2-9). Our Lord was walking 
 in Jerusalem on a Sabbath morning. He was pass- 
 ing a large tank or bath surrounded by covered 
 porches, in which sick people lay waiting for those 
 periods when the waters had a special curative 
 effect. Most scholars now think that v. 4, which 
 ascribes that effect to an angel-visit, does not belong 
 to the text, but was a traditional account of the 
 cause. In some way, however, the waters -when 
 moved had a peculiar power. 
 
 Jesus got His eye on the worst case in that open- 
 air hospital — a man who had been entirely helpless 
 for thirty-eight years. His face wore the dull look 
 that comes from " hope deferred." Jesus knew all 
 about him, stopped, caught his gaze, roused him 
 with the sudden question, "Do you really want to 
 get better?" The man hasted to defend himself. 
 " Yes ! I wish it much ; but I am so friendless that 
 I never can get a chance of going into the pool 
 when the waters are at their best ; I have no man 
 to help me in." 
 
 Then, having thus got his attention, Jesus next 
 addressed him with a look and tone which carried 
 
28 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 indescribable power, " Rise^ take up thy bed, and 
 walkV The man at once felt that this Unknown 
 One was no common being. What would have 
 been mockery from other lips, he received as truth 
 and life from His. The patient asked no questions, 
 started no objections ; never said, "to rise and walk 
 is the very thing I can't do," though that would have 
 been true enough. He just did as his Deliverer 
 bade him, and was healed in the act of doing it. 
 He leaped up, took the poor mass of rags, on which he 
 had lain, under his arm, and marched away. Most 
 likely he would have left it there if his Healer had 
 not told him expressly to take it up {a) as a proof of 
 his complete recovery, that he could not only walk, 
 but carry his couch ; {b) as a mark of identity, to 
 prove that he was the very man who had lain so 
 long helpless there ; {c) as a test of his faith in his 
 Healer, and thankfulness to Him. He had such 
 entire trust as to do exactly what He bade him. 
 
 2. On the street {yw. 10-13). — We follow the man 
 now from the scene of his cure to the scene of his 
 trial. It was his carrying his bed on the Sabbath 
 which brought it on. Had he gone away light and 
 free no one would likely have noticed him. Had he 
 becin carrying his bed on an ordinary day he would 
 also probably have escaped notice. But his action 
 on this day arrested so much attention that the 
 religious authorities — whom the Gospel-writer here 
 (v. 10) calls "the Jews" — interfered. "You can't 
 do that to-day," they said, "it is not lawful." 
 Strangely blind these rulers must have been. They 
 could see nothing of the cure that had been wrought, 
 but only, " Here's a man breaking the Sabbath." 
 
THE IMPOTENT MAN OF BETHESDA. 29 
 
 Ver. II. The man's answer, "He who cured me 
 told me to do this." Simple and straightforward 
 faith ! " He who wrought such merciful and marvel- 
 lous healing could surely never bid me do anything 
 really wrong." Wise and firm-footed reasoning. 
 (Compare that of the blind man in chap, ix.) 
 
 Ver. 12. The answer had no effect on "the Jews." 
 They only wanted to know who it was that had 
 caused him to do it. They asked not, " Who cured 
 thee ? Tell us who is this wonderful and merciful 
 Healer," but, " Who is he that told thee to carry a 
 bed on the Sabbath ? " An instance of the blindest 
 bigotry. They had formed certain rules of their 
 own not contained in God's commandment about 
 the Sabbath, and by these rules they judged all 
 other men. No miracle of healing which the 
 Unknown One had wrought must weigh against 
 their judgment that He had broken the Sabbath. 
 At this time the man was not able to tell them who 
 had healed him. When he afterwards found out 
 and told them, their bigoted judgment remained the 
 same and their hatred of Jesus became still greater. 
 Especially when He told them (v. 17) that their 
 small, paltry Sabbath-keeping was quite contrary to 
 that of the Almighty Creator and Preserver, who 
 gave them the Sabbath. "The God of the Sab- 
 bath," Jesus said, "Who was also His Father, 
 was constantly doing works of mercy and of might 
 on the Sabbath day. So must also the Son do 
 the hke works." 
 
 3. In the Temple (vv. 14, 15).— The Healer and 
 the healed meet once more, this time in God's 
 House. The man had gone to the Temple so soon 
 c 
 
30 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 as he was free from his burden and his questioners, 
 full of thankful thoughts after eight-and-thirty years 
 of enforced absence ; another proof that he was a 
 fit subject of the Lord's healing. Jesus went thither 
 also, doubtless for the purpose of meeting the man 
 and completing the inward and spiritual cure. 
 When they met, Jesus (v. 14) gave him {a) a reminder 
 and confirmation of blessing received. " Thou art 
 made whole.^'^ We so soon forget what Christ bestows, 
 that continual counsel and confirmation from His 
 lips are needed, {b) A tender and faithful warning. 
 " Sin no more lest" etc. As on a former occasion 
 of healing, Jesus brought out the connection between 
 pardo7i a.nd ^ower^ so here He reminds us of the link 
 between sin and sneering. He pointed to the pro- 
 found law that in such cases as this man's the cure 
 is really moral and spiritual as much as physical. 
 He says to him in effect, "Though I have now 
 lifted you up from your 'mattress-grave' you are 
 not cured unless you cease from sin. My cures are 
 of body and soul together. My word avails for 
 both. As effectual as ' Rise and walk ' was for the 
 one, shall 'Sin no more' be for the other, when 
 heard and received in your inmost spirit." Not to 
 sin, to be no more a sinner, is the law of a Chris- 
 tian's heart and life ; because it is his Saviour's 
 command. 
 
 VIII. The Withered Hand (Matt. xii. 9-14; Mark iii. 
 
 1-6; Luke vi. 6-1 1). 
 
 It is plain that the two incidents, " The plucking 
 
 of the ears of corn " and " The healing of the man 
 
 with the withered hand," are put together by Luke 
 
THE WITHERED HAND. 
 
 as also by Matthew and Mark, to illustrate our 
 Lord's explanation and defence of the Sabbath law. 
 They respectively set forth the two classes of excep- 
 tions against the overstrained application of the 
 Divine command, "Thou shalt do no work on that 
 day." Necessity covers the first instance and mercy 
 the second. 
 
 1. The Case (Luke vi. 6). " It was on another 
 Sabbath " (?>., than that of the corn plucking), and 
 in the Synagogue itself that this second incident took 
 place. Another of the traditional additions of the 
 Jews to the Divine commandment, — Hedges of the 
 Law, as they called them — was that no doctor's 
 work was to be done on the Sabbath. So they were 
 always ready to object to Jesus' miracles of healing 
 done on that day. After that first great crowd of 
 happy cures which He wrought on a Sabbath day in 
 Capernaum (see paragraph II L), they began to watch 
 Him. Some think that they had expressly got this 
 man to come to the Synagogue on this occasion, 
 and so set a trap for Jesus. But if so, Jesus rescued 
 both the man and Himself The man's disease was 
 what is called a " local atrophy," /..?., a wasting or 
 shrinking of one part of a limb. Tradition says he 
 was a bricklayer who came and besought Jesus for 
 a cure that he might be able to work for his bread. 
 To this Luke's remark that it was the " right hand," 
 lends some colour. Disabled as the man was, he 
 was found at the place of public worship on the 
 Sabbath and got a blessing there. 
 
 2. The Question (vv. 7-9). The narrative says 
 nothing about the Jews having put the man there, 
 far less that he said or did anything himself to gain 
 
32 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Jesus' notice. But the enemies of Jesus knew the 
 man was present, expected that Jesus would cure 
 him and "watched" accordingly. Thus out of His 
 abundant goodness they basely wanted to construct 
 a snare for Him. But He knew their thought, and 
 so far from avoiding it, went straight to the point. 
 He said to the man, " Rise up and stand forth in the 
 midst," z>.. He put him where all could see, — making 
 the miracle more public than usual, just because His 
 enemies had made it a test or trial case. The man 
 silently and promptly did as he was told : a proof 
 of his faith. By his prompt obedience he took the 
 side of Jesus against the Pharisees, — obeyed God 
 rather than men. 
 
 Then Jesus, having got the attention of the whole 
 meeting fixed, put His question ; and as always is 
 the case, by putting it rioJitly (not wrongly as they 
 did) makes it, as it were, answer itself. Not, " Is 
 it lawful on the Sabbath to do some part of doctor's 
 work ? " Let the doctors settle that with their 
 own Master. But, " Is it lawful to do good on the 
 Sabbath day? or, Are we to do evil, by letting 
 alone and omitting the good we could do.?" They 
 were dumb. Matthew tells that He put it very close 
 to them, by asking them, if they would not do more 
 work for a sheep which had tumbled into a hole 
 on the Sabbath ? And " wasn't a man," He asked, 
 "better than a sheep?" (Matt. xii. ii, 12). He 
 looked round and round upon them, as for an 
 answer, but they were silent with rage and con- 
 fusion. 
 
 3. The cure (vv, 10, 11). Then He said to the 
 man, " Stretch forth thine hand." He did so, and 
 
THE CENTURION OF GREA T FAITH, 33 
 
 behold ! his hand was as strong and well as the 
 other. So they were entirely outwitted. He did no 
 doctor's work after all. He didn't even touch the 
 arm, or strike His own hand over the place. He 
 silently accomplished the cure by His own expressed 
 will. And when the man at His bidding stretched 
 out the hand, it was to give proof positive to every 
 beholder that the thing was done. 
 
 Observe the exquisite illustration we have here of 
 the character of faith. The first bidding, " Stand 
 forth," tested the courage of the man's faith. It rose 
 above human fear. The second tested its deeper 
 quality, of entirely trusting Jesus. He implicitly 
 obeyed, in the very thing he naturally couldn't do, 
 and was healed in the act of obeying. 
 
 IX. The Centurion of Great Faith (Matt. viii. 5-13 ; Luke 
 vii. i-io). 
 
 This is another of the mighty works that were 
 done in Capernaum. It probably occurred on Jesus' 
 return to Capernaum from the tour in the course of 
 which the Sermon on the Mount was spoken. 
 
 The character of the centurion comes out {a) in 
 his natural affection and care for his servant, a slave, 
 yet specially valuable and dear to him as a son. 
 {b) In his reverence for such rehgious light as he had 
 already attained, and by his readiness to promote 
 it in the most hberal way. (c) In his modesty and 
 reticence, reckoning himself unworthy— as a Gentile 
 —either to go personally to Jesus, or have Jesus 
 come to him, using therefore, the intercession of the 
 Jews — the chosen people. Matthew's account re- 
 ports the centurion as going in person to Jesus. 
 
34 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 and relates the whole conversation as taking place 
 between the Lord and him. Luke's more circum- 
 stantial account tells that from the first he employed 
 his Jewish friends to convey the request. The more 
 abbreviated narrative relates what passed through 
 others as if it had been directly transacted. 
 
 The case is described in the two narratives as — 
 one of paralysis accompanied by grievous pain 
 (Matt); and the sufferer was considered "ready to 
 die" (Luke). Our Lord's healing of this disease is 
 described in a single phrase (Matt. viii. 13; Luke 
 vii. 10). It was one of those instantaneous cures 
 wrought at a distance from the patient, which were 
 rather the exception among His healings. The excep- 
 tion was determined by the circumstances and faith 
 of the petitioner. Compare this one with those of 
 the courtier's son and the Syrophenician's daughter. 
 
 The points in this occurrence which made the 
 main impression on those who witnessed it come out 
 when we observe where the two accounts (in Matt, 
 and Luke) exactly coincide. These are — the ex- 
 pression of confidence which the centurion placed in 
 Jesus ; the Lord's expression of wonder at such faith ; 
 and the gracious answer given in the cure of the boy 
 there and then. 
 
 Wherein then consisted the greatness of the faith 
 here so signally praised : — 
 
 I. It was great whe?! we consider the man in whom 
 it was found. The centurion resolved to put the case 
 of his servant into Jesus' hands, on merely hearing 
 the report of His healings. As a Gentile he could 
 make no claim in his own right to the mercy of Jesus : 
 in the way of his faith there was a barrier not present 
 
THE CEI^TURJON OF GREA T FAITH. 35 
 
 to others. This faith was in itself so great that the 
 Lord had not found the hke, so impHcit, so honour- 
 ing to God's grace, not among the town's folk of 
 Capernaum, nor the Jews of Jerusalem, nor the 
 disciples themselves. This Roman soldier v/as the 
 morning star of western faith. 
 
 2. This faith was great 171 its view of Chrisfs 
 Power. Simply and boldly the imperial idea is 
 applied by this honest believer to the region of the 
 Kingdom. The union of all governmental power in 
 the will of king or emperor represents the subjection 
 of all things to this gracious One, in whom is mir- 
 rored the love and grace of Highest God. And 
 though this be not all the truth, it goes to the heart 
 of the truth about the power of Christ. It puts the 
 crown of the universe on His head and the sceptre 
 of universal dominion into His hand. Such whole- 
 hearted honour put upon the Lord is the least tribute 
 faith in Him ought to bring. To suppose that He 
 can help in an easy case, but not a hard one ; near 
 at hand, but not at a distance ; to look for stinted 
 answers and niggard blessings, few fruits and rare 
 conversions — is not this what starves our spiritual 
 life, and dishonours Christ, and impoverishes His 
 kingdom } 
 
 3. It was great in its sole depe7idence upon Christ 
 and His will. The faith of most of those who came 
 to Jesus for cures, though real enough, needed the 
 personal contact — the external means. This man's 
 faith was above all these restrictions ; it made 
 nothing of difficulty or distance. In this it was un- 
 paralleled in Jesus' experience, and He not only 
 crowned this remarkable faith with its appropriate 
 
38 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 mother, half afraid to believe that he was really living. 
 This was, so far as we can judge, the first instance 
 in which our Lord had raised the dead. It would 
 have been very natural in the young man, so mar- 
 vellously restored, to have left his home and accom- 
 panied Jesus. But we read that our Lord sent him 
 back to his own natural sphere of life — ''''He de- 
 livered him to his mother P 
 
 Ver. 1 6. '■'' A7id there came a fear on all?^ It was 
 no wonder. A corpse carried out on his bier this 
 moment, and the next a living son restored to a 
 joyous mother. And all this not done in a corner 
 but at the gate of a city, in the presence of a great 
 crowd, in a manner the most absolutely God-like — 
 no preparation, no previous knowledge, no pomp of 
 words, no labour of prayers, but a simple command. 
 The first feeling of terror gave place to the still 
 deeper and holier feeling of awe and reverence for 
 Him who by a word had called the dead to life. 
 '''' A7id they glorified God^ saying^ That a great 
 prophet is risen up amo?ig us; and That God hath 
 visited His people P This was the crowning miracle 
 of the period of our Lord's first Galilean ministry. 
 It was one of those rare moments in the life of the 
 Son of Man when the confession of Pentecost 
 seemed on the point of being forestalled. But it 
 could not be till He should suffer and be glorified. 
 
 There is more to be gained from this miracle than 
 merely to prove that Jesus has " God with Him." 
 Works like this, taken along with His words and 
 teaching and claims, go far to prove that He is Him- 
 self God. It is not so much the fact of His raising 
 the dead as the manner of it which suggests His 
 
THE STILLING OF THE TEMPEST. 39 
 
 Divinity. Sometimes a like miracle had been done 
 by Divinely commissioned prophets, but the differ- 
 ence is very striking. Here all is done in His own 
 name, and in a manner, too, so direct and majestic. 
 The contrast between this and any such miracle 
 by prophet or apostle is obvious, and the inference 
 points to nothing short of absolute Godhead. 
 
 XI. Tlie Stilling of the Tempest (Matt. viii. 18-27; 
 Mark iv. 35-41 ; Luke viii. 22-5). 
 
 It was a time of our Lord's ministry when the 
 people crowded round Him whenever they could get 
 at Him. On this occasion they thronged Him on 
 the lake-shore and He, retiring into the disciples' 
 boat, spoke from it to the people gathered on the 
 beach. It was at the close of the sermon so 
 preached that He sought the retirement and rest 
 of this voyage to the opposite coast. The disciples 
 took Him with them, "even as He was in the boat," 
 glad to get Him away from His incessant labours. 
 Tired out with these, He lay down in the stern and 
 fell fast asleep on the cushion. A sudden squall 
 arose — "They were filled with water and were in 
 jeopardy." But Jesus slept calmly on. Why did 
 He sleep ? Just because He was weary. He slept 
 because His human life was real, and not merely 
 played or acted. 
 
 But in such a storm, why should He sleep? Be- 
 cause He had perfect trust in His heavenly Father's 
 arm. To human eyes the danger was very real. 
 These fishermen, who had known that water all 
 their days, were afraid for themselves and Him. 
 Natural that they should dread the idea of all their 
 
40 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 hopes and prospects being lost in this premature 
 grave, yet foolish that they should fear for them- 
 selves and Him so meaningless an end. 
 
 They had abstained for a while from disturbing 
 Jesus, but now they could do so no longer. They 
 crowded round and awoke Him. '■'• Lord, save tis, 
 we perish ! Master, carest Thou not that we 
 perish / " He wakes at the first cry of the disciples. 
 The Son of Man had been sleeping. The Son of 
 God awakes and speaks, " He rebuked the wind 
 and said unto the sea, Peace ! be still I " The " wind 
 ceased^'' and " there was a great calni^^ What a 
 revelation of God in man ! It is not so much the 
 mere power that impresses, but " it is the manner of 
 the man." 
 
 The word 7'ebuke in this description is a very 
 suggestive one. Are we to conclude that all physi- 
 cal evils, alike in nature and in man, are among 
 those works of the devil which the Christ was mani- 
 fested to destroy ? It may be a more accurate 
 position if we say that storms and earthquakes, 
 pestilences and famines, calamities and disasters, as 
 overtaking 7nan from the side of nature, are part of 
 that confusion and disorder which sin has brought 
 into God's creation. And in this light His word of 
 rebuke has a great and blessed meaning. It shows 
 that the Maker is now come to be the Healer of the 
 world. 
 
 But He had His own disciples to rebuke as well 
 as the storm to still. The reproof to the disciples 
 is very instructive. " Why a7'e ye fearful, O ye of 
 little faith ? " This probably before stilling the 
 storm. Then after it, " Where is your faith ? How 
 
THE STILLING OF THE TEMPEST, 41 
 
 is it that ye have no faith ? " These questions do 
 not imply that they were absolutely faithless. Their 
 instinctive application to Him, the words with 
 which they awoke Him, ^^ Master, save tis /" — these 
 show their belief that He could and would deliver 
 Himself and them. But they ought to have believed 
 that sleeping or waking made no difference to 
 Him. It was not that they had no faith, but they 
 failed to apply their faith fully. Fear, for the mo- 
 ment, ruled, and not faith. 
 
 This lesson — Fear paralysing Faith ; Jesus re- 
 buking Unbelief and putting Fear to flight ; Faith 
 the conquering opposite of Fear — these things come 
 home to all Christians. These disciples had en- 
 trusted to their Master their souls, their lives, their 
 all ; and yet they forgot all this in a moment of 
 mere natural, human panic. How exactly like us 
 and our unbelief ! For unbelief is always the same 
 confused, feeble, sinful thing. You have received 
 Christ for your Saviour ; and yet let any sudden 
 squall arise, and you fear and cry out as if all were 
 lost. Where is your faith? Is there anything in 
 your lot or life He cannot master. 
 
 The effect of this miracle on the minds of the 
 beholders was great. This mighty work seemed to 
 throw the others into the shade. This simple mastery 
 of nature on the part of man stirred at least an awed 
 curiosity, if it did not suggest a marvellous explana- 
 tion. 
 
 The distinctive teaching of the miracle may be 
 summed up in two items, (i) Directly, it teaches 
 that to Him, as Lord of providence, belongs all 
 power to defend His cause and people from danger, 
 
42 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 and that He is continually exercising that power. 
 (2) Less directly, it suggests the perpetual pres- 
 ence of Christ in and with His Church, for its pro- 
 tection and deliverance. The renewing power of 
 Christianity means to the Christian the perpetual 
 indwelling of the Christ. How often has the Chris- 
 tian religion seemed on the point of being extin- 
 guished ! But as oft has the hidden Christ within 
 arisen, the victorious power of resistance been im- 
 parted, and the danger has passed away. 
 
 XII. The Gadarene Demoniac (Matt. viii. 28-34 ; Mark v. 
 1-20; Luke viii. 26-39). 
 
 The mission to Gadara had but one incident, 
 though a very striking one. The Lord crossed the 
 lake to do this one work and then return. 
 
 No sooner almost had they stepped out upon the 
 shore than their journey was interrupted by the 
 attack of a fierce demoniac. The first gospel speaks 
 of two, but the pre-eminence of one has left its mark 
 on the memory of the eye-witnesses, and the other 
 two accounts speak of him alone. His special 
 abode was " among the tombs " — those caves, 
 namely, which served for vaults of sepulture and 
 dens of unclean things. The attempt to bind him 
 had often been made, but he had burst the chains 
 and broken the fetters and fled. Night and day he 
 roamed around this mountain burial-place " crying 
 and cutting himself with stones." The man was a 
 maniac of the worst type. Convulsive strength, 
 nakedness^ and self-mutilation are all well-known 
 symptoms. But his mania was the physical and 
 psychical ground of a more terrible visitation. He 
 
THE GA DA RENE DEMONIAC. 43 
 
 had probably brought the disease upon himself 
 by his wickedness, but now there was added to his 
 madness the demoniac element in its extremest 
 form. 
 
 1. The Miracle itself. — At a great distance the 
 demoniac had perceived the party, and he came 
 bounding, as his wont was, to the attack. But on 
 the first look of Jesus his fierceness is changed into 
 awe, and instead of springing upon the company he 
 bows himself and worships. Jesus says to the un- 
 clean spirit, " Come out of the man," At this word 
 there bursts forth a fearful shriek from the unhappy 
 victim. " What have I to do with Thee^ fesus, Thou 
 Son of the Most High God? I adjure Thee by God 
 that Thou torment me not." 
 
 After a short conversation into which Jesus draws 
 him, there follows the request of the man or of the 
 demons that Jesus would suffer them to enter into a 
 herd of swine feeding on the mountain. Permission 
 having been given, or taken, the Lord's command 
 to leave the human victim was obeyed. The swine 
 dashed down the steep and were drowned in the 
 lake. When the dwellers round assembled to see 
 this thing, they found the man who had been the 
 scourge of the whole country sitting, clothed and in 
 his right mind, at the feet of Jesus. 
 
 2. The Episode of the Swine. — The facts of the 
 case must be steadily borne in mind. First, the 
 confusion of consciousness on the part of the sub- 
 ject colours the narrative. The man worships, the 
 demons deprecate ; the man runs to Jesus, the 
 demons entreat Him to let them alone. Then, the 
 only word spoken by Jesus in this episodic part of 
 
44 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 the transaction, is the one majestic "Depart" 
 recorded in Matthew — the word of expulsion. That 
 it is also regarded by the evangelists as a word of 
 permission for what follows is clear. But all else is 
 conjecture of commentators. 
 
 3. The Conduct of the Gadarenes. — This is to be 
 ascribed to ignorance and fear rather than to 
 avarice. The natural mind when unenlightened 
 dreads the approach of the Divine or Supernatural, 
 as expecting evil from that source rather than good. 
 The same principle accounts for the way in which 
 many still dread Christ and His grace. They stand 
 in awe of anything very real and powerful in re- 
 ligion ; it bewilders and frightens them. On the 
 other hand, they do understand their own temporal 
 interest. They perceive that spiritual enthusiasm 
 is likely to interfere with it and bring about loss. 
 Thus they have no other conclusion than to try to 
 get quietly rid of it. 
 
 4. The Gadarene Missionary, — As the Lord was 
 entering the ship to return, the saved man inter- 
 posed, and besought that he might go with his 
 DeHverer out of that evil place. Jesus had better 
 use for him ; he is sent first to his own house and 
 friends. So let all grace from Christ begin to tell 
 at home. " Show hoiv great things God hath done 
 unto thee^ This is the true method of the house- 
 hold missionary. 
 
 Thus the most terrible sufferer from infernal 
 power in all the record of the gospels becomes a 
 preacher of salvation to Ten Cities. Jesus went 
 these few hours to Gadara : He found a demoniac 
 and left a missionary. 
 
THE RAISING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER 45 
 
 XIII. The Raising of Jairus' Daughter (Matt. ix. 18-19, 
 23-6 ; Mark v. 22-4, 35-43 ; Luke viii. 41-2, 49-56). 
 
 Jesus and the twelve have just returned from the 
 Gadarene visit ; they are still on the margin of the 
 lake, when a petitioner falls on his face before the 
 Lord. It is Jairus, one of the rulers in the Syna- 
 gogue of Capernaum. He came with intense 
 earnestness, '"''fell at Jesus' feet and besought Him 
 greatly " ; his little daughter was lying at the point 
 of death. Jairus had doubtless seen much of Jesus, 
 and had good reason to be convinced of His power ; 
 He expresses unhesitating faith, so far as the words 
 of his prayer go, yet we never read before this that 
 he was a disciple. 
 
 Mark v. 24. Jesus at once went with him ; so did 
 the disciples and all the people, forming a vast and 
 crowded procession. The interruption on the way, 
 the healing of the woman, the conversation with 
 her, occupied some time. 
 
 Vv. 35-6. When the father left his house to go for 
 Jesus the child was just dying, and now this message 
 comes. Jesus overheard and took the word out of 
 the messenger's mouth. He checks fear ere it 
 begins to rise : " Be not afraid^ only believe " — 
 language which all the more precludes the idea of a 
 mere apparent death. 
 
 At this point the Lord separates Himself from 
 the crowd and takes only three out of the twelve 
 Apostles. As they approached the house the noise 
 and tumult of Oriental wailing became apparent. 
 As Jesus and His company entered the house, He 
 said, " Why make ye this ado and weep f the damsel 
 
44 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 the transaction, is the one majestic "Depart" 
 recorded in Matthew — the word of expulsion. That 
 it is also regarded by the evangelists as a word of 
 permission for what follows is clear. But all else is 
 conjecture of commentators. 
 
 3. The Co?iduct of the Gadarenes. — This is to be 
 ascribed to ignorance and fear rather than to 
 avarice. The natural mind when unenlightened 
 dreads the approach of the Divine or Supernatural, 
 as expecting evil from that source rather than good. 
 The same principle accounts for the way in which 
 many still dread Christ and His grace. They stand 
 in awe of anything very real and powerful in re- 
 ligion ; it bewilders and frightens them. On the 
 other hand, they do understand their own temporal 
 interest. They perceive that spiritual enthusiasm 
 is likely to interfere with it and bring about loss. 
 Thus they have no other conclusion than to try to 
 get quietly rid of it. 
 
 4. The Gadarene Missionary > — As the Lord was 
 entering the ship to return, the saved man inter- 
 posed, and besought that he might go with his 
 Dehverer out of that evil place. Jesus had better 
 use for him ; he is sent first to his own house and 
 friends. So let all grace from Christ begin to tell 
 at home. " Show how great things God hath do?ie 
 unto thee}"" This is the true method of the house- 
 hold missionary. 
 
 Thus the most terrible sufferer from infernal 
 power in all the record of the gospels becomes a 
 preacher of salvation to Ten Cities. Jesus went 
 these few hours to Gadara : He found a demoniac 
 and left a missionary. 
 
THE RAISING OF JAIRUS' DAUGHTER 45 
 
 XIII. The Raising of Jairus' Daughter (Matt. ix. 18-19, 
 23-6; Mark v. 22-4, 35-43 ; Luke viii. 41-2, 49-56). 
 
 Jesus and the twelve have just returned from the 
 Gadarene visit ; they are still on the margin of the 
 lake, when a petitioner falls on his face before the 
 Lord. It is Jairus, one of the rulers in the Syna- 
 gogue of Capernaum. He came with intense 
 earnestness, ''''fell at Jesus' feet and besought Him 
 greatly " ; his little daughter was lying at the point 
 of death. Jairus had doubtless seen much of Jesus, 
 and had good reason to be convinced of His power ; 
 He expresses unhesitating faith, so far as the words 
 of his prayer go, yet we never read before this that 
 he was a disciple. 
 
 Mark v. 24. Jesus at once went with him ; so did 
 the disciples and all the people, forming a vast and 
 crowded procession. The interruption on the way, 
 the healing of the woman, the conversation with 
 her, occupied some time. 
 
 Vv. 35-6. When the father left his house to go for 
 Jesus the child was just dying, and now this message 
 comes. Jesus overheard and took the word out of 
 the messenger's mouth. He checks fear ere it 
 begins to rise : " Be not afraid^ only believe " — 
 language which all the more precludes the idea of a 
 mere apparent death. 
 
 At this point the Lord separates Himself from 
 the crowd and takes only three out of the twelve 
 Apostles. As they approached the house the noise 
 and tumult of Oriental wailing became apparent. 
 As Jesus and His company entered the house, He 
 said, " Why make ye this ado andweepf the damsel 
 
46 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 is not dead^ but sleepethP This expression did not 
 mean that the death was unreal ; He used the same 
 afterward of Lazarus. We have ample proof of 
 the reality of the death of the child in the present 
 case ; but, dead as she appeared to human sense, to 
 Him she only slept. 
 
 When He had put out all the mourners, the scene 
 within the house is simply and beautifully described 
 (Ver. 40). The house is now quiet and still. They 
 are in the presence of the dead — the parents believ- 
 ing, hoping against hope — the three witnesses 
 chosen, no doubt, because of their preparedness of 
 spirit. There, in an atmosphere of faith, not in 
 presence of curious onlookers, Jesus does this 
 mighty work. He takes the corpse by the hand, 
 Sdiy'mg/^ Maid, arise /^^ The damsel looked up, 
 arose, walked, for she was twelve years old. It was 
 no recovery from swoon or apparent death ; it was 
 the case of a dead person come to life again. " A7td 
 Jesus commanded to give her meatP How thought- 
 ful and mindful of every detail, as if He had been a 
 kind, careful physician ! 
 
 Vv. 42-3. The reasons why this work was done 
 in such privacy are tolerably plain. Why the 
 townspeople and neighbours are excluded we may 
 judge to be because they had seen enough of His 
 mighty works. Not even the twelve were permitted 
 to see it, only the favoured three. He did not admit 
 a single relative or inmate of the house, except the 
 parents, and He charged them that no man should 
 know it. There is no prodigality about His miracles. 
 Plentiful when the relief of human misery and the 
 entrance of spiritual light were His objects, they 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD. 47 
 
 were never wrought merely to compel belief or over- 
 awe mankind. 
 
 This story suggests analogies of the way in which 
 the Saviour quickens the spiritually dead. 
 
 1. Those whom He calls early are called easily. 
 The ease, the quietness, with which Jesus raised the 
 little maid, irresistibly suggests the easy recall of a 
 spirit not far gone on its journey to the unseen 
 world. In the young man's case He laid His hand 
 on the bier ; in Lazarus' case He cried with a loud 
 voice. One cannot help drawing out the spiritual 
 analogue. The young are not hardened by long- 
 standing worldhness and indifference. So when the 
 Lord calls them it is quietly and gently. But let us 
 learn from the words and acts of Jesus here how it 
 should be followed up. Young converts lack know- 
 ledge ; they cannot have experience. Therefore 
 they must needs be spiritually led and sustained — 
 "He commanded that something should be given 
 her to eat." 
 
 2. Such early impression is truly Divine work. 
 No power could raise the dead but that of Jesus, for 
 it was Divine. So with every conversion ; it is a 
 Divine act. He makes the very thing He bids. 
 And it is all done in quietness, that spiritual resur- 
 rection. At least, it is not done amid the laughter 
 of the scornful, nor before the curious multitudes. 
 
 Xrv. The Woman with the Issue of Blood (Matt. ix. 
 
 20-22 ; Mark v. 25-34 ; Luke viii. 43-8). 
 
 This incident is marked out among our Lord's 
 
 lieahngs by two peculiarities ; it was a miracle 
 
 Avithin a miracle, it was a cure obtained without a 
 
48 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 word spoken beforehand. No sooner had Jesus set 
 foot on land, on returning from Gadara, than He is 
 called on to go on an errand of mercy and finds an- 
 other merciful work to do on the road. It was further 
 an exceptional healing in being without any previous 
 conversation. The faith of this woman was so fear- 
 less, prompt, and resolute, that before a word had 
 been spoken she believes, resolves, acts. But He 
 would not let her go until He had obtained a con- 
 fession of her faith and an account of her cure from 
 her own lips. Thus the exception confirmed the 
 rule on which He acted, that, apart from faith and 
 the acknowledgment of it, there could be no blessing. 
 Had the woman been suffered to go away without 
 acknowledging the source and manner of her healing, 
 she might have attributed the cure, on His part, to a 
 magical virtue that flowed unconsciously from His 
 Person ; and on her part, to physical contact rather 
 than believing trust. But he said : " No ! it was not 
 chance nearness to My body in the crowd that 
 wrought the cure, it was not the touch of My garment's 
 hem. It was the dealing of thy soul with thy Saviour, 
 — a vital and spiritual transaction. ^ Thy faith hath 
 made thee whole ? ' " That is what the incident has to 
 teach us, viz., that faith is a reasonable and intelli- 
 gible thing. Two things in the narrative especially 
 claim our attention ; the woman's confidence in 
 Christ, and Christ's action towards her. 
 
 I . The woman^s faith, its strength and its weakness, 
 — Tradition makes her a resident at Paneas or Cass- 
 area Philippi, who had wandered to Galilee, seeking 
 relief from her trouble. She had most likely never 
 seen Jesus before, had never heard Him speak, had 
 
THE WOMAN WITH THE ISSUE OF BLOOD. 49 
 
 never beheld one of His miracles. In these circum- 
 stances it would not have been surprising, after all 
 she had suffered and spent, had she thought of 
 coming to the Galilean Healer as a forlorn hope. 
 On the contrary, she not only had hope so much as 
 led her to think it worth while to make the journey, 
 but she had gathered a strong persuasion of His 
 ability, so that she said, " //" / may but touch his 
 clothes I shall be whole^'* The persuasion was 
 thoroughly reasonable, because justified by facts. 
 It was when she had '"''heard the things co?tcerni?7g 
 /esits^^ that she came to Him. She never seems to 
 have doubted for a moment her right to take the 
 cure if she could get it. 
 
 No doubt there were defects in this faith. Its 
 promptness may have owed something to the 
 mechanical or material conception of the Healer's 
 power, as if it were some atmosphere that sur- 
 rounded Him, or some magical influence that flowed 
 even from His garments. But the confidence she 
 had in Jesus was typical in that it was strong and 
 well founded, and it was as immediate in success as it 
 was prompt in action. 
 
 As that day in the streets of Capernaum many 
 pressed Him, but one touched Him, so it is still. 
 This woman was convinced of her disease and its 
 danger ; but so many nominal followers of Christ 
 try to persuade themselves that their disease is not 
 fatal. She went straight to Jesus as soon as she 
 heard that He was near ; but so many of us are 
 waiting for the " convenient season." She took the 
 most inconvenient season, but it was given her of 
 God, and she was saved. Those who in their search 
 
50 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 for spiritual health follow her example, will be as 
 successful and blessed as she was. 
 
 2. The Saviour's action^ its wisdom a?td tender- 
 ness. — The Lord was not unconscious of the virtue 
 He put forth, nor of the faith which received it. 
 But to bring that faith into clearness and purity it 
 was necessary to bring the subject into conscious 
 and open relation to her Healer. She came at His 
 word, ''''fearing and trembli?tg^^ but, encouraged by 
 His look and by the consciousness that she was 
 healed, she made her confession " before all the 
 peopled Then He clears her faith to her own mind, 
 confirms her cure as a permanent one, and claims 
 to be Himself the knowing and willing Author of it 
 all. Had the woman been allowed to slip away 
 unnoticed, she would have lost the honour of con- 
 fessing her faith and of having the cure confirmed. 
 Reserve was her fault — a wish to hide the cure ; 
 thus cheating herself of comfort and withholding 
 from the Lord His due honour. 
 
 There are Christians whose fault is reserve ; they 
 would be saved, as it were, by stealth. The Saviour 
 will not have it so. We cannot claim Christ for 
 ours, but He will also declare His part, and have us 
 acknowledge that we are His. " To confess with 
 the mouth" (Rom. x. 9), is not only an essential 
 part of salvation, it is the consummation of it. 
 
 XV. Two Blind Men and a Dumb Demon 
 
 (Matt. ix. 27-38). 
 This passage is peculiar to St Matthew, and it 
 contains two of what may be called the minor 
 miraculous incidents. They appear to have oc- 
 
Tiro BLIND MEN AND A DUMB DEMON. 51 
 
 curred on Jesus leaving the house of Jairus to 
 return to the house of His disciples. 
 
 V. 27. This is the earliest in the notable group of 
 such cases in the Gospels. From causes connected 
 with the climate, the soil, and the customs of the 
 people, severe forms of ophthalmic inflammation 
 are far more common in Eastern countries than 
 with us. This class of miracles also carried with it 
 evidence peculiarly conclusive to the mind of the 
 Jew, no doubt because it had been prominently 
 asserted in the prophets as one of the marks of 
 Messiah, that by Him " the eyes of the blind should 
 see out of obscurity and out of darkness'" (Isa. xxix. 
 18). 
 
 V. 28. The faith of those men proved its strength 
 by its importunity. They followed Him into the 
 house, determined at least to take no silent denial. 
 Jesus' early cures had been wrought almost without 
 solicitation, but now He requires a fuller expression 
 of faith. " Believe ye that I am able to do this ? " 
 This element of faith — belief in Christ's power, and 
 its sufficiency for our particular need — is funda- 
 mental : it is the proof of the living nature of our 
 faith. That " Christ is able " is one of those famihar 
 verities whose greatness hides them from our view. 
 
 V. 29, They had proved their faith and confessed 
 it, and Jesus immediately and generously honours 
 it. He touched their eyes — conveying through 
 another sense His personal action in the cure. 
 Then He proclaims Faith's charter ; whatsoever 
 you need, only believe Him able and willing, and it 
 is yours. 
 
 Vv. 30, 31, This is an instance of the diversity of 
 
52 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 treatment in the proclamation of miracles. Jesus 
 enjoins silence in this case and in that of Jairus' 
 daughter, but in the case of the woman who touched 
 Him it is otherwise. She who touched in secret 
 was made to confess openly. These two men, who 
 cried after Him in the street, were blessed privately 
 in the house and sent quietly away. Notoriety of 
 miraculous working among those who had already 
 seen so much of it, would only have fostered the 
 false view of His Christhood which was rising. His 
 design was to prevent the people from being misled 
 by the mere report of the miracles. Yet the deeds 
 themselves were not meant to be hid, for the record 
 of them has been preserved even in such cases as 
 those before us, which might have been counted of 
 less moment. 
 
 Vv. 32, 33. No sooner have the men whose sight 
 has been restored gone out than another case is 
 brought in. This was one " possessed," and in 
 consequence both deaf and dumb, as the one word 
 used signifies. Apparently the demonic element 
 is here the ruling one ; there was no organic defect. 
 Our Lord dealt with the cause, struck at the root, 
 by casting out the demon. So He treats our 
 spiritual diseases. Dealing with symptoms only 
 will never please any good doctor, nor does it satisfy 
 our Great Physician. A clean heart is what He 
 promises first ; then all thoughts, words, and actions 
 will be clean. This miracle produced a great im- 
 pression. The Jewish rabbis and teachers pro- 
 fessed to cast out evil spirits, but a deaf and dumb 
 " possessed " was beyond their reach — he was 
 l^eyond the scope of any influences they could bring 
 
FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND. 53 
 
 to bear. Here, then, was an instance of Jesus' 
 power specially fitted to impress the people and to 
 exasperate His enemies. " The multitudes mar- 
 velled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.*" 
 
 XVI. Feeding Five Thousand (Matt. xiv. 13-21 ; Mark 
 vi. 30-44; Luke ix. 10-17; John vi. 1-14). 
 This miracle is remarkable from the fact of its 
 being the only one recorded by all the four evange- 
 lists. It happened when Jesus, seeking retirement, 
 went with the Twelve across the Sea of Galilee 
 towards the north-east. But He did not find quiet 
 there. The people found out whither He was 
 bound, and went on foot round the north end of 
 the lake, so that when Jesus arrived at the shore He 
 found a large congregation waiting. After having 
 spoken and healed diseases until evening, a practical 
 difficulty presented itself to the Saviour's mind (John 
 vi. 5.). In the hurry of their unpremeditated chase, 
 the people had brought little or no provision : the 
 towns and villages were distant, and how was food 
 to be obtained ? The disciples declared it impossible 
 to provide food for such a multitude ; they had only 
 a trifle left of their own store. Then, when He had 
 aroused their attention and made them take exact 
 note of what the provision on hand amounted to : 
 '"''Five loaves'*'' or ''''cakes'''' and ^'' two SDiall fishes^ 
 the Master said — ^^ Bring thei7i hither to MeP Next 
 He took the supply and placed it before Him. 
 '''' Now^l^ He proceeded, "/^/ the people sit dowji to 
 meat" Then, when they were seated. He took the 
 handful, held it up before God, blessed, brake, and 
 gave it to His disciples. Each Apostle, as he went 
 
54 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 to the head of a company and gave away an armful, 
 found that he had as much remaining for the next ; 
 and each of the eaters, as he took for himself of the 
 handful handed him by his neighbour, found that 
 he had as much left to hand to the next. Thus the 
 happy, wondrous meal went on, and at the end the 
 remainder filled twelve baskets. The immediate 
 effect of this wonder was very great. The people 
 followed Jesus in greater crowds than before — they 
 would have proclaimed Him King at Jerusalem. 
 But to make Him King in Jerusalem was one 
 thing; to throne Him in their hearts and lives 
 quite another. 
 
 Let us turn to some of the teaching aspects of 
 this miracle. It presents, like several of the nature- 
 miracles, the Lordship over nature and providence 
 which belongs to Jesus as Head of the spiritual 
 kingdom ; Christ's followers, when engaged in the 
 work of the kingdom, need have no anxiety about 
 the supply of their bodily wants. A less obvious 
 inference is its symbolic bearing on the spiritual 
 provision of the kingdom and the mode of its dis- 
 tribution to mankind. The " feeding of the multi- 
 tude" was meant to show how the Living Word, 
 Christ, in the Gospel, becomes the Bread of Life to 
 a perishing world. Each of the significant points 
 in the action has its lesson. 
 
 I. " Give ye them to eat^'' — Jesus first made it quite 
 clear that natural means for providing food for the 
 multitude had failed, and this prepared for the 
 reception of the supernatural. But the acceptance 
 of the loaves at the hands of men has another mean- 
 ing. The Lord could have made bread out of any- 
 
FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND, 55 
 
 thing or nothing, but in His work, miraculous though 
 it was, the servants had their part. It was very 
 Httle, but it was their best, and the Master gave it 
 the blessing. The success of Christ's Gospel does 
 not really depend on any efforts or sacrifices of ours, 
 but surely it deserves our best. And in another 
 sense it does need us. The Lord's way is to reach 
 men's hearts by man's ministry, and He bids us do 
 for Him more than, humanly speaking, we can, to 
 show how easy it is for Him when trusted to do it 
 through us, 
 
 2. " Bring them hither to Me.''^ — The blessing of 
 Jesus converted the handful into a plenteous feast. 
 The servant does his best if he is earnest ; and then, 
 if he is wise, he counts it less than nothing without 
 the Master's blessing. The most elaborate human 
 effort as such, is powerless in Divine things. Let 
 us get our spiritual provision passed under the 
 Master's blessing hand, for He blesses all the real 
 bread that is brought to Him. He honours human 
 effort at His gracious will — the Word itself He is 
 bound to bless by His unfaiHng promise. He 
 honours His own provision, and keeps His promise. 
 "It shall not return unto Him void." 
 
 3. The Distribution of the Food. — The miracle 
 was wrought through the blessing, but realised in 
 the breaking and parting of the bread. No moun- 
 tains of bread were seen growing up under the 
 Saviour's hands. No one saw a prodigy, but all felt 
 and enjoyed a miracle as they parted and used this 
 bread. So with the Gospel. It is in the distribu- 
 tion, the sharing and spreading of the word of life, 
 that the benefit is realised. It is possible to talk as 
 
56 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 if the Scriptures were God ; as if some mesmeric 
 power came out of preaching. And there is power 
 in both, but it is in the theme, and is only reaHsed 
 in the practical and diffusive use of it. One of the 
 best features of Christian work in our day is that so 
 much is done by those outside the " army of ordained 
 preachers." Thus the Living Bread is passed on 
 by the eaters themselves, not only by those who 
 minister to them. It is for the Church of Christ to 
 recognise such work, and to bring it into harmony 
 with her own God-commissioned functions. 
 
 XVII. Walking on the Water (Matt. xiv. 22-36; Mark 
 vi. 45-52; John vi. 15-21). 
 
 1. Jesus alone. — The Lord's first act after the 
 miracle of feeding the five thousand was to cause 
 the disciples to set out in their boat for the western 
 shore of the lake. When they were gone He dis- 
 missed the people, and then ^^ He went up into a 
 mount ai7i apart to prayP We have here "Jesus as 
 our example in prayer"; an example of solitaiy 
 prayer, oi continued ^^xdiyeYy oi special ^xdcfer. John 
 expressly records that Jesus departed that evening 
 alone, because He perceived that the people would 
 take Him by force to make Him a king. He "per- 
 ceived" how He could have founded a great party 
 among the Jews. But the decision made in that 
 night's prayer appeared next day. He went to the 
 synagogue of Capernaum and preached such a ser- 
 mon that almost all but the Twelve left him. 
 
 2. The Disciples alo?ie. — The Twelve, though in 
 ignorance as to whether their Master was to cross 
 that night, or how He was to do it, endeavoured to 
 
WALKING ON THE WATER. 57 
 
 make for the other shore, as He had bid them. 
 But the wind was against them, and they made very 
 slow progress with the oars. Jesus saw them from 
 the mountain side (Mark vi. 48) batthng against the 
 storm, and at the right moment He comes to help 
 them. In this way He was training their faith to 
 hold fast His presence when He should be on earth 
 with them no more. Let us remember when we are in 
 the midst of storm and danger that He sees us, that 
 the winds and waves are under His control and that 
 He will come to our help in His own time and way. 
 
 3. Jesus comes to them walkijig on the water, — The 
 night was far spent. The storm was great ; it was 
 necessary that He should go to them. He came 
 after them by a mode of progression unknown to 
 men, — " walking on the sea." This is a direct act of 
 control over natural law, bringing with it a sugges- 
 tion of Divine power, but also of a time when His 
 should be a spiritual and glorified human body. 
 Note that it was only for the sake of others that He 
 thus assumed His glory, so to say, before the time. 
 He would not turn a single stone into bread to serv^e 
 His own hunger, but He multiplied the barley loaves 
 to feed the multitude. He would not hurl himself 
 from the Temple-pinnacle for self-glory ; but He 
 flung himself on the waves to reassure the disciples. 
 When He came He seemed about to pass them by, 
 that they might entreat Him. He delays or seems 
 to delay His help : He seems to pass us by ; but all 
 that we may desire Him and cry to Him. 
 
 Mark vi. 49-50. How they saw Him is not said. 
 Anyhow, they all broke out in one spontaneous cry 
 of terror as they saw the passing figure ; yet had 
 
58 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 faith been at hand it should not have been so. 
 Faithlessness breeds fear. A child of God should 
 fear no appearance of his Father, however singular. 
 Ver. 50. With His voice, He reassured them. If 
 He had not spoken, His appearance on the water 
 would only have terrified them. When the percep- 
 tion of our Lord Himself goes with His acts, then 
 amid them all, we can have joy and peace."* 
 
 XVIII. The Syrophenician's Daughter (Matt. xv. 21-28; 
 Mark vii. 24-30). 
 
 The first thing to note here is the change, at this 
 point, in the scene and circumstances of our Lord's 
 miracles. The " year of success " was ended ; the 
 "year of opposition" was now begun. His labours 
 consist henceforth of a succession of tours or jour- 
 neys. We may suppose that one reason for this 
 journey was that Jesus might sketch in outline the 
 missionary plan which He left His apostles to fill 
 up, and we are told that another object of it was re- 
 tirement. The passover companies had gone up to 
 Jerusalem, and He departs with His disciples into 
 the half-heathen country north of Palestine proper. 
 Even there, however, His fame had preceded Him. 
 
 In regard to the principal subject of this story,, 
 the mother of the possessed child, let us note : (i) 
 Her person. She was a Gentile of the Gentiles, a de- 
 scendant of the original inhabitants of Canaan. She 
 
 * The incident of Peter walking on the water to go to Jesus, re- 
 corded in the first Gospel only, can scarcely, in face of the other twa 
 narratives which leave it out, be considered an essential part of this 
 miracle. But it can be treated by itself as an incident full of spiritual 
 suggestion. Readers are referred for a treatment of it at the corre- 
 sponding place in the larger work, named in the Prefatory Note. 
 
THE SYROPHENICIAN'S DAUGHTER. 59 
 
 is also called a " Greek," implying that she was by 
 religion a pagan, and she is perhaps the only ex- 
 ample of a heathen being blessed by our Lord Him- 
 self in the flesh ; for the centurion of Capernaum 
 was obviously already a convert to the Jewish faith. 
 (2) Her case. It was her little daughter's case, yet 
 she makes it her own — '"''Have mercy oil me. My 
 daughter is grievously vexed inth a demo7tr There 
 were degrees of that misery, and this was of the 
 worst sort. The theory which attributes "posses- 
 sion " always to moral causes in the subjects of it, 
 will not cover this instance nor that of the boy 
 brought to the foot of the Mount of Transfiguration. 
 Some terrible physical or hereditary malady was 
 the seat or organ of the demoniac power. (3) Her 
 address. It was very earnest (Mark vii. 25, 26). 
 But Matthew (xv. 22) records the pivot-word — " O 
 Lord, thou Son of David J^ This shows that she was 
 to appeal to Him as Israel's Messiah. There was 
 probably in her mind no idea of any claim on her 
 part except her need, only some desperate hope that 
 the spiritual King of the Jews would bestow this 
 boon in passing. But Jesus leads her on to the 
 higher ground from whence he could consistently 
 grant her request. (4) Her receptio7i. '"''He aiiswered 
 her 7iot a word." This is certainly very unusual. 
 His patients and suppliants are usually healed at 
 the first word, or led up to the cure by some state- 
 ment or question. But here is absolute silence. 
 Then we have the intercession of the twelve (Matt. 
 XV. 23) ; they would have her answered to be rid of 
 her, but He delays the answer with a divine "much 
 more" of mercy and abounding grace in which He 
 
6o THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 means to bless her. (5) His reply to the twelve (v. 24). 
 This was the real reason. He has no commission 
 to do miracles among the heathen, and though He 
 afterwards treats this woman's case as an exception, 
 it is an exception which confirms the principle. 
 When Jesus Christ is risen and ascended, then shall 
 He be preached to all nations, races, and classes of 
 men. But so long as He is Himself the preacher, 
 it is to the Jew only He is sent. Perhaps the woman 
 drew encouragement from the quiet reasonableness 
 of His answer. She fell down at His feet; she came 
 and worshipped Him, saying : ^''Lord, help me! " Up 
 to this moment Jesus had spoken only to the dis- 
 ciples, now He speaks to her (v. 26). The words 
 are not a mere apparent refusal. Taken along with 
 the sentence spoken to the disciples about His own 
 commission, they mean: "You are not of Israel, 
 and to them am I sent. It is children's bread I have 
 to give, and you are outside the family circle." But 
 He softens His answer ; He uses a word denoting, 
 not the large wild dogs which prowled about eastern 
 cities, but those which the Romans had introduced 
 ■ — animals treated as domestic favourites. Further, 
 He suggests that though the table was not yet ready, 
 soon the whole Gentile world would have access to 
 it— "Z^^ the childre7i first be filled'' (Mark vii. 27). 
 She takes not the least exception to His words ; but 
 draws with perfect logic the sweetest meaning out 
 of their seeming bitterness (Matt xv. 27). Doubtless 
 He gave her the occasion — meaningly and lovingly. 
 But how clear her insight into the heart of Jesus ! 
 How humble and how bold her faith ! She took 
 the word that sounded like a refusal and a reproach, 
 
 '1 
 
 J 
 
THE DEAF MAN OF DECAPOLIS. 6i 
 
 and turned it into an implicit assent. Jesus rejoiced 
 to be thus overcome (v. 28). She believed that near- 
 ness or distance made no difference to His power 
 to heal, and so went home in perfect confidence. 
 Her faith was great : {a) in overcoming obstacles — 
 silence, exclusion, and apparent reproach ; ib) in its 
 implicit trust in Christ's word for the cure of her 
 absent child ; {c) in spiritual tact. Taking the 
 lowest room, her faith won the highest praise, and 
 forestalled the day of a universal gospel. 
 
 XIX. Tlie Deaf Man of Decapolis (Mark vii. 31-end). 
 
 This incident befel on our Lord's return journey 
 from the scene of the preceding stor)% During His 
 passage through Decapolis, multitudes came bring- 
 ing their sick to be healed. The special case se- 
 lected by St Mark out of this group of healings is 
 that of a deaf man, unable to utter articulate and 
 intelligible sounds. When Jesus proceeds to the 
 cure the ears are first opened, then the tongue is 
 loosed. The order is that of Nature : it is the 
 receiving of articulate sounds by the ear and their 
 action on brain and mind which awakens and 
 educates the functions of speech. It is only when 
 we consider this relation between sound and speech 
 in the mechanism of the senses and the brain that 
 we can appreciate the truly stupendous nature of 
 the miracle. The entire process of estabfishing 
 communication between the centres of hearing and 
 speech was abridged into a moment. 
 
 The Cure and its Method. Christ's methods are 
 ever fresh and full of adaptations, and He used 
 some new actions specially suited to this case, (i 
 E 
 
62 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Ver. 33. ^.) Probably a desire to secure privacy and 
 prevent popular excitement was one reason for this 
 action ; perhaps, also, it was meant to obviate any 
 profane imitation of His curative acts. (2 Ver. 33. b.) 
 The need for these unusual actions in this instance 
 is tolerably plain. They were not so much means 
 by which He conveyed the blessing, as signs in- 
 tended to explain to the man's mind how the bless- 
 ing came. Nothing can be more helpful to Christian 
 workers confronted by some " hard case " than the 
 thought that Christ can unlock the door of every 
 human spirit. 
 
 The manner of the Healer is also peculiar (ver. 
 34). The upward look may have been a sign to the 
 man whence His power to heal came, but doubtless 
 it is connected with the sigh which accompanied it. 
 We are told that He was a man of sorrows and of 
 loneliness. This scene sets before us the solitary 
 Saviour in presence of the sins and sufferings of a 
 lost race. 
 
 The Word of Power (v. 35). — Mark records the 
 Aramaic word which Jesus used ; the best reason 
 we can find for this is just that it is one word. A 
 glance to heaven, — a sigh, — a word, — and the 
 miracle is done ! Here is something Divine, God- 
 like. A divine word it is, divine as a Redemption 
 word. "Be opened" is His watchward as a Re- 
 deemer. 
 
 The Result (vv. 36, 37). — Why should we insist 
 that every case of spiritual healing be proclaimed to 
 all the world, when the word of the Lord to that 
 soul may be : " See thou tell no man " ? Why, on the 
 other hand, should conversion be considered a thing 
 
FEEDING FOUR THOUSAND. 63 
 
 too sacred to be spoken of when His word to another 
 may be : " Go and show thy friends how great 
 things the Lord hath done for Thee " ? The desire 
 on Jesus' part to suppress any popular excitement 
 based on mere wonder was counteracted by an 
 honest enthusiasm on their part. If His " Be 
 opened" reminds us of the Creator's fiat, their 
 ''He hath done all things well" recalls creation's 
 praise (Gen. i. 31). 
 
 XX. Feeding Four Thousand (Matt. xv. 29-38 ; 
 xvi. 4-12 ; Mark viii. 1-9, 13-21). 
 
 This second feeding is recorded in two of the 
 Synoptic Gospels, in both of which the first has also 
 been described, which gives ground for the as- 
 sumption that it is a work distinct from the feeding 
 of the five thousand. The occasion and motive of 
 the second miracle, also, differ from those of the 
 first. The differences will appear as we read (i) 
 the story of the feeding of four thousand, and (2) the 
 after conversation in which both are recounted. 
 
 I. The Story and its Lesso?is. — Though not far 
 removed in time or place from the former feeding, 
 this incident occurs in a new connection, and after 
 a distinct crisis in the Saviour's ministry. The spot, 
 so far as we know, is a mountain solitude on the 
 eastern side of the lake, whither Jesus and His dis- 
 ciples had gone for rest. Soon, however, multitudes 
 gather there from surrounding towns and villages, 
 bringing their diseased ones to the Healer. After 
 three days it becomes necessary to consider how the 
 people are to be fed, and this time it is Jesus Himself 
 who suggests the question of relieving their hunger. 
 
64 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 " I have compassion on the multitude." It is the 
 best proof of His greatness and completeness as man 
 that the highest estimate of the soul is combined 
 with tenderest care for the body. 
 
 The conversation which ensues between Master 
 and disciples closely resembles that on the former 
 occasion. He bids them bring what they have — 
 seven loaves and a few little fishes. They might 
 have remembered how He had supplied the want 
 before. This unbelieving forgetfulness is just like 
 ours. We stand despairing at the foot of the next 
 hill after our gracious Deliverer has removed moun- 
 tains. How like our own folly is their question : 
 " From whence can a man satisfy these with bread 
 here in the wilder?tess ? " Then follows the seating 
 of the multitude, the blessing and distributing of the 
 scanty provision, the entire satisfying of the people, 
 and the gathering up of the fragments. 
 
 We find some subsidiary lessons in the details of 
 the story, a. A lesson in ocnerosity. Jesus made 
 His disciples give all they had : no doubt some of 
 them wondered why. But withholding from a just 
 claim of beneficence or piety is wrong. Withholding 
 on a plea of carefulness for the future is a double 
 wrong in a Christian, b. A lesson of thankfulness. 
 Jesus " gave thanks " and " blessed " the food — 
 turning these poor materials into a royal feast. Let 
 us learn that giving of thanks is a blessing upon our 
 daily food. A thankful spirit will bless, and in a 
 sense multiply our bread. 
 
 2. The Recounting of both the Miraculous Feed- 
 ings (Matt. xvi. 4-12 ; Mark viii. 13-21). — A short 
 time after the Second Feeding Jesus and the Twelve 
 
THE BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA, 65 
 
 crossed to the western shore of the lake, and after a 
 brief stay there recrossed to the eastern side. The 
 disciples had forgotten to take bread, and had only 
 a single loaf in the boat, and they took His warning 
 to ''beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" as an 
 allusion to their carelessness. But He made use of 
 their strange blunder, rebuked them, and caused 
 them to repeat the details of the two miracles of the 
 Loaves. 
 
 Following the suggestions of this record we find 
 (i) That there were clearly two distinct occasions of 
 this sort ; (2) Some have made the repetition of the 
 miracle symbolic or prophetic — viz., that Christ 
 showed Himself as the Bread of Life twice— to the 
 Jew first, and also to the Gentile. But as Luke omits 
 the Second Feeding, this is doubtful. (3) We can 
 see that the reduplication of the miracle and the 
 recounting of both were meant to enforce the duty 
 of remembering the Lord's mercies. " Do ye not 
 yet understand, neither remember ? " (Matt. xvi. 9). 
 
 SXI. The Blind Man at Bethsaida (Mark viii. 22-26). 
 It is all but certain that the Bethsaida of this 
 story is not the city of Andrew and Philip, but the 
 "village" on the north-eastern shore recently raised 
 by Herod to the dignity of a town. In details 
 this cure closely resembles that of the deaf man 
 in Decapolis. 
 
 Ver. 22. Probably the man belonged, not to Beth- 
 saida, but to some neighbouring hamlet. Therefore 
 he was conveyed some distance out of the place, 
 that public excitement might be avoided, and 
 charged to avoid the village on his way home. 
 
66 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Ver. 23. As in the case of the deaf man, Jesus did 
 more than He had been asked to do. Possibly in 
 both cases it was needful by these actions to quicken 
 faith and hope — the men did not come of their own 
 accord, but were brought by their friends. Imme- 
 diately on the action mentioned in v. 23, Jesus put 
 the question, ^'■Seest thou aught ? " Ver. 24. ^^ And he 
 looked up.''^ The first visual movement is naturally 
 towards the source of light. Those standing round 
 probably now begin to move and he sees them in- 
 distinctly, blurred, and magnified. His ability to 
 describe what he sees shows that he had not been 
 born blind. 
 
 Ver. 25. At a second application the cure was com- 
 plete. And from this quiet spot the Lord dismissed 
 him, with vision perfectly restored, to his home. 
 The one thing in which this miracle stands quite 
 alone is that it was not an instantaneous cure, but 
 one divided into two distinct stages. 
 
 The brief story is full of spiritual beauties. The 
 perfect picture of gentleness and condescension at 
 the outset — the Lord Himself taking the hand of 
 this poor man and guiding him to the place of 
 healing. What a lesson on the directness of the 
 Christian service ! The isolating, too, of the blind 
 man before his cure is characteristic of Jesus, and 
 suggestive of some of His spiritual processes. But 
 what can be most readily taken as a spiritual em- 
 blem in this story is the progressiveness of the cure. 
 Blindness can be so dealt with, while in some other 
 diseases and afflictions the cure must be done in an 
 instant if it is to be complete. And Jesus' cures 
 of blindness are types of the gracious opening of 
 
THE BLIND MAN AT BETHSAIDA. 67 
 
 spiritual eyesight, which usually takes place by de- 
 grees. Let us note then — (i) That the first stage of 
 this cure was real sight. The first step in spiritual 
 illumination is to give the power of sight. It is 
 not gradual regeneration which is taught here, but 
 the gradual enlightenment of a regenerate man. (2) 
 At this first stage, sight may be very imperfect. 
 Among those who receive the grace of God this is 
 not uncommon. Their sight is not clear nor strong ; 
 they confound many parts of Divine truth, and fall 
 into errors of belief and conduct. More serious 
 consequences, however, will be averted where there 
 is consciousness of imperfect spiritual knowledge. 
 Had the man said at this stage, " Now I see per- 
 fectly," his cure might have been arrested. Not 
 even to our Healer must we profess more inward 
 clearness than we have. Another characteristic of 
 the imperfect stage of spiritual vision is the accom- 
 paniment of feelings of uneasiness and alarm. 
 Many feel pain and perplexity about religion when 
 first brought under spiritual impressions. "Open 
 Thou mine eyes " is a prayer for us all, but let us 
 understand the prayer we offer. We may be asking 
 a sharp surgical operation, or a long process of 
 couching for the inward eye. We do not become 
 enlightened and holy as by some magical transfor- 
 mation, without process or trouble. (3) Betimes 
 Christ gives to all His own complete sight. The 
 remedy for all imperfect spiritual vision is renewed 
 contact and closer acquaintance with Jesus. He 
 has made express provision for the enlightenment of 
 His believing followers. No one can be a follower 
 of Jesus without the first incisive touch of the new 
 
68 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 birth. He cannot " see the Kingdom " but by the 
 Holy Ghost. Yet there is another and further office 
 of the Spirit — to enlarge with His unction those who 
 already have the faculty of sight. Christ begins by 
 bringing us out of darkness. He carries us on into 
 " marvellous light," 
 
 XXII. The Epileptic Boy (Matt. xvii. 14-21 ; Mark ix. 
 14-29 ; Luke ix. 37-43). 
 It is surely not without design that two such con- 
 trasted scenes as those of the Transfiguration and this 
 father bringing his afflicted boy to the disciples for 
 healing, are recorded on the same page, as they are 
 in all three accounts of this miracle. Jesus was 
 absent for the moment from the latter scene, but His 
 arrival changes all. He comprehends the situation 
 at a glance. The attention of the people is con- 
 centrated on Him (Mark ix. 15). It is tolerably plain 
 that we are back again in Inner Galilee ; such in- 
 cidents could only take place where his usual foes 
 were present as well as those who knew Him. Jesus 
 at once goes to the heart of matters. " He asked the 
 scribes, What question ye with them ? " They fell 
 back silenced, but while those who merely wished to 
 argue about Christ are dumb, the man who needed 
 Him was eager and read)'. Throwing himself at 
 Jesus' feet ; ^'' Master i' he "answered" — though not 
 previously addressed, — " / have brought imto Thee 
 my so?i, which hath a du77ib spirit^'' Then he goes 
 on to describe the disease, a case of epileptic lunacy, 
 complicated by "possession" (v. 18 «.). He begins 
 by expressing a measure of faith — having meant to 
 bring his son to Jesus Himself — and ends in dis- 
 
THE EPILEPTIC BOY. 69 
 
 appointment (v. 18 b.). Hereupon the Lord looked 
 round with rebuke on them all (v. 19), an expression 
 of the sorrow of all His life, the slowness of heart 
 and unbelief of His contemporaries, and even of His 
 own followers. Then turning- more particularly to 
 the father, He said ^^ Bri?ig him unto MeP When 
 brought, the boy is seized with one of his paroxysms. 
 With characteristic calmness Jesus turns from the 
 sad spectacle and converses with the father, for He 
 must get at the faith of the man, that his child might 
 be blessed. First he enquires how long this terrible 
 thing has had possession of the youth. The father 
 replies "<9/« child^^ then goes off again in a descrip- 
 tion of the malady, and pauses with a pathetic but 
 almost desponding appeal (v. 22) : Jesus takes up the 
 word, " If Thou canst" " Nay," He said, " the diffi- 
 culty is not there, I am both able and willing. The 
 real question is, If thou canst believe. Think not 
 that for this great cure thou must have a great faith. 
 Only trust Me." " All thmgs are possible to him 
 that believethP The man catches a glimpse of new 
 and higher grace ; this gracious One who invites his 
 trust can dispel his distrust, and he cries out, " Lord^ 
 I believe; help Thou mitie tuibeliefP There is no 
 reason for longer delay now ; Jesus turns to the 
 piteous object at His feet and addresses the demon 
 in terms of majesty and power (v. 25). The evil- 
 minded tenant had received irresistible notice to 
 quit, and throwing what seemed the dead body at 
 Jesus' feet, ^'' he 'we?tt out^ The Healer took up the 
 lad, and delivered him to his father. 
 
 Let us fix our attention on the central expression 
 in the narrative, as it illustrates believing grace. 
 
70 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 1 . Faith, like light, reveals its own source. In the 
 very act of responding to the Divine call — " I believe'''' 
 — it is plain that the power to reach out to Christ is 
 the gift of that Lord in whom the man believes. 
 Believing is at once man's act and God's grace. So 
 much man's act that the Almighty Giver waits for it. 
 So much God's grace that the receiver prays for it, 
 and in the act of taking God's gifts ascribes to Him 
 alone the power to take them. Thus the faith that 
 is in us reveals its origin. " It is the gift of God." 
 
 2. Faith detects unbelief a7id finds a reficge from 
 it. At first the man evidently supposes that all turns 
 on the intense form of the malady, of which he gives 
 so graphic a description. Then he thinks it was not 
 removed because of the lesser might of the disciples, 
 then fears that even Jesus cannot grapple with it. 
 At length, at the Lord's word, the scales fall from his 
 eyes. He sees that nothing stood in the way but his 
 own doubting, and he now cries for help to remove 
 it. The man who complains of his own deadness of 
 heart is at least alive. He confesses and bemoans 
 his want of faith and repairs anew to the Author and 
 Finisher of faith Himself. 
 
 A side-lesson of the story is the vicarious power 
 of faith. The success of this father for his child is 
 typical of a whole class of our Lord's acts of mercy. 
 Onehalf of the detailed healings in the gospel history 
 were wrought at the prayer of friends. This father 
 remains a monument of faith, timid yet true, because 
 his love for his boy made him that. His ** Have 
 compassion on us and help us^' like the heathen 
 mother's " Have mercy on w^," was highly honoured 
 by Jesus. 
 
THE COIN IN THE FISH'S MOUTH. 71 
 
 XXIII. The Coin in tlie Fish's Mouth (Matt. xvii. 24-27). 
 
 This story is not strictly a miracle-narrative at all, 
 for the miracle is not actually told. The uses in- 
 tended by the narrative are (i) doctri7ial and (2) 
 ethical. The doctrine taught is the place of Jesus in 
 the kingdom of heaven — His own place of Sonship 
 by right of nature, and that which He wins for His 
 followers in grace. The moral enforced is, that 
 greatness in the kingdom is best proved by service 
 and humility. 
 
 I. The Doctri?ial Truth. — The question raised, 
 in the conversation between Peter and the tax- 
 collectors, as the A.V. puts it, is about "tribute." 
 But really the thing in question was not the secular 
 tax-levying which comes up in chap. xxii. 17 ; here 
 it was the Temple tax due to Jehovah which was 
 the subject of inquiry. The law described in Exod. 
 XXX. 12-16 had fixed at half a shekel the sum to 
 be paid by every Israelite of full age at the sacred 
 enumeration — partly as a donation for the erection 
 of the sanctuary, partly as ransom or atonement 
 money. After the Captivity it became a personal 
 poll-tax for the support of the Temple service. 
 On the return of the Lord and His disciples to 
 what might be called their own stated residence, 
 Peter is met, alone, by the collectors of the Temple 
 money with the question whether or not the Master 
 was in the habit of paying this tribute. They thought 
 it not improbable that, like some other persons of re- 
 ligious standing, Jesus would hold Himself exempt. 
 Peter answers without hesitation that his Master 
 would pay the tax, but as soon as he rejoins Him, 
 
72 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Jesus discovers His knowledge of what had passed, 
 and puts it to him, in parabolic fashion, whether 
 upon reflection he finds that he has answered 
 rightly. 
 
 The thing in question is tribute of the kingdom of 
 heaven. Now, do kings exact taxes of the children 
 of the palace, or of their subjects in general ? The 
 answer is plain — The sons of royalty are untaxed. 
 Had Peter forgotten his own confession, forgotten 
 that Jesus was Lord of the Temple — a Son in His 
 Father's house ? Even if Jesus had before this paid 
 the tribute, the time was come to impress on the 
 minds of the disciples that His Divine claim ex- 
 empted Him by right from such an exaction. 
 
 2. The Moral Lesson. — A comparison of the Syn- 
 optic narratives shows that during this homeward 
 journey to Capernaum occurred the dispute among 
 the disciples about priority in the kingdom, which 
 drew from the Lord several touching and instructive 
 utterances, this probably being one of them. When 
 viewed in this connection the present story becomes 
 luminous, and Jesus' words about the Temple tax 
 are seen to have their moral design. To teach " the 
 foremost disciple" a lesson of humility and self- 
 effacement, Jesus directs his attention to His own 
 claim^ His willingness to waive it, and His reason 
 for so doing — viz., lest offence should follow a pre- 
 mature assertion of even a Divine right. The key 
 to the moral intention lies in the words, " But lest 
 we cause them to stumble" (R.V.). It was a lesson 
 of meekness and wisdom. 
 
 After these two things have been thus taught in 
 words, Jesus instructs Peter how both shall be coun- 
 
THE MAN BORN BLIND. 
 
 73 
 
 tersig-ned and confirmed by deed (v. 27). The com- 
 bination of humility and majesty, simplicity and dig- 
 nity in the whole transaction is striking. The real 
 interests of His kingdom must never suffer for want 
 of internal supply while He who is its Head is King 
 and Lord of all. Therefore a singular mode of sup- 
 plying the want is employed, stamping with the sig- 
 net of miracle the incident and all its lessons. These 
 lessons are : (i ) To declare the Messiahship of Jesus 
 as Son of God and Head of the kingdom of heaven. 
 (2) To show that the Kingdom has for internal sup- 
 port a treasury as inexhaustible as that universe 
 which is at the disposal of its Lord. (3) To set forth 
 the forbearance with which even Divine claims are to 
 be presented to men, especially when these affect 
 the consciences of others. 
 
 XXIV. The Man Born Blind (John ix.). 
 
 With this chapter before us, it can no more be 
 said that the difficulties of the modern mind are 
 wholly disregarded in the Gospels. Here is that 
 argumentative handling of the various difficulties 
 about a miracle with which we are so familiar. 
 The occurrence is related. Then arise questions 
 on it : Was anything unusual done ? How was it 
 done ? Who was the doer of it ? Was the doing 
 of it a mark of Divine commission and authority? 
 Who and what shall we conclude the doer of it to 
 be ? These questions are asked and answered here, 
 in presence of the facts themselves. 
 
 I. The Iiitrodicction of the Case (w. 1-5). — The 
 restoration to sight of a man born blind was the 
 illustration of the great utterance in the preceding 
 
74 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 chapter, repeated here (v. 5) : "I am the Light of 
 the world" (viii. 12). The light of Divine salvation 
 in the face of Jesus Christ overcomes the darkness 
 of man's evil, moral and physical, and the story is 
 introduced by a discussion of the evil — the con- 
 nection of its moral and physical aspects (v. 2). 
 Physical evil the result of sin was the problem in 
 the mind of the disciples as they looked at this man, 
 but they took it by the wrong handle. The Lord in 
 His answer does not disturb the principle connect- 
 ing sin and suffering ; He only exposes the false 
 notion of its retributive distribution. Suffering 
 follows sin ; but here and now the distribution of 
 suffering is not according to the persons or pro- 
 portions of the sinning. That question runs into 
 another world than this. In face of the evil present 
 here, the only Christ-like question is how to remedy 
 it. This man is here that " the work of God should 
 be manifest in him." Man's present need meant 
 for Jesus the call to immediate beneficent action. 
 
 2. The Miracle Itself {yv. 6-7). — Having disposed 
 of the questions of the disciples He proceeds spon- 
 taneously to work the cure. There was no request 
 on the man's own part, not to be wondered at in his 
 state of total darkness and un acquaintance with the 
 facts. First, Jesus made a plaster of moistened clay 
 with which He covered the blind man's eyes. Then 
 He bade him go and wash in Siloam. He obeyed ; 
 and the blessing which burst on him for the first 
 time is expressed in one phrase of simple majesty : 
 '''' He washed^ and came seeing^ Signs to help the 
 faith of the patient, a process to the beneficent 
 result, were not altogether unusual in these heal- 
 
THE MAN BORN BLIND. 75 
 
 ings. This whole work illustrates not merely in 
 general the success of Christ in dispelling the dark- 
 ness of human ills, but more specially the analogy 
 between the cure of physical blindness and the 
 enlightening of the mind in the knowledge of 
 Christ. 
 
 3. The Discussio7t (w. 8-34). — This falls into 
 several stages or acts. First, there is friendly dis- 
 cussion among neighbours and acquaintances (vv, 
 8-12). Their surprise at first led them to doubt the 
 identity of the man who had been so long a familiar 
 object at his place of alms-giving. When he told 
 them from whom and how he had received his sight, 
 they would have gone next to the Healer ; but He 
 could not be found. Then followed the appeal to 
 the Pharisees as their religious leaders, and here we 
 are to note that it was a Sabbath on which all this 
 had been done. When the man repeated the story 
 of his cure to the Pharisees, the dilemma appeared. 
 Either they must deny the fact of the cure, or they 
 must admit that Jesus did no wrong in performing 
 such a work on the Sabbath. Thus they are split up 
 into two parties (v. 16). They attempted first to 
 elicit some unfavourable opinion from the man him- 
 self, but unsuccessfully. His parents, when called, 
 proved wary witnesses, out of whom very little could 
 be got. Yet all that is obtained makes for Jesus 
 and against the Pharisees (vv. 19-21). Then the 
 man is recalled, and an attempt made to bring him 
 round to the opinion of his judges. The more prob- 
 able view of their line of argument is that they still 
 persist in denying the facts, and try to coerce or 
 cajole the subject into like denial. " Give up your 
 
76 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 foolish story. It must be false. Tell truth, and 
 give glory to God" (v. 24, R.V.). But his ''''One 
 thing I know " is the rock on which all their dogmas 
 are shattered for him. 
 
 Then they begin again to overhaul details (vv. 
 26-7) ; but when the man decHnes to gratify them, 
 unless, as he ironically suggests, they really desire to 
 follow Jesus, the judicial sham breaks down. They 
 openly abuse and revile him as a disciple. But this 
 unlearned beggar stood out against the whole council 
 of the Jews, and in a few trenchant sentences ex- 
 posed their blind and bigoted sophistries (vv. 30-3). 
 The scene ends in his excommunication, but there 
 is no doubt with whom remains the victory. 
 
 4. The Spiritual Result (vv. 35-41). — When Jesus 
 heard that they had cast him out, He sought him, 
 put to him the question suggesting faith in a Divine 
 Redeemer, declared Himself to be that Saviour, and 
 received the confession and adoration of His now 
 enhghtened disciple (vv. 35-8). In its closing verses 
 this chapter shows us the Light of the World as 
 Judge and Condemner of those who think they see, 
 as well as Healer of the blind (vv. 39-41). The 
 whole chapter shows modern criticism its own 
 portrait. 
 
 XXV. The Woman with a Spirit of Infirmity and the 
 Dropsical Man (Luke xiii. 10-17 ; xiv. 1-6). 
 These two miracles may be taken together for two 
 reasons. They are both Sabbath day healings, and 
 they introduce the last group of our Lord's Healing 
 Miracles— scattered incidents in a tour of travel, 
 " when the days were well-nigh come that He should 
 
THE WOMAN AND THE DROPSICAL MAN. 77 
 
 be received up" (Luke ix. 51, R.V.). The first 
 of the incidents before us took place as He taught 
 in a synagogue on the Sabbath day ; the second on 
 another Sabbath, when He went to eat bread in 
 the house of a chief Pharisee. This reminds us of 
 the comparative prominence and frequency of these 
 Sabbath day cures. By working so many of His 
 miracles on this day, Jesus consecrated it to the 
 purposes of His Gospel. Note also that several of 
 the Sabbath cures were wrought before the worship- 
 pers in the place where prayer was wont to be made. 
 It was a reward to these diseased ones, who, in spite 
 of their ailments, were found in God's house on 
 the sacred day, that they should there meet their 
 Deliverer. 
 
 I. Vv. 1 1 -3. That this woman had "a spirit of 
 infirmity " does not mean that she was of a weak 
 and infirm spirit. The phrase denotes that her 
 disease was one of those mysterious derangements 
 of the nervous system having their rise in the mind 
 rather than in the body. Her habitual attendance at 
 the synagogue, the Lord's title for her, " a daughter 
 of Abraham," probably meant to point her out as of 
 the inner circle of pious Israelites "waiting for the 
 consolation of Israel" (ii. 25) — and her thanksgiving 
 to God when she was healed, all forbid the supposi- 
 tion that she was "possessed" by an evil spirit. 
 The sufferer did not apply to Jesus for healing. 
 She was at the synagogue because it was her wont. 
 There is no indication that she knew Him before, 
 far less knew that He would be in the synagogue 
 that day. There, as she sat bent prone in her place, 
 His gracious words won her prepared heart. He 
 
78 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 saw her, and singled her out for a signal instance of 
 His mercy. Her bent form and furrowed face were 
 to Him as a book in which He read the story of 
 her eighteen years' bondage and patient struggle to 
 sustain her infirmity. Her faithful attendance on 
 Divine worship, and perhaps other features to which 
 we have no clue, showed Him her genuine religious 
 and spiritual character. He called her to Him, and 
 spoke the word of liberation : " Woman, thou art 
 loosed from thine infirmity." Then He laid His 
 hands upon her, and immediately she was cured. 
 And as she rose erect, her grateful piety broke forth 
 into an irrepressible thanksgiving, a voluntary act 
 of praise before all the people. 
 
 Vv. 14-17. The scene had become offensive to 
 the narrow mind of the presiding elder. He had 
 probably hoped that no conflict of opinion would 
 arise on this occasion from Jesus' setting aside 
 Pharisaic opinion as to Sabbath work. But that 
 the daring Innovator should perform one of His 
 Sabbath-breaking cures in the place of worship 
 where he ruled was too much for him. Not daring 
 to attack either the Lord Himself, or even the 
 woman, in a covert and cowardly manner he spoke 
 at them both (v. 14). Jesus answered him with a 
 well-merited rebuke (vv. 15, 16), which completely 
 shut the mouths of His adversaries, and heightened 
 the admiration of the hearers. 
 
 What good cheer is in this story for those who, 
 amid bodily infirmities, mental oppression, or house- 
 hold burdens and afflictions find their way statedly 
 to God's house. 
 
 2. Lukexiv. I. Marvellous kindness and patience 
 
THE WOMAN AND THE DROPSICAL MAN. 79 
 
 were shown on His part towards those who lay in 
 wait to see if He would commit Himself by any 
 deed or word through which they might accuse 
 Him. 
 
 Ver. 2. Probably this man was placed here by 
 envious design — unconsciously on his own part. 
 But if the host and his co-religionists had laid a 
 trap for their Guest, the result must have astonished 
 them. The man was healed, and the spirit of the 
 Sabbath expounded with surpassing breadth and 
 force. Vv. 3, 4. The man was so placed as to be 
 in view of all, and they were watching if Jesus would 
 again offend. He goes straight to the mark, opens 
 the topic Himself, and anticipates their objections, 
 appealing to their conscience, charity, and religion, 
 — not as loaded with senseless human additions, but 
 as it stood in the intent of the Lawgiver (v. 3). 
 They were silenced, for no answer but one could be 
 given to the question thus put. He acted on the con- 
 sent implied in their silence, took the man, laid His 
 hands on him, rid him of his disease, and allowed 
 him to withdraw before resuming the conversation. 
 
 Vv. 5, 6. " A?id He said, . . . Which ofyoti shall 
 have ail ass?" [R.V. margin, a Son, etc.]. As on 
 the immediately preceding occasion. His appeal to 
 themselves against themselves is irresistible. The 
 aptness of the parallel should be noticed. In the 
 former story there was an evident fitness between 
 the illustration chosen — the loosing of an ox or 
 ass from the stall — and the loosing of a believing 
 woman from her eighteen years' curvature. Here, 
 an animal fallen into a pit was the appropriate 
 parallel to a man in danger of death from dropsy ; 
 
8o THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 the "much more" being equally cogent in both 
 cases. And again, as at the close of the former 
 encounter, His adversaries were reduced to shame 
 and silence, the people no doubt again rejoicing in 
 the glorious things done by Him. 
 
 In passing from this, the last of the Sabbath heal- 
 ings, let us sum up the teaching derived from them. 
 We see that Jesus took pains to emphasize the 
 humane element in the original institution as a 
 day of rest, rescuing it from the exaggerations of 
 Pharisaism. Also He gave it the sanction of His 
 observance as a day of public worship. But note 
 further, that by these deeds of healing He honoured 
 it specially as a day for showing mercy. The Lord's 
 Day is consecrated by His Spirit for the service of 
 man, as well as for the worship of God. 
 
 XXVI. Ten Lepers Cleansed (Luke xvii. 11-19). 
 Our Lord is on His last pilgrimage to Jerusalem. 
 His route is described as being through the midst 
 of Samaria and Galilee, probably meaning that He 
 travelled on the borders of these countries, between 
 the two. One day, as He is approaching a village, 
 ten men rush forward to meet Jesus and His com- 
 pany — a piteous group, with clothes rent, heads 
 bared, and hair dishevelled, a cloth bound strangely 
 on the lower face and upper lip. They cannot enter 
 the village, so waylay Him at the entrance of it. 
 They dared not approach clean people within a cer- 
 tain measured distance. Therefore they " stood afar 
 off," and lifted up their voice as one man, a voice of 
 earnest and solemn entreaty, ''''Jesus! Master! Jiave 
 mercy on us!'' The Lord's treatment of this case iS' 
 
TEN LEPERS CLEANSED. 
 
 almost exactly the opposite of that of the first sub- 
 ject of His cleansing power. No touch is laid on 
 the lepers, no healing word spoken ; but at once, 
 " whe?! He saw tJieni^ He said unto them^ Go shew 
 yourselves tmto the priests." This treatment was 
 quite in accord with the assurance implied in their 
 cry, which only did justice to His now well-known 
 and established reputation. 
 
 1. Thus was their faith tested. And their con- 
 fidence in Jesus was equal to the test. They felt, as 
 yet, no change in their diseased bodies, but they 
 went, believing that the thing would be done. We 
 can see them going steadily on together in all their 
 rags, wretchedness, and uncleanness. But as they 
 went, soon a cry of joy broke from one and another 
 and another. The cure had come. New life shot 
 into their wasted frames ; their flesh became clean 
 as a little child's, and each saw in his fellows the 
 wonderful transformation which he felt in himself 
 "// cajne to pass, that, as they went, they were 
 clea7tsedP These men took Jesus at His word, and 
 they soon realised the blessedness of so doing. 
 Constantly we stumble at the simplicity of this act 
 of faith — trusting the bare word of God ; we will 
 trust no further than we can see or feel. Christ's 
 method of salvation is not that we first feel our- 
 selves to be healed and then befieve in Him as our 
 Healer. His prime requirement is to be trusted. 
 " Look unto Me and be saved." 
 
 2. Jesus' treatment of these ten lepers had in one 
 respect tested their faith, but it was further intended 
 to test their love — to bring out whether their faith 
 was trust in Him as God's representative to them, 
 
82 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 or a mere formal faith in His office as a healer. 
 When diseased ones were healed instantly by Jesus, 
 and were still before Him, they could not withhold 
 their acknowledgment. In this case it proved dif- 
 ferent, for only one stood the test (vv. 15, 16). As 
 soon as he felt that he was whole, this man's heart 
 rushed back to the Deliverer, and he was speedily 
 prostrate at Jesus' feet in adoring praise. Jesus had 
 bid them go to the priests, but this man counted the 
 spirit of the command more than the letter, so he 
 turned back, that he might go straight to the Healer, 
 and in Him to God. Long before he reached the 
 spot where Jesus and the disciples were, his glad 
 notes were heard — he was not ashamed that all 
 should know the story of his cleansing. This ex- 
 ception was himself the outcast among these out- 
 casts. Jesus remarks that it was " the alien " alone 
 who was grateful. 
 
 As to the others, it is possible that, finding them- 
 selves cured, they took no further steps at all, but 
 proceeded at once to obliterate all traces of their 
 ever having been lepers — a course which would 
 preclude their returning to Jesus. More likely, 
 they went on to the priests, and being officially 
 declared to be clean, were charged to take no 
 further notice of the Healer. Thus we see that 
 they thought more of themselves than of their De- 
 liverer ; how apt a type of multitudes who externally 
 profit by the name of Christ ! 
 
 Vv. 17-9. The nine had that outside faith which 
 sufficed to trust His word for healing, but they had 
 no regard either to the Divine glory or redeeming 
 might of Jesus. On the other hand, He recognised 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS. 83 
 
 the thankful Samaritan as a ti"ue believer. His 
 faith was a living tie between his soul and Christ. 
 The cure was confirmed by Jesus' word, and to it 
 was added the moral cure — a pronounced salvation. 
 
 XXVII. Blind Bartimeus (Matt. xx. 29-34 ; Mark x. 
 46-52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43). 
 
 Matthew speaks of two blind men. Mark dwells 
 upon one, and says it was that well-known blind 
 man, Bartimeus, the son of Timeus. The scene of 
 this miracle was Jericho. Jesus is departing thence, 
 accompanied by the disciples and a large number of 
 people — forming an orderly procession. This blind 
 man by the wayside is in his usual place. Begging 
 is his usual occupation, but to-day another idea fills 
 his mind. It has become clear to him that Jesus of 
 Nazareth, of whom he has heard so much, is the 
 Christ promised to the Fathers. He is prepared to 
 confess his faith in Him, for he has a great boon to 
 ask of Him. Watching, with feverish anxiety, for 
 the first sign of His approach, he at length hears 
 the tramp of a great multitude — it comes nearer and 
 nearer. He asks the bystanders, or first-comers, 
 ''''What it vieatitf' and is told that ''Jesus of 
 Nazareth passeth by.^'' Now his opportunity has 
 come, and he lifts up his voice : '''' Jesus ^ thou Son 
 0/ David, have mercy on fueP Note what obstacles 
 this man's faith overcame. 
 
 I. His circimistatices. — He was but a poor blind 
 man, a customary object of charity. He who was 
 passing by was a great Teacher, reputed to be the 
 Messiah — probably the future King of Israel. But 
 Bartimeus made nothing of the difference of rank 
 
84 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 between himself and Jesus. As to the engrossment 
 of Jesus, or the crowd surrounding Him, the faith of 
 this man made that rather a help than a hindrance. 
 What better could he wish than to be in the way 
 when Jesus of Nazareth passes by ? If anyone is 
 hindered from coming to Christ by considerations 
 of environment, be this faith's answer : The worse 
 your circumstances, the more need you have of 
 Christ, the more evident is it that you are of those 
 to whom He is offered. When He is nigh, dismiss 
 all argument that the time is unsuitable, or that 
 there may be a more convenient season. 
 
 2. The desire of worldly advantage. — In an or- 
 dinary case Bartimeus would doubtless have laid 
 himself out to make a harvest out of the procession. 
 But he deliberately sacrificed the alms-getting for the 
 eyesight. No doubt he would have been a fool to 
 do otherwise. Yet men are committing this folly 
 every day ; they are too busy in the world to seek 
 salvation, or too much afraid of losing present 
 advantage to set aside its claims and "count the 
 cost" of their immortal nature. But a soul in ear- 
 nest — prepared for the Master's grace, will cause 
 everything else to stand aside till this great question 
 be settled. 
 
 3. The opposition of others. — Bartimeus began his 
 cry as soon as he was told what the approaching 
 footsteps meant, and kept it up till the foremost 
 part of the procession reached him. And the re- 
 bukes of those around did not silence him ; many 
 charged him to hold his peace, " but he cried out the 
 more a great dealP We are not told what were the 
 motives of the crowd in trying to silence Bartimeus, 
 
BLIND BARTIMEUS, 85 
 
 Perhaps the notion that a common beggar like him 
 must not take up the time and attention of Jesus ; 
 perhaps he displeased them by the boldness of his 
 expression that Jesus was the Christ. It is a hard 
 stumbling-block in the way of the spiritually anxious, 
 when professing or even real Christians object to 
 their ardour or show of feeling. But if such anxious 
 ones are really led of God the water of discourage- 
 ment flung on the flame of their desire will only 
 make it burn higher and hotter, for He who 
 moves their hearts is secretly pouring oil upon 
 that heavenly flame. And when at length Jesus 
 bade Bartimeus come to Him, the same crowd that 
 had discouraged the petitioner cheered him on. 
 
 Now the procession has reached the point where 
 Jesus Himself comes opposite Bartimeus. As soon 
 as the cry meets the Saviour's ear, He comes to a 
 standstill, and turns from the happy throng sur- 
 rounding Him to the one miserable man who needs 
 His help. How Bartimeus springs to his feet when 
 told that the Saviour is calling him ; tossing from 
 him the wrapper with which he protected himself 
 from the weather, " Casting away his garment^ he 
 rose, and came to Jesus''^ (Mark x. 50). And to 
 what a Saviour he has come (v. 51)! No doubt 
 Jesus knew what he wanted ; but He will have him 
 tell it out, that in the fuller exercise of his faith he 
 may be more prepared to receive the blessing. The 
 pertinacious vitaHty of faith proved itself in this in- 
 stance, and met with an instant and abundant reward 
 (v. 52). And the proof was crowned by the first use 
 he made of the new gift of sight. He left his alms, 
 forgot his garment, and " followed Jesus in the way.'* 
 
86 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD, 
 
 XXVIII. The Raising of Lazarus (John xi. 1-44). 
 
 The steps which lead up, through the narrative, 
 to the miracle itself, are these : Jesus' message to 
 the sisters on hearing of Lazarus' sickness (v. 4). 
 Then in conversation with the disciples He gives the 
 hint of a special intention (v. 11). Then comes the 
 conversation with Martha (vv. 21-27). 
 
 Vv. 35-7. It is as Jesus moves along towards the 
 grave of Lazarus that His tears flow, and the sight 
 suggests two opposite remarks made probably by 
 oppositely-minded parties. " Behold how He loved 
 Him ! " — a valuable testimony to the naturalness of 
 His human emotions. By others, these tears are 
 accepted as evidence that He had no power to do 
 more than weep (v. 37). 
 
 Ver. 38. The groan was wrung from Him doubtless 
 partly by these words of unbelief just uttered. But 
 the emotion here expressed has several sources. 
 The sorrow of the sisters drew out His sympathy, 
 the murmurs of the Jews chafed His spirit, but deeper 
 still was the indignation felt by the Lord of Life at 
 that which sin had wrought. When Jesus orders 
 the stone at the entrance of the vault to be rolled 
 away, Martha interposes. Perhaps she surmises 
 that Jesus means to do something ; but a feeling of 
 the glaring impossibility of it gets the better of her. 
 It is just her former cry (v. 21), and Jesus reminds 
 her of His former implied promise (v. 40). 
 
 Ver. 41. a. He employed natural means to remove 
 natural obstructions, that Divine power might come 
 face to face with the supernatural element. To have 
 done these other things without means would only 
 
THE RAISING OF LAZARUS. 87 
 
 have added something of prodigy to miracle, which 
 Jesus never did. This principle is pointedly appli- 
 cable to the kingdom of grace. The new heart is a 
 Divine gift, but He bids you " take away the stone." 
 Remove ignorance, root up bad habits, implant good 
 ones, give your children Christian education Ver. 41. 
 b. The company gathers round Him with a solemn 
 awe. He lifts up His eyes to heaven and addresses 
 God, using no names of worship, but simply saying, 
 " Father ! " He gives thanks for the prayer already 
 granted. 
 
 Ver. 42. The miracle itself was overwhelming as a 
 proof of power with God. But this thanksgiving to 
 God, and the name by which He calls Him — would 
 give an impression to the witnesses of the Son of the 
 Father, the Sent of God. 
 
 Vv. 43, 44. More exactly what He cried was, 
 "Lazarus ! hither! forth ! " The great voice or shout, 
 from One who was wont to speak so gently, thrilled 
 the heart of every listener. The echo of the cry had 
 hardly ceased, when a figure stood sharply outlined 
 against the gloom in the mouth of the sepulchre ; in 
 a moment more he sprang forward, eager to throw 
 himself at his Redeemer's feet. At the word of 
 Jesus, ^Hhey loose hi?n and let htm go." This miracle 
 is equally noteworthy whether regarded as a symbol 
 or a wititess. 
 
 I. It was an eminent symbol of Christ's regener- 
 ating and soul-quickening work, both in the details 
 and in the substance. The sinner is dead, buried, 
 already corrupt and loathsome. Christ comes to the 
 sinner's tomb. He bids His servants ply all pre- 
 liminary means ; but there can be no life till He 
 
88 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 Himself calls. Then, at His cry, the dead lives, 
 the soul is converted, and once more the use of 
 means comes in. Let the living help their new- 
 raised brother. Let us note that the hinge of 
 comparison between the spiritual and the literal 
 resurrection is that the moving power of both is 
 God manifest in Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. This act is a supreme witness to the Divinity 
 and glory of Jesus. It was done in the neighbour- 
 hood of Jerusalem, in the broadest day, in the 
 greatest publicity. The subject of the miracle him- 
 self was in evidence — lived for years afterwards. 
 By this stupendous deed Jesus' claim to be the Christ 
 was brought to a climax. Those who opposed His 
 claims had no longer any excuse for doubt— it be- 
 came hostile denial ; His followers were confirmed 
 beyond the possibility of doubt. This narrative is 
 the key to the whole story of our Lord's Last Days 
 and Passion, for it explains how His entire ministry 
 was brought to a crisis. 
 
 XXIX. The Withering of the Fig Tree (Matt. xxi. 
 17-22 ; Mark xi. 12-14, 20-24). 
 
 This incident stands alone among the miracles as 
 the only one not of a merciful or beneficent charac- 
 ter. It was a symbol or prediction of judgment, 
 hardly falling within the class of miracles. It was 
 an acted parable. 
 
 The last stage of the Lord's ministry has been 
 reached. He is passing along the way from Bethany 
 towards the capital, His heart full of the disappoint- 
 ment and sorrow excited by the retrospect of His 
 three years' ministry. And the forecast of the final 
 
THE WITHERING OF THE FIG TREE. 89 
 
 rejection of Him by the people mingles with the 
 forecast of their doom as a Church and nation. 
 Many fig-trees lined the slopes along which Jesus 
 and the disciples were passing. It was April — not 
 the ordinary time for even the earliest to have fruit ; 
 but one tree shone out in a precocious glow of glossy 
 leaves, and as the fruit usually precedes the foliage 
 in this tree, the inference was natural. But when 
 the tree was reached it was found to bear "nothing 
 but leaves." The prophetic temperature of the 
 moment makes itself felt in the mode of the narra- 
 tive. '"'•And He answered mid said unto it., No man 
 eat fruit from thee henceforward for everJ^ And the 
 next day they saw, in passing the spot, the fig tree 
 " withered away from the roots.^"* Peter reminded 
 his Master of the words spoken the morning before, 
 and not only emphasized their fulfilment, but elicited 
 an explanation. The withering of that tree was a 
 result of faith in God. Let the disciples but have 
 such faith, and to them it shall be given to do 
 greater things than these (Matt. xxi. 21-22). 
 
 The words which justify the symbolic application 
 of the incident to the downfall of the Jewish nation 
 and Church are not literally given. But they are 
 easily read between the lines of Christ's answer to 
 Peter, and there is besides much in the cognate 
 passages of the gospels to help us to the meaning. 
 Several months before, Jesus had thrown into one of 
 His parables all the force of a vision or prophecy 
 (Luke xiii, 1-9). This was judgment, but judgment 
 which might possibly be averted ; and the apologue 
 ■ends with the proposal of the vine-dresser, that there 
 might be another year of respite, and that in the 
 
90 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 event of failure this should be final. To the men 
 who stood by the fruitless fig-tree that morning, no 
 words were needed to carry home the sad conclu- 
 sion. The year of grace had passed in vain. They 
 expected no words — being accustomed to read His 
 mind in such symbolic actions. 
 
 Our Lord assures the disciples that the result of 
 moving this mountain should be granted to their 
 prayer of faith. This can be read as a veiled pre- 
 diction that the transference of God's kingdom from 
 the unworthy nation (Matt. xxi. 43) should take place 
 through their ministry ; and even the removal of the 
 mountain of Gentile prejudice and pagan idolatry. 
 Be this as it may, the force of the original action 
 remains. Three years the Lord Christ had sought 
 fruit on this fair tree of the Jewish Church and 
 people. But it failed. The tree full of leaves proved 
 to be void of fruit. And as that withered tree stood 
 in sight of all who passed, so stands Israel herself, 
 the open scorn of the world — Judaism, a dead and 
 fruitless religion ; a monument of Divine judgment. 
 
 XXX. The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes 
 
 (John xxi. 1-14). 
 This is the only incident after His resurrection 
 which can be classed with our Lord's former mighty 
 deeds. It closes the series of symbolic acts of power 
 by which Jesus on earth sealed His ministry. It 
 was the third time that Jesus showed Himself to 
 His disciples, as a company, after He was risen. 
 They had not at once left Jerusalem for Galilee, as 
 they were instructed by the Resurrection Angel to 
 do, and even now they had not gone straight to the 
 
THE SECOND DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 91 
 
 mountain of rendezvous, but were lingering by their 
 familiar haunts, and were engaged in their old 
 employment of fishing when He came. Let us 
 note — 
 
 I. The manner of His Coming. — They had toiled 
 all night with no success, and in the morning 
 are drawing near the shore. A stranger addresses 
 them : " Children — lads — have ye any meat ? " 
 Some traveller, doubtless, who would buy fish of 
 them, — but they have nothing to give him (v. 5). 
 " Cast the net^^ He said, " on the right side of the 
 shipP They knew not the Speaker, yet they could 
 not but do what He bade ; then the mystery was 
 solved, for " they were not able to draw it for the 
 multitude of fishes P The truth flashed into John's 
 mind, and it was like a sudden recollection ; though 
 years had elapsed, it all comes back to him, and he 
 breathes the discovery to Peter, " // is the Lord." 
 Peter needs no more to act straightway like himself 
 (v. 7). How like themselves are both these dis- 
 ciples. John is the Seer, the lover, the teacher; 
 but Peter is the doer, and we have always these 
 two classes — the men of faith, the men of action. 
 The Church's eyes and the Church's hands— all 
 helpful to one another and needful for the body. 
 
 The others get to the beach too in time, eager to 
 see this Stranger of whom every heart now holds a 
 recognition, though the eye cannot attest that it is 
 He. A fire is burning on the shore, and fish 
 laid thereon, and bread. When Jesus met them in 
 the upper room first after His rising. He partook of 
 their meal. Now He provides for them as they 
 return from their night's work. But they are not to 
 
92 THE MIRACLES OF OUR LORD. 
 
 stand and gaze in mere wonder (vv. lo, ii). Their 
 work done, He calls them to the morning meal 
 (v. 12). As they sit round the fire and share His pro- 
 vision and their own, and He blesses, breaks, and 
 parts it, they can no longer refuse the assent of 
 their whole heart. " This is Jesus once again ! " 
 (v. 12 b,). But where was the need of asking Him? 
 Because there is some change towards glory, which 
 marks this and almost all the Post-resurrection 
 appearances, so that the senses are puzzled. Con- 
 sequently it is upon the evidence of mind and heart, 
 rather than sense that they know Him to be their 
 risen Saviour. 
 
 2. The ineanmg of the Miracle. — After Christ's 
 resurrection there was no need of any mere act of 
 power to convince the disciples of His Godhead. 
 But they needed two things. One was to get proof 
 upon proof that Jesus was really risen ; the other, to 
 learn how they should do His work when He was 
 gone away into heaven. This story supplies both 
 these things, (i) It proved in a very striking way 
 that it was their own Jesus who rose from the dead. 
 He addressed here their memory and their faith — 
 doing again exactly as He had done before, on that 
 very lake, the works no other man could do. This 
 is the highest kind of proof for the identity of the 
 risen One. (2) It was also a symbol of their future 
 work. The first miraculous draught was as much a 
 parable as a miracle (Luke v. i-ii). Would not 
 these men feel in their deepest hearts the meaning 
 of this repeated sign from their risen Lord ? In 
 these closing interviews He was preparing them for 
 the great work of carrying His Gospel into all the 
 
THE SECOND DRAUGHT OF FISHES. 93 
 
 earth. He would be no longer with them in bodily 
 presence. Many "a night, dark and dreary, they 
 would have to toil profitless ; but as oft as He should 
 command, the net would be filled. At last, they 
 would draw it to land, the success of His kingdom 
 would be complete and glorious beyond all ex- 
 pression. His faithful servant? vvould enter into 
 their rest followed by their works, and would sit 
 down to meat with Him in His everlasting king- 
 dom. 
 
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