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15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,

16 The people which sat in darkness1 saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

1 Isa. xlii. 6, 7. Luke ii. 32.

word Gentiles, includes in the scriptures all who are not Jews. It means the same as nations, or as we should say, the heathen nations.

rance.

16. The people which sat in darkness. This is an expression denoting great ignoAs in darknesss or night we can see nothing, and know not where to go, so those who are ignorant of God and their duty, are said to be in darkness. The instruction which removes this ignorance is called light. See John iii. 19; 1 Pet. 19; 1 John i. 5; ii. 8. As ignorance is often connected with crime and vice, so darkness is sometimes used to denote sin. Luke xxii. 53; Eph. v. 11; 1 Thess. v. 5. The region and shadow of death. This is a forcible and beautiful image, designed also to denote ignorance and sin. It is often used in the Bible, and is very expressive. A shadow is caused by an object coming between us and the sun. So the Hebrews imaged death as standing between us and the sun, and casting a long, dark, and baleful shadow abroad on the face of the nations, denoting their great ignorance, sin, and woe. It denotes a dismal, gloomy, and dreadful shade, where death and sin reign, like the chills, damps, and horrors of the dwelling-place of the dead. See Job x. 21; xvi. 16; xxxiv. 22; Psa. xxiii. 4; Jer. ii. 6. These expressions denote that the country of Galilee was peculiarly ignorant and blind. We know that the people were proverbially so. They were distinguished for a coarse, outlandish manner of speech, Mark xiv. 70; and are represented as having been distinguished by a general profligacy of morals and manners. It shows the great compassion of the Saviour, that he went to preach to such poor and despised sinners. Instead of seeking the rich and the learned, he chose to minister to the needy, the ignorant, and the contemned. His office is to en

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon3 called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.

Ch. iii. 2; ix. 13; x. 7. 3 John i. 42.

lighten the ignorant; his delight to guide the wandering, and to raise up those that are in the shadow of death. In doing this, Jesus set an example for all his followers. It is their duty to seek out those who are sitting in the shadow of death, and to send the gospel to them. No small part of the world is still lying in wickedness, as wicked and wretched as was the land of Zabulon and Nephthalim in the time of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is able to enlighten them also. And every Christian should conceive it a privilege, as well as a duty, to imitate his Saviour in this, and to be permitted to send to them the light of life. See Matt. xxviii. 19. 17. See Matt. iii. 2. 18. Sea of Galilee. This was also called the sea of Tiberias, and the lake of Gennesareth, and also the sea of Chinnereth, Num. xxxiv. 11 ; Deut. iii. 17; Josh. xii. 3. It is about fifteen miles in length, and from six to nine in width. There is no part of Palestine, it is said, which can be compared in beauty with the environs of this lake. Many populous cities once stood on its shores, such as Tiberias, Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Hippo, &c. The shores are described by Josephus as a perfect paradise, producing every luxury under heaven, at all seasons of the year. The river Jordan flows directly through the lake, it is said, without mingling with its waters, so that the course of the Jordan can be distinctly seen. The waters of the lake are sweet and pleasant to the taste, and clear. The lake still abounds with fish, and gives employment, as it did in the time of our Saviour, to those who live on its shores. It is, however, stormy, owing probably to the high hills by which it is surrounded.

Simon called Peter. The name Peter means a rock; and is the same as Cephas. See Note, Matt. xvi. 18; also John i. 42: 1 Cor. xv. 5.

19 And he saith unto them, | brother, in a ship with Zebedee Follow me, and I will make you their father, mending their nets; fishers of men. and he called them.

20 And they straightway left 2 their nets, and followed him.

21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren,3 James the son of Zebedee, and John his

1 Luke v. 10. 1 Cor. ix. 20--22. 2 Cor. xii. 16. Mark x. 28-31. 3 Mark i. 19, 20.

19. Fishers of men. Ministers or preachers of the gospel, whose business it shall be to win souls to Christ.

20. Straightway. Immediately, as all should do when the Lord Jesus calls them. Left their nets. Their nets were the means of their living, perhaps all their property. By leaving them immediately, and following him, they gave every evidence of sincerity. They showed, what we should all show, that they were willing to give up all for the sake of Jesus, and to follow him wherever he should lead them. They went forth to persecution and death, for the sake of Jesus; and to the honour of saving souls from death, and of establishing a church that shall continue to the end of time. Little did they know what awaited them, when they left their unmended nets to rot on the beach, and followed the unknown and unhonoured Jesus of Nazareth. So we know not what awaits us, when we become his followers; but we should cheerfully go, when our Saviour calls, willing to commit all into his hands-come honour or dishonour, sickness or health, riches or poverty, life or death. Be it ours to do our duty at once, and to commit the result to the great Redeemer who has called us. Compare Matt. vi. 33; viii. 21, 22. John xxi. 21, 22. ¶ Follow him. This is an expression denoting that they became his disciples. 1 Kin. xix. 20.

22. Left their father. This showed how willing they were to follow Jesus. They left their father. They showed us what we ought to do. If necessary, we should leave father, and mother, and every friend. Luke xiv. 26. If they will go with us, and be Christians, it is well; if not, yet they should not hinder us. We should be the followers of Jesus. And, while in doing it, we shoald treat our friends tenderly and

22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

23¶And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their syna

4 Ch. ix. 35. Luke iv. 15, 44.

kindly, yet we ought at all hazards to obey God and do our duty to him. We may add, that many, very many children, since sabbath schools have commenced, have been the means of their parents' conversion. Many children have spoken to their parents, or read the bible to them, or other books, and prayed for them, and God has blessed them and converted them. Every child in a Sunday school ought to be a Christian; and then should strive and pray that God would convert his parents, and make them Christians too.

We see here, too, what humble instruments God makes use of to convert men. He chose fishermen to convert the world. He chooses the foolish to confound the wise. And it shows that religion is true, and is the power of God, when he makes use of such instruments to change the hearts of men, and save their souls. See Notes on 1 Cor. i. 26-28.

The

23. All Galilee. See Matt. ii. 22. T Synagogues. Places of worship, or places where the people assembled together to worship God. The origin of synagogues is involved in much obscurity. sacrifices of the Jews were appointed to be held in one place, at Jerusalem. But there was nothing to forbid the other services of religion to be performed at any place. Accordingly the praises of God were sung in the schools of the prophets; and those who chose were assembled by the seers on the sabbath, and the new-moons, for religious worship. 1 Sam. x. 5-11. 2 Kin. iv. 23. The people would soon see the necessity of providing convenient places for their services, to shelter them from storms and heat; and this was probably the origin of synagogues. At what time they were commenced is unknown. They are mentioned by Josephus as having existed a

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considerable time before the coming of Christ; and in his time they were multiplied, not only in Judea, but wherever there were Jews. There were no less than four hundred and eighty in Jerusalem alone, before it was taken by the Romans.

The synagogues were built in elevated places, wherever ten men were found who were willing to associate for worship; and were the regular customary places of meeting. In them the law, i. e. the Old Testament, divided into suitable portions, was read, prayers were offered, and the scriptures were expounded. The law was so divided, that the five books of Moses, and portions of the prophets, could be read through each year. The scriptures, after being read, were expounded. This was done, either by the officers of the synagogues, or by any person who might be invited to it by the officiating minister. Our Saviour and the apostles were in the habit of attending at those places constantly, and of speaking to the people. Luke iv. 15-22. Acts xiii. 14, 15.

The synagogues were built in imitation of the temple, with a centre building, supported by pillars, and a court surrounding it. See Note, Matt. xxi. 12. In the centre building, or chapel, was a place prepared for the reading of the law. The law was kept in a chest, or ark, near to the pulpit. The uppermost seats, Matt. xxiii. 6, were those nearest to the pulpit. The people sat round, facing the pulpit. When the law was read, the officiating person rose; when it was expounded, he was seated. Our Saviour imitated their example, and was commonly seated in addressing the people. Matt. v. 1; xiii. 1. Teaching. Instructing the people, or explaining the gospel.¶The gospel of the kingdom. The good news respecting the kingdom which he was about to set up; the good news respecting the coming of the Messiah and the nature of his kingdom. Preaching. See ch. iii. 1. All manner of sickness. All kinds of sickness.

24 And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were pos

24. And his fame went throughout all Syria. It is not easy to fix the exact bounds of Syria in the time of our Saviour. It was, perhaps, the general name for the country lying between the Euphrates on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west; and between mount Taurus on the north, and Arabia on the south. Through all this region the celebrity of Jesus was spread by his power of working miracles; and, as might be expected, the sick from every quarter were brought to him, in the hope that he would give relief.

Those possessed with devils. Much difficulty exists, and much has been written, respecting those in the New Testament said to he possessed with the devil. It has been maintained by many, that the sacred writers meant only by this expression to denote those who were melancholy or epileptic, or afflicted with some other grievous disease. This opinion has been supported by arguments too long to be repeated here. On the other hand, it has been supposed that the persons so described were under the influence of evil spirits, who had complete possession of the faculties, and who produced many symptoms of disease not unlike melancholy, and madness, and epilepsy. That such was the fact, will appear from the following considerations: I. That Christ and the apostles spoke to them, and of them, as such; that they addressed them, and managed them, precisely as if they were so possessed, leaving their hearers to infer beyond a doubt that such was their real opinion. 2. The devils or demons spake, conversed, asked questions, gave answers, and expressed their knowledge of Christ, and their fear of him, things that certainly could not be said of diseases. Matt, viii. 29. Luke viii. 28. 3. They are represented as going out of the persons possessed, and entering the bodies of others.. Matt. viii. 32. 4. Jesus spoke to them, and asked their name, and they answered him. He threatened them, commanded them to be silent, to depart, and not to return, Mark i. 25; v. 8; ix. 25. 5.

sessed with devils, and which were lunatick, and

those | that had the palsy; and he healed those them.'

Those possessed are said to know Christ; to be acquainted with the Son of God. Mark i. 24; Luke iv. 34. This could not be said of diseases. 6. The early fathers of the church interpreted these passages in the same way. They derived their opinions probably from the apostles themselves, and their opinions are a fair interpretation of the apostles' sentiments. 7. If it may be denied that Christ believed in such possessions, it does not appear why any other clear sentiment of his may not in the same way be disputed. There is, perhaps, no subject on which he expressed himself more clearly, or acted more uniformly, or which he left more clearly impressed on the minds of his disciples.

Nor is there any absurdity in the opinion that those persons were really under the influence of devils. For, 1. It is no more absurd to suppose that an angel, or many angels, should have fallen and become wicked, than that so many men should. 2. It is no more absurd that Satan should have possession of the human faculties, or inflict diseases, than that men should do it, a thing which is done every day. What more frequent than for a wicked man to corrupt the morals of others, or by inducing them to become intemperate, to produce a state of body and mind quite as bad as to be possessed with the devil? 3. We still see a multitude of cases that no man can prove not to be produced by the presence of an evil spirit. Who would attempt to say that some evil being may not have much to do in the case of madmen? 4. It afforded an opportunity for Christ to show his power over the enemies of himself and of man, and thus to evince himself qualified to meet every enemy of the race, and triumphantly to redeem his people. He came to destroy the power of Satan. Acts xxvi. 18; Rom. xvi. 20. Those which were lunatick. This name is given to the disease from the Latin name of the moon, Luna. It has the same origin in Greek. It was given, because it was formerly imagined that it was affected by the increase or the decrease of the moon. The name is still retained, although it is not certain that the moon has any

On this point

1 Ch. xiv. 13, 14. Luke vi. 17-19. effect on the disease. physicians are not determined, but no harm arises from the use of the name. It is mentioned only in this place, and in Matt. xvii. 15. It was probably the falling sickness, or the epilepsy, the same as the disease mentioned Mark ix. 18-20; Luke ix. 39, 40. And those that had the palsy. Many infirmities were included under this general name of palsy, in the New Testament. 1. The paralytic shock, affecting the whole body. 2. The hemiplegy, affecting only one side of the body; the most frequent form of the disease. 3. The paraplegy, afecting all the system below the neck. 4. The catalepsy. This is caused by a contraction of the muscles in the whole or a part of the body, and is very dangerous. The effects are very violent and fatal. For instance, if, when a person is struck, he happens to have his hand extended, he is unable to draw it back; if not extended, he is unable to stretch it out. It appears diminished in size, and dried up in appearance. Hence it was called the withered hand. Matt. xii. 10-13. 5. The cramp. This, in eastern countries, is a fearful malady, and by no means unfrequent. It originates from chills in the night. The limbs, when seized with it, remain unmoveable, and the person afflicted with it resembles one undergoing a torture. This was probably

And

the disease of the servant of the centurion. Matt. viii. 6; Luke vii. 2. Death follows from this disease in a few days. he healed them. This was done evidently by a miraculous power. A miracle is an effect produced by divine power above, or opposed to, what are regular effects of the laws of nature. It is not a violation of the laws of nature, but is a suspension of their usual operation, for some important purpose. For instance, the regular effect of death is that the body returns to corruption. This effect is produced by the appointed laws of nature; or, in other words, God usually produces this effect. When he suspends that regular effect, and gives life to a dead body for some important purpose, it is a miracle. Such an effect is clearly the result of divine power. No other being but God can do it. When, therefore, Christ and the

25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee,

37. Retaliation, 38-42. Love of enemies, 43-48.

i

and from Decapolis, and from Jeru-AND seeing the multitudes,1 he salem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.

CHAPTER V.

Sermon on the mount, Beatitudes, 1-12. Position of Christ's disciples in the world, 13-16. Christ's teaching confirms the law, 17-20. The spirituality of the law, 21-32. Swearing, 33

apostles exerted this power, it was clear evidence that God approved of their doctrines; that he had commissioned them; and that they were authorized to declare his will. He would not give this attestation to a false doctrine. Most or all of these diseases were incurable. When Christ cured them by a word, it was the clearest of all proofs that he was seat from heaven. Miracles form one of the strong arguments for the truth of Christianity.

25. From Decapolis. Decapolis was the name of a region of country in the bounds of the half tribe of Manasseh, mainly on the east of Jordan. It was so called because it included ten cities, which is the meaning of the Greek word Decapolis. Geographers generally agree that Scythopolis was the chief of these cities, and was the only one of them west of the Jordan; that Hippo, or Hippos, Gadara, Dion, or Dios, Pelea, or Pella, Gerasa, or Gergesa, Philadelphia, and Raphana, or Raphanæ, were seven of the remaining nine, and the other two were either Kanatha and Capitolias, or Damascus and Otopos. These cities were inhabited chiefly by foreigners, Greeks, the days of our Saviour, and not by Jews. Hence the keeping of swine by the Gergesenes, Matt. viii. 30-33, which was forbidden by the Jewish law.

CHAPTER V.

1. Seeing the multitudes. The great numbers that came to attend on his ministry. The substance of this discourse is recorded, Luke vi. It is commonly called the sermon on the mount. It is not improbable that it was repeated, in substance, on different occasions, and to different people. At those times, parts of it might have been omitted, and Luke

went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,2

3 Blessed are the poor3 in spirit:4 for their's is the kingdom of heaven.

1 Ch. xiii. 2. John vi. 2, 3. Luke vi. 20-26. 3 Isa. lvii. 15; lxii. 2. 4 Jas. ii. 5. may have recorded it as it was pronounced on one of those occasions. See Notes, Luke vi. 17-20. ¶ Went up into a mountain. This mountain, or hill, was somewhere in the vicinity of Capernaum, but where precisely is not mentioned. He ascended the hill, doubtless, because it was more convenient to address the multitude from an eminence, than on the same level with them. A hill or mountain is still shown a short distance to the north-west of the ancient site of Capernaum, which tradition reports to have been the place where this sermon was delivered, and which is called on the maps the mount of Beatitudes. there is no positive evidence that this is the place where this discourse was uttered. ¶ And when he was set. This was the common mode of teaching among the Jews. Luke iv. 20; v. 3. John viii. 2. Acts xiii. 14; xvi. 13. His disciples came. The word disciples means learners, those who are taught. Here it is put for those who attended on the ministry of Jesus, and does not imply that they were all Christians. See John vi. 66.

But

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The word blessed means happy, referring to that which produces felicity, from whatever quarter it may come. ¶ Poor in spirit. Luke says simply, blessed are the poor. It has been disputed whether Christ meant the poor in reference to the things of this life, or the humble. The gospel is said to be preached to the poor, Matt. xi. 5; Luke iv. 18. It was predicted that the Messiah should preach to the poor, Isa. lxi. 1. It is said that they have peculiar facilities for being saved, Matt. xix. 23; Luke xviii. 24. state of such persons is therefore comparatively blessed, or happy. Riches

The

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