Visible nature is not man's sole environment. There is an unseen
universe besides; and He Who would be Saviour of mankind must be
Master there as well. That this also is sure is now proved beyond a
doubt. For it is important to observe that this is not an ordinary
case of healing, otherwise its true place would have been with the
group of bodily diseases at the beginning of this series. When we
consider its salient features, we see that it is just in its right
place, closely following, as it does, the stilling of the storm. There
are storms in the spiritual world, more terrible by far than any in
the realm of nature; and it is necessary that these darker storms be
also subject to the control of the Saviour of mankind. "The prince of
the power of the air" and all his legions must be subject to the "Son
of man." And this subjection, rather than the cure of the individual
sufferers, is the salient feature of the passage. It is not the men,
but the demons possessing them, who cry out, "What have we to do with
Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us
before the time?" Well did these evil spirits know who He was; and
well, also, did they know that He was mightier than they, and that the
time was coming when they would be put entirely under His feet: "Art
Thou come to torment us _before the time_?"
The sequel has been the occasion of much cavil. It has been
represented as entirely beyond the bounds of rational belief; but why?
The whole subject of demoniacal possession is a most difficult one;
but many of the calmest and deepest thinkers, quite apart from the
testimony of the Gospel, have found themselves unable to explain a
multitude of dark facts in history and experience apart from the
reality of demoniacal influence. If a spirit can exercise a malign
influence on a man, why not on an animal? Moreover, seeing that the
keeping of these swine was an open breach of the law, what difficulty
is there in supposing that Christ should allow their destruction,
especially when we consider that this transference of the malign
influence not only made more apparent His absolute control over the
spirits of evil, but taught a most striking and instructive lesson as
to their affinities? For certain persons there is no more instructive
and no more needful passage in Scripture than this. The difficulty is,
that those who prefer to keep their swine will not welcome the mighty
Exorcist, but, like these people of old, beseech Him to "depart out of
their coasts."
SINS FORGIVEN (ix. 1-13).
Master of disease--Searcher of hearts--Master of the forces of
nature--Master of the powers of the Unseen: is not this enough? Not
yet; He must make it evident that "the Son of man hath power on earth
to forgive sins." To heal the diseases of the body was a great and
blessed thing to do, but it was not thorough work; for what are all
these varied diseases--leprosy, fever, palsy--but symptoms of one
great disorder which has its roots, not in the flesh, but in the
soul, a disease belonging to that region of the unseen, in which He
has now made manifest His power--the dark disease of sin. The time has
now come to show that He can deal effectually with it; and immediately
on His return to His own side of the lake, an opportunity presents
itself. "They brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed."
As a case of palsy, it is not new. The centurion's servant was a palsy
case; and though from His treatment of it, as of the leprosy and
fever, it might fairly have been inferred that He could deal also with
that which was deeper, it was not enough to leave it to inference--it
must be made manifest. It may have been that the disease of this man
had been in some special manner connected with previous sins, so that
his conscience may have been the more exercised as he looked back over
his past life; but whether this was so or not, it is obvious that his
conscience was at work,--that much as his palsy may have troubled him,
his guilt troubled him much more. Why, otherwise, should the Saviour
have addressed him as He did, making no reference to the disease, but
dealing directly with his spiritual condition? Moreover, the special
affection shown in the Saviour's mode of address seems to indicate His
recognition of that broken and contrite spirit with which the Lord is
well pleased. It would scarcely be too strong to translate it thus:
"My dear child, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven."
The Saviour is coming closer and closer to human need, dealing more
and more thoroughly with the world's want and woe. If we look at it
aright, we cannot but recognise it as really a greater thing to heal
the deep disease of the soul, than to heal any or all of the diseases
of the body, greater even than to still the storm or rule by superior
power the spirits of evil. For here there is something more needed
than power or skill, even though both be infinite. We have already had
a glimpse of the need there was, even in taking away human sickness,
that the Healer Himself should suffer. But deeper far is this
necessity if the disease of the soul is to be reached. It is only the
Lamb of God that can take away the sin of the world. These scribes
were right for once when they made more of this claim than of any that
had gone before, saying within themselves, "This man blasphemeth;" ...
"Who can forgive sins but God only?"
How could He prove to them His power actually to forgive the man's
sins? A demonstration of this is quite impossible; but He will come as
near to it as may be. He has already recognised the faith of the
bearers, and the penitence of the man himself; just as quickly He
discerns the thoughts of the scribes, and gives them proof that He
does so by asking them, "Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?"
Then, answering their thought (which was, "He is only saying it"), He
replies in effect, "It is indeed as easy to say one thing as another,
if saying is all; but that you may be sure that the saying of it is
not all, I shall not repeat what I said before, the result of which
from the nature of the case you cannot see, but something else, the
result of which you shall see presently"; whereupon, turning to the
sick of the palsy, He said: "Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine
house. And he arose, and departed to his house." With characteristic
reticence, the sacred historian says nothing of the feelings of the
happy man as he hied him home with a double blessing beyond the power
of words to tell.
Is it possible to imagine any better proof that could have been given
of Christ's authority to forgive sins? Let those who have a horror of
anything extraordinary suggest some way in which this assurance could
have been given without any manifestation of superhuman power. If they
cannot, why continue those unreasoning objections to the kind of proof
He did give, when no other proof can be even suggested that would have
at all suited the purpose?
The purpose was accomplished, so far at least as the people were
concerned. Whether the scribes found some way of evading the
conclusion, the Evangelist does not say; but he does say that "when
the multitudes saw it, they marvelled," or, as the probably more
correct version of the Revisers gives it, "they were afraid." This is
true to nature, for now they knew that they stood in the presence of
One Who could look them through and through, and touch them in their
sorest spot; so it was natural that their first feeling should be one
of awe. Still, they could not but be thankful at the same time that
there was forgiveness within their reach; so quite consistently the
narrative proceeds--And they "glorified God, which had given such
power unto men."
* * * * *
Now that His power to deal with sin is made so apparent, it is time to
let it be known that all sinners are welcome. Hence most appropriately
there follows the call of one from among the most despised class to
take a place among His closest followers. We can well understand how
the modest Matthew, who never mentions anything else about himself,
was glad to signalise the grace of the Master in seeking out the hated
and despised publican. Not only does Christ welcome him, but consents
to sit at meat with his former associates (ver. 10); and when the
self-righteous Pharisee complains, He takes occasion to speak those
memorable words, so full of warning to those who think themselves
righteous, so full of comfort to those who know themselves sinners:
"They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.... I
am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."