We read so often in the Gospels, of Jesus casting out devils and
unclean spirits, that it may be as well to say something on this
subject, as in these days there is nothing of the kind. We know that
the Devil has ever been the greatest enemy of mankind, trying to
destroy the souls and bodies of men. In the Old Testament, we read of
diviners, enchanters, wizards, sorcerers, and magicians, who were all
persons wicked enough to try to have communication with evil spirits;
and we also read that the children of Israel were commanded to put all
such to death. But it seems that when men would persist in doing the
Devil's work by sinning against God, the evil spirits were allowed to
have power over their bodies, as they had, by listening to his
temptations, given him power over their souls. Certain it is, that in
the time of our Lord, the evil spirits had some extraordinary power
over the bodies of some men; entering into them as it were, and making
them do things hurtful to themselves and others. Such people are
spoken of as "demoniacs," or as being "possessed of devils" or
"unclean spirits."
Most likely the reason why God allowed the Devil to have power over
the bodies of men, was to show the people the reality of a "ghostly
enemy"; and to remind them, that if they allowed the Devil to get into
their hearts and make them serve him, they would be unfit ever to go
into the kingdom of God. The sad state in which these poor demoniacs
were, was a sort of sign of the dreadful condition in which all the
descendants of Adam must for ever have continued, if the Son of God
had not come down to destroy the works of the Devil, and free the
souls of men from his power.
When Jesus cast the devils and unclean spirits out of the _bodies_ of
men, it was a plain proof that His power was greater than theirs; and
that he could, therefore, most certainly deliver the _souls_ of men
from the power of their enemy.
Evil spirits were thus allowed to show their power, in order more
clearly to manifest, or show forth, the great power and glory of the
Son of God, Whom even the devils were bound to obey: they were,
moreover, forced to bear witness to the fact that He _was_ the
Messiah, for on many occasions they cried out, "Thou art Christ, the
Son of God."
When we read of these unhappy men who were possessed by devils, let us
remember that the same evil spirit is watching to destroy us; and that
though he has now no power over the bodies of men, he tries to get
possession of our hearts, and unless we resist him steadfastly, he
will succeed. To encourage us to fight against the Devil, we must
remember that he has no power over our souls but what we give him, by
wilfully sinning against God. Powerful as our enemy is, our Friend
and Saviour is vastly more powerful; and He will bless and keep all
who do resist the Devil, and strive to obey and serve God faithfully.
The next miracle mentioned, was the cure of a leper. Both Jews and
Gentiles looked upon leprosy as a type of sin; that is, as being to
the body, what sin is to the soul: the leprosy first shows itself in a
little spot, but quickly spreads, and covers the whole body with
sores. Sin begins in some act of disobedience; not being resisted, one
sin leads to another, till the whole heart is filled with evil
passions.
The leper was considered unclean, and was not allowed to live amongst
God's people, nor enter into the Courts of the Temple; typifying that
sin is hateful in the sight of God, and that those who persist in it
cannot enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
The leprosy was looked upon as incurable by any human means, and
therefore whenever a leper was healed, it was attributed to an
especial exertion of the Divine power. In like manner, God only could
take away the guilt and punishment of sin, and cleanse the heart of a
sinner.
The Leper, who went to Jesus beseeching Him, knew that no human skill
could heal his disease; but believing Him to be the Son of God--the
Messiah, he "fell on his face worshipping Him, and saying, Lord, if
Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean."
Pleased with the man's faith, Jesus touched him, and said, "I will; be
thou clean: and immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was
cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man:
but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy
cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto
them." The Levitical Law declared, that the priests were to be judges
in all cases of leprosy. Any one suspected of having this dreadful
disease, was to be examined by the Priest: if the Priest pronounced
his disease to be leprosy, he was at once considered unclean, and cut
off from all communication with his fellow men. In like manner, if it
pleased God to take away the disease, the leper was to go again to the
Priest to be examined, and if he pronounced him to be cured, the poor
man was then considered clean, and restored to the society of his
fellow creatures.
When our Lord dismissed the leper, He told him to "offer those things
which Moses commanded." The ceremony of cleansing, to be observed by
every one who had been cured of leprosy, was as follows:--Two live and
clean birds were to be taken, with cedar-wood, hyssop, and other
things; one of these birds was to be killed over a brook of running
water, and its blood received in an earthen vessel: the living bird,
with the other things mentioned, was to be dipped in the blood of the
dead bird, and the leper was afterwards to be sprinkled with the
blood. This was to show, as all sacrifices were intended to do, that
sin and uncleanliness could only be done away with, by shedding the
blood of the innocent and clean: and thus pointing out to all men,
that the blood of Jesus Christ, the spotless lamb of God, could alone
wash away the sin of man.
The living bird was then to be let loose in the open fields, to
signify that the leper now cleansed from his plague, was free to go
where he would amongst his fellow men. This was the ceremony which
Jesus bade the leper observe, and he was not to mention his cure until
all was accomplished. For this there appear to have been two reasons:
in the first place, Jesus did not wish His ministry to be disturbed,
by the excitement which the knowledge of such a miracle would create
amongst the people, who on several occasions desired to make Him their
king even on earth. In the second place, the Priests were so
obstinately prejudiced against our Lord, that they would have been
very unwilling to pronounce the leper to be clean, had they known how
his cure had been effected: but when once they had declared him to be
healed, they could not unsay their own words.
The healing of this leper, was the plainest proof that Christ could
give of His being indeed the Son of God; for there was a tradition
universally believed by the Jews, that when the Messiah should come,
He would cure the leprosy.
The leper did not keep silence, but began to publish it abroad, and so
much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes
came together to hear, and "to be healed of their infirmities;
insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter the city," without
exciting that attention, which at present He wished to avoid: and "He
withdrew himself into the wilderness and prayed": but even here, "they
came to him from every quarter."
"And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was
noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered
together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so
much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them." When we
read of the multitudes who crowded to hear Jesus, it does seem sad
that so few profited by what they heard: let us try not to be only
"hearers of the word, but doers also."
One day, when Jesus was thus teaching, with Pharisees and doctors of
the law, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and
Jerusalem, sitting by, a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed which
was borne of four, was brought to be healed.
The palsy is a sad disease, which often takes away the use of the legs
and arms, and renders the poor sufferer perfectly helpless; nor can
the physician restore the use of the limbs.
Those who had brought this poor man on a kind of litter, sought means
to bring him into the house, and lay him before Jesus: and when they
found that they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they went
upon the house-top, and uncovered the roof where he was; and when they
had broken it up, they let the poor man down through the tiling with
his couch, into the midst of the multitude, before Jesus. The Jewish
houses, as we must remember, were only one story high; and in the flat
roof was an opening, leading directly to the room below.
This opening was closed by a flat door; but it seems that when they
had uncovered the opening, by removing the trapdoor, the aperture was
not large enough for the litter to pass through it; and therefore they
broke up some of the roof, so as to enlarge the opening, and when they
had done this, they fastened ropes to the four corners of the sick
man's bed, and so let him down at Jesus's feet. The trouble they had
taken to bring to Him a man, who, as they well knew, could not be
cured by any human creature, showed that those who brought him,
believed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, able to heal all manner
of diseases. And they received the blessing sought in faith.