"PEACE, BE STILL."
INCIDENTS PRELIMINARY TO THE VOYAGE.
Near the close of the day on which Jesus had taught the multitudes for
the first time by parables, He said to the disciples, "Let us pass over
unto the other side."[657] The destination so indicated is the east side
of the sea of Galilee. While the boat was being made ready, a certain
scribe came to Jesus and said: "Master, I will follow thee whithersoever
thou goest." Prior to that time, few men belonging to the titled or
ruling class had offered to openly ally themselves with Jesus. Had the
Master been mindful of policy and desirous of securing official
recognition, this opportunity to attach to Himself as influential a
person as a scribe would have received careful consideration if not
immediate acceptance; but He, who could read the minds and know the
hearts of men, chose rather than accepted. He had called men who were to
be thenceforth His own, from their fishing boats and nets, and had
numbered one of the ostracized publicans among the Twelve; but He knew
them, every one, and chose accordingly. The gospel was offered freely to
all; but authority to officiate as a minister thereof was not to be had
for the asking; for that sacred labor, one must be called of God.[658]
In this instance, Christ knew the character of the man, and, without
wounding his feelings by curt rejection, pointed out the sacrifice
required of one who would follow whithersoever the Lord went, saying:
"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son
of man hath not where to lay his head." As Jesus had no fixed place of
abode, but went wherever His duty called Him, so was it necessary that
they who represented Him, men ordained or set apart to His service, be
ready to deny themselves the enjoyment of their homes and the comfort of
family associations, if the duties of their calling so demanded. We do
not read that the aspiring scribe pressed his offer.
Another man indicated his willingness to follow the Lord, but asked
first for time to go and bury his father; to him Jesus said: "Follow me;
and let the dead bury their dead." Some readers have felt that this
injunction was harsh, though such an inference is scarcely justified.
While it would be manifestly unfilial for a son to absent himself from
his father's funeral under ordinary conditions, nevertheless, if that
son had been set apart to service of importance transcending all
personal or family obligations, his ministerial duty would of right take
precedence. Moreover, the requirement expressed by Jesus was no greater
than that made of every priest during his term of active service, nor
was it more afflicting than the obligation of the Nazarite vow,[659]
under which many voluntarily placed themselves. The duties of ministry
in the kingdom pertained to spiritual life; one dedicated thereto might
well allow those who were negligent of spiritual things, and
figuratively speaking, spiritually dead, to bury their dead.
A third instance is presented; a man who wanted to be a disciple of the
Lord asked that, before entering upon his duties, he be permitted to go
home and bid farewell to his family and friends. The reply of Jesus has
become an aphorism in life and literature: "No man, having put his hand
to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."[660]
From Matthew's record we draw the inference that the first two of these
candidates for discipleship offered themselves to our Lord as He stood
on the shore or in the boat ready to begin the evening voyage across the
lake. Luke places the instances in a different connection, and adds to
the offers of the scribe and the man who would first bury his father,
that of the one who wished to go home and then return to Christ. The
three incidents may be profitably considered together, whether all
occurred in the evening of that same eventful day or at different times.
STILLING THE STORM.[661]
The instruction to launch forth and cross to the opposite side of the
lake was given by Jesus, who probably desired a respite after the
arduous labors of the day. No time had been lost in unnecessary
preparation; "they took him, even as he was, into the ship," and set out
without delay. Even on the water some of the eager people tried to
follow; for a number of small boats, "little ships" as Mark styles them,
accompanied the vessel on which Jesus was embarked; but these lesser
craft may have turned back, possibly on account of the approaching
storm; anyway, we do not hear of them further.
Jesus found a resting place near the stern of the ship and soon fell
asleep. A great storm arose,[662] and still He slept. The circumstance
is instructive as it evidences at once the reality of the physical
attributes of Christ, and the healthy, normal condition of His body. He
was subject to fatigue and bodily exhaustion from other causes, as are
all men; without food He grew hungry; without drink He thirsted; by
labor He became weary. The fact that after a day of strenuous effort He
could calmly sleep, even amidst the turmoil of a tempest, indicates an
unimpaired nervous system and a good state of health. Nowhere do we find
record of Jesus having been ill. He lived according to the laws of
health, yet never allowed the body to rule the spirit; and His daily
activities, which were of a kind to make heavy demands on both physical
and mental energy, were met with no symptoms of nervous collapse nor of
functional disturbance. Sleep after toil is natural and necessary. The
day's work done, Jesus slept.
Meanwhile the storm increased in fury; the wind rendered the boat
unmanageable; waves beat over the side; so much water was shipped that
the vessel seemed about to founder. The disciples were terror-stricken;
yet through it all Jesus rested peacefully. In their extremity of fear,
the disciples awakened Him, crying out, according to the several
independent accounts, "Master, Master, we perish"; "Lord, save us: we
perish"; and, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" They were
abjectly frightened, and at least partly forgetful that there was with
them One whose voice even death had to obey. Their terrified appeal was
not wholly devoid of hope nor barren of faith: "Lord, save us" they
cried. Calmly He replied to their piteous call, "Why are ye fearful, O
ye of little faith?"
Then He arose; and out through the darkness of that fearsome night, into
the roaring wind, over the storm-lashed sea, went the voice of the Lord
as He "rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the
wind ceased, and there was a great calm." Turning to the disciples, He
asked in tones of gentle yet unmistakable reproof: "Where is your
faith?" and "How is it that ye have no faith?" Gratitude for rescue from
what but a moment before had seemed impending death was superseded by
amazement and fear. "What manner of man is this," they asked one of
another, "that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
Among the recorded miracles of Christ, none has elicited greater
diversity in comment and in attempt at elucidation than has this
marvelous instance of control over the forces of nature. Science
ventures no explanation. The Lord of earth, air, and sea spoke and was
obeyed. He it was who, amidst the black chaos of creation's earliest
stages, had commanded with immediate effect--Let there be light; Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters; Let the dry land
appear--and, as He had decreed, so it was. The dominion of the Creator
over the created is real and absolute. A small part of that dominion has
been committed to man[663] as the offspring of God, tabernacled in the
very image of his divine Father. But man exercizes that delegated
control through secondary agencies, and by means of complicated
mechanism. Man's power over the objects of his own devizing is limited.
It is according to the curse evoked by Adam's fall, which came through
transgression, that by the strain of his muscles, by the sweat of his
brow, and by stress of his mind, shall he achieve. His word of command
is but a sound-wave in air, except as it is followed by labor. Through
the Spirit that emanates from the very Person of Deity, and which
pervades all space, the command of God is immediately operative.
Not man alone, but also the earth and all the elemental forces
pertaining thereto came under the Adamic curse[664] and as the soil no
longer brought forth only good and useful fruits, but gave of its
substance to nurture thorns and thistles, so the several forces of
nature ceased to be obedient to man as agents subject to his direct
control. What we call natural forces--heat, light, electricity, chemical
affinity--are but a few of the manifestations of eternal energy through
which the Creator's purposes are subserved; and these few, man is able
to direct and utilize only through mechanical contrivance and physical
adjustment. But the earth shall yet be "renewed and receive its
paradisaical glory"; then soil, water, air, and the forces acting upon
them, shall directly respond to the command of glorified man, as now
they obey the word of the Creator.[665]
QUIETING THE DEMONS.[666]
Jesus and the disciples with Him landed on the eastern or Perean side of
the lake, in a region known as the country of the Gadarenes or
Gergesenes. The precise spot has not been identified, but it was
evidently a country district apart from the towns.[667] As the party
left the boat, two maniacs, who were sorely tormented by evil spirits,
approached. Matthew states there were two; the other writers speak of
but one; it is possible that one of the afflicted pair was in a
condition so much worse than that of his companion that to him is
accorded greater prominence in the narrative; or, one may have run away
while the other remained. The demoniac was in a pitiful plight. His
frenzy had become so violent and the physical strength incident to his
mania so great that all attempts to hold him in captivity had failed. He
had been bound in chains and fetters, but these he had broken asunder by
the aid of demon power; and he had fled to the mountains, to the caverns
that served as tombs, and there he had lived more like a wild beast than
a man. Night and day his weird, terrifying shrieks had been heard, and
through dread of meeting him people traveled by other ways rather than
pass near his haunts. He wandered about naked, and in his madness often
gashed his flesh with sharp stones.
Seeing Jesus, the poor creature ran toward Him, and, impelled by the
power of his demon control, prostrated himself before Christ, the while
crying out with a loud voice: "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou
Son of the most high God?" As Jesus commanded the evil spirits to
leave, one or more of them, through the voice of the man, pleaded to be
left alone, and with blasphemous presumption exclaimed: "I adjure thee
by God, that thou torment me not." Matthew records the further question
addressed to Jesus: "Art thou come hither to torment us before the
time?" The demons, by whom the man was possessed and controlled,
recognized the Master, whom they knew they had to obey; but they pleaded
to be left alone until the decreed time of their final punishment would
come.[668]
Jesus asked, "What is thy name?" and the demons within the man answered,
"My name is Legion, for we are many." The fact of the man's dual
consciousness or multi-personality is here apparent. So complete was his
possession by wicked spirits that he could no longer distinguish between
his individual personality and theirs. The devils implored that Jesus
would not banish them from that country; or as Luke records in words of
awful import, "that he would not command them to go out into the
deep."[669] In their wretched plight, and out of diabolical eagerness to
find abode in bodies of flesh even though of beasts, they begged that,
being compelled to leave the man they be allowed to enter a herd of hogs
feeding nearby. Jesus gave permission; the unclean demons entered the
swine; and the whole herd, numbering about two thousand, went wild,
stampeded in terror, ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and
were drowned. The swineherds were frightened, and, hastening to the
town, told what had happened to the hogs. People came out in crowds to
see for themselves; and all were astounded to behold the once wild man
of whom they had all been afraid, now clothed, and restored to a normal
state of mind, sitting quietly and reverently at the feet of Jesus. They
were afraid of One who could work such wonders, and, conscious of their
sinful unworthiness, begged Him to leave their country.[670]
The man who had been rid of the demons feared not; in his heart love and
gratitude superseded all other feelings; and as Jesus returned to the
boat he prayed that he might go also. But Jesus forbade, saying: "Go
home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done
for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." The man became a missionary,
not alone in his home town but throughout Decapolis, the region of the
ten cities; wherever he went he told of the marvelous change Jesus had
wrought on him.
The testimony of wicked and unclean spirits to the divinity of Christ as
the Son of God is not confined to this instance. We have already
considered the case of the demoniac in the synagog at Capernaum;[671]
and another instance appeared, when Jesus, withdrawing from the towns in
Galilee, betook Himself to the sea shore, and was followed by a great
multitude comprizing Galileans and Judeans, and people from Jerusalem
and Idumea, and from beyond Jordan (i.e. from Perea), and inhabitants of
Tyre and Sidon, amongst whom He had healed many of divers diseases; and
those who were in bondage to unclean spirits had fallen down and
worshiped Him; while the demons cried out: "Thou art the Son of
God."[672]
In the course of the short journey considered in this chapter, the power
of Jesus as Master of earth, men and devils, was manifest in miraculous
works of the most impressive kind. We cannot classify the Lord's
miracles as small and great, nor as easy and difficult of
accomplishment; what one may consider the least is to another of
profound import. The Lord's word was sufficient in every instance. To
the wind and the waves, and to the demon-ridden mind of the man
possessed, He had but to speak and be obeyed. "Peace, be still."
THE RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS.[673]
Jesus and His attendants recrossed the lake from the land of Gadara to
the vicinity of Capernaum, where He was received with acclamation by a
multitude of people, "for they were all waiting for him." Immediately
after landing, Jesus was approached by Jairus, one of the rulers of the
local synagog, who "besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter
lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her,
that she may be healed; and she shall live."
The fact of this man's coming to Jesus, with the spirit of faith and
supplication, is an evidence of the deep impression the ministry of
Christ had made even in priestly and ecclesiastical circles. Many of the
Jews, rulers and officials as well as the people in common, believed in
Jesus;[674] though few belonging to the upper classes were willing to
sacrifice prestige and popularity by acknowledging their discipleship.
That Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagog, came only when impelled
by grief over the impending death of his only daughter, a girl of twelve
years, is no evidence that he had not before become a believer;
certainly at this time his faith was genuine and his trust sincere, as
the circumstances of the narrative prove. He approached Jesus with the
reverence due One whom he considered able to grant what he asked, and
fell at the Lord's feet, or as Matthew says, worshiped Him. When the man
had started from his home to seek aid of Jesus, the maiden was at the
point of death; he feared lest she had died in the interval. In the very
brief account given in the first Gospel, he is reported as saying to
Jesus: "My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her
and she shall live."[675] Jesus went with the imploring father, and many
followed.
On the way to the house an incident occurred to hinder progress. A
sorely afflicted woman was healed, under circumstances of peculiar
interest; this occurrence we shall consider presently. No intimation is
given that Jairus showed impatience or displeasure over the delay; he
had placed trust in the Master and awaited His time and pleasure; and
while Christ was engaged in the matter of the suffering woman,
messengers came from the ruler's house with the saddening word that the
girl was dead. We may infer that even these dread tidings of certainty
failed to destroy the man's faith; he seems to have still looked to the
Lord for help, and those who had brought the message asked, "Why
troublest thou the Master any further?" Jesus heard what was said, and
sustained the man's sorely-taxed faith by the encouraging behest: "Be
not afraid, only believe." Jesus permitted none of His followers save
three of the apostles to enter the house with Himself and the bereaved
but trusting father. Peter and the two brothers James and John were
admitted.
The house was no place of such respectful silence or subdued quiet as we
now consider appropriate to the time and place of death; on the contrary
it was a scene of tumult, but that condition was customary in the
orthodox observances of mourning at the time.[676] Professional
mourners, including singers of weird dirges, and minstrels who made
great noise with flutes and other instruments, had already been summoned
to the house. To all such Jesus said, on entering: "Why make ye this
ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead but sleepeth." It was in effect a
repetition of His command uttered on a then recent occasion--Peace, be
still. His words drew scorn and ridicule from those who were paid for
the noise they made, and who, if what He said proved true, would lose
this opportunity of professional service. Moreover, they knew the maid
was dead; preparations for the funeral, which custom required should
follow death as speedily as possible, were already in progress. Jesus
ordered these people out, and restored peace to the house.[677] He then
entered the death chamber, accompanied only by the three apostles and
the parents of the girl. Taking the dead maiden by the hand He "said
unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto
thee, arise." To the astonishment of all but the Lord, the girl arose,
left her bed, and walked. Jesus directed that food be given her, as
bodily needs, suspended by death, had returned with the girl's renewal
of life.
The Lord imposed an obligation of secrecy, charging all present to
refrain from telling what they had seen. The reasons for this injunction
are not stated. In some other instances a similar instruction was given
to those who had been blessed by Christ's ministrations; while on many
occasions of healing no such instructions are recorded, and in one case
at least the man who had been relieved of demons was told to go and tell
how great a thing had been done for him.[678] In His own wisdom Christ
knew when to prudently forbid and when to permit publication of His
doings. Though the grateful parents, the girl herself, and the three
apostles who had been witnesses of the restoration, may all have been
loyal to the Lord's injunction of silence, the fact that the maiden had
been raised to life could not be kept secret, and the means by which so
great a wonder had been wrought would certainly be inquired into. The
minstrels and the wailers who had been expelled from the place while it
was yet a house of mourning, and who had scornfully laughed at the
Master's assertion that the maiden was asleep and not dead as they
thought, would undoubtedly, spread reports. It is not surprizing,
therefore, to read in Matthew's short version of the history, that the
fame of the miracle "went abroad into all that land."
RESTORATION TO LIFE AND RESURRECTION.
The vital distinction between a restoration of the dead to a resumption
of mortal life, and the resurrection of the body from death to a state
of immortality, must be thoughtfully heeded. In each of the instances
thus far considered--that of the raising of the dead man of Nain,[679]
and that of the daughter of Jairus, as also the raising of Lazarus to be
studied later--the miracle consisted in reuniting the spirit and the
body in a continuation of the interrupted course of mortal existence.
That the subject of each of these miracles had to subsequently die is
certain. Jesus Christ was the first of all men who have lived on earth
to come forth from the tomb an immortalized Being; He is therefore
properly designated as "the first fruits of them that slept."[680]
Though both Elijah and Elisha, many centuries prior to the time of
Christ, were instrumental in restoring life to the dead, the former to
the widow's son in Zareptha, the latter to the child of the Shunammite
woman,[681] in these earlier miracles the restoration was to mortal
existence, not to immortality. It is instructive to observe the
difference in the procedure of each of the Old Testament prophets
mentioned as compared with that of Christ in analogous miracles. By both
Elijah and Elisha the wonderful change was brought about only after long
and labored ministrations, and earnest invocation of the power and
intervention of Jehovah; but Jehovah, embodied in flesh as Jesus Christ,
did nothing outwardly but command, and the bonds of death were
immediately broken. He spoke in His own name and by inherent authority,
for by the power with which He was invested He held control of both life
and death.
A REMARKABLE HEALING BY THE WAY.[682]
While Jesus was walking to the house of Jairus with a great crowd of
people thronging about Him, the progress of the company was arrested by
another case of suffering. In the throng was a woman who for twelve
years had been afflicted with a serious ailment involving frequent
hemorrhage. She had spent in medical treatment all she had owned, and
"had suffered many things of many physicians," but had steadily grown
worse. She worked her way through the crowd, and, approaching Jesus from
behind, touched His robe; "For she said, If I may touch but his clothes
I shall be whole." The effect was more than magical; immediately she
felt the thrill of health throughout her body, and knew that she had
been healed of her affliction. Her object attained, the blessing she
sought being now secured, she tried to escape notice, by hastily
dropping back into the crowd. But her touch was not unheeded by the
Lord. He turned to look over the throng and asked, "Who touched my
clothes?" or as Luke puts it, "Who touched me?" As the people denied,
the impetuous Peter speaking for himself and the others said: "Master,
the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched
me?" But Jesus answered: "Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that
virtue is gone out of me."
The woman, finding that she could not escape identification, came
tremblingly forward, and, kneeling before the Lord, confessed what she
had done, her reason for so doing, and the beneficent result. If she had
expected censure her fears were promptly set at rest, for Jesus,
addressing her by a term of respect and kindness, said: "Daughter, be of
good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace," and as Mark
adds, "be whole of thy plague."
This woman's faith was sincere and free from guile, nevertheless it was
in a sense defective. She believed that the influence of Christ's
person, and even that attaching to His raiment, was a remedial agency,
ample to cure her malady; but she did not realize that the power to heal
was an inherent attribute to be exercized at His will, and as the
influence of faith might call it forth. True, her faith had already been
in part rewarded, but of greater worth to her than the physical cure of
her illness would be the assurance that the divine Healer had granted
the desire of her heart, and that the faith she had manifested was
accepted by Him. To correct her misapprehension and to confirm her
faith, Jesus gently subjected her to the necessary ordeal of confession,
which must have been made easier through her consciousness of the great
relief already experienced. He confirmed the healing and let her depart
with the comforting assurance that her recovery was permanent.
In contrast with the many cases of healing in connection with which the
Lord charged the beneficiaries that they should tell none how or by whom
they had been relieved, we see here that publicity was made sure by His
own action, and that too, when secrecy was desired by the recipient of
the blessing. The purposes and motives of Jesus may be but poorly
understood by man; but in this woman's case we see the possibility of
stories strange and untrue getting afloat, and it appears to have been
the wiser course to make plain the truth then and there. Moreover the
spiritual worth of the miracle was greatly enhanced by the woman's
confession and by the Lord's gracious assurance.
Observe the significant assertion, "Thy faith hath made thee whole."
Faith is of itself a principle of power;[683] and by its presence or
absence, by its fulness or paucity, even the Lord was and is influenced,
and in great measure controlled, in the bestowal or withholding of
blessings; for He ministers according to law, and not with caprice or
uncertainty. We read that at a certain time and place Jesus "could there
do no mighty work" because of the people's unbelief.[684] Modern
revelation specifies that faith to be healed is one of the gifts of the
Spirit, analogous to the manifestations of faith in the work of healing
others through the exercize of the power of the Holy Priesthood.[685]
Our Lord's inquiry as to who had touched Him in the throng affords us
another example of His asking questions in pursuance of a purpose, when
He could readily have determined the facts directly and without aid from
others. There was a special purpose in the question, as every teacher
finds a means of instruction in questioning his pupils.[686] But there
is in Christ's question, "Who touched me?" a deeper significance than
could inhere in a simple inquiry as to the identity of an individual;
and this is implied in the Lord's further words: "Somebody hath touched
me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me." The usual external
act by which His miracles were wrought was a word or a command,
sometimes accompanied by the laying on of hands, or by some other
physical ministration as in anointing the eyes of a blind man.[687] That
there was an actual giving of His own strength to the afflicted whom He
healed is evident from the present instance. Passive belief on the part
of a would-be recipient of blessing is insufficient; only when it is
vitalized into active faith is it a power; so also of one who ministers
in the authority given of God, mental and spiritual energy must be
operative if the service is to be effective.
THE BLIND SEE AND THE DUMB SPEAK.[688]
Two other instances of miraculous healing are chronicled by Matthew as
closely following the raising of the daughter of Jairus. As Jesus passed
down the streets of Capernaum, presumably on His departure from the
house of the ruler of the synagog, two blind men followed Him, crying
out: "Thou son of David, have mercy on us." This title of address was
voiced by others at sundry times, and in no case do we find record of
our Lord disclaiming it or objecting to its use.[689] Jesus paused not
to heed this call of the blind, and the two sightless men followed Him,
even entering the house after Him. Then He spoke to them, asking:
"Believe ye that I am able to do this?" And they replied, "Yea, Lord."
Their persistency in following the Lord was evidence of their belief
that in some way, though to them unknown and mysterious, He could help
them; and they promptly and openly confessed that belief. Our Lord
touched their eyes, saying: "According to your faith be it unto you."
The effect was immediate; their eyes were opened. They were explicitly
instructed to say nothing of the matter to others; but, rejoicing in the
inestimable blessing of sight, they "spread abroad his fame in all that
country." So far as we can unravel the uncertain threads of sequence in
the works of Christ, this is the earliest instance, recorded with
attendant details, of His giving sight to the blind. Many remarkable
cases follow.[690]
It is worthy of note that in blessing the sightless by the exercize of
His healing power, Jesus usually ministered by some physical contact in
addition to uttering the authoritative words of command or assurance. In
this instance, as also in that of two blind men who sat by the wayside,
He touched the sightless eyes; in the giving of sight to the blind
indigent in Jerusalem He anointed the man's eyes with clay; to the eyes
of another He applied saliva.[691] An analogous circumstance is found in
the healing of one who was deaf and defective of speech, in which
instance the Lord put His fingers into the man's ears and touched his
tongue.[692] In no case can such treatment be regarded as medicinal or
therapeutic. Christ was not a physician who relied upon curative
substances, nor a surgeon to perform physical operations; His healings
were the natural results of the application of a power of His own. It is
conceivable that confidence, which is a stepping-stone to belief, as
that in turn is to faith, may have been encouraged by these physical
ministrations, strengthened, and advanced to a higher and more abiding
trust in Christ, on the part of the afflicted who had not sight to look
upon the Master's face and derive inspiration therefrom, nor hearing to
hear His uplifting words. There is apparent not alone an entire absence
of formula and formalism in His ministration, but a lack of uniformity
of procedure quite as impressive.
As the two men, once sightless but now seeing, departed, others came,
bringing a dumb friend whose affliction seems to have been primarily due
to the malignant influence of an evil spirit rather than to any organic
defect. Jesus rebuked the wicked spirit--cast out the demon that had
obsessed the afflicted one and held him in the tyranny of
speechlessness. The man's tongue was loosened, he was freed from the
evil incubus, and was no longer dumb.[693]
NOTES TO CHAPTER 20.
1. Storms on the Lake of Galilee.--It is a matter of record that sudden
and violent storms are common on the lake or sea of Galilee; and the
tempest that was quieted by the Lord's word of command was of itself no
unusual phenomenon, except perhaps in its intensity. Another incident
connected with a storm on this small body of water is of scriptural
record, and will be considered later in the text (Matt. 14:22-26; Mark
6:45-56; John 6:15-21). Dr. Thompson (_The Land and the Book_ ii:32)
gives a description founded on his personal experience on the shores of
the lake: "I spent a night in that Wady Shukaiyif, some three miles up
it, to the left of us. The sun had scarcely set when the wind began to
rush down toward the lake, and it continued all night long with
constantly increasing violence, so that when we reached the shore next
morning the face of the lake was a huge boiling caldron. The wind howled
down every wady from the north-east and east with such fury that no
efforts of rowers could have brought a boat to shore at any point along
that coast.... To understand the causes of these sudden and violent
tempests, we must remember that the lake lies low--six hundred feet
lower than the ocean; that the vast and naked plateaus of the Jaulan
rise to a great height, spreading backward to the wilds of the Hauran,
and upward to snowy Hermon; and the water-courses have cut out profound
ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of this lake, and that
these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the
mountains."
2. The Earth Before and After Its Regeneration.--That the earth itself
fell under the curse incident to the fall of the first parents of the
race, and that even as man shall be redeemed so shall the earth be
regenerated, is implied in Paul's words: "Because the creature itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole Creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the
redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:21-23). The present author has written
elsewhere: "According to the scriptures, the earth has to undergo a
change analogous to death, and to be regenerated in a manner comparable
to a resurrection. References to the elements melting with heat, and to
the earth being consumed and passing away, such as occur in many
scriptures already cited, are suggestive of death; and the new earth,
really the renewed or regenerated planet, which is to result, may be
compared with a resurrected organism. The change has been likened unto a
transfiguration (Doc. and Cov. 63:20, 21). Every created thing has been
made for a purpose; and everything that fills the measure of its
creation is to be advanced in the scale of progression, be it an atom or
a world, an animalcule, or man--the direct and literal offspring of
Deity. In speaking of the degrees of glory provided for His creations,
and of the laws of regeneration and sanctification, the Lord, in a
revelation dated 1832, speaks plainly of the approaching death and
subsequent quickening of the earth. These are his words:--'And again,
verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a celestial kingdom,
for it filleth the measure of its creation, and transgresseth not the
law. Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall
die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it
is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.' (Doc. and Cov.
88:25-26.)"
The vital Spirit that emanates from God and is coextensive with space,
may operate directly and with as positive effect upon inanimate things,
and upon energy in its diverse manifestations known to us as the forces
of nature, as upon organized intelligences, whether yet unembodied, in
the flesh, or disembodied. Thus, the Lord may speak directly to the
earth, the air, the sea, and be heard and obeyed, for the divine
affluence, which is the sum of all energy and power may and does operate
throughout the universe. In the course of a revelation from God to
Enoch, the earth is personified, and her groans and lamentations over
the wickedness of men were heard by the prophet: "And it came to pass
that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels
thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am
weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and
be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me? When will
my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and righteousness for a season
abide upon my face?" Enoch pleaded: "O Lord, wilt thou not have
compassion upon the earth?" Following further revelation as to the then
future course of mankind in sin and in the rejection of the Messiah who
was to be sent, the prophet wept with anguish, and asked of God "When
shall the earth rest?" It was then shown unto him that the crucified
Christ shall return to earth and establish a millennial reign of peace:
"And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the
last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath
which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah; and the day
shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens
shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the
heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be
among the children of men." And the glorious assurance followed "that
for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest." (P. of G.P.,
Moses 7:48, 49, 58, 60, 61, 64.)
A partial description of the earth in its regenerated state has been
given through the prophet Joseph Smith in the present dispensation:
"This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like
unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell
thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all
kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it;
and this earth will be Christ's." (Doc. and Cov. 130:9).
That Jesus Christ, in the exercize of His powers of Godship, should
speak directly to the wind or the sea and be obeyed, is no less truly in
accord with the natural law of heaven, than that He should effectively
command a man or an unembodied spirit. That through faith even mortal
man may set in operation the forces that act upon matter and with
assurance of stupendous results has been explicitly declared by Jesus
Christ: "For verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder
place; and it shill remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you"
(Matt. 17:20; compare Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6).
3. The Land of the Gergesenes.--Attempts have been made to discredit the
account of Christ's healing the demoniac in "the country of the
Gadarenes" (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26) on the claim that the ancient town of
Gadara the capital of the district (see Josephus, Wars, iii, 7:1), was
too far inland to make possible the precipitous dash of the swine into
the sea from that place. Others lay stress on the fact that Matthew
differs from the two other Gospel-historians, in specifying "the country
of the Gergesenes" (8:28). As stated in the text, a whole region or
section is referred to, not a town. The keepers of the swine ran off to
the towns to report the disaster that had befallen their herd. In that
district of Perea there were at the time towns named respectively
Gadara, Gerasa, and Gergesa; the region in general, therefore, could
properly be called the land of the Gadarenes or of the Gergesenes.
Farrar (_Life of Christ_, p. 254 note) says: "After the researches of
Dr. Thompson (_The Land and the Book_, ii:25), there can be no doubt
that Gergesa ... was the name of a little town nearly opposite
Capernaum, the ruined site of which is still called Kerza or Gersa by
the Bedawin. The existence of this little town was apparently known both
to Origen, who first introduced the reading, and to Eusebius and Jerome;
and in their day a steep declivity near it, where the hills approach to
within a little distance from the lake, was pointed out as the scene of
the miracle."
4. Jesus Entreated to Leave the Country.--The people were frightened
over the power possessed by Jesus, as demonstrated in the cure of the
demoniac, and in the destruction of the swine, which latter occurrence,
however, was not in pursuance of His command. It was the fear that
sinful men feel in the presence of the Righteous. They were not prepared
for other manifestations of divine power, and they dreaded to think who
among them might be directly affected thereby should it be exerted. We
must judge the people mercifully, however, if at all. They were in part
heathen, and had but superstitious conceptions of Deity. Their prayer
that Jesus leave them brings to mind the ejaculation of Simon Peter in
his witnessing one of Christ's miracles: "Depart from me: for I am a
sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8).
5. "Dead," or "At the Point of Death."--According to Luke (8:42) the
daughter of Jairus "lay a dying" when the grief-stricken father sought
help of the Lord; Mark (5:23) reports the man as stating that the girl
lay "at the point of death." These two accounts agree; but Matthew
(9:18) represents the father as saying: "My daughter is even now dead."
Unbelieving critics have dwelt at length on what they designate an
inconsistency if not a contradiction in these versions; and yet both
accounts embodied in the three records are plainly true. The maid was
seemingly breathing her last, she was in the very throes of death, when
the father hurried away. Before he met Jesus he felt that the end had
probably come; nevertheless his faith endured. His words attest his
trust, that even had his daughter actually died since he left her side,
the Master could recall her to life. He was in a state of frenzied
grief, and still his faith held true.
6. Mourning Customs Among Orientals.--Observances that to us seem
strange, weird, and out of place, prevailed from very early times among
oriental peoples, some of which customs were common to the Jews in the
days of Christ. Noise and tumult, including screeching lamentations by
members of the bereaved family and by professional mourners, as also the
din of instruments, were usual accompaniments of mourning. Geikie,
citing Buxtorf's quotation from the Talmud, gives place to the
following: "Even a poor Israelite was required to have not fewer than
two flute players and one mourning woman at the death of his wife; but
if he be rich all things are to be done according to his quality." In
Smith's _Dictionary of the Bible_, we read: "The number of words (about
eleven Hebrew and as many Greek) employed in scripture to express the
various actions characteristic of mourning, shows in a great degree the
nature of Jewish customs in this respect. They appear to have consisted
chiefly in the following particulars: (1) Beating upon the breast or
other parts of the body. (2) Weeping and screaming in an excessive
degree. (3) Wearing sad-colored garments. (4) Songs of lamentation. (5)
Funeral feasts. (6) Employment of persons, especially women, to lament.
One marked feature of oriental mourning is what may be called its
studied publicity, and the careful observance of prescribed ceremonies
(Gen. 23:2; Job 1:20; 2:8; Isa. 15:3; etc.)."
7. "Not Dead, but Sleepeth."--That the daughter of Jairus was dead is
placed beyond reasonable doubt by the scriptural record. Our Lord's
statement to the noisy mourners that "the damsel is not dead but
sleepeth" told that her sleep was to be of short duration. It was a
rabbinical and common custom of the time to speak of death as a sleep,
and those who laughed Jesus to scorn for His statement chose to construe
His words in a sense of such literalism as the context scarcely
warrants. It is noticeable that the Lord used a strictly equivalent
expression with respect to the death of Lazarus. "Our friend Lazarus
sleepeth," said He, "but I go that I may awake him out of sleep." The
literal construction placed upon these words by the apostles evoked the
plain declaration "Lazarus is dead" (John 11:11, 14). In the Talmud
death is repeatedly designated as sleep--hundreds of times says
Lightfoot, a recognized authority on Hebrew literature.
8. Why Did Jesus Make Inquiries?--We have already considered many
instances of Christ's possession of what man would call superhuman
knowledge, extending even to the reading of unuttered thoughts. Some
people find difficulty in reconciling this superior quality with the
fact that Jesus often asked questions even on matters of minor
circumstance. We should realize that even complete knowledge may not
preclude the propriety of making inquiries, and, moreover, that even
omniscience does not imply ever-present consciousness of all that is.
Undoubtedly through his paternal heritage of divine attributes, Jesus
had the power of ascertaining for Himself, by means not possessed by
others, any facts He might have desired to know; nevertheless we find
Him repeatedly asking questions on circumstantial detail (Mark 9:21;
8:27; Matt. 16:13; Luke 8:45); and this He did even after His
resurrection (Luke 24:41; John 21:5; B. of M., 3 Nephi 17:7).
That catechization is one of the most effective means of mind
development is exampled in the methods followed by the best of human
teachers. Trench (_Notes on the Miracles_, pp. 148-9), thus
instructively points the lesson as illustrated by our Lord's question
concerning the woman who was healed of her issue of blood: With little
force "can it be urged that it would have been inconsistent with
absolute truth for the Lord to profess ignorance, and to ask the
question which He did ask, if all the while He perfectly knew what He
thus seemed implicitly to say that He did not know. A father among his
children, and demanding Who committed this fault? himself conscious,
even while he asks, but at the same time willing to bring the culprit to
a full confession, and so to put him in a pardonable state, can he be
said, in any way to violate the law of the highest truth? The same
offense might be found in Elisha's 'Whence comest thou, Gehazi?' (2
Kings 5:25) when his heart went with his servant all the way that he had
gone; and even in the question of God Himself to Adam, 'Where art thou?'
(Gen. 3:9), and to Cain, 'Where is Abel thy brother?' (Gen. 4:9). In
every case there is a moral purpose in the question, an opportunity
given even at the latest moment for making good at least a part of the
error by its unreserved confession."
9. The Blind See.--In his treatment of the miraculous healing of the two
blind men who had followed Jesus into the house, Trench (_Notes on the
Miracles of our Lord_, p. 152) says: "We have here the first of those
many healings of the blind recorded (Matt. 12:22; 20:30; 21:14; John 9)
or alluded to (Matt. 11:5) in the Gospels; each of them a literal
fulfilment of that prophetic word of Isaiah concerning the days of
Messiah: 'Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened' (35:5). Frequent
as these miracles are, they yet will none of them be found without
distinguishing features of their own. That they should be so numerous is
nothing wonderful, whether we regard the fact from a natural or
spiritual point of view. Regarded naturally they need not surprize us if
we keep in mind how far commoner a calamity is blindness in the East
than with us. Regarded from a spiritual point of view we have only to
remember how commonly sin is contemplated in Scripture as a moral
blindness (Deut. 28:29; Isa. 59:10; Job 12:25; Zeph. 1:17), and
deliverance from sin as a removal of this blindness (Isa. 6:9, 10; 43:8;
Eph. 1:18; Matt. 15:14); and we shall at once perceive how fit it was
that He who was the 'light of the world' should often accomplish works
which symbolized so well that higher work which He came into the world
to accomplish."
10. Imputation of Satanic Agency.--Observe that in the matter of healing
the dumb demoniac referred to in the text, Christ was charged with being
in league with the devil. Although the people, impressed by the
manifestation of divine power in the healing, exclaimed in reverence,
"It was never so seen in Israel," the Pharisees, intent on counteracting
the good effect of the Lord's miraculous ministration, said "He casteth
out devils through the prince of the devils." (Matt. 9:32-34.) For
further treatment of this inconsistent and, strictly speaking
blasphemous charge, see pages 265-269.
FOOTNOTES:
[657] Mark 4:35.
[658] "Articles of Faith," x:1-20--"Men called of God."
[659] Page 87.
[660] Luke 9:57-62; see also Matt. 8:19-22.
[661] Matt 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25.
[662] Note 1, end of chapter.
[663] Gen. 1:28; P. of G.P., Moses 2:26; 5:1.
[664] Gen. 3:17-19.
[665] Note 2, end of chapter.
[666] Matt. 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-19; Luke 8:26-39.
[667] Note 3, end of chapter.
[668] Compare Rev. 20:3.
[669] Revised version, "abyss" instead of "deep."
[670] Note 4, end of chapter.
[671] Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34, also verse 41; see page 181 herein.
[672] Mark 3:7-11; compare Luke 6:17-19. See page 187.
[673] Mark 5:22-24, 35-43; Luke 8:41, 42, 49-56; Matt. 9:18, 19, 23-26.
[674] John 11:45; compare 8:30; 10:42.
[675] Note 5, end of chapter.
[676] Note 6, end of chapter.
[677] Note 7, end of chapter.
[678] Mark 5:19-20; Luke 8:39. Page 312.
[679] Page 251.
[680] 1 Cor. 15:20, 23; see also Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5; and
"Articles of Faith," xxi:24-27.
[681] 1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:31-37.
[682] Mark 5:25-34; Matt. 9:20-22; Luke 8:43-48.
[683] "Articles of Faith," v:11-13.
[684] Mark 6:5, 6; compare Matt. 13:58.
[685] Doc. and Cov. 46:19; compare Matt. 8:10; 9:28, 29. Acts 14:9.
[686] Note 8, end of chapter.
[687] Matt. 8:3; Luke 4:40; 13:13; John 9:6; compare Mark 6:5; 7:33;
8:23.
[688] Matt. 9:27-35.
[689] Matt. 15:22; 20:30, 31; Mark 10:47, 48; Luke 18:38, 39.
[690] Note 9, end of chapter.
[691] Matt. 20:30-34; John 9:6; Mark 8:23.
[692] Mark 7:32-37.
[693] Matt. 9:32, 33. Note 10, end of chapter.