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2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

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3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

a Mark i. 40.

mentioned as an introduction to the miracle which follows, to show that it was done publicly in the presence of a great number of witnesses; so that it became to them the seal of the reality of that "authority" which Christ had assumed in his late sermon, and with which they had been so much impressed.

Verse 2. A leper.-From the nature of this loathsome disease, its cure, even in cases not hopeless, could only be effected by slow degrees; so that the instantaneous healing of a leper, and that by a touch, was an unequivocal miracle. The spots of the leprosy dilate themselves until they cover the whole body; the pain is not very great, but great debility of the system is induced, and great grief and depression of the spirits, so as sometimes to drive the unhappy patient to self-destruction. But this miserable object was now at the feet of Him who could both pity and save.

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Worshipped him.-This he did by prostrating himself; a common mark of profound reverence among the Jews, and other eastern people. Religious worship is not intended, but civil respect; for he probably knew nothing more of Christ than that he was a great prophet, endued with the power of working miracles. Nor is his address, Lord," to be taken in a religious sense; but was usual with the Jews when speaking to a superior. If, however, he knew, and believed him to be the Messiah, there might be a further reference in his mind, both in the act of prostration, and in the application of the title, "Lord,” Kupie, which was also used in the most sacred sense; for it is not improbable that he might have deeper views than the brevity of the history indicates; but this does not clearly appear. However that may be, he had

b Luke v. 13.

full faith in Christ's power; as far as he knew him he trusted him; and by this teaches us that our higher knowledge ought to call forth a proportionate faith.

Verse 3. And touched him. He that touched a leper, or touched a dead body, was by the law rendered unclean. Our Lord might have healed the one and raised the other without this action; but in each case he put forth his hand and touched. This was probably to show that the law was not applicable to him, who by touching a leper, instead of contracting impurity, imparted health, and by whose touch death itself became life. So he took our nature without its defilement, and lived sinless in a sinful world; coming into contact with fallen and corrupt man only to sanctify and to save him. Many comparisons have been founded upon this history by fanciful divines and preachers, who have traced numerous parallels between the leprosy and our natural corruption, and between the manner in which our Lord healed the leper, and that in which he restores diseased souls to soundness. No doubt all the miracles of healing performed by our Lord were TYPES as well as ATTESTATIONS. They exhibited his compassion, and they hold him forth under that affecting character, which he himself professed, the

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Physician" of souls. The true resemblance was not, however, designed to be pursued into minute particulars, which, as they rest on mere human authority, are without authority; and it is enough for us to know that he both CAN and WILL make clean from sin all who come to him in the same spirit as this poor leper.

Saying, I will, be thou clean, &c.—Here the latent divinity of our Lord again breaks forth. As he taught with authority, he heals with authority, and in both, the

4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

5¶And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

c Lev. xiv. 4.

very MANNER places him infinitely above the highest commissioned servant : I WILL, BE THOU CLEAN! No wonder this language has reminded critics of the sublime sentence, "Let there be light, and there was light." But in marking the sublimity of the style, they have often forgotten the sublimity of the person, who was "the Most High" himself; for the use of this language by any other would have been no subject of just admiration, it would have been greatly criminal.

Verse 4. See thou tell no man.-It is very singular that acute commentators upon this passage should have elaborated so many grave hypothetical reasons for the secrecy imposed upon the leper in this instance, when the miracle was evidently performed in the presence of " the multitudes" that followed Christ. The meaning clearly is, Hasten to the priest to be examined by him and pronounced clean, and fit to be received into society, and offer the gift that Moses commanded; and, till this is done, tell no man. The reason is obvious; that the priest might pronounce him clean, according to his office in such cases, on an unbiassed judgment of the fact.

For a testimony unto them.-The plural, AUTOIS, being used has led some to suppose that the priests were not intended as the persons to be benefited by the testimony of this miracle, since but one is mentioned, -show thyself to the priest. Priest is, however, probably used in a collective sense for the whole body who might then be attending their ministrations at Jerusalem. Or the plural may be used to comprehend both the priests, and all to

d Luke vii. 1.

whom the man might afterwards speak of his cure; for the fact, that the priest had pronounced him clean, and in token of that had permitted him to enter the temple and offer his gift, was a public and official testimony to the truth of the miracle.

Verse 5. A centurion.-A Roman officer, commander of a hundred men. The centurions were usually stationed in the towns of the Roman provinces to preserve order. The probability is, that this officer, through his residence in Judea, had attained a knowledge of the true God; he had certainly given profound attention to the accounts of the character, teaching, and miracles of our Lord; and if he had made himself acquainted with the Jewish scriptures, of which there can be little doubt, he might regard him, not as a mere prophet, however great, but as that mysterious and exalted personage announced in those scriptures as the Messiah. Certain it is that he regarded him as something more than mortal, as appears from the sequel.

Verse 6. Sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.-Not merely paralytic, but also afflicted with strong pains, grievously tormented. The verb Baraview signifies to torture, from Baσavos, a Lydian stone, upon which metals were proved; hence the verb signifies to apply an engine of torture, in examinations of criminals, and metaphorically, to afflict and torment.

Verses 7-10. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him, &c.-The benevolent promptitude with which our Lord yields to the centurion's request, is the first circumstance to be noted in the nar

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them. that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

ration; the second is the humility of the centurion himself, joined with his singular faith. Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but only speak the word, eine Xoy, which is the reading adopted by Wetstein and others, on the authority of many мss, and some of the versions; command by a word, and my servant shall be healed. But it is chiefly in the reason which the centurion assigns, in urging that it was unnecessary for Christ to go to his house, that the peculiar clearness of this pious soldier's views, and the strength of his confidence, are particularly manifested. For I am a man under authority, &c.; the sense of which is, For though I myself am A MAN, and SUBORDINATE to others, being under the authority of Cæsar and my superior officers, yet having soldiers under me, I say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; obeying my word with instant promptitude and entire subjection: how much more shall all diseases, and therefore all natural things whatever, obey thee, who hast SUPREME AUTHORITY and ABSOLUTE POWER in thyself! That this man must have had some highly superior glimpses of the divinity of Christ must be supposed, to account for this language. It was not the hyperbolical language of an oriental, for he was a Roman; and that it was not the language of compliment is certain from his having

a faith in Christ corresponding to it; a faith at which our Lord marvelled, and which he declared so great that he had not found a faith equal to it in Israel. He was surely taught of God, and to him had already been given, in some considerable degree, “a revelation of the mystery of Christ," which had not been made to others. He considered our Lord as possessed in himself of more than human power; and a steady view and firm belief of that fact was the foundation of his absolute trust.

Verse 11. Many shall come from the east, &c.-This instance of a pious Gentile having so readily embraced the knowledge of the true God, and having come through the study of the Jewish scriptures to so clear an acquaintance with the character of the Messiah, of whom they speak, and further, so readily admitting that evidence of the claim of Jesus to be that Messiah which his numerous miracles had afforded, here leads our Lord to predict the future calling and salvation of the Gentiles from all parts of the earth. Those who interpret the words, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, of the reception. of the Gentiles into the church on earth, and becoming the sons of Abraham through faith, and heirs of the promises made to him, forget that the sense of this phrase is fixed by our Lord in his parable

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

of the rich man and Lazarus, where the latter, in his disembodied state, is represented as in "THE BOSOM of Abraham." The expression refers to the custom of reclining on couches at table, where he that was nearest another was said to be or to lie in his bosom; so that the felicity of Lazarus was expressed in that parable, just as here, under the idea of a great banquet, where the most honoured guests reclined next to the principal personages. Thus Josephus represents one of the seven Maccabee brethren encouraging the rest to persevere in their religion though they should die for it, "for Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, will receive us after our decease into their bosoms." The words, therefore, respect the felicity of the believing Gentiles in HEAVEN; where, so far from being placed in inferior circumstances to the Jews, they are represented as sitting, or rather reclining, avakλwoμal, with the glorified patriarchs themselves, though not their natural descendants. Thus, those "that are of the faith," whether Jew or Gentile, "are blessed with faithful Abraham," and none but such. This mode of representing celestial felicity under the metaphor of a social banquet, was not peculiar to the Jews. It is often found in Greek authors. So Epictetus, eσn tote twy bewv agios OUTONS, "You will in due time be a worthy guest of the gods." And Socrates, in his Apology, speaks of future blessedness as a state of delightful converse and abode with the renowned heroes and sages of antiquity. All goodness is, however, by these heathens, shut out of this conception; whereas, as it is used in the scriptures, it stands connected with the noblest and most spiritual hopes.

Verse 12. But the children of the kingdom, &c.—The Jews are here intended; and the phrase employed was equivalent

to their expressions, "a son of the world to come," and "children of the world to come;" meaning those who expected and were particularly entitled to the kingdom of Messiah. The import of the phrase, cast out into outer darkness, can only be understood by referring also to the customs of those countries. Great feasts were always made at night; the house in which the guests assembled was brilliantly illuminated with a profusion of lights, which were not only for use, but symbols of joy and gladness, so that those who intruded without authority, or misconducted themselves, when cast out, were thrust into outer darkness, or the darkness without; and their disappointment and disgrace are expressed, in this passage, by "weeping and gnashing of teeth," words too strong indeed to indicate the mortification of being merely excluded from a feast, and leading us therefore to the thing intended; exclusion from heaven into the darkness and despair of an eternal misery. How different is this doctrine of Christ from the Rabbinical bigotry, that "all Israel should have a portion in the world to come; but that the heathen should be fuel for hell fire!" On the contrary, God will save true believers of all nations, whether Jew or Gentile; but the obstinately wicked of every race, and without respect of persons, shall suffer the just judgment which shall follow rejected

mercy.

Verse 13. And as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee, &c.-This is God's rule of proportion: it is done to us "according to our faith." The centurion's trust had a just proportion to his knowledge of Christ's character; and God proportioned the blessing to his trust. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

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14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he ¶ saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick :

17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias

e Mark i. 29; Luke iv. 38.

Verse 14. Peter's wife's mother.-Peter's residence was at Capernaum; and from this passage it appears that he was a married man. With little grace therefore do the Papists contend for the celibacy of the clergy, when it is clear the very apostle of whom they boast as the rock on which their church is built was married, and remained so long after he had entered fully upon his labours as an apostle. (1 Cor. ix. 5.)

Verse 15. He touched her hand, &c.Sometimes our Lord healed by a word, sometimes by a touch, and in the case of the leper by both. Perhaps in this case both were used; for St. Luke says, "he rebuked the fever," as he rebuked the winds and the waves on another occasion; and his assuming this tone of authority was an illustration of the words of the centurion. All things, the elements of nature, the restless seas, the boisterous winds, the fiercest diseases, and, let us not forget, the infection of sin itself in the heart of man, acknowledge his AUTHORITY, and yield to his REBUKE. And she arose and ministered; which was in proof of the instant communication of health and vigour ; leaving behind no debility, as in the case of all fevers cured by ordinary means So perfect were the miracles of Christ! That she arose and ministered to them, that is, supplied them with refreshments, is perhaps an indication that she was the mistress of the family: if so, Peter was but a lodger there, as her son-in-law. Her humble rank in life forbids us, however, to think that she had servants at command; so that she herself actually served at table what her

f Mark i. 32; Luke iv. 40.

hospitality had provided. Such were the first disciples of Christ, and such the lowly manner in which the Lord of all things resided among men!

Verse 16. When the even was come.— From the other evangelists it appears, that the mother-in-law of Peter was healed on the sabbath; and as the day among the Jews ended at sunset, the people, now that the sabbath was past, brought their sick. When cases of affliction were immediately before our Lord, he healed them instantly, though it were on the sabbath-day, deciding that it was "lawful to do good on the sabbath day.” But he did not go BEYOND the immediate necessity of the case, even “to do good.” He did not INVITE the attendance of the sick upon him on that day, though it was a day of leisure with their friends to bring them, lest their just reverence for the sabbath should be diminished, and his own sacred exercises in the synagogues, and those of his disciples, should be interrupted. They probably knew his views on these subjects, and therefore only when the sabbath was over brought the cases to him.

Cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.—The terms here employed fully refute the notion of those who resolve demoniacal possessions into those bodily diseases with which the possessed were often afflicted at the same time. He cast out, ceßaλe, the spirits, and HEALED, eleрatevσev, the sick. An essential distinction between the cases could not be more strongly marked. See note on Mark i. 34.

Verse 17. That it might be fulfilled, &c.

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