46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Verse 47. For she loved much. Our translation has been thought to make the love of this woman the CAUSE of her forgiveness; but this is contrary to the whole argument, founded upon the case of the two debtors, which makes love the coNSEQUENCE of free and gratuitous forgiveness: so that the notion of the Papists built upon this passage, that love is a meritorious cause of the pardon of sin, is contradicted by its whole scope. Most critics, therefore, give an illative sense to оть, and read, "Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; OT, THEREFORE, she loved much." This avoids theological error; for undoubtedly the cause of her salvation, subordinate to the mercy of Christ, is said (verse 50) to have been her faith, not her love,-Thy faith hath saved thee: but there seems no reason for depriving ort, in this place, of its usual causal sense, as will appear if we closely consider the meaning of this verse. Our Lord evidently intended to correct Simon's notion respecting this woman, and also to prove that he himself, as he had supposed, was not at all ignorant of her character. Simon assumed her to be a sinner: Christ allows her to have been a great sinner, a debtor in five hundred pence, but declares that her many sins were forgiven, urging in proof of this, that she loved much. The argument in fact is, because she loveth much, she hath had much forgiven, so that she is no longer a polluted sinner:

and this makes the words sufficiently plain, Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, because she loved much,—the fact is proved by her very love. So Wetstein well remarks, "Love indeed is naturally consequent on remission of sins; that is, she loveth much, because many sins are forgiven her. But it may be considered as the mark and token of remission; that is, as it was manifest that Christ was much beloved by her, it might be certainly thence concluded that remission of sins had followed. This Christ addressed to the Pharisee, who thought her yet a sinner."

Both this transaction and the parable to which it gave rise, are of great theological importance. The doctrine of the parable is, that pardon of sin is wholly gratuitous, independent of any consideration of worthiness or ability in the sinner. When the debtors had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both, wholly remitted their debt and cancelled their obligation. Answering to the doctrine of the parable, is the example. A woman who was a sinner, yet being penitent and having faith in Christ, is freely forgiven. Free and full salvation through the sole mercy of God in Christ, and by faith in his merit, is the glorious doctrine of the New Testament, nor can it lead to any abuse, rightly understood: for he that hath much forgiven will love much; and to him that loveth, "the commandments of God are not grievous."

CHAPTER VIII.

3 Women minister unto Christ of their substance. 4 Christ, after he had preached from place to place, attended with his apostles, propoundeth the parable of the sower, 16 and of the candle: 21 declareth who are his mother, and brethren: 22 rebuketh the winds: 26 casteth the legion of devils out of the man into the herd of swine: 37 is rejected of the Gadarenes : 43 healeth the woman of her bloody issue, 49 and raiseth from death Jairus' daughter.

1 AND it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their

substance.

4 ¶ And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

a Mark xvi. 9.

CHAPTER VIII. Verse 2. Mary, called Magdalene. She was of Magdala, a town of Galilee. That she was a person of respectable circumstances, appears from her being here mentioned with Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward, Susanna, and others who ministered to him of their substance. Her always being placed first when other women, even those of some rank, are mentioned, indicates also that she was not of the lower class; and as to her character, that cannot be proved to have been manifestly evil from the circumstance of her having been possessed with devils, unless it could be proved that all possessions implied particular guilt in the persons so afflicted. Such an affliction indeed could not exist but among fallen creatures, and only in their unre

b Matt. xiii. 3.

generate state; but that it argued any specific depravity does not appear.

Verse 3. Wife of Herod's steward.She might be a widow, or her husband might be favourable to Christ. Exiporos is a steward, agent, or manager; some think that here it means a treasurer, as indeed it is rendered in the Arabic version.

Which ministered to him of their substance.—They had all, it seems, been healed by our Lord of evil spirits and infirmities, that is, some of evil spirits, and others of infirmities; and they showed their gratitude by ministering to the wants of our Lord, and those of his disciples who were in constant attendance upon him.

Verse 5. A sower went out, &c.—See the notes on Matt. xiii. 3-9.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up

with it, and choked it.

8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred fold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

16¶No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: 'for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.

19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.

20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.

21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

h

22 Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.

24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.

25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

i

26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.

27 And when he went forth to land, there met him out of

h Matt. viii. 23.

upon his public ministry. In Mark vi. 3, the family is enumerated; but no mention is made of Joseph. The mother and the brethren are here noticed, but there is no allusion to Joseph; and at the crucifixion Jesus commended his mother to the care of John, which appears a certain indication that she was a widow, and probably also that those usually called "the brethren" of our Lord, whether sons of Joseph by a former marriage, or of Joseph and Mary, or the sons of a sister, continued in a state of impenitence and unbelief.

Verse 22. He went into a ship.-See the notes on Matt. viii. 23-27.

Verse 26. Country of the Gadarenes.See notes on Matt. viii. 28, &c. For the

i Matt. viii. 28.

additional circumstances mentioned by St. Mark, see Mark v. 1, &c. St. Luke adds, they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep, the abyss, eis тny aßvσσov, the place of wicked spirits, whether evil angels, or the disembodied spirits of wicked men. It signifies that part of hades where the wicked are reserved to the judgment of the great day, but from which the devil and his angels are suffered sometimes to emerge, in order to pursue their malicious works on earth. Under what rules this is done, we know not; all here is mystery; but the scriptures reveal the facts, and they teach us also, for our comfort, that the keys of hades are in the hands of our Saviour.

the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment

me not.

29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)

30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. 31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.

32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.

33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.

34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.

35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind and they were afraid.

36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.

37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.

38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,

39 Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published