Jesus said to him, Follow thou me leave the dead to bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord I will follow thee; but permit me first to go and take my leave of them which are at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man having once put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

And when he was entered into the ship, his disciples followed him, and they launched forth; and other little ships were also with him. And as they were sailing he fell asleep; and behold there came down a violent storm of wind on the lake, and there arose a great agitation in the sea, insomuch that the vessel was covered with the waves, which beat into the ship, so that it was now full of water, and they were in extreme danger. And [ Jesus] was asleep on a pillow in the stern of the ship. And his disciples came to him and awakened him, saying, Master, Master, is it no concern to thee? Lord save us ! we are perishing. And he says to them, Why are ye so timorous, O ye of little faith ?* Then rising up he rebuked the winds, and the raging of the water, and said to the sea, Peace, be still: And the wind ceased †, and there was presently a great calm. And the men were amazed, and feared exceedingly, saying to each other, What a wonderful person is this, who commandeth the winds and the sea, and they obey him!

REFLECTIONS.

How great and glorious does our blessed Redeemer appear, as having all the elements at his command, and exercising his dominion over the winds and seas! He stills the very tempests when they roar, and makes the storm a calm. He silences at once the noise and fury of the tumultuous waves: and, in the midst of its confusion, says to the raging sea, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.-Who would not reverence and fear him! Who would not cheerfully commit themselves to him! Under such a protection, how courageously may his church ride through every storm, and weather every danger! Christ is still with her, and she is safe even while he may seem to be sleeping. Blessed Jesus! that power of thine which here commanded the tempest into a calm, can easily silence all our tumultuous passions, and reduce our souls to that blessed tranquillity in which alone we can be capable of enjoying thee and ourselves.

May we still be applying to Christ with such importunate addresses; and, sensible how much we need his help, may we cry out, Lord, save us, or we perish! And may it be the language, not of suspicion and terror, but of faith; of a faith determined at all adventures to adhere to him, whatever dangers are to be encountered, or whatever advantages are to be resigned!

Did his compassion for us, and his desire of our salvation, engage him to submit to such destitute and calamitous circumstances, that when the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, the Son of man himself had not a place where he might lay that sacred head

* MARK, How is it that ye have no faith?' LUKE, 'Where is your faith? + Rested, D.

which with infinite mutual complacency and delight he had so often reposed in the bosom of the Father! May our zeal and love animate us cheerfully to take our part in his indigence and distress, if he calls us to it! May no considerations of ease or interest, or even of human friendship, lead us to turn a deaf ear to the calls of duty; or suffer us, when we once have engaged in his service, to think of deserting it, lest on the whole we should be judged unfit for the kingdom of God! May thy grace, O Lord, animate our souls, that nothing may prevent our faithfulness unto death, and so deprive us of that crown of life which thy grace has promised to such a character!

SECTION LXX.

Christ dispossesses two demoniacs, and permitting the evil spirits to enter into a herd of swine, is desired to withdraw. MATT. viii. 28, &c. ix. 1. MARK V. 1-21. LUKE Viii. 26-40.

after were delivered from the storm, came over to

the other side of the sea of Tiberias, and arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, adjacent to that of the Gergesenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he was landed out of the ship, there immediately met him two men * possessed with demons, coming out of sepulchres, exceeding fierce, so that no one could safely pass by that way: [one of these was] a certain man of the city with an unclean spirit, that had been possessed with demons for a long time; who wore no clothes, nor would abide in any house, but had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could confine him even with chains; for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, yet the chains were broken asunder by him, and the fetters were beaten to pieces; and no one was able to tame him. And he was always, night and day, upon the mountains and among the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.-And when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and fell down before him and worshipped him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I beseech and adjure thee by God that thou do not Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? (for he had already commanded the unclean spirit, having said to him with an air of authority, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.)†

torment me.

And Jesus asked the evil spirit that was in him, What is thy name? And he answered saying, My name is Legion, for we are many; because a multitude of demons had entered into him. And they earnestly entreated him that he would not send them away out of the country, [nor] command them to go into the abyss.

* Mark and Luke mention only one, who probably was the fiercer of the two; but this is not inconsistent with Matthew.

46

† LUKE,-"For it had often seized him, and he was bound in chains, and kept in fetters; and having broke all the bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desart places." This passage, which the author introduces here, after the above from MARK, is redundant.

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Now there was there, at a considerable distance from them, on the mountains, a great herd of swine* feeding on the mountain. And all the demons entreated him saying, If thou cast us out, suffer ust to go away to the herd of swine that we may enter into them, and immediately Jesus (to punish the owners, and to prove the reality of a diabolical agency) permitted them, and said unto them, Go. And the unclean spirits went out of the man and entered into the herd of swine; and behold the whole herd grew mad and ran violently down a precipice into the sea, and perished in the waters, being about two thousand.:

And the swine-herds, seeing what was done, fled, and told all the story in the city and country, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And they went out in crowds to see what was done. And when they came to Jesus, and saw the demoniac that had the legion, out of whom the demons were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and composed, they were afraid. And they also who had seen all that passed, told them more largely by what means the demoniac had been recovered, and also concerning the destruction of the swine. And behold the whole city of Gadara came out to meet Jesus; and the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about. And when they saw him, they began to entreat him that he would depart from them out of their coasts; for they were seized with great fear of some further judgments. And he went into the ship again, and returned back to the western shore.

And when he was come into the ship, the demoniac, out of whom the demons were departed, entreated him that he might continue with him. Yet Jesus did not permit him, but sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house go to thy friends at home, and tell them how great things the Lord God has performed for thee, and how he has had compassion on thee. And he went away, and began to publish through the whole city, and in Decapolis, what great things Jesus had done for him. And all men were amazed. And Jesus having entered into the ship, passed over the sea of Galilee, and came to his own city of Capernaum, and a great multitude gathered to him, and the people gladly received him; for they were all impatiently waiting for him. And he continued some time on the sea coast.

REFLECTIONS.

From the remarkable story which is here before us we must surely see the most apparent reason to adore the good providence of God which restrains the malignant spirits of hell from spreading those desolations among beasts and men, which would otherwise quickly turn the earth into a wilderness, or rather into a chaos. But what matter of joy is it to reflect that all their fury and rage is under a divine control, and that they cannot hurt even the meanest animal without permission from above!-The unhappy creature, whose state

* LUKE. "Many swine."-The Jews bred great numbers of them (contrary to their law) to sell to the Gentiles.

† MARK, "Send us."-The cavils against this miracle are equally malicious and weak. [The author vindicates it in a judicious note.]

LUKE, "Were suffocated in the sea."

is here described in such lively colours, is an affecting emblem of those who are in a spiritual sense under the power of Satan. Thus do they break asunder the bonds of reason and gratitude, and sometimes of authority, and even of shame; and, thus driven on by the frenzy of their lusts and passions, they are so outrageous as to injure others, and to wound themselves. Human attempts to moderate and reform them may be vain; but let us remember that the almighty Saviour has a voice which can put this worst kind of demons to flight, and restore those that have been agitated by them to their right mind, so as to place them at his feet in holy composure, and in calm, rational attention.

We see here a legion of devils trembling before the Son of God, confessing his superior power, howling as it were in their chains, and entreating the delay of their torments. And can human pride stand before him, and rebellious mortals triumph over him? Happy souls, that are listed under his banners! They shall share the victories of the great Captain of their salvation, and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under their feet shortly. But oh, how stupid and how wretched were these Gadarenes, who preferred their swine to their souls, and besought him to depart out of their coasts, whose presence was their defence and their glory! May divine grace preserve us from a temper like theirs! And may those of us who have ourselves experienced the restoring power of Christ and his gospel, be engaged to adhere to our great Benefactor, and gratefully to devote those powers to his service which he has rescued from dishonour, mischief, and ruin!

SECTION LXXI.

Christ, being entertained at Matthew's house, justifies his conversing with publicans and sinners; and vindicates his disciples. MATT. ix, 10-17. MARK ii. 15-22. LUKE v. 29, &c.

AND Matthew, named also Levi, who had some time since been cal

led from his office of a publican, to attend upon Christ, made a great entertainment for him in his own house. And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at table, behold a great number of the publicans and sinners, being invited, came, and sat also at the table with Jesus and his disciples. And others also were present, for there were many [who] followed him. But when their Scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they murmured at his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink, and how is it that your master eats and drinks, with publicans and sinners? And Jesus, having heard it, he answered them saying, They that are in health have no need of the physician, but those that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. But go your way and learn the meaning of that scripture, (Hos. vi. 6.) " I require mercy, and not "sacrifice."

And as the disciples of John the Baptist, and of the Pharisees, used often to fast, several of the disciples of John, who were now present, come and say unto him, Whence is it that we, the disciples of John, VOL. I.

R

and also of the Pharisees, frequently fast, and make prayers, whereas thy disciples fast not at all, but eat and drink freely? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn and fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the pleasure of the bridegroom among them they cannot be expected to fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then they shall fast in those days. And, further to illustrate this, he spake also a parable to them: No man will of choice sew a piece of new stiff cloth* on an old garment; for [in that case] the new piece that was put in to fill up [the breach] agrees not with the old, but teareth r away from it, and thus the rent is made And no wise man puts new wife into old leathern † bottles, for if he should, the new wine, fermenting, will burst the bottles, and so the wine will be spilt, as well as the bottles destroyed. But new. wine must be put into new bottles, and thus both are preserved. And no man who has generally drank old wine will immediately choose new; for he says, The old is better. Judge then how fit it is that I should not oblige my disciples to a new course of severities at once.

worse.

REFLECTIONS.

There is no reason to wonder that Matthew should gladly embrace so proper an opportunity of introducing other publicans and sinners into the presence of that condescending Saviour, from whom, though he once was numbered among them, he had received grace and the apostleship. Let us with pleasure observe how ready our blessed Lord was to receive them. Surely, whatever offence the proud Pharisees might take on such an occasion, Jesus will appear peculiarly amiable in such a circle as this. Compassionate Redeemer ! thou didst, as the great Physician of souls, willingly converse with objects that must have been most hateful to thy pure and holy nature! May we each of us have a due sense of the malignity of sin, that fatal disease of the soul, that we may with a becoming temper apply to Christ for a cure! May we also, like him, be willing to condescend to the meanest and vilest, if it may be the means of winning them over to true religion and happiness! ever preferring mercy to sacrifice, and choosing rather to govern ourselves by the dictates of a benevolent heart than by the maxims of proud and censorious men.

Christ would not discourage his disciples by over-rigorous institutions; and it is unfit that his religion should be burthened with them. He suits the duties of his people to their circumstances, and kindly proportions their work to their strength, with a tender regard to their weakness, till by degrees they may be fitted for the more difficult and humbling services. From his example, and the whole genius of his gospel, let us learn to make all proper allowances to those about us, that we may teach them, and train them up as they are able to bear it ; not crushing them under any unnecessary load, nor denying them any indulgence which true friendship will permit us to grant them ; lest the good ways of God should be misrepresented, disgraced, and * The words signify, cloth which has not passed through the Fuller's hands. Such only it is well known were then in use. Comp. Josh. ix. 4, 13. Peal. cxix. 83.