III.

A devil cast out of a woman of Canaan's daughter.

MATT. XV. 21, 22, &c.

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

IN the chapter before this we have an account of St. John the Baptist's being put to death by Herod; which when Jesus heard of, he departed by ship into a desert place apart, that he might give his thoughts full scope, without disturbance, to muse upon that hasty and violent end of his forerunner, who, for boldly rebuking vice, so soon lost his liberty, and then his life, to satisfy the revenge of a lascivious woman.

This could not but very much concern our compassionate Lord, and put him in mind too of the great sufferings and cruel death which he himself, in a few years, must undergo for the same righteous cause, the charitable endeavour to reform a wicked world; and that his blood must atone for the sins of it, and he be the propitiatory sacrifice to appease God's wrath against it.

Thus to employ his thoughts upon this sad occasion, and to spend some time in prayer to his hea

a Matt. xiv. 13.

venly Father, for his divine aid and support in carrying on the great work he had begun through all the dangers and difficulties of it, was one reason, we may suppose, of our Lord's retiring into that desert place, after he had the melancholy news brought him of the Baptist's death.

But being followed thither by the multitude, who now in vast numbers thronged after him, and his compassion engaging him all the day in healing their sick, and treating them with a miraculous repast in the evening; when all was over, that he might not be disappointed of his designed opportunity for meditation and devotion, he dismissed the people, and constrained his disciples to leave him there alone for a while, and go before him in the ship they came in to the other side of the water, and he would follow, (in some other ship, they might suppose, which usually tended there to carry passengers to and fro over the lake). And when they were gone, he went up into a mountain apart to pray, and continued there till towards morning, and then walked upon the sea to his disciples, and gave them timely relief, being ready to perish in a storm; and no sooner was he got into the ship to them, but they came safe to shore d.

Where being arrived, and meeting with new opportunities of doing good, and that in so amazing a manner, that as many diseased people as did but touch the hem of his garment were made perfectly whole; some envious ill-designing scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem, who probably might be sent as

b Matt. xiv. 14, 15. c Matt. xiv. 23. miracles, see above, p. 153, &c. and 178, &c.

d Upon which

spies upon him, began to interrupt him with their idle cavils, and complained of his disciples transgressing the tradition of the elders, in not washing their hands when they eat bread: hoping, it may be, to pick something out of his answer, that might make matter of accusation against him to the sanhedrim.

But he confounded them so with a counter-question, illustrated by a notorious instance, and then backed it with so sharp a rebuke, that they went away greatly enraged; as you may see from the 3rd to the 12th verse of this 15th chapter.

And upon his disciples coming to him soon after, and acquainting him how highly the Pharisees were offended at him; after despising their malice, and foretelling how fatal it would be in the conclusion to themselves, and those that were led by them, he thought fit to conceal himself from them for a while, lest their fury should put them upon serving him, as Herod had lately done the Baptist, before he had finished his course of preaching, which he had but just almost begun, and sufficiently attested his divine mission by a long continued series of miracles, which, for their greatness and number, should far surpass all that Moses, and all the rest of the prophets put together, had done of that nature before.

From thence therefore, that is, from the country of Gennesaret f, went Jesus, and departed privately into the coasts, or borders, of Tyre and Sidon &; hoping that there he might lie hid for a while, and that nobody would suspect his being gone to a place inhabited by Gentiles only.

But it was not out of fear that our blessed Mase Matt. xiv. 12—14. f Matt. xiv. 34. g Mark vii. 24.

BRAGGE, VOL. I.

B b

ter absconded thus now, and several times afterwards, as the gospel story tells us he did, his undaunted courage and constancy in all his sufferings demonstrating the contrary; no, it was only out of prudence, that he might avoid the rage of his enemies, till he had brought his great good work to some maturity, and put the affairs of his heavenly kingdom in such a posture, that his apostles might go on successfully when he should be taken from them whereas his death, at the beginning of his appearing publicly, as this was, might have prevented his doing this, and have proved of very ill consequence. And it was but agreeable to the advice he gave his apostles a little before, When they persecute you in this city, flee into another, which was founded upon the same reason.

Now this shews, not only the lawfulness, but the expediency, when we are engaged in the propagation or defence of a good cause, to keep out of the reach of those that endeavour its ruin, and ours for the sake of it, as long as we can. And when we have done our best to serve it, and the providence of God has ordered things so, that unless we betray it, we must suffer for it; then is the time to gird up the loins of our mind, and quit ourselves like men of conscience and religion, and be constant, even to the death, that so we may attain the crown of life.

But to expose ourselves to needless dangers, even for the best cause in the world, when we may avoid them without sin, make the best of it, is very great imprudence: and we may do much more disservice and injury, both to our cause and to ourselves, that

h Matt. x. 23.

way than good. Indiscreet zeal, whether in the establishment or defence of any thing, how excellent soever, being like the ungoverned heat of soldiers in a battle, the ready way to put all things into disorder and confusion, and thereby give the enemy the greatest advantage he could wish for. Whereas to decline the charge of a too powerful enemy, till we can no longer do it without dishonour, and then bravely to receive it, and sustain it to the last, this is the true courage, which shall not lose its triumph. Just thus did our great Leader behave himself, and so should we.

And thus much for the occasion of our Lord's going to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, or to the utmost verge of Galilee, which bordered upon Phœnicia, where those cities stood. And therefore it is, that the woman who came to our Saviour there is called a Greek, and by St. Marka Syropheniciani, as being no Hebrew, but by birth a Syrian, and by religion a heathen, (whom the Jews promiscuously called Greeks, of what country soever they were,) and dwelling in Phoenicia. And she is called by St. Matthew a woman of Canaan, that country being the chief part of what was anciently called the land of Canaan, as inhabited by Canaan himself and his family, who was Noah's grandson k, and whose eldest son Sidon1 gave name to one of the chief cities of it. This I mention to shew the reason of the variety of expression in the two Evangelists that relate this story.

Now this woman coming out of those coasts into the adjoining parts of Galilee, (as borderers, though of different nations, have intercourse upon occasion k Gen. ix. 18.

i Mark vii. 26.

1 Gen. x. 15.