LXX.
THIRD WITHDRAWAL FROM HEROD'S TERRITORY.
Subdivision E.
HEALING THE DEMONIAC BOY.
(Region of Cæsarea Philippi.)
aMATT. XVII. 14-20; bMARK
IX. 14-29; cLUKE IX. 37-43.
c37 And it came to pass,
on the next day, when they were come down from the mountain, b14
And when they came to the disciples [the nine apostles which had been
left behind], they saw a great multitude about them [We last
heard of the multitude at Mark viii. 34. See page
416. It had no doubt been with Jesus until he ascended the mount and
had remained with his apostles until he came down], and scribes
questioning with them. [These scribes had caught the apostles in one
and perhaps the only case where they had failed to cure, and they were
making full use of the advantageous opportunity to discredit Christ and
his apostles before the people by asking sneering and sarcastic questions.]
15 And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed,
and running to him ca great multitude met him. bsaluted
him. [Why were the multitude amazed? Most commentators answer that
it was because the face of Jesus shone with remaining traces of transfiguration
glory, as did that of Moses (Ex. xxxiv. 29), but this can hardly have been
so, for it would have been at variance with the secrecy which Jesus enjoined
as to his transfiguration. Moreover, so important [422] a
feature could hardly have escaped from the narratives of all three evangelists.
Undoubtedly the amazement was caused by the sudden and opportune return
of Jesus. Those who urge that this was not enough to produce amazement
show themselves to be poor students of human nature. The multitude had
been listening to and no doubt enjoying the questions of the scribes. The
unexpected appearance of Jesus therefore impressed them with the sudden
sense of having been detected in wrong-doing which invariably leads to
amazement. Moreover, those who remained loyal to Jesus would be equally
amazed by his approach, since they could not but feel that an exciting
crisis was at hand.] a14
And when they were come to the multitude [i. e., when Jesus
and the multitude met],bhe asked them,
What question ye with them? [He surprised the scribes by this demand
and they saw at once that he knew all and they felt rebuked for their unwarranted
exultation, and so kept silent.]
c38 And, behold, athere came to him a man, bone
of {cfrom} the multitude, akneeling to him, banswered
him, ccried, saying, bTeacher,
a15 Lord, bI brought unto thee my son, who hath a
dumb spirit; ahave mercy on my son: for he is epileptic, and
suffereth grievously; cI beseech thee look upon my son: for
he is mine only child. 39 and behold a
spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out;
b18 and wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down: cand
it teareth him that he foameth, band grindeth his teeth, and
pineth away: cand it hardly departeth from him, bruising him
sorely. [When the scribes did not answer, the father of the demoniac
boy broke the embarrassing silence by telling Jesus about the matter in
question. His child was deaf, dumb, and epileptic, but all these physical
ailments were no doubt produced by the demon or evil spirit which possessed
him. The phrase "hardly departeth from him" rather suggests the continual
unrest in which the demon kept his victim rather than that the demon ever
really relinquished his possession of him. Pauses in the delirium of agony
were regarded as departures of the [423] demon.]
a16 And I brought him to thy disciples, band I spake
to thy disciples that they should cast him out;
c40 And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could
not. bthey were not able. aand they could not cure
him.
17 And Jesus answered and said, {banswereth them and saith,}
aO faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with
you? how long shall I bear with you? cbring hither thy son to
me. bunto me. [As there was no reason to accuse the apostles
of perversity, it is evident that the rebuke of Jesus is addressed generally
to all and not particularly to the disciples. The perverse faithlessness
and infidelity of the scribes had operated upon the multitude, and the
doubts of the multitude had in turn influenced the apostles, and thus,
with the blind leading the blind, all had fallen into the ditch of impotent
disbelief. The disbelief of the people was a constant grief to Jesus, but
it must have been especially so in this case, for it fostered and perpetrated
this scene of weakness, mean-spiritedness, misery, and suffering which
stood out in such sharp contrast with the peace, blessedness, and glory
from which he had just come.] 20 And
they brought him unto him: c42
And as he was yet a coming, bwhen he saw him [saw Jesus],
straightway cthe demon dashed him down, and bthe
spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it since this hath come unto him?
And he said, From a child. 22 And oft-times
it hath cast him both into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him:
{ahe falleth into the fire, and oft-times into the water.}
[By causing the long-standing nature of the case and the malignity of it
to be fully revealed, Jesus emphasized the power of the cure] bbut
if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him
that believeth. [Jesus echoed back the "if thou canst" which the man
had uttered. If Jesus marveled at the faith of a Gentile which trusted
the fullness [424] of his divine power, he also
marveled at the disbelief of this Jew which thus coolly and presumptuously
questions the sufficiency of that power. In the remainder of his answer
Jesus shows that the lack of power is not in him, but in those who would
be recipients of the blessings of his power, for those blessings are obtained
by faith.] 24 Straightway the father
of the child cried out, and said I believe; help thou my unbelief.
[He confessed his faith, but desired so ardently to have the child healed
that he feared lest he should not have faith enough to accomplish that
desire, and therefore asked for more faith.]
25 And when Jesus saw that the multitude came running together, he rebuked
the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command
thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. [Jesus had found
the multitude when he came down from the mountain, but the excitement in
this multitude was evidently drawing men from every quarter, so that the
crowd was momentarily growing greater. A longer conversation with the man
might have been beneficial, but to prevent the gathering of any larger
company Jesus acted at once and spoke the words of command. Since the demon
was manifestly of a most daring, impudent, and audacious nature, Jesus
took the precaution to forbid it attempting to re-enter its victim, a precaution
which the conduct of the demon abundantly justified.]
26 And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and the boy
became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead. [The
malicious effrontery and obstinacy displayed by this demon stands in marked
contrast to the cowed, supplicating spirit shown by the Gergesene legion.
See pp. 345, 346.]
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose. cBut
Jesus healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. [For comment
on similar conduct see page 277.]
aand the demon went out of him: and the boy was cured from
that hour. c43 And they were
all astonished at the majesty of God. [The failure of the disciples
had only emphasized the power [425] of the Master.]
b28 And when he was come into the house,
a19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, basked
him privately, How is it that we could not we cast it out? aWhy
could not we cast it out? 20 And Jesus
saith unto them, Because of your little faith [The failure of the disciples
was not because of any insufficiency of power in Jesus, but was due to
their own failure to appropriate that power by faith. The relation of belief
and unbelief to miraculous power is fully illustrated in Peter's attempt
to walk upon the waters. See page
380]: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain
of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain [Mount Hermon] Remove
hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible
unto you. [The mustard seed was the proverbial type for the infinitely
little (Matt. xiii. 32). Faith has such power with God that even little
faith becomes well-nigh omnipotent in an age of miracles.]
b29 And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing,
save by prayer. [Prayer was the means of increasing faith. Demons,
like spirits in the flesh, have different degrees of will force, some being
easier to subdue than others, and this once, being particularly willful
and obstinate, required more faith to expel it.]
[FFG 422-426]
