At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons. All the city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. He didn’t allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Show the surrounding paragraph
Mark 1:32-34 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Immediately, when they had come out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. He came and took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her immediately, and she served them. At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons. All the city was gathered together at the door. He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. He didn’t allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Parallel Translations
-
At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to him all who were sick, and those who were possessed by demons.
All the city was gathered together at the door.
He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. He didn’t allow the demons to speak, because they knew him.
-
And at even when the sunne was downe they brought to him all that were diseased and them that were possessed with devyls.
And all the cite gaddred to gedder at the dore
and he healed many that were sicke of divers deseases. And he cast out many devyls and suffred not the devyls to speake because they knewe him.
Show all 3 translations
-
And whe euen was come, at what time the sunne setteth, they brought to him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with deuils.
And the whole citie was gathered together at the doore.
And he healed many that were sicke of diuers diseases: and he cast out many deuils, and suffred not the deuils to say that they knewe him.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (12)
- Matthew 8:16 (v32) When evening came, they brought to him many possessed with demons. He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick;
- Luke 4:41 (v34) Demons also came out of many, crying out, and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Rebuking them, he didn’t allow them to speak,…
- Mark 3:12 (v34) He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.
- Matthew 4:23 (v34) Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every…
- Matthew 4:24 (v32) The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments,…
Show all 12 cross-references
- Mark 3:2 (v32) They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him.
- Luke 4:40 (v32) When the sun was setting, all those who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them,…
- Acts 16:16-18 (v34) As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling.…
- Mark 1:5 (v33) All the country of Judea and all those of Jerusalem went out to him. They were baptized by him in the Jordan river, confessing their sins.
- Acts 13:44 (v33) The next Sabbath, almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
- Mark 1:21 (v32) They went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath day he entered into the synagogue and taught.
- Mark 1:25 (v34) Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v34 For it belongeth not to the devils to preach…
For it belongeth not to the devils to preach the Gospel, Acts 16:18.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv32–34 32 And at even, when the sun did set,…
32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Ver. 32. When the sun did set] And the Sabbath was ended; for till then many held it not lawful.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v32 It was upon the sabbath day, (as appeareth from…
It was upon the sabbath day, (as appeareth from what went before), therefore the time is noted,
at even, when the sun did set. Before that time, when the sabbath was determined, the Jews thought it unlawful to carry any burdens, but after sunset they judged it lawful. The usage of the particle all here, Mar 1:32,33, is again observable to show the vanity of those who will from general particles conclude propositions contrary to the analogy of faith, those particles being often used in a restrained sense. Luke saith, that the devils cried out, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak, because (or that) they knew him. Christ desired not to be published so soon under that notion, but he much less desired the devil’s testimony in the case: see Mar 1:25; Act 16:18. The good words of the devil and his seed are indeed a defamation to Christ and his seed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v32 The evangelist here declares sundry other miracles wrought by…
The evangelist here declares sundry other miracles wrought by our Saviour before the door of St. Peter’s house, where he now was; he healed all the diseased that were brought unto him, and cast devils out of them that were possessed with them.
But how comes it to pass, that we read of so many possessed with devils in our Saviour’s time, and so few either before or since?
Read full note →
Ans. 1. Probably Satan, perceiving that the Messiah was come in the flesh to destroy his kingdom, did rage the more, and discover great malice and enmity against mankind.
2. Perhaps Almighty God permitted Satan at that time to possess so many, that Christ might have occasion to manifest his divine power by casting Satan out: and accordingly we find our Saviour dispossessing all that were possessed by Satan.
It is added, that he suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him. That is, Christ would not be made known to be the Son of God by the preaching of the devil, to whom it belonged not to publish the gospel, lest the world should take from thence an occasion to think that our Saviour held a correspondence with those wicked spirits, and that the miracles he wrought were performed by the devil’s assistance, as being one in combination with him. Possibly the devil’s owning Christ to be the Holy One of God, the Pharisees concluded that there was a compact and agreement betwixt them, and thereupon their affirmation was grounded, He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, &c.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv32–33 And at even, when the sun did set,.... At…
And at even, when the sun did set,.... At which time the Jews' sabbath was ended; See Gill on Mat 8:16, for this was a sabbath day, Mar 1:21, when according to them, it was not lawful to heal; nor did they offer to bring their sick to him on that day; but the last of the two evening days being come, and the sun set, the sabbath was over; and therefore being under no restraint on account of that,
they brought unto him all that were diseased; with any sort of disease whatever, even all that were in their city;
Read full note →
and them that were possessed with devils. The Persic version renders it "epileptics", such as were troubled with the falling sickness, as many of those were, whose bodies the devils possessed.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv32–34 When the sun was set - And, consequently, the…
When the sun was set - And, consequently, the Sabbath was ended, which they reckoned from sunset to sunset.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 Verse 32. When the sun did set] See Clarke…
Verse 32. When the sun did set] See Clarke on Mt 8:14.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v32 See the notes at Mat 8:16-17.
See the notes at Mat 8:16-17.
And at even, when the sun did set - See the notes at Mat 8:16.
Read full note →
Mar 1:33
All the city - A great part of the city. A great multitude from the city.
Mar 1:34
And suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him - They knew that he was the Messiah.
If they had spoken, they would have made that known to the people. Jesus was not desirous at that time that that should be publicly known, or that his name should be blazoned abroad. The time had not come when he wished it to be promulgated that he was the Messiah, and he therefore imposed silence on the evil spirits.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v34 The devils knew that it was Christ, who had…
The devils knew that it was Christ, who had been promised for so many ages before; for they saw him perform the wonders which the prophets had foretold of him; yet they were not perfectly acquainted with his divine nature, or otherwise they never would have persecuted to death and crucified the Lord of glory. (St. Augustine) --- But Christ would not permit them to declare that they knew him. (Bible de Vence) --- See Luke iv. 41.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv32–34 And at even, when the sun did set--so Mat…
And at even, when the sun did set--so Mat 8:16. Luke (Luk 4:40) says it was setting.
they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils--the demonized. From Luk 13:14 we see how unlawful they would have deemed it to bring their sick to Jesus for a cure during the sabbath hours. They waited, therefore, till these were over, and then brought them in crowds. Our Lord afterwards took repeated occasion to teach the people by example, even at the risk of His own life, how superstitious a straining of the sabbath rest this was.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v34 34. Suffered not the devils to speak — See…
34. Suffered not the devils to speak — See notes on Mar_1:25. Some good critics render this clause, “suffered not the devils to say that they knew him.” His peremptory and stern dealing with these malignant beings was to show his abhorrence, of their malignant nature. Moreover, he thereby taught us at this day not to found our faith on pretended spiritualistic manifestations from unknown supernatural sources or sorceries. If we trust in that class of deceptions we are liable to be betrayed by them into damnable falsehood and delusion.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv32–33 32. when the sun did set] All three Evangelists…
32. when the sun did set] All three Evangelists carefully record, that it was not till the sun was setting or had actually set, that these sick were brought to Jesus. The reason of this probably was (1) either that they waited till the mid-day heat was past and the cool of the evening was come, or (2) the day being the Sabbath (Mar_1:29-32), they were unwilling to violate the sacred rest of the day, and so waited till it was ended.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 (32) And at even.—See Notes on Mat_8:16-17. The special…
(32) And at even.—See Notes on Mat_8:16-17. The special features in St. Mark are (1) the fuller description, in Mar_1:33, that “all the city was gathered together at the door;” and (2) the omission of St. Matthew’s reference to the prophecy of Isa_53:4.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv32–33 At even, when the sun did set. It was…
At even, when the sun did set. It was the sabbath day; and, therefore, the sick were not brought to our Lord until six o"clock, when the sabbath ended. When the sun did set (ote edu o hliov). St. Luke"s phrase is (dunontov tou hliou), "When the sun was, so to speak, submerged in the sea." So in Virgil, "Aeneid," lib. 7:100"...qua sol utrumque recurrens Adspicit Oceanum; the popular idea being that, when the sun sets, it sinks into the ocean.
Vers. 32-34. The Healer of multitudes.
Read full note →
It was the hallowed evening of a memorable day The Lord Jesus had taught in the synagogue, consecrating the sabbath by worship and by spiritual instruction, and creating in the popular mind an impression of his unique authority. He had cast out the demon from a wretched sufferer; he had healed Simon"s wife"s mother of a raging fever; all these instances of his power were related through the dwellings of Capernaum, and the popular excitement was great. No wonder that at sunset, when the sabbath was over, and it was lawful to do so, the multitude sought out the sick and maimed among their kindred and companions, and the miserable demoniacs; brought them to the house of Simon, where Jesus was staying; and entreated the compassion and the succor of the Prophet of Nazareth.
I In the sufferers brought to Jesus we have A REPRESENTATION OF THE WIDESPREAD AND VARIOUS ILLS THAT AFFLICT MANKIND. If all the diseased and mentally afflicted of any town were brought together to one spot, what a distressing scene would be exhibited! When the sick and the demoniacs of Capernaum were gathered together on that sabbath evening, they may be said to have exemplified the state of our sin-stricken humanity. To him who looks below the surface, this human race, apart from Christ, offers a spectacle with which no hospital, no pesthouse, could compare. Moral disorders, Satanic influences, display themselves in a thousand forms, each having its own loathsomeness, its own anguish, its own curse. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint," etc. Fever, leprosy, palsy, possession, each may indicate some special aspect of sin.
II In the conduct of those who brought the sufferers to Christ we have A REPRESENTATION OF THE BENEVOLENT MINISTRATIONS OF THE CHURCH, There were those who had neither strength, knowledge, nor courage to come of themselves to Christ; their pitying and thoughtful friends led or carried them into his sacred presence. So the Church, which cannot of itself save the world, may nevertheless bring the multitudes unto Christ, may, in a sense, bring Christ to the multitude. An honorable vocation this to lead the morally disordered and distressed into the presence of the Divine Healer, of him who said, "The whole need not a physician, but those who are sick. I am come not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Some by preaching, some by private ministrations, some by example, and some by precept, all in the same spirit of compassion for perishing souls, may lead sinners to the Redeemer.
III In the multitude we discern A FORECAST AND EARNEST OF THE APPROACH OF SIN-STRICKEN HUMANITY TO THE SAVIOUR. What a sight the city gathered together at the door" of Jesus! Men are learning the powerlessness of every other helper, the hopelessness of every other refuge and confidence. Heathenism and Mohammedanism are proving the futility of their claims; infidelity and atheism are showing that they can render no real service to mankind. At the same time, men are learning that, whilst there is salvation in no other, there is salvation in him. And they shall come, flocking like doves to his windows, like pilgrims from the east and from the west to his shrine, until this vast humanity shall gather into the presence, implore the aid, and know the power of the Divine Redeemer.
IV In the cures effected we have AN EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE ACTUAL POWER OF THE SAVIOUR TO HEAL AND BLESS. The evangelist does not here dwell upon details, but he mentions two great classes of patients, the diseased and the demoniacs. Over sufferers in mind and body the Lord Jesus displayed his healing authority and grace. There was no case beyond his power. The faith of the applicants was rewarded, the report of their friends was justified, the authority of the Saviour was exemplified, the fame of his ministry was confirmed and extended. What happy households were to be found in Capernaum that night, which had long known pain, anxiety, and despondency! An encouragement surely, to all afflicted by the bondage and the curse of sin, to apply to Jesus for relief, for forgiveness, and for blessing. It does not matter what form your spiritual need and suffering have assumed; it does not matter for what length of time you have been the slave of sin; if you come to Christ you shall surely learn that "he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him." The purpose of our Saviour"s advent and mediation includes all cases of sin and need. The power of the Redeemer is unlimited. The compassion of Jesus is unexhausted. As of old, "he has compassion on the multitudes." The promises of our Lord are large enough to include every case. "Come unto me, all ye," etc.
Vers. 32, 33. Christ the Healer.
The healing of Peter"s wife"s mother, following on the cure of the demoniac in the synagogue, aroused the whole city of Capernaum. Believing that what this good Physician could do for one he could do for all, crowds of suppliants gathered around our Lord on the evening of the sabbath day. In this incident we see
I THE GRACIOUSNESS OF THE SAVIOUR.
1. His accessibility. Whether in the synagogue or in the house, whether in the glow of noonday or in the cool of eventide, he was always ready to meet a case of need where there was faith and expectancy. He was not like a popular physician, with whom the patient makes a previous appointment, in whose ante-chamber he waits till exhausted, and whose fee cripples his means. At any time, "without money and without price," Christ would heal the sick. He is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." Even though the shadows of life"s evening are falling around the sin-sick soul, it is not too late to offer the prayer, "Jesus, Master, have mercy upon me!
2. His consideration. His varied methods of cure showed his readiness to meet the special circumstances of each. Thus, he took Peter"s wife"s mother by the hand," perhaps because she was delirious and could not understand his words, or because she was weak and needed the confidence which that expectant hand-grasp would give. Similarly, he touched the eyes of the blind, and his disciples took the cripple by the hand. (Act_3:7) Christ still adapts himself to men"s peculiar necessities. To some a word of promise inspires hope, in others a word of warning awakens thought. A sermon may arouse to penitence, a mother"s love may win to Christ, a grief may make serious, or a joy may bring a man on his knees in thankfulness. Happy is it when, in all of these or in any of these, Christ appears to the soul.
3. His sympathy. This was of the essence of his work. Matthew here appropriately applies to him the words of the prophet, "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses;" by which we understand that there was nothing perfunctory or mechanical in his healing work. He felt every case, and came in living contact with the soul he cured. His touch was not merely physical, it was an outgoing of soul. Hence he "sighed" when he cured the blind; he "felt virtue" going out of the hem of his garment; he "wept" and "groaned" at the grave of Lazarus; and all this was not because the effort was great, but because the effort was needed. In harmony with this we read in ver. 41 that, when the leper came, Jesus being "moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him." He did this although he knew that it involved him in ceremonial defilement; but he was willing to make the leper clean, even by contracting uncleanness himself. In that we have a sign of what St. Paul meant when he said, "He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
II THE EAGERNESS OF THE SUPPLIANTS. She who was ill of fever in Peter"s house could not plead for herself, and therefore others interceded for her, and not in vain. Encouraged by this, parents brought their children, sons their mothers, and "they brought unto him all that were diseased.
1. Some were physically diseased. Laid aside from activity, a burden instead of a support to others, suffering pain which made days and nights wearisome, invalids would be thankful to those who bore them in their strong arms to Jesus" feet. We may do the like for our sufferers, and if restoration to health is not given, serenity of heart will be. The voice of Christ will be heard amidst the storm of their trouble, saying, "It is I; be not afraid." Blessed by his presence, if they recover they will go back to the world as those who have been on the borders of heaven, or if they enter the dark valley, he will fulfill the promise, "I will come again, and receive you to myself.
2. Some had spiritual disorders. It was sin which lay at the root of all suffering. Christ came to put it away by the sacrifice of himself. By his removal of the effects he gave a sign of the removal of the cause. If we have those dear to us who are tied and bound by the chain of their sins, let us bring them to Jesus, earnestly, tenderly, patiently, hopefully. Those who through drink seem demon-possessed, those feverish with anxiety, those so morally stained that men of good repute avoid them as though they were leprous, may all find hope and help in Christ.
3. Some felt their own need of blessing. They did not wait for others to bring them. The leper, for example, of his own accord came kneeling to Jesus, feeling that he could make him clean. The Law could only separate the leper from others and pronounce him clean after restoration; but Christ had purifying power, such as the Law never had. Similarly now, outward restrictions may check wrong-doing; the moral influence of friends may restrain us, and vows and resolves may prove of service; but the heart is only turned from sin when God answers the prayer, "Create within me a clean heart." It is just short of that acknowledgment and cry that many halt, though others have done for them all that they can; and Jesus waits for faith and prayer that he may say, "I will; be thou clean. A.R.
Vers. 32-39. Parallel passages: Mat_8:16, 17 4:23-25 Luk_4:40-44. A Physician for both body and soul.
I CURES OF DISEASED PERSONS AND DEMONIACS.
1. The time specified. It was now evening, and the sun had just set; and so the sabbath for it was the sabbath day, as we know from ver. 21 was considered past. The people now felt at liberty, without encroaching on the sacred rest of that holy day, to bring their sick for healing. Another reason is assigned by some for delaying till evening, to the effect that the noontide heat was then over and the cool of evening come, and so the infirm could be brought with less risk and more convenience. A motley group of invalids. There was a general turn-out of the townspeople, so that the whole city seemed gathered together to the door of the dwelling, while they had brought with them all that were diseased and demoniac. What a motley multitude must have been there! The consumptive were there, with pale face or hectic flush; victims of incurable cancer were there; persons with the burning heat and the parched lips, or in the very delirium, of fever, were there; the palsied, the dropsical, the epileptic were there; patients having diseases of the heart, of the lungs, of the head, of the spine were there; the lame, the dumb, the blind, were there. Some were able to walk, some were on crutches, some were mounted on asses, and some carried on pallets by friends or neighbors. Demoniacs, too, were there, whether those whose souls were subject to demoniacal influence, like the "damsel possessed with a spirit of divination," of whom we read in Act_16:16; or those whose bodies were inhabited by evil spirits; or those, as was generally the case, whose souls and bodies were both under the fearful control of the evil one.
2. The number cured. "He healed many that were sick," says St. Mark. Why not all? Theophylact answers the question by supposing that he healed many instead of, all, for the all were many;" but this would seem to require an article before pollouv , and also one before kakwv econtav , viz. the many that were diseased. Perhaps we may understand it of the limitation of time, that is to say, he healed all that there was time for, as it was already eventide when the process began; or perhaps we may suppose the restriction occasioned by the absence in some cases of the conditions of cure, just as we read of a certain place (Mar_6:5) that he could there do no mighty work." The parallel passages of the other two synoptic Gospels seem to favor the first explanation, as in St. Matthew we read that he "healed all that were sick," and in St. Luke that "he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.
3. Prohibition of demoniac testimony. He had already rebuked an unclean spirit that volunteered his unwelcome testimony. He forbids their speaking at all, because they knew him not as the margin has it, "to say that they knew him," which would require legein instead of lalein for one reason, lest he should appear to be in collusion with them, and lest countenance should thus be given to the calumny of the Pharisees, and also lest, if believed when happening speak truly, they might be more readily credited when uttering the most fatal falsehoods.
4. Origin and history of the name. The history of the name demons is somewhat curious, and as follows: Daimwn derived from dahmwn , skillful, and so implying superior knowledge, or from daiw , I dispense, as if able to distribute destinies, and so superior in power was at first nearly synonymous with yeov , except that the latter signified a particular god or person; while the former meant rather a deity with respect to power; then an inferior deity, or semi-god, an agency intermediate between God and man; in plural, departed spirits of the good, and so tutelary deities or lares; next, any departed spirits or manes. In the New Testament the term signifies, not the spirits of the departed, but those evil spirits or fallen angels "who kept not their first estate," who are distinguished from the elect angels, and of whom we read that "God spared not the angels that sinned." They are subject to Satan, but, like him, they can only act by permission of God, and in their operations they can neither contravene the laws of nature nor interfere with human freedom and responsibility. Powerful for evil as they undoubtedly are, leading men captive or working on the children of disobedience, they, like their head, have only such power over man as men themselves consent to or concede them. Hence Augustine says truly, "Consentientes tenet, non invitos cogit." Further, the violation of the rule of neuters plural being constructed with verbs singular in hdeisan , comes under the first of the two following exceptions, that is, when neuters imply persons, as telh , magistrates, and so individuality or plurality of persons is signified; or in case of inanimate objects, when individuality or plurality of parts is signified.
5. Devotion of spirit. To extraordinary diligence in business our Lord added singular devotion of spirit. After a fatiguing day in the synagogue, then with the sick who in such numbers resorted unto him, he at dawn of day next morning retires for secret devotion and spiritual communion with his heavenly Father. At daybreak, or "when it was day," as St. Luke expresses it, or more exactly, according to St. Mark, "early, while it was quite in the night" ( prwi ennucon lian) at that early hour, intermediate between night and day, before the light of day has fully dawned or the darkness of the night quite departed he withdrew to some lone and barren spot in one of the ravines or mountains, or under some sheltering rock in the district of Capernaum, to be alone with God. There he continued in prayer (proshuceto , imperfect). How beautifully our Lord instructs us by his practice as well as his precept to enter our closet and shut to the door, and pray to our Father in secret! He further shows us the necessity of prayer to maintain the life of the soul and obtain the help of heaven, to prepare us for our daily duties and for faithful diligence in the discharge of those duties. At the same time he commends the early morning for this exercise of devotion, when the feelings are fresh, the spirits in the fittest frame, and the mind free from the distractions so common in the after-part of the day.
6. Interruption. But, early as was our Lord"s matin-hour, he was not secure from interruption. The people (ocloi , crowds) sought him, as St. Luke informs us, while Peter and his companions, as St. Mark tells us, with characteristic impetuosity and affectionate eagerness pursued him actually pursued him, as though he had fled away and escaped from them. The word katediwxan is literally "hunted down" or "for;" that is, they pursued him closely, followed hard upon his tracks. But it is occasionally used in a good sense, as here; thus it is used in the Septuagint Version of Psa_23:6, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow (katadiwxei) me.
II CIRCUIT THROUGH GALILEE.
1. Evangelistic tour. Peter and those with him were evidently proud of their Master"s great and increasing popularity, for when they had found him they tell him gladly, perhaps with somewhat of exaggeration, All men seek for thee;" or, as in St. Luke, "were earnestly seeking (epizhtoun) him, and tried to detain him (kateicon)." They evidently wished to keep to themselves or to the city of their habitation a monopoly of their Lord"s services. But he, unmoved by praise, uninfluenced by popularity, disabuses their minds of their narrowness in selfishly seeking to localize him in Capernaum, city though it was, calmly informing them of his purpose to itinerate throughout the villages or country towns of that then populous district. At once he puts his plan into execution, assuring them that the great object of his mission was not merely to plant the gospel in one spot or one solitary district, but to propagate it in all places, far off as well as near for therefore came! forth." This last expression is restricted by some to his coming out of the city of Capernaum, or out of the house, or out into the desert place, on the ground that, if the reference was to the general object of his mission, the verb would be simply ehluya , not the compound which occurs here, or rather that para , or apo , or ek tou Yeou , would be employed, as in several passages of St. John"s Gospel, (e.g. Joh_8:42 Joh 13:3 Joh 17:8) to convey that meaning. The expression is,no doubt, somewhat indefinite, perhaps purposely indefinite, and so susceptible of either a more general or more specific sense; but by comparing the corresponding passage in St. Luke (i.e. "because unto this have I been sent") we are shut up to the larger and higher and inclusive sense. The whole of the sentence is more fully expressed by St. Luke, and is to the effect, "because to the rest of the cities also I must declare the glad tidings of the kingdom of God." Accordingly, in pursuance of his great object, he went forth "and came preaching into their synagogues, into the whole of Galilee, and casting out the demons," as the words (in the critical editions) are literally rendered. The number of such synagogues and the extent of the enterprise may be estimated from the statement of Josephus in relation to the great number of towns and villages with which Galilee was studded, and the exceeding populousness of the Galilean provinces in the days of our Lord. He writes, ("Bel. Jud:," 3:3, 2) "Moreover, the cities lie here very thick; and the very many villages there are here are everywhere so full of people, by the richness of their soil, that the very least of them contain about fifteen thousand inhabitants.
2. An important variant. We may not, however, dismiss this part of the subject without drawing attention to a very interesting and important various reading which, on the authority of codices a, B, C, L, Q, R, and of the Syriac and Coptic versions, substitutes Ioudaiav for Galilaiav , as the Judaean ministry of our Lord, which is, no doubt, assumed and implied by the synoptists, is nowhere else expressly mentioned by them. J.J.G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v32 And at even when the sun did set.
Mar_1:32-34
And at even when the sun did set.
Read full note →
In ministering to the sick, we follow and find Christ
I. Describe the scene at Capernaum to which text alludes. Presence of Christ among sick. Wonderful change His visit wrought. What happy hearts and homes; what prayers and praises; what jubilant psalms.
II. If we be true Christians, we believe we shall see that same Jesus coming forth to reward those who have done works of mercy in His name. Such works are the only proof of our possessing that charity which is the development and excellence of faith and hope. Such works are within the reach of all.
III. Of such works none can be more merciful than the visitation of the sick. Let us all do our best to prevent disease. Better to keep sickness away than to repair its ravages.
IV. Help those who help themselves, by providing against the time of sickness-life assurance societies, benefit clubs, etc.
V. And those who cannot help themselves. The parish doctor should have less work and more pay.
VI. Do we honour the physician.
VII. And those who nurse and wait upon the sick?
VIII. Do we ourselves visit the sick? So finding Jesus, so taught to suffer and to die.
IX. Appeal in His name and in His words. (Canon S. R. Hole, M. A.)
Hospital healing
When one of the greatest of Gods heroes, one of the most illustrious saints of Christendom, made an oration-preached, as we should say, a funeral sermon-concerning a brother, holy and heroic, whose soul was in Paradise-when Gregory of Nazianzum would show unto the people how, though Basil rested from his labours, his works did follow, and he being dead yet spoke-he pointed towards the hospital which Basil had built, and said, Go forth a little out of the city, and see the new city, his treasure of godliness, the storehouse of alms which he collected; see the place where disease is relieved by charity and by skill, where the poor leper finds at last a home! It was Basil who persuaded men to care for others; it was Basil who taught them thus to honour Christ. (Canon S. R. Hole, M. A.)
Power to heal
I. Its design twofold.
1. To do good.
2. To prove the Messiahship of Jesus (Joh_14:11).
II. Its effect twofold.
1. It awakened general interest in Him.
2. It led many to believe on Him.
III. Its all-comprehensiveness.
1. Over material nature-e.g., walking on the water, curing diseases, etc.
2. Over spiritual nature-e.g., expelling demons, etc.
IV. Its lessons for us. We should learn from the miracle working power of Jesus
(1) His real and personal interest in us.
(2) That nothing can baffle His skill or resist His power if we put our case in His hands. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Christ the restorer of humanity
If we may reverently compare this scene with its modern analogies, it bears less a resemblance to anything that occurs in the life of a clergyman, than to the occupation of a physician to a hospital on the day of his seeing his out-patients. There is, indeed, all the difference in the world between the best professional advice and the summary cure such as was our Lords. But we are, for the moment, looking at the outward aspects of the scene; and it shows very vividly how largely Christs attention was directed to the well-being of the bodily frame of man. Now it would be a great mistake to suppose that this feature of our Saviours ministry was accidental or inevitable. Nothing in His work was accidental: all was deliberate, all had an object. Nothing in His work was inevitable, except so far as it was freely dictated by His wisdom and His mercy. To suppose that this union in Him of Prophet and Physician was determined by the necessity of some rude civilization, such as that of certain tribes in Central Africa and elsewhere, or certain periods and places in medieval Europe when knowledge was scanty, when it was easy and needful for a single person at each social centre to master all that was known on two or three great subjects-this is to make a supposition which does not apply to Palestine at the time of our Lords appearance. The later prophets were prophets and nothing more-neither legislators, nor statesmen, nor physicians. In John the Baptist we see no traces of the restorative power exerted on some rare occasions by Elijah and Elisha; and when our Lord appeared, dispensing on every side cures for bodily disease, the sight was just as novel to His contemporaries as it was welcome. Nor are His healing works to be accounted for by saying that they were only designed to draw attention to His message, by certificating His authority to deliver it; or by saying that they were only symbols of a higher work which He had more at heart in its many and varying aspects-the work of healing the diseases of the human soul. True it is that His healing activity had this double value: it was evidence of His authority as a Divine Teacher; it was a picture in detail, addressed to sense, of what, as the Restorer of our race, He meant to do in regions altogether beyond the sphere of sense. But these aspects of His care for the human body were not, I repeat, primary; they were strictly incidental. We may infer with reverence and with certainty that His first object was to show Himself as the Deliverer and Restorer of human nature as a whole: not of the reason and conscience merely without the imagination and the affections-not of the spiritual side of mens nature, without the bodily; and, therefore, He was not merely Teacher, but also Physician, and therefore and thus He has shed upon the medical profession to the end of time a radiance and a consecration which is ultimately due to the conditions of that redemptive work, to achieve which He came down from heaven teaching and healing. (Canon Liddon.)
A great hospital Sunday near a great city
I. This is the story of a wonderful Sabbath-a true Sunday-One of the days of the Son of Man.
II. What a picture it gives us of his power as the healer. And do not these healing powers exerted by Christ declare that there is a spiritual order in the universe outside of the natural order, and beneath whose powers all the natural disorder will be at last reduced to subjection. These miracles are illustrations of the character and intention of God loving us.
III. This is the doctrine; but what is any doctrine without an application? What is the use of faith in Christ without appropriation? Jesus has not come into the world to condemn, but to heal and save it. His love is universal. Fly to the healing of God in Jesus Christ. (E. Paxton Hood.)
The house of mercy
Once it was given to me to see the soul of man as a poor creature out at night in a wild storm and hurricane, flying through the tempest over a wild moor houseless; the wild lightnings blazed across the heath, and revealed one house, and thither fled the soul. Who lives here? Justice. Oh, Justice, let me in, for the storm is very dreadful. But Justice said, Nay, I cannot shelter thee, for I kindled the lightnings and the hurricanes from whence you are flying. And I saw the poor spirit hastening over the plain, and the storm flash lit up another house, and thither fled the soul. Who lives here? Truth. Oh, Truth, shelter me. Nay, said the white-robed woman, Truths handmaid, Hast thou loved Truth so much and been so faithful to her that thou canst fly to her for shelter? Not so; there is no shelter here. And away in weariness sped the soul through that wild night. Still through the gleams of the blue heavens looked out a third house through the drenching storm. And who lives here? said the lost soul. Peace. Oh, peace, let me in! Nay, nay; none enter the house of Peace but those whose hearts are Peace. And then near to the house of Peace rose another house, white and beautiful through the livid light. Who lives here? Mercy. Fly thither, poor soul. I have been sitting up for thee, and this house was built for thy shelter and thy home. I read and hear such lessons as I watch Christ moving through the sick multitude that Sabbath evening in that old city. (E. Paxton Hood.)
Christs miracles
These may be divided into distinct classes.
I. Miracles of restoration. Raising up the afflicted from a helpless, incapable state, to a condition of self-help and usefulness. This Christs grace is continually doing. Sin works evil results on mans nature similar to, and worse than, those wrought by fever, paralysis, or impotency, making men vicious, shiftless, indolent, useless. The gospel brings back our fallen nature to its proper dignity and worth.
II. Miracles delivering from evil spirits. Do we not sometimes feel, even the best of us, as demoniacs act? The power of Christ can cure us.
III. Miracles of cleansing. Sin defiles the purity of the soul, and, so far as this defilement is felt and perceived, it separates the sinner from others. He feels that a gulf divides him from the pure and good; his conscience often drives him into voluntary solitude; and if his sin is particularly gross and shameful, the sentiment of society sends him into banishment. The seeds of evil which produce this defilement are hid in every soul. They are the source of evil thoughts and base suggestions which we are glad are not visible to all. Who could bare to expose his secret thoughts to the gaze of the world? Who has not need to pray, Make and keep me pure within? Christs grace is able to do this. He cleanses from the foulest leprosy of sin. (A. H. Currier.)
There is in man something akin to the diabolical
He is subject to violent and wasting passions, often dominated by a fierce and ungovernable temper; exhibits, upon slight provocation, anger, impatience, hatred, revenge; is ill-natured, moody, capricious, sullen; ready at times to take up arms against all the world, and shunned and detested in turn for his spirit of malicious mischief. We have all seen pronounced examples of this sort-probably have suffered from their malice and ill-temper. They may be persons of great energy and ability. They are not indolent or shiftless. They know how to make money, and how to use it for their own advantage. They are keen, shrewd, and successful in business. Sometimes they bestow magnificent gifts-exhibit strange freaks of generosity; but of true kindness and amiability, or the disposition to make others happy, they have but little. They seem, in short, to be possessed by a devil. The fault may be often due to inherited qualities, or to neglect of early training. They were not disciplined to self-control. One of the princes of the old French monarchy manifested in childhood and youth an unhappy disposition of this kind. But he was placed under the care of a wise and pious teacher, who laboured so successfully to correct his violent temper, that he became one of the most amiable of men. A painstaking Christian mother often amends the faults of nature. (A. H. Currier.)
Sunset
1. The natural sun set, but the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings. Evening and morning Christ was at work.
2. Men come to Christ according to the urgency of their want. Here it was physical. It is well if men can feel their need of Christ at any point.
3. When men begin with their lower wants they should ascend to the higher. (J. Parker, D. D.)
The attraction of Jesus
Leaving the Paris exhibition as the sun went down, I noted an electric light that, revolving round and round, shot its ethereal pencilled rays far across the sky, touching with a momentary radiance the vegetation or the buildings across which they passed; and looking up I noted innumerable sparks wavering, vibrating in the illumination. For a moment I could not think what this meant, for there is scarcely any scintillation, and certainly no sparks, thrown off from the electric light. Then in an instant it occurred to me that these bright lights were myriads of insects attracted from the dark ocean of air around, and which, protected from the burning luminary by the strong glass, were safely rejoicing in the ecstasy of those beams. So here, around the beams of spiritual light and love that radiate from the Saviour, the innumerable hosts of suffering, struggling men and women of that day come within the field of our vision. (J. Allanson Picton, M. A.)
Diverse elements in humanity dealt with by Christianity
A wild, strange flame rages in human nature, that in combinations of great feeling and war and woe, is surpassed by no tragedy or epic, nor by all tragedies and epics together. In the souls secret chambers there are Fausts more subtle than Faust, Hamlets more mysterious than Hamlet, Lears more distracted and desolate than Lear; wills that do what they allow not, and what they would not do; wars in the members; bodies of death to be carried, as in Paul; wild horses of the mind, governed by no rein, as in Plato; subtleties of cunning, plausibilities of seeming virtues, memories writ in letters of fire, great thoughts heaving under the brimstone marl of revenges; pains of wrong, and of sympathy with suffering wrong; aspirations that have lost courage; hates, loves, beautiful dreams and tears; all these acting at cross purposes, and representing the broken order of the mind. If some qualified teacher by many years of study could worm out a thoroughly perceptive interpretation of sin, or lecture on the working or pathology of mind under evil, he would offer a contribution to the true success of Christian preaching, greater than, perhaps, any human teacher has ever yet contributed. (H. Bushnell, D. D.)
Miracles at Capernaum
I. Christ healing. And at even, when the sun did set, etc.
1. The season was interesting. It was on a Sabbath evening.
2. The ailments of the sufferers were various.
3. The excitement produced was great.
4. The number of those who were cured was considerable.
II. Christ praying.
1. When He prayed.
2. Where He prayed.
III. Christ preaching.
1. The importance He attached to its For therefore came I forth.
2. The places in which He exercised His ministry-Throughout all Galilee.
3. The encouraging indications which appeared-All men seek for Thee. (Expository Outlines.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v32 Mat 20:17-19; Luk 18:31-34; Mar 1:32-34. “And they were…
JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Mat 20:17-19; Luk 18:31-34; Mar 1:32-34. “And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them, and they continued to be excited, and following, they were afraid.” Our Lord is still over in Perea, east of the Jordan, walking along toward Jerusalem, accompanied by the vast multitudes. The disciples know that if He goes back to Jerusalem, something decisive will take place, as only a dozen days previously He had fled away from there for His life. As the Passover is now at hand, and the metropolis will be thronged with the people of Israel, not only from Judea and Galilee, but from their dispersions in all heathen lands, they know that His enemies are determined to do everything they can against Him. As it is said here that they were much excited and afraid, doubtless they were apprehensive that the thousands from Galilee, where He had spent by far the greater part of His ministerial life, would be at the Passover, and as His enemies were so hostile against Him, in all probability a bloody civil war would break out, in which they were all likely to lose their lives. Meanwhile the hopeful side of the matter was, that He would be crowned King there in Jerusalem, in the presence of the vast multitudes from all parts of the earth, who might fall in line and propagate His kingdom, and permanently establish Him on the throne of David.
Read full note →
“And again taking the twelve, He began to speak to them the things which were about to happen to Him, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they will mock Him, and will scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” Luke says: “And they understood nothing of these things; and this word was hidden from them, and they knew not the things spoken.” This is the third time our Savior has told them plainly that He is going to be arrested, arraigned, condemned, scourged, crucified, and will rise the third day. Now you see that Luke here says that they understood none of those things, and we see in the subsequent history that they were utterly ignorant of His impending fate till it took place. Now why did Jesus tell them three times, and the Holy Spirit withhold it from them? N. B. — The Holy Spirit is not only the Author of the Word, but the Revelator of that Word to every person who ever understands it. It was really important that Jesus should tell them all about it, as He did three times, distinctly, by way of emphasis. The importance of this revelation is seen in the fact that it was a most important item in the prophetical curriculum, which constitutes the basis of Christian faith in all ages.
Therefore it must be revealed. Now why must it be withheld from them till after His resurrection? Do you not know that if they had understood it, they would have mustered the countless hosts to whom He had preached during the three years of His ministry and have prepared for war, in order to defend their beloved Leader and preserve His life? Thus a terrible civil war would have broken out in Jerusalem while the city was thronged with the myriads from all parts of the earth attending the Passover, and a grand army would have rallied to prevent them from killing Him, thus defeating the great end for which He came into the world; i.e., to suffer and die to redeem the lost millions of Adam’s fallen race. Hence you see the pertinency on the part of the Divine administration, that the Holy Spirit should withhold these tragic, sublime, and wonderful events appertaining to their Master, so that they should not understand them till after they had all transpired. The same fact is true in all ages, despite all the efforts of human learning to fathom and comprehend the Bible. While these are not to be depreciated, it is an incontestable fact that we only know the Word as it is revealed to us by the Holy Ghost. After the Constantinian apostasy, during the Dark Ages, when the Church was monopolized by Romanism, and retrogressed into semi-paganism, every great, cardinal, spiritual truth having evanesced, and the Holy Spirit apparently retreating away and leaving her in the dismal midnight of ignorance and superstition, even collapsing so egregiously into human infatuation and folly as to become a secret society, like Freemasonry, her mystic rites only known to her muttering priests, and locked up in a dead language, incomprehensible by the laity, — amid this dismal night of ignorance, superstition, and idolatry, she remained a thousand years, till the light again broke in, God raising up Wyclif, a Roman Catholic priest, justly denominated the Morning Star of the Reformation; followed by John Huss, of Bohemia, whom the Roman Catholics burned, and threw his ashes into the Rhine, on whose waters they floated down, impinging on many lands, germinating quite a crop of martyrs, who sprang up spontaneously, like mushrooms in the night; and like the armed men who sprang up from the dragon’s teeth which Cadmus sowed in Greece, so a magnificent crop of martyrs were soon testifying amid the flaming fagots in different European countries; finally, Luther comes to the front, the hero of the Reformation, the multitudes falling in line, getting their eyes open to the glorious truth of justification by the free grace of God in Christ, received and appropriated by faith alone, independently of Church rites, priestly manipulations, and clerical absolutions, — presenting a rank and file too formidable for the papistical power to overawe by thundering anathemas, bulls of excommunication, or the fires of Inquisition. We may here observe that during this long period of a thousand years, while the dismal Pagan night darkened the escutcheon of the historic Church, ignorance, superstition, priestcraft, prelacy, and popery, with their human institutions, autocracy, and tyranny having supplanted, and, to all human observation, obliterated every vestige of experimental godliness from the historic Church, yet God had a people in the world who knew Him experimentally, and walked with Him in the beauty of holiness, despite the terrible persecutions waged against them by the Catholic Church, A. D. 251. The Novatians, the holiness people of their day and time, withdrew from the Catholic Church on account of her corruptions. The same people in later centuries were denominated the Waldenses and Albigenses, and despite all efforts to exterminate them in blood, survived several centuries; and finally the movement received a new impetus under the leadership of the Moravians, who were instrumental in the sanctification of John Wesley, who, in the providence of God, became exceedingly prominent in the great holiness movement of his day. While Luther was evidently a sanctified man, yet he never gave the doctrine or the experience any especial attention, having all he could possibly do to rescue the primary truths of justification, regeneration, and adoption from the black grip of Satanic oblivion, long fastened on them by the tyrannical intrigues of Romanism. I am satisfied that God had His way with Luther and his compeers, using them, pursuant to His own will and purpose, in the restoration of these grand fundamental doctrines of experimental salvation. As Wycli£ was the morning star and Luther the rising sun of the great justification revival, in a similar manner George Fox, the founder of Quakerism; John Bunyan, the Baptist; and John Knox, the Presbyterian, were the morning stars of the great sanctification revival, whose sun arose with Wesley and his compeers. As the great doctrine of entire sanctification, so prominent in the apostolic age, had gone into eclipse with oncoming Romanism, and had slumbered in oblivion more than a thousand years, God raised up these mighty men to rescue from oblivion, formulate, and elucidate the profound and majestic-truth of Christian perfection. These heroic saints of bygone ages have faithfully and courageously done their work, and are now resting in glory. While experience is substantially identical in all ages, not so with exegesis. The Bible is our text-book, and the Holy Ghost our Teacher; but some of us are very slow scholars. The Holy Ghost is leading us on, and teaching us as we are able to receive it. Wesley and his coadjutors profited by the work of Luther, as Wesley was actually converted while listening to the reading of Luther’s preface to the Pauline Epistles; but the labor of their lives was not on justification, but Christian perfection.
Our holiness brethren who would confine our investigations and elucidations to sanctification, make a great mistake. The Holy Spirit is still opening the Scriptures, and revealing them more and more, to the saints of God. If we should stop with sanctification, we would make no progress beyond our predecessors, whereas the school of Christ is the most progressive institution in all the world. The notable fact that the Holy Spirit is so wonderful opening the Scriptures revelatory of the Lord’s second coming, is to me an auspicious omen that the time is at hand. We are now living in the last century of the world’s six thousand years, the millennium being the seventh thousand. As the popular chronology is believed by the ablest critics to be too long, many authorities expiring the six thousand years already, we have many reasons to open our eyes to the incoming light shed by the blessed Holy Spirit on those numerous Scriptures revealing the return of Jesus to this world. During the last year I have traveled twenty thousand miles in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In all lands, and upon all seas, I met the Lord’s dear people, looking out for His coming, and believing Him to be very nigh. The Holy Spirit is wonderfully lighting up the Scriptures on the coming of the Lord, Divine healing, and woman’s ministry. We so much need the ministry of the sisterhood to help us carry the gospel to the ends of the earth, and expedite the return of our glorious King. It is very pertinent that we should all sit, meek and lowly, at the feet of Jesus, perfectly appreciative and acquiescent in the teaching of the Holy Ghost. If we refuse to move forward responsive to His leadership, we will certainly grieve Him.
Why did He not reveal the great doctrine of sanctification to Luther? Because he and his generation had enough to do to teach and establish justification. Why did He not lead out Wesley to elaborate the coming of the Lord? Because he had all he could do, in his long, laborious, and useful life, to expound and establish the great doctrine of entire sanctification. Now, with the full benefit of the proficiency achieved by our predecessors, shall we make no decisive process in the school of Christ? Shall we stand still, or go round like the blind horse in the treadmill? God’s commandment to Israel is, “Go forward.” This will be true indefinitely in the department of Biblical exegesis, which, like God its Author, is absolutely illimitable. We will not only learn during this life, but on through all eternity, and more rapidly after we get to heaven than ever before. God forbid that we should command Israel to stand still when He says, “Go forward!”
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v32 Mar 1:21 - Mar 1:34.
Mark
MIGHTY IN WORD AND DEED
Read full note →
Mar 1:21 - Mar 1:34.
None of the incidents in this section are peculiar to Mark, but the special stamp of his Gospel is on them all; and, both in the narration of each and in the swift transition from one to another, the impression of Christ’s strength and unpausing diligence in filial service is made. The short hours of that first Sabbath’s ministry are crowded with work; and Christ’s energy bears Him through exhausting physical labours, and enables Him to turn with unwearied sympathy and marvellous celerity to each new form of misery, and to throw Himself with freshness undiminished into the relief of each. The homely virtue of diligence shines out in this lesson no less clearly than superhuman strength that tames demons and heals all manner of sickness. There are four pictures here, compressed and yet vivid. Mark can condense and keep all the essentials, for his keen eye and sure hand go straight to the heart of his incidents.
I. The strong Son of God teaching with authority.
‘They enter; we see the little group, consisting of Jesus and of the two pairs of brothers, in whose hearts the mighty conviction of His Messiahship had taken root. Simon and Andrew were at home in Capernaum; but we may, perhaps, infer from the manner in which the sickness of Peter’s wife’s mother is mentioned, that Peter had not been to his house till after the synagogue service. At all events, these four were already detached from ordinary life and bound to Him as disciples. We meet here with our first instance of Mark’s favourite ‘straightway,’ the recurrence of which, in this chapter, so powerfully helps the impression of eager and yet careful swiftness with which Christ ran His course, ‘unhasting, unresting.’ From the beginning Mark stamps his story with the spirit of our Lord’s own words, ‘I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh.’ And yet there is no hurry, but the calm, equable rapidity with which planets move. The unostentatious manner of Christ’s beginning is noteworthy. He seeks to set Himself in the line of the ordinary teaching of the day. He knew all the faults of the synagogue and the rabbis, and He had come to revolutionise the very conception of religious teaching and worship; but He prefers to intertwine the new with the old, and to make as little disturbance as possible. It is easy to get the cheap praise of ‘originality’ by brushing aside existing methods. It is harder and nobler to use whatever methods may be going, and to breathe new value and life into them. Drowsy, hair-splitting disputations about nothings and endless casuistry were the staple of the synagogue talk; but when He opened His mouth there, the weary formalism went out of the service, and men’s hearts glowed again when they once more heard a Voice that lived, speaking from a Soul that saw the invisible. Mark has no mission to record many of our Lord’s sayings. His Gospel deals more with deeds. The sermon he does not give, but the hearer’s comment he does. Matthew has the same words at the close of the Sermon on the Mount, from which it would seem that they were part of the oral tradition which underlies the written Gospels; but Mark probably has them in their right place. Very naturally, the first synagogue discourse in Capernaum would surprise. Deeper impressions might be made by its successors, but the first hearing of that voice would be an experience that could never be repeated.
The feature of His teaching which astonished the villagers most was its ‘authority.’ That fits in with the impression of strength which Mark wishes to make. Another thing that struck them was its unlikeness to the type of synagogue teaching to which they had been accustomed all their lives. They had got so accustomed to the droning dreariness and trivial subtleties of the rabbis, that it had never entered their heads that there could be any other way of teaching religion than boring men with interminable pedantries about trifles of ritual or outward obedience. This new Teacher would startle all, as an eagle suddenly appearing in a sanhedrim of owls. He would shock many; He would fascinate a few. Nor was it only the dissimilarity of His teaching, but also its authority, that was strange. The scribes spoke with authority enough of a sort, lording it over the despised common people-’men of the earth,’ as they called them-and exacting punctilious obedience and much obsequiousness; but authority over the spirit they had none. They pretended to no power but as expositors of a law; and they fortified themselves by citations of what this, that, and the other rabbi had said, which was all their learning. Christ quoted no one. He did not even say, ‘Moses has said.’ He did not even preface His commands with a ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ He spoke of His own authority: ‘Verily, I say unto you.’ Other teachers explained the law; He is a lawgiver. Others drew more or less pure waters from cisterns; He is in Himself a well of water, from which all may draw. To us, as to these rude villagers in the synagogue of the little fishing-town, Christ’s teaching is unique in this respect. He does not argue; He affirms. He seeks no support from others’ teachings; He alone is sufficient for us. He not only speaks the truth, which needs no other confirmation than His own lips, but He is the truth. We may canvass other men’s teachings, and distinguish their insight from their errors; we have but to accept His. The world outgrows all others; it can only grow up towards the fulness of His. Us and all the ages He teaches with authority, and the guarantee for the truth of His teaching is Himself. ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you.’ No other man has a right to say that to me. But Christ dominates the race, and the strong Son of God is the world’s Teacher.
II. The strong conqueror of demons.
Again we have ‘straightway.’ The language seems to imply that this wretched sufferer burst hurriedly into the synagogue and interrupted the utterance of astonishment by giving it new food. Perhaps the double consciousness of the demoniac may be recognised, the humanity being drawn to Jesus by some disturbed longings, the demoniac consciousness, on the other hand, being repelled. It is no part of my purpose to discuss demoniacal possession. I content myself with remarking that I, for one, do not see how Christ’s credit as a divine Teacher is to be saved without admitting its reality, nor how such phenomena as the demoniac’s knowledge of His nature are to be accounted for on the hypothesis of disease or insanity. It is assuming rather too encyclopædical a knowledge to allege the impossibility of such possession. There are facts enough around us still, which would be at least as satisfactorily accounted for by it as by natural causes; but as to the incident before us, Mark puts it all into three sentences, each of which is pregnant with suggestions. There is, first, the demoniac’s shriek of hatred and despair. Christ had said nothing. If, as we suppose, the man had broken in on the worship, drawn to Jesus, he is no sooner in His presence than the other power that darkly lodged in him overpowers him, and pours out fierce passions from his reluctant lips. There is dreadful meaning in the preposition here used, ‘a man in an unclean spirit,’ as if his human self was immersed in that filthy flood. The words embody three thoughts-the fierce hatred, which disowns all connection with Jesus; the wild terror, which asks or affirms Christ’s destructive might over all foul spirits {for the ‘us’ means not the man and the demon, but the demon and his fellows}; and the recognition of Christ’s holiness, which lashes unholiness into a paroxysm of mingled despair and hate. Does this sound like a madman, or an epileptic, or like a spirit which knew more than men knew, and trembled and hated more than they could do? There is nothing more terrible than the picture, self-drawn in these spasmodic words, of a spirit which, by its very foulness, is made shudderingly sensitive to the disturbing presence of purity, and would fain have nothing to do with Him whom it recognises for the Holy One of God, and therefore its destroyer. Foul things that lurk under stones hurry out of the light when you lift the covering. Spirits that love the darkness are hurt by the light. It is possible to recognise Jesus for what He is, and to hate Him all the more. What a miserable state that is, to hope that we shall have nothing to do with Him! These wild utterances, seething with evil passions and fierce detestation, do point to the possible terminus for men. A black gulf opens in them, from which we are meant to start back with the prayer, ‘Preserve me from going down into that pit!’
What a contrast to the tempest of the demoniac’s wild and whirling words is the calm speech of Christ! He knows His authority, and His word is imperative, curt, and assured: ‘Hold thy peace!’ literally, ‘Be muzzled,’ as if the creature were a dangerous beast, whose raving and snapping must be stopped. Jesus wishes no acknowledgments from such lips. They who bear the vessels of the Lord must be clean. He had taught with authority, and now He in like manner commands. His teaching rested on His own assurance. His miracle is done by His own power. That power is put forth by His simple word; that is to say, the bare exercise or expression of His will is potent.
The third step in the narrative is the immediate obedience of the demon. Reluctant but compelled, malicious to the last, doing the house which he has to leave all the harm he can, and though no longer venturing to speak, yet venting his rage and mortification, and acknowledging his defeat by one parting howl, he comes out.
Again, we are bid to note the impression produced. The interrupted buzz of talk begins once more, and is vividly reported by the fragmentary sentences of Mar 1:27, and by the remark that it was ‘among themselves’ that they compared notes. Two things startled the people:-first, the ‘new teaching’; and second, the authority over demons, into which they naturally generalise the one instance. The busy tongues were not silenced when they left the synagogue. Mar 1:28 shows what happened, in one direction, when the meeting broke up. With another ‘straightway,’ Mark paints the swift flight of the rumour over all the district, and somewhat overleaps the strict line of chronology, to let us hear how far the echo of such a blow sounded. This first miracle recorded by him is as a duel between Christ and the ‘strong man armed,’ who ‘keeps his house.’ The shield of the great oppressor is first struck in challenge by the champion, and His first essay at arms proves Him mightiest. Such a victory well heads the chronicle.
III. The tenderness of the strong Son.
We come back to the strict order of succession with another ‘straightway,’ which opens a very different scene. The Authorised Version gives three ‘straightways’ in the three verses as to the cure of Peter’s mother-in-law. ‘Immediately’ they go to the house; ‘immediately’ they tell Jesus of her; ‘immediately’ the fever leaves her; and even if we omit the third of these, as the Revised Version does, we cannot miss the rapid haste of the narrative, which reflects the unwearied energy of the Master. Peter and Andrew had apparently been ignorant of the sickness till they reached the house, from which the inference is not that it was a slight attack which had come on after they went to the synagogue, but that the two disciples had so really left house and kindred, that though in Capernaum, they had not gone home till they took Jesus there for rest and quiet and food after the toil of the morning. The owners would naturally first know of the sickness, which would interfere with their hospitable purpose; and so Mark’s account seems more near the details than Matthew’s, inasmuch as the former says that Jesus was ‘told’ of the sick woman, while Matthew’s version is that He ‘saw’ her. Luke says that they ‘besought Him for her.’ No doubt that was the meaning of ‘telling’ Him; but Mark’s representation brings out very beautifully the confidence already beginning to spring in their hearts that He needed but to know in order to heal, and the reverence which hindered them from direct asking. The instinct of the devout heart is to tell Christ all its troubles, great or small; and He does not need beseeching before He answers. He did not need to be told either, but He would not rob them or us of the solace of confiding all griefs to Him.
Their confidence was not misplaced. No moment intervened unused between the tidings and the cure. ‘He came,’ as if He had been in some outer room, or not yet in the house, and now passed into the sick chamber. Then comes one of Mark’s minute and graphic details, in which we may see the keen eye and faithful memory of Peter. He ‘took her by the hand, and lifted her up.’ Mark is fond of telling of Christ’s taking by the hand; as, for instance, the little child whom He set in the midst, the blind man whom He healed, the child with the dumb spirit. His touch has power. His grasp means sympathy, tenderness, identification of Himself with us, the communication of upholding, restoring strength. It is a picture, in a small matter, of the very heart of the gospel. ‘He layeth not hold of angels, but He layeth hold of the seed of Abraham.’ It is a lesson for all who would help their fellows, that they must not be too dainty to lay hold of the dirtiest hand, both metaphorically and literally, if they want their sympathy to be believed. His hand banishes not only the disease, but its consequences. Immediate convalescence and restoration to strength follow; and the strength is used, as it should be, in ministering to the Healer who, notwithstanding His power, needed the humble ministration and the poor fare of the fisherman’s hut. What a lesson for all Christian homes is here! Let Jesus know all that troubles them, welcome Him as a guest, tell Him everything, and He will cure all diseases and sorrows, or give the light of His presence to make them endurable. Consecrate to Him the strength which He gives, and let deliverances teach trust, and inflame grateful love, which delights in serving Him who needs no service, but delights in all.
IV. The strong Son, unwearied by toil and sufficient for all the needy.
Each incident in this lesson has a note appended of the impression it made. Mar 1:32 - Mar 1:34 give the united result of all, on the people of Capernaum. They wait till the Sabbath is past, and then, without thought of His long day of work, crowd round the house with their sick. The sinking sun brought no rest for Him, but the new calls found Him neither exhausted nor unwilling. Capernaum was but a little place, and the whole city might well be ‘gathered together at the door,’ some sick, some bearing the sick, all curious and eager. There was no depth in the excitement. There was earnestness enough, no doubt, in the wish for healing, but there was no insight into His message. Any travelling European with a medicine chest can get the same kind of cortege round his tent. These people, who hung upon Him thus, were those of whom He had afterwards to say that it would be ‘more tolerable for Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for them.’ But though He knew the shallowness of the impression, He was not deaf to the misery; and, with power which knew no weariness, and sympathy which had no limit, and a reservoir of healing virtue which the day’s draughts had not emptied by a hairs-breadth, He healed them all. Remarkable is the prohibition of the demons’ speech, They knew Him, while men were ignorant; for they had met Him before to-day. He would have no witness from them; not merely, as has been said, because their attestation would hinder, rather than further, His acceptance by the people, nor because they may be supposed to have spoken in malice, but because a divine decorum forbade that He should accept acknowledgments from such tainted sources.
So ended this first of ‘the days of the Son of Man,’ which our Evangelist records. It was a day of hard toil, of merciful and manifold self-revelation. As teacher and doer, in the synagogue, and in the home, and in the city; as Lord of the dark realms of evil and of disease; as ready to hear hinted and dumb prayers, and able to answer them all; as careless of His own ease, and ready to spend Himself for others’ help,-Jesus showed Himself, on that Sabbath day, strong and tender, the Son of God and the servant of men.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv32, 34 demons. (See Scofield "Mat 7:22")
devils
demons. (See Scofield "Mat 7:22")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v32 Healing of various diseases:
Healing of various diseases:
v. 32. And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Read full note →
v. 33. And all the city was gathered together at the door.
v. 34. And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew Him.
Jesus had little chance for rest, once the power was known which people had witnessed in Him. The people waited indeed until the Sabbath was past, for the day came to an end with the setting of the sun. But then they brought to Him, they carried to Him all those that were in a bad way, that were not feeling well, together with such as were troubled with demons. So quickly had His fame spread that practically all the inhabitants of the city had come together and were assembled before the door of the house where He was staying. And they were not disappointed in their trust. No matter what the disease was (and many different forms of sickness were represented in that great multitude), He healed them. And many demons He cast out; by a word of command from Him they had to leave their victims and take their disagreeable presence elsewhere. Note: Christ did not permit the demons to speak, lest they tell the people the truth concerning Him. The Lord desires no testimony from the devil and from all those that are willingly in His service. He wanted to reveal Himself to the people of Galilee in His own way and at His own time.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v32 General Information:
General Information:
Here the words "him" and "he" refer to Jesus.
Read full note →
all who were sick or possessed by demons
The word "all" is an exaggeration to emphasize the great number of people who came. AT: "many who were sick or possessed by demons" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)
The whole city gathered together at the door
The word "city" is a metonym for the people who lived in the city. Here the word "whole" is probably a generalization to emphasize that most people from the city gathered. AT: "Many people from that city gathered outside the door" (See: Metonymy and Hyperbole and Generalization)
translationWords
demon-possessed
demon
cure
cast out
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32–34 1:32-34 These public healings took place after sunset following…
1:32-34 These public healings took place after sunset following the Sabbath (1:21, 29), and there were many witnesses (see also 1:39; 3:10-11; 6:5, 53-56).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.