READINGS IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL (5)
READINGS IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL (5)
JT Mention has been made of the references to mountains in this gospel. We noted at the last meeting that in chapter 5 it is said: “But seeing the crowds, he went up into the mountain, and having sat down, his disciples came to him; and, having opened his mouth, he taught them”, verses 1, 2. That chapter begins the subject of mountains; although chapter 4 mentions one, but it hardly fits in with the subject, because it is one that the devil used in connection with one of the temptations. Chapter 5, therefore, properly begins the subject of mountains, as we were saying, which would direct our minds to the word in the Psalms that Jerusalem is encompassed with mountains in the sense of protection. “Jerusalem! — mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about his people, from henceforth and for evermore”, Psalm 125: 2. The teaching on the mountain runs on to the end of chapter 7, where it is said, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as having authority”. Then in verse 1 of chapter 8, it says, “And when he had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him”. So that now He has come down from the mountain to the plain; and therefore we have to consider chapter 8 with this in mind. It affords us much instruction as to what happened on the plain, because it refers to the Lord’s work, not so much in the sense of teaching, but healing. The subject runs on to the end of chapter 9, where we are told, “And Jesus went round all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the glad tidings of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every bodily weakness”. And then it says further, “But when he saw the crowds he was moved with compassion [p. 90] for them, because they were harassed, and cast away as sheep not having a shepherd. Then saith he to his disciples, The harvest is great and the workmen are few; supplicate therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth workmen unto his harvest”. So that we have in these two chapters the Lord’s immediate work, not so much in teaching, as in preaching and in healing. And the first case is the leper. Then we have, in verse 5, a centurion coming to Him and seeking help for his servant who was paralysed. And then, verse 14: “When Jesus had come to Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law laid down and in a fever”. Verse 16 says, “And when the evening was come, they brought to him many possessed by demons”. Thus we have one instance after another in the sense of healing.
HH Would you say that over against the speaking on the mountain, which would be the principles of the kingdom of the heavens, you now have power, the miracles effected in one and another, showing that the teaching connected with the kingdom is accompanied by power?
JT Yes; that is just what I think. First, the mountain, or mountains, for there are six of them engaged in this sense, contemplate the administrative service of the Lord, but the plain would be the meeting of the need in humanity to bring about what corresponds to the teaching.
AAT Is it possible that a saint may be a leper?
JT Well, I think so. The subject of leprosy is defined in Leviticus, and clearly the allusion is to persons who have a place amongst God’s people. And if one such is a leper, of course, he has to be dealt with as such. That is what is in mind. But I should say that the subject of leprosy in itself refers to sin in its working in unconverted persons. Luke 5 illustrates this, for the man in verse 12, is said to be “full of leprosy”, and this corresponds with Peter’s confession; “I am a sinful man”, verse 8.
CN There seems to be some faith in this man. He says, “Lord, if thou wilt, thou art able to cleanse me”.
JT Well, that would show that he would have some knowledge of Christ, because he was aware of His power; “If thou wilt, thou art able to cleanse me”. It was a question of His disposition. Therefore, the gospel would meet this situation, for it brings out the disposition of Christ to heal. So it says, “And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will”, showing His disposition: and then He adds, “Be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed”. The immediate completeness of the cure is striking.
CFE Why do you think the priest is brought in here?
JT I think to make provision for the old economy, seeing that it was not yet abandoned. We were noticing at the last reading that in Matthew the Lord takes up whatever can be used. He says, in chapter 5, “Think not that I am come to make void the law or the prophets; I am not come to make void, but to fulfil”. So Matthew would say, Whatever is usable should be used; hence the priest is still usable.
HH Would you connect leprosy with state or with guilt, or with both?
JT I think it is state, properly, but it is a state in which sin is operative.
HH Naaman was an honourable man, “but a leper”. It seems to suggest state.
JT I would think it is meant to represent the state of man as sinful.
Rem Before he asked for healing the man did the Lord homage.
JT Showing that he reverenced Him, which was a good sign.
AR [p. 92] The Lord is morally as great on the plain as He is on the mountain.
JT Quite so, but the power is seen on the plain; the leper assumed that the Lord had power to do what was needed. It was only a question of His disposition to do it, and the Lord “stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will”. That would be His disposition; so that the power was equivalent to the truth ministered on the mountain.
FNW Would this case be an encouragement to us, as suggesting one who is searched out by the teaching on the mountain, who comes to the Lord and gets right?
JT The healing is done immediately. The suggestion is that diseases are not cured by stages; in fact, the Lord in all cases in the gospels has power to do things immediately. It is the immediate power of God in Christ, which is seen in the kingdom.
AI What is the Lord’s disposition in this way, especially in view of the young?
JT Well, the gospel is intended to unfold that; hence great stress is laid on the preaching throughout the gospels and epistles; not simply that the power is there, but also the preaching, to make the teaching effective. The teaching is to be made effective. This involves gift. In the Lord it was perfect.
RDG Does Mark’s reference to this incident help as to the Lord’s disposition? It says, “And there comes to him a leper, beseeching him, and falling on his knees to him, and saying to him, If thou wilt thou canst cleanse me. But Jesus, moved with compassion, having stretched out his hand, touched him, and says to him, I will, be thou cleansed”, Mark 1: 40, 41.
JT So that it is not only the power but the compassion; hence, we have “the compassions of God” worked out in Romans.
And then the next feature of the Lord’s work in this [p. 93] chapter is the healing of the paralytic. “And when he had entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to him, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lies paralytic in the house, suffering grievously. And Jesus says to him, I will come and heal him”. That is, there is no question of the Lord’s will or disposition in the matter; it is already asserted. The Lord said, “I will come and heal him”. It is a positive statement. He did not say, ‘Try to heal him, but to do it’. “And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit that thou shouldest enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my bondman, Do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard it, he wondered, and said to those who followed, Verily, I say unto you, Not even in Israel have I found so great faith”, verses 8 - 10. So this brings us to the next great matter; that is to say, faith. It is not said to be in the one that is to be healed, but in the centurion whose servant was to be healed; he had faith, which is a matter to be specially noted if we are to gain by what happens on the plain. The Lord is apprehended by one, as One under authority. The centurion understood the position, that the Lord was here from God, under authority, acting under God; and the centurion said in effect, I am in the same position. That showed that faith was in operation. Thus the truth in this chapter is developed from one subject to another.
APT This second case involves more than one person. Would there be something in that?
JT Well, it shows that if there is any spiritual need amongst us, the exercise need not be confined to the person involved. There is the word, “For each shall bear his own burden”, Galatians 6: 5; but then at the same time, it says, “Bear one another’s burdens”, verse 2,
[p. 94] and that brings in more than one. It might be more than one or two; it might be any number. That is to say, the idea of sympathy in the service is something of very great importance. If a brother or sister is sick, he, or she, has a burden, and it should not be left to him alone. On the other hand, if he is complaining unfairly that the brethren are not looking after him, well, the word is, Let him bear his own burden. He ought to learn to do that.
AAT Is paralysis a definite form of spiritual illness?
JT I think it is. As thus affected you are not able to do anything spiritually.
AR Some say that they are not free to go about in service on their own account; that they go about amongst the saints on invitation only. Would that be abrogated in this chapter? As being under authority, it is a question of being sent, is it not? The Lord was a Man under authority. Is that right?
JT Well, the idea is that christianity is a kingdom or system. It is not simply a matter of isolated servants, but servants in relation to the Lord and to one another. The centurion was related to the imperial military system of Rome, and that, of course, was only an allusion to the Lord’s position. He was here in relation to a system, the kingdom of the heavens. Therefore, the saints ought to understand that if there is need for this or that, the system affords what is needed. So that if we are compassionate, we will meet a man according to what his needs may be; and there is authority in it. Hence, the idea of christianity is that the Lord has authority and the saints are all under that authority. That is the point the centurion makes in saying, I am a man under authority. He is transferring the idea to the Lord, understanding His position. The centurion understood His position; that He was a Man under authority, meaning that He was [p. 95] under God.
CAM You were making a point recently about divine appointment. In that way, this man’s very position in those circumstances would be by divine appointment, would you say?
JT Quite so; and every one under him did what he wanted to be done. There was no question of, Will you do it? He says, “I say unto this one, Go, and he goes”. That is what marks the kingdom of the heavens, and of course, we all want to be available to the Lord, and even to one another, because we are to be subject to one another. Therefore, if there is anything needed, and we have some means of helping, the thing is to do it immediately. It is our business, as it were, since we are in this system, and the system is workable, and if a person is out of joint, as it were, the word is, “Ye who are spiritual restore such a one”; so that he may be in joint and ready for the function that is appointed to him. See note in New Translation on “restore” in Galatians 6: 1.
CFE The centurion says, “But only speak a word”. Would that be a word for the present moment?
JT Well, the centurion knew the position, that all that was needed was that the Lord should say a word; not write, or preach, but “only speak a word, and my servant shall be healed”. It is to show how immediate and effective the divine system is.
AI It has in mind, too, has it not, the far-reaching effect of the word of God?
JT Yes; the Lord graciously said, “I will come and heal him”, but the presence of faith and understanding in the centurion is what the Lord stresses.
AR Should every servant amongst the saints today work on this same principle of delegated authority?
JT Yes; and things are done at once. It is the workableness of the system, I believe, that is to be expressed. And I believe that John’s gospel, although it is not just what we are speaking of, shows how love enters into it. John’s gospel shows how instantaneous love is, how quickly it will act. And Luke’s account of this incident shows how love entered into it. His servant was ‘dear’ to the centurion, and the Jews said, “he loves our nation, and himself has built the synagogue for us”.
RWS In many matters now things are protracted; they are not done immediately. Why is that?
JT Well, that may mean something in the sense of paralysis. I think that John’s gospel would be the great remedy. It is the greatest of the four. It is a question of love.
JS “For God has not sent his Son into the world that he may judge the world, but that the world may be saved through him”, John 3: 17.
JT God loved it. That is the greatest thing that you could say of the world; that God loved it. “God so loved the world”.
DP The world relies on military power, but here is a case that such power cannot meet.
JT Primarily it is a question of the good relations between master and servant; the centurion is the master, and the servant is the paralytic. The relations between them are the opposite of trades unionism.
HH A great feature in John is the word ‘sent’ which occurs some forty times. That would fit with this thought of authority, that the Lord moved under divine commission. And speaking of servants, is it not a question of whether they are going as under authority? The principle is that one is sent. I suppose that is very important.
JT Very important; it is not whether he is invited: it is a question of whether he is sent.
APT The Lord says, “I will come”. That involved that He was already under authority.
JT Quite so. He was here to meet need. God anointed Him, and He “went through all quarters doing [p. 97] good, and healing all that were under the power of the devil, because God was with him”, Acts 10: 38.
CN This paralytic was in the house. “My servant lies paralytic in the house, suffering grievously”.
JT That would show how love was operative, as we have been saying; that the servant had a place in the house. It was not an outbuilding or a loft. So the fact that the centurion afforded a place in his house for his sick servant would stress the idea that love is operative.
FSC What would you say about his being unfit for the Lord to come into his house?
JT It was the sense he had of his own unworthiness. He would be a lowly kind of man. How different from the ordinary soldier! Underneath was the work of God in this man. Luke stresses it more than Matthew.
AAT Was this centurion a Roman?
JT Yes. A Roman centurion.
AAT Then he was properly outside of Israel?
JT He evidently resided in Capernaum. He was a compassionate sort of man, for he acted the part of a father to his servant. But he was a subject of the work of God. The Lord wondered as to him. He said, “Verily I say unto you. Not even in Israel have I found so great faith”, verse 10. Intelligence is seen in the man, that he understood the Lord’s position and service. The Lord regards the centurion’s faith as the basis of the healing of the paralytic, verse 13.
TEH Would you help us further as to invitation? The great light and truth that we enjoy in this hemisphere lies open to invitation, does it not? The Macedonian said, “Pass over ... and help us”.
JT The real basis of the service of the kingdom is in being sent. It is a question of authority. The Macedonian case is striking, but it is a call for help, not an invitation. It was a national matter, really a continental matter. It was an appeal for help from Europe. “There was a certain Macedonian man,
[p. 98] standing and beseeching him, and saying, Pass over into Macedonia and help us”, Acts 16: 9. It is not properly an invitation; it is an appeal; there is need. The word is, “Pass over ... and help us”.
TEH Does their conclusion that the Lord had ‘called’ the apostle help as to the idea of being sent?
JT Just so; Paul concluded that the thing was so, that there was an appeal, a call from Europe, and the idea has run across the continents, to America, and then to Australia.
JHP Is it connected with the thought of many coming from the rising and setting sun and sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?
JT Well, that comes in here. The Lord says, “But I say unto you, that many shall come from the rising and setting sun, and shall lie down at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens”, verse 11. There is no other kingdom like it. It bears on all humanity; “the rising and setting sun”. But “the sons of the kingdom” are those that were merely professedly in it, the Jews, and they “shall be cast out into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth”, verse 12.
HH Would that be in line with the beginning of this gospel: “Where is the king of the Jews that has been born?” chapter 2: 2. Then the kingdom of the heavens comes in. His kingdom set up already; and then the power of the kingdom of which we are speaking now?
JT I would say that, because the magi got into their minds that His kingdom would be extensive. They would consider themselves in it. They had come to worship Him, from a long way, apparently.
FHL Could we apply the operation of faith company-wise, where there is this paralysis? The Lord says, “As thou hast believed”. Would that be applicable to such a situation company-wise?
JT Well, I think that if we understand the system [p. 99] in relation to what is said in Galatians: “Ye who are spiritual restore such a one”, it is for each of us to see whether he can do that. If I am spiritual, I will be able to do it. I will be able to restore such a one so that he is able to do his part in the divine system.
JAP Has the Lord given us authority over our own means to relieve the burdens of one and another in that way?
JT I would say that; so that you have to look into your bank account and see how much you can do in a given case. Money is plentiful now; this is, referring to the practical side, but it is remarkable the amount of money there is in circulation. The question is whether it becomes the medium of love. If it becomes circulatory as the handmaid of love, then it is of use; otherwise, it will only puff up those who have it.
JAP Would bearing one another’s burdens help to release one another from pressures that would hinder us in our souls?
JT Yes; and thus fulfil the law of Christ.
DMacd While you are discussing the practical side, how far can we go in relation to the matter of healing as seen in the epistle of James?
JT Well, it is a question as to whether there is faith. The “prayer of faith” is the point. Someone might say, Well, it is God who does the thing; which of course is admitted. We gladly recognise that God alone can do those things, but the “prayer of faith” is said to do it. The prayer of faith shall heal the sick. It is a question of faith and the prayer of faith.
RDG Would you say, that in referring to the centurion’s great faith, the Lord Jesus had in mind not only his confidence but his intelligence?
JT I think He did. I think the Lord must have been very pleased with his attitude, speaking reverently, that the man was so intelligent that he could say what he did. It is as if he said to the Lord, ‘I know exactly how [p. 100] you are situated; that you are here on the part of God, and all you will have to do is to speak a word and my servant shall be healed’. It is an acknowledgment of what the power of God effected in the man. That is the idea of the kingdom of the heavens.
JS The officer was looking at the Lord as under supreme authority?
JT Well, quite so; the Lord must have felt it keenly and appreciated it keenly. He says “Not even in Israel have I found so great faith”.
WWM Would you say that there are two points we might get from the teaching; one would be the idea of intense subjection, which the centurion intimated as to himself; and the other is to strengthen our faith?
JT Just so; and then the skill that would go with the intelligence that the man had, because God gives us intelligence as to everything. A christian has intelligence, you might say, in principle by being a christian. He has the Holy Spirit; he knows more than the ancients; he knows more than the scientists, because the Spirit of God gives him knowledge.
HH An unction, would you say?
JT Just so; “And ye have the unction from the holy one, and ye know all things”, 1 John 2: 20.
AI Why then does it say here that when Jesus heard it, He wondered?
JT Well, that is one of the most remarkable things. You are reminded of Abraham’s servant (who is a type of the Holy Spirit), when he saw how gracefully and liberally Rebecca gave him to drink and the camels also he was astonished at her, Genesis 24: 21.
DP Would a man like this be balanced, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God, what is God’s?
JT Quite so; but he would make far more of God than Caesar.
AR Was there a good relationship between Paul and Timothy? He sent Timothy to [p. 101] Corinth.
JT Quite so; Timothy was in the position of a servant to Paul, a peculiar thing. Apollos was not in that position in relation to Paul, but Timotheus and Titus were, showing that in the divine system, there is such a thing as moral superiority in men like Paul and John.
AR Apollos had his own mind about going to Corinth.
JT He was, so to speak, an independent servant. He was not in the position of Titus and Timotheus. God honoured that. He came from Alexandria, and he has a peculiar place. God brought him into a position where He could manifest this principle of independency in service.
SM Do Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob represent what is living?
JT I would think so; those that could lie down at table. That is what the Lord says here: “But I say unto you, that many shall come from the rising and setting sun, and shall lie down at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens”.
SM Referring again to love, John says, “Jesus, ... having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end”, John 13: 1. And the Lord said of him, “If I will that he abide until I come”, John 21: 22. Do you think both thoughts would be supported by love?
JT Well, quite so; the Spirit of God has recorded that John was the disciple whom Jesus loved, and surely that ought to fit in with the fact that if the Lord wished to keep John to the end of the dispensation. He was entitled to do it; indeed, we might say that love was entitled to it. “If I will that he abide until I come, what is that to thee?” That would be the independency which Apollos had come into. The Lord was independent in that sense: He could use His servant and keep him here until now, if He wished, but He is not doing [p. 102] it. John has that peculiar place, and thus his ministry goes through to the end of the dispensation.
HH How completely Peter surrendered to Paul in his second epistle! He says, “our beloved brother Paul”. What a high level he put Paul’s ministry on.
JT He called it Scripture. It reminds us of how God names things. Sarah’s word to Abraham, “Cast out the maid servant and her son” is called Scripture in Galatians 4: 30.
AAT Will you say something about the handling of the fever in the case of Peter’s mother-in-law?
JT Well, that is a house matter; it is a family matter. “And when Jesus had come to Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law laid down and in a fever; and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served him”. This is the first case, I think, of a person who is healed coming into the service immediately: “And she arose and served him”. Elsewhere, “she served them”. But here, she served Him. She was a mother-in-law, too, and fever causes irritation, and the circumstances would tend to increase it, but nobody asked the Lord to heal her. He did it without being asked. It is very touching, I think, especially that she is related to Peter. It shows how the Lord thinks of those related to His servants.
JS Is service in view in the fact that He touched her hand?
JT Yes; the hand is often referred to as denoting service. The woman was ready to serve when healed.
WFK It is Peter’s house, too, into which the Lord was free to enter.
JT Just so.
APT The healing of Peter’s wife’s mother seems to be a terminus.
JT It says, “And when the evening was come, they brought to him many possessed by demons, and he cast [p. 103] out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were ill; so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases”. Now we have a change-over, for those present were learning from what had happened. “They brought to him many possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word”; that is what had happened already; “and healed all that were ill”. The next thing is that it is resulting in a prophetic fulfilment; that is to say, things must come into prophetic position, the testimony of the kingdom implies that prophecy had been uttered centuries before, and things must come under the prophetic position; so that we are now living in a prophetic position, whatever it may be, and the thing is to be in accord with it.
HH And not go against the signals!
JS In that light you would maintain all Scripture.
JT Yes, “which God has spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since time began”, Acts 3: 21.
APT Would you say the book of Revelation indicates a prophetic position, and it is a case of whether we may be entering upon some of the things that the Lord had in mind?
JT Yes; and I believe that is why so much was made of prophecy in the beginning of the present revival; the point was that the Spirit of God would bring out the prophetic position, and that we must not move out of it. Hence the prominent place prophetic ministry has in Matthew; also in the first epistle to the Corinthians.
CFE What would you say about the verse, “And ... they brought to him ...”?
JT It is impersonal; whoever they were, some were doing this. And so it is said, “that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases”, verse 17. They were thus in the prophetic position, as we have said.
AR Is God working at the present in particular areas?
JT Quite so; presently it will go into the millennium. You get frequent references, in this gospel, to the prophetic position; chapter 4: 12, for instance, “But having heard that John was delivered up, he departed into Galilee: and having left Nazareth, he went and dwelt at Capernaum, which is on the sea-side in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim, that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaias the prophet”; that is, the Lord moved into Capernaum so that certain prophetic scriptures might be fulfilled.
FNW Is there a difference in the prophetic position as it bears on our times, coming first of all from the Old Testament prophets and the Lord’s ministry in the gospels, to that which was established in the ministry of the apostles?
JT The principles governing both are the same, I think; and they should be kept in mind. In the beginning of this present revival in Dublin, there were prolonged prophetic meetings, and I believe the whole spiritual map was opened up in those meetings; so that the brethren began to see where they were. All this bears on the present moment.
DP Are conditions becoming increasingly difficult? The conditions which the Lord met in this chapter seem to be increasingly difficult. He was met by demons in verse 28.
JT Quite so; so that we were trying to follow on in the line of our subject. We have already had the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, and then the word of prophecy; “Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases”. Then it goes on, “And Jesus, seeing great crowds around him, commanded to depart to the other side”. And a scribe said, “I will follow thee whithersoever [p. 105] thou mayest go. And Jesus says to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven roosting-places; but the Son of man has not where he may lay his head. But another of his disciples said to him, Lord, suffer me first to go away and bury my father”. Possibly he may have been waiting for his father’s death, having in mind to bury him. “But Jesus said to him, Follow me”. That is to say, this is now the governing principle in this prophetic place; it is a question of following the Lord. He has shown that He is worthy of being followed. And so it goes on to say, “And he went on board ship and his disciples followed him”, verse 23. They are not directed to do this, but they do it, showing that they are in the principle of the position. Following Him is the principle. And then it says, “And behold, the water became very agitated on the sea, so that the ship was covered by the waves; but he slept”. That is something to test us, that He should be sleeping and there should be a storm, whether we are sufficiently in faith to be sure that all is well because He is with us. “And the disciples came and awoke him, saying, Lord save: we perish. And he says to them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” We have seen much faith in the centurion, but here, in the disciples, we have but little faith.
But we have to proceed to this most sorrowful matter of the demons: “And there met him, when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, two possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs, exceeding dangerous, so that no [p. 106] one was able to pass by that way”. Notice that there are two of them! which is something specially to be noticed in Matthew.
AR Do they represent a combination standing in the way of divine operations?
JT Yes. The numeral two in this gospel may represent good or bad. These two demoniacs, of course, were bad; they were “exceeding dangerous, so that no one was able to pass by that way”. Well, we have had some experience of that kind, an impassable condition. This subject runs on to the end of the chapter.
APT It would appear that demons recognise that they must, in their movements, be permitted of the Lord.
JT It says in verse 29: “And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Son of God? hast thou come here before the time to torment us? Now there was, a great way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding; and the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine. And he said to them, Go. And they, going out, departed into the herd of swine; and lo, the whole herd of swine rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and died in the waters. But they that fed them fled, and went away into the city and related everything, and what had happened as to those possessed by demons. And behold, the whole city went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to go away out of their coasts”. It is a most distressing incident, showing utter want of feeling. They asked the Lord to depart out of their coasts! It shows what the testimony requires; how much we have to go through, and suffer, too.
JAP Did Paul contend with this same thing, in principle, in Philippi? There was a woman there who had the spirit of Python. And then, at the close of that chapter they asked him to leave the city.
JT The circumstances are similar; but Lydia was at Philippi, one who valued Paul, whose heart the Lord had opened to attend to the things spoken by him. The apostle and those with him went to Lydia before leaving and exhorted the brethren. Thus the testimony obtained a footing at Philippi, but evidently this was not so in the section we are dealing with.
AAT Seven demons went out of Mary Magdalene,
[p. 107] but is not the idea of demonical possession limited today in the light of christianity?
JT I think it is. We have much related as to demon possession in China, for instance. Much cannot be verified but some of it is, and it indicates that there is considerable scope for demon possession. That would mean that China has not accepted the truth of christianity.
FHL In view of verse 18, would you not say that Jesus had deliberately taken up this position to expose the conditions there? He commanded to depart to the other side.
JT Quite so; it was His own doing; but still we see what was brought out, and how solemn it is that there may be results from the work of God and yet there may be no sympathy at all with Christ and no desire for the truth. “And when they saw him, they begged him to go away out of their coasts”.
WFK What would you say of the testimony, “Son of God”, which the demons rendered? They do not say, ‘Lord’, do they?
JT The demons knew. “The demons even believe, and tremble”. They do not call him, ‘Lord’, as you say.
JHP There seems to be more said about the opposition to the Lord than there is of the effect of His work in the two men. In another gospel it is said that the healed one was sitting clothed and in his right mind.
JT It is a beautiful result of the gospel. Luke pursues the subject, and he shows the one from whom the demons had gone out sitting, clothed and sensible at the feet of Jesus.
AR Is there correspondence to Christ’s refusal here in Paul’s ministry when he says that he would turn to the gentiles?
JT Quite so; “Lo, we turn to the nations”, Acts 13: 46.