The Pulpit Commentary — Mark — Volume 1 — Section 110

by both alike. They would not have engaged in the friendly offico unloss they had had faith in the probable result, nor would they have undertaken it against the will or -wish of the invalid; neither would he have consented to allow himself to be conveyed 11e- be did, without believing in the power of him from whom he hoped relief. ' V. NATURE OF FAITH, AS SEEN IN THIS TRANSACTION. Two things, the exact counterpart of each other, are the love of the Saviour and the faith of the sinner; they exactly and mutually correspond; the latter is the cheerful response to the former. The Saviour is waiting to be gracious; the sinner, in the exercise of faith, is ready to accept that grace. The Saviour offers the much-needed for!riveness; the sinner, by faith, stretches out his hand to receive the boon. The true ~ature oii faith, moreover, is taught us here; it is not merely belief in a doama, it is dependence on a person; it is not merely belief in a doctrine, it is reliance o; a livina Saviour; it is thus not only assent to a Divine testimony, it is trust in a Divine pe~son. Accor- dingly, it is sometimes represented in Scripture as a coming to Christ; sometimes it iSe the receiving of Christ; again, it is a looking to Christ; also a fleeing to him for refuge. It is exhibited by other figures all of which imply not only implicit belief in what the Scriptures report of Christ, but actual trust in him as being all that Scripture representa him, and willing to do all that Scripture declares him to be able and willing to do. VI. THE DISEASE .AND ITS REMEDY. The sufferer was a paralytic, or rather, as St. Luke with his usual professional accuracy characterizes him more strictly, paralyzed or palsy-stricken (ra.pa>..Elt..uphos). This disease, which assumed a very aggravated form in, the East, was attended with great suffering, besides leaving its victim altogether help- less. If leprosy was typical of pollution, and demoniac possession of passion, this form of disease was a type of utter prostration. The mode of cure adopted by our Lord in this case was somewhat unusual. Generally he administered relief to the body before rest.oring health to the soul; in the case of the paralytic the process is just the converse 0£ this. Whether it was that sinful indulgence or evil excesses of i;ome kind had weakened the nervous system of this man, and left him in this state of pain and prostration; or whether he felt with peculiar keenness the burden of sin pressing on his conscience ; or whether some expression of penitence, though unrecorded, had escaped his lips ; or whether it was only deep contrition of spirit of which our Lord alone was cognizant;-- whichever of these it was, he first removed the soul disease. The expression, as recorded by St. Luke, is merely "man; " but both St. Matthew and St. Mark report the- tenderer word of address, "son" or "child," more on the ground of affection than. because of the youth of the sufferer; while St. Matthew alone adds the word 0£ cheering-(e&p,m), "Be of good cheer "-an expression so calculated to relieve the bur- thened spirit and ease the aching heart. VII. GROUND OF ENCOURAGEMENT. But the ground of this encouragement is in the, words, "Thy sinB are forgiven thee;" not, observe, "be forgiven thee," for Cf'"'".,."' is not for a.,piii,mu, the aorist subjunctive in a precative sense, but for life,,,.,.1111perfect indicative in. au affirmative sense-have been forgiven thee. '!'he deed, in fa.et, was done, the blessing. was bestowed, the sinB of the man were, as the word implies, dismissed-sent away like- the sins of Israel on the head of the scapegoat "into a land uninhabited," never again to- return or be remembered. VIII. HosTILE oN-LOOKERB. In that surging crowd were some cold, unsympathetic hearts; there sat or stood there men who had come, if not as spies, yet through, curiosity of a calculating, critical, sceptical kind. Not only had Galilee sent its con- tingent of such men from every village, but several had come all the way from the southern province, and even from its capital-an indirect evidence, by the way, of what is directly recorded by St. John of ministerial work carried on in these parts, and of attention roused by it. In the parallel portion of St. Luke where we read that" the power of the Lord was present to heal them (alrrovs) "-that is, of course, those who sought or needed healing-there is a tolerably well-supported variant which reads the pronoun in the singular a.vr611 after K, B, L, i:!; the meaning in this case is, " the power <Jf the Lord was in the direction of his healing," or more freely," the power of the Lord [Jehovah] wu present for his [work ofl healing." IX. A SEOT .AND .A PROFESSION. St. -Matthew and St. Mark both notice the prP.seuce of certain of the scribes. These were originally copyists, but afterwards textual criticti,, aud subsequently expositors of the Law-in fa.et, the tlieologiane of the nation. St..  cm. II. 1-28.] TllE GOSPEL .A.CCORDING TO ST. MARK. 101