The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 332

■pirita with Me (Revised Yersion, a) word of Talm. Bab., 'Sanh.,' 98b, with reference (ver. 8). In C'Ontrast to s11ying over them to Messiah, "The Leper of the house of the long formulns of exoroism need by others. Rabbi is his n&mc ; for it is s&id, • Surely And healed &11 th&t were sick. The stress he bath borne our griefs, and Cl\rried our ie on aU. None were BO ill as to be beyond sorrows.'" On this and on Reyrnuud Mar- his power, &nd no kind of disease too gre&t tini's false readini;, " the Sick One," 11tde for him to subdue. De.Iman (' Leid. Mess.,' p. 86: 1888). Ver. 17.-Matthew only. A summary 11tatement of Christ's relation t,o diseases. Ver. 18-oh. ii:. 8.-2. Inci<U11ta grouped That it might be talfllled (/l,....,, ..-J,.71pa,9ff} ; round the thought of UM, external trials en- eh. ii. 23, note. Whioh was spoken by dured by Ghrist in his 1JJOrk. (1) No settled Esaiu the prophet, saying, Himself took home (vers. 19-22). (2) His exposure t◊" our in11rmities. all.d bare our sicknesses ; the elements (vers. 28-27). (S) His re- di.sea-•e8 (Revised Version); Isa. liii. 4, from the Hebrew. Took ({J,.a.fJo) regards the jection by Gade.renes (vera. 28-34). (4) transference, the assumption; bare ( l/3d- And by scribes (oh. ix. 1-8). Yet there <TTau,v}, the oppressiveness; infirmitw, ne- WIil! also recognition of him by (1) a scribe gative; disease,, positive. St. Matthew in (ver. 19); (2) another of the disciples (ver.. this verse ea.lls attention to two points. 21); (3) the winds and the see. (ver. 26) ~ First, that prophecy had foretold that Christ (8) demoniacs (probably Jews, vide infra) would heal the sick. For this he might have adduced Isa. :i::a:v. 5, 6, and similar e.nd demons (vers. 29, 81); (4) e. pnralyti~ passages; but e.s one verse will sC'rve his end those who brought him (eh. iL 2); (5) double purpnse, he prefers it. Secondly, that the multitudes (eh. ix. 8). . .: the method by which Christ did this was 11pecially noteworthy. He did not perform Ver. 18.-Parallel passages: Mark iv. 85·' miracles by magic (as is commonly asserted Luk~ viii. 22. No~ when 1eS111 se.w great. of him in the Talmud; cf. Laible, 'Jesus multitudes about him. So also the Revised Christim Talmud,' p.44: Berlin, 1691),norby Version and Westcott and Hort margin ; but the power of God exerted as it were externally Westcott and Hort text, "a multitude," with on his behalf, nor by his own inherent Di vine B. Probably the received text is derived power, but by himself bearing the sicknesses from ver. I. From the parallel passages it that he rem,,ved. He wr-lugl,t his miracles at is natural to infer that this crossing was some hisowne:i:pense,and thatexpensethegreatest. little time subsequent to the evening of the The thought is far-reaching, and implies both dny on which be had bee.led Peter's wife'11 that he bore the ultimate call86 of sickness, mother, etc. (vers. H-16), and that it waa the sin of the world (John i 29), and also on the day in which he had spoken the that each miracle of healing meant for him parable of the eower. B:e gave oommand- a fresh realization of what b!'.aring the sin ment to depart unto the other side. It wu of the world inclnded. In other words, the good for the multitude tbe.t he should leave passage in Isaiah, as interpreted by St. them, for they were wont to take too carnal Matthew, refers, not only to the Passion as e. view of his mission (cf. John vi. 15), e.nd such, but also to Ch:rillt's snffering an earnest would now have time to consider its trne and a foretaste of it at each miracle. May nature ; and it was e.n opportunity of bless- not this have been in part the cause of his ing to all who were on that further shore. lligh at one miracle (l\Iark ,-ii, 34), and his Vers. 19-22.-Pare.llel passage : Luke deep emotion et another (John tl 33)? ix. 57-62. The tDould-lil, folloUIBFB. (On Observe that this may be the complementary 11ide of his experience recorded in Mark this section, cf. by ell means Trench,' Studies v. 30 (parallel pessage: Luke viii 46), that in the Gospels,' pp. 156-167: 1867.) " r,ower" went out of him. A miracle of Notice that St. Luke (1) places it almost at. heeling, thongh performed in momentary the beginning of the Great Episode, calling unconsciousness of what was ta.king place, attention by it to the qualificntious required' Etill necessitated pcreonal contact with sin, which to Christ's whole nature meant moral of those who would follow the Lord up to effort. Th,~ utterance recorded by Origen, J crusalem ; (2) adds e. third example. Bo "For those tlie.t a.re sick I was sick, and- for, far as we have materials for deciding, th& those that hunger I snffered hunger, and for chronological position found in St. Matthew tl,osc that thirst I suffered thirst" (Bishop seems more probable. ·w ~stcott, ' Introcl.,' Appendix C; Resch, 'Agraph11,' Log. 47), probe.bly expresses the Ver. 19.-And a oerta.ln scribe oame; Ile- same thought as our verse, though in the -rised Version, and there came a ,cn'be. Con- .1.&.11 6'1.lege of eh. xxv. 35, 36. A simile.r idea. trast the order in vcr. 2. There the lepor at wa lo underlie the wtll-known saying wee recognized as suoh before ever he cam.&- on, vm. 1-34.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 327