The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 348

state of mind. This was a strange mixture of faith and unbelief. 1. Faith. Christ is a landsman-a carpenter of the inland town of Nazareth; these men are natives of the seashore, and fishermen well used to the sea. Yet they instinctively cry to Christ. In all his trouble the Christian cannot but turn to his Master. 2. Unbelief. These panic-stricken men cannot wait for their Master to rise at the 1ight moment and save them. In their terror they are impatient of his calm slumbers-which is natural; but they are also querulous and unkind-which is less excusable. They hint that Christ cares not whether they perish. Great trouble is a severe test of faith, especially when we hat'e to wait long for deliverance. III. CHRIST STILLS THE sTon». First he rebukes tho little faith of the disciules. Then he turns !O the terror of 'Yind and wave ; and in a I!1oment t~e ~torm has dropped as s~ddenly as_ it arose. Here is the real rebuke of unbelief. Christ 1s never negligent of his people 1n their troubles. He may seem to delay; but at the right moment he will do all that is needful. Whatever may be the trouble, he is able to conquer it. Yet it is easier to quiet a storm at sea than to quiet a troubled heart. If you bold a. glass of water in your hand you can secure its being quite at rest while you bold your hand stil~. 1?ut if you have c:1-ught 8: wild bird in the hedge and hold it in your hand and feel its little heart tbrobb1ng aga1nstyour fingers, you cannot quiet it merely by holding your hand still. You must teach it to trust you. When it has gained confidence it will be at rest. The sea may be stilled by a word of command, but the heart of man only through faitb.-W. F. A. Vers. 1-4, (see also Mark i. 4'0--46; Luke v. 12-16).-17ie leper', ea:ampk. Some concise account of the nature of the disease of leprosy, of the place it held in the Jewish economy as the "sacrament of death," of the leading allusions to it in the- Old Testament, and of the Levitical provisions in the event of a recovery or supposed: recovery, may form introduction to discourse. Then dwell on some suggestions arising. from the fact of- I. TBE F il£E OF JESUS TBA YELLING TO A LEPER. Il. A LEPER TRAVELLING TO JESUS HIMSELF .AT ALL BISKB, III. THE WELL-LEARNT lllJllILITY OF THIS LEPER. IV, THE CLEA.li DECISIVE FAITH OF THIS LEPER.,: v. THE PBOMl'T .um PRACTICAL COMP-•SSION OF J'11:sus: HE TOUCHED THE LEPER.. It was legal defilement to touch a leper, because he was a leper ; but it was not defilement to touch a leper, if he thereby ceased to be such. Vl. THE PROBA.llLE REASON OR BE.A.SONS OF THE CHARGE OF JESUS TO BIM. 1. The- reason may perhaps solely have had reference to what the Saviour knew of the real tendencies of the leper he had cleansed. 2. The reason may have had rather some outer aspect, and may have had it in view to obtain before men, and &ea much-needed "testimony against" themselves, a true and unprejudiced and confessed verdict from the priests as to the genuineness of the great work of cleansing which he had accom- plished. 3. The reason may have been strictly that, for Jesus, his" time was not yet ready," while the defence of the cleansed and happy, late leper, will ever be that h11 could not contain his joy, his praise, and his gratitude.-B. Vers. 6-13 (see also Luke vii. 1-10).-The centurion', e:i:ample. Use the introduction to advert to the apparent discrepancy between the account of St. Matthew and that of St. Luke, in that the latter informs us that it was by messengers and not by himself that the centurion's appeal to Christ was made. Plausible as the objection may jUBtly be allowed to appear, one fact is sufficient to silence it, namely, that the- apparent UH:t,u~iBtence appears quite sufficiently in the one selfsame account of St. Luke. Notice, for instance, and compare vers. 8-10 there. Also allude to the favour- able circumstances in which three other centurions are brought before our notice in Christian history, e.g. eh. :u.rii. 54; Acts x. 1; xxvii. 3, 43; ix.viii. 16. Notice-- I. THE CHABA0TEB THIS CENTURION HAD AOQUIBED, .AND, THOUGH .AN OUTSIDER, THE ESTEEM IN wmcH H.E WAB HELD. Nor is the secret of this far to find. 1. He had a large heart and a sympatbetic. He loved the nation of the Jews, and had built them a synagogue, no doubt because of the higher good he had gained from them, He had reaped their spiritual things, he had given his carnal things. 2. He loved his servantJ OH, vm.1-84,) THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 34.'3