The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 123

not bc11r 11w aight of the glorious majesty l'iRn. of whom hi' m1ty hn'l"n h<'nr,1 eo much, of hi• riaC"n Lord. Thou sh11lt 011.toh men. and Rsks him to exercise his mighty power Th<' imng,•ry onntRinC'd in thnac wnrde nf on the dreAd mRln<ly which wns c11.ti11g CWI\V the JIIHsfpr 1'1 his fisl1C'rmen-followcrs wns, his life. The leper evidently hnd no cloub\ of cnurse, drnwn from t.he late ae.one. Thoir whRtever of the power of Jesus; he was only fuilur<' in entching fish, th"ir Teacher's Rnxions as to whether he hnd the will to m111·..-pl]n11a sll<'<'CBB, the net. burRting with cure him. The whole question respecting thP gr<'RI e<1tch of silvery fl•h; the Lord's the ex~ct nature of the diseo.se is e. vexed slmng" prophetic words whioh aooompa.nied one. The word !ms been used with varying tl,eir r,1111 to his 110mce,-all would in after-extent of meaning. As far as wo oe.n gather, ye,,r• oi't,•n come up before the disciples in the disease in its worst form seems lo h11ve tht>ir honrs of alt.ema.ting failure and succesebeen a progressive decny orising from the· ii: the mighty task he had eat them to do. poisouing ol' the blood. The foce and dif- Tlll' grL•at Fisherme.n, Christ; his imitators ferent members of the boJy wero e.ltacked and sl'r,:nnts, fishers; the world of men and gradually destroye,l, till the sufferer pictured u fish,-were ever favourite images bees.me a hideous spectacle, and liternlly for the prn<'il, the graving tool, nnd the pen fell to pieces. It is much disputed whether of the ChrisliR.n arfut e.nd writ.er of the or not the me.lady in any of its varied de- first ag-cs of the faith. One of the earliest velopments and stag<'s was conto.gious. The extnnt hymns, for instanoo, of the Ohurch, strict sepR.re.tion which in well-nigh all by Clemrnt of Alexandria, dwells on the forms of the disease was rigidly insisted on image. 'l'he words are addressed to Chrisi- wouhl seem at all events to point to the "Fisher of men, the bleat, couclusion that, in the popular estimation, it Out of the world's unrest, certoinly was so; some phe.ses of the me.lady, Out of siu'e troubled sea, however, e.ppeo.r to have been considered e.s Te.king us, Lord, to thee; perfectly free from contagious effect-for Out of thll wa,:cs of strife instance, Naame.n, the captain of the host With bait of blissful life; of Syrio, was a. leper. It is not conceivable that one who we.a infected with so grave a Drawing thy nets to shore, mnlarlv, considered incurable, would, if con• With choicest fish, good store." t11giou·s, ho.ve been permitted to have exer- (Hymfi of Clement of ~le=ndria.) cised a function which would have brought The favourite Christian monogram of the him into constant contact with masses of his fish. carved on so many tombs in the Cata- fellow-countrymen. These cases, however, combs, belongs to the same ime.gery-t.he were appe.rently few in number, and those ,xB~ afflicted with who.t WW! usually called "'°' •1111011, X,p<t1'1'0S ll~OII ""'"IP leprosy were rigidly sep11roted from theil' fellows, not only to dwell apart, but positively· ' X I " " Vere. 12-16.-The leper u healed in a forbidden to approe.ch the dwellings of men. certain city. lo the Egyptian legends of the Exodus, Ver. 12.-When he we.sin a certain oity. the Israelites were said to have been ex- }'rom the scene in the bott.t on the lake with pelled because they were lepers. the fishermen, Luke e.brnptly passes to Ver.13.-And he put forth his hand, and another memorable incident which took touched him, 1&.ying, I will: be thou olean. place probably soon after-memorable be- And immediately the leprosy departed from ea use it ie the first recorded instance of him. St. Mark adds here, "being touched J esue' contact with that mOBt terrible of with compassion." The Redeemer, at the earthly me.ladies, leprosy. The cert.a.in sight of the man's awful wretchedness-we.st- city we.s probe.bly the town of Hattim, for ing away, shunned by e.ll men, dragging on 11 we read in St. Matthew that the fomoue cure hopeless, aimless, weary life-in his Divine took ple.ce e.s the Lord was comiog down pity, with a sudden impulse tosses aside e.11 from the mount of Beatitudes. (This will considm-ations of ceremonial uncleanness or be spoken of in it.s place in eh. vi.) Behold contagion, and le.ye his hand on the miser- a man full of leprosy. The expression able sufferer from whom all shrBnk, -11~ "Lehold" reproduces exe.cLly the scene as his word of power excle.imed, "I will: b,, the eye-witness remembered it. 'l'here were thou clean." St. Ambrose writes here h<''III" me.oy apparently with the Me.ster on that "Jesus, because he is the Lord of the Law, occe.eion; but following him, suddenly, O.ti he does not obey the Law, bnt makes the Law." weut on Lefore the erowd,one ofthoee ghastly "Here Jesus obeys that Divine eternal law victims of the frightful dieea.se stood before of compassion, in its sudden impulse, which him, e.ppareutly having eluded observation, is older and gre.nder than the written Low " for tLey were not allowed to appear in the (Farrar). It is observable the.t in these sud- 1,rcliue.ry haunt.s of men. The unhappy man den cases, in which the common brotherhood fdl down and knelt before the great Physi• of wu.n w11,11 involved, the nobler spirits ol (JrI, v. 1-80.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKF:. 115