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A. M. 4035, demanded who it was that "had touched him?" The poor woman came trembling, &c. or 5440. and, falling down at his feet, declared to all the company, both the cause and miraculous effects of her touching him; which he was so far from blaming, that he commended her faith, and imputed her cure to the wonderful strength of it.

Ann. Dom. 31, &c.

Vulg. Er 29.

*

During this transaction the delay proved fatal (as one might imagine) to Jairus; for a message was brought him that his daughter was actually dead, and therefore there was no occasion to give Jesus any farther trouble; but our Saviour, who overheard what the messenger said, bid the father not fear, but only believe, and then he should find the blessed effects of his faith in the recovery of his daughter: but he had scarce spoke these words, when, approaching the house, he found the musicians and mourners already come, who were deploring her death with melancholy tones and loud lamentations, according to the custom of those times. He desired them, however, as he went in, to cease their funeral ceremonies, because at that time +2 there was no occasion for them; and so, with the young woman's parents, and Peter, and James, and John, going into the chamber, he approached the bed where she lay, and, taking her by the hand, commanded her to arise; at which powerful word she immediately revived, and walked round the room, to the no small amazement of her parents. At his departure he ordered them to give her something to eat, and left a strict charge with them that they

our Saviour did these miraculous cures, was not com-
municated to him, but resided in him, and conse-
quently proves that he was God. For the virtue
whereby the prophets and apostles did their cures is
ascribed to God; as when it is said that "God did
special miracles by the hand of Paul," Acts xix. 11.
but the miracles done by Christ are imputed to "the
virtue which went out of him, and healed all that
sought to touch him," Luke vi. 19. "The virtue's
going out of him," however, is a popular expression,
which must not be taken in its literal sense, as if it
were a quality distinct from the person of Christ, and
what might pass from him to another; because the
Divine power residing in him was incapable of any
alienation or diminution, be the cures he performed
never so many, never so miraculous; and therefore
the only meaning of the expression must be, that it
went out, with regard to us, or according to our con-
ceptions and apprehensions of things, when it disco-
vered and manifested itself in the cure of some dis-
ease, or any other outward effects. Whitby's Anno-
tations, and Calmet's Commentary.

Our Saviour's disciples, we find, admired at his
asking this question, Mark v. 31. but the reason for
his doing so, we may suppose, was to discover to the
people the greatness of the miracle, which, without
this examination, might have gone off without being
known; to shew them the strength and virtue of the
woman's faith and confidence in his power; and thence
to convince Jairus, who began a little to stagger in
his faith, that he was able to revive his daughter,
even though she was dead, if he did but believe. Cal-
met's, Commentary, and Beausobre's Annotations.

* In all the books of the Old Testament, there is not the least hint given us of any musical instruments employed in funerals. We read indeed of a good deal of mourning for the dead, of mourners hired on purpose, and of the dismal ditties which these people sung, to excite sorrow in others: but the use of mu

sic was reckoned an incongruous thing, and nowise comporting with the solemnity of this sad season. Among heathen authors there is frequent mention made of it, as a thing long in use, both with the Greeks and Romans; and therefore we may presume, that from these nations it was that the Jews borrowed and adopted it into their funeral ceremonies. That among them it was in use in our Saviour's time, at least among persons of the better rank, is plain from the passage now before us; that it was an established custom in the time of Josephus, is evident from his own testimony; and that it grew into a kind of superstitious use, in the times following, is evident from what the Rabbins enjoin, viz. that none even of the meaner sort should, at the funeral of a wife, have fewer than two flutes, besides the voices of old women, who, by their sad modulation, were to extort lamentation from others. Selden's Uxor. Hebr. lib. iii. c. 8. Hammond's Annotations, and Calmet's Commentary.

+ The reason which our Saviour gives for this is, That "the maid was not dead, but asleep," Mat. ix. 24. Now, in several places of the New Testament especially, death is called a sleep, John xi. 11. Acts vii. 60. 1 Cor. xv. 6, &c. and therefore our Saviour only makes use of this word of a softer signification, not so much with a design to impose upon those to whom he directed his speech, as to testify his humility and great modesty in his desire to conceal his Divine power. The persons he spoke to were certainly those who were preparing for her interment, and performing the funeral rites belonging to it; and therefore he only intimates that she was not so dead as they accounted her, i. e. not to come to life again before the resurrection; but that her death was no more than what he could remove with the same facility as another might be awakened out of sleep. Whitby's and Pool's Annotations.

should make the miracle a secret; but their joy was too great to conceal what, in gra- From Matth. titude for so great a mercy, they thought they were obliged to divulge.

xii. 1. Mark ii. 23. Luke vi. 1.

Mark ix. 14.

John vii. 1.

In his return from Jairus, our Lord was followed in the streets by two blind men im- John v. 1. to ploring his aid, who, as soon as he had entered the house, came after him, and when he Matth. xvii. 14. had cured them, were dismissed with a strict charge to conceal the miracle, which, out Luke ix. 37. And no sooner were the blind men of the abundance of their joy, they could not do. gone, but the people brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil, which when he had cast out, the person immediately recovered his speech, to the great astonishment of the multitude, who unanimously acknowledged that the like had "never been seen in Israel;" only the Pharisees persisted in their old malice, and insinuated to the people, (as formerly)" that he ejected devils by the help of some supreme devil," who had the rest under his control, and with whom he was confederate."

After a short stay at Capernaum, our Lord departed with his disciples into some other parts of Galilee. About a year before, he had been barbarously treated by the inhabitants of Nazareth, the place of his education; and yet, notwithstanding this, he was resolved once more to make them a fresh tender of mercy. To this purpose he went into their synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and taught the people; but, instead of being converted to the faith, though they were astonished at his abilities, they were scandalized at his person, and began to upbraid him with the meanness † of his parentage and employment as they had done before; insomuch, that, being sensible that +2 "a prophet never wanted honour but in his own country," he did not abide with them long, nor did he work any miracles there (except the cure of a few sick persons) by reason of their infidelity.

Upon his departure from Nazareth, he visited most of the cities and villages of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the Gospel, and curing all kinds of diseases among the people; and as he observed, one day, the numerous throngs and multitudes that resorted to him, he looked upon them with an eye of pity and compassion, as so many sheep dispersed, and destitute of shepherds, and from thence formed a resolution to send out his twelve apostles (by two and two together) into the more distant parts of Judea, whilst himself continued preaching in Galilee and the places adjacent.

To this purpose he invested them with a full power to cure all diseases, eject devils, and even raise the dead. He gave them instructions in what manner they were to behave in the places whither they went; but forbad them, at the same time, to ad

† The word texta is of general signification, and denotes any worker, either in wood, mettle, or stone; but the tradition of the church has all along been, that our Blessed Saviour was what our translation has specified a carpenter; and Justin Martyr assures us, that he made ploughs and yokes, which at that time were the carpenter's business. However this be, it is certain, that by the Jewish canons, all parents were bound to teach their children some trade; that their most celebrated Rabbins thought it a great reproach not to be of some profession; and that there was a peculiar reason why our Saviour should be of one, and that no very liberal one neither, even to take off all suspicion of his being bred up in curious arts, which his enemies at all times were forward enough to say, notwithstanding the disadvantages of his education. Beausobre's and Whitby's Annotations.

This was a common proverb among other na tions as well as the Jews; and therefore Aristides was wont to say, That "a philosopher was never worse than at home." Grotius on Matth. xiii. 57. * Among all the accounts which the Heathens

have given us of their famous magicians and workers
of wonders, there are none to be found who ever
pretended to a power to delegate their virtue to others,
or to impart their power to them, upon the invocation
of their names, or belief of their doctrine. Hence
Arnobius (advers. Gentes, lib. i.), having summed up
the miracles which our Saviour did, adds, "That he
not only did them by his power, but permitted many
others to do them by invocation of his name, nor did
he any peculiar and astonishing miracles himself, that
he did not enable his little ones, and even rustics, to
perform:" Whereupon he asks those he writes to,
"Did ever that Jupiter, whom the Romans worship
in their capitol, give the like power to any mortal?"
And then concludes this to be a demonstration of a
truly Divine power: "For to transfer your miracu
lous power to a man, and to give authority and
strength to a creature to do that which you alone can
do, is an infallible evidence of one who hath power
over all, and the causes of all things at his beck."
Whitby's Annotations.

Vulg. Ær. 29.

A. M. 4035, dress themselves to any of the Gentiles or Samaritans, but only "to the lost † sheep &c. or 5440. of the house of Israel." He told them the consequences of their ministry, which, (afAnn. Dom. 31, &c. ter his death more especially) instead of intitling them to temporal advantages, would expose them to sundry kinds of persecutions; but for their encouragement he acquainted them, that those who rejected their message should be treated with severity, at least at the righteous Judgment of God; whereas those that received them kindly, and gave (were it but a cup of cold water) to the least of his disciples, for their Master's sake, "should in no wise miss of his reward." With this commission the apostles went into all the parts of Palestine, where the Jews inhabited, preaching the Gospel, and the doctrine of repentance as part of it, working miracles for its confirmation, and † anointing the sick for a token of their recovery, whilst our Lord continued the course of his ministry in Galilee.

It was now about a year since Herod Antipas had committed John the Baptist close prisoner to the castle Macharus †3, and upon the return of his birth-day †, having made a splendid entertainment for the lords and chief officers of his dominions, he was infinitely pleased with the dancing of a young lady, daughter to his unlawful wife Herodias +, insomuch, that in the height of his mirth and jolity, he promised (with the addition of an oath) to grant her whatever she demanded, to though it amounted to half of his dominions. Unwilling to lose so fair an opportunity, she immediately consulted with her mother what favour to ask; who, being prompted by the height of her malice and revenge, named the head of John the Baptist † to be given her,

He calls all Israel sheep, though they were not
obedient to the voice of the shepherds, as being all
chosen people. He calls them lost sheep, because
they were in great danger of being lost and ruined
by the ignorance and wickedness of their guides; and
to them the apostles were sent, because they were
the "children of the kingdom," Matth. viii. 12. to
whom the promise of the Messiah was made, Gen.
xvii. 1. and "of whom as concerning the flesh he
came," Rom. ix. 5.; and therefore it was the Divine
will, that they should be first honoured with the
preaching of the Gospel, and alone enjoy the ministry
of Jesus Christ, and his disciples, while he continued
upon earth.
But, upon their rejecting of so great
salvation, the apostle's commission was enlarged.
"For it was necessary (says St Paul to the Jews) that
the word of God should first have been spoken to you,
but, seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves
unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gen-
tiles," Acts xiii. 46. Whitby's and Beausobre's An-
Whitby's and Beausobre's An-
notations.

+ That it was usual with the Jews to prescribe oil,
as a proper thing to anoint the sick, in order to their
recovery, Dr Lightfoot, upon Mark vi. 13. has fully
proved; nor can we think that the apostles, having
no command from Christ to do so, would have used
this ceremony, had it not been customary among their
countrymen. But whether they did it symbolically,
in hopes of obtaining to the patient the oil of glad
ness, or only medicinally, it is certain, that the virtue
which attended it, when used by the apostles, could
not be natural and inherent in the oil, but must be
supernatural, and derived from him who sent them,
because this unction always produced a certain and
constant cure in those that were anointed. Whitby's
Annotations.

+3 Both the city and fort that were called by this name were situated beyond Jordan, about two leagues from that river, on the north east side of the lake Asphaltites, or Dead Sea, and not far distant from the place where the river discharges itself into it. It was in the hands of Aretas, king of Arabia, when he mar ried his daughter to Herod Antipas; but how it afterwards came into Herod's possession (as it certainly was when he beheaded John the Baptist), we have no account from history. Calmet's Commentary.

+ That is was an usual custom with kings to celebrate the day of their birth, and that of their accession to the throne, (for the word may be applied to either) with great solemnity, we have an example as old as Pharaoh, Gen. xl. 20.; nor need we doubt but that, on such joyful occasions, there were music and dancing, and all manner of diversions to entertain the company: But that persons of the first rank and distinction should act any part in these diversions, was a rare and unwonted thing; and therefore St Chrysostom, in Matth. Hom. xlix. is of opinion, that Herodias, foreseeing what would happen, forced this young lady upon a thing which would have better become an actress upon the stage. Calmet's Com. mentary.

+ This Herodias, (as Josephus relates the matter) in contempt of the laws of her country, married again to Herod, the natural brother of her husband, separating herself from him whilst living, although he had a child by her; so that being guilty both of incest and adultery, she might well be called his unlawful wife. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 17.

+ An offer like this we find Ahasuerus (a great Persian monarch) making queen Esther, chap. v. 3.

+ It may not be improper here to take notice of the remarkable Providence of God, in avenging the

which the daughter accordingly demanded of the king in the presence of the whole From Matth. assembly.

xii. 1. Mark ii. 23. Luke vi. 1.

Mark ix. 14.

This strange request at first caused an exceeding damp † upon the king's spirits; John v. 1. to but having recovered himself, (out of a pretended reverence to his oath, and respect to Matth. xvii. 14. his nobility then present) he sent an executioner +2 who beheaded †3 John, and brought Luke ix. 37. his head in a charger to the young lady, which she presented to her mother; but as for John vii. 1. his body his disciples, when they came to hear of his death, took care † to bury it, and to bring Jesus the news of the tragical fate that had befallen their master.

death of this righteous man upon Herod, Herodias, and her daughter. 1st, As the war between Herod and Aretas, king of Arabia, was occasioned by Herod's wicked contract with Herodias to eject his daughter, who was his lawful wife, and to marry her who was his brother Philip's; so Josephus declares, that the Jews looked upon his putting John to death as the cause of the miscarriage of his army, God being angry with him for the death of John the Baptist. 2dly, Envying the glory of her brother Agrippa, upon whom Caligula had conferred the title of a king, Herodias prevailed with her husband to repair to Rome, in order to request the like favour of the emperor; but the emperor, having received a bad im. pression against him, instead of granting what he desired, deprived him of his government, and banished both her and him to Lyons in France, where they lived ingloriously, and died miserably; and this, ac cording to Josephus, (Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 9.) "was done in punishment of her envy, and of his readiness to hearken to her solicitations." And, 3dly, Of her daughter, it is related, that as she was going over the ice in winter, the ice broke, and let her in up to the head, which, upon the meeting of the ice again, was severed from her body. And this story, if it be true, (as it is confidently told us by Nicephorus, Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 20.) is a wonderful instance of God's avenging Providence. Whitby's Annotations.

Herod was no more than a tetrarch, or one of those four among whom his father's kingdom was divided; but St Mark, chap. vi. 14. gives him the title of a king, as himself no doubt was fond enough of it, and perhaps, in the provinces under his dominion, was generally called by it. Why he came to be concerned at the young lady's desiring so strange a boon as that of the Baptist's head, is no wonder. The very mention of such a thing from such a person, and in such an assembly, was enough to shock any man of less than uncommon barbarity; but then the evangelists inform us, that Herod had conceived a good opinion of the Baptist, as a just and holy man, and when he heard him, (as he did it very gladly) in many things he followed his advice, Mark vi. 20. and not only so, but feared the resentment of the people likewise, (with whom he was in high esteem) when they should come to be informed of the cause and circumstances of his death, Matth. xiv. 5. There might however be another reason, less observed, for Herod's concern upon this occasion. It was now his birth-day; and it was usual, even among heathen princes at such a time, to be gay and merry; to think of no ill omens, to surcease all contentions, and not

so much as to deprive of life, even condemned criminals, on that day, when the sovereign of the country received his, lest they should offend or sadden the genius that presided over their nativity: And therefore it is more than probable that Herod, who was more than half a pagan, might have the same notion of the thing. But if he had not, it can hardly be thought but that such an execution would damp the joy of the meeting, and procure him more enemies among the thinking part of the company than the non-performance of a wicked and illegal oath could have done. Hammond's Annotations, and Calmet's

Commentary.

The word exovλarwę, which we render executitioner, in the history of the Roman emperors signi fies a soldier of the guard; and among the Jews, Romans, Chaldeans, and Egyptians, it was customary for one of the king's guard to be the executioner of those whom he had condemned to death. Hammond's Annotations.

+ Thus died the great fore-runner of our Blessed Saviour, about two years and three months after his entrance upon his public ministry, in the thirty-fifth year of his age, and was the first who suffered upon the account of the Gospel, though seldom called the first martyr. "He was indeed a man (according to the character which Josephus gives of him) endued with all virtue, who exhorted the Jews to the practice of justice towards men and piety towards God, and also to baptism, which would become acceptable to God, if they renounced their sins, and to the cleanness of their bodies added the purity of their souls." Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 7.

+4 When Herodias had got the Baptist's head in her possession, it is said, that she thrust his tongue through with her bodkin; and for fear that the head, if buried with the body, should be reunited, and rise again to disturb her unlawful lust, and disquiet He rod's conscience, she buried it in her own palace; but where his disciples buried his body the evangelists have not informed us, only we are so told, that, in the time of Julian the apostate, his tomb was shewn at Samaria, where the inhabitants of the country opened it, and burnt part of his bones; but the rest were saved by some Christians, that carried them to one Philip, an abbot at Jerusalem, who presented them to St Athanasius: but some time after, when Theodosius built a church in honour of the Baptist, in the place where the temple of Serapis stood, Ann. Dom. 396, these holy reliques were reposited in it: Though what became of his head we nowhere read: only the abbot Villeloin tells us in his memoirs, that

A. M. 4035,

Ann. Dom.

31, &c.

About the same time that Jesus was informed of John's death by his disciples, his &c. or 5440. own apostles returned from their several journeys, and gave him an account of all their transactions. The fame of the miracles which our Saviour, both by himself and his Vulg. Er. 29. apostles, had wrought, gave Herod some ground to think that the person who did them was John, whom he had unjustly murdered, and who now very probably † was risen from the dead to revenge his blood upon him; and therefore, knowing the subtilty and cruelty of that prince, our Saviour ordered his apostles to prepare a vessel, wherein he and they only might cross the sea of Galilee, and retire for a little while from the mul titude to a desert near Bethsaida. But in vain was it for him to think of concealing himself: The people, seeing where he took shipping, ran after him on foot by the lake side, and though they had a great circuit of land to take, were got into the desert almost as soon as he; which singular instance of their zeal so affected his compassion, that though he came to that place for the sake of retirement, he could no longer withhold his presence from them; but ascending a mountain, and taking his disciples with him, he there first instructed them in several things concerning the kingdom of God, and having afterwards cured their sick and diseased, he at last fed them all to the number of five thousand men, besides women and children, with five barley loaves and two small fishes, (having at first invoked a blessing † upon them), and that with a plenty so exuberant, that the very fragments + which remained filled twelve baskets.

This miraculous multiplication made such an impression upon the multitude, that they no longer doubted of his being the Messiah, and were therefore resolved to set

he saw one at Amiens, but that this was the fifth or
sixth head of the Baptist, that, in the course of his
travels, he had the honour to kiss. Theodoret. Hist.
Eccl. lib. iii. c. 3. Ruffin. Hist. c. 27. and Calmet's
Dictionary under the word.

Several of the ancient Jewish writers, as well as
some modern Rabbins, are of opinion, that the souls
of men and women, when they died, went into other
bodies, insomuch that they imagine that the soul of
Moses was the same with that of Abel, and that of
the Egyptian whom Moses slew, the same with that
of Cain: But whether the Jews had this notion of the
transmigration of souls, (as Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib.
7. cap. 25. and Philo, de Somniis, seem to tell us), it
can hardly be thought that what Herod here says, in
regard to our Saviour, was spoken in allusion to it,
because it is not conceivable how the soul of John,
lately dead, could enter into the body of Christ,
which for thirty years and upwards had been inform-
ed by another soul. And therefore his words must
be understood, not of the transition of the Baptist's
soul, but of his reviviscence, or returning to life a
gain. For as it was an opinion among the Jews, that
at the coming of the Messiah some of their prophets
would rise from the dead, Herod had some reason to
suppose that John, whom all the Jews held to be a
prophet, might be permitted to return into the world,
and perhaps to avenge his death upon the tyrant.
Calmet's Commentary, and Whitby's Annotations.

The evangelists make use of two words upon this occasion, blessing and giving thanks; and by the former of these, some interpreters understand the multiplying virtue which he then commanded down upon the sustenance that he was going to give to the people, and its marvellous increase in the hands of

the distributers, whereby it became a repast sufficient for so large a multitude: Though others think that he did no more than what we call saying grace, i. e. thanked God for his bountiful provision of all things, and begged his blessing upon what he was going to dispense among the people, that it might tend to the wholesome nourishment of their bodies. However this be, it is enough to warrant the indifferent use of these two words, that the forms of address to Almighty God, upon the use of his gifts for our refreshment, have usually been of a mixed nature, as consisting partly of praises and partly of petitions; because the end of such devotions is manifestly twofold, viz. to render our acknowledgments to God for his liberality, and then to beg of him, that the good creatures, which he hath given us, may be sanctified to our use. [The multiplying of the loaves and fishes has long appeared to me as the most singular of all our Lord's miracles; for it seems to imply a creative power in him, by whom it was wrought]. Stanhope on the Epistles and Gospels, vol. ii.

+3It was a sufficient reason for our Saviour's ordering the fragments to be gathered up, and put in baskets, that from them might appear both the reality of the miracle, and the exceeding greatness of the increase; but because our Lord assigns another, by saying, "gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost," he hath herein showed us, that all reserving for the future is not unlawful; that charity is very consistent with frugality; indeed not only that they may, but that they should go together; for God will be sure to make a mighty difference between the virtue and the specious extreme beyond it; between the liberal and the lavish man. Stanhope on the Episties and Gospels, vol. ii.

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