a

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19 To preach the acceptable year

me.

Or, I speak by divine appoint ment. I am divinely inspired to speak. There can be no doubt that the passage in Isaiah had a principal reference to the Messiah. Our Saviour directly applies it to himself, and it is not easily applicable to any other prophet. Its first application might have been to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon; but the language of prophecy is ofter applicable to two similar events, and the secondary event is often the most important. In this case the prophet uses most striking poetic images to depict the return from Babylon, but the same images also describe the appropriate work of the Son of God. Hath anointed me. Anciently kings and prophets, and the high priest, were set apart to other work by anointing with oil. 1 Kings xix. 15, 16. Ex. xxix. 7. 1 Sam. ix. 16, &c. This oil or ointment was made of various substances, and it was forbidden to imitate it. Ex. xxx. 34—38. Hence those who were set apart to the work of God as king, or prophet, or priest, were called the Lord's anointed. 1 Sam. xvi. 6. Ps. lxxxiv. 9. Isa. xlv. 1. Hence the Son of God is called the Messiah, a Hebrew word signifying the Anointed; or the Christ, a Greek word signifying the same thing. And by his being anointed is not meant that he was literally anointed-for he was never set apart in that manner: but that God had set him apart for this work; that he had constituted or appointed him to be the prophet, priest, and king, of his people. To preach the gospel to the poor. The gospel means good news-the good news of salvation. By the poor are meant all those who are destitute of the comforts of this life, and who, therefore, may be more readily disposed to seek treasures in heaven; all those who are sensible of their sins, or are poor in spirit (Matt. v. 3); and all the miserable and the afflicted. Isa. lviii. 7. Our

Saviour gave it as one proof that he was the Messiah, or was from God, that he preached to the poor. Matt. xi. 5. The Pharisees and Sadducees despised the poor. Ancient philosophers neglected

*

c Is.61.2. 63.4.

them. But the gospel seeks to bless them; to give comfort where is felt to be needed, and where it will be received with gratitude. Riches fill the mind with pride, with self-complacency, and with a feeling that the gospel is not needed. The poor feel their need of some sources of comfort that the world cannot give, and accordingly our Saviour met with his greatest success among the poor; and there also, since, the gospel has shed its richest blessings and its purest joys. It is also one proof that the gospel is true. If it had been of men, it would have sought the rich and mighty. But it pours contempt on all human greatness, and seeks, like God, to do good to those whom the world overlooks or despises. ¶ To heal the broken-hearted. To console those who are deeply afflicted, or whose hearts are broken by external calamities, or by a deep sense of their sinfulness. Deliverance to the captives This is a figure originally applicable to those in captivity in Babylon. They were miserable. To grant deliverance to them, and restore them to their country; to grant deliverance to those who are in prison, and restore them to their family; to give liberty to the slave, and restore him to freedom; was to confer the highest benefit, and impart the richest favor. So the gospel imparts favor. It does not literally open the doors of prisons, but it releases the mind, captive under sin; it gives comfort to the prisoner, and it will finally open all prison doors, and break off all the chains of slavery, and by preventing crime prevent also the sufferings that are the consequence of crime.

Sight to the blind. This was often literally fulfilled. Matt. xi. 5. John ix. 11. Matt. ix. 30, &c. To set at liberty them that are bruised. The word bruised, here, evidently has the same general signification as broken-hearted or the contrite. It means those who are pressed down by great calamity, or whose hearts are pressed or bruised by affliction or sin. To set them at liberty is the same as to free them from this pressure, or to give them consolation.

20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue, were fastened on him.

21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

a Ps.45.2. Is.50.4. Matt.13.54. Mar.6.2. c.2.47.

The acceptable year of the Lord. The time when God is willing to accept of men, or to receive sinners coming to him. The gospel assures us that the guilty may return, and that God will graciously receive them. There is, perhaps, here, an allusion to the year of Jubilee-the fiftieth year, when the trumpet was blown, and through the whole land proclamation was made of the liberty of Hebrew slaves, of the remission of debts, and of the restoration of possessions to their original families. Lev. xxv. 8-13. The acceptable year. The grateful, or pleasant, or agreeable time, appointed by God.

20. Were fastened on him. Were intently fixed on him, waiting to see what explanation he would give of the words.

21. This scripture. This writing, or this part of the scriptures. Fulfilled. It is coming to pass; the thing originally intended by it is about to be accomplished. In your ears. In your hearing; or you hear, in my preaching, the fulfilment of this prophecy. It is probable that he said much more than is here recorded, but Luke has presented only the substance of his discourse. This was the amount or sum of his sermon, or his explanation of the passage, that it was now receiving its accomplish

ment.

22. All bare him witness. All were witnesses of the power and truth of what he said. Their reason and conscience approved of it, and they were constrained to admit the force and propriety of it; and on this account they wondered. They wondered. They were struck with the truth and force of his words; and especially when they remembered that he was a native of their own place, and that they had been long acquainted with him; and that he should now claim to be the Messiah, and give so much evidence that he was

22 And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is 'not this Joseph's son ?

23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: what

b Jno.6.42.

the Christ. The gracious words. The words of grace or favor; the kind, affectionate, and tender exposition of the words, and explanation of the design of his coming, and the nature of the plan of redemption. It was so different from the harsh and unfeeling mode of the Pharisees; so different from all their expectations respecting the Messiah, who, they expected, would be a prince and a bloody conqueror; that they were filled with astonishment and awe.

23. Physician, heal thyself. This proverb was probably in common use at that time. Suppose a man should attempt to heal another when he was himself diseased in the same manner. It would be natural to ask him first to cure himself, and thus to render it manifest that he was worthy of confidence. The connexion of this proverb, here, is this: You profess to be the Messiah. You have wrought miracles at Capernaum. You profess to be able to deliver us from our maladies, our sins, our afflictions, &c. Show that you have the power, that you are worthy of our confidence, by working miracles here, as you profess to have done at Capernaum.' It does not refer, therefore, to any purification of his own or imply any reflection on him for setting up to teach them. It was only a demand that he would show the proper evidence by miracles why they should trust in him, and he proceeds to show them why he would not give them this evidence. Whatsoever we have heard done. Whatsoever we have heard that thou hast done. It would seem, from this, that Christ had before this wrought miracles in Capernaum, though the evangelist has not recorded them. ¶ In Capernaum. Capernaum was on the northwest corner of the sea of Tiberias, and was not far from Nazareth. It is not improbable that some of those who

then heard him might have been present, and witnessed some of his miracles at Capernaum. See Note on Matt. iv. 13.

24. No prophet is accepted. Has honor, or is acknowledged as a prophet. See Note, Matt. xiii. 57.

25. Of a truth. Truly, and therefore worthy of your credit. He calls attention to two cases where acknowledged prophets had so little honor in their own nation that they bestowed their favors on foreigners. So, says he, such is the want of faith in my own country, that I shall work no miracles here, but shall give the evidence of my divine mission to others. ¶ In Israel. In the land of Israel, or Judea. It was therefore the more remarkable, since there were so many in his own country whom he might have helped, that he should have gone to a Heathen city, and aided a poor widow there. The days of Elias. The days of Elijah. See the account of this in 1 Kings xvii. 8-24. Three years and six months. From 1 Kings xviii. 1, 45, it would seem that the rain fell on the third year. That is, at the end of the third year after the rain had ceased to fall at the usual time. There were two seasons of the year when rains fell in Judea, in October and April, called the early and latter rain. Consequently, there was an interval between them of six months. To the three years, therefore, when rain was withheld at the usual times, are to be added the previous six months, when no rain fell as a matter of course; and consequently three years and six months elapsed without rain. A great famine. A great want of food from long-continued and distressing drought.

26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.

27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.

28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath.

e 2 Ki.5.14.

26. Save unto Sarepta. Sarepta was a town between Tyre and Sidon, near the Mediterranean sea. It was not a Jewish city, but a Sidonian, and therefore a Gentile town. The word save" in this verse does not express the meaning of the original. It would seem to imply that the city was Jewish. The meaning of the verse is this. 'He was sent to none of the widows in Israel. He was not sent except to Sarepta, to a woman that was a Sidonian.'

27. Many lepers. For an account of the leprosy, see Note on Matt. viii. 1. ¶ Time of Eliseus. Time of Elisha. The word Eliseus is the Greek way of writing the word Elisha; as Elias is of Elijah. Saving Naaman the Syrian. The account of his cure is contained in 2 Kings v.

28. Filled with wrath. They were enraged, probably, for the following reasons: 1st. They saw that the cases applied to themselves, and that they would not receive the miraculous evidences of his mission. 2d. That he would direct his attention to others, and not to them. 3d. That the Gentiles were objects of compassion with God, and that God often showed more favor to a single Gentile than to multitudes of Jews in the same circumstances. 4th. That they might be worse than the Gentiles. And, 5th. That it was a part of his design to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and not confine his labors to them only. On these accounts their favor was soon turned to wrath; and the whole transaction shows us: 1st. That popular applause is of little value. 2d. That the slightest circumstances may soon turn the warmest professed friendship to hatred. And, 3d. That

a

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30 But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way;

31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath-days.

32 And they were astonished at his doctrine for his word was with с power.

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? If know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

37 And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

38 And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.

39 And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose, and ministered unto them.

40 Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.

42 And when it was day, he de

1 or, edge. a Ps.37.14,32,33. b Jno.8.59. 10.39. c Je.23.29. Matt,7.28,29. Tit.2.15. He.4.12. d Mar.1.23. 2 or, away. e Ja.2. 19. ƒ ver.41.

men are exceedingly unreasonable in being unwilling to hear the truth, and profit by it.

29. The brow of the hill, on which, &c. The region in which Nazareth was, is hilly, though Nazareth was situated between two hills, or in a vale among mountains. The place to which they led the Saviour is still shown, and is called the mount of Precipitation. It is at a short distance to the south of Nazareth. See Note on Matthew ii. 23. Cast him down. This was the effect of a popular tumult. They had no legal right to take life on any occasion, and least of all in this furious and irregular manner. The whole transaction shows: 1st. That the character given of the Galileans elsewhere as being peculiarly wicked, was a just one. 2d. It shows to what extremities the wick

g Ps. 16.10. Da.9.24. c.1.35. Ac.3.14. h1 Pe.3.22. i Matt.8.14,&c. Mar.1.29,&c. 8 or, to say that they knew him to be Christ.

edness of the heart will lead men when it is acted out. And, 3d. That men are opposed to the truth; that they hate the Lord Jesus; and that they would do any thing, if not restrained, to mani fest their opposition.

30. Passing through the midst of them, went his way. This escape was very remarkable. It is remarkable that he should escape out of their hands when the very object was to destroy him; that he should escape in so peaceful a manner, without violence or conflict. A similar case is recorded in John viii. 59. There are but two ways of accounting for this: 1st. That other Nazarenes, who had not been present in the synagogue, heard what was doing, and came to rescue him, and in the contest that rose between the two parties, Jesus silently escaped. 2d. More probably

and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.

43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore " am I sent.

to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,

2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

CHAPTER V.

little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of

a Mar.1.38.

Jesus by divine power, by the force of a word, or look, stilled their passions, arrested their purposes, and passed silently through them. That he had such a power over the spirits of men, we learn from the occurrence in Gethsemane, when he said, "I am he, and they went backward, and fell to the ground." John xviii. 6.

31-44. See this explained in the Notes on Mark i. 21-39.

CHAPTER V.

1. The people pressed upon him. Multitudes came to hear. There was a glorious prospect of a revival of religion. There were times in the life of our Saviour when thousands were anxious to hear him, and when many, as we have no reason to doubt, became his true followers. Indeed it is not possible to tell what might have been his success, had not the proud Pharisees and scribes, and those who were in office, opposed him, and taken measures to draw the people away from his ministry: for the common people heard him gladly. The lake of Gennesaret. Called also the sea of Galilee, and the sea of Tiberias. This was the region of the early toils of our Redeemer. Here he performed some of his first and most amazing miracles; here he selected his disciples; and here, on the shores of this little and retired lake, among people of poverty, and inured to the privations of fishermen, he laid the foundation of a religion which is yet to spread through all the world, and which has already blessed millions of guilty and miserable men, and translated them to heaven.

2. Two ships. The ships used on so small a lake were probably no more

b Matt.4.18, &c. Mar.1.16,&c.

than fishing boats, probably withou decks, and easily drawn up on the beach. Josephus says there were two hundred and thirty of them on the lake, attended by four or five men each. This is also clear, from the account commonly given of them. A single large draught of fishes endangered them, and came near sinking them

Standing by the lake. Anchored by the lake, or drawn up upon the beach.

3. Which was Simon's. Simon Pe ter's. ¶ Prayed him. Asked him. ¶ He sat down. This was the common posture of Jewish teachers. They seldom or never spoke to the people standing. Compare Matt. v. 1. It may be somewhat difficult to conceive why Jesus should go into a boat, and put off from the shore, in order to speak to the multitude. But it is probable that this was a small bay or cove, and that when he was in the boat, the people on the shore stood round him in the form of an amphitheatre. It is not improbable that the lake was still; that scarcely a breeze passed over it; that all was silence on the shore, and that there was nothing to disturb his voice. In such a situation he could be heard by multitudes; and no spectacle could be more beautiful than the Son of God-the Redeemer of the world-thus speaking from the bosom of a placid lakethe emblem of the peaceful influence of his own doctrines- -to the poor, the ignorant, and the attentive multitudes assembled on the shore. O how much more effect may we suppose the gospel would have in such circumstances, than when proclaimed among the proud, the gay, the honored, even when assembled