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GREAT MULTITUDES HEALED
EVERY miracle which our Lord performed suggests to us some peculiar subjects of profitable meditation. But we shall not now dwell upon any one act, however great or benevolent; our attention at this time will be fixed upon a more than ordinary exertion of omnipotence, the working of miracles in a mass, if we may so speak. We behold Jesus healing great multitudes of persons who laboured under a variety of disorders; which circumstance may very properly lead us to inquire,
I. What sensations must this exercise of divine power have excited?
A more interesting spectacle cannot be conceived than that which was exhibited on this occasion. Consider the impression that must have been made,
1. On the persons healed—
[It could not fail but that the persons, who had been healed instantly, and without any painful operation, must be deeply affected with the mercy bestowed on them. With what fixedness of attention must the blind, whose eyes had been opened, survey their benefactor! They would feel no disposition to gratify their curiosity by gazing on the wonders of creation: neither the meridian sun, nor the face of nature enlightened by it, would for one moment attract their notice. The restorer of their visual powers would engross their whole minds; nor would they turn their eyes from him for a moment, unless to wipe away the tears of gratitude and joy that would stream as from an overflowing fountain. With what exquisite delight would the deaf listen to the voice of him who had unstopped their ears! with what insatiable avidity would they drink in the sound, while, with the teachableness of little children, they received his gracious instructions! As for the dumb, whose tongues were loosened, they would, by an involuntary and irresistible impulse, fill the air with acclamations and hosannahs, unless that the dread of interrupting the discourses of their Lord should awe them into silence. The lame and maimed (many of whom perhaps had not only their strength renewed, but their limbs, that had suffered amputation [Note: This may be implied in the word ê õ ë ë ï ý ò . See Mar_9:43.], perfectly restored) how would they exult and leap for joy, clapping their hands in ecstasy, and glorifying the author of their mercies! We may be assured of this from what is recorded of the cripple whom Peter healed [Note: Act_3:8.]. Methinks the assembly would be like a choir of ten thousand instruments, whose notes were exceeding various, but all in perfect harmony.]
2. On the surrounding multitude—
[The spectators, many of whom were friends and relatives of those that had been healed, doubtless participated in the general joy. Their feelings however were probably less ecstatic, because their own personal interest was not so nearly concerned. But their astonishment at the wonders performed, their satisfaction in the success of their own labours, and their sympathy with those whose maladies had been removed, could not fail of exciting in their minds the most pleasing sensations. When the wife or husband, the parent or child, saw the object of his warmest affections restored to health, and exercising with activity and vigour the faculties that had been renewed, surely he would lift up his eyes to heaven with devoutest gratitude, or prostrate himself upon the ground in profoundest adoration. When, in addition to the mercy his relatives had received, he beheld others in like circumstances with himself, and every moment fresh monuments of mercy rising before his eyes, we may conceive him overwhelmed with the sight and lost in amazement.]
3. On Jesus himself—
[Could Jesus be an unconcerned spectator of the bliss he was diffusing? Could he, who wept at the grave of Lazarus, refuse to sympathize with this adoring multitude? It was one of his most common sayings, that it is more blessed to give than to receive [Note: Act_20:35.]; and doubtless he experienced the truth of it on this occasion. Let us then consider the joy excited in the breast of every individual that had been relieved; let us consolidate and compress it, as it were, into one mass; and then we may have some faint conception of what Jesus felt, while he was communicating such abundant happiness. He would not fail to adore, with inexpressible, though perhaps hidden, ardour, his heavenly Father, for making him the channel of so many blessings. But Jesus’ happiness would be widely different from that of those whom he relieved. His would be tempered with pity for their spiritual maladies, of which, alas! they had but little sense; and his praises would be mixed with prayers, that they might flock around him to obtain those richer benefits, of which their present cures were but imperfect emblems.]
Not to indulge mere useless speculations on this exercise of divine power, let us inquire,
II. What reflections should it suggest to our minds?
If every separate miracle be replete with instruction to us, much more may this accumulation of miracles afford us matter of useful
Improvement—
1. Let us seek healing from the hands of Jesus—
[It may be that our bodies are preserved in the unimpaired use of all their faculties. But are not our souls diseased? Have we no intellectual blindness from which we need deliverance? Do not our tongues need to be loosened, our ears to be unstopped, or our limbs to be invigorated, for the daily performance of our spiritual duties? Surely, if we will examine our hearts, we shall find that the people who thronged to our Lord, were not in a more pitiable condition than ourselves; yea, we are incomparably more miserable than they, because the consequences of our disorders are so much more awful, and our desire for the removal of them is so weak and faint. Let us seek a deep conviction of this truth. Let us, under a sense of our extreme wretchedness, apply to Jesus, and interest our friends and relatives in our behalf. Thus shall the predictions that were literally fulfilled by the miracles before us, receive their true, though mystical, accomplishment in the renovation of our souls [Note: Isa_35:5-6.].]
2. Let us on no account limit the power and grace of Christ—
[The hand which, so easily and with such compassion, dispensed the blessings of health and strength, can surely with the same facility administer to our wants. Our lusts are so inveterate and our habits so deeply rooted, as to destroy the remotest hope of ever rescuing ourselves from their dominion. But the power and compassion of Jesus are the same as ever. The lapse of seventeen hundred years has made no change in him. “His hand is not shortened that it cannot save, nor is his ear heavy that it cannot hear.” Let us then guard against every unworthy, unbelieving thought. Let us be persuaded that he is “able to save us to the very uttermost;” and that “he will cast out none who come unto him.”]
3. Let us glorify God with and for all the faculties we possess—
[Our bodily and mental powers are rich mercies from the hand of God, and should be exerted continually in promoting his glory. But, if our eyes have been opened to behold the light of his truth; if our ears have been unstopped, so that we can hear the voice of the good shepherd; if our tongues have been loosed to speak of his name; and if our feet have been strengthened to run the way of his commandments; it becomes us to imitate the multitudes who surrounded him on this occasion. There should not be a cold heart, or an inactive member, throughout this whole assembly. We should all either be filled with admiration of his goodness, or, with ecstatic ardour, render him the tribute of incessant praise. Were we thus occupied, we should enjoy a very heaven upon earth. We cannot conceive a better idea of heaven than if we set before our eyes this adoring multitude. Do we see Jesus encircled by them, every eye fixed on him, every tongue sounding ins praises, every soul ascribing all its happiness to his power and grace? What is this but heaven? Let us then resemble them, or rather far outstrip them, in our acclamations, forasmuch as our mercies infinitely exceed those which were enjoyed by them. This will be an improvement as beneficial to ourselves as it will be instructive to others, and honourable to “the God of Israel”—]