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23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease,among the people. 24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.
Teaching in their synagogues.—The general sketch of Christ’s sphere of activity is followed by a description of its peculiar mode. Conforming to Jewish custom, He appeared as a travelling Rabbi in the various synagogues of Galilee. The óõíáãùãÞ (from óõíÜãù , the congregation), in the Sept. for òִãָç and ÷ָäָì . The name embodied the idea that each synagogue represented the congregation of Israel as a whole, just as we designate each particular Christian community a church, in the sense of its embodying and representing the whole Church. After the Babylonish exile, the solemn gathering in the temple, which could only be enjoyed on special occasions, and not without difficulty, led to the establishment of synagogues, accessible in every place and to all, which may be regarded as the revival—without the admixture of former errors—of the ancient monotheistic or orthodox worship of the “high places,” and which unconsciously served as the prototype for the arrangement and form of the Church under the New Testament. According to Jewish tradition, the institution of synagogues dates from a very early period (comp. the art. in Winer’s [W. Smith, vol. iii., 1396 sqq., and other] Bibl. Encycls., ad especially Vitringa, De Synagoga vetere, 1696). The statement is correct, in so far as it implies that a provision for religious communion and edification must have existed even previous to the temple. “During the Babylonish exile, when the Jews were shut out from the Holy Land and from the appointed sanctuary, the want of places for religious meetings, in which the worship of God, without sacrifices, could be celebrated, must have been painfully felt. Thus synagogues may have originated at that ominous period. When the Jews returned from Babylon, synagogues were planted throughout the country for the purpose of affording opportunities for publicly reading the law, independently of the regular sacrificial services of the temple (Neh_8:1, etc.). At the time of Jesus there was at least one synagogue in every moderately sized town of Palestine (such as Nazareth, Capernaum, etc.), and in the cities of Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece, in which Jews resided (Act_9:2 sqq.). Larger towns possessed several synagogues; and it is said that there were no fewer than 460, or even 480, of them in Jerusalem itself.”—Winer. A kindred institution were the ðñïóåõ÷áß , or places where prayer was wont to be made—oratories, commonly situate in the immediate vicinity of some river, for the sake of lustrations (Act_16:13); while synagogues were generally built in some elevated situation (in allusion to the position of the temple). The synagogue may be regarded as forming in every respect the germ of our local Christian churches. 1. Their foundation: by communities, or by private individuals. 2. Character: sanctuaries. 3. Time of meeting: on the Sabbath, on feast days; afterward also on the second and fifth days of the week. 4. Arrangement: seats, separation of sexes. 5. Mode of worship: prayer, reading of portions of Scripture (the Law, the Prophets, and other Old Testament books—Parashoth, Haphtharoth, Megilloth) by a priest or elder; exposition of the section read, and address; liberty of putting questions, of expressing opinions, and of delivering addresses (the prophetic element); at the close, the priestly blessing and prayer of the congregation. 6. Officials of the synagogue: the president, or chief ruler ( ἄñ÷ùí ôῆò óõíáãùãῆò , ἀñ÷éóõíáãùãüò ); the elders ( ðñåóâýôåñïé , ðïéìÝíåò ), who administered the affairs of the synagogue; then the servant or messenger of the congregation (legatus ecclesiœ), who acted as precentor, clerk, and messenger; and the officer, or ὑðçñÝôçò [the attendant or minister who handed the volume to the reader and returned it to its place, Luk_4:20]; with the addition, probably, of officials to collect the alms. 7. Furniture: seats, pulpit or desk, and bookcase. 8. Discipline: greater and lesser excommunication, and bodily punishments. Every Jewish town possessed its Sanhedrim, which was subordinate to the great Sanhedrim in Jerusalem. These Sanhedrims were no doubt attached to the various synagogues (comp. Winer, sub Synedrium) Thus, in the providence of God, the synagogue was destined to form a transition from the symbolical worship of the Old, to the worship in spirit and in truth of the New, Testament. Hence the circumstance, that the Lord and His Apostles made use of the arrangements of the synagogue, must be regarded not only as an act of legal obedience, but also of missionary foresight.
From various passages we infer that at first Jesus was regarded by His disciples as a Rabbi (Mar_9:5; Joh_1:38, etc.). But in their minds this title implied acknowledgment of His claims as prophet and Messiah, and it gradually gave place to full recognition of Jesus as the Son of God (Mat_16:16). The people also regarded the Lord at first as a Rabbi (Mar_10:51; Joh_20:16), although the leading men in Jerusalem were not willing to accede to Him that designation (Joh_7:15). The title Rabbi ( øַáִּé , vir amplissimus) was the honorary designation given to Jewish teachers of the law and scribes (Magister, Doctor). At the time of Christ, there was no formal graduation, as at a later period; although several characteristics served to distinguish the regular order of scribes. These were, 1. adherence to a certain school, and to scholastic traditions; 2. a peculiar method of explaining the law and interpreting the Scriptures; 3. connection with the hierarchy and the orthodoxy of the time (Pharisaism), although a number of the scribes belonged to the sect of the Sadducees; 4. the commencement of a regular organization of the order. Some of the Rabbins were members or assessors of the Sanhedrim; others presided over schools; while yet others were employed as legal advisers, etc. The Rabbins were regarded by the people as successors of the ancient prophets, with certain modulcations adapting their office to the wants of the time. Accordingly, Ezra already bears the title of ñֹôֵã . When the Lord Jesus therefore appeared as a Rabbi, without having previously passed through a regular scholastic training, He only asserted the ancient right and title of a prophet.
And preaching the gospel of the Kingdom.—Here it is more definitely called the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven; i.e., the Gospel which constituted the kingdom of heaven, and which increasingly manifested itself as the Gospel concerning Christ, the Lord of the kingdom of heaven, and concerning reconciliation through Him for the kingdom of heaven.— ÅὐáããÝëéïí . The meaning of the term in classical Greek is, primarily, reward for good tidings; and, secondarily, the good tidings themselves; in the New Testament, it is used simply for good tidings. The announcement, that the kingdom of Messiah was at hand, made throughout the synagogues of Galilee, was of such deep and decisive importance as to require some confirmation of the prophetic character of Him who declared it. Hence Jesus proved by His miracles that He was able to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease; thereby confirming His word. But the ultimate aim of these miracles was the manifestation of Jesus Himself, and of the kingdom of heaven, whereby the kingdom of darkness was vanquished.
Mat_4:24. His fame went throughout all Syria.—On the one hand, throughout Palestine; and, on the other, beyond its limits to Phœnicia and Syria proper. Probably His fame spread along the road frequented by caravans, which led from Damascus to the Mediterranean by the Sea of Galilee.
And they brought unto Him all sick people.—The passage must, of course, be taken in a restricted sense: as far as faith in His miraculous power extended, they brought such sufferers to Him.
That were taken with divers diseases and torments.—The latter term, though referring to a distinct class of suffering, is still a general expression. Three peculiar kinds of disease are specially mentioned: viz., those which were possessed with devils (demoniacs, äáéìïíéæüìåíïé ), lunatics (epileptics, óåëçíéáæüìåíïé ), and those that had the palsy (nervous disorders, ðáñáëõôéêïß ). Formerly, commentators were wont to regard the demoniacs as persons whose bodies were possessed by the devil, or by devils, but who labored under no physical ailment. Rationalistic interpreters, on the other hand, applied these expressions to bodily or mental diseases exclusively, as to mania, epilepsy, melancholy, etc., which—according to their statement—popular ignorance and prejudice regarded as a possession by devils. Of late, however, sounder views have obtained; and we have learned to recognize both elements in these unfortunate persons, viz., demoniac influences, and excitements produced by unclean spirits, along with bodily or mental derangements (see the author’s Leben Jesu, ii. 1, p. 285). Meyer (note to p. 115) disposes rather summarily of this view, and repeats the old rationalistic theory. The difference between the three classes consists in this, that the demoniacs were subject to disease through the influence of unclean spirits, the lunatics through that of the sidereal bodies (change of the moon, etc.), the palsied through that of atmospheric changes. The common characteristic of all these afflictions was, that their victims were under the absolute control of some outward influence, whether spiritual, psychical, or physical. They were, so to speak, the representatives of those more obscure and refined psychical and physical sufferings and dissonances which have been introduced in the psychical and external world by the moral power of darkness. (For a list of books on Pastoral Medicine or Cure of Souls, see Heubner, p. 43.)
Mat_4:25. And there followed Him great multitudes.—Even at this stage of His ministry, multitudes had gathered, who externally followed the Lord. These were drawn in the first instance from Galilee itself, and swelled by others coming from Decapolis, and even from Jerusalem, from the land of Judæa, and from beyond Jordan, i.e., Peræa. Decapolis, or the Ten Cities, chiefly inhabited by Gentile settlers: see Plinius, Hist. Nat. 16, and the Encyclops. According to Ritter, the Decapolis was founded principally by veterans from the army of Alexander (hence one of the towns was called Pella, from the city of that name in Macedonia). The expression, Peræa, refers probably to the northern part of that province. On the division of Peræa into three distinct districts, comp. von Raumer, Palestine, p. 205.
2. From the conduct of Jesus, we infer that He recognized the use and place of the synagogue in the arrangement of Divine Providence. The Apostles also observed the same line of conduct.
3. The Lord now proclaimed everywhere the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven. The announcement, that a new spiritual order of things was at hand, was everywhere received as a message of coming salvation. But the Lord also proclaimed at the same time the fundamental laws and promises of the kingdom of heaven, as appears from the Sermon on the Mount. By the numerous miracles which Jesus now wrought, He proved that the kingdom of heaven was really at hand; that its character was spiritual; that it was a kingdom of regeneration; and that this new spiritual life consisted in a heavenly influence and a Divine power, which restored not only the diseased and departed life, but also the dead and diseased heart. Thus it also clearly appeared that the kingdom of heaven was indissolubly connected with the person of Jesus. By His miracles, He revealed Himself in His glory as the centre of the kingdom of heaven. On miracles, comp. below, Matthew 8.
4. Like John, Jesus produced by His preaching a general impression upon the people, but in a higher measure. John remained stationary, Jesus went about; John announced the wrath to come, Jesus brought to light the life-giving power of the Gospel; John displayed only one miracle, that of self-renunciation and the moral greatness of a true prophet as exhibited in his own history; he did no wonders; while it appeared as the inmost and distinguishing characteristic of Christ’s life to work miracles of healing, of deliverance, of comfort, and of salvation.—To John the people flocked in numbers, again to return to their homes; while of those who betook themselves to Jesus, many remained to follow Him whithersoever He went.
5. In measure as the kingdom of heaven shall appear in the Church, the same Divine power—the same power of faith, of love and of life, and the same heavenly courage which ascends to heaven and descends from it, to diffuse that which is heavenly, will also manifest itself.
Starke:—Christ extends His kingdom by the Gospel, not with carnal weapons.—It is a small thing for Him who gives us eternal life to restore our bodily life.—All Christ’s miracles are blessings.
Heubner:—These cures of Jesus are important; as being so many blessings and deliverances of wretched and needy persons; as revelations of His goodness and love; as evidence of His divine mission; as pointing to the spiritual deliverance which He wrought.
Footnotes:
Mat_4:23.—[Lange likewise translates: Das Evangelium. I cannot agree with Dr. Conant and others who think that where åὐáããÝëéïí occurs in its original literal sense, it should always be translated good news, or glad tidings, and that gospel should be retained only where the Greek has taken a later tropical sense. This change is unnecessary; for gospel (God’s spell, or good spell = good news) is the old Saxon equivalent for the Gr. åὐáããÝëéïí , and so universally understood. The E. V. always translates the noun åὐáããÝëéïí gospel (in 77 passages), but renders the verb åὐáããåëßæåéí sometimes to preach the gospel, sometimes to bring or to declare glad tidings. Comp. Luk_1:19; Luk_2:10; Act_13:32; Rom_10:15; 1Th_3:6.—P. S.]
[Meyer’s view is thus stated by him: “Besessene waren characteristiche natürliche Kranke—Manie, Fallsucht, Melancholie, Zustände der Contractheit, temporäre Stummheit u. dergl.—deren Leiden man bei schcinbar physischer Gesundheit nicht im abnormen Organismus oder in naturlichen Störungen des physigchen Habitus, sondern in teufelischer Besessenheit begründet glaubte.” He urges, among four reasons against the old orthodox view, mainly the entire silence of St. John, which he regards the more significant, as John lays special stress on the destruction of the works of the devil by Christ. But this silence concerning the healing of demoniacs must be accounted for on the same ground as the omission of other and more important facts in the Gospel of John, such as the parabolic discourses of Christ, the institution of baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, etc. This silence is rather the silence of approval of what was already generally known and read in the churches when he wrote his Gospel. Aside from doctrinal considerations connected with the personal existence of Satan and his supernatural agents, Meyer’s and de Wette’s view is even exegetically untenable, unless we choose to involve Christ in a popular error, on to reflect on His veracity, which is not to be thought of for a single moment. For the äáéìïíéæüìåíïé are clearly and repeatedly distinguished in the Gospels from ordinary physical diseases, and represented as persons who are spiritually afflicted and possessed or interpenetrated as it were by a double consciousness and a double will, the one being foreign to them and taking forcible possession of their physical frame for a time. Christ moreover addresses the evil spirits as distinct from the persons possessed by them; and these spirits pass out from one person into another, or even into a herd of swine. Comp. also, on the general subject, the remarks of Dr. Trench, on the Miracles, p. 160, and Dr. Alford on Mat_8:32 (4th ed. vol. i. p. 79 sq.).—P. S.]