Category: Devotions

A threefold miracle demands our attention in these verses. At one and the same time, we see our Lord forgiving sins, reading men’s thoughts, and healing a palsy. He that could do such things, and do them with such perfect ease and authority, must indeed be very God. Power like this was never possessed by man.

Let us mark, firstly, in this passage, what pains men will take about an object when they are in earnest. The friends of a man, sick with the palsy, desired to bring him to Jesus that he might be cured. At first they were unable to do it, because of the crowd by which our Lord was surrounded. What, then, did they do? “They went upon the house-top, and let him down through the tiling, with his couch, into the midst before Jesus.” At once their object was gained. Our Lord’s attention was drawn to their sick friend, and he was healed. By pains, and labour, and perseverance, his friends succeeded in obtaining for him the mighty blessing of a complete cure.

We see in this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ’s power over incurable diseases. “A man full of leprosy,” applies to Him for relief, and is at once healed. This was a mighty miracle. Of all ills which can afflict the body of man, leprosy appears to be the most severe. It affects every part of the constitution at once. It brings sores and decay upon the skin, corruption into the blood, and rottenness into the bones. It is a living death, which no medicine can check or stay. Yet here we read of a leper being made well in a moment. It is but one touch from the hand of the Son of God, and the cure is effected. One single touch of that almighty hand! “And immediately the leprosy departed from him.”

We have, in these verses, the history of what is commonly called the miraculous draught of fishes. It is a remarkable miracle on two accounts.–For one thing, it shows us our Lord’s complete dominion over the animal creation. The fish of the sea are as much obedient to His will, as the frogs, and flies, and lice, and locusts, in the plagues of Egypt. All are His servants, and all obey His commands. For another thing, there is a singular similarity between this miracle worked at the beginning of our Lord’s ministry, and another which we find Him working after His resurrection, at the end of His ministry, recorded by John. (John 21) In both we read of a miraculous draught of fishes. In both the Apostle Peter has a prominent place in the story. And in both there is, probably, a deep spiritual lesson, lying below the outward surface of the facts described.

We should observe, in this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ’s unwearied readiness for every good work. Once more we find Him preaching to a people who “pressed upon Him to hear the word of God.” And where does He preach? Not in any consecrated building, or place set apart for public worship, but in the open air;–not in a pulpit constructed for a preacher’s use, but in a fisherman’s boat. Souls were waiting to be fed. Personal inconvenience was allowed no place in His consideration. God’s work must not stand still.

We should notice, in this passage, the clear religious knowledge possessed by the devil and his agents. Twice in these verses we have proof of this. “I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God,” was the language of an unclean devil in one case.–“Thou art Christ the son of God,” was the language of many devils in another.–Yet this knowledge was a knowledge unaccompanied by faith, or hope, or charity. Those who possessed it were miserable fallen beings, full of bitter hatred both against God and man.

Three great lessons stand out on the face of this passage. Each deserves the close attention of all who desire spiritual wisdom.

We learn for one thing, how apt men are to despise the highest privileges, when they are familiar with them. We see it in the conduct of the men of Nazareth when they had heard the Lord Jesus preach. They could find no fault in His sermon. They could point to no inconsistency in His past life and conversation. But because the preacher had dwelt among them thirty years, and His face, and voice, and appearance were familiar to them, they would not receive His doctrine. They said to one another, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” Is it possible that one so well-known as this man can be the Christ?–And they drew from our Lord’s lips the solemn saying, “No prophet is accepted in his own country.”

These verses relate events which are only recorded in the Gospel of Luke. They describe the first visit which our Lord paid, after entering on His public ministry, to the city of Nazareth, where He had been brought up. Taken together with the two verses which immediately follow, they furnish an awfully striking proof, that “the carnal mind is enmity against God.” (Rom. 8:7)

We should observe, in these verses, what marked honor our Lord Jesus Christ gave to public means of grace. We are told that “He went into the synagogue of Nazareth on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read” the Scriptures. In the days when our Lord was on earth, the Scribes and Pharisees were the chief teachers of the Jews. We can hardly suppose that a Jewish synagogue enjoyed much of the Spirit’s presence and blessing under such teaching. Yet even then we find our Lord visiting a synagogue, and reading and preaching in it. It was the place where His Father’s day and word were publicly recognized, and, as such, He thought it good to do it honour.

The first event recorded in our Lord’s history, after His baptism, is His temptation by the devil. From a season of honour and glory he passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father, “Thou art my beloved Son.” Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan, “If thou be the Son of God.” The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial there will often be but a step.

Let us first mark in this passage, the power and unwearied malice of the devil.

We see in the passage before us, the high honour the Lord Jesus has put on baptism. We find that among others who came to John the Baptist, the Saviour of the world came, and was “baptized.”

An ordinance which the Son of God was pleased to use, and afterwards to appoint for the use of His whole Church, ought always to be held in peculiar reverence by His people. Baptism cannot be a thing of slight importance, if Christ Himself was baptized. The use of baptism would never have been enjoined on the Church of Christ, if it had been a mere outward form, incapable of conveying any blessing.

We learn, firstly, from these verses, that one effect of a faithful ministry is to set men thinking. We read concerning John the Baptist’s hearers, that “the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not.”

The cause of true religion has gained a giant step in a parish, or congregation, or family, when people begin to think. Thoughtlessness about spiritual things is one great feature of unconverted men. It cannot be said, in many cases, that they either like the Gospel, or dislike it. But they do not give it a place in their thoughts. They never “consider.” (Isaiah 1:3)

We have, in these verses, a specimen of John the Baptist’s ministry. It is a portion of Scripture which should always be specially interesting to a Christian mind. The immense effect which John produced on the Jews, however temporary, is evident, from many expressions in the Gospels. The remarkable testimony which our Lord bore to John, as “a prophet greater than any born of woman,” is well-known to all Bible readers. What then was the character of John’s ministry? This is the question to which the chapter before us supplies a practical answer.

We should first mark the holy boldness with which John addresses the multitudes who came to his baptism. He speaks to them as “a generation of vipers.” He saw the rottenness and hypocrisy of the profession that the crowd around him were making, and uses language descriptive of their case. His head was not turned by popularity. He cared not who was offended by his words. The spiritual disease of those before him was desperate, and of long standing, and he knew that desperate diseases need strong remedies.