August 24.-From Capernaum to Gadara.—MATT. viii. 18–34.

I. The Lake.

The sea of Tiberias, called also in the New Testament the sea of Galilee, has been styled "the most sacred sheet of water in the world." It is remarkable for its deep depression and volcanic agency. It was remarkable for the crowded cities that grew around it, and the trade which was carried on upon its shores. But it is still more remarkable as being the centre of our Lord's earthly labours. Near this sea He preached His greatest sermon. From its thronging populations they brought the sick in beds, and laid them in the market-places, so that what with teaching and healing He had no time so much as to eat. Here the publicans sat at the receipt of custom. Women, who were sinners, came here from the neighbouring Gentile cities. Here Roman soldiers guarded their royal masters. It was on this sea that our Lord found Andrew and Simon fishing, and James and John mending their nets when He called them to become fishers of men. It was here that, when Simon and his companions had toiled all night and taken nothing, He commanded them to launch out into the deep and let down their nets for a draught. And obeying the command they enclosed so great a multitude of fishes that their net brake. It was into these waters that Peter cast the hook, and out of the mouth of the fish took the tribute money. From a boat on this sea Christ spoke the cycle of parables in St. Matthew (chap. xiii.) The waters suggested "the net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind." Across it He sailed when He would retire into the desert to pray. On it He slept when the sudden storm arose, and the frightened disciples despaired of life. And at this sea of Tiberias the Risen Lord showed Himself to the disciples.

NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY.—“Matthew seems here to interrupt his list of miracles for the purpose of recording a brief conversation which has no direct relation to them, and is not even chronologically connected with what goes before, but of a later date, as appears from Mark's explicit statement (iv. 35), that the miracle which followed the dialogue here given was performed in the evening of the same day upon which our Lord delivered several parables, recorded by Matthew in his thirteenth chapter. The difficulty is not one of discrepancy as to time; for Matthew gives us no date, merely saying, 'When Jesus saw the multitudes about Him.""-Alexander. "We learn from Mark i. 35, seq., that our Lord, after the events on the Sabbath evening just recorded, rose long before day on Sunday morning, and withdrew into a lonely spot for prayer. There He was rejoined by His disciples bringing the request of the people of Capernaum that He would return and remain with them; to which He replied that He must preach the kingdom of God to other cities (Luke iv. 42-44). He then went from place to place preaching. Again, from Matt. x. I; xi. I ; xii. I ; xiii. I, we see that it was long after this-subsequent, if not to the sending forth of the apostles, yet to the walk through the ripe cornfields (which brings us to the second summer of His ministry)-that our Lord delivered the parables by the side of the lake (chap. xiii.; Mark iv.) And from Mark iv. 35, we learn that it was the same evening that the stormy passage of the lake occurred, narrated here (verses 23, 24). The two facts here related (verses 19-22), are placed by St. Luke in a wholly different connection, with a third similar instance (Luke ix. 57-62). It is unlikely that these three incidents all took place at once; though they are specimens of what often occurred. Therefore it is probable that each evangelist has observed the order of time (more or less nearly) in regard to one occurrence, and the order of matter in relating the others. There is, however, nothing violently improbable in the supposition that Jesus may have given the same memorable answer to more than one of the enthusiastic, self-deceiving, would-be disciples, whom He saw reason to discourage."-Conder. "Scribe." One of the professional and authorised expounders of the law, whose teaching was popularly regarded as the standard of truth. "Foxes." Foxes and birds are mentioned as familiar representatives of the lower animals generally, just as birds and lilies, in

the Sermon on the Mount, are put for animals and plants. "Son of Man." First occurrence of this title in New Testament. In the Gospels it occurs about eighty times. "Not where to lay His head." The scribe had the usual Jewish notion of Messiah's kingdom and glory. "Another of His disciples." A tradition says Philip, but this is not reliable. "Let the dead bury their dead." A paradoxical expression with an essentially clear meaning, viz., that even the most tender obligations must give way at the call of Christ. "Was covered." The waves were sweeping over it. "Fearful." The word afraid would be too weak and cowardly too strong. The Lord first rebuked the disciples, and after that the sea. 'Gergesenes." Gadarenes according to Revised Version. "Two." Mark and Luke mention only one-the principal one. Probably the other was a more ordinary case of affliction. "A herd of many swine." The Jews were prohibited from keeping swine, which were unclean animals. The herd must have belonged to Pagans, or else have been kept for purposes of traffic. "Son of God." He called Himself Son of Man, the demoniac called Him Son of God. "Go." A command to depart from the man. They besought," etc. The Greek said the gods sometimes answered bad prayers.

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II. The Two Followers.

The scribe was enthusiastic. And enthusiasm is a good thing, but it sometimes. lacks endurance. The wise Teacher of Men rejected impulsive offers of service, and bid His followers count the cost. "Each goodliest thing," as one of our own poets has told us, "is hardest to begin." But a beginning may sometimes be made in the first flush of devotion to find a long and wearisome journey ahead. Christ preferred the "modesty of fearful duty" to "the rattling tongue of audacious eloquence." Perhaps, "in the man's flaring enthusiasm, he saw the smoke of egotistical self-deceit." He closely read, and wisely directed the hearts of men.

III.-The Stilling of the Sea.

A Stupendous Miracle. A picture of life that has always fascinated young and old. We sail in this life as through a sea. Winds of passion rise, and storms of temptation and trial beat upon us. Only God can rule the raging of this sea. None other can speak peace to the troubled heart of man. And as with the individual, so with the Church. She is a tempest-tossed barque. But Christ is in the midst of her. She shall not founder. God is always and everywhere near us.

IV. The Gadarene Demoniacs.

The question of demoniacal possession is confessedly difficult. No doubt madness, epilepsy, melancholia, human fury, and similar manifestations have been always in the East regarded as supernatural. This does not, however, exhaust the plain teaching of the New Testament. We had better content ourselves with admitting, without explaining the fact and its mystery. In this case, raving madness would be a sufficient explanation. The miracle is a parable of mercy. Christ came to destroy the works of evil. Sin is madness. The prodigal of the Saviour's parable came to himself, and then he came home and was "clothed." Having received help of God, the healed man was to go home and declare it.

ILLUSTRATIVE READING.--The Miracles of Jesus.-Each one of the mighty works whereby He manifested forth His glory is a visible parable, having its own lesson, or lessons, to reward patient study. Deliverance from bodily disease and suffering, from outward dangers, from death, the grave, and the power of Satan, and the supply of outward wants, connected as they are with faith, prayer, and a personal application to the Saviour, shadow forth a higher salvation. Taken in their entire range, they form a harmonious whole, revealing Christ's love to men, sovereignty over the world of spirits, and power over the world of nature; as Redeemer, Judge, Creator; and thus constitute a glorious prophecy of the triumph of His kingdom (Isaiah xxxv. 4-6; lxi. I; Acts iv. 10-12). Only as the value of the miracles as instruction is perceived, can their value as evidence be rightly appreciated.-Conder.

August 31.-Incidents in Capernaum.-MATTHEW ix.

I.-Capernaum.

The few notices of its situation in the New Testament are not sufficient to enable us to determine its exact position. It was on the western shore of the sea of Galilee. It was in the land of Gennesaret (Matt. xiv. 34, cf. John vi. 17, 21, 24), that is, the rich, busy plain on the west shore of the lake, which we know, from the descriptions of Josephus and from other sources, to have been at that time one of the most prosperous and crowded districts in all Palestine. Being on the shore, Capernaum was lower than Nazareth and Cana of Galilee, from which the road to it was one of descent (John ii. 12; Luke iv. 31), a mode of speech which would apply to the general level of the spot, even if our Lord's expression, "exalted unto heaven," had any reference to height of position in the town itself. It was of sufficient size to be always called a "city" (Matt. ix. I ; Mark i. 33); had its own synagogue, in which our Lord frequently taught (John vi. 59; Mark i. 21; Luke iv. 33-38)-a synagogue built by the centurion of the detachment of Roman soldiers which appears to have been quartered in the place (Luke vii. 1, cf. 8; Matt. viii. 8). But besides the garrison, there was also a customs station, where the dues were gathered both by stationary (Matt. ix. 9; Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 27), and by itinerant (Matt. xvii. 24) officers. If "the way of the sea" was the great road from Damascus to the South, the duties may have been levied, not only on the fish and other commerce of the lake, but on the caravans of merchandise passing to Galilee and Judæa. The only interest attaching to Capernaum is as the residence of our Lord and His apostles, the scene of so many miracles and "gracious words." At Nazareth He was brought up, but Capernaum was emphatically his "own city;" it was when He returned thither that He is said to have been "at home" (Mark ii. 1, marginal reading R.V.) Here He chose the evangelist Matthew, or Levi (Matt. ix. 9). The brothers Simon-Peter and Andrew belonged to Capernaum (Mark i. 29), and it is perhaps allowable to imagine that it was on the sea beach below the town (for, doubtless, like true Orientals, these two fishermen kept close to home), while Jesus was walking there," before " great multitudes" had learned to "gather together unto Him," that they heard the quiet call which was to make them for sake all and follow Him (Mark i. 16, 17, cf. 28). It was here that Christ worked the miracle on the centurion's servant (Matt. viii. 5; Luke vii. 1), on Simon's wife's mother (Matt. viii. 14; Mark i. 30; Luke iv. 38), the paralytic (Matt. ix. I; Mark ii. 1; Luke v. 18), and the man afflicted with an unclean devil (Mark i. 23; Luke iv. 33). The son of the nobleman (John iv. 46) was, though resident at Capernaum, healed by words which appear to have been spoken in Cana of Galilee. At Capernaum occurred the incident of the child (Mark ix. 33; Matt. xviii. 1, cf. xvii. 24); and in the synagogue there was spoken the wonderful discourse of John (vi. 59). The doom which our Lord pronounced against Capernaum and the other unbelieving cities of the plain of Gennesaret, has been remarkably fulfilled. In the present day, no ecclesiastical tradition even ventures to fix its site; and the contest between the rival claims of the two most probable spots is one of the hottest, and, at the same time, the most hopeless, in sacred topography. Fortunately, nothing hangs on the decision.— Grove, in Smith's Bible Dictionary.

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II. Capernaum in Christ's Day. Capernaum in Christ's day was a thriving, busy town. The "highway to the sea ran through it, bringing no little local traffic, and also opening the markets of the coast to the rich yield of the neighbouring farms, orchards, and vineyards, and the abundant returns of the fisheries of the lake. The townsfolk thus, as a rule, enjoyed the comfort and plenty we see in the houses of Peter and Matthew, and were even open to the charge of being "winebibbers and gluttonous," which implied generous entertainment. They were proud of their town, and counted on its steady growth and unbounded prosperity, little dreaming of the ruin which would one day make even its site a question. It was in this town that Jesus

settled, amidst a mixed population of fisher people, grain and fruit agents, local tradesmen, and the many classes and occupations of a thriving station on a great line of caravan traffic. It was a point that brought Him in contact with Gentile as well as Jewish life. Households like that of Peter, proselytes like the centurion, and the need of a large synagogue, imply a healthy religiousness in not a few, but the woe pronounced on the town by Jesus, after a time, shows that whatever influence He may have had on a circle, the citizens, as a whole, were too much engrossed with their daily affairs to pay much heed to Him.-Geikie.

NOTES CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY.-Verse I should be verse 35 of the preceding chapter. There is no connection of time, though there is of place with what follows."Own city," i.e., Capernaum. For circumstances of residence there, see Matt. iv. 13. Mark and Luke distinctly state that the healing of the paralytic took place in Capernaum. The call of Matthew happened immediately after the cure of the paralytic. When the ruler sought our Lord to heal his daughter, he found Him eating in the house of Matthew, and engaged in a deeply interesting conversation. Matthew records the conversation. Cause and effect, and the laws of association are more marked than order of time. "They brought." The other evangelists tell of the expedients adopted to get the sick man to Jesus. "Be forgiven." They are hereby forgiven. "Blasphemeth.' "Blasphemy," says Bengel, is committed when (1) things unworthy of God are ascribed to Him; (2) things worthy of God are denied to Him; or (3) the incommunicable attributes of God are attributed to others." The scribes were right in assuming that only God can forgive sin. But who was Jesus? "Whether is easier?" To forgive sins or to heal? I will do the one you can test, and you must infer My power to do what you can neither affirm nor deny. "He arose and departed to his house." St. Luke adds, "took up that whereon he lay." He was carried in, he departed amid the acclamations of an astonished crowd. "To his house." What a changed home. "A man named Matthew." Levi in Mark and Luke. "The receipt of custom." The publicans had tenements or booths erected for them at the foot of bridges, at the mouth of rivers, and by the sea-shore, where they took toll of passengers. "Sinners." Open, notorious transgressors of moral and ceremonial law. "I will have mercy and not sacrifice." A comparative expression. Sacrifice is good, mercy is better. "Disciples of John." John the Baptist espoused Jesus; all his disciples did not (xviii. 25; xix. 3). "Bottles." Skins. "Touched their eyes." Condescending to their infirmity, for they could not see Him. "See that no man know it. "She who touched in secret," says Stier, "was constrained to avow it openly; they who made request publicly are led into secret and exhorted to silence." "Jesus went about." Either a third circuit of Galilee, or general descriptions of our Lord's unrecorded labours. "Distressed and scattered." Vivid picture of a flock of sheep, harassed and worn out with fatigue. The helplessness and misery of the bulk of men without true guidance. "The Lord of the harvest." The Son of Man in His meekness speaks of the Father, although the field is His.

III -The Authority of Christ.

This chapter is too full to be taken section by section in a single lesson. It is better to regard it as exhibiting the majesty and supremacy of Christ. He has authority over diseases. He forgives sin. He enlarges old truths. He summons men into His service. For His sake they leave "the receipt of custom.' He looks upon the world's multitude with an infinite compassion. He predicts a better time-a harvest-field ripe for the called and prepared reapers. The despised publican He made an apostle, the outcast sinner He welcomed, pardoned, saved. His life was a miracle. His deeds were parables. And is He not the Saviour still? His treatment of Matthew was so counter to public opinion that it has been styled by a distinguished Biblical scholar-"The miracle of the call of Matthew to the apostolate." He passed through rich cities like Capernaum, but He always sought and found the poor and depraved. And His compassion does not die out in feeling. JOHN H. GOODMAN.

THE INFANT AND JUNIOR CLASSES.-AUGUST, 1884. BIBLE LESSONS.

August 3.-David's Repentance.-PSALM li. 1-19.

David's sin.-David had sinned against God, and had done a great wrong to others. To hide the first sin, he had committed another, and so had gone farther astray, and deeper in guilt. To show him his sin God sent to him the prophet Nathan. By wise words he made David see his sin and his danger. What had brought him into danger? As David felt the great wrath of God upon him, he was afraid. What could he now do? Was it possible to undo the wrong he had done? No; that could never be. Let this show you the mischief of sinning. Let it warn you against it. The best thing David could do was to repent. He did this; he confessed, saying, "I have sinned." And he asked God to forgive him. This is what each one of us should do.

David's confession.-Here is written what David thought and said as the knowledge of his great sin and his great danger came upon him (read verses 1-3). David asks for mercy for his " transgressions." Again he confesses his sin. How earnestly he speaks about it. Not trying to hide it (ver. 3). But that is not all. He wants not only to be forgiven, but also to be "cleansed " from his sin. Confessing, praying, cleansing. Here is an example for us. He repeats this again and again, asking earnestly for pardon, and to be set free from sin. He knew that he had lost the favour of God, and that he could not be happy till he had it again. Hear how he pleads for this (verses 8, 10, 11, 12). Have we anything to learn from this? He tells us how this favour is to be got (verses 16, 17). David lived at a time when men worshipped God with sacrifices and offerings. What were these? He knew that it was not the offered bullock or the lamb which God cared most to have; but "a broken and a contrite heart." What did this mean? A heart from which the stubborn disobedience was taken, which was sorry for the sin, and which turned humbly to God for pardon.

David's vow.-Then David goes on to say what he would do when pardon came (verses 13, 14, 15). He would praise God and would teach others what they should do who had sinned. He would "sing aloud" of God's righteousness and mercy. He would show forth His praise. How blessed it is that a sinner may be set right and be saved, that such need not be "cast away from His presence," that they may be restored to joy and strength again. How full of mercy God is, to show us by what He did for David what He is willing to do for others.