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March 9, 1910. THE PRESBYTERIA
mony of the accepted Scriptures. It was illuminated by most
apt and striking illustrations. It was pre-eminently practical,
being applied tenderly and with utmost discrimination to the
daily lives of men; but "he taught them as one having authority
and not as the Scribes." He assumed the position of being
the fountain-head of truth as well as being its expositor. He
reminded the people of what they had heard through their traditions
and their narrow, formalistic construction of the precepts
of the law and then announced His own laws as annulling
tueir iraaiuonai misconceptions and their ceremonial perversions.
He frankly announced that He spoke the words of His
Father, that they were spirit and life, that if they dwelt in the
believer they gave him audience with God, and that though
heaven and earth should pass away the law as expounded by
Him must remain and be fulfilled. He himself, according to
His doctrine, was the truth, and to accept Him in His character
and mission was to possess the truth. We may well understand,
after reflecting on the wisdom of His utterances and the
attitude of authority with which they were enunciated by them,
that His enemies, though reluctant, testified: "Never man spake
like this man."
| Sunday School
1 WU MIGHTY WORKS.
March 13, 1910. Matthew 8.23-34.
GOLDEN TEXT.?"What manner of man is this, that even
the winds and the sea obey himl"?Matthew 8:27.
DAILY HOME READINGS.
M.?Matt. 8:23-34. Th.?Matt. 14:14-21.
T.?Matt. 14:22-33. F.?Luke 6:1-11.
W.?John 2:1-11. S?John 4:1-19.
S?Luke 7:11-17.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 98. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for
things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession
of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of His
mercies.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
Two Great Miracles of Our Lord?
The tempest stilled, vs. 23-27.
The devils cast out, vs. 28-34.
LESSON COMMENTS.
The miracle in its primary end, as a "sign", or "credentials",
certifying to the divine commission of Christ, appears
more fully In the two incidents of the text than in those studied
in the last lesson. There they had in them the healing as
a prominent feature. Here they were not so personal. There
they might have been ascribed to some trick or to some
unseen influence over the individuals concerned. Here there
is no possibility of minimizing them. The miracles were not,
as some think, a sign of the beneficent purpose of Christ
and of His mission. Their character was this, but in themselves
they were supernatural attestation, regardless of their character,
of the claim of Christ to Messiahship.
The two mighty works described in the lesson were the stilling
of the storm and the victory over the demons. In the
\ one it was His proof of mastery of the natural world and
iin the other the proof of His mastery of the spiritual world. So
splendid and so comprehensive was their testimony to Christ's
claim it Is little wonder that rationalistic critics have attacked
these miracles with special virulence or have sought to account
' for them on naturalistic, rather than suDernaturoi crnnn^a
The "ship" was but a little fishing smack, such as is found
on Galilee today, having room for very few more than Christ and
the disciples themselves. The "great tempest" was one of those
sudden storms, common to the spot, where the great depression
of the lake below the sea level, and the peculiar shape
of the gorges around, leading up to great altitudes, produced
conditions that caused great and sudden atmospheric changes,
N OF THE SOUTH. 301
with violent storms. Christ "was asleep." He had a true body.
He was oftentimes weary. His physical nature succumbed toHis
work. This is the only place where allusion is ever
made to Christ sleeping. He was made like unto His brethren^
He "rebuked the winds and the waves." He spoke to them
as if they were personal. He was their Master. "Peace, be
still!" "Be silent; be muzzled," would be a better renHorino.
- ? - ?*"&
And like "whipped spaniels" the waves sank at His feet, and
the wind hushed its noise. No wonder the disciples marvelled.
There was no imposture here. Their Master was Nature's
own God, and the power of nature in sea and air had acknowledged
Him.
Crossing to the other side, the little company came intothe
country of the Gergesenes. There is no difficulty about
the different names given by the other Synoptic writers. Gersa,
Gerasa, Gadara, were either the same place or locality or
names of nearby places. Neither is their difficulty to any
fair-minded person in the differing record of Mark and Luke,
who tell or but one demoniac. Evidently it fitted the purpose
of the latter writers to single out the fiercest of the two. They
used no language that could forbid a dozen, so far as their record
is concerned. The conditions of the miracle now wrought
will be best obtained by reading the records of all who narrated
it. Mark's description is especially vivid and strong.
The demoniacs were "exceeding fierce." They had preternatural
power. The devil was allowed to have loose rein,
for the demonstration of the Saviour's power. God permits
this for His own wise purposes, sometimes, as in the caseof
Job, or Jannes and Jambres, or, perhaps, in the case of
the Witch of Endor. Spiritualism, so called, may have at
times some truth, in it. But it is the devil that is let
loose, if there be any truth, and wise people will let it
alone.
The demons recognized Christ and acknowledged Him. They
knew His power. They yielded, all unwillingly to it. Thedemoniacs
were dispossessed. Weak and exhausted, they
lay at His feet till He lifted them up, clothed and in their
right minds. One of them wanted to attend Him continually,
but He commanded him to go home to his friends
to tell them how great things Jesus had done for him. The
redeemed are to proclaim Christ. "Let him that heareth say.
Come."
Not so happy, however, was the effect upon the people thereabouts.
The demons had been allowed to have their way
and to go with the herd of swine, unclean beasts, that were
feeding nearby, and the swine had run into the sea and been
drowned. The people's business had' been interfered with.
Of what concern to them beside their property, unclean as it
was, were the bodies and souls of men? Two thousand
hogs were worth more to them than two priceless souls..
If this miracle worker, the Redeemer, should stay there, their
business and property would have to go. And so they sought
to draw Him away.
The hard problem of Christ's, apparent arbitrary interference
with property interests yields before a proper appreciation
of the conditions. It was not He that drowned the
swine, dui tne demons. It was but a question of their ruining
something. Why pit the souls of two men against a lot of
unclean animals, and charge Christ with hurting property
rights? The lesson might well be applied today to various
forms of trade or property to which the prevalence of Christian
principles would put an end. As a mere worldly question,
settled on no higher than material or secular grounds,
may not men pause and think of the greater value of livea
and souls saved and helped than of unclean businesses licensed
and preserved.
FRETTING.
The moment I fret about a thing, I am its slave, instead of
its master. And there is no slave master in the world like
worry. Another master may grude the rest hour, but he must
give you time for sleep. Another master may grudge the
dinner hour, but sometime you must eat. But wnrr* win
work you twenty-four hours a day, and spoil your appetite in.
the bargain.?Mark Guy Pearse.