Luke vi. 4. take, and eat the shew-bread, and gave also to them that In a prewere with him, which

Matt. xii. 4, was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were

5.

6.

7.

Mark ii. 27.

28.

with him, but only for the priests?

Or have ye not read in the law, how that, on the sabbath-days, the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple.

But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the sabbath:

Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath.
MATT. xii. part of ver. 1. ver. 2, 3. part of ver. 4. and ver. 8.
1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath-day through the

corn

2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbathday.

3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;

4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shew-bread, which

8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath-day.

MARK iii. ver. 23. and part of ver. 24, 25, and 26.

23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn-fields on the sabbath-day; and his disciples began to pluck the ears of corn.

24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold

25 And he-what David did

26-eat the shew-bread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?

LUKE vi. part of ver. 1. 3, 4. and ver. 5.

1-and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat-
3 said, Have ye not read-when himself was an hungred,
and they which were with him;

4 How he went into the house of God, and did-it is not law-
ful to eat, but for the priests alone?

5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

gress.

SECTION XVI.

Christ heals the withered Hand 3.

MATT. xii. 9-14. MARK iii. 1-6.

Matt. xii. 9. And when he was departed thence,

LUKE vi. 6-11.

39 This section is inserted here on the authority of all the harmonizers. It is placed next to the plucking the ears of corn by each of the evangelists. Our Lord by action and miracle here enforced what he had already urged, the superiority

Luke vi. 6. it came to pass also on another sabbath, that
Mark iii. 1. he entered again

Matt. xii. 9. he went into their synagogue,

Luke vi. 6. and taught.

Mat. xii. 10.

And, behold, there was a man

Luke vi. 6. whose right hand was withered.

7.

And the Scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether Mark iii. 2. he would heal him on the sabbath-day: that they might Luke vi. 7. find an accusation against him.

8.

Mat. xii. 10.

Luke vi. 9.

But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose, and stood forth.

And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath-days? that they might accuse him.

Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath-days to do good or to do evil? to save life or to destroy it?

Mark iii. 4. But they held their peace.

Mat. xii. 11.

12.

Mark iii. 5.
Luke vi. 10.

And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath-day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift

it out?

How much then is a man better than a sheep? Where-
fore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath-days.
And when he had looked round about on them
upon them all

Mark iii. 5. with anger; being grieved for the hardness of their
hearts; he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand.
Mat.xii. 13. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole,
like as the other.

14. Then the Pharisees

Luke vi.11. were filled with madness, and (they)

Mark iii. 6. went forth with the Herodians, and straightway

Mat. xii. 14. held a council against him;

Luke vi. 11. and communed one with another, what they might do to
Jesus, (and)

Mat. xii. 14. how they might destroy him.

MATT. xii. part of ver. 10. 13, 14.

10-which had his hand withered

13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand.
14 went out-

of the spirit of the law to the tradition of the elders. It is law-
ful to do good on the sabbath-day, appears to be in direct op-
position to the very extraordinary decision of the school of
Schammai. Let no one console the sick, or visit the mourning
on the sabbath day. It was principally against the decisions of
this school that our Lord spake; for the school of Hillel had in
some respects decided otherwise. By some canons of the Jewish
law, it was permitted to the people to prepare medicine, and to
perform any service which was required for the actual preserva-
tion of life.

In a pro

gress.

MARK iii. part of ver. 1, 2. ver. 3. and part of ver. 4, 5, 6.

In a pro

1 And-into the synagogue; and there was a man there gress. which had a withered hand.

2 And they watched him, whether he would heal-accuse him.

3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath-days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?

5 And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

6 And the Pharisees went forth-took counsel-against him, how they might destroy him.

LUKE vi. part of ver. 6, 7. ver. 8, 9. and part of ver. 10.

6 he entered into the synagogue-and there was a man-s
7 -on the sabbath-day, that they might-

8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had
the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And
he arose and stood forth.

9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath-days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

10 And looking round about-he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

Mat. xii. 15.

SECTION XVII.

Christ is followed by great Multitudes, whose Diseases he
Heals 40

MATT. xii. 15-21. MARK iii. 7-12.

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence,

40 This section is placed here on the concurrent testimony of all the harmonizers. The scriptural authority is to be found in Matt. xii. 15. Christ withdrew himself for a time in consequence of the enmity of the Pharisees and Herodians, which had been excited by his instructions concerning the observance of the sabbath.

In this section we read, Mark iii. 11.—Unclean spirits when they saw him fell down before him, &c. &c. Is it probable that if these were madmen only, they would be charged by our Lord not to make him known. The exclamations and ravings of the insane are ever disregarded. There would be no meaning in this command, if we consider it as addressed to those only who were deprived of reason. It must have been addressed to those who were capable of comprehending it, that is to evil spirits, which were visible to Christ, though invisible to mere men. It is easy on this interpretation, the only one indeed which is supported by the express language of Scripture, to understand on what account the evil spirits trembled at his appearance. They had seen and known our Lord in his pre-existent state-they knew the effect of his humiliation-they shrank back from the rays of his glory, though it was shrouded under the veil of his humanity. He refused to receive the testimony of evil spirits. His kingdom was to be established by the quiet submission of the human under

Mark iii. 7. with his disciples to the sea:

Mat. xii. 15. and great multitudes followed him,

Mark iii. 7. from Galilee, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan:

8.

9.

10.

And they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard what great things he did, came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him, because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him to touch him, as many as had plagues. Mat.xii. 15, and he healed them all.

Mark iii. 11.

12.

Mat, xii. 17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down bebefore him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straightway charged them that they should not make him known.

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.

He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed shall he not break; and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.

MATT. xii. 16.

16 And he charged them that they should not make him known.

MARK iii. part of ver. 7.

7 But Jesus withdrew himself-and a great multitude

In a pro

gress.

Luke vi. 12.

SECTION XVIII.

Preparation for the Sermon on the Mount Election of the
Twelve Apostles.

MARK iii. 13-19. LUKE vi. 12-19.

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out Galilee. into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God".

standing to the silent, but resistless evidence of miracle, pro-
phecy, and his own blameless submission to the will of his
heavenly Father.

This view of the subject is confirmed by Luke iv. 41, as tran-
slated by Dr. Owen, οὐκ εἴα αὐτὰ λαλεῖν ὅτι ᾔδεισαν, and would
not suffer them to say that they knew him to be the Christ."
Dr. Owen ap. Bowyer's Conjectures.

"It is to be remarked here, that our Saviour never under

Luke vi. 13.

And when it was day he called unto him his disciples, Galilee.

Mark iii. 13. whom he would, and they came unto him:

Luke vi. 13. and of them he chose twelve,

Mark iii. 14. And he ordained twelve,

Luke vi. 13. (whom also he named apostles,)

Mark iii. 14. that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

15.

Luke vi. 14.

Mark iii. 17.

And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.

Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew, his brother,

And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother
of James: and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is,
The sons of thunder:

18. and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Tho-
mas, and James, the son of Alphæus,

Mark iii. 19, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him.

Luke vi. 17.

18.

19.

And he came down with them, and stood in the plain; and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people, out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea-coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed.

And the whole multitude sought to touch him, for
there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

MARK iii. part of ver. 13. ver. 16. and part of ver. 18.
13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him—
16 And Simon he surnamed Peter.

took any important work without dedicating himself to God in
prayer. After imploring the divine blessing, he authoritatively
separates the chosen witnesses of the truth of his Gospel, and
confirms his power by the performance of numberless miracles.
When the twelve apostles were appointed, and his divine mis-
sion fully demonstrated, he declares the doctrines he came to
establish in what is generally called his Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew (v. 1.) observes, Jesus sate down after he had
ascended the mountain: Luke tells us that he stood on the plain.
There is no inconsistency, however, between these narratives.
Our Saviour might have stood up to heal the sick, and to avoid
the pressure of the multitude who sought to touch him, (Luke
vi. 19.) he probably retired again to the mountain, and addressed
the assembled crowd, seated.

The various cures and miracles wrought by our Lord, we may well suppose would have much increased the number of his followers.