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The Sabbath School

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Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 22, 1881

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 36.

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The Sabbath School.

LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST.—OCT. 1.

LESSON COMMENTS.

Our last advance lesson closed with the healing of the daughter of the Canaanitish woman, in the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. Of the trip which Jesus took immediately after this miracle, Geikie speaks as follows. It will be interesting to trace the course on the map:
“How long Jesus stayed in these parts is unknown. It would seem as if this incident had forced him to leave sooner than he had purposed. He did not, however, return at once to Capernaum, but set out northeastwards, through the territory of Sidon, to the country east of Jordan. The Roman road which ran over the richly wooded hills, almost straight eastward, from Tyre to Cæsarea Philipppi, was too far to the south. He must have taken the caravan road, which still runs from Sidon on the south side of the mountain stream Bostrenus, climbing the spurs of Lebanon, with their woods and noble mountain scenery, till it crosses the range amidst peaks six thousand feet high, at the natural rock-bridge over the deep, rushing Leontes. Turning now, down the valley of the Upper Jordan, under the shadow of the Hermon range, rising nine thousand five hundred feet high in their highest peak, he, ere long, at Cæsarea Philipppi, reached the open country, with a wide view of the broad, reedy marshes of Ulatha and Merom, the hills of Galilee, and the wide uplands of Gaulonitis. How long he spent on the journey is not told. Perhaps he stopped by the way, for Lebanon was full then, as now, of villages; perhaps he only passed through them on his way. His final purpose by this wide circuit, was to reach his old haunts without passing through Galilee, and this brought him to the wide territory of the ten allied free cities—the Decapolis.
“These cities were simply places which the Jews had not succeeded in re-conquering, after their return from Babylon. They had thus remained in the hands of the heathen, though in Palestine; had preserved distinct municipal government, and had joined in a political alliance, offensive and defensive. To the Jews they were a continual offense, and they were the first to suffer from the frenzied fanaticism of the nation when it rose in its last great revolt. Most of them, full of busy life, and adorned with splendid temples, baths, theaters, and public buildings, when Jesus passed through them, were destined, before another generation, to perish amidst fire and sword.”
These ten cities, according to Ptolemy, were Scythopolis, Hippos, Gadara, Dion, Pella, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Canatha, Capitolias, and Gadora. It was at Gadara, one of these cities, that Jesus had healed the demoniac from the tombs. This man had published the miracle in Decapolis, see Mark 5:20. It was probably in consequence of his favorable reports, that Jesus was so well received on this occasion.
“Even here the fame of the great Teacher attracted multitudes of Jews settled all over the half-foreign district, especially in its towns and cities, and revived for a time the cheering scenes of the past. The cripple, the blind, the dumb, the deformed, and many others variously afflicted, were either brought to him, or came, till he was once more forced, as of old, to retreat to the hills, in the vain effort to gain quiet. The popular excitement, however, made rest impossible. They sought and found him wherever he might be, and enjoyed not only the benefits of his supernatural power, but the richer blessings of his teaching. Only one incident is given in detail. A man had been brought to him who was deaf, and could only stammer inarticulately; and he was besought to heal him. From what motive is not told, he varied his usual course. Taking him aside from the multitude, perhaps to have more freedom, perhaps to avoid their too great excitement and its possibly hurtful political consequences, he put his fingers into the man's ears, and touched his tongue with a finger moistened on his own lips. It may be that these simple forms were intended to waken faith in one who could hear no words, for, without the fitting spirit, the miracle would not have been wrought. Looking up to heaven, as if to lift the thoughts of the unfortunate man to the Eternal Father, whose power alone could heal him, Jesus then, at last, uttered the single word of the popular dialect—‘Ephphatha’—‘Be opened,’ and he was perfectly cured. An injunction to keep the miracle private was of no avail; the whole country was presently filled with reports of it, and of other similar wonders.
“The vast concourse attracted by such scenes may be imagined; for in the East especially, it is easy for the population, with their simple wants, and the mildness of the sky, which in the warm months invites sleeping in the open air by night, to camp out as they think fit. But, as often happens, even in our own day, with the Easter pilgrims at Jerusalem, many found their provisions run short, and as in these strange and motly crowds numbers often die of want, many of those following Jesus might have sunk by the way but for his thoughtful care, for numbers had come far. Once more the crowds were caused to sit on the ground, and were fed from the scanty provision found on the spot, which was no more than seven of the round loaves of the country, and a few small, dried fishes from the lake of Galilee. Four thousand men, besides women and children, were supplied from this scanty store, and seven baskets of fragments, afterwards gathered, attested that they had suffered no stint.
“Leaving the eastern side of the lake, to which his wanderings had led him, Jesus now, once more, crossed to the neighborhood of Magdala, at the lower end of the plain of Gennesareth, and close to Capernaum. He had hardly reappeared before his enemies were once more in motion. The Pharisees had already stifled their dislike of the Herodians, and had formed an alliance with them, that they might the more easily crush him. It marked the growing malignity of feeling that a class fanatically proud of their ceremonial and moral purity—a class from whose midst had sprung the Zealots for the law, who abhorred all rule except that of a restored theocracy—should have banded themselves with a party of moral indifferentists, partial to monarchy, and guilty of flattering even the hated family of Herod. But a still more ominous sign of increasing danger showed itself in even Saducees joining the Pharisees to make new attempts to compromise Jesus with the authorities.”
“Eager for a fresh dispute, the strange allies, very likely fresh from Jerusalem, no sooner found that he had returned, than they sallied forth to open a discussion. ‘You claim,’ said they, ‘to be a teacher come from God, and have given many ‘signs’ that you are so in the miracles you have performed. But all these signs have been untrustworthy, for we know that the earth and even the air are filled with demons. It is quite possible that the prince of the devils, to deceive men into supporting your claims, may have given you power for a time over these demons, and thus all that you have done may be only a dark plot to undo us. The Egyptian magicians did miracles, and our fathers did not believe even Moses, for the common wonders he did, for they might have been wrought only by magic and incantations. A sign from heaven, however, is different. It is beyond the power of devils. Give us bread from heaven, as Moses did, or signs in the sun and moon like Joshua, or call down thunder and hail like Samuel, or fire and rain like Elijah, or make the sun turn back like Isaiah, or let us hear the Bath Kol which came to Simon the Just—that we may believe you.’ . . . . .
“With biting irony he turned on them in a few brief incisive sentences. ‘How is it that ye, who are so skilled in the signs of the heavens, are so dull to read those around you? You watch the sky, and talk of signs in it. In the evening you say, ‘Fair weather, for the sky is red;’ and in the morning, ‘Foul weather to-day, for the sky is red and lowering.’ When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say, ‘there comes a shower;’ when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘there will be heat.’ You pretend to tell, by the way the smoke blows on the last evening of the Feast of Tabernacles, what weather there will be for the year. If it turn northward, you say there will be much rain, and the poor will rejoice; if it turn south, you say the rich will rejoice and the poor mourn, for there will be little rain; if it turn eastward, all rejoice; if westward, all mourn. If God have been so gracious to men as to give signs of fair weather, of wind, and of rain, how much more must he have given signs of the near approach of the Messiah? You are diligent to excess in studying the sky, but you ask signs of my being the Messiah, as if none had been given, when many unmistakable ones invite you in your own Scriptures, in the events of the day, the preaching of John, and in my own miracles, teachings, and life. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign of the approach of the kingdom of God to suit it, while it is blind to the signs around, that the Messiah must come, if the nation is not to perish. I will give you no sign but that of the prophet Jonah, for as the warning of his words was the only one given to the Ninevites, my preaching will be the only sign given to you. It is its own evidence. Apart from my miracles, my life, and the divine and heavenly truth I preach, are sufficient proof that I am sent by God. Hereafter, indeed, Jonah will become a sign in another sense, for as he was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so I, when put to death, shall be the same time in the grave.’
“So saying, he left them. It was clearly unsafe to stay in their neighborhood. Henceforth he could only lead a fugitive, outlawed life, and with a deep sigh at the hopelessness of winning over men blinded by prejudice, and hardened in heart, he entered the boat once more, and crossed the lake to the lonely and secure eastern side.”
While crossing the sea, Jesus took occasion to warn the disciples against being led astray by the false doctrines of the Pharisees and the Saducees. Geikie has the following comments on this passage:
“‘Take heed, beware,’ said he solemnly, ‘of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and of the party of Herod.’ It so happened, however, that in their hurried flight, having had no time to lay in provisions, there was only one loaf in the boat, and with the childishness of uneducated minds, they at once fancied he referred to their having come without bread. At the well of Samaria they had thought he referred to common food when he spoke of the meat of the soul; they had been as dull in catching the metaphor of his flesh being the bread of life, and hereafter they were to think only of natural rest when he spoke of the dead Lazarus as sleeping. Reflection, like continuity of thought, comes only with mental training. The uncultured mind, whether old or young, learns slowly. They might have remembered from the twice repeated miraculous feedings of the multitude, that it was indifferent how little they had with them when their master was in their midst, but it needs a thoughtfulness and depth beyond that of average fishermen and peasants, such as they were, to reason and reflect. ‘He tells us,’ they whispered, ‘that if we buy bread from a Pharisee or Sadducee, the bread would defile us, as it would if we bought it from a Samaritan.’ So rude was the spiritual material from which Jesus had to create the founders of Christianity!
“‘O ye of little faith,’ interrupted he, ‘why do ye reason among yourselves because ye have no loaves? Are your hearts hardened that you cannot understand? Have you forgotten when I broke the five loaves among the five thousand, and the seven among the four thousand, how many baskets and wallets full of fragments ye took up? How could you think you would ever want after that, whether we had bread with us or not? Do you not see that when I spoke of leaven I was thinking not of loaves, but of instruction? Beware of the teaching of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians, about me or about religion. They would gladly fill your minds with slanders and misleading fancies; draw you away from me; and corrupt your hearts by their superstition, and religious acting, and self-righteous pride, or by their worldliness and unbelief.’”