Matthew 15:29

15:29-39 Whatever our case is, the only way to find ease and relief, is to lay it at Christ's feet, to submit it to him, and refer it to his disposal. Those who would have spiritual healing from Christ, must be ruled as he pleases. See what work sin has made; what various diseases human bodies are subject to. Here were such diseases as fancy could neither guess the cause nor the cure of, yet these were subject to the command of Christ. The spiritual cures that Christ works are wonderful. When blind souls are made to see by faith, the dumb to speak in prayer, the maimed and the lame to walk in holy obedience, it is to be wondered at. His power was also shown to the multitude, in the plentiful provision he made for them: the manner is much the same as before. All did eat, and were filled. Those whom Christ feeds, he fills. With Christ there is bread enough, and to spare; supplies of grace for more than seek it, and for those that seek for more. Christ sent away the people. Though he had fed them twice, they must not look for miracles to find their daily bread. Let them go home to their callings and their own tables. Lord, increase our faith, and pardon our unbelief, teaching us to live upon thy fulness and bounty, for all things pertaining to this life, and that which is to come.

29 . a mountain ] Rather, the mountain country; the high land, as distinguished from the low land, which He had left. 29–31 . Jesus returns to the high land of Galilee, and cures many Blind, Dumb, and Lame Mark 7:31-37 , where, not content with the general statement, the Evangelist describes one special case of healing.

Matthew 15:29-31 . Jesus came unto the sea of Galilee — The Jews gave the name of seas to all large lakes. This was one hundred furlongs long, and forty broad. It was called also the sea of Tiberias. It lay on the borders of Galilee, and the city of Tiberias stood on its western shore. It was likewise styled the lake of Gennesaret; perhaps a corruption of Cinnereth, the name by which it was anciently called. See notes on Numbers 34:11 , and Matthew 4:15-16 . And went up into a mountain and sat down — Not only to rest himself, but also, and especially, to teach the people, who resorted to him in great multitudes; having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, &c. — The dumb were probably deaf also, and the maimed, such as had lost one or more limbs, as the word κυλλους properly signifies. It is true, it is sometimes applied to those who were only disabled in those parts; we may “reasonably suppose, however, that among the many maimed who were brought on such occasions, there were, at least, some whose limbs had been cut off; and I thinks,” says Dr. Doddridge, “hardly any of the miracles of our Lord were more illustrious and amazing than the recovery of such.” And many others — Who had different complaints; and cast them down at Jesus’s feet — Entreating his compassion, which was so moved at the sight of so many people in distress, that he graciously healed them all. On these miracles, Dr.

Macknight remarks as follows: “On the dumb, who are commonly deaf also, he not only conferred the faculty of hearing and pronouncing articulate sounds, but conveyed into their minds at once the whole language of their country, making them perfectly acquainted with all the words in it, their significations, and their uses, so as to comprehend the whole distinctly in their memories, and, at the same time, he gave them the habit of speaking it both fluently and copiously. This was a kind of miracle vastly astonishing. The change that was produced in the bodies of the men was but the least part of it; what passed in their minds was the principal thing, being an effect so extensive that nothing inferior to infinite power could produce it. With respect to the maimed, that is, persons who had lost their legs and arms, Jesus gave them new members in their stead. But when he thus created such parts of their bodies as were wanting, without having any thing at all, as a subject, to work upon, the spectators could not have been more surprised had they seen him make a whole human body out of the dust of the earth.” Accordingly, on the sight of these miracles, it is here said, They wondered and glorified the God of Israel. See also Matthew 9:33 ; and Matthew 12:22-23 ; Mark 7:37 .

(29) Jesus departed from thence. —As St. Mark (in the better MSS.) gives the narrative, His journey led Him actually through Sidon. It was the one instance in which He visited a distinctly heathen city, and walked by the shore of the Great Sea, and looked out towards the isles of Chittim, the isles of the Gentiles, to which His name was to come in after years as the message of joy and peace and life. It is significant, as Sidon lay to the north of Tyre, that He thus extended His journey, as though seeking for Himself and His disciples a longer period of rest for prayer and meditation. His return to Galilee must have been through some of the mountain passes of the Hermon range, bringing Him down upon the eastern shore of the lake.

Matthew 15:29 ff. Παρὰ τὴν θάλ . τ . Γαλ .] according to Mark 7:31 , the eastern shore. τὸ ὄρος ] the mountain just at hand. See notes on Matthew 5:1 , Matthew 14:22 . κυλλούς ] deformed, lame , without specifying further; but the word is used not merely with reference to the hands or arms (comp. as evidence to the contrary, the well-known nickname of Vulcan: κυλλοποδίων , Hom. Il . xviii. 371, xxi. 331), but also to the feet. ἔῤῥιψαν ] The flinging down is to be taken, not as indicating the careless confidence (Fritzsche, de Wette, Bleek), but rather the haste of the people, in consequence of so many sick being brought to Jesus. Comp. Er. Schmid, Bengel. The reference to the helplessness of the sick (Baumgarten-Crusius) would be suited only to the case of the χωλοί and κυλλοί . παρὰ τ . πόδας ] for as προσκυνοῦντες it behoved them to prostrate themselves before Him. Matthew 15:31 . τὸν θεὸν Ἰσρ .] who shows His care for His people by communicating to them, through Jesus, such extraordinary blessings. Ἰσρ . is added in the consciousness of the advantages they possessed over the neighbouring Gentiles.

Sea of Galilee - That is, the Lake of Gennesaret. For an account of the principal diseases mentioned here, see the notes at Matthew 4:24 . Maimed - Those to whom a hand or foot was wanting. See Matthew 18:8. To cure them - that is, to restore a hand or foot - was a direct act of creative power. It is no wonder, therefore, that the people wondered. And they glorified the God of Israel - To glorify here means to praise; to acknowledge his power and goodness. The God of Israel was the God that the Israelites or Jews worshipped.