Chapter 44—The True Sign
This chapter is based on
Matthew 15:29-39
;
Matthew 16:1-12
;
Mark
7:31-37
;
Mark 8:1-21
.
“Again He went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through
Sidon unto the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of
Decapolis.”
Mark 7:31
, R. V.
It was in the region of Decapolis that the demoniacs of Gergesa
had been healed. Here the people, alarmed at the destruction of the
swine, had constrained Jesus to depart from among them. But they had
listened to the messengers He left behind, and a desire was aroused
to see Him. As He came again into that region, a crowd gathered
about Him, and a deaf, stammering man was brought to Him. Jesus
did not, according to His custom, restore the man by a word only.
Taking him apart from the multitude, He put His fingers in his ears,
and touched his tongue; looking up to heaven, He sighed at thought of
the ears that would not be open to the truth, the tongues that refused
to acknowledge the Redeemer. At the word, “Be opened,” the man’s
speech was restored, and, disregarding the command to tell no man,
he published abroad the story of his cure.
Jesus went up into a mountain, and there the multitude flocked
to Him, bringing their sick and lame, and laying them at His feet.
He healed them all; and the people, heathen as they were, glorified
the God of Israel. For three days they continued to throng about the
Saviour, sleeping at night in the open air, and through the day pressing
eagerly to hear the words of Christ, and to see His works. At the end
of three days their food was spent. Jesus would not send them away
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hungry, and He called upon His disciples to give them food. Again
the disciples revealed their unbelief. At Bethsaida they had seen how,
with Christ’s blessing, their little store availed for the feeding of the
multitude; yet they did not now bring forward their all, trusting His
power to multiply it for the hungry crowds. Moreover, those whom
He fed at Bethsaida were Jews; these were Gentiles and heathen.
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