Luke 8:40

Strong faith shall be applauded, and yet weak faith shall not be rejected. In the houses where sickness and death are, it is very desirable to have the presence of Christ. When Christ was going, the people thronged him, some out of curiosity to see him, others out of an affection to him.

And it came to pass, that when Jesus was returned,.... From the country of the Gadarenes, to the other side of the sea of Tiberias, to Galilee; and particularly to his own city, Capernaum; Mat 9:

THE Revised Version is, in some places, though not in many, better than the Authorized Version. Our text is one of the few instances in which there is an improvement—"And as Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him." We have already noted, in our reading, that our Lord had gone where He was not welcomed. He went across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes and there He met with an ill reception and was even entreated by the people to depart out of their coasts.

Perhaps they witnessed at a distance the sudden calming of the tempest. Here at least they are, watching for His return, and welcoming Him to the shore. The tide of His popularity was now fast rising.

We see in this passage, two requests made to our Lord Jesus Christ. They were widely different one from the other, and were offered by people of widely different character. We see, moreover — how these requests were received by our Lord Jesus Christ. In either case, the request received a most remarkable answer. The whole passage is singularly instructive. Let us observe, in the first place — that the Gadarenes besought our Lord to depart from them, and their request was granted. We read these painfully solemn words — "Then all the people of the region of the Gadarenes begged Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left." Why did these unhappy men want the Son of God to leave them? Why, after the amazing miracle of mercy which had just been wrought among them — did they feel no wish to know more of Him who wrought it? Why, in a word — did they become their own enemies, forsake their own mercies, and shut the door against the Gospel? There is but one answer to these questions. The Gadarenes loved the world, and the things of the world — and were determined not to give them up! They felt convinced, in their own consciences, that they could not receive Christ among them and keep their sins — and they were resolved to keep their sins! They saw, at a glance, that there was something about Jesus with which their habits of life would never agree — and having to choose between the new ways and their own old ones, they refused the new — and chose the old. And why did our Lord Jesus Christ grant the request of the Gadarenes, and leave them? He did it in judgment — to testify His sense of the greatness of their sin. He did it to show how great is the wickedness of those who willfully reject the truth.

THE Revised Version is, in some places, though not in many, better than the Authorized Version. Our text is one of the few instances in which there is an improvement—"And as Jesus returned, the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him." We have already noted, in our reading, that our Lord had gone where He was not welcomed. He went across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes and there He met with an ill reception and was even entreated by the people to depart out of their coasts. Yet, although Jesus knew beforehand the treatment He would receive there, He went. He did not stay there long, but He remained long enough to effect a grand purpose of Grace. Upon His landing on that inhospitable shore, a poor creature, held in captivity by a legion of demons, was set free and, that done, the Master yielded to the unwise, ungracious, unkind request of the Gadarenes and went His way back across the sea. The Lord Jesus Christ may still come to a family that does not want Him, does not wish to have Him. A man of God may pass that way and tarry for a night. The Gospel itself may be carried to people in a certain quarter and they may hear it, though they have no wish to do so. Well, if this is your feeling, my Hearers, do not be burdened with what you consider the great calamity of Christ coming near you! Do not be disturbed by the fear that you will be forced to be saved against your will! The Lord Jesus Christ will not stay where He is not wanted. As He bade His Apostles, when they were persecuted in one city, to flee to another, so He does Himself. If He is not received here, He will go elsewhere.

Gladly received him - This is the proper import of the word απεδεξατο; therefore our translators needed not to have put gladly in italics, as though it were not expressed in the text. Raphelius gives several proofs of this in loc.

See this passage explained in the notes at Mat 9:18-26, and Mark 5:21-43.