Chapter 6:1-6 Teaching at Nazareth

6:1 And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him.
And He went out from thence - That is, from Capernaum.

6:2 And when the sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?

Were astonished - επι τῃ διδαχῃ αυτου, at His doctrine, or teaching.

6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not His sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him. 

Is not this the carpenter - Among the ancient Jews, every father was bound to do four things for his son.
1. To circumcise him.
2. To redeem him.
3. To teach him the law.
4. To teach him a trade.
It is therefore likely that Joseph brought up our Lord to his own trade.

May Divine grace deliver us from that unbelief, which renders Christ a savor of death, rather than of life to the soul.

6:4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.

a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house - so among His kindred and relations; who envied His gifts and attainments, and objected to Him His rise from that branch of their family, which was the most mean and abject.

6:5 And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.

He could do no miracle there - Not consistently with His wisdom and goodness. It being inconsistent with His wisdom to work them there, where it could not promote His great end; and with His goodness, seeing He well knew His countrymen would reject whatever evidence could be given them. And therefore to have given them more evidence, would only have increased their damnation.

6:6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. And He went round about the villages, teaching.

He marveled - As man. As He was God, nothing was strange to Him.

Chapter 5:21-43 Miracles and Healing

5:21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto Him: and He was nigh unto the sea.

much people gathered unto Him - who had before attended on His ministry in these parts, and had seen His miracles;

5:22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet,

Wherever we see that word, “behold,” it is saying to us, “Mark well what is coming.” “Behold,” ....

5:23 And besought Him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.

Jairus by name; in Hebrew "Jair": and Jerom says, it signifies "enlightening", or "enlightened": deriving it from "to be light": and it is no doubt a Jewish name, since he was a ruler of the synagogue; and besides, it is often mentioned in the Old Testament. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet - as soon as he came into His presence; though he was a person of such authority; yet having heard much of the doctrine and miracles of Christ, and believing Him to be a great prophet, and man of God; though he might not know that He was the Messiah, and truly God, threw himself at His feet; and, showed great reverence and respect unto Him, gave Him homage, at least in a civil way, though he might not adore Him as God.

My little daughter - Το θυγατριον μου, that little daughter of mine. The words express much tenderness and concern.

5:24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed Him, and thronged Him.

And Jesus went with him - Immediately without objecting to the weakness of his faith.

5:25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

And a certain woman which had an issue of blood twelve years -This woman was in the crowd that thronged Jesus, as he passed through the streets of Capernaum. Eusebius relates that it was reported, that this woman was of Caesarea Philippi, where her house was to be seen.

5:26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
And had suffered many things of many physicians - She took many a nauseous medicine, and had gone through courses of physic with different physicians; for there were many among the Jews that pretended to the cure of fluxes; and various are the prescriptions the Jewish doctors give for such a disorder, as may be seen in their Talmud. And had spent all that she had,- had wasted her substance, and brought herself to poverty.

5:27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment.

Came in the press behind - She had formed her resolution in faith, she executes it, notwithstanding her weakness, etc., with courage; and now she finds it crowned with success.

5:28 For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.

For she said - Within herself, such were her thoughts...if I may but touch his garment. The Arabic version reads it, "the hem of his garment", her faith was, that if she might be allowed, or if she could by any means come at him, to touch any part of his garment, she should have a cure:

5:29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague - she not only found by that quick alteration but she perceived, in that part of her body, from whence the issue sprung, that she was perfectly well, and that the disorder was entirely gone, which had been for so many years a sore affliction to her, and a severe correction and chastisement of her, as the word used implies.

5:30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him, turned Him about in the press, and said, Who touched My clothes?

And Jesus immediately knowing in Himself - As soon as ever the woman had touched His garments, and had a cure, Christ, who knew all things in his Spirit, or divine nature, that dwelt in Him, knew what was done, that virtue was gone out of Him; to the healing of some person, though not at all to the diminution of that virtue, which remained as powerful and effective in Him as ever.

5:31 And His disciples said unto Him, Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou, Who touched Me?

Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou who touched Me? - They seem astonished at His question, and answer with some degree of warmth, and almost ready to charge it as weak: and impertinent; since, as there was such a crowd about Him, pressing Him on every side, He could not but be touched by many; and therefore to ask who touched Him, when this was the case, they thought was a very strange and unnecessary question.

Many touch Jesus who are not healed by Him: the reason is, they do it not by faith, through a sense of their wants, and a conviction of His ability and willingness to save them.

5:32 And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

to see her that had done this thing - how she looked, and whether her countenance, and the confusion she was thrown into by the question, would not betray her; though He Himself wanted no such signs, by which to discover her. 

5:33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before Him, and told Him all the truth.
But the woman fearing and trembling - Lest she should be reproved.
After conversion, after souls have laid hold on Christ for righteousness and life; after they have had the pardon of their sins, and are cured of their diseases, they are not without their fears and tremblings, though there is no just reason for them: they fear where no fear is; that is, where there is no true cause of fear; which was this woman's ease: they are sometimes afraid they have no interest in Christ, and in His love; that they are hypocrites; that the truth of grace is not in them; that they shall never hold out to the end; that they shall perish, and come short of eternal glory, notwithstanding they know, as this woman did, what has been done in them, and done for them.

5:34 And He said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

thy faith hath made thee whole - through faith in Christ she received the cure from Him.

5:35 While He yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

While He yet spake - The above things to the poor woman. Which said, thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou the master any further? these brought him the account that his daughter was actually dead, which he himself feared before; and therefore they thought it was in vain to give Christ any further trouble to drag along through a crowd of people pressing Him.

5:36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

He saith unto the ruler of the synagogue; who was overwhelmed with trouble, and quite dispirited, and ready to swoon and die away;
be not afraid, only believe: do not be discouraged at these tidings, or distrust my power to help thee, only believe that I am able to raise her, even from the dead;

5:37 And He suffered no man to follow Him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.

And He suffered no man to follow Him -To the house of the ruler, but dismissed the multitude, being not desirous of the honor and applause of men: save Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James: three favorite disciples, who were a sufficient number of witnesses; and who were taken alone along with Christ on some other occasions, 

--as at His transfiguration, 

--and when in the garden.

5:38 And He cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.

And them that wept and wailed; the mourning women, the same with the "preficae" of the Romans, who sung mournful songs, and made hideous noises, being hired for this purpose; as also those who played doleful tunes on musical instruments;

5:39 And when He was come in, He saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

He saith unto them, why make ye this ado and weep? why all this tumult and noise? this grief and mourning, whether real or artificial?
the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth: not but that she was truly dead, but not so as to remain under the power of death: she was like a person in a sleep, who would in a little time be awaked out of it:

5:40 And they laughed Him to scorn. But when He had put them all out, He taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with Him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.

And they laughed Him to scorn - The servants of the house that had laid her out; and the neighbors and relations that were come in on this occasion, and had satisfied themselves that she was dead; and the players on the pipe and flute, with the mourning women, who got their livelihood this way;
And them that were with Him - That is, Peter, James, and John.

5:41 And He took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.

Talitha cumi -  This is mere Syriac, the proper translation of which the evangelist has given. and took her by the hand; just as one would do to awake another out of sleep; and, perhaps, in compliance with her father's request, to lay his hand upon her: and though the touch of a dead body, according to the law, Numbers 19:16 was defiling; yet this did not defile Him, any more than his touching the leper, or the profluvious woman's touching His clothes; for these actions produced supernatural effects, which came not under the cognizance of the law.

5:42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.

And straightway the damsel arose, and walked - As soon as ever the above words were pronounced by Christ, such divine power went along with them, that the child returned to life; and raised herself up from the bed, got off of it, and walked about the room. 

for she was of the age of twelve years - and so, when alive and well, was able to walk; though one of this age was called a little one, as this is by another evangelist;

How very often persons were “astonished” in Christ’s day! Sometimes it is put, “they marvelled;” at other times, “they were amazed,” or, “they wondered.” 

It would have been well if wonder had always turned to faith; 

but sometimes it corrupted into hate. 

God grant that our wonder at Christ may always be of that kind which crystallizes into love.

5:43 And He charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

Life must be nourished; young life especially needs frequent food. 

If Christ has spiritually quickened your child, see that you feed the child with food convenient. 

If you have won a convert to Christ in the Sabbath-school, take care that the unadulterated milk of the Word is brought forth, that the new-born child may be fed and nourished till it comes unto the perfect stature of a man in Christ Jesus.