Sant Apollinare Nuovo - Healing of the demon-possessed

The

synoptic gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

portray Jesus exorcising at sunset just after he had healed the mother of Peter's wife, in , and . According to the Gospels, after Jesus had healed the mother of Peter's wife, when evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. According to the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, this was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "Yahweh is salvation"; also known as Isaias or Esaias from ) was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. The text of the Book of Isaiah refers to Isaiah as "the prophet" ...

: :"He took up our infirmities :and bore our diseases. According to the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

, as the demons came out of many people, they shouted, "You are the Son of God!" But Jesus rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

. The accounts in the Gospels of

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and Luke report events taking place on the

Sabbath In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...

. Sundown signified the end of the Jewish Sabbath. Many people came out or were brought out to Jesus to be healed of their infirmities and delivered from evil spirits. As described in the biblical account of the event, every single person that came out was healed or delivered. Jesus had compassion on the mass of people in his presence because he identified with the pain and suffering they were going through even though he was not subject to the afflictions himself. The supernatural power flowing out of Jesus provided evidence of him being the foretold Messiah of Israel as prophesied by the Isaiah the prophet. Matthew's gospel makes no reference in this narrative its timing on the evening of Sabbath day: the first mention of the Sabbath day and

controversies Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an opp ...

around Jesus acting on the Sabbath comes in Matthew 12. The

Pulpit Commentary The ''Pulpit Commentary'' is a homiletic commentary on the Bible first published between 1880 and 1919

suggests that the events did take place on the evening of the Sabbath, the "original connexion eingpreserved, as it seems, in Mark and Luke" and lost in Matthew. When the sabbath was over (), people were free to carry out their sick. Alternatively, "should the day not have been a sabbath, we may presume that the evening was chosen as cooler for the sick to be moved, and as more convenient to those who carried them, the day's work being done".Pulpit Commentary
on Matthew 8, accessed 24 December 2016

References

{{Miracles of Jesus, state=expanded Exorcisms of Jesus Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Mark Gospel of Luke

See also

References