John Calvin Commentary Luke 8

¹⁷⁴ “D’autant qu’elles ont suyvi leur Liberateur, nonobstant l’ignominie du monde qu’il leur faloit endurer en ce faisant;” — “because they followed their Deliverer, notwithstanding the ignominy of the world which they must endure by so doing.”;” — “because they followed their Deliverer, notwithstanding the ignominy of the world which they must endure by so doing.”

Joanna, the wife of Chuza. It is uncertain whether Luke intended his statement to apply to those women in the same manner as to Mary. To me, it appears probable that she is placed first in order, as a person in whom Christ had given a signal display of his power; and that the wife of Chuza, and Susanna, matrons of respectability and of spotless reputation, are mentioned afterwards because they had only been cured of ordinary diseases.

Those matrons being wealthy and of high rank, it reflects higher commendation on their pious zeal that they supply Christ’s expenses out of their own property, and, not satisfied with doing so, leave the care of their household affairs and choose to follow him, attended by reproach and many other inconveniences, through various and uncertain habitations, instead of living quietly and at ease in their own houses.

It is even possible that Chuza, Herod’s steward, being too much like his master, was strongly opposed to what his wife did in this matter, but that the pious woman overcame this opposition by the ardor and constancy of her zeal.

And his mother and his brethren came to him. There is an apparent discrepancy here between Luke and the other two Evangelists. For, according to their arrangement of the narrative, they represent Christ’s mother and cousins as having come while he was speaking about the unclean spirit, whereas Luke refers to a different occasion and mentions only the woman’s exclamation, which we have just explained. But we know that the Evangelists were not always very precise regarding the order of dates, or even in minutely detailing everything Christ did or said, so the difficulty is quickly resolved. Luke does not state at what precise time Christ’s mother came to him; but what the other two Evangelists relate before the parable of the sower, he introduces after it. The account he gives of the exclamation of the woman from the crowd bears some resemblance to this narrative, for inconsiderate zeal may have led her to exalt to the highest degree what she imagined Christ had unduly diminished.

All three Evangelists agree in stating that while Christ was speaking in the midst of a crowd of people, his mother and brethren came to him. The reason must have been either that they were anxious about him or that they were desiring instruction, for it is not without some good reason that they endeavored to approach him, and it is not probable that those who accompanied the holy mother were unbelievers. Ambrose and Chrysostom accuse Mary of ambition, but this is improbable. What necessity is there for such a conjecture, when the testimony of the Spirit everywhere commends her distinguished piety and modesty? The warmth of natural affection may have carried them beyond the bounds of propriety—this I do not deny—but I have no doubt that they were led by pious zeal to seek his company.

Matthew relates that the message about their arrival was brought by one individual; Mark and Luke say that he was informed by many persons. But there is no inconsistency here, for the message that his mother sent to call him would have been communicated, as usually happens, from one person to another, until it finally reached him.

There met him a certain man out of the city. It is uncertain whether Luke means that he was a citizen of Gadara, or that he came out of it to meet Christ. For, when he was ordered to go home and proclaim among his friends the grace of God, Mark says that he did this in Decapolis, which was a neighboring country stretching towards Galilee; and from this it is conjectured that he was not a native of Gadara. Again, Matthew and Mark expressly state that he did not go out of the city, but from the tombs, and Luke himself, throughout the whole passage, leads us to understand that the man lived in solitary places. These words, therefore, there met him a certain man out of the city, I understand to mean that, before Christ came near the city, the demoniac met him in that direction.

As for the opinion that the man lived among the graves—either because devils are delighted with the stench of dead bodies, gratified by the smell of offerings, or because they watch over souls desiring to approach their bodies—it is an idle and, indeed, a foolish conjecture. On the contrary, this wretched man was kept among the graves by an unclean spirit, so that it might have an opportunity to continually terrify him with the mournful spectacle of death, as if he were cut off from the society of men and already lived among the dead. We also learn from this that the devil not only torments men in the present life but pursues them even to death, and that in death his dominion over them is primarily exercised.

And the men requested. The Gadarenes cannot endure to have Christ among them, but the man who had been delivered from the devil desires to leave his own country and follow Him. From this we learn how wide the difference is between the knowledge of the goodness of God and the knowledge of the power of God. Power strikes people with terror, makes them flee from the presence of God, and drives them to a distance from Him; but goodness draws them gently and makes them feel that nothing is more desirable than to be united to God.

We cannot determine with certainty why Christ refused to have this man as one of His followers, unless it was that He expected the man to make himself more extensively useful by communicating to his Gentile countrymen the remarkable and extraordinary act of kindness he had received. This, indeed, the man actually did, as Mark and Luke assure us.