Matthew 8

Matthew 8:1

V. THE MESSIAH’S MIRACLES OF POWER AND GRACE, AND VARYING REACTIONS TO THEM (8:1-9:34) In chapters 8-12 the Lord Jesus presents conclusive evidence to the nation of Israel that He was indeed the Messiah of whom the prophets had written. Isaiah, for example, had foretold that Messiah would open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, heal the lame, and make the mute sing (Isa_35:5-6). Jesus, by fulfilling all these prophecies, proved that He was Messiah. Israel, by referring to her Scriptures, should have had no difficulty in identifying Him as the Christ. But none are so blind as those who will not see. The events recorded in these chapters are presented according to a thematic scheme, rather than in strict chronological order. This is not a complete account of the Lord’s ministry, but a presentation of events selected by the Holy Spirit to portray certain motifs in the Savior’s life. Included in this presentation are the following:

1. Christ’s absolute authority over disease, demons, death, and the elements of nature.
2. His claim to absolute lordship in the lives of those who would follow Him.
3. The mounting rejection of Jesus by the nation of Israel, particularly by the religious leaders.
4. The ready reception of the Savior by individual Gentiles. A. Power Over Leprosy (8:1-4) 8:1 Though the teaching of Jesus was radical and extreme, it had a drawing powerso much so that great multitudes followed Him. Truth is self-verifying and, though people may not like it, they can never forget it. 8:2 A leper knelt before Jesus with a desperate appeal for healing. This leper had faith that the Lord could cure him, and true faith is never disappointed. Leprosy is an appropriate picture of sin because it is loathsome, destructive, infectious, and, in some forms, humanly incurable. 8:3 Lepers were untouchables. Physical contact with them might expose a person to infection. In the case of the Jews, this contact made the person ceremonially unclean, that is, unfit to worship with the congregation of Israel. But when Jesus touched the leper and spoke the healing words, the leprosy vanished immediately. Our Savior has power to cleanse from sin and to qualify the cleansed person to be a worshiper. 8:4 This is the first instance in Matthew’s Gospel where it is recorded that Jesus commanded someone to tell no one of the miracle done for them or of what they had seen (see also Mat_9:30; Mat_12:16; Mat_17:9; Mar_5:43; Mar_7:36; Mar_8:26). This was probably because He was aware that many people, interested only in deliverance from the Roman yoke, wanted to make Him King. But He knew that Israel was still unrepentant, that the nation would reject His spiritual leadership, and that He must first go to the cross. Under the Law of Moses, the priest also served as physician. When a leper was cleansed, he was obligated to bring an offering and to appear before the priest in order to be pronounced clean (Lev_14:4-6). It was no doubt a rare event for a leper to be healed, so extraordinary, in fact, that it should have alerted this priest to investigate whether the Messiah had appeared at last. But we read of no such reaction. Jesus told the leper to obey the law in this matter. The spiritual implications of the miracle are clear: The Messiah had come to Israel with power to heal the nation of its illness. He presented this miracle as one of His credentials. But the nation was not yet ready for her Deliverer.

Matthew 8:5

B. Power Over Paralysis (8:5-13) 8:5, 6 The faith of a Gentile centurion is introduced in striking contrast to the unreceptiveness of the Jews. If Israel will not acknowledge her King, the despised pagans will. The centurion was a Roman military officer in charge of about one hundred men, and was stationed in or near Capernaum. He came to Jesus to seek healing for his servant who had suffered a violent and painful paralysis. This was an unusual display of com passionmost officials would not have shown such concern for a servant. 8:7-9 When the Lord Jesus offered to visit the sick servant, the centurion showed the reality and depth of his faith. He said, in effect, I am not worthy that You should enter my house. Anyway, it isn’t necessary, because You could easily heal him by saying the word. I know about authority. I take orders from my superiors, and give order to those under me. My commands are obeyed implicitly.

How much more would Your words have power over my servant’s illness!8:10-12 Jesus marveled at the faith of this Gentile. This is one of two times when Jesus is said to have marveled; the other time was at the unbelief of the Jews (Mar_6:6). He had not found such great faith among God’s chosen people, Israel. This led Him to point out that in His coming kingdom, Gentiles would flock from all over the world to enjoy fellowship with the Jewish patriarchs while the sons of the kingdom would be thrown into outer darkness where they would weep and gnash their teeth. Sons of the kingdom are those who were Jews by birth, who professed to acknowledge God as King, but who were never truly converted. But the principle applies today.

Many children privileged to be born and raised in Christian families will perish in hell because they reject Christ, while jungle savages will enjoy the eternal glories of heaven because they believed the gospel message. 8:13 Jesus said to the centurion, Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you. Faith is rewarded in proportion to its confidence in the character of God. The servant was healed instantly, even though Jesus was some distance away. We may see in this a picture of Christ’s present ministry; healing the non-privileged Gentiles from the paralysis of sin, though He Himself is not bodily present.

Matthew 8:14

C. Power Over Fever (8:14, 15) Entering Peter’s house, Jesus found the mother-in-law sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever vanished. Ordinarily fever leaves a person greatly weakened, but this cure was so instantaneous and complete that she was able to get out of bed and serve Hima fitting expression of gratitude for what the Savior had done for her. We should imitate her, whenever we are healed, by serving Him with renewed dedication and vigor.

Matthew 8:16

D. Power over Demons and Various Sicknesses (8:16, 17) At evening, when the Sabbath was over (see Mar_1:21-34), the people surged to Him with many victims of demon-possession. These pathetic individuals were indwelt and controlled by evil spirits. Often they exhibited superhuman knowledge and power; at other times they were tormented. Their behavior sometimes resembled that of insane persons, but the cause was demonic rather than physical or mental. Jesus cast out the spirits with a word. He also healed all who were sick, fulfilling the prophecy of Isa_53:4 : He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Verse 17 is often used by faith-healers to show that healing is in the atonement, and that therefore physical healing is something the believer can claim by faith. But here the Spirit of God applies the prophecy to our Savior’s earthly healing ministry and not to His work on the cross. So far in this chapter we have seen four miracles as follows:

1. Healing of the Jewish leper, with Christ present.
2. Healing of the centurion’s servant, with Christ at a distance.
3. Healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, with Jesus there in the house.
4. Healing of all the demon-possessed and sick, with Jesus present. Gaebelein suggests that these typify four stages of our Lord’s ministry:
5. Christ in His First Advent, ministering to His people Israel.
6. The Gentile dispensation, with Jesus absent.
7. His Second Advent, when He will enter the house, restoring His relations with Israel and heal the sick daughter of Zion.
8. The Millennium when all the demon-possessed and sick will be healed. This is an intriguing analysis of the progress of teaching in the miracles, and should alert us to the hidden depths of meaning in the sacred Scriptures. We should be warned, however, not to carry this method to extremes by forcing meanings to the point where they are ridiculous.

Matthew 8:18

E. The Miracle of Human Refusal (8:18-22) We have seen Christ exercising authority over disease and demons. It is only when He comes in contact with men and women that He meets with resistancethe miracle of human refusal. 8:18-20 As Jesus prepared to cross the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum to the east side, a self-confident scribe stepped forward pledging to follow Him all the way. The Lord’s answer challenged him to count the costa life of self-denial. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. In His public ministry, He had no home of His own; however, there were homes where He was a welcome guest and He ordinarily had a place to sleep. The true force of His words seems to be spiritual: this world could not provide Him with true, lasting rest. He had a work to do and could not rest till it was accomplished. The same is true of His followers; this world is not their resting placeor at least, it shouldn’t be! 8:21 Another well-meaning follower expressed a willingness to follow Him, but had a higher priority: Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Whether or not the father had already died makes little difference. The basic trouble was expressed in the contradictory words: Lord … me first. He put self ahead of Christ. While it is perfectly proper to provide a decent burial for one’s father, it becomes wrong when such a worthy act takes precedence over the Savior’s call. 8:22 Jesus answered him, in effect: Your first duty is to follow Me. Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. An unsaved person can do that kind of work. But there is a work which you alone can do. Give the best of your life to what really lasts. Don’t waste it on trivia. We are not told how these two disciples responded. But the strong implication is that they left Christ to make a comfortable place for themselves in the world and to spend their lives hugging the subordinate. Before we condemn them, we should test ourselves on the two terms of discipleship enunciated by Jesus in this passage.

Matthew 8:23

F. Power Over the Elements (8:23-27) The Sea of Galilee is noted for sudden, violent storms that whip it into a churning froth. Winds sweep down the valley of the Jordan from the north, picking up speed in the narrow gorge. When they hit the Sea, it becomes extremely unsafe for navigation. On this occasion, Jesus was crossing from the west side to the east. When the storm broke, He was asleep in the boat. The terrified disciples awoke Him with frantic pleas for help. It is to their credit that they went to the right Person. After rebuking them for their puny faith, He rebuked the winds and the waves. When a great calm descended, the men marveled that even the elements obeyed their humble Passenger. How little they comprehended that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe was in the ship that day! All disciples encounter storms sooner or later. At times it seems we are going to be swamped by the waves. What a comfort to know that Jesus is in the boat with us. No water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies. No one can quell life’s storms like the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 8:28

G. Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men (8:28-34) 8:28 On the east side of the Sea of Galilee was the country of the Gergesenes. When Jesus arrived, He met two unusually violent cases of demon possession. These demoniacs lived in cave-like tombs and were so fierce they made travel in that area unsafe. 8:29-31 As Jesus approached, the demons cried out, What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time? They knew who Jesus was, and that He would finally destroy them. In these respects their theology was more accurate than that of many modern liberals. Sensing that Jesus was going to cast them out of the men, they asked that they might be transferred to a herd of many swine feeding nearby. 8:32 Strangely enough Jesus granted their request. But why should the Sovereign Lord accede to the request of demons? To understand His action, we must remember two facts. First, demons shun the disembodied state; they want to indwell human beings, or, if that is not possible, animals or other creatures. Secondly, the purpose of demons is without exception to destroy. If Jesus had simply cast them out of the maniacs, the demons would have been a menace to the other people of the area. By allowing them to go into the swine, He prevented their entering men and women and confined their destructive power to animals. It was not yet time for their final destruction by the Lord. As soon as the transfer took place, the swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned. This incident demonstrates that the ultimate aim of demons is to destroy, and underlines the terrifying possibility that two men can be indwelt by the number of demons it takes to destroy two thousand swine (Mar_5:13). 8:33, 34 The herdsmen ran back with news of what had happened. The result was that an aroused citizenry came out to Jesus and begged Him to leave the area. Ever since then Jesus has been criticized for the needless slaughter of pigs and has been asked to leave because He values human life above animals. If these Gergesenes were Jews, it was unlawful for them to raise pigs. But whether or not they were Jews, their condemnation is that they valued a herd of pigs more than the healing of two demoniacs.