Matthew 8:1-13
1 When he was come down from the mountain, great
multitudes followed him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him,
saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but
go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses
commanded, for a testimony unto them.
5 And when Jesus was entered into
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of
the palsy, grievously tormented.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not
worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my
servant shall be healed.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers
under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he
cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10 When Jesus heard it, he arveled, and said to them
that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not
in Israel.
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the
east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the
kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and
as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in
the selfsame hour.
As Jesus came down the hill
after giving the Sermon on the Mount, a large crowd followed Him. Their motives were mixed, but at least some
followed Him to be near the Messiah.
A leper came and worshipped
Christ. In those days, worship was given by falling face down on the ground
with arms outstretched much as the Muslims now do.
The leper told Jesus, “Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean.” That took faith!
Jesus is willing to cleanse
us from all that has caused us to be physically and spiritually deficient.
Jesus touched him and said,
“I will, be cleansed.” Immediately the
leper was cleansed of leprosy.
Christ came to take away the
sin of the world (John 1:29). He is
willing!
Jesus told the man not to
tell others. Instead, he was to go to
the
Even with all the trouble the
Priests caused Christ, He still respected their office.
Jesus then went back to His
home in
The centurion came to request
help for his servant. His servant
suffered from Palsy.
Jesus told the centurion that
He would come and heal the servant. The
Bible tells us that Jesus was sent only to help
The words translated “heal”
are interesting.
In verse 7, we find Matthew
using the Greek word therapeusoo-qerapeusw, as used by Jesus.
That word indicates giving of medical attention.
However, in verse 8, the
centurion replies that if Jesus speaks the word, his servant “shall be healed”
(Gr. iatheesetai-iaqhsetai). That Greek word, while indicating healing also
speaks of salvation.
It is the same Greek root
word used by Peter when speaking of our salvation in 1 Peter 2:24---[Christ Jesus] Who his own self bare our sins in his
own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye
were healed.
The centurion did not ask
Jesus to come to heal his servant. He
understood the power of the spoken word. Most Christians today do not understand
the power of the spoken word.
Having authority, the
centurion knew that if he ordered something to be done, it would be done. In his faith, he knew that if Christ ordered
something it would be done.
Jesus was amazed, because He
had never encounter faith of that intensity among the Jews. But now, a Gentile stood before Him showing
unrestrained faith.
Jesus told His followers that
many shall come from around the world to sit with the patriarchs, but the
“children”, the Jews shall not be there.
Because of that there shall be great mourning.
Jesus told the centurion to
return home, and what he believed would be done. The centurion believed for healing, and it
was done.
Matthew 8:14-15
14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw
his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her:
and she arose, and ministered unto them.
Shortly after that when Jesus
went to Peter’s home, He saw the Peter’s mother-in-law was ill. Jesus simply touched her hand, and the fever
left her.
After being healed, she arose
and served, ministered to, Jesus and the others. If Jesus healed you of you sin sickness, will
you minister to others on His behalf?
Matthew 8:16-17
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many
that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and
healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our
sicknesses.
That evening, they brought
many that were possessed (Gr. daimonizomenous-daimonizomenouV) with devils to Christ Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with His word.
All the sick who were brought to Him were healed.
That happened as a
fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 53:4---Surely
he hath borne our griefs (sicknesses), and carried our sorrows (pains): yet we
did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Matthew 8:18-23
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he
gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him,
Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and
the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his
head.
21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord,
suffer me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the
dead bury their dead.
23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples
followed him.
When Jesus saw the crowd
around him, He ordered the Apostles to take Him to the opposite shore, across
the
A scribe came to Jesus, and
said, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go.” Words can be empty. Jesus told
the scribe that He had no place to rest, and yet, our only true rest is in
Christ.
Another disciple (apparently
not an Apostle) said he would follow Christ after he buried his parents. There
is no indication that his parents were old and near death. He may have been making a type of future
commitment.
Jesus told the man to follow
Him. He said, “Follow Me. Let the dead
bury their own dead.”
“Follow Me” (Gr. akolouthei-akolouqei) is an imperative,
a command. It is not a request or invitation.
Those that are in Christ are
alive---no matter what their physical condition. Those outside of Christ are dead---no matter
what their physical condition.
As long as we are on this
earth in this age, we (Christians) live among the spiritually deceased. At this time, the earth is a great graveyard.
Jesus and His disciples
boarded a small boat to launch out into the
Matthew 8:24-28
24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea,
insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him,
saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of
little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a
great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man
is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
As they crossed the sea, a
storm came upon them. Large waves broke
over the boat, but Jesus slept soundly.
His Apostles woke Christ.
They feared that they were about to die.
Such storms, while not commonplace, could be devastating to men in a
small boat.
Jesus reply has become a
classic saying. He said, “Why are you
afraid, O ye of little faith?
What is your reaction when
the storms of life appear?
Seeing their fear, Christ
Jesus arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea.
At that the sea was calm.
The Apostles were
amazed. They asked saying, “What kind of
man is this? Even the winds and sea obey him!”
Are you amazed when Christ
does miracles on your behalf?
Do you know that some believe
that godly miracles are demonic?
There are people who go to
Church, preach, and seem to be followers of Christ. But, they deny the
miraculous. It is those who deny God’s
miracles that have a just a form of godliness.
The Bible tells us to turn away from them (2 Timothy 3:5). I personally know of “Churches” that pray for
healing, and then declare them to be demonic if a believer is healed.
Some believe that if it walks
like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a duck. That is a cute, folksy saying, but God looks
on the heart. He does not judge by
outward appearances.
Matthew 8:28-29
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country
of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the
tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we
to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us
before the time?
When they came to the other
side of the
It was there that Christ
encountered two men who were possessed by demons. Apparently the area was a
burial ground, because Matthew says they came out of the tombs.
The men were savage. Others did not travel in that area unless of
necessity.
They shouted, “What do you
want with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come to torment us before the
(appointed) time?
The demons within the men
acknowledged that Christ Jesus was the Son of God, but they did not call Him
Lord.
They knew that He had
authority over them, but still did not call Him Lord.
Have you acknowledged, “Jesus
is Lord!”?
Matthew 8:31-34
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go
away into the herd of swine.
32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come
out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran
violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways
into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of
the devils.
34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus:
and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their
coasts.
Meanwhile, a herd of pigs was
feeding “a good way off” (Gr. makran-makran). They were
not nearby.
The demons begged Christ, “If
You are going to cast us out, allow us to go into the pigs.
Christ gave His
permission. That resulted in the pigs
running off a nearby cliff and into the sea where they died.
Pigs are more discerning than
some people.
The herdsmen ran to the city
and “told everything.” They told about
the deliverance of the men.
You might think that good
news about the deliverance of those that terrorized the townspeople would be
greeted with joy. And, if you think that
you would be wrong.
Instead of praising God for
the miracle, the folks came to Jesus and demanded that He leave. Some people would rather be demon harassed
than to be delivered from Satan.