Matthew 8

Summary. In Chapter 7, we see that the Lord Jesus teaches with authority. Here, in Chapter 8, we see that the Lord Jesus has authority and power over all sickness, spirits, the Word, and the winds and the sea. 1) The Lord Jesus is the hope for all the hopeless people: rich and poor, men and women, young and old. He heals a leper, a slave, Peter’s mother-in-law, people oppressed by demons, and all who were sick and came to Him for mercy. All these healings are performed to show that the Lord Jesus took our illnesses with His Word and bore our diseases by the nail wounds on the cross. 2) The Lord Jesus answers a scribe and a disciple about what it means to follow Him. Both have different concerns that relate to their personal interests. The scribe is looking for material gain and power, while the disciple is looking for a secure future when following the Lord Jesus and is not concerned with money. 3) The Father creates a situation on the sea for the disciples in order to guide their hearts and show who the Lord Jesus is. They need this experience to build up their faith for facing future life trials and troubles.

[1] Now when He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

Comments Matthew 8:1 “Now when He ... mountain.” This event took place after teaching crowds of people on the mountain (See Chapters 5, 6, and 7).

[2] And behold, a leper having come, worshipped Him saying, Lord, if Thou will, Thou can make me clean.

Comments Matthew 8:2 The Lord chose this leper first to comfort him, because his heart was searching for the Lord. He was a poor man with a body dirty with leprosy, but with a humble and clean heart.

[3] And having stretched out the hand, He touched him, saying, I will; be you made clean! And straightaway his leprosy was cleansed.

[4] And Jesus says to him, See, you tell no people; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

Comments Matthew 8:3-4 “See, you tell no people ...” This healing was public, so it is obvious that here the Lord told the leper something personal when He healed him, and this command refers to this fact. He was not supposed to tell anyone about what the Lord told him privately.

[5] Now, He having entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, begging Him,

[6] and saying, Lord, my slave is lying in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

Comments Matthew 8:5-6 If you have faith, you can ask the Lord for someone under your authority to receive mercy. The centurion asked mercy for his own servant, who belonged to him.

[7] And He says to him, I will come and heal him.

[8] However answering, the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou should come under my roof; but only say the word, and my slave will be healed.

Comments Matthew 8:8 The centurion shows himself humble and having simple and honest faith. Do not think that you deserve anything; just come with simple faith. You enter the throne of the Father when you come with a humble heart.

[9] For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers, I appoint; and I say to this, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

[10] And having heard, Jesus marveled, and said to those following, Truly I say to you, Not even in Israel I have found so great faith.

Comments Matthew 8:10 Come to the Lord with simple faith, asking for mercy not demanding mercy. The Father has mercy on humans, and He sent the Lord Jesus not because the humans were demanding Him, but because the Father has love and mercy. The Lord Jesus’ obedience to the Father is greater than His own suffering to lower Himself to become a human. That is why the Father loves the Lord Jesus and does accordingly with the Lord Jesus’ will. When the Lord Jesus asks in someone’s name, the Father does it.

[11] And I say to you, that many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of the heavens;

[12] but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

[13] And Jesus said to the centurion, Go your way; as you have believed, let it be done to you. And the servant was healed in that hour.

[14] And when Jesus has come to Peter’s house, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick of a fever.

[15] And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered to them.

Comments Matthew 8:15 For Peter’s mother-in-law’s case, the Lord had compassion on Peter because Peter would not be at home to care for her. The mother-in-law was the one who was taking care of the house. The Lord Jesus healed her, and she rose and began to serve them.

[16] And when evening came, they brought to Him many being possessed with demons, and He cast out the spirits by a word, and healed all those being sick,

[17] so that it might be fulfilled that having been spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself He took our weaknesses, and bore our sicknesses.

Comments Matthew 8:17 The Lord Jesus took our illnesses with His word, and He carried them at the cross on the wounds of the nails. He carried all the sins of the world, past, present, and future in those nails’ piercings. That is why the Father loves His Son and does all things accordingly to His wishes. The pain of the Lord Jesus won the love of the Father. Watching His Son have that pain because of the love for humans, when His Son asks forgiveness for someone, the Father gives it, because the Lord Jesus already received the punishment for that person. The Father watching that moment when it happened with His Son made the Father feel the hurt the Lord Jesus received. That is why the Father’s love for the Lord Jesus is multiplied.

[18] Now when Jesus saw a great multitude around Him, He commanded to depart to the other side.

[19] One scribe came and said to Him, Teacher, I will follow Thee wherever Thou might go.

Comments Matthew 8:19 The Lord Jesus’ true home is not on earth; it is in heaven. Following Jesus means to build treasures in heaven, not on earth. Our reasons for following the Lord Jesus have to be set right (properly) into our hearts. (See also Luke 9:58).

[20] And Jesus says to him, The foxes have dens, and the birds of the heaven nests; but the Son of Man has not where to lay His head.

[21] And another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.

[22] But Jesus says to him, Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.

Comments Matthew 8:22 The living ones are with the Lord Jesus. He is the giver of life. We must follow Him, and we pass from death unto life; we are not among the dead anymore. Note that here the Lord answers a disciple’s question, and in Verse 19, He answers a scribe’s question. Look into the goals of their questions to understand the Lord’s answer.

[23] And He having entered into the boat, His disciples followed Him.

[24] And behold, a great storm happened in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves; but He was sleeping.

[25] And having come, they awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us, we are perishing!

[26] And He says to them, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then having arisen, He rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

[27] And the men marveled, saying, Of what manner is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?

Comments Matthew 8:27 The Father created the situation with the sea storm to build up the faith of the disciples to follow the Lord Jesus. The Father wanted them to see that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, and that they should listen and obey Him. Building up their faith was important because the Lord Jesus’ disciples would face many challenges ahead, and they would need a strong faith to persevere. To follow the Lord Jesus was not easy for them. Their life no longer belongs to themselves; they belong to the Lord Jesus.

[28] And when He had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, met Him two possessed by demons, coming out of the tombs, extremely violent, so that no one could pass by that way.

Comments Matthew 8:28 This healing described here in Matthew and the healing described in Mark Chapter 5 happened in the same region but at different parts of the region, which were not close to each other. Gadarenes refers to the region’s name, and Gerasenes in Mark refers to a village name. The region had two ends, and both ends had the same thing happening—one with two men described here, and the other with one man described in Mark. The name of the Lord Jesus spread widely all over because of these healings. The Lord Jesus encountered many more of these kinds of people, whom He healed. Not all the cases encountered by the Lord Jesus are present in our times. And this is because the Lord Jesus was on earth, and then He asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to occupy the earth (See the Book of Acts). The presence of the Holy Spirit controls the dark side’s activity.

[29] And behold, they cried out, saying, What to us and to Thee, Son of God? Have Thou come here to torture us before the time?

[30] Now there was far off from them a herd of many swine feeding.

[31] And the demons begged Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.

[32] And He said to them, Go. And having come out, they went away into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters.

[33] Now those that fed them fled, and having gone away into the city, they announced everything, also about the demoniacs.

[34] And behold, all the city went out to meet Jesus; and having seen Him, they begged Him that He might depart from their borders.

Comments Matthew 8:34 The pig was like a god for these people since the pig gave them everything. Their riches and everything came from the pigs. The death of their pigs made them angry at the Lord Jesus, so they didn’t want Him around.

Life and Faith Applications. 1) The Lord Jesus is the Lord of all. He has authority and power over the Word, our lives, our illnesses, the spiritual world, and nature. 2) Poor, rich, men, women, young, and old, we can all come in faith to the Lord Jesus for our needs. But first, we need to acknowledge that He is the Son of God and believe in His love and mercy in order to receive anything.