Matthew 8

Chapter 8

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

Introduction

MacArthur

Matthew 8 begins where chapter 4 leaves off, with the Sermon on the Mount as a sort of parenthesis in between. At the end of chapter 4, Jesus was going about “all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people” ( 4:23 ). His fame spread ( 4:24 )

In establishing Jesus’ messiahship, Matthew demonstrated Jesus’ legal qualification through His genealogy, His prophetic qualification through the fulfillment of prophecy by His birth and infancy, His divine qualification by the Father’s own attestation at His baptism, His spiritual qualification by His perfect resistance to Satan’s temptations, and His theological qualification through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount

Q: How does Jesus’ healings fit into Matthew’s Gospel?

Now, in chapters 8 and 9 Matthew dramatically sets forth another qualification: Jesus’ divine power. These two chapters are critical to understanding the life and ministry of Christ. Matthew’s purpose in recording these miracles, like Jesus’ purpose in performing them, was to confirm His deity and His claim to be the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world.

— Matthew focused on Jesus’ authority in both teaching and healing:

“28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” ( 7:28-29 )

“8 Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.” ( 9:8 )

Jesus’ Power over Disease ( 8:1-5 )

— Matthew’s purpose in recording these miracles, like Jesus’ purpose in recording them, was to confirm His deity and His claim to be the Messiah and Savior of the world

— In treating those with physical needs, Jesus revealed the compassion of God toward those who suffer in life

— In each case Jesus responded to direct appeals for help

— In each of the first three miracles, He acted by His own will ( 8:3, 13, 15 )

— He showed special compassion toward those for whom society had special disdain; a leaper, a slave and a woman

Q: Should we expect God to heal today?

Does God heal today?

— It is not an academic question!

— Jesus’ healings were exceptional, not normative

“33 And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!” ( 9:33 )

— His healings were evidence that He was the promised Messiah

“17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”” ( 8:17 )

— The text doesn’t answer the question, “Will Jesus heal me?”

— It answers the question “Who was Jesus”

— John the Baptist asked the question, “Is Jesus the Messiah?”

“4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” ( 11:4-5 )

Will God heal me?

— Will Jesus heal me? My Spouse?

— The biblical answer is maybe

— Some say that if you have faith you will be healed

— If that were true, we would have 200 year old Christians running around

— But the truth is that everyone eventually dies, if those who Jesus healed, including Lazarus

— This is only 1/2 the story: Jesus does heal today

— The bible challenges us to pray for the sick

“13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.” ( Jm 5:13-15 )

His healings are anticipatory

— Jesus’ healings are a foreshadow of the coming kingdom

— “The already/not yet” kingdom of God

— As believers, we have, as Hebrews tell us, “5 ... tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,” ( Heb 6:5 )

— Isaiah tells us that in the millennial kingdom we will live to an old age

“20 “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, Nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.” ( Is 65:20 )

— J. Vernon McGee says, we will not need nursing homes in the Millennial kingdom. If you die at 100, you’ll die as a youth. If you die that young, it is assumed God took your life because of sin

— Healing are a taste of the future when we will all be made whole

— Why have some been given a taste of the future and others have not? We have to leave that with God

Jesus as the Great Physician

— Let’s look at these three great healings

— The leaper

— The centurion’s servant

— Peter’s mother

The Wretched Man: A Leper ( 8:1-4 )

( 8:1-4 ) When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

— As we noticed earlier, Matthew is not chronological but topical; we don’t know exactly where and when this miracle happened. It is enough to know that this act of sympathy “was not done in a corner” ( cf. John 11:47; Acts 4:16; 26:26 ). There were many eye-witnesses

— Leprosy, like AIDS today, was a terrifying disease because there was no known cure. In Jesus’ day, the Greek word for leprosy was used for a variety of similar diseases, and some forms were contagious

— Today we call it Hansen’s Disease

Socially Marginalized

— The physical aspect of the disease wasn’t the biggest problem

— The biggest problem was that the person was socially marginalized, not a part of the community

“46 He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” ( Lv 13:46 )

— Outside the camp meant to be outside of the presence of God

— Social alienation

— This person was treated as if they were dead

“7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”” ( 2 Ki 5:7 )

— Miriam was struck with Leprosy when she attempted to usurp Moses’ position of leadership

“11 So Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 Please do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!”” ( Nu 12:11-12 )

— She was to be treated as if she was dead

Jesus healing the leper

— Yet, when the leaper begged Jesus to heal him, Jesus reached out and touched him, even though his skin was covered with the dreaded disease. Mark adds that “Jesus was moved with compassion” ( Mark 1:41 )

— Jesus touched the leper — the very thing that you were not supposed to do

— What an example of Jesus’ compassion — to meet us exactly where we are

— The leaper’s confidence in Jesus to heal, what was considered incurable, should be a model for all of us

— Sin is also an incurable disease — and we all have it

— Only Christ’s healing touch can miraculously take away our sin and restore us to real living

— But first, just like the leaper, we must realize our inability to cure ourselves and ask for Christ’s saving help

Going Deeper

Interesting to note: When leapers are healed they are not cured but made clean — indicating they they are restored to society

— Jesus could have healed with a word, but God lovingly condescended to touch the outcasts whom no other man would even come near

— His healing was instantaneous - the forehead, the eyes with brows and lashes, the skin, the mucous membrane of the nose and throat, the fingers and toes, whatever parts of the body had been infected and damaged were in an instant completely restored! Better still: the door of thorough social, cultic, and religious restoration was opened wide for this man, as is shown by what follows namely, go and show yourself to the priest ( Lev 14 )

— The first requirement of faith is obedience ; sadly, this was not the case ( Mk 1:45 )

— Just as Christ can cure leprosy, He can also cure sin; and just as His cleansing from leprosy restored men to human fellowship, His cleansing from sin restores them to God

Note: Matthew is topical rather than chronological. 8:2-4; 8:14-17; and 9:2-13 happen before the Sermon on the Mount and 9:14ff record what happened afterwards

— Who are the socially marginalized in America today? The poor, the homeless?

Q: What is keeping you from coming to Christ ( 8:5-13 )? If you are a Christian now, what kept you from coming to Christ?

The Respected Man: A Gentile ( 8:5-13 )

( 8:5-13) Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” 7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

— We learn from Luke that the centurion actually came to Jesus through some Jewish intermediaries because he felt unworthy ( Lk 7:1-10)

— Here in Matthew it says the Roman centurion visited Jesus himself

— In those days, dealing with a person’s messenger was considered the same as dealing with the one who had sent them

— When Jesus came near to his house, the centurion saw Him and sent some friends to meet Him ( Lk 7:3 )

— On his behalf they answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof.”

The Ethically Excluded

— The Roman centurion didn’t come to Jesus and he didn’t expect Jesus to come to him (cf. Acts 10:28 ; Gal 2:12-13 )

— Just as the officer did not need to be present to have his orders carried out, so Jesus didn’t need to be present to heal

— Jesus primary mission in Matthew was to present Himself as King to the national Israel. Attending to this “Gentile” was indicative of Jesus compassion to all, even those who were not His primary focus. He would not turn away from any need brought to Him

— Jesus marveled in two places in the New Testament. He was marveled by unbelief as well as belief

1. Mark 6:6 - Jesus went about teaching from village to village and He could not perform miracles because of their unbelief

2. Mat 8:10 - Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion

— Jesus proclamation that the Centurion was to be in the Kingdom (Verse 11) was a foreshadowing of God’s dealing with the Gentiles (the church) after the rejection by the Jews

— Jesus reminded his Jewish listeners that just as the Gentile’s racial identity was no automatic barrier to the kingdom, their Jewish racial identity was no guarantee of the kingdom. Though Jews were sons of the kingdom, they might not end up there (outer darkness)

Going Deeper

— The record of this miracle found in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10 should not be confused with the event recorded in John 4:46-54. That story has to do with the royal officer’s son; this on with the centurion’s servant

— There are several important differences between this miracle and the healing of the leper, which immediately precedes this paragraph

— The leper was able to come to Jesus, the paralytic was not

— The first story is about the leper himself, the second about the master

— The former was healed by Christ’s words and the touch of His hand; the centurion’s servant solely by the word of power

— We cannot say that everything recorded about the leper is positive ( Mark 1:45 ); the centurion, on the contrary, receives nothing but praise

— Finally, verses 2-4 end with a command addressed to the healed leper; verses 5-13, with a prediction regarding the salvation of many Gentiles versus the rejection of a host of Jews

— The Jews shall be cast out into outer darkness, that is, symbolically speaking far way from the banqueting hall flooded with light

— Those who had less spiritual advantage and less opportunity to know God’s truth - the Gentiles from east and west — would show greater response to the gospel that God’s own people

— Jesus did not give the principle as you have believed as a universal principle to all believers

— The principle of healing in proportion of faith was sovereignly applied as the Lord saw fit ( Matt 9:29 )

— Paul had absolute faith in God to heal him but prayed three times in great earnestness for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed

— Who are the ethically marginalized in America today? Immigrants ?

Q: Has God ever helped you through a dangerous or difficult situation ( 8:14-15)?

The Relative ( 8:14-15 )

( 8:14-15 ) Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

— Peter’s mother-in-law gives us a beautiful example to follow

— Her response to Jesus’ touch was to wait on Jesus and his disciples — immediately

— Has God ever helped you through a dangerous or difficult situation?

— If so, you should ask, “How can I express my gratitude to him?”

— Peter’s mother in law’s response was one of service

— The Lord was always looking for an opportunity to serve someone, to touch their hand

— When He saw a need He walked into not away from it

— Because God has promised us all the rewards of his kingdom, we too should look for ways to serve him and his followers now

Going Deeper

— Peter’s mother-in-law? This clearly establishes the fact that Peter was married

— The Roman Catholic Church teaches that all priests must be celibate and unmarried, but the man they would call the first and greatest Pope was certainly married

Q: Do you think that people today can be demon-possessed? Can Christians be demon possessed ( 8:16-22 )

What Keeps Men from Christ ( 8:16-22 )

( 8:16-17 ) When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

— Demon-possessed means under the internal control of a demon

— All of these cases involved the actual indwelling of demons who utterly controlled the bodies of their victims, even to the point of speaking through them ( Mk 5:5-9 )

— Demons are very powerful ( cf. 2 Ki 19:35; Ps 103:20; 2 Pet 2:11 ) and have superior intelligence ( Ezek 28:3-4 )

— Paul warns us that even as God’s children we cannot withstand the attacks of demons apart from the Lord’s armor ( Eph 6:16 )

— In healing, Jesus participated in human pain and sorrow in that He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses

— Jesus knows the agonies of His children

— “ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” ( Heb 4:15 )

Why did Judea abound with demons?

— Two possible reasons why Judea, in our Lord’s time, abounded with demoniacs

First, because they were then advanced to the very height of impiety. See what Josephus, their own historian, says of them: There was not (said he) a nation under heaven more wicked than they were

Secondly, because they were then strongly addicted to magic, and so, as it were, invited evil spirits to be familiar with them.”

— The Lord never condemned someone who was demon possessed or said this was your fault

Going Deeper

—This section of Matthew’s Gospel shows four different people being healed, each one different from the other

( A ) Different people were healed

A Jew with no social or religious privileges.

A Gentile officer of the army occupying and oppressing Israel

A woman related to one of Jesus’ devoted followers

Unnamed multitudes

( B ) Their requests were made in different ways

A direct request from the sufferer, made in his own faith

A request from one man for another, made in faith on behalf of a suffering man

No request was made because Jesus came to the sufferer, so there was no evidence of faith from the healed

Sufferers that were brought to Jesus, with different kinds of faith

( C ) Jesus used different methods to heal

Jesus used a touch that was forbidden.

Jesus used a word spoken from afar.

Jesus used a tender touch.

Jesus used a variety of unnamed methods.

From all this, we understand that physical healing is an area where God especially shows His sovereignty, and He does things as He pleases, not necessarily as men might expect

God’s will to heal or not

No formula

All depend on going to Jesus with faith

Q: Many people like the scribe will say, “I will follow you wherever You go” but later fall away. Why ( 8:18-22 )?

The Barrier of Personal Comfort ( 8:18-22 )

( 8:18-22 ) And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

— Following Jesus is not always easy or comfortable

— Often it means great cost and sacrifice, with no earthly rewards or security

— Jesus did not have a place to call home

— You may find that following Christ costs you popularity, friendships, leisure time, or treasured habits

— Discipleship is an investment that lasts for eternity and yields incredible rewards

— Many people have acclaimed Jesus’ love, power, healing, provision and even deity — but failed to give themselves to Him

Bishop J.C. Ryle

“The saddest road to hell is the one that runs under the pulpit, past the Bible, and through the middle of warnings and invitations”

Going Deeper

— Scribes were authorities in Jewish law, highly educated and were the scholarly class of Jewish society

— Typically, scribes were teachers not followers; for a scribe to address Jesus as teacher was therefore a considerable concession in itself

— Jesus did not question the man’s sincerity but mentioned some demands a true discipleship the man had never considered

— Sugarcoating the message of the gospel, trying to make it appear to be less demanding that it is — or even not demanding at all — not only compromises God’s Word and does disservice to the Lord but also does disservice to those to whom we witness

— “bury my father” simply meant staying at home and fulfilling his family responsibilities until his father died and he received his share of the inheritance

— “allow the dead to bury the dead” was a figure of speech which meant, “Let the world take care of the things of the world”

— In the parallel account in Luke Jesus adds “As for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God” ( Lk 9:60 )

— The Christian’s responsibility is not to mimic the world but to be a witness to the world in Christ’s name and power

Son of Man

— This is the first place where the term “Son of Man” occurs

— OT designation for the Messiah ( Dan 7:13, 14 )

— The term means all that man is in his weakness and here, Christ’s humility

— But it does not mean that Jesus is a mere man or even the ideal man who is Lord of the sabbath and gives His life as a ransom for many

Jesus Power over the natural ( 8:23-27 )

— The OT testament prophesied that the Messiah would have power over the physical world

— In our study of Isaiah we saw that during his reign there would be an abundance of rains and crops ( Is 30:23-24 )

— And the wilderness would blossom and that desert would have pools of water ( Is 35:1-2; 7, cf. 41:17-18; 51:3; 55:13; Ezek 36:29-38; Joel 3:18 )

— A person that died at 100 would be considered young

— By stilling the storm, Jesus gave a foretaste of His eventual taming of the entire natural world

— These attributes will be prevalent during His reign in the Millennium

The Particulars ( 8:23-24 )

( 8:23-24 ) Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.

— The boat used here was probably the kind familiar to many of Jesus’ disciples who were fisherman

— The boat was large enough to hold Jesus and his 12 disciples and was powered by oars and sails and a 300 HP outboard engine

— During a storm, however, the sails were taken down to keep them from ripping and to make the boat easier to control

— The storm was so fierce that the boat was covered with the waves

— The Lord was bone weary, He slept so soundly that not even the tossing of the boat, or the blowing water in His face awakened Him

— He was soaked to the skin while lying on hard planks with only a cushion for His head ( Mk 4:38 )

The Panic ( 8:25-26a )

( 8:25-26 ) Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

— Although the disciples had witnessed many miracles, they panicked in the storm

— As experienced sailors, they its danger; what they did not know was that Christ could control the forces of nature

— There is often a stormy areas of our human nature were we feel God can’t or wouldn’t work

— Even Isaiah was dismayed at God’s seemingly inability to help His people (which J Vernon McGee called God’s Alarm Clock)

— “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord! Awake as in the ancient days” ( Is 51:9 )

— When we realize who God is, however, we realize that he controls both the storms of nature and the storms of a troubled heart

— Jesus is willing to help if we only ask him

The Portent ( 8:27 )

( 8:27 ) So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

— Portent : The Ah Ha moment, something momentous or calamitous

— Mark adds that the men were “very much afraid” ( Mk 4:41 )

— The only thing more terrifying than having a storm outside the boat was having God in the boat!

Jesus’ Power over the Supernatural ( 8:28-34 )

— We saw Jesus’ authority over diseases and the physical world

— In order to rescue fallen humanity He would have to have to be able to overpower the evil forces that hold men in physical, mental and spiritual bondage

— Throughout the gospel record we see Jesus casting out demons from those under their control

The Possession by the Demons ( 8:28-31 )

( 8:23-31 ) When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

— The Bible tells us that at the end of the world the devil and his angels will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur ( Rev 20:10)

— When the demons asked if Jesus had come to torment them “before the appointed time” they showed that they knew that Jesus was the Son of God and that they knew their ultimate fate

— It is significant that Jesus never blamed a person for being either diseased or demon controlled

— He recognized them as victims of powers beyond their own control and in need of deliverance

The Power of Christ ( 8:32 )

( 8:32 ) And He said to them, “Go.” So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water

— When the demons entered the pigs they drove the animals into the sea

— The demons’ action proves their destructive intent — if they could not destroy the men they would destroy the animals

— Jesus’ actions in contrast shows the value that He places on each human life

— Interesting note: Both Jews and Gentiles populated the region of Galilee, so this may have been a herd of pigs owned by Gentiles. But most commentators believe that since the pigs were unclean for Jews, they should not have been there, even if a Gentile man owned them

Q: Why did the people ask Jesus to leave ( 8:33-34 )?

The Perspective of the People ( 8:33-34 )

( 8:33-34 ) Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region

— Why did the people ask Jesus to leave — because unlike their pagan gods he could not be controlled or contained

— They were more concerned about a herd of pigs than the deliverance of the demon-possessed men

— Are you more concerned with property and programs than people?

— How foolish and yet easy it is to value possessions, investments, and even animals above human life; Jesus had interfered with their business (profits) and they wanted Him gone

— Would you rather have Jesus leave you than finish his work in you?

Going Deeper

— The people in the city did not even give Jesus the same reluctant reverence as the demons

— They did not seem interested in finding out who He was or why He had come

— They did not rejoice with those that were rejoicing

— They did not praise Jesus for having cured these two men

— They did not even bring their sick to Jesus the He might heal them

— We don’t know why they asked Him to leave only that when they saw the first glimpse of the supernatural caused them to panic; He could control demons and they wanted nothing to do with him

— Many commentaries say that the people were angry because he destroyed the livestock but there is no evidence of that in the text

Additional Resources

MacArthur, John. Matthew 8-15. Moody Press, 1987.

MacArthur, John. New Testament Commentary. Moody, 1985.

Life Application Bible (NIV). Zondervan Grand Rapids, Michigan and Tyndale House Publishers. Carol Stream, Illinois

Questions: https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Matthew/Matthew%20Chapter%208.html

J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee.

William Hendriksen. Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1973.