MATTHEW 8

Mat 8:1-4 - When he came down from the mountain,

great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to
him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand
and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to
him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show
yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses
commanded, for a proof to them.”

 Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount and “great

crowds” followed Him.
 One man is mentioned specifically, a leper.

 Leprosy (known as Hansen’s Disease)

 Caused by a bacterial attack on the nerves

 The bacteria is slow acting and some people

can be infected for years without the telltale
symptoms
 The bacteria causes skin deformity and
nerve damage
 If untreated, leprosy will cause hand and/or
foot paralysis.
 Other injuries often occur due to lack of
feeling in the extremities
 Fingers and toes are commonly lost

 Loss of vision, loss of vision, and nasal

deformity are also common in with
advanced Hansen’s
 Treatment for leprosy was developed in the
1940s (antibiotics)
  According to the Law of Moses, a person
diagnosed with leprosy was considered unclean
and was not allowed to associate with their
“clean” countrymen.
 Lev 13:3 - and the priest shall examine the
diseased area on the skin of his body. And if
the hair in the diseased area has turned
white and the disease appears to be deeper
than the skin of his body, it is a case of
leprous disease. When the priest has
examined him, he shall pronounce him
unclean.
 Perhaps this man came to Jesus in response to
Matthew 7:7-10
 Matt 7:7-8 – “Ask, and it will be given to you;
seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who
knocks it will be opened.”
 He heard the word of God and acted in
conviction rather than allowing that conviction to
grow cold.
 It would not have been culturally appropriate (not to
mention hygienically appropriate) for a man with
contagious leprosy to barge into a “great crowd” to
speak with Jesus.
 People likely withdrew when they saw him.

 Some may have yelled at him to go away.

 He wasn’t just facing the judging eye of one or

two people, he was facing the disdain of a whole
crowd of people.
 But he was a man who had a desperate need and
only one hope on earth.
  Nothing was going to get in his way of getting to
the Great Physician.
 Peer pressure and cultural boundaries no longer
mattered
 APPLICATION:
 The Bible often uses physical ailment to teach
spiritual lessons and that is exactly what is
happening here.
 We are all sick with a fatal spiritual illness,
namely sin.
 There is only one hope for a cure, namely
Jesus
 But things stand in our way of going to Him,
namely peer pressure and cultural
boundaries.
 Be more like the leper!

 APPLICATION
 In verse 2, the man’s statement isn’t a question,
it is a statement.
 Like the instruction in James 1, this isn’t a
double-minded man. He comes to Jesus in full
confidence of His ability.
 And that is glorifying to God. When we approach
God with doubt, does that glorify God?
 Verbally, we would never acknowledge
God’s inability but our hearts betray us
 “I just don’t see a pathway to get there.”

 Only God needs to see the way.

 God is glorified when His children come to Him

knowing He can manipulate His world however
He wishes to care for them and refine them.
 APPLICATION:
  Notice how this man makes is request out in the
open in front of everyone.
 Aren’t we sometimes afraid to request so
boldly in public in prayer.
 Sometimes we make our really big requests
to God in the closet because we just aren’t
sure we want others to see how big we
pray.
 And I think sometimes, we do that because
we are afraid to look foolish if God doesn’t
answer that prayer with what we asked.
 Perhaps God wants us to pray our boldest
prayers in public because it’s how He receives
the most praise.
 When God is invoked only in private, when
great work is accomplished, people may
have a tendency to look at the individual
who accomplished it.
 When God is invoked in public, people’s
eyes are more likely to be turned towards
God.
 We would only not pray boldly in public if (1)
doubted God’s ability or (2) Were more
concerned about our image than God’s.
 APPLICATION:
 Pain can be a blessing

 This man was probably in pain every day of

his life.
 That pain clarified his prioritizes

 Pain can do the same for us in terms of spiritual

priorities
  When a person is mostly comfortable they
will allow small roadblocks to stand in their
way of doing something they know needs
accomplished (some nagging problem that
needs fixed but isn’t yet annoying enough
to disturb them in any great way).
 But when pain is real and unbearable, we
seek a cure immediately.
 How many people don’t seek God until
a tragedy?
 How many people’s spiritual priorities
change when they face a serious
illness?
 God is pushed up the priority ladder
when He is the only one who can help
 In some ways, pain can be grace.

 On Judgement Day, we will thank God for the

correcting power of pain if it was the only
medicine potent enough to redirect a sinful life.
 APPLICATION:
 Jesus’ healing is immediate
 We don’t know how long this man had
suffered, but leprosy was a disease that
would have caused the inflicted pain every
day.
 Not to mention the newly infected would
have to face the horrors of their future
every time they returned to the leper colony
and saw those with more advanced
affliction.
 Imagine this man, perhaps enduring years
of pain
  He comes to Jesus and is healed in an
instant.
 I am not yet old, but I have begun to notice the
slight signals of aging
 I have pain after going to gym
 I have a bit less hair
 Certain things just don’t work as well as
they once did.
 I can’t imagine what it will be like in 60
years.
 I wish my body would grow younger instead
of older.
 Physically speaking, i’m not looking forward
to what is ahead.
 But it is a sweet thought and hope to me that
when i’ve gotten old and tired of my
confinement in a broken down body. After I’ve
endured years of pain and frustration and
handicap… In an instant, Jesus will make me
new again.
 The Old Testament Law had rules regarding what
was to take place when a leper was cleansed. It is to
these that Jesus is referencing in verse 4. You can
read about them in Leviticus 14.

Mat 8:5-9 - When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion

came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant
is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he
said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion
replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under
my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be
healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers
under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to
another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.”

 Following His encounter with the leper, Jesus went to

Capernaum (see red box above)

 When He entered the city, He was approached by a

centurion
 The Roman Centurion:
 There were approximately 5,000 men in a
Roman legion
 The legion was made up of 10 cohorts
 A cohort was made up of 6 centuries
 A century consisted of 80-100 men
 Centuries fought, marched, and camped
together
 They carried their own provisions and
weapons
  The century was then divided into 10
contubernia (8-10 men in each)
 The centuries were led by a centurion
 The contubernia were led by a decanus
 These leadership tears were created by the
Marian Reforms of 107 BC
 This probably would have shocked the Jews for at
least 2 reasons:
 (1) The Jews did not like the Romans and here
the Jewish Messiah was discussing the needs of
a Roman Gentile
 (2) A Roman was not only humbling himself
before a Jew but was acknowledging his
authority and superior power
 Jesus tells him He will “come and heal” his paralyzed
servant, to which the centurion responds, “Lord, I am
not worthy to have you come under my roof.”
 This too likely would have shocked the Jews.
 Jews did not enter Gentile houses (Acts 10:28).
 This had more to do with the Jews believing the
Gentiles unworthy than the other-way-around.
 But here we see a Gentile confessing his
unworthiness before a Jew.
 From the eyes of a Jew, this whole seen would have
probably been bittersweet
 They loved seeing a roman humble himself
before a Jew
 They may not have liked “their Messiah” helping
a Gentile
 Notice also, this was a man who was willing to
humble himself to seek the blessing of another (his
inferior). This quality is admirable and we will see it
again in the Syrophoenician women whose story we
will get to later in the gospels.
  Displaying incredible faith and trust in the power
Jesus possessed, the centurion asked Jesus to heal
his servant with only a word.
 Being a man of authority himself, the centurion
asked Jesus to use the authority of only His
words to command healing.
 Because of his rank, the centurion’s word was
enough to bring his 80-100 men to attention and
direct them anyway he wanted.
 He believed Jesus’ words were enough to bring
nature to attention and directed it anyway he
wanted.

Mat 8:10-13 - When Jesus heard this, he marveled and

said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no
one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will
come from east and west and recline at table with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the
outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go;
let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the
servant was healed at that very moment.

 It isn’t uncommon for the gospels to mention people

who marveled at the works of Jesus, but it rarely
mentions Jesus marveling
 Jesus was marveling at the faith of the centurion
 He then compliments the centurion in a way that
would have infuriated some of the Jews and
perplexed the rest.
 “ Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I
found such faith.”
  For those with a closed mind, this was all
they needed to reject Jesus
 The Messiah was coming to lead Israel
to glorious victory against there
oppressors (or so they thought)
 Yet, this man is slapping Israel in the
face by complimenting a leader of the
Roman army.
 For those with an open mind, it must have
really got them thinking
 Jesus just preached a sermon
condemning many of the Jewish
traditions and interpretations of the
Law.
 Then He spent His time with an outcast
leper and an enemy solder.
 What could this mean?
 Jesus’ next statement may have been one of His
most divisive, at least in the presence of a
Jewish audience.
 “I tell you, many will come from east and
west and recline at table with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown
into the outer darkness. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
 If you were a Jew reading this gospel
account, this might be the place you rolled
up the scroll and threw it away.
 No long-awaited, prophesied, Savior of
the Jews would say what Jesus just
said.
 If someone hated Jesus before, they
hated Him more now
  If someone was curious about Jesus,
they were more curious now
 Let’s define some terms as concisely as
possible
 “East and west” = every nation
 “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” = fathers
of the Jewish nation
 “Sons of the kingdom” = the Jews
 “Outer darkness” = eternal
punishment
 Jesus is saying,
 There will be people who come from
every nation (Gentiles) who have
communion with the fathers of the
Jews, even sitting and dining with them.
By “reclining at table” Jesus seems to
be referring to our eternal life with the
faithful of all generations.
 The children of the kingdom (Jews) who
rejected Christ would not be allowed at
the table with their forefathers but
instead would be put outside in the
darkness. This darkness represents
separation from God and the faithful
and is used to symbolize eternal death
and punishment.
 The audacity of Jesus to say some Gentiles
would enjoy God’s blessing and many Jews
would be excluded must have sent
shockwaves through the crowd.
 What did the Messiah have to do with
Gentiles?
 How could a Gentile have fellowship
with Abraham?
  Jesus’ words here reinforce the warning John
gave to the Pharisees and Sadducees in
3:9.
 It wasn’t enough just to be a child of
Abraham.
 The true children of Abraham had faith
like Abraham
 Jesus ends His interaction with the centurion by
rewarding His faith and healing his servant.

Mat 8:14-17 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he

saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He
touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose
and began to serve him. That evening they brought to
him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast
out the spirits with a word and healed all who were
sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet
Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

 Peter must have lived in Capernaum

 This makes sense because his profession was
fishing and as you see from the map, it is right
next to the water.
 This is also consistent with chapter 4, verse 12-
22 where Jesus first encountered Peter and
Andrew and called them to follow Him.
 Peter was married and his mother-in-law was sick.
Jesus healed her with a touch and she got up and
started serving Him.
 Throughout the day, the word must have spread
about Jesus’ healings because in the evening many
people started bringing their sick to Jesus at the
house.
  Jesus not only healed sick people, He also “cast out”
demons. I will discuss the “demons” in more detail at
the end of the chapter.
 Matthew tells his readers that Jesus’ miraculous
healings were the fulfillment of a prophecy with
which every Jew would have been familiar, Isaiah 53.
 Isaiah 53:4 - Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
 Remember, Matthew also quoted Isaiah in chapter 2,
verse 23
 Most of the Jews viewed the prophets of the Old
Testament as inspired by God
 Using the prophets’ own words would have been
a convincing evidence of Jesus’ identity

Mat 8:18-22 - Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him,

he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe
came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you
wherever you go.” 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.” Another of the disciples
said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my
father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the
dead to bury their own dead.”

 A crowd was surrounding Jesus and He determined to

go “over to the other side.” By this He meant the
other side of the Sea of Galilee.
 Before departing, a scribe came up to Jesus wishing
to express his devotion to Him.
 Jesus’ response to the scribe is important to
consider
 He doesn’t just pat the man on the back and
congratulate him on his commitment
 Instead, Jesus ask the man if he really knows
what he is getting himself into.
 Jesus wasn’t a normal man living a normal
life in a normal house in a normal town.
 Jesus had a mission to accomplish and He
would later give His followers a mission to
accomplish.
 Sacrifices were going to have to be made to
follow Jesus.
 One of those sacrifices might be the
safety and security of a home.
 Almost all human beings have homes
where we feel comfortable, safe, and
where we are surrounded by the
familiar.
 Even animals have homes (foxes and
birds)
 But Jesus didn’t
 He lets the scribe know that a similar
sacrifice might be asked of him.
 APPLICATION:
 Is this how we respond to people who say
they want to be followers of Jesus?
 Probably not, right?
 Usually we congratulate them on their
commitment
 We pat them on the back and tell them
they’ve made the best commitment of
their lives.
  But do we warn them ahead of time about
the commitment?
 About what it really costs to die to yourself
daily?
 If we did, we might have less “converts,”
but we might have more that endure to the
end.
 Another man approached Jesus with an explanation
of why he couldn’t follow Jesus just-this-minute,
“Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
 Jesus responded “Follow me, and leave the dead to
bury their own dead.”
 Jesus has received a lot of criticism for this
response over the years.
 What did the man mean by “bury my father” and
what did Jesus mean by “let the dead bury their
own dead?”
 (1) “Lord, let me first go and bury my
father.”
 It could be that the man meant exactly
what he said, his father had died and he
needed to go arrange the funeral
 Burying a loved one wasn’t wrong
 Like today, it probably would be
considered shameful for a child not
to care for the remains of their
deceased loved ones, especially a
parent
 It would be considered his
responsibility
 He could have meant that his father
had not yet died but he wanted to wait
to follow Jesus until his aging dad
passed on.
  Again, caring for an aging parent is
not wrong
 It is the responsibility of a child
 (2) “Let the dead bury their own dead.”
 Jesus’ statement may have been a
statement about the priorities of those
in different spiritual conditions.
 A paraphrase might be, “Let those
who are spiritually dead attend to
the physical affairs of a dying
world, but those who are spiritually
alive must follow me because I will
lead you to spiritual life.
 Jesus’ statement may have been a
general statement about priorities.
 A paraphrase might be, “Even the
things you believe are most
important, like burying a parent,
ought to fall lower on the priority
scale than following me!”
 Nothing is more important than
being a disciple of Jesus.

Mat 8:23 - And when he got into the boat, his disciples
followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on
the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the
waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him,
saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to
them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he
rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a
great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of
man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
 After His interaction with the would-be disciples,
Jesus got into a boat to sail on the Sea of Galilee
 Jesus’ vehicle
st
 In 1986 a 1 Century Galilee fishing vessel was
discovered during a drought
 The boat is 27 ft long and 7.5 ft wide
 It is now housed in the Yigal Allon Museum in
Kibbutz Ginosar


 While on the sea, a tremendous storm arose and the
Apostles believed they might go down with their ship
(you know the storm must have been bad if
experienced fishmen feared for their lives).
 This was likely a windstorm
 Wind storms kick-up very quickly in the sea of
Galilee. The wind comes off the east side of the
Sea from an area known as the Golan Heights
(Lexham Geographic Commentary on the
Gospels)
 
 Curiously, Jesus was sleeping onboard, apparently
not concerned with the waves that must have been
hitting him.
 The Apostle’s woke Him up pleading with Him to save
them.
 But before saving them, He rebuked them for their
lack of faith.
 Jesus calms the storm and the Apostles marvel, they
are shocked at Jesus’ power.
 APPLICATION:
 Do you remember the man in verse 20 who was
told if he followed Jesus he might not have a
place to lay his head?
 Many people think the safest place to lay their
head is in a secure home, with locks on the
doors, in a comfortable bed, in a nice suburban
neighborhood but this is incorrect.
  Here we see that the safest place to lay your
head is in a 27 foot fishing vessel being tossed
around by the waves on the Sea of Galilee.
 You may follow Jesus and not have a house
where you can lay down to sleep, but your
location does not determine your safety.
 Location is irrelevant to safety when eternity is
in perspective.
 You will never be safer than when you lay your
head down in your effort to follow Jesus as one of
His disciples.
 APPLICATION:
 Did you notice how the Apostles cried out to
Jesus to save them (“Save us, Lord, we are
perishing”) but were then shocked when He did?
 How often do we pray and ask God for
something but are then shocked when He comes
through and helps us?
 It would be better to pray with confidence and
then be shocked if God didn’t come through
(btw, we would never be shocked again).
 APPLICATION
 I think the story of the storm and the sea are
beautiful parallels of a trial all faithful Christians
likely face at some point in their lives, the
temptation to believe that Jesus has forgotten
about them.
 Have you ever heard someone ask, “Where is
God?”
 “Where is God in my suffering?”
 “Where is God in my financial struggle?”
 “Where is God in a natural disaster?”
 Like the Apostles, they can’t understand why
Jesus is sleeping on them. It’s like He doesn’t
 care about their suffering and the “storms” of
their lives.
 But the conclusion of this story lays down a
principle that is also confirmed to modern
Christians in verses like Romans 8:28.
 Jesus is never unaware of our suffering
 He will deliver the faithful from their storms
 And as with the Apostles, God’s deliverance
will help our weak faith by giving us a
chance to marvel at Him.

Mat 8:28-34 - And when he came to the other side, to the

country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men
met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one
could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What
have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come
here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many
pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the
demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us
away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.”
So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the
whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and
drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into
the city they told everything, especially what had
happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all
the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him,
they begged him to leave their region.

 Matthew’s account of this miracle is much shorter

than the other Gospel records
 Where were the Gadarenes?
 If you look in Mark’s record of this story, he uses
the name “Gerasenes.”
  Most people believe this area was located on the
east side of the Sea of Galilee around the city of
Gergesa (see the red square on the map above).
This makes sense for several reasons:
 (1) The area is on the “other side” of Galilee
(verse 18)
 (2) It is in the region of the Golan heights
which explains the presence of a windstorm
 (3) There are several steep banks in the
area that lead down into the sea (verse 32)
(Check out Google Earth)
 This was an area largely inhabited by Gentiles
 In the text above, you will notice they were pig
herdsman
 Pigs were unclean to the Jews
 When Jesus arrived two “demon-possessed men”
met Him.
 Mark’s account narrows in on only one of these men
but that does not mean there weren’t two.
 There are many references to “demons” or “evil
spirits” in the New Testament, especially during
the life of Jesus.
 At this point, let me say only a few things about
my view on the demons of the New Testament.
 These demon’s appeared to have minds of
their own. They spoke to Jesus and had
knowledge of Jesus that their hosts did not
have (see verse 29).
 Mark’s account mentions this particular
demon giving super-human strength to its
host (Mark 5:4)
 The demons could inhabit animals.
 The Jews in the Bible appear somewhat
familiar with demon possession.
  Outside of the early years of the Church, I
am not aware of any biblical references to
casting out demons.
 It is possible that Zechariah 13:2 refers to
the disappearance of evil spirits at the time
of the Messiah and the establishing of the
Church.
 Some people equate evil spirits with mental
illness. Personally, I do not equate the two
(mostly because of the first three points).
 We know demons and spiritual enemies of
God exist even today (Eph 6:12), but I do
not see evidence that demon possession is
still occurring.
 That being said, I am open to evidence and
discussion.
 These demon knew Jesus and the authority He had
over them.
 They asked Him if He intended to torment them
“before the time?”
 “The time” is probably a reference to the final
Judgement Day when Satan and his angels will
be cast into hell.
 Curiously, the demons requested to be sent into
a herd of pigs nearby and even more curiously,
Jesus obliged.
 He sent the demons into the pigs (Mark says
there were about 2,000) and they all ran down a
steep cliff and drowned in the Sea of Galilee
 As soon as the pig herdsman saw what Jesus had
done, they ran into the city and told all the people
 Rather than coming out to thank Jesus for healing the
man, they ask Him to leave (probably on account of
the pigs).
https://www.cdc.gov/leprosy/about/about.html
https://answersingenesis.org/biology/disease/biblical-
leprosy-shedding-light-on-the-disease-that-shuns/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leprosy
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_reforms
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centurion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Galilee_Boat
Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels
https://earth.google.com/web/search/golan+heights
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golan_Heights