Gospel of Matthew
Compiled by WD Kemner January 2024
CHAPTER 8 – Meeting the Need
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Parallel Passages: Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16 |
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When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
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Jesus came down the mountain. Mathew said at the start of chapter 5 that Jesus had “gone up the mountain”. Thus Chapters 5-7 were spoken by Jesus while on that mountain during that one visit there.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 2-4 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16 |
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And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
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.
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Leper coming to be healed. Jesus heals the leper and then Jesus says to “tell no man”. Just the fact he shows up healed will make it hard for him not to tell anyone!
Healing the Centurion’s Servant
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 5-9 |
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Parallel Passages: Luke 7:1-10 |
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And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
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. 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.
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Jesus is on a visit to Capernaum when he encounters a Centurion with servant sick with Palsy. The Centurion understood that Jesus had “authority” and could heal with just “the word”! That is the very moment that the servant ended up being healed.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 10 |
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Parallel Passages: Luke 7:1-10 |
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When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
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Jesus says he has NOT seen that much faith (as displayed by Centurion) in all of Israel. What a condemnation. The centurion was a Roman.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 11-13 |
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Parallel Passages: Luke 7:1-10 |
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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. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 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.
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When we are in heaven there will be many (non-Israelites) from all over the world sitting with the “founding fathers” of Israel. However, there will be children of Abraham who will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 14-15 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41 |
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And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
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At Peter’s house and Peter’s mother-in-law is sick and is healed. All Jesus did was touched her hand. Peter was married and his house was in Capernaum. Roman Catholic church teaches that Peter was the first Pope. Yet he was married.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 16 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41 |
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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:
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That evening they brought “many” that “were possessed with devils”. Jesus cast them out with “his word”. He did not just cast out one or two, it says “many”. He cast them ALL out! Did not miss one or have any trouble doing so. It was also done with nothing more than a “WORD”!
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DWELL ON THIS FACT
How many times in the Gospels are “spirits cast out” of people? In Matthew 10:8 he sends them out with power over unclean spirits and in Mark 6:8 it says they cast “out many devils”. Ponder this.
Has Satan been on a Vacation the last 2000 years? In the relatively small population of the world at the time of the Gospels (as compared to the world population of today); why were so many people “possessed by demons”?
Why are there not any today? Oh, now that changes your thinking. If they are not getting cast out, then they must be getting the “run of the house”. Satan and his demons must be having fun not running into any spiritual road blocks as they did in the time of Jesus and the Disciples.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 17 |
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That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
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Matthew connecting to the prophets’ centuries before and stating Jesus fulfills words of Isaiah 53:4.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 18 |
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Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
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Matthew states Jesus gave commandment to depart to the other side. They must have been near a lake.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 19-22 |
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Parallel Passages: Luke 9:57-62 |
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And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 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.
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
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Jesus says that he Jesus had nowhere to sleep and yet this scribe would not even have offered a place for Jesus to stay let alone give up anything. Another “follower” was wanting to go and perform a burial.
Let the dead get buried. Forget EVERYTHING and follow. We are willing to follow as long as it does not cost us to miss what we own or projects we must complete to do it.
Remember earlier when Jesus called the set of brothers to be his disciples and to come follow? Remember the emphasis on how they came “immediately”. Contrast that with the two cases in these verses.
Calming of the storm. Asleep in the boat.
This is one of two occasions with the boat in a storm. The other occurs when Jesus walks on the water to meet them.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 23 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25 |
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And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
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Jesus now finally gets to be entering a ship (he started to back in verse 18). Matthew’s account makes it appear as though Jesus’ plans to depart had gotten interrupted several times by events of verses 19-22
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 24 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25 |
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And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
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Jesus was “asleep”. Had he been in need of the physical rest? He was in all respects human. He would tire from activity as any other man would. But how much of this particular “nap” was needed for replenishing his strength as much as it was to teach the men in the boat through the event of the storm that was about to take place? They were “only” crossing the lake.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 25-26 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25 |
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And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 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
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The disciples awoke Jesus due to fear of “perishing”. They had no clue yet who Jesus really was. If he was just another man, they would drown. Did they believe the Son of God would so easily drown?
Jesus did not “ask” the winds to stop. He “Rebuked” them! There is a strong difference in the two. He took AUTHORITY over the winds in a commanding manner.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 27 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25 |
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But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
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The disciples “marveled” at what kind of “man” Jesus was. Confirmation that they had no conception of His Deity yet.
Planned Excursion
Artwork copyrighted and used courtesy of Artist Alex Pokos
Jesus goes across the lake to take care of the needs of one man. A planned excursion to meet ONE MAN’S NEED.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 28 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-40 |
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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.
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Jesus had a “motive” in crossing, he had a “plan or reason” to come across to the country of the Gergesenes. He was met. Already being waited for. The demons knew he was coming!
Matthew recounts this story different from the account in Mark and Luke. In this account there were “TWO” possessed with devils. They were “coming out of the tombs”. This really does not matter, as we learn in the other accounts regarding the nature of this demon.
He was called “Legion” meaning “many”. Whether there were so many that they spilled over to another host or that there were so many voices at once that Matthew chose to say there were two. It does not matter, for Jesus cast them “ALL” out!
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 29 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-40 |
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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?
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This verse is sad in that these demonic beings “immediately” recognized the deity of Jesus but people around Jesus did not! These demons knew they were where they belonged. They had been cast down to the earth with the “fall of Lucifer”. It was not that they did not belong on earth. They were cast out so that they would no longer torment the man.
Notice the question stated by demon “…torment us before the time?” They knew and were aware that there was “a time” marked down, that was coming, for the destruction of the demonic forces and they were questioning if this was the appointed time. They were NOT aware of when that time was to occur.
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 30-32 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-40 |
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And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 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.
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The demons asked to be cast into the swine that were a distance away. It did not matter how close or far for them to be “cast”. They chose to be cast into the swine that would eventually perish anyway. The death of the swine does not indicate the death of the demon. That was a better option than being cast out otherwise. Were they headed for “containment” in the “holding pit” of Hades otherwise? Spirit Warfare is REAL!
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Matthew Chapter 8 verses 33-34 |
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Parallel Passages: Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-40 |
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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. 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.
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The locals wanted Jesus gone. Probably from having lost their local tourist attraction or from the loss of the swine.