Mat 8; 9: Ten great miracles; the "kingdom works", to
complement the "kingdom words" of Mat 5-7.
Instances of Jesus withdrawing into a mountain, apart --
sometimes for privacy and prayer, and sometimes to instruct his followers: Mat
5:1; 8:1; 14:23; 15:29; 17:1; 24:3; 28:16; Mark 3:13; 6:46; 9:2; 13:3; Luke
6:12; 9:28; 22:39; John 6:3,15; 8:1.
LARGE CROWDS: These could prove to be a serious
hindrance to his most important work of preaching.
Mat 8:2
The leper came: (1) earnestly; (2) humbly; and (3)
believingly.
A MAN WITH LEPROSY: Officially such a man would be
banned from the city. This was a measure of the determination he had, that he
was able to penetrate to the very presence of Jesus.
LEPROSY: "Full of leprosy" (Luk 5:12). Saturated, from
within, incurable.
CAME AND KNELT BEFORE HIM: The leper should not have
been so close -- he should have cried "Unclean!" and dwelt alone. That he came
close -- not mark of disregard, but of his confidence in Christ. Christ accepted
this without embarrassment, and touched him without suffering any harm. See
Lesson, Worship of Christ?
IF YOU ARE WILLING: He had more faith in Jesus' power
than in his own goodness. "Looking into the eyes of Jesus, the leper found his
confidence once more; he fell forward on his face, his cry of faith rang out,
'Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.' He waited a breathless eternity.
Suddenly he felt firm, gentle hands close on his scaly flesh, the first human
touch he had known for years, and then he heard the voice of Jesus. The leper's
'if' had moved the Lord. His response was, 'I will.' And then with a word of
authority, the evil flesh melted under his touch, the scarred and wasted body
glowed with health. Would that the deeper leprosy of the soul could be so easily
dismissed! But that is a slower work, a work in which Christ can only minister
with the steady co-operation of the sufferer. Faith has to be joined by a
dedication of the heart and the will. But the victory can be won if the desire
for spiritual health is as great as was the leper's longing for physical
perfection. For the Lord's 'I will' to the cry 'thou canst' has lost none of its
effectiveness" (MP 108).
Mat 8:3
The man was "filled" with leprosy (Luk 5:12); Jesus was
"filled" with compassion (Mar 1:41)! A High Priest touched with the feeling of
our infirmities (Heb 4:15). "Jesus wept" (Joh 11:35).
JESUS REACHED OUT HIS HAND: The heart moves the
hand!
AND TOUCHED THE MAN: "Whatever touches any of the flesh
[of the sin offering] will become holy" (Lev 6:27). But both Elijah and Elisha
contracted "defilement" by touching dead (1Ki 17:21; 2Ki 4:34). A High Priest
"touched" with feelings of our infirmities (Heb 4:15). "Whatever touches any of
the flesh [of the sin-offering] will become holy" (Lev 6:27).
All the occasions of Jesus touching, or being touched, in the
context of healing (notice that not one of them is in John's gospel): Mat
8:3,15; 9:20,21,29; 14:36; 17:7; 20:34; Mark 1:41; 3:10; 5:27,28,30,31; 6:56;
7:33; 8:22; 10:13; Luk 5:13; 6:19; 7:14,39; 8:44-47; 18:15; 22:51.
Mat 8:4
Christ did not despise or disregard the law he came to
fulfill.
DON'T TELL ANYONE: Too much publicity for his healings
might hinder the more serious work of proclaiming the gospel (Mar 1:4,5). But
the man disobeyed.
Silence was his settled policy for most of his ministry (Mat
9:30; 17:9; 12:16; Mar 1:34; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26; Luk 5:14), with one notable
exception (Mar 5:19 -- Legion with his family). But in last days of ministry, a
change of course (Mat 21:1-11; Joh 7:37; 9:3; 11:4).
SHOW YOURSELF TO THE PRIEST: Christ did not despise the
Law he came to fulfill.
THE GIFT MOSES COMMANDED: Not what Rome commanded, but
what Moses (ie God Himself) commanded!
AS A TESTIMONY TO THEM: That which the priests could
never do, Christ did! Christ's power was greater than Moses' (Num
12:13).
Mat 8:5
CAPERNAUM: His own home (Mt 4:13), called his "own
city" (Mat 9:1).
A CENTURION: This centurion: poss Cornelius? See Luk
7:4n. Every NT ref shows centurions in a good light: Luk 7:1-10; 23:47; Act
10:1,2; 22:25,26; 23:17,18; 27:43.
Mat 8:8
I DO NOT DESERVE: His self-assessment was different
than that of the Jewish elders (Luk 7:4).
AV has "not worthy": "By this very statement he proved how
worthy he really was!" (WGos 235). Unlike the Jews, the Gentile recognizes that
"worthiness" is not the test of acceptance, but faith is! (Mat 8:10; Luk
7:9).
TO HAVE YOU COME UNDER MY ROOF: The centurion knew the
Jewish prejudice and hatred Christ could arouse by entering a Gentile house (cp
Act 10: 28).
Mat 8:9
A MAN UNDER AUTHORITY: A man with delegated authority
recognizes Christ as "sent" from God, with same delegated authority:
Emperor --> Centurion --> Soldiers.
God --> Christ --> Angels --> Diseases,
etc.
Mat 8:10
ASTONISHED: Or "amazed", as in Luk 7:9. Ct Mar 6:6: sw
re unbelief of Jews. The only 2 times Christ was "amazed".
NOT... IN ISRAEL: Cp Mat 8:9; Luk 7:8: the Jews could
not see, in Christ, the delegated authority of God.
Mat 8:11
The picture of perfect fellowship: holy, multitudinous,
diversified, familiar, unbroken.
MANY: Those who are the seed of Abraham (Mat 1:1; Gal
3:16), and those who belong to Christ (Gal 3:27-29).
Mat 8:12
SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM: Lit, "children of the
kingdom": a Hebraism, like "sons of covenant" and "sons of world (olahm) to
come".
WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH: Mat 8:12; 13:42,50;
22:13; 24:51; 25:30.
Mat 8:13
Power of faith and intercession of others: Mat 8:13; 9:32;
15:28; 17:14-18; Luk 8:50; Joh 4:49; Jos 6:17; Gen 7:1; 18:32; 19:12; Act
27:24.
Mat 8:14
Peter was married (1Co 9:5).
Mat 8:15
The effect on Peter's family: "It is no light thing to take a
man from his home and wife and family and livelihood to become a... preacher...
This healing of Peter's mother-in-law guaranteed enthusiastic support. From this
day forward, Peter need never look over his shoulder wondering how his wandering
life... was regarded by the folks at home" (WGos 123).
All the occasions of Jesus touching, or being touched, in the
context of healing (notice that not one of them is in John's gospel): Mat
8:3,15; 9:20,21,29; 14:36; 17:7; 20:34; Mark 1:41; 3:10; 5:27,28,30,31; 6:56;
7:33; 8:22; 10:13; Luk 5:13; 6:19; 7:14,39; 8:44-47; 18:15; 22:51.
AND BEGAN TO WAIT ON HIM: No "halfway cure". The saved
shall serve!
HIM: As RSV: ie Jesus esp. (KJV has "them".)
Mat 8:16
WHEN EVENING CAME: That is, as soon as Sabbath had
officially ended (cp v 38), the entire town was "synagogued" at Peter's
door!
DEMON-POSSESSED: See Lesson, Demons, what are? Here is
cited Isa 53:4 (Mat 8:17): "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our
sorrows." Christ's close identification with our sin-prone natures -- compared
to "leprosy".
HEALED ALL THE SICK: So Capernaum became "well"
physically, but not so spiritually (Mat 11:20,23,24)!
ALL: The "all" of Isa 53:6.
Mat 8:19
I WILL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO: A "volunteer". Did
he know what he was saying?
Mat 8:20
THE SON OF MAN HAS NO PLACE TO LAY HIS HEAD: It had
been true even at his birth (Luk 2:7)!
Mat 8:21
Examples of prophetic reluctance: Exo 4:10; Jer 1:6; Eze 3:14;
Jon 1:3; 1Ki 19:10; Luk 5:8,10; 9:59; 18:23; Act 13:13; 18:9. Ct Isa
6:8.
LORD, FIRST LET ME GO AND BURY MY FATHER: Lamsa writes:
" 'My father is an old man, over seventy years of age. I have to support him
until he dies.' In the East when a man reaches this age, he is considered dead.
He has finished his work and has no more interest in life. He can no longer earn
and produce. He is a burden on the family. He entrusts everything to his oldest
son, his first born; the son who is to continue his posterity. He has labored
and toiled with the sweat of his brow, and raised his children. Now he expects
them to take care of him. One often hears Easterners say: 'My father is near the
grave!' 'My father is at the side of the grave.' The real meaning is, 'My father
may die any day. My father is very old; I expect him to pass
away any time.' If this man's father had been dead Jesus would
not have been preaching that day. Instead He would have been one of the mourners
until the dead man was buried."
Or, possibly such a figure of speech could also have been used
by a man whose father was not nearly that old, nor at the point of death. "First
let me bury my father" might then be his idiomatic way of saying: "I cannot
commit myself to such an enterprise so long as my father is alive. I must first
of all honor his wishes." Thus implying: "When my father has died -- 20 or 30
years from now -- then I will be my own man, and I can follow you."
Mat 8:22
LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD: Or, "Leave dead to
the burier of the dead." Lamsa writes: "The Aramaic word for 'dead' is 'metta',
and the word for 'town' is 'matta'... It seems more likely that the early
copyists and translators confused the [two words] and what Jesus meant was, 'let
the town bury the dead.' This seems more reasonable because each town buries
their own dead."
Mat 8:23
Vv 23-27: Cp experiences of Jonah.
Jesus needs solitude for thought and prayer (cp Isa 50:4; Psa
119:147,148). A list of "solitude passages": Mar 1:35-37; 3:7,9,20,21; 4:35-38;
6:31; 7:17,18,24; 8:10,11,27; 9:30; 10:32; 14:32.
HIS DISCIPLES FOLLOWED HIM: Were they reluctant to
follow him, seeing the signs of impending storm?
Mat 8:24
A FURIOUS STORM: The sea of Galilee is very susceptible
to sudden storms. "The wicked as a troubled sea" (Isa 57:20). "The wind strove
upon the great sea" (Dan 7:2,3). But God rules, even over the storms at sea: Psa
107:28-30; 89:9: 65:7; 93:3,4; Isa 57:20; Dan 7:2,3; Rev 15:2.
BUT JESUS WAS SLEEPING: The only sleep of Jesus
mentioned in the gospels.
Mat 8:25
Christ will not be raised by the "storm", but only by the
power of prayer. "To be tossed by the waves is no proof of desertion, or even of
danger" (Burgon, WGos 280).
Mat 8:26
REBUKED THE WINDS: As a father addressing children! Cp
Rev 15:2: the Lamb and the sea of glass.
A seagoing captain commanded a passenger ship that was sailing
from Liverpool, England, to New York. His family was on board with him. One
night when everyone was asleep, a squall unexpectedly swept over the waters and
tossed the ship violently, awakening the passengers. They were all terribly
afraid because of the storm. The captain's little 8-year-old girl was also
awakened. "What's the matter?" cried the frightened child. Her mother told her
that a sudden storm had struck the ship. "Is Father on deck?" she asked. "Yes,
Father's on deck," came the encouraging answer. Hearing this, the little girl
snuggled back into her bed and in a few moments was sound asleep. The winds
still blew and the waves still rolled, but her fears were calmed because her
father was at the helm.
Mat 8:27
THE MEN: Including, perhaps, those who were in other
ships.
AMAZED: And "afraid". A growing fear of Jesus,
traceable in Mar 4:41; 6:50; 9:6,32; 10:32; 16:8. One fear (v 38) is removed,
but is replaced by another, greater fear!
WHAT KIND OF MAN IS THIS?: Their proper estimation of
Jesus still needed scaling upward (WGos 281).
TWO DEMON-POSSESSED MEN: The other accounts concentrate
on one of these men -- Legion ( Mar 5:1-16; Luk 8:26-36).
GADARENES... GERGESENES... GERASENES: Gadara, in
Decapolis, near sea of Galilee (LB 375). Gergesa, a city on east shore of lake,
a suburb of Gadara, one of the "ten cities" of Decapolis (v 20), inhabited by
many Gentiles. Distinguishing characteristics: ruins, cliff, lake, old
tombs.
FROM THE TOMBS: The region and shadow of death: Isa
9:1,2; Isa 65:2-4.
THEY WERE SO VIOLENT...: Insane men are known sometimes
to have superhuman strength. In the East, they inhabit cemeteries.
Mat 8:29
Even the "demons" believe and tremble: Jam 2:19.
THE APPOINTED TIME: That is, of judgment.
Mat 8:30
A LARGE HERD OF PIGS: "Humans become infected when they
ingest the cysts of the tape worm in the flesh of the pig... Unfortunately
humans can also ingest the eggs from their own or another's infection, and they
then develop a much more serious form of the disease, with cyst formation
throughout the body. These cysts can infect the brain, and it is poss that
Legion was suffering from this disease. A link between his condition and the
herd of swine seems very likely, and not just in his mind" (SP, Tes
71:205).
Mat 8:32
// Exodus: Legion, like Israel of old, naked, miserable, in
tombs (pyramids), now sees the bodies of its enemies, perished in the (Red)
sea.
Christ's two destructive miracles: (1) 2,000 unclean swine
(unclean Gentile nations) destroyed, but one man (a Gentile) is saved. (2) The
fig tree (Israel) cursed, but one man (Christ, a Jew) is saved.
The demoniac had mistaken Jesus' command "Go!" for a rebuke
against him: ie "Get out of here!" Jesus speaks to the demon, but he also has
just spoken to the wind and sea (Mar 4:39).
The madness of the man was transferred to the swine, but this
does not prove the existence of lit demons, any more than the fact that the
leprosy of Naaman cleaved to Gehazi implies that leprosy is caused by demons
(2Ki 5:27) ("Devil", by PW 69). The unchosen uncleanness of the madman evoked
mercy from Jesus, but the willful uncleanness of the swinekeeper called forth
wrath.
AND WENT INTO THE PIGS: Poss, "the unclean spirits
attacked the swine". Perhaps the man himself rushed into the herd, stampeding
them over the cliff, while at that very moment being healed himself of his
illness. This seems to be the most natural explanation of the event.
AND DIED IN THE WATER: Cp the great choking mass of
pigs with the press of the crowd in v 30.
Mat 8:34
"Pigs" meant more to them than salvation! They could see only
what they might lose (the pigs), not what they might gain (healing, salvation).
Jesus does not argue. He simply leaves.