©2003 Pastor Tom Miles
Matthew Chapter 8
Matthew 8:1-3 Jesus was now done preaching and as He came down from the mountain the vast amount of people that had been listening to Him didn't take off and head home instead they followed Him seeking more of what He had to offer. A leper came to Him and fell down and worshipped Him, saying, 'Lord, if thou will, thou can make me clean" and Jesus heals the leper by stretching forth His hand, touching him and saying to him, "I will, be thou made clean." And immediately the leper was cleansed (Mark 1:40-42).
Matthew 8:4 After healing the leper Jesus tells him to tell no man but go quickly to the priest and let him see what has happened and present the offering gift that Moses put into law. We are not quite sure why Jesus says do not tell anyone else, possibly because He is not looking for glory and recognition in that way or possibly because Jesus wanted the priest to witness what had taken place firsthand from the leper before others had a chance to add or take away from the healing thus making it less believable for the priests to accept plus the priest needed to legally pronounce the man cleansed. I truly believe though that Jesus simply did not want a great amount of hoopla over the healing causing a great stir amongst the people bringing them out in the thousands to witness, receive and take in this man who speaks with truth and has healing in His hands, but of course as we know the crowds did gather in great number. The gift the leper would have to present would be three lambs, oil, and flour unless the leper was poor then the gift could be reduced to what he could give.
Matthew 8:5-7 Jesus finished his journey into Capernaum and upon arriving there He was met by a Centurion that pleaded with Him to heal his servant. A centurion is one in charge of a hundred men and a Gentile. The Centurion tells the Lord of his servant's sickness and Jesus says unto the Centurion, "I will come and heal him."
Matthew 8:8-9 The Centurion speaks showing his great faith and the great faith and obedience of those under his rule as well. Simply say the word, and my servant shall be healed. This Centurion had the faith that simply his telling the servant that Jesus spoke the word would heal his servant. We also must realize this faith is found not in an Israelite but in a Gentile! And this Gentile says that he also is a man under authority, meaning that he has accepted authority and obeyed it and also given authority and had it obeyed from him. So if he as a leader of his soldiers and servants can give orders and they will obey, how much more can Jesus give the order to heal and the healing will be done when the Centurion returns and tells his servant what Jesus said. After all the word had traveled around the country of the great miracle of healing done to the nobleman's son and other great reports of the works of Jesus so his soldiers and servants knew of the greatness and power within the words of this man called Jesus.
Matthew 8:10-12 Jesus marveled! Only two times do we hear of Jesus doing this, once here and once in Mark 6:6. One that dealt with belief and one that dealt with unbelief. Jesus goes on to say that He has not found in all of Israel such great faith as this man has. When Jesus said that He has not found such faith tells us that faith is not a gift but instead is something developed. And since this Gentile Centurion was able to develop this type of faith other Gentiles would soon come to saving faith and the Jews and others that felt they were saved by heredity would find themselves cast into the darkness far from the saving grace of Christ.
Matthew 8:13 And Jesus looked at the Centurion and said unto him "Go thy way and let it be done as you have believed" and the servant was healed in that very hour. I believe the very moment in which Jesus spoke, the healing for the servant took place. Faith, what faith this Gentile Centurion had in the power of this man Jesus! Also look at the faith this man's servant had in his master!
Matthew 8:14-15 After the Centurion went his way Jesus came into the house of Peter. Peter's wife's mother was lying in the house sick with a great fever and Jesus went to her touched her and instantly she was healed. Mark chapter one and Luke chapter four also contain accounts of this healing. Jesus touched her hand and instantly she was healed and ministered to Jesus. She wasn't just partially healed, she was fully and completely healed well enough that she could tend to the needs of those in the house.
Matthew 8:16-17 And as evening approached the multitudes came to Him and many were full of spirits (demons) and Jesus cast out the demons and healed the sick (See Mark 1:32 and Isaiah 53:4 also). This was done so that the prophecy would be fulfilled from Isaiah. Isaiah's passage of scripture says upon Himself He took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses. Isaiah prophesied about a man of sorrows, sorrowful because of all the sickness and pain of others, a man who would take the sins of the world upon Him self and heal the wounded souls of the lost. What a portrait of love and beauty.
Matthew 8:18-27 Jesus gives unto them a command to depart for the other side of the sea (Mark 4:35). And as they were getting ready to enter the boat a scribe came to the Lord and said that he would follow him wherever He went. And Jesus said unto Him, I have no place to lay my head. Jesus was letting him know that to follow Him would mean giving up even home and family for the Son of man has not a place to call His own. This also alludes to the fact that many thought there would be an earthly kingdom set up by Christ and so Jesus responds in this manner to shake off any expectations of the scribe thinking there would be a great kingdom here on earth. And than one of the disciples came to Jesus and said let me first go and bury my father and Jesus said unto that disciple let the dead bury their own meaning basically let those that are spiritually dead bury the physically dead. Jesus was not be cold or callous but simply showing that when He gives a command to do something we as His followers must obey that command when it is given. All many of us put off doing what God commands until we have done what we wanted to do? And they entered the boat (Mark 4:36-41). Once on the sea a great storm arose and the disciples called out in fear to the Lord, save us lest we perish. Christ responded to them asking "Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" He then stood up and rebuked the winds and the sea and the disciples marveled at what type of man this was that could even command the wind and sea and they would obey.
Matthew 8:28 This account can also be found in Mark 5 and Luke 8. Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac and that is probably because they speak only of the viler of the two and the one that most probably did the speaking. Some translations have the city called Gergesa others call it Gadarenes this area was a region on the eastern side of the sea, in which there were two cities, Gergesa and Gadara. The tombs were places where people without homes would sometimes find shelter and it would be difficult at times for people to pass by these tombs because of those hiding there.
Matthew 8:29-34 The demoniacs knew that it was not time for the tormenting that God would place upon them and they knew this Son of man was truly the Son of God and thus addressed Him so wanting to know why He was there before the appointed time to torment them (Mark 5:7-17). And Jesus used His authority over the demons and cast them into the swine, which were unclean in the eyes of God, and they rushed to the edge and perished in the sea. Then those that were keeping the swine rushed quickly to the city, which was most likely, a Gentile city and told of everything that had happened. And they being distraught because of the loss of their herds of swine and from the awe of the great thing He had done in removing the demons from the demoniac they came to Jesus and begged Him to leave their shores.
Father, thank
you for loving us and giving us an example of how our faith can be if we
will simply trust fully in You. Father, give me the faith of the centurion,
let my faith grow daily and let my trust in You ever increase from day
to day in Jesus name, amen.
Where Jesus is Lord!
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Pastor Thomas Miles
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