Matthew 8 - The Popular Commentary by Paul E. Kretzmann

The Healing of the Leper.

v. 1. When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

While He was coming down from the mountain, where He had delivered His great sermon, and especially when He had fully descended into the plain, when He had, in fact, reached one of the cities of the neighborhood, Luke 5:12, the multitudes that had been swarming after Him from near and far, and who were more than ever impressed on account of His teaching, again followed after Him.

Jesus at once performed a miracle:

And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

The miracle:

And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Jesus was touched with compassion, Mark 1:41. His sympathy and willingness to help cause Him to stretch forth His hand and touch the leper, an intimate gesture showing complete understanding and begetting confidence. And His almighty "I will" quietly assumed the sovereign authority for a clear demonstration of unlimited power. Not a mere pronouncing clean, as the rationalists will have it, but a miracle: The leprosy that had even now rendered the leper a hideous, misshapen travesty of God's creature disappeared at once, without delay. He was clean. Christ had reasons for avoiding a false popularity at this time. The people were wrought up to such a pitch of excitement on account of His teaching and because of His many miracles that they might have been prompted to hail Him, according to their false understanding of the Messianic kingdom, as their earthly king. This would have excited the hatred of the Jewish leaders too early and caused suspicion and jealousy on the part of the government, all of which would have hindered His ministry. Besides, a premature spreading of the news might reach the ears of the priests before the leper actually presented himself, and their enmity might cause them to refuse a recognition of cleanness. And Jesus wanted to observe the precepts of the official religion. Matthew 3:15. See to it, look you! He says: a prompt, decisive, though cordial command. Lose no time in unnecessary and useless conversation by the way; hurry is essential. Fulfill the injunctions prescribed in your case, Leviticus 14:10-32; sacrifice the gift which the Law demands, get a clean bill of health from the constituted authorities. This would be a testimony, not only for the legalists, but also or all men. In this way might the former leper spread the news of the miracle properly, as he probably also did, Mark 1:45.

The Centurion of Capernaum.

v. 5. 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.

The incident here narrated may have taken place immediately after the cleansing of the leper or after some time, when Jesus had made one of His Galilean journeys. Jesus had entered into Capernaum, the city which He chose for His home during His ministry in that region. Here He comes into contact with a centurion. It is immaterial whether the centurion attended to the matter here related personally, or whether he made use of the good services of others, the latter being the more probable, Luke 7:1-10. "Therefore he sends a message to Him on account of his servant, whom he loved, a delegation of the most learned and respected in the city... And as they go and present their message in a fine manner that He should come, since the centurion is well worthy of it, and Christ is willing to come and goes with them: when he hears that Christ Himself is coming, he sends other messengers on the way, pleads and wards off: O no! Who am I that He troubles to come Himself? It is sufficient that He but say some word, then I am fully satisfied. " It was a centurion with whom Jesus dealt, the captain of one hundred men, very likely the Roman garrison in the city. He was a foreigner, not a member of the Jewish nation or church. But he had learned to know the true God and had undoubtedly studied the Scriptures, thus gaining a knowledge of the coming of the Messiah. In his earnest devotion, he had even built the synagogue for the Jews, Luke 7:4-5. He had an urgent, pleading message to the Lord for his servant, his house-boy, who had been lying now for some time and thus been reduced to a state of great weakness, ill with a sickness which caused grievous torments, a form of paralysis. The disease of the nerves was, in this case, accompanied with unusual pains, which even hindered the sick man's being carried out on a stretcher.

And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

The offer of Jesus and the centurion's answer:

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.

Christ's sympathy is aroused, though an actual prayer for help has not been made, a mere statement of need and trouble being sufficient. He expressly declares His willingness to come and help: Coming I shall heal him. Christ's sovereignty decides sickness and health, death and life. An astonishing answer: I am not worthy, I am not fit; not merely on account of his being a Gentile, but because his humility forbade his receiving the Lord on terms of equality. See Matthew 3:11. Deprecatingly he speaks of his roof, a mere hut when the Lord is coming. A bare word will suffice. He both acknowledges the necessity of Christ's mercy and his own total unworthiness. A sublime faith: My body-servant will be healed, a conviction born of absolute trust in His almighty and merciful power. On the other hand, unbelief, presumption, ignorance will hinder any kind of communion between God and man.

An argument from his own experience:

When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

The astonishment of Jesus;

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.

Any evidence of implicit, trusting faith always affected Jesus very deeply, Matthew 15:28. He was here filled with great surprise and wonder. Not even in Israel, where such faith, such remarkable trust in His power, ought to be the rule, Romans 3:2; Romans 9:5, had He found such belief. This extraordinary situation causes Him to utter a prophecy concerning the conversion of the Gentiles, which reflected in a very uncomplimentary way upon His own countrymen. In the form of a parable He represents the kingdom of God as a great festival, or feast, where the riches of God's mercy would be dispensed with a full hand. The heathen centurion represents, as it were, the first-fruits of the great multitudes whom the Lord would call from all kindreds, and tongues, and peoples, and nations, to recline at His tables and partake of His gifts, with the patriarchs, the fathers of the faithful of all times. In the meantime, the children of the Kingdom, the sons of those to whom the promises were made, the Jews that were depending upon their earthly relationship to the fathers without their faith, would lose their heritage, because they will not accept Jesus as their Savior. Outer darkness instead of the light of heaven, weeping in a repentance that came too late, gnashing the teeth in impotent rage, that would be their lot. That is, to this day, the expectancy of all unbelievers.

The reward of faith:

And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.

Various Miracles of Healing.

Cure of a fever:

And He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and ministered unto them.

Jesus had, on a certain Sabbath-day, attended the synagogue. Returning from there, and coming into the house of Peter, who here bears his name as disciple, Jesus saw a sad condition of affairs, Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39. Peter's mother-in-law lay bedridden with a fever. Note: Peter had a home at Capernaum, having moved there from Bethsaida, probably on account of the better market for fish, but still more probably because the Lord had chosen this city for His sojourn. And Peter was married; he was not given to a false holiness, a dangerous asceticism, as the Roman Catholic Church demands of its clergy, but made use of his right to have a sister as his wife, 1 Corinthians 9:5. Jesus was touched with sympathy. He rebuked the fever, He took hold of the sick woman's hand to raise her up, and at His miraculous touch the sickness vanished, with all its after-effects. She arose from her bed without a sign of weakness or unsteadiness. She could wait at the table and render all manner of services, singling out, in her gratitude, especially Him to whom she owed her perfect recovery. Any gift received from the Lord should prompt us to the most active individual service.

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,

Events of that Sabbath-evening:

that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

All Galilee was filled with the report concerning Christ, and a steady stream of sick people with their relatives was usually pouring in from every direction. It was after the close of the Sabbath-day, Leviticus 23:32; they need hesitate no longer for fear of transgressing the Law. The fame of the Lord's having cured a demoniac in the morning had spread like wild-fire. The majority of those brought to Him were afflicted with the same terrible disease, that of being possessed of evil spirits. With a word He cast out the demons who, like the entire spirit world, are subject to Him; with tender kindness He healed all the other sicknesses; there was none that could withstand His almighty mercy. The reference of Matthew to the prophecy, Isaiah 53:4, is very appropriate. The prophet's reference is to griefs and sorrows, to diseases and pains of the soul, due to sin and its curse. But the evangelist rightly argues: He that bears the greater is master of the smaller. The diseases of man are connected with sin, on the one hand, and with death, on the other. And so our High Priest, touched with the feeling of our infirmities, had sympathy with the results and consequences of sin, knowing its curse, its destructive influence, upon body and soul, Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 5:2. He bare, He took away, our sins and infirmities; they are no longer a curse for the believers.

Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side. It was getting late in the evening. Jesus had spent a very busy day teaching and healing. And still great multitudes pressed about Him.

He was now on the shore of Lake Gennesaret. To escape the importunity of the crowd and to avoid an outburst of false enthusiasm which might spoil the work of His ministry, John 6:3-15, He ordered departure unto the other side. An interruption:

The Discipleship of Christ.

Preparations for departure:

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.

There were others besides His disciples in His immediate vicinity. One of these, a scribe, plucked up enough courage to speak to Him. A strong testimony for the power of Christ's preaching and of the magnetism of His personality that one of the scribes, who, as a class, were utterly opposed to the ways of Jesus, could be carried away by his enthusiasm and ask to be admitted to the inner circle of the apostles. But it is ignorant presumption to think of being able to follow Christ in any way which he should choose or be obliged to go. He had no conception of the cost of being a disciple of Christ. So the Lord shows him the true meaning of discipleship, what it implies and what it demands. The foxes have dens, where they may rest in safety, the birds of the heaven have roosts, most of them resorting to the same tree night after night for shelter, but the Son of Man, Jesus, in His state of humiliation, is burdened with a poverty, with a homelessness, which to Him is a willing burden, but which might become a galling irritation to one that does not realize what might be demanded of the followers of the lowly Nazarene. Under certain circumstances poverty, privations, persecutions may, by God's permission, be the lot of the Christians. "So all true Christians do: They use their goods, they have nests and dens; but when necessity demands leaving them for the sake of Christ, they do it, and gladly even move from the place where they may lay their head, as on their possession. And they are glad to be foreigners in the world and say: I am a guest upon earth; and again: I am a pilgrim, as were all my fathers."

The "Son Of Man."

This expression, which occurs eighty-four times in the New Testament, has almost become a touchstone, or shibboleth, by which the attitude of a theologian toward the person and work of Christ may be characterized. The many commentaries and books on the person of Jesus reflect, in a most remarkable way, the personal faith of the writers.

In the majority of cases, critics have reached the point at which they deny any special significance in the peculiar phrase. The "Son of Man," in their opinion, simply means the ideal man, the original man, the normal human being, the man in whom the entire human history and destiny is realized. It is used, according to the idea of many, merely to express the weakness and humility of Christ, or to designate the second or heavenly man, the Pauline second Adam, the preexistent heavenly type of humanity, the ideal of the beyond. Its definition is said to be simply man, the unprivileged Man: not only no exception to the rule of ordinary human experience in the way of being better off, but rather an exception in the way of being worse off.

Other critics there are that earnestly endeavor to give the expression, as found in the gospels, its full value and strength. "In all probability, Jesus chose this particular Old Testament designation of the Messiah, Daniel 7:13, because, unlike the others, it had not been grossly perverted to foster the carnal expectation of the Jews. Thus our Lord met the morbid and fantastic expectations of His contemporaries and among them, apparently, those also of the scribe in the text by laying emphasis on His genuine and true humanity as the Messiah. His great aim was that the people should view Him as true man in the lowliness of His outward appearance, but also at the same time in His high character, as the Son of Man, that is, the ideal man, the second Adam from heaven (1 Corinthians."

But these explanations are either entirely beside the mark, or they do not go far enough; they do not cover the full significance of the expression. A mere ideal man is surely not the Lord of the Sabbath, Matthew 12:8. If any one assumes the right to change the Old Testament institutions according to His will, as Lord in His own right. He must have divine authority. A mere ideal man cannot usurp the exclusive right of God to forgive sins on earth, Matthew 9:6. To forgive sins is God's prerogative, and if Christ assumes this power, He is arrogating to Himself a divine right, as "the Son of Man. " A mere ideal man could not speak of the last days of the world as the days of the Son of Man, Luke 17:22-30. But it is said of the Son of Man that He will come in the clouds of heaven to hold judgment, with all the majesty of the Father and accompanied by all the holy angels. And a careful comparison of the other passages containing this expression will only serve to strengthen this impression that more than mere humanity, more than mere ideality, is implied.

Jesus is "the Son of Man in an extraordinary and singular sense. He evidently intends, with this name, to distinguish two forms of existence, His existence before the beginning of time as the eternal Word of God, and His form of existence in time as Jesus of Nazareth. He confesses and means to convey with this appellation the fact that He, the eternal Son of God, became flesh, entered into a true humanity, for the sake of redeeming mankind. It is a description of His wonderful, mysterious person according to His divine and according to His human nature. " "It is not from mere humility that He calls Himself the Son of Man, as though the name Son of God did not pertain to Him in His present state of humiliation, and that He would adopt that title only by and through His exaltation. Indeed not; but He wants to lead to the mystery of His person, that the Son of Man in His humiliation is at the same time the true Son of God, as Peter formerly made confession of Him, Matthew 16:13-16. And it behooved such a person also to be the Mediator between God and men. It was necessary that He be a man in order to suffer, and God, in order to transmit to His sufferings an eternal value; a man, in order to humiliate Himself to the earth, and God, to lift us up into heaven; a man, in order to become a substitute for men, in their stead, and God, in order that He might reconcile and satisfy the outraged righteousness of God by a proportional satisfaction; God and man in one person, in order to unite God and men into one spirit."

And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

Another lesson:

But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.

Here was a man that had belonged to the larger circle of disciples, that had made it a point to remain in the neighborhood of Christ. But his was a vacillating nature, he was still undecided. Jesus called him, Luke 9:59. Hesitatingly he asks for leave to bury his father, which may have been a mere pretense in order to gain time. Jesus gives him what sounds like a harsh answer. If Christ was here merely quoting a Jewish proverb, His meaning may have been: Let the spiritually dead, those that are dead to the call of the Kingdom, bury the naturally dead. But without such a supposition the words of Christ refer to an Aramaic use of the word "dead," a play on words, meaning to say: Let the dead be taken care of by those whose business it is to inter the earthly remains; do not concern yourself about the mortal shell of your father, that is the business of the undertaker; let your concern be the kingdom of God. The discipleship of Christ is far more important than all duties toward even the nearest relatives; if there is a conflict of interests, there can be but one choice, Matthew 10:35-39.

The Storm on the Lake.

v. 23. And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him.

And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.

The ship had been prepared by the disciples in accordance with previous instructions, and when He now entered, the men that stood nearest to Him, the inner circle of His followers, embarked with Him. Worn out by the intensity of the bodily and mental strain of a hard day's work, Jesus went off to sleep, soothed by the gliding motion of the vessel. All unexpectedly, with great suddenness, there burst down upon the little lake one of the storms which are so dreaded on account of their extreme violence. There was literally an earthquake of the sea, a hurricane with tornado-like force, before which the experienced fishermen were absolutely helpless. The waves lifted up on every side, rising high above the ship, hiding it, breaking over it, gradually filling it with water, whose amount defied all efforts at bailing out. All nature was in an uproar, wind and sea had conspired to destroy both vessel and travelers. Note the contrast: Christ was quietly sleeping, in the midst of all the turmoil, unaffected by an excitement which caused the strongest men to quake with fear. "But, now, natural sleep is the certain indication of a true, natural man. Since, then, the gospel says Christ slept in the ship, the evangelist wants to show us Christ as a real, natural man that has body and soul, and therefore had need of eating, drinking, sleeping, and other natural works that are done without sin, just as we have. In order that we do not fall into the error of the Manichaeans, who believed Christ to be a spirit, not a true man."

And His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish!

The terror of the disciples and Christ's rebuke:

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.

But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!

Coming to Him, the disciples woke Him. They may have hesitated for some time out of respect for their beloved Teacher. But their fear becomes so great that they are unable to control themselves; it is a cry rather than a report which they utter. In their last extremity He is their one thought. An important point: Christ's first thought is for the faith of the disciples, not for the alleviation of their fear. Why be filled with fear, why so little faith? The rebuke was harsh in tone, purposely, but with a hidden kindness. His own absolute fearlessness should calm their panic. Lack of faith always renders timid; trust in God, in His power and in His help, makes bold. This most important matter having been settled, He arose from His pillow and uttered a second rebuke, directed to the fierce winds, to the tumultuous waves. "Peace, be still!" He bade them, Mark 4:30. With the sound of His voice an obedient hush fell upon the turbulence of the winds and the waves. The almighty Ruler of the universe had spoken. His human voice, by virtue of the divine power and majesty given to His humanity, controlled the forces of nature, Proverbs 30:4. "But that He rebukes the sea and the wind, and that the sea and the wind are obedient, therewith He proves His almighty deity, that He is a lord over wind and sea. For to be able with one word to quiet the sea and cause the wind to cease, that is not the work of a man; a divine power is necessary to stop the turbulence of the sea with one word. Therefore Christ is not only natural man, but also true God. " The effect of this miracle upon the disciples and upon all that afterwards heard of the story, since the sudden quieting of the sea must have been noticed from the shore, was to fill them with amazement: What kind of man and whence is He? They had further evidence for His divinity, as well as for His loving care for those whom He has enrolled as His disciples, whose every fear He is glad to dispel, whose every prayer, even in little faith, finds careful consideration before Him.

Jesus and the Gadarenes.

v. 28. 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.

On the east side of the Sea of Galilee was the territory of the Gadarenes, the Gerasenes, and the Gergesenes, the southern part of Gaulanitis, so named after the chief cities of the region, one of which, Gergesa, was located on the lake shore. Two demoniacs here ran to meet the Lord. As an eye-witness, Matthew states the number, although only one of the sick men was so exceptionally violent that he drew the attention of all, and is therefore mentioned in the other accounts, Mark 1:23-27; Luke 4:31-37. Their home was in the limestone caves along the eastern shore, which were also used for tombs. A terrible picture: The naked, filthy, raving maniacs terrorizing the neighborhood, too strong to be bound with ropes or chains, associated with darkness and death, with grave and destruction, a fitting setting for the devil's power, under God's permission.

Their cry and confession:

And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

The expulsion of the evil spirits:

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.

In the same neighborhood, at some distance from the place where Jesus was standing, and yet within sight. A great herd of swine, animals that were unclean to the Jewish people, by the Old Testament Law. It was a neighborhood in which the heathen element of the population predominated, where the strictness of the Law was no longer recognized. Knowing that their power over these two men was at an end, the evil spirits begged to be permitted to wreak their fiendishness on the swine, always with the purpose of destruction in mind. And having obtained the permission, their advent into the herd deprived the animals of even the instinct of self-preservation. Rushing down the declivity, they were drowned in the sea. The devil is a murderer from the beginning. If God hinders his work of destruction against human beings, he kills dumb animals. But he can do nothing without the permission of God. And this permission is granted sometimes in order to carry out some punishment of God.

And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

The result:

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.

The swineherds fled. The disaster that befell their herds sent them back to the city in haste, superstitious terror filling their hearts. As much as they had seen and the conclusions they had drawn while they were out on the hills: their account may have been fanciful and garbled enough. All those that heard the story and were foot-loose turned out, probably with the idea of taking summary vengeance on whatever person proved guilty of the loss of their swine. They learned the truth. They were awed by the presence of Him whose power over the demons had been demonstrated beyond a doubt. And so their vindictive attitude gave way to a respectful pleading. They besought Him to go away from their coasts, to leave their country. They feared that they might be compelled to sustain still greater damage. The loss of the swine was to them a calamity. And they felt uncomfortable in the presence of the Holy One of God. They much preferred their swine and their sinful life to His pure presence. They repudiated this opportunity for grace.

Summary. Christ heals a leper, restores the sick servant of the centurion whose faith amazed Him, performs a number of other miracles, gives a lesson in discipleship, stills the tempest, and drives out the devils from two Gadarene demoniacs.