The Messiah demonstrates His power
8
Jesus heals a leper
1 So when He came down from the mountain large crowds followed Him. 2 And then, a leper came and worshiped Him saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 So reaching out His hand Jesus touched*To touch a leper was unheard of, because of the contamination; this was a powerful demonstration of authority. him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed!”†Beautiful! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus says to him: “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a proof to them.”‡A proof that the Messiah had arrived—who else could cure leprosy?
Jesus heals at a distance§It has often been assumed that this account is parallel to that in Luke 7:1-10, but I believe they were different occasions. For a detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: Did the centurion leave his house?
5 As He entered Capernaum a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, being terribly tormented.” 7 And Jesus says to him, “I will go and heal him.” 8 But in answer the centurion said: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof; but only speak a word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does.” 10 Upon hearing him Jesus marveled, and said to those who were following: “Assuredly I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness farthest away. There, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”*“Sons of the kingdom”—those who knew the truth and rejected it will have the severest judgment, “farthest away”. (Dante's view of hell is perhaps not entirely mistaken.) 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; and let it be done for you just as you believed.” And his servant was healed in that very hour.†Jesus healed a serious case at a distance.
Peter's mother-in-law‡It has often been assumed that Matthew's account here is parallel to those in Mark 1:29-31 and Luke 4:38-39, but close attention to the contexts has convinced me that Matthew's account took place some time after that in Mark and Luke. In that event, Jesus healed the woman twice, which means that just because God heals you one time, it does not mean that you will never get sick again.
14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his mother-in-law laid up and burning with fever. 15 So He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and began to serve Him.§Jesus healed the consequences as well—normally a high fever leaves you weak. 16 And when evening came they brought to Him many who were demonized. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick,*Jesus did not touch the demonized, nor did He argue with them; He expelled the demons with a word. 17 so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet should be fulfilled, namely:
“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.”†See Isaiah 53:4. If the main fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy took place on the cross, this would be an application.
18 Seeing large crowds around Him Jesus gave an order to depart for the opposite shore. 19 Then a certain scribe approaching said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you may go.” 20 So Jesus says to him, “The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of the Man does not have where He may lay His head.”‡That is what the Text says, “the Son of the Man”, which appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself; the phrase doesn't make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man. 21 Then a different one of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”§When it comes to discipleship, Jesus is very demanding—ordinary physical comfort and normal human relationships must be held in abeyance. Since a physically dead person can't do anything, it is the spiritually dead who are to do the burying. To wait for a father to die before doing God's will could mean never doing it.
Jesus controls wind and wave
23 Now when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And then—a great tempest*The word rendered ‘tempest’ usually means ‘earthquake’; one could render, “there was a big earthquake in the sea”—which would produce sudden, unexpected waves. Maybe that is what happened (that lake is right on a major fault line). arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves. But He was sleeping. 25 So the disciples came and awakened Him saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And He says to them, “Why are you cowardly, you little-faiths?” Then rising He rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.†The implication is that they should have solved the problem. Again Jesus undoes the consequences, as well as the cause. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “What sort of being is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”‡Well, what were the options? Jesus obviously had supernatural power.
Jesus controls any number of demons
28 Upon His coming to the other side, to the region of the Gergesenes,§Some 98% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘Gergesenes’, rather than ‘Gadarenes’. Gadara was the Roman capital of the province of Perara, located some six miles from the Sea of Galilee. For the swineherds to run six miles to the city to report the incident and then walk back with the people would take quite a while. It seems more likely that there was a village named ‘Gergesa’ nearby, whose people came and asked Jesus to leave. For a more detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: The ‘Legion’ and the pigs; where was it? two demonized men*As a tax collector, numerical precision was important to Matthew. Where other Gospels may select an individual as sufficient for the narrative, Matthew specifies that there were actually two (also blind men and donkeys). met Him, coming out from the tombs, very dangerous, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And then—they cried out saying: “What do you have to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”†The demons knew who Jesus really was, and also about their own destiny. The parallel accounts in Mark 5 and Luke 8 give added detail—their name was ‘Legion’, and there were about 2,000 pigs. In Luke 8:31 they kept imploring Him not to send them to the Abyss—they were really worried; they knew something we do not. 30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many pigs feeding. 31 So the demons kept imploring Him saying, “Since you are going to cast us out, permit us to go into the herd of pigs.” 32 So He said to them, “Go!” And coming out they went off into the herd of pigs. And then—the whole herd of pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water!‡I really doubt that the demons did it—why would they want to destroy their new ‘house’? Perhaps the pigs preferred death to demons (animals often show more common sense than people do). It is also possible that Jesus commanded the action. 33 So the swineherds ran away, and going into the town they told everything, including about the demonized men. 34 And then, the whole town went out to meet with Jesus; and upon seeing Him they begged Him to depart from their borders.§Apparently Jesus never went back there; they did not want Him and that was that (I doubt that the inhabitants were Jews). The dead pigs represented a big economic loss; the pigs were more important to them than the two men—what Jesus represented threatened their way of life.

*8:3 To touch a leper was unheard of, because of the contamination; this was a powerful demonstration of authority.

†8:3 Beautiful!

‡8:4 A proof that the Messiah had arrived—who else could cure leprosy?

§8:4 It has often been assumed that this account is parallel to that in Luke 7:1-10, but I believe they were different occasions. For a detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: Did the centurion leave his house?

*8:12 “Sons of the kingdom”—those who knew the truth and rejected it will have the severest judgment, “farthest away”. (Dante's view of hell is perhaps not entirely mistaken.)

†8:13 Jesus healed a serious case at a distance.

‡8:13 It has often been assumed that Matthew's account here is parallel to those in Mark 1:29-31 and Luke 4:38-39, but close attention to the contexts has convinced me that Matthew's account took place some time after that in Mark and Luke. In that event, Jesus healed the woman twice, which means that just because God heals you one time, it does not mean that you will never get sick again.

§8:15 Jesus healed the consequences as well—normally a high fever leaves you weak.

*8:16 Jesus did not touch the demonized, nor did He argue with them; He expelled the demons with a word.

†8:17 See Isaiah 53:4. If the main fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy took place on the cross, this would be an application.

‡8:20 That is what the Text says, “the Son of the Man”, which appears to be a phrase coined by the Lord Jesus to refer to Himself; the phrase doesn't make very good sense in English, at first glance, but if “the man” refers to pristine Adam and “the son” to an only pristine descendant, it makes great sense. It seems to indicate a perfect human prototype, like Adam was before the fall—the human side of the God-man.

§8:22 When it comes to discipleship, Jesus is very demanding—ordinary physical comfort and normal human relationships must be held in abeyance. Since a physically dead person can't do anything, it is the spiritually dead who are to do the burying. To wait for a father to die before doing God's will could mean never doing it.

*8:24 The word rendered ‘tempest’ usually means ‘earthquake’; one could render, “there was a big earthquake in the sea”—which would produce sudden, unexpected waves. Maybe that is what happened (that lake is right on a major fault line).

†8:26 The implication is that they should have solved the problem. Again Jesus undoes the consequences, as well as the cause.

‡8:27 Well, what were the options? Jesus obviously had supernatural power.

§8:28 Some 98% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘Gergesenes’, rather than ‘Gadarenes’. Gadara was the Roman capital of the province of Perara, located some six miles from the Sea of Galilee. For the swineherds to run six miles to the city to report the incident and then walk back with the people would take quite a while. It seems more likely that there was a village named ‘Gergesa’ nearby, whose people came and asked Jesus to leave. For a more detailed discussion, please see the Appendix: The ‘Legion’ and the pigs; where was it?

*8:28 As a tax collector, numerical precision was important to Matthew. Where other Gospels may select an individual as sufficient for the narrative, Matthew specifies that there were actually two (also blind men and donkeys).

†8:29 The demons knew who Jesus really was, and also about their own destiny. The parallel accounts in Mark 5 and Luke 8 give added detail—their name was ‘Legion’, and there were about 2,000 pigs. In Luke 8:31 they kept imploring Him not to send them to the Abyss—they were really worried; they knew something we do not.

‡8:32 I really doubt that the demons did it—why would they want to destroy their new ‘house’? Perhaps the pigs preferred death to demons (animals often show more common sense than people do). It is also possible that Jesus commanded the action.

§8:34 Apparently Jesus never went back there; they did not want Him and that was that (I doubt that the inhabitants were Jews). The dead pigs represented a big economic loss; the pigs were more important to them than the two men—what Jesus represented threatened their way of life.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD