1714 | Matthew 8:3
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man . “ I am will ing ,” he said . “ Be clean !” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy . 4 Then Jesus said to him , “ See that you don ’ t tell anyone . b
But go , show your self to the priest and of fer the gift Mo ses com manded , c as a testimony to them .”
The Faith of the Centurion
8:5-13pp — Lk 7:1-10
5 When Jesus had en tered Ca per naum , a cen tu rion came to him , ask ing for help . 6 “ Lord ,” he said , “ my ser vant lies at home par a lyzed , suf fer ing ter ri bly .” 7 Jesus said to him , “ Shall I come and heal him ?” 8 The cen tu rion re plied , “ Lord , I do not de serve to have you come un der my roof . But just say the word , and my ser vant will be healed . d 9 For I my self am a man un der au thority , with sol diers un der me . I tell this one , ‘ Go ,’ and he goes ; and that one , ‘ Come ,’ and he comes . I say to my ser vant , ‘ Do this ,’ and he does it .”
10 When Jesus heard this , he was amazed and said to those fol low ing him , “ Truly I tell you , I have not found any one in Is rael with such great faith . e 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west , f and will take their places at the feast with Abra ham , Isaac and Ja cob in the king dom of heaven . g 12 But the sub jects of the king dom h will be thrown out side , into the dark ness , where there will be weep ing and gnash ing of teeth .” i
13 Then Jesus said to the cen tu rion , “ Go ! Let it be done just as you be lieved it would .” j And his ser vant was healed at that mo ment .
8:4 b Mt 9:30 ; Mk 5:43 ; 7:36 ; 8:30 c Lev 14:2‐32
8:8 d Ps 107:20 8:10 e Mt 15:28
8:11 f Ps 107:3 ; Isa 49:12 ; 59:19 ; Mal 1:11 g Lk 13:29
8:12 h Mt 13:38 i Mt 13:42 , 50 ; 22:13 ;
24:51 ; 25:30 ; Lk 13:28 8:13 j Mt 9:22 8:16 k Mt 4:23 , 24
8:17 l Mt 1:22 m Isa 53:4
8:18 n Mk 4:35
Jesus Heals Many
8:14-16pp — Mk 1:29-34 ; Lk 4:38-41
14 When Jesus came into Pe ter ’ s house , he saw Pe ter ’ s mother-in-law ly ing in bed with a fever . 15 He touched her hand and the fe ver left her , and she got up and be gan to wait on him .
16 When eve ning came , many who were de mon-pos sessed were brought to him , and he drove out the spir its with a word and healed all the sick . k 17 This was to ful fill l what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah :
“ He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases .” a m
The Cost of Following Jesus
8:19-22pp — Lk 9:57-60
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him , he gave or ders to cross to the other side of the lake . n 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said , “ Teacher , I will fol low you wherever you go .”
a 17 Isaiah 53:4 ( see Septuagint )
verses . Most of chs . 8 – 9 illustrate his authoritative healing ( and other miracles ), which these two verses likewise highlight . 8:1 – 17 The first three miracles Matthew narrates in this section show Jesus healing the ritually outcast : a leper , a centurion ’ s servant , and Peter ’ s mother-in-law . The highly defiling sickness , the probable Gentile background of the commander of the hated occupying army , and the symptoms of Peter ’ s mother-in-law ’ s fever make all three individuals ritually impure . The section ends with Jesus ’ broader ministry of healing , which Matthew indicates is another fulfillment of prophecy ( v . 17 ). 8:4 See that you don ’ t tell anyone . The first of several occurrences in Matthew of the “ Messianic secret ,” a phenomenon even more common in Mark . Jesus frequently tells people not to talk about him , even in contexts in which it is highly unlikely he will be obeyed , probably to avoid stirring up even more hope for a militaristic and royal Messiah who would rid the land of the Romans . as a testimony to them . Could mean showing that Jesus follows the law of sacrifice after a leper has been cleansed ( Lev 13 – 14 ). But fresh on the heels of a sermon that stresses Jesus ’ distinctive approach to the law , the testimony is more likely to Jesus ’ power and identity . 8:5 centurion . A commanding officer of up to 100 soldiers . 8:7 Shall I come and heal him ? Most translations treat this as a statement : “ I shall come and heal him .” But Jesus makes no similar declarations elsewhere , while the emphatic Greek pronoun egō (“ I ”) may make better sense in a question . In other words , Jesus is asking if he , a Jew , should go to the home of a Gentile and risk ritual impurity . In so doing he draws out the man ’ s extraordinary belief that Jesus can heal from a distance . 8:10 – 12 Jesus doubtless enrages the Jewish crowd in Capernaum ( v . 5 ) by claiming ( 1 ) that this foreign officer of the hated occupying Roman forces has greater faith than anyone in Israel ( v . 10 ), and ( 2 ) that many will come from the ends of the earth to partake in the heavenly banquet of all God ’ s redeemed people , while many Israelites will be excluded ( vv . 11 – 12 ). 8:12 darkness . . . weeping and gnashing of teeth . Whether or not the darkness or gnashing is literal , Jesus ’ words powerfully depict hell as exclusion from God and all things good . As recently as 5:22 , Jesus speaks of the “ fire of hell ,” which does conflict with darkness if taken literally . The agony , however , remains very real . 8:14 – 17 Matthew generalizes from the final specific example of healing to large numbers of other sick who were brought to Christ . Peter ’ s house . See photo , p . 1831 . 8:16 Jesus did not heal every sick person he encountered ( cf . John 5:1 – 15 ), but on this occasion , he heals “ all ” who were brought to him . 8:17 This fulfills Isa 53:4 , part of the most famous suffering servant passage . Isaiah has primarily forgiveness of sin in mind , and Matthew applies it to physical diseases as well . There is healing in the atonement , but in this life it is only partial and on God ’ s terms and when he desires . The death rate remains 100 percent . Given vv . 1 – 16 , cleansing from ritual impurity may also be in view . 8:18 – 22 Two brief exchanges between Jesus and would-be disciples interrupt the succession of miracles to highlight the cost of following Jesus . Apparently , in each case Jesus ’ commands prove too demanding for the inquirers . First , a scribe promises more than he can actually deliver ( vv . 19 – 20 ); then another person refuses to follow wholeheartedly ( vv . 21 – 22 ).