1716 | Matthew 8:28
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
8:28-34pp — Mk 5:1-17 ; Lk 8:26-37
28 When he ar rived at the other side in the re gion of the Gad a renes , a two de mon-possessed s men com ing from the tombs met him . They were so vi o lent that no one could pass that way . 29 “ What do you want with us , t Son of God ?” they shouted . “ Have you come here to tor ture us be fore the ap pointed time ?” u
30 Some dis tance from them a large herd of pigs was feed ing . 31 The de mons begged Jesus , “ If you drive us out , send us into the herd of pigs .”
32 He said to them , “ Go !” So they came out and went into the pigs , and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the wa ter . 33 Those tend ing the pigs ran off , went into the town and re ported all this , in clud ing what had hap pened to the demon-possessed men . 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus . And when they saw him , they pleaded with him to leave their re gion . v
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
9:2-8pp — Mk 2:3-12 ; Lk 5:18-26
9 Jesus stepped into a boat , crossed over and came to his own town . w 2 Some men
brought to him a par a lyzed man , x ly ing on a mat . When Jesus saw their faith , y he said to the man , “ Take heart , z son ; your sins are for given .” a 3 At this , some of the teach ers of the law said to them selves , “ This fel low is blas phem ing !” b 4 Know ing their thoughts , c
Jesus said , “ Why do you en ter tain evil thoughts in your hearts ? 5 Which is eas ier : to say , ‘ Your sins are for given ,’ or to say , ‘ Get up and walk ’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man d has au thor ity on earth to for give sins .” So he said to the par a lyzed man , “ Get up , take your mat and go home .” 7 Then the man got up and went home . 8 When the crowd saw this , they were filled with awe ; and they praised God , e who had given such au thor ity to man .
8:28 s Mt 4:24
8:29 t Jdg 11:12 ; 2Sa 16:10 ; 1Ki 17:18 ; Mk 1:24 ; Lk 4:34 ; Jn 2:4 u 2Pe 2:4
8:34 v Lk 5:8 ; Ac 16:39 9:1 w Mt 4:13
9:2 x Mt 4:24 y ver 22 z Jn 16:33 a Lk 7:48
9:3 b Mt 26:65 ; Jn 10:33
9:4 c Ps 94:11 ; Mt 12:25 ; Lk 6:8 ; 9:47 ; 11:17
9:6 d Mt 8:20
9:8 e Mt 5:16 ; 15:31 ; Lk 7:16 ; 13:13 ; 17:15 ; 23:47 ; Jn 15:8 ; Ac 4:21 ; 11:18 ; 21:20
9:11 f Mt 11:19 ; Lk 5:30 ; 15:2 ; Gal 2:15
The Calling of Matthew
9:9-13pp — Mk 2:14-17 ; Lk 5:27-32
9 As Jesus went on from there , he saw a man named Mat thew sit ting at the tax col lec tor ’ s booth . “ Fol low me ,” he told him , and Mat thew got up and fol lowed him .
10 While Jesus was hav ing din ner at Mat thew ’ s house , many tax col lec tors and sin ners came and ate with him and his dis ci ples . 11 When the Phar i sees saw this , they asked his dis ci ples , “ Why does your teacher eat with tax col lec tors and sin ners ?” f
a 28 Some manuscripts Gergesenes ; other manuscripts Gerasenes
waves mount up .” Jesus demonstrates his divinity . 8:28 – 34 Mark refers to one demonized individual rather than two ( Mark 5:1 – 20 ). But Mark does not say there is only one , and he may focus on the spokesman and / or the more distressed of the two . 8:28 the region of the Gadarenes . A large province east and southeast of the Sea of Galilee ( see map , p . 2558 ). A city within Gadara directly across the lake from Tiberias was Khersa , which could easily have been put into Greek as “ Gerasa .” Hence Mark 5:1 has “ Gerasenes .” Textual variants sometimes substituted “ Gergesenes ” as yet another translation for residents of Khersa . tombs . Demonized individuals were so unclean and destructive that they were attracted to tombs . 8:29 What do you want with us , Son of God ? Demons in the NT regularly recognize Jesus ’ identity but fear him and try to ward him off . Because Jesus ’ ministry will deal the death blow to the demonic realm but not yet entirely vanquish it — that remains for after his return — these demons ask if he has come “ to torture [ them ] before the appointed time .” 8:30 – 32 In keeping with this timetable , Jesus does not destroy the demons but permits them to enter a herd of pigs , which the demons in turn destroy . 8:30 herd of pigs . Typical Jewish reaction to this story , in a culture in which pigs were the most unclean of animals , probably ranged from laughter to a quiet recognition that the farmers , who should not have been raising pigs for food in the first place , got their appropriate comeuppance . 8:34 pleaded with him to leave their region . Reasons likely ranged from anger over the loss of the farmers ’ livelihood to fear of Jesus ’ power .
9:1 – 8 For the third straight time , a miracle calls even more attention to the question of Jesus ’ identity than to what he will do for people . 9:1 own town . Capernaum ( Mark 2:1 ), not Nazareth ( cf . Matt 4:13 ). 9:2 sins . Sometimes Jesus links a person ’ s affliction directly to their sins ( e . g ., John 5:14 ); sometimes he denies such a link ( e . g ., John 9:3 ). Neither relationship applies in all situations . 9:3 blaspheming . Simply declaring a person ’ s sins forgiven would not have meant one was blaspheming . Priests did it regularly . But making such a declaration while bypassing the temple authorities and the biblical requirements for animal sacrifices was something only God could do . 9:5 easier . It is far easier to say , “ Your sins are forgiven ” than “ Get up and walk ” because the first of these commands cannot be disproved as easily . So to show that Jesus has the authority to make the easier claim , he demonstrates his miracle-working power that vindicates the harder claim . 9:8 The onlookers do not necessarily draw the correct conclusions about Jesus ’ identity , concluding only that God had given remarkable “ authority to man .” 9:9 – 17 As in 8:18 – 22 , Matthew punctuates his collection of miracles with teachings on discipleship : his own call to be an apostle and Jesus ’ teaching about fasting . 9:9 – 13 Unlike the fishermen in 4:18 – 22 , there is no indication in any of the Gospels that Matthew had any prior exposure to Jesus , though of course he may have . 9:9 Matthew . Mark 2:14 refers to him as Levi . It was common for people in Jesus ’ day to have two or three names . Matthew may be using the name by which he became better known . the tax collector ’ s booth . It was probably on the edge of Capernaum as a place for collecting tolls and / or customs duties . Jews would have despised Matthew , a Jewish middleman collecting levies for Rome . He may also have made his own living by charging higher fees than required and skimming the extra off the top for himself . 9:11 tax collectors and sinners . Lumped together , showing how notorious the former had become .