Matthew 8

This chapter recounts what Jesus did after finishing the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5–7) and coming down from the mountain. It opens a collection of miracle stories that continues through chapter 9. Having taught with words, Jesus now demonstrates through his actions his authority over disease, demons, and nature.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 A leper asks to be made clean. Jesus touches and heals him, then tells him to show himself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded.
• Verses 5–13 In Capernaum a centurion pleads on behalf of his servant, who lies sick of the palsy, and asks Jesus to "speak the word only." Jesus says he has not found so great faith, no, not in Israel, and the servant is healed in that same hour.
• Verses 14–15 In Peter's house Jesus touches the hand of Peter's mother-in-law, who lies sick of a fever, and heals her.
• Verses 16–17 When evening comes, he heals those possessed with devils and those who are sick. Matthew presents this as the fulfillment of the words of Isaiah.
• Verses 18–22 To a scribe who offers to follow him, Jesus answers that "the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." To a disciple who wishes first to bury his father, he says, "Follow me."
• Verses 23–27 When a great tempest arises on the sea, the disciples wake the sleeping Jesus. He rebukes the winds and the sea, and there is a great calm.
• Verses 28–34 In the country of the Gadarenes he meets two men possessed with devils who live among the tombs, and he casts out the demons. The demons enter a herd of swine, which rushes into the sea and perishes. The people of that region then beg Jesus to leave their territory.

Key Verses

• Matthew 8:8 "Speak the word only" — shows both the faith of the Gentile centurion and the authority of Jesus' word.
• Matthew 8:17 "Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" — applies Isaiah 53:4 to Jesus' healing ministry (Matthew 8:16–17, Isaiah 53:4–6).
• Matthew 8:27 "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" — raises the question of who Jesus is.

People and Places

• Jesus Christ: In this chapter he calls himself the Son of Man and is addressed by the demons as the Son of God.
• The centurion: a commander of roughly one hundred soldiers. The context of verses 11–12 indicates that he is to be understood as a Gentile.
• Peter: one of the Twelve Disciples. His house and his mother-in-law appear in the chapter.
• Scribes: those who copied and taught the Law.
• Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: mentioned in verse 11 as the patriarchs who sit down at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.
• Capernaum: a town on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee and the center of Jesus' ministry in Galilee.
• Gadara: a region across the Sea of Galilee, on its southeastern side.

Points for Reflection

• Translating the disease: The Korean Revised Version renders the disease with an older Korean term for leprosy (mundungbyeong), while the New Korean Revised Version uses the standard term nabyeong. Many scholars hold that the biblical term covers a range of skin diseases and therefore cannot be identified with certainty as modern Hansen's disease.
• Parallel passages: The account of the centurion also appears in Luke 7, where Luke reports that the centurion sent Jewish elders to make his request. The account of the demon-possessed men also appears in Mark 5 and Luke 8, where the place is called Gerasa and only one possessed man is mentioned (Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac). Interpreters account for these differences in various ways.
• Verses 11–12: The saying that many will come from the east and west and sit down in the kingdom of heaven is understood to depict a Kingdom of God that embraces even the Gentiles. It also anticipates the Great Commission in chapter 28.
• Verse 17 and healing: The Pentecostal tradition and the Korea Assemblies of God cite this verse as a basis for belief in divine healing, holding that Christ's atonement (his bearing the penalty for sin in our place) also includes physical healing. By contrast, many interpreters in the Reformed tradition regard the verse as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy in Jesus' earthly healing ministry and do not simply equate atonement with healing.
• Verse 8: In the Catholic Mass, the prayer said before Communion, "only say the word," derives from these words of the centurion.

In the Korean Church

The faith of the centurion and the Calming of the Storm are frequently used in sermons and Sunday school lessons as texts for teaching about faith.