When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

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

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

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.

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

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.

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

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

11 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.

12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

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

15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

16 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:

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

18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 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.

21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

26 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.

27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

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.

29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

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

31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

32 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.

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

34 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.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds [a]followed Him. And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).”(A) Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”(B)

As Jesus went into Capernaum, a [b]centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help],(C) and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God’s promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior], 12 while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger].”(D) 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.

Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed

14 When Jesus went into Peter’s house [in Capernaum], He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.(E) 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and served Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah], 17 so that He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases.”(F)

Discipleship Tested

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 19 Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go.”(G) 20 Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the [c]Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”(H) 21 Another of the [d]disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and [e]bury my father (collect my inheritance).”(I) 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead.”

23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.(J) 24 And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping. 25 And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great and wonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness]. 27 The men wondered in amazement, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Jesus Casts Out Demons

28 When He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs met Him. They were so extremely fierce and violent that no one could pass by that way.(K) 29 And they screamed out, “[f]What business do we have [in common] with each other, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time [of judgment]?”(L) 30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was grazing. 31 The demons began begging Him, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” So they came out [of the men] and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons. 34 And the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:1 See note 4:19.
  2. Matthew 8:5 A Roman military officer commanding a hundred men.
  3. Matthew 8:20 Jesus uses this title to identify Himself as Messiah. It appears over eighty times in the Gospels.
  4. Matthew 8:21 Disciple does not always refer to a true believer, but may also be used to refer to someone who is merely a student or learner.
  5. Matthew 8:21 Possibly an idiom meaning something like, “after my father dies and after I observe the traditional mourning period and after I receive my inheritance, then I will do such and such.” This was probably nothing more than a petty excuse to avoid making a commitment to Jesus and had nothing to do with the condition of the man’s father (who was probably fine).
  6. Matthew 8:29 Lit What to us and to you, originally a Hebrew idiom which does not translate well into English. The idiom is meant to bluntly inform the other person that the speaker is not aware of any obligation between them, and does not wish to deal with the other person (cf 2 Sam 16:10). It can also express the speaker’s protest that he has not harmed the other individual, and therefore should not suffer harm at the hands of that person (cf 1 Kin 17:18).

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the hillside.

Look! A leper is approaching. He kneels before him, worshiping. “Sir,” the leper pleads, “if you want to, you can heal me.”

Jesus touches the man. “I want to,” he says. “Be healed.” And instantly the leprosy disappears.

Then Jesus says to him, “Don’t stop to talk to anyone;[a] go right over to the priest to be examined; and take with you the offering required by Moses’ law for lepers who are healed—a public testimony of your cure.”

5-6 When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came and pled with him to come to his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and racked with pain.

“Yes,” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8-9 Then the officer said, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my home; and it isn’t necessary for you to come.[b] If you will only stand here and say, ‘Be healed,’ my servant will get well! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave boy, ‘Do this or that,’ and he does it. And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to go—and it will go!”

10 Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles like this Roman officer,[c] shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12 And many an Israelite—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—shall be cast into outer darkness, into the place of weeping and torment.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened!” And the boy was healed that same hour!

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her; and she got up and prepared a meal for them![d]

16 That evening several demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus; and when he spoke a single word, all the demons fled; and all the sick were healed. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases.”[e]

18 When Jesus noticed how large the crowd was growing, he instructed his disciples to get ready to cross to the other side of the lake.

19 Just then[f] one of the Jewish religious teachers said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you no matter where you go!”

20 But Jesus said, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah,[g] have no home of my own—no place to lay my head.”

21 Another of his disciples said, “Sir, when my father is dead, then I will follow you.”[h]

22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me now![i] Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead.”

23 Then he got into a boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly a terrible storm came up, with waves higher than the boat. But Jesus was asleep.

25 The disciples went to him and wakened him, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re sinking!”

26 But Jesus answered, “O you men of little faith! Why are you so frightened?” Then he stood up and rebuked the wind and waves, and the storm subsided and all was calm. 27 The disciples just sat there, awed! “Who is this,” they asked themselves, “that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

28 When they arrived on the other side of the lake, in the country of the Gadarenes, two men with demons in them met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area.

29 They began screaming at him, “What do you want with us, O Son of God? You have no right to torment us yet.”[j]

30 A herd of pigs was feeding in the distance, 31 so the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

32 “All right,” Jesus told them. “Begone.”

And they came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed over a cliff and drowned in the water below. 33 The herdsmen fled to the nearest city with the story of what had happened, 34 and the entire population came rushing out to see Jesus and begged him to go away and leave them alone.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:4 Don’t stop to talk to anyone, literally, “See you tell no man.”
  2. Matthew 8:8 and it isn’t necessary for you to come, implied.
  3. Matthew 8:11 like this Roman officer, implied.
  4. Matthew 8:15 prepared a meal for them, literally, “ministered unto them.”
  5. Matthew 8:17 He took our sicknesses and bore our diseases, see Isaiah 53:4.
  6. Matthew 8:19 Just then, implied. one of the Jewish religious teachers, literally, “a scribe.”
  7. Matthew 8:20 the Messiah, literally, “the Son of Man.”
  8. Matthew 8:21 when my father is dead, then I will follow you, or “let me first go and bury my father.”
  9. Matthew 8:22 now, implied. spiritually dead, implied.
  10. Matthew 8:29 You have no right to torment us yet, literally, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?”