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Matthew 8
The Voice

This teaching is different. Usually rabbis cite generations of rabbis before them when making claims about the meaning of Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus honors the law, but He is clear—the law must be read in a new way.

8 Large crowds followed Jesus when He came down from the mountain. 2 And as Jesus was going along, a leper approached Him and knelt down before Him.

Leper: Lord, if You wish to, please heal me and make me clean!

Jesus (stretching out His hand): 3 Of course I wish to. Be clean.

Immediately the man was healed.

Jesus: 4 Don’t tell anyone what just happened. Rather, go to the priest, show yourself to him, and give a wave offering as Moses commanded. Your actions will tell the story of what happened here today.

5 Eventually Jesus came to the little town of Capernaum. In Capernaum a military officer came to Him and asked Him for help.

Officer: 6 Lord, I have a servant who is lying at home in agony, paralyzed.

Jesus: 7 I will come to your house, and I will heal him.

Officer: 8 Lord, I don’t deserve to have You in my house. And, in truth, I know You don’t need to be with my servant to heal him. Just say the word, and he will be healed. 9 That, after all, is how authority works. My troops obey me whether I am next to them or not—similarly, this sickness will obey You.

10 Jesus was stunned by the depth of the officer’s faith.

Jesus (to His followers): This is the plain truth: I have not met a single person in Israel with as much faith as this officer. 11 It will not be just the children of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who celebrate at their heavenly banquet at the end of time. No, people will come from the East and the West—and those who recognize Me, regardless of their lineage, will sit with Me at that feast. 12 But those who have feigned their faith will be cast out into outer darkness where people weep and grind their teeth.

13 Then Jesus turned to the Centurion.[a]

Jesus: You may go home. For it is as you say it is; it is as you believe.

And the officer’s servant was healed, right then.

What happens next seems to embody the officer’s wise opinion about authority: over and over Jesus shows just what His authority means.

14 Jesus went to Peter’s house, and there He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed, sick and burning up with a fever. 15 Jesus touched her hand, and then she was healed—the fever vanished. She got up from bed and began to wait on Him.

16 Toward nighttime many people who were possessed by demons were brought to Jesus, and He said one word of command and drove the demons out, healing everyone who was sick. 17 These miraculous healings fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had predicted:

He took our infirmities upon Himself,
    and He bore our diseases.[b]

18 Jesus saw that a crowd had gathered around Him, and He gave orders to go to the other side of the sea. 19 A scribe came up to Him.

Scribe: Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.

Jesus: 20 Foxes have dens in which to sleep, and the birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

Disciple: 21 Jesus, before I do the things You’ve asked me to do, I must first bury my father.

Jesus: 22 Follow Me! And let the dead bury their own dead.

Does Jesus say, “Fair enough, you must of course bury your father. Just catch up with Me when you are done”? No. This is one of the strange and radical things Jesus brings about—our families are no longer our families. Our deepest bonds are not those of blood. Our family now is found in the bonds of fellowship made possible by this Jesus.

23 And then Jesus got into a boat, and His disciples followed Him. 24 Out of nowhere, a vicious storm blew over the sea. Waves were lapping up over the boat, threatening to overtake it! Yet Jesus was asleep. 25 Frightened (not to mention confused—how could anyone sleep through this?), the disciples woke Him up.

Disciples: Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!

Jesus: 26 Please! What are you so afraid of, you of little faith?

Jesus got up, told the wind and the waves to calm down, and they did. The sea became still and calm once again. 27 The disciples were astonished.

Disciples: Who is this? What sort of man is He, that the sea and the winds listen to Him?

28 Eventually Jesus came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gadarenes. There, two men who lived near the tombs and were possessed by demons came out to the seaside and met Jesus. They were flailing about, so violent that they obstructed the path of anyone who came their way.

Demons (screaming at Jesus): 29 Why are You here? Have You come to torture us even before the judgment day, O Son of God?

30 A ways off, though still visible, was a large herd of pigs, eating.

Demons: 31 If You cast us out of the bodies of these two men, do send us into that herd of pigs!

Jesus: 32 Very well then, go!

And the demons flew out of the bodies of the two flailing men, they set upon the pigs, and every last pig rushed over a steep bank into the sea and drowned. 33 The pig herders (totally undone, as you can imagine) took off; they headed straight for town, where they told everyone what they’d just seen—even about the demon-possessed men. 34 And so the whole town came out to see Jesus for themselves. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their area.

Footnotes

  1. 8:13 A Roman military officer in charge of about 100 foot soldiers
  2. 8:17 Isaiah 53:4
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Matthieu 8
La Bible du Semeur

L’Évangile et l’autorité de Jésus

Jésus guérit les malades(A)

8 Quand Jésus descendit de la montagne, une foule nombreuse le suivit. 2 Et voici qu’un lépreux s’approcha et se prosterna devant lui en disant : Seigneur, si tu le veux, tu peux me rendre pur[a].

3 Jésus tendit la main et le toucha en disant : Je le veux, sois pur.

Aussitôt, il fut purifié de sa lèpre.

4 – Attention, lui dit Jésus, ne le dis à personne ; mais va te faire examiner par le prêtre et apporte l’offrande prescrite par Moïse. Cela leur servira de témoignage[b].

(Lc 7.1-10)

5 Jésus entrait à Capernaüm, quand un officier romain l’aborda. 6 Il le supplia : Seigneur, mon serviteur est couché chez moi, il est paralysé, il souffre terriblement.

7 – Je vais chez toi, lui répondit Jésus, et je le guérirai.

8 – Seigneur, dit alors l’officier, je ne remplis pas les conditions[c] pour te recevoir dans ma maison, mais tu n’as qu’un mot à dire et mon serviteur sera guéri. 9 Car, moi-même, je suis un officier subalterne, mais j’ai des soldats sous mes ordres, et quand je dis à l’un : « Va ! », il va. Quand je dis à un autre : « Viens ! », il vient. Quand je dis à mon esclave : « Fais ceci ! », il le fait.

10 En entendant cela, Jésus fut rempli d’admiration et, s’adressant à ceux qui le suivaient, il dit : Vraiment, je vous l’assure : chez personne, en Israël, je n’ai trouvé une telle foi ! 11 Je vous le déclare : beaucoup viendront de l’Orient et de l’Occident et prendront place à table auprès d’Abraham, d’Isaac et de Jacob, dans le royaume des cieux. 12 Mais ceux qui devaient hériter du royaume, ceux-là seront jetés dans les ténèbres du dehors. Là, il y aura des pleurs et d’amers regrets.

13 Puis Jésus dit à l’officier : Rentre chez toi et qu’il te soit fait selon ce que tu as cru. Et, à l’heure même, son serviteur fut guéri.

Il a porté nos maladies(B)

14 Jésus se rendit alors à la maison de Pierre. Il trouva la belle-mère de celui-ci alitée, avec une forte fièvre. 15 Il lui prit la main, et la fièvre la quitta. Alors elle se leva et se mit à le servir.

16 Le soir venu, on lui amena beaucoup de gens qui étaient sous l’emprise de démons : par sa parole, il chassa ces esprits mauvais. Il guérit aussi tous les malades. 17 Ainsi s’accomplissait cette parole du prophète Esaïe :

Il s’est chargé de nos infirmités
et il a porté nos maladies[d] .

L’engagement total du disciple(C)

18 Lorsque Jésus se vit entouré d’une foule nombreuse, il donna ordre à ses disciples de passer de l’autre côté du lac. 19 Un spécialiste de la Loi s’approcha et lui dit : Maître, je te suivrai partout où tu iras.

20 Jésus lui répondit : Les renards ont des tanières et les oiseaux du ciel des nids ; mais le Fils de l’homme n’a pas d’endroit où reposer sa tête.

21 – Seigneur, lui dit un autre qui était de ses disciples, permets-moi d’aller d’abord enterrer mon père.

22 Mais Jésus lui répondit : Suis-moi et laisse à ceux qui sont morts le soin d’enterrer leurs morts.

Plus fort que la tempête(D)

23 Il monta dans un bateau et ses disciples le suivirent. 24 Tout à coup, une grande tempête se leva sur le lac et les vagues passaient par-dessus le bateau. Pendant ce temps, Jésus dormait. 25 Les disciples s’approchèrent de lui et le réveillèrent en criant : Seigneur, sauve-nous, nous sommes perdus !

26 – Pourquoi avez-vous si peur ? leur dit-il. Votre foi est bien petite !

Alors il se leva, parla sévèrement au vent et au lac, et il se fit un grand calme.

27 Saisis d’étonnement, ceux qui étaient présents disaient : Quel est donc cet homme pour que même les vents et le lac lui obéissent ?

Plus fort que les démons(E)

28 Quand il fut arrivé de l’autre côté du lac, dans la région de Gadara[e], deux hommes qui étaient sous l’emprise de démons sortirent des tombeaux et vinrent à sa rencontre. Ils étaient si dangereux que personne n’osait plus passer par ce chemin. 29 Et voici qu’ils se mirent à crier : Que nous veux-tu, Fils de Dieu ? Es-tu venu nous tourmenter avant le temps ?

30 Or, il y avait, à quelque distance de là, un grand troupeau de porcs[f] en train de paître. 31 Les démons supplièrent Jésus : Si tu veux nous chasser, envoie-nous dans ce troupeau de porcs.

32 – Allez ! leur dit-il.

Les démons sortirent de ces deux hommes et entrèrent dans les porcs. Aussitôt, tout le troupeau s’élança du haut de la pente et se précipita dans le lac, et toutes les bêtes périrent noyées.

33 Les gardiens du troupeau s’enfuirent, coururent à la ville et allèrent raconter tout ce qui s’était passé, en particulier ce qui était arrivé aux deux hommes qui étaient sous l’emprise de démons. 34 Là-dessus, tous les habitants de la ville sortirent à la rencontre de Jésus et, quand ils le virent, le supplièrent de quitter leur territoire.

Footnotes

  1. 8.2 C’est-à-dire tu peux me guérir. La lèpre rendait rituellement impur ; demander à être purifié équivalait à demander la guérison.
  2. 8.4 Autres traductions : cela leur prouvera qui je suis ou cela prouvera à tous que tu es guéri ou cela prouvera à tous mon respect de la Loi.
  3. 8.8 Ou : je ne suis pas digne (voir 3.11). L’officier romain savait sans doute que la tradition ne permettait pas aux Juifs de pénétrer dans la maison d’un non-Juif.
  4. 8.17 Es 53.4.
  5. 8.28 Gadara se trouvait en territoire non juif, à 10 kilomètres au sud-est du lac de Galilée.
  6. 8.30 Le porc était, selon la Loi de Moïse, un animal impur (Lv 11.7). Seuls les non-Juifs élevaient des porcs.
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Matthew 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

III. Ministry and Mission in Galilee[a]

Chapter 8

The Cleansing of a Leper. 1 (A)When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And then a leper[b] approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” 3 He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. 4 [c]Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed;(B) that will be proof for them.”

The Healing of a Centurion’s Servant.[d] 5 (C)When he entered Capernaum,[e] a centurion approached him and appealed to him, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully.” 7 He said to him, “I will come and cure him.” 8 The centurion said in reply,[f] “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ 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 following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel[g] have I found such faith. 11 (D)I say to you,[h] many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour [his] servant was healed.

The Cure of Peter’s Mother-in-Law.[i] 14 (E)Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.(F)

Other Healings. 16 When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word[j] and cured all the sick, 17 to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:[k](G)

“He took away our infirmities
    and bore our diseases.”

The Would-be Followers of Jesus.[l] 18 (H)When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side.[m] 19 (I)A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher,[n] I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man[o] has nowhere to rest his head.” 21 Another of [his] disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 22 [p]But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”

The Calming of the Storm at Sea. 23 [q](J)He got into a boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a violent storm[r] came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. 25 (K)They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us![s] We are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”[t] Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. 27 The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniacs. 28 (L)When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes,[u] two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. 29 They cried out, “What have you to do with us,[v] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.[w] 31 The demons pleaded with him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.”(M) 32 And he said to them, “Go then!” They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. 33 The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.

Footnotes

  1. 8:1–9:38 This narrative section of the second book of the gospel is composed of nine miracle stories, most of which are found in Mark, although Matthew does not follow the Marcan order and abbreviates the stories radically. The stories are arranged in three groups of three, each group followed by a section composed principally of sayings of Jesus about discipleship. Mt 9:35 is an almost verbatim repetition of Mt 4:23. Each speaks of Jesus’ teaching, preaching, and healing. The teaching and preaching form the content of Mt 5–7; the healing, that of Mt 8–9. Some scholars speak of a portrayal of Jesus as “Messiah of the Word” in Mt 5–7 and “Messiah of the Deed” in Mt 8–9. That is accurate so far as it goes, but there is also a strong emphasis on discipleship in Mt 8–9; these chapters have not only christological but ecclesiological import.
  2. 8:2 A leper: see note on Mk 1:40.
  3. 8:4 Cf. Lv 14:2–9. That will be proof for them: the Greek can also mean “that will be proof against them.” It is not clear whether them refers to the priests or the people.
  4. 8:5–13 This story comes from Q (see Lk 7:1–10) and is also reflected in Jn 4:46–54. The similarity between the Q story and the Johannine is due to a common oral tradition, not to a common literary source. As in the later story of the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21–28) Jesus here breaks with his usual procedure of ministering only to Israelites and anticipates the mission to the Gentiles.
  5. 8:5 A centurion: a military officer commanding a hundred men. He was probably in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee; see note on Mt 14:1.
  6. 8:8–9 Acquainted by his position with the force of a command, the centurion expresses faith in the power of Jesus’ mere word.
  7. 8:10 In no one in Israel: there is good textual attestation (e.g., Codex Sinaiticus) for a reading identical with that of Lk 7:9, “not even in Israel.” But that seems to be due to a harmonization of Matthew with Luke.
  8. 8:11–12 Matthew inserts into the story a Q saying (see Lk 13:28–29) about the entrance of Gentiles into the kingdom and the exclusion of those Israelites who, though descended from the patriarchs and members of the chosen nation (the children of the kingdom), refused to believe in Jesus. There will be wailing and grinding of teeth: the first occurrence of a phrase used frequently in this gospel to describe final condemnation (Mt 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). It is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Lk 13:28.
  9. 8:14–15 Cf. Mk 1:29–31. Unlike Mark, Matthew has no implied request by others for the woman’s cure. Jesus acts on his own initiative, and the cured woman rises and waits not on “them” (Mk 1:31) but on him.
  10. 8:16 By a word: a Matthean addition to Mk 1:34; cf. 8:8.
  11. 8:17 This fulfillment citation from Is 53:4 follows the MT, not the LXX. The prophet speaks of the Servant of the Lord who suffers vicariously for the sins (“infirmities”) of others; Matthew takes the infirmities as physical afflictions.
  12. 8:18–22 This passage between the first and second series of miracles about following Jesus is taken from Q (see Lk 9:57–62). The third of the three sayings found in the source is absent from Matthew.
  13. 8:18 The other side: i.e., of the Sea of Galilee.
  14. 8:19 Teacher: for Matthew, this designation of Jesus is true, for he has Jesus using it of himself (Mt 10:24, 25; 23:8; 26:18), yet when it is used of him by others they are either his opponents (Mt 9:11; 12:38; 17:24; 22:16, 24, 36) or, as here and in Mt 19:16, well-disposed persons who cannot see more deeply. Thus it reveals an inadequate recognition of who Jesus is.
  15. 8:20 Son of Man: see note on Mk 8:31. This is the first occurrence in Matthew of a term that appears in the New Testament only in sayings of Jesus, except for Acts 7:56 and possibly Mt 9:6 (// Mk 2:10; Lk 5:24). In Matthew it refers to Jesus in his ministry (seven times, as here), in his passion and resurrection (nine times, e.g., Mt 17:22), and in his glorious coming at the end of the age (thirteen times, e.g., Mt 24:30).
  16. 8:22 Let the dead bury their dead: the demand of Jesus overrides what both the Jewish and the Hellenistic world regarded as a filial obligation of the highest importance. See note on Lk 9:60.
  17. 8:23 His disciples followed him: the first miracle in the second group (Mt 8:23–9:8) is introduced by a verse that links it with the preceding sayings by the catchword “follow.” In Mark the initiative in entering the boat is taken by the disciples (Mk 4:35–41); here, Jesus enters first and the disciples follow.
  18. 8:24 Storm: literally, “earthquake,” a word commonly used in apocalyptic literature for the shaking of the old world when God brings in his kingdom. All the synoptics use it in depicting the events preceding the parousia of the Son of Man (Mt 24:7; Mk 13:8; Lk 21:11). Matthew has introduced it here and in his account of the death and resurrection of Jesus (Mt 27:51–54; 28:2).
  19. 8:25 The reverent plea of the disciples contrasts sharply with their reproach of Jesus in Mk 4:38.
  20. 8:26 You of little faith: see note on Mt 6:30. Great calm: Jesus’ calming the sea may be meant to recall the Old Testament theme of God’s control over the chaotic waters (Ps 65:8; 89:10; 93:3–4; 107:29).
  21. 8:28 Gadarenes: this is the reading of Codex Vaticanus, supported by other important textual witnesses. The original reading of Codex Sinaiticus was Gazarenes, later changed to Gergesenes, and a few versions have Gerasenes. Each of these readings points to a different territory connected, respectively, with the cities Gadara, Gergesa, and Gerasa (modern Jerash). There is the same confusion of readings in the parallel texts, Mk 5:1 and Lk 8:26; there the best reading seems to be “Gerasenes,” whereas “Gadarenes” is probably the original reading in Matthew. The town of Gadara was about five miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, and Josephus (Life 9:42) refers to it as possessing territory that lay on that sea. Two demoniacs: Mark (5:1–20) has one.
  22. 8:29 What have you to do with us?: see note on Jn 2:4. Before the appointed time: the notion that evil spirits were allowed by God to afflict human beings until the time of the final judgment is found in Enoch 16:1 and Jubilees 10:7–10.
  23. 8:30 The tending of pigs, animals considered unclean by Mosaic law (Lv 11:6–7), indicates that the population was Gentile.
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