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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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Matthew 8
Lexham English Bible

A Leper Cleansed

8 And when[a] he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper approached and[b] worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.” 3 And extending his hand he touched him, saying, “I am willing, be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

A Centurion’s Slave Healed

5 Now when[c] he entered Capernaum, a centurion approached him, appealing to him 6 and saying, “Lord, my slave[d] is lying paralyzed in my[e] house, terribly tormented!” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and[f] heal him.” 8 And the centurion answered and[g] said, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should come in under my roof. But only say the word and my slave will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority who has soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another one, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it[h].”

10 Now when[i] Jesus heard this,[j] he was astonished, and said to those who were following him,[k] “Truly I say to you, I have found such great faith with no one in Israel. 11 But I say to you that many will come from east and west and be seated at the banquet[l] with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, as you have believed it will be done for you.” And the slave[m] was healed at that hour.

Many at Capernaum Are Healed

14 And when[n] Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying down and suffering with a fever. 15 And he touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.

16 Now when it[o] was evening, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he expelled the spirits with a word. And he healed all those who were sick,[p] 17 in order that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled, who said,

“He himself took away our sicknesses,
and carried away our diseases.”[q]

Would-be Followers

18 Now when[r] Jesus saw many crowds[s] around him, he gave orders to depart to the other side.[t] 19 And a scribe approached and[u] said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21 And another of the disciples[v] said to him, “Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead!”

Calming of a Storm

23 And as[w] he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, a great storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being inundated by the waves, but he himself was asleep. 25 And they came and[x] woke him, saying, “Lord, save us![y] We are perishing!” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you fearful, you of little faith?” Then he got up and[z] rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm. 27 And the men were astonished, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Demon-possessed Gadarenes Healed

28 And when[aa] he came to the other side,[ab] to the region of the Gadarenes,[ac] two demon-possessed men coming from among the tombs met him, very violent, so that no one was able to pass by along that road. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, “What do you have to do with us,[ad] Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”[ae] 30 Now a long way from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 So the demons implored him, saying, “If you are going to expel us, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go!” So they departed and[af] went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed headlong down the steep slope into the sea and drowned in the water. 33 Now the herdsmen fled and went into the town and[ag] reported everything, including the things concerning the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they[ah] saw him, they implored him[ai] that he would depart from their region.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 8:1 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“came down”)
  2. Matthew 8:2 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“approached”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Matthew 8:5 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“entered”)
  4. Matthew 8:6 Traditionally “servant”; the Greek term here is one often used of a slave who was regarded with some degree of affection, possibly a personal servant (the parallel passage in Luke 7:7 uses the more common term for slave)
  5. Matthew 8:6 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  6. Matthew 8:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“come”) has been translated as a finite verb
  7. Matthew 8:8 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
  8. Matthew 8:9 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation (see the parallel in Luke 7:8).
  9. Matthew 8:10 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  10. Matthew 8:10 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  11. Matthew 8:10 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  12. Matthew 8:11 Literally “recline at table”
  13. Matthew 8:13 Many later manuscripts have “his slave”
  14. Matthew 8:14 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
  15. Matthew 8:16 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was”)
  16. Matthew 8:16 Literally “those who were having badly”
  17. Matthew 8:17 A quotation from Isa 53:4
  18. Matthew 8:18 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  19. Matthew 8:18 Some manuscripts have “a crowd”
  20. Matthew 8:18 That is, the other side of the Sea of Galilee
  21. Matthew 8:19 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“approached”) has been translated as a finite verb
  22. Matthew 8:21 Some manuscripts have “of his disciples”
  23. Matthew 8:23 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“got”) which is understood as temporal
  24. Matthew 8:25 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
  25. Matthew 8:25 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  26. Matthew 8:26 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“got up”) has been translated as a finite verb
  27. Matthew 8:28 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“came”)
  28. Matthew 8:28 That is, the other side of the Sea of Galilee
  29. Matthew 8:28 Many manuscripts read “Gergesenes”; others read “Gerasenes” (see Luke 8:26)
  30. Matthew 8:29 Literally “what to us and to you”
  31. Matthew 8:29 That is, before the appointed time of judgment
  32. Matthew 8:32 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“departed”) has been translated as a finite verb
  33. Matthew 8:33 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went”) has been translated as a finite verb
  34. Matthew 8:34 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
  35. Matthew 8:34 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
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