Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith

8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds ^[a]followed Him. ² 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) 3} Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ 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)

⁵ As Jesus went into Capernaum, a ^[b]centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help],^{(C) 6} and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.