Matthew 8

Notes for BSF

JESUS HEALS THOSE WHO SEEK HIM (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45)

Jesus was willing to cleanse anyone who reaches out to him.

Leprosy, to this day, has no cure. We now know that it's a bacterial disease and is contagious. Back then, there was no medicine to keep it under control, and the only people who knew how to deal with leprosy were God's people, because through Moses, God taught the Israelites how to deal with it (Leviticus, Deuteronomy). Anyone with leprosy back then was quarantined and not allowed to come into contact with people, because the disease was contagious and deadly. If a leper was approaching anyone, he/she had to announce loudly from a long ways off, so that others would be aware and keep proper distance. It's safe to say that lepers are kept isolated, and the lives of lepers were very lonely.

Jesus, however, instead of staying far away from the leper, He accepted him and healed him. Jesus accepts all those who reach out to Him and seek His cleansing -- ALL.


OUR FAITH SHOULD BE AS GREAT AS THE CENTURION’S (Matthew 8:5-13)

Matthew 8:8
Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.

The centurion was a military officer who understood obedience and trust from his soldiers. He applied his experience in the military and obeyed and trusted Jesus as His commander in the same way. His faith was so strong, he didn’t need to have Jesus make the long way to get to his servant in order to heal him. He knew that as long as Jesus promised him that his servant was fine, then he would be fine.

The centurion was also a great master. He went through all this trouble to fight for his servant's life, illustrating the great love he had for his servant.

Matthew 8:10
When Jesus heard it, He marveled.

Jesus, as documented in the Bible, marveled only twice. This was one of those two times. The amazing faith of the centurion was so strong, Jesus took note of it!


OUR RESPONSE TO HEALING SHOULD BE AS IMMEDIATE AS THAT OF PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW (Matthew 8:14-15)

He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses (Isaiah 53:4)
Jesus took our sins upon himself so that we may be clean. Our lives should reflect our commitment in our Lord.

Immediately after being healed by Jesus, Peter's mother-in-law got back up and started serving. As Christians, we have been resurrected spiritually from our lives dead in sin. Like Peter's mother-in-law, we should recognize our new life in Christ and begin living in Christ, serving Christ.


FOLLOWING JESUS IS NOT EASY (Matthew 8:18-22)

As Jesus warned those who wanted to follow him, there would be no rest on this journey. If we commit to following Jesus, we need to be ready to for the hard walk ahead. Why will the walk be hard? We are living in the middle of a spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12), headed by Satan in the attempt to overthrow God. Anyone who chooses to side with Christ will be an enemy of Satan and his demons. This is why Christians will be persecuted and attacked (2 Timothy 3:12). However, the award that awaits us in Heaven is great. Our eternal salvation is most certainly worth fighting for.

Matthew 8:22
Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.

Luke 9:60
Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

Back in those days, sons would wait for their fathers to pass away before they can move on. When a potential disciple in this passage asked Jesus to wait until his father had passed, his father may not even be near death. This son could be asking for Jesus that he wants to wait until his father passed away before he followed Jesus. This could be 10, 20, maybe even 50 years later! Jesus told him that he should not wait to follow Him.

Whether the father was near death is speculation on my part. It may very well be the case that the father had already passed, and the potential disciple was asking for time to at least bury his father before he takes off. Either case, one could argue that Jesus was insensitive. But. Was He?

Recall the history of David mourning for his first son with Bethsheba (2 Samuel 12:16-23). While the child was sick, David prayed and fasted hard, day and night. However, once the child was declared dead, David mourned no more and went on with his life so fast that his servants were shocked and asked him why the dramatic difference. David responded:

2 Samuel 12:22-23
While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, "Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?" But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

David, despite his sins, had a great understanding of God and His love. He knew that those who are alive are those who can still be saved (physically and spiritually). If he wanted his son to be saved, then he has to take advantage of the time that he was alive. Once his son passed, there was nothing more he could do. The child had gone to the LORD, and David knew he would one day rejoin him -- but his son will not be coming back to him.

The same concept applies here, as Jesus told this son to let the dead bury the dead. We need to realize that if we love a person, we do everything we can for him WHILE HE IS STILL ALIVE. Once he is dead, his fate is sealed, and he is either with the LORD or with Satan. To mourn for the dead, that may be culturally sensitive, but in the eyes of the Truth, in the eyes of God, that makes no logical sense at all, because there is now nothing we can do for him! This is why we should follow Jesus immediately, to secure our salvation while we are still alive -- and along the way, make the Truth be known to all those we love, so that they may accept Jesus while they have the chance. It makes absolutely no sense to wait. We should focus on saving people while they are still alive. If we don’t take advantage of this when they are still alive, why do we mourn, when it’s too late?

These passages urge us to focus on the eternal. If we love someone, we don’t wait to tell him the most important truth in life. We do our best and fight hard to make sure we save as many people as we can while they are all still alive.


JESUS HAS POWER OVER NATURE AND DEMONS (Matthew 8:23-34)

Jesus calmed the wind and water (Matthew 8:23-27)
As Jesus and his disciples traveled in a boat, a great storm struck fear in the hearts of the disciples. Since these disciples had seen plenty of storms during their time as fishermen, we can gather that this storm was no normal storm. It was either one of the greatest storms they had ever experienced, or there was something supernatural about the storm. (Since the storm responded to Jesus' rebuke, it was very likely that the storm was demonic.)

The disciples were all very amazed that Jesus had power over the wind and water, but the take-away message for me is that when we rest in the Lord, we can survive anything.

Paul, the apostle, had also suffered through a horrible storm (Acts 27). Yet, instead of freaking out, Paul was the rock that guided the men through the storm.

Coming back to this passage at hand, this is why Jesus rebuked his young disciples: their lack of faith.

Matthew 8:26
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

Instead of trusting in Jesus when facing the storm, they immediately doubted their abilities to live through the storm. They doubted because they relied only on their own abilities – and that’s why they were afraid. If they had deep faith in God and relied on God for life as Paul did, they would have been shaken. As we face the storms of our lives, by completely trusting in God, we will survive even the greatest and most ferocious of storms.

Jesus rebuked the demons and had authority over them (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20)
This passage illustrates a man who was possessed by about 6000 demons. (A Roman legion composed of 6000 soldiers.) The demons who possessed were strong, unable to be contained by chains or shackles (Mark 5:4), and none had been able to help this man with his struggles against these demons. The man was so tormented, he tried to cut himself (Mark 5:5), and even that could not free him from this torture. 

We can gain several important insights from this passage:

1. The demons knew who Jesus is
Every demon, without needing Jesus to announce Himself, knew immediately who Jesus is -- even from long ways off.

Matthew 8:29
And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, you Son of God?"

2. The demons had to obey Jesus
When the demons saw Jesus, they were afraid. Wow, right? We are afraid of demons, and here, we see that they are extremely afraid of Jesus. Furthermore, the demons asked Jesus to not torment them. They had to seek His permission to be cast out of the man and go into the pigs instead. If Jesus told them to get out, they get out. And if Jesus does not permit them to go one way, they cannot just do what they wished. 

Note to self: Be under Jesus' protection, and nothing can touch me.

3. The demons knew the time had not yet come

Matthew 8:29
Have You come here to torment us before the time?

The demons KNOW the time of Jesus coming. They do not know the exact day (no one knows that except the Father; Matthew 24:36), but they know the season -- and they knew that time has not yet come.

Note to self: If the demons know the seasons, then I ought to know as well.

4. The demons knew their fate were in Hell and knew Hell is horrible
They knew that when Jesus comes in His time, they would be tossed into the Lake of Fire (which is why they asked Jesus if He had come to torment them). This fate was so horrible, they would rather be cast into pigs who jumped to their death than to be cast into Hell before the time had come.

Note to self: Hell is not an imaginary place. It is so real, even the demons fear it.

We need to understand the serious implications of the spiritual warfare that we are in. We may not like to hear about sins and Hell and Satan and demons, but these are all very real. What do we do with this information? What did the people of the town do? We see that many of them, because they were afraid of what they had just witnessed, asked Jesus to leave (Matthew 8:34). Instead of seeking answers and understanding, they allowed fear to overtake them and keep them blinded, ignorant, and worse, unsaved.

What do we need to do with this information? Seek understanding; don't remain ignorant. For those who are in Christ, we are comforted. Satan and demons are not foes to be ignored or taken lightly; without Jesus, we don't stand a chance against them. However, with Jesus in our lead, we know we are in good hands.