Bible Commentaries
Matthew 8

Verses 1-34

VIII 1-IX 34 The Messlas at Work In Galilee— The light that dawned on Galilee, 4:15f., with the teaching of Jesus, chh 5-7, now shines also through his works, chh 8-9. Mt selects as samples ten miracles. He recounts them in one group though (after the first three) with significant interruptions. Between the leper, 8:2-4, the son of the centurion, 5-13, Peter’s mother-in-law, 14f., there is no pause in the narrative. Mt then makes general mention of many miracles, 16f., and tells of the sobering demands made by Jesus of two enthusiastic would-be followers, 19-22. Our Lord and his disciples then cross to the cast side of the Lake, 23, and three more miracles are narrated: the calming of the storm, 24-27, the Gadarene exorcisms, 28-34, and (back in Capharnaum) the paralytic, 9:1-2. This last is followed by the disputes on forgiveness of sins, 3-8, and, after Matthew’s call, 9, on our Lord’s association with sinners, 10-13, and, finally, on the fasting question, 14-17. The last four miracles: Jairus dughter, 18-19, 23-25, the issue of blood, 20-22, the blind men of Capharnaum, 27-30, the dumb demoniac, 32-33, are interrupted only by comments on the effect of our Lord’s miracles, 26, 31, 33-34. Mt, indeed, makes a point of noting the human reactions to this prodigious display of power. The confidence of those in trouble, 8:2, 8, 16; 9:2, 18, 21, 28, the astonishment of the multitudes, 8:27; 9:8, 26, 31, 33, and, on the other hand, the cavils of some, 9:3, 11, 24, culminating in blind hostility, 9:34. In this section, therefore, we have not merely a list of miracles arranged systematically to prove our Lord’s powers. The miracles are narrated not, as it were, statically, but with a view to the dynamic development of our Lord’s ministry in itself and in its impact upon the public. As for the exact placing of the events in time, Mt’s general procedure and the fact that he is here selecting only samples of our Lord’s miracles forbid us to expect rigid chronological sequence. This last, however, is not entirely ignored. Matthew’s vocation, for example, is doubtless placed in its actual setting. The order of events is vastly different from Mk’s (cf.*Allen, xivxvii). For Mt’s independence of Mk, cf. §§ 610-15. For more ample historical detail on the miracles of chh 8-9, cf. commentaries on Mk and Lk.

VIII 1-4 The Leper (Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16)—By placing the miracle in this setting (after the Sermon) Mt illustrates the power of Jesus, and at the same time his respect for the Law; cf. 5:17. 1. This verse may perhaps be reckoned as part of the conclusion of the preceding account of the Sermon. In any case, it implies no close chronological connexion with the miracle, which took place probably before the Sermon.

2. The term’ leprosy’ was used of skin diseases of many degrees some of which were curable, though the cure had to be certified by the priests, Leviticus 13:2 ff. For description and distinction of various forms of’ leprosy ’ cf.Lev 13-14. Leprosy in the ordinary sense of the word, however, was the incurable disease eating away the extremities and covering the body with running sores until eventually the flesh rotted away. This second sense seems to be demanded here by Luke’s ’full of leprosy’, Luke 5:13. The leper had no right to approach: the precautions of the Law required that he live apart and never appear in public without warning.

3. Our Lord’s pity overlooks the legal fault. Moved by the man’s faith he touches the repulsive body. Aware of his own authority and of his power to heal, he fears neither legal contamination, Leviticus 15:7, nor physical. The cure is immediate.

4. Careful as ever, 9:30; 16:20; 17:9, to preclude popular excitement our Lord binds the man to silence; vainly however, Mark 1:45. The injunction does not necessarily exclude the presence of the ’multitudes’ (8:1, though see note). who may have been at ’some distance; or possibly our Lord forbids only a formal declaration made before the priests had pronounced. Indeed, though the man was cured he was not legally pure before such pronouncement. The Law must be respected: first, medical examination by the priests in Jerusalem, then the complicated ritual of purification. The ’gift’ (sacrifice) was, forthe poor, of one lamb or two turtle-doves; cf.Leviticus 14:1-32. The purpose of this last command is to afford to the official representatives of Judaism the opportunity of recognizing both the power of Jesus and his scrupulous respect for the Law.

VIII 5-13 The Centurion’s Servant (Luke 7:1-10)—Mt tells in summary fashion the more detailed story of Lk. The incident took place after the Sermon; cf.Luke 7:1-2.5. The centurion (commander of one hundred men, approximately ’sergeant-major’) though not a Jew, 10-12, was well-disposed to Judaism and had contributed to the building of a synagogue in Capharnaum, Luke 7:5. He was an officer, perhaps, of a Roman garrison at Capbarnaum or possibly of the army of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea. 6-8. A valued servant had been struck with paralysis (a general term covering, e.g. arthritis, meningitis). Having heard of the miracles of Jesus (cf. 4:23) the centurion enlists Jewish friends to ask him to visit the sick man (Lk; Mt’s account is shorter). Repenting his own action with its appearance of a brusque summons he hastens to forestall the visit and (through his friends; Lk) professes his unworthiness. The humble words of the pagan soldier have passed to the lips of the Christian priest.

9. The soldier knows what discipline is: he takes orders and gives them, and obedience is unquestioned (a man ’under authority’, one used to the atmosphere of military discipline). It is possible, however, that the original Aramaic read less awkwardly ’a man that hath . authority, and soldiers are under my charge’, *Black, 116 f.

10. As man, our Lord was capable of wonder: ’although nothing was hidden from Christ yet a thing could come freshly to his experiential human knowledge, and so produce wonder’ (ST 3, 15. 8 ad 1). Israelites had shown their faith in him, 4:24, but the centurion’s quiet conviction of his power to heal at a distance was a new experience.

11-13. Cf.Luke 13:28 f. The faith of this Gentile recalls to Mt the words of our Lord (used probably on the occasion assigned to them by Lk) lamenting the fate of ’the sons of the kingdom’, of those who would naturally be expected to inherit the blessings of the Messianic age. The images of the banquet (for ’sit do. with’ translate ’feast with’ WV) and of the darkness are familiar in Jewish description of the world to come. Nevertheless, Mt’s formula ’kingdom of the heavens’ (i.e. ’of God’) does not exclude the kingdom on earth; nor does it appear to do so in this place—especially as there is an allusion to those ’from east and west’ who, Malachi 1:11, are to become subjects of a kingdom of God on earth. Many of the Gentiles will inherit the promises made to the patriarchs and finally share their reward. Ironically the very children of the patriarchs will, as a body, be excluded. In the darkness that lies outside the kingdom shall be despair and fear: the weeping and the chattering (i.e. from fear, rather than ’gnashing’ from disappointed rage; cf. Lagrange, Comm. Lc., 390) spoken of in the Jewish eschatological literature. Though, in that literature, the phrases are used in connexion with a future, entirely transcendent order, we are not thereby forced to restrict our Lord’s thought to the same limits. For him the ’kingdom’ inherited by the Gentiles is the kingdom of which he is the centre here and hereafter.

14-15 Peter’s Mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38 f. —In the interests of his logical plan Mt, unlike Mk and Lk, ignores details of time and circumstance. Actually the miracle preceded those of the leper and the centurion’s servant. Simon (Mk; Lk) called ’Peter’ (Mt; cf. 4:18) though a native of Bethsaida, John 1:44, lived with his brother Andrew (Mk) in Capharnaum. The brothers invited our Lord (with James and John; cf. Mk) to take refreshment in their home. The woman, cured in the height of fever (Lk), prepares a meal for him (a?t?+?). This detail is mentioned in Mt’s summary account not as a picturesque circumstance, but to prove that the cure was instantaneous and complete.

16-17 Various Cures and Fulillment of Prophecy (cf. Mark 1:32-34; Luke 4:40-41)—After sunset, as soon as the Sabbath with its enforced rest was over (Mk; Lk) the people flocked thither with their sick. The miracle at Peter’s house was soon known in the village. Our Lord’s exorcisms, unlike the elaborate Jewish ceremonies, were worked by a simple command. Of the ’Servant of God’ who was to suffer the prophet had said: He has taken our sufferings upon himself and has burdened himself with our sorrows, Isaiah 53:4. Mt (who quotes here from the Heb. text and not from LXX) applies the words, as the context clearly shows, to the removal of human sufferings. It is not clear that Mt means that our Lord undertook to endure these sufferings himself since the text as used here might be satisfied by our Lord’s taking it upon himself to annihilate the suffering. Yet the Isaian prophecy means that the Servant himself assumed the suffering due to others (thus expiating human sin) and this sense would not escape the Christian reader fully aware of the Passion and its spiritual significance. Under the obvious sense of the quotation in this passage there lies, therefore, a profound dogmatic sense; cf. Lagrange.

18-22 Demands of Discipleship (Mark 4:35; Lk 8:22 9:57-60)—The date of the departure across the Lake and of the two miracles, 8:23-27, 28-34, is uncertain but it is placed much later in the Ministry by Mk and Lk. The incident of the two would-be disciples, 19-22, is perhaps correctly placed in Luke 9:57-60.

18. The ’multitudes’ surrounding Jesus are not necessarily the people of 16. Indeed, there is a ring of finality in 17 and, in any case, Mt does not mention the time of departure for the eastern side of the Lake.

19-20. On the way to the boat (Peter’s ?) a scribe (cf. 2:4 note) enthusiastically offers himself as a permanent disciple. Our Lord while not rejecting the offer warns him of the consequences of discipleship. It means sharing the homeless existence that Jesus is now embarking upon. Even the marauding fox and the wandering bird have their headquarters. Not so ’the Son of Man’. This is Mt’s first use of this strange title; he uses it 33 times in all. The expression (cf.Psalms 8:5 where ’a son of man’ means ’a mere human being’) is used by our Lord on about 40 occasions to emphasize his humanity and at the same time to surround it with a mysterious dignity. Its Messianic implication will appear only when it is placed in the setting of Daniel’s prophecy; cf. 26:64 note. Probably our Lord took the expression from Daniel (where ’one like a son of man’ is the symbol of the coming kingdom), giving it definition (’the Son of Man’). It is possible, too, that our Lord chose this title because he ’perceived the last consequences of the Messianic synthesis of lowly Servant, Is 53, and glorious Son of Man, Daniel 7:13f., thus accepting what Judaism in its retrospect upon its own prophetic history had refused to see or failed to grasp’ * W. Manson, Jesus the Messiah, London 1943, 117. On the ’Son of Man’ title; cf. §§ 621 h, 728b, 740h, 746d, 829f; also Lagrange, Ev. Mc., 1929, cxlix-cli; Joüon, 601-4; *Plummer, xxv-xxviii; * T. W. Manson, The Teaching of Jesus, 211-36; 258 ff.; A. Charue, L’Incrédulitédes Juifs dans le Nouveau Testament des Juifs dans le Nouveau Testament, Gembloux, 1929, 40-6; * C. H. Dodd., The Parables of the Kingdom, London 1935, 81-110.

21-22. Of the scribe’s reaction to our Lord’s words we know nothing. Now another person, one of the disciples (Joüon) and therefore expected to accompany Jesus on his journey, asks leave to stay and bury his father. The respite he asks is evidently short since, in Palestine, burial follows very soon afterdeath. But when God calls neither comfort must be considered, 19-20, nor even the most sacred human ties: Leave the burial of the dead to those who are not alive to the greater interests of God: (WV note).

23-27 Stilling the Tempest (Mark 4:36-41; Luke 8:22-25) —Storms come suddenly on the Lake of Galilee. Itself more than 600 ft below sea-level, it is surrounded by high bills. The differences of temperature produce sudden, high winds from the north-west. The waves rose high over the ship (KNT) but Jesus, taking the opportunity of a brief rest, was undisturbed. When the frightened disciples awakened him, he first (Mt) calmly rebuked the lack of faith shown in the cry ’We are perishing!’ They should have known they were safe with him, awake or asleep. Erect on the pitching boat he rebuked winds and sea as if they were unruly servants. Mt says that ’the men’ marvelled—a strange expression to use of the disciples (though cf. Joüon citing Heb. use for ’the men’ = ’they’). It is possible, therefore, that Mt is rounding-off his account of the miracle, as in 9:8, 26, by noting its effect upon the general public who would be informed by the disciples. Mt is more systematic and less picturesque throughout than Mk. For details, therefore, cf.Mark 4:36-41.

28-34 The Gadarene Demoniaes (Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)—They disembark in the district of Gadara (Mr ’of the Gadarenes’; Mk ’Gerasenes’; Lk Gergesenes’), a town of the Decapolis on a height c 6 in. SE. of the Lake (now Um Qeis). It was a wellknown town, even called ’ the metropolis of Peraea’ by Josepbus ( Bell. Iud.4, 7, 3 and cf. Schürer, 2, 1, 100-4) and perhaps for this reason Mt (or his translator) uses the name to indicate vaguely the place of disembarkation on the ’lakeside’. This place was probably at a spot called Moqâ Edlô where, after thirty yards of shore, the bank rises sharply to hills in which are natural caves possibly once used as tombs, 28. A mile or two to the north lies the deserted hamlet of Chorsia (el-Korsicf. Abel, Géographie de la Palestine, Paris 1938, 2, 300), doubtless the ’city’ of 33 f. It lies on the east side of the Lake facing Magdala; its name probably accounts for Mk’s ’country of the Gerasenes’.

28. Mk (followed by Lk) mentions only one demoniac, presumably the more violent of the two and around whom the account, as Mk received it, had centred. Mt has evidently an independent source of information.

29. The devils resent the pressure of the power that confronts them (Mk; Lk). They cry, through the possessed: Why dost thou meddle with us? (KNT). They complain that our Lord has invaded their territory before ’the time’ of their final expulsion to hell. Meanwhile they claimed the right to exercise their malignity on earth without interruption (cf. the Jewish apocalyptic writings, e.g. Book of Jubilees, 10:8; Henoch 10, 12-14).

30-31. In this predominantly pagan district the Talmudic prohibition against the rearing of pigs would be, as elsewhere, ignored. In any case, it is not said that their owners (much less their consumers) were Jews. For lack of a nobler object of their essential malignity the spirits ask to be sent into (or ’among’, Joüon) the herd (2,000, Mk) of swine.

32. Our Lord worked no second miracle to restrain the devils from the pigs. He was concerned with the salvation of human beings. Moreover, his rights over property were sovereign and the demoniac action, which he at least tolerated, was calculated to emphasize both the blind malignance of evil and his own mastery of it. These lessons, had they been learned, were more precious to the inhabitants than all their pigs.

33-34. ut the lessons were not learned, though the scared herdsmen took the story straight to the village. Fear (Lk) lost the villagers their great chance, and they asked I our Lord to go. Here again Mt’s account is summary. He has not the vivid description of the demoniac’s violence, Mark 5:3b-5, nor the subsequent history of the exorcized, Mark 5:15-20. He is concerned with the fact of the miracle and with its effect upon the public.