Bible Commentaries
Matthew 8

Verses 1-99

Ch. 8: 1 4 . A Leper is cleansed

St Mark 1:40-44 ; St Luke 5:12 , where the cure is placed in “a certain city.”

2 . a leper ] St Luke has “full of leprosy,” a term implying the gravity of the disease, not that it covered the whole body, in which case the leper was pronounced clean, Leviticus 13:12 , Leviticus 13:13 , Leviticus 13:16 , Leviticus 13:17 . See Our Lord’s Miracles of Healing , ch. 4 (Belcher). Leprosy is to be regarded as especially symbolic of sin: the beginning of the disease is almost unnoticed, it is contagious (this point is disputed, but see in confirmation of the note Belcher, Our Lord’s Miracles of Healing , ch. 4, also Meyer ad loc. who takes the same view), in its worst form it is incurable except by the touch of Christ; it separated a man and classed him with the dead.

worshipped him ] The imperfect in the original marks that persistency in prayer, which Jesus had just promised should win acceptance; while the leper’s words imply a faith which is another condition of acceptance.

4 . the gift that Moses commanded ] “two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet and hyssop.” And on the eighth day “two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil.” Leviticus 14:4 , Leviticus 14:10 .

for a testimony unto them ] Either (1) to the priests, or (2) to the people who were following Jesus; in either case to shew that Jesus came to fulfil the law. Christ enjoins the cleansed leper to tell no one, thus instructing us that He would not have people converted by His miracles. Christ addresses Himself to men’s hearts not to their eyes or ears. He will not fling Himself from the height of the temple to persuade men.

5 13 . Cure of a Centurion’s Servant

St Luke 7:1-10 , where the incident is placed immediately after the Sermon on the Mount. The centurion sends a deputation of Jewish elders to Jesus, who speak of the worthiness of the centurion and of his love to the nation, “he built us a synagogue.” St Luke does not introduce our Lord’s comparison between Jew and Gentile, and the promises to the latter. This last point is characteristic the rejection of the Jews is not dwelt upon when the Gospel is preached to the Gentiles. This might be further illustrated from the Acts.

5 . a centurion ] i. e. a captain or commander of a century a company normally composed of a hundred men, the sixtieth part of a legion in the Roman army. This centurion was probably an officer in the army of Herod Antipas, which would be modelled after the Roman fashion.

6 . my servant ] or “slave;” the Greek word is a more affectionate term than the word translated servant in v. 9.

the palsy ] i. e. paralysis, a disease often free from acute suffering, but when it is accompanied by contraction of the muscles, the pain, as in this case, is very grievous. St Luke does not name the nature of the disease.

8 . The centurion answered ] The argument lies in a comparison between the centurion’s command and the authority of Jesus. “If I who am under authority command others, how much more hast thou power to command who art under no authority? If I can send my soldiers or my slave to execute my orders, how much more canst thou send thy ministering spirits to do thy bidding?” The centurion was doubtless acquainted with the Jewish belief on the subject of angels, their subordination and their office as ministers of God.

9 . my servant ] Rather, slave . Observe the centurion’s orders, his soldiers come and go, i. e. march when he bids them. His slave he orders to do this, i. e. perform any servile work.

Mark this as the first contact of Jesus with slavery. With such relations between master and slave as these slavery would soon pass away.

It was no express enactment of Christ, but the Spirit of Christ, which this centurion had caught, that abolished slavery.

11 . sit down ] i. e. recline at a feast. The image of a banquet is often used to represent the joy of the kingdom of heaven. Luke 14:15 , Luke 14:22 :29, Luke 14:30 ; Revelation 19:9 .

12 . outer darkness ] i. e. the darkness outside the house in which the banquet is going on.

14 17 . The Cure of Peter’s Mother-in-law of a Fever, Mark 1:29-31 ; Luke 4:38 , Luke 4:39

St Luke’s description bears special marks of scientific accuracy.

14 . Peter’s house ] From John 1:44 we learn that Bethsaida was the city of Andrew and Simon Peter. Either then (i) they had changed their home to Capernaum, or (2) Bethsaida was close to Capernaum. One theory is that Bethsaida was the port of Capernaum.

laid, and sick of a fever ] St Luke uses a technical term, “great fever,” the symptoms of which were those of typhus fever.

laid ] Literally, struck down , an expression which denotes the great and sudden prostration which characterises typhus fever.

15 . the fever left her ] The completeness and suddenness of the cure prove the miraculous nature of it.

ministered unto them ] Eager, as good housewives are to return to their work.

unto them ] There is high MS. authority for “unto Him.”

16 . with his word ] not by a touch, as in the case of leprosy and fever. Christ never laid his hand on demoniacs.

17 . Isaiah 53:4 .

18 22 . Fitness for Discipleship. Luke 9:57-62

St Luke names three instances, and places the scene of the incident in Samaria.

The instances are typical of the way in which Jesus deals with different characters. To one attracted by the promises of the Gospel and full of eagerness, Jesus presents the darker side the difficulties of the Christian life; the half-hearted discipleship of the other is confronted with the necessity of absolute self-renunciation.

19 . We are not told whether this scribe, thus brought face to face with privation and hardship, was daunted like the young ruler (ch. 19:16), or persevered like the sons of Zebedee (ch. 20:22).

20 . the Son of man ] The origin of this expression as a Messianic title is found in Daniel 7:13 : “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with (in) the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him before him.” Hence to the Jews it would be a familiar designation of the Messiah the King whose “everlasting dominion” is described in the next verse (Daniel 7:14 ). (See Dr Pusey, On Daniel , Lecture ii.)

The Hebraism may be considered in the light of similar expressions, “sons of light,” “son of perdition,” “son of peace,” &c., in all of which the genitive denotes a quality inherent in the subject. Sons of light=the spiritually enlightened, sons of wisdom=the wise. By the Son of man then is meant He who is essentially man, who took man’s nature upon Him, who is man’s representative before God, shewing the possibilities of purified human nature, and so making atonement practicable.

The title “Son of man,” so frequently used by our Lord of Himself, is not applied to Him except by Stephen (Acts 7:56 ), “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” It occurs also in the Vision of St John with a direct reference to the words of Daniel (Revelation 1:13 , Revelation 14:14 ).

21 . to go ] Rather, to go away, depart .

22 . let the dead bury their dead ] Or, their own dead . The exact force of this is not quite clear. The word “dead” is used first in a figurative, secondly, in a literal sense. In a figurative sense by the “dead” are intended those who are outside the kingdom, who are dead to the true life. Perhaps a brother or brothers of the disciple had rejected Christ, “let them bury their father.” Another way of understanding the proverb is: Let those who are dead in Christ, dead to the world, bury their dead their affections and lusts, all that connects them with that dead past. St Luke, after “let the dead bury their dead,” adds, “but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” Perhaps no incident marks more decisively the height of self-abandonment required by Jesus of His followers. In this instance the disciple is called upon to renounce for Christ’s sake the last and most sacred of filial duties. The unswerving devotion to Christ is illustrated in the parallel passage (Luke 9:62 ) by “the man who puts his hand to the plough.”

23 27 . The Storm on the Lake. Mark 4:35-41 ; Luke 8:22-25

St Mark, as usual, adds some interesting details: “it was evening-there were other little ships-a great storm of wind the waves beat into the ship He was asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship.”

With all these points of difference in seven short verses, how can it be said that St Mark’s Gospel is an abridgment of St Matthew’s?

23 . a ship ] Rather, the ship or fishing-boat, i. e. the boat which Jesus always used.

24 . he was asleep ] The expression in the original is very impressive. He, the Master, continued to sleep. It is the only place where the sleep of Jesus is named.

26 . faith = “trust,” “confidence.”

27 . the men ] the disciples, and other fishermen who were also on the Lake: see account in Mark.

28 34 . The Gadarene Demoniacs. St Mark 5:1-20 ; St Luke 8:26-39

St Mark and St Luke make mention of one demoniac only. St Mark relates the incident at greater length and with more particularity. St Matthew omits the impossibility of binding him with chains, the absence of clothing, the wild cries night and day, the name “legion,” the prayer not to be sent into the “abyss” (Luke), the request of one of the demoniacs to be with Jesus, and the charge which Jesus gives him to tell his friends what great things the Lord had done for him.

28 . Gergesenes ] The readings vary between Gerasenes, Gadarenes and Gergesenes. Gerasa and Gergesa are forms of the same name. Gadara was some distance to the south of the Lake. It was, however, the capital of Peræa, and the more important place; possibly Gergesa was under its jurisdiction. Gergesa is identified with the modern Khersa; in the neighbourhood of which “rocks with caves in them very suitable for tombs, a verdant sward with bulbous roots on which the swine might feed” (Macgregor, Rob Roy ), and a steep descent to the verge of the Lake, exactly correspond with the circumstances of the miracle. (See Map.)

tombs hewn out of the mountain-sides formed convenient dwelling-places for the demoniacs.

29 . What have we to do with thee ] Not “what is there in common between you and us?” but “what cause of war is there between us?” The same expression occurs in this sense 2 Chronicles 35:21 .

31 . devils ] The Greek word here and in the parallel passages is a masculine and not a neuter form. The same word occurs in two other passages (Revelation 16:14 and 18:2), and nowhere else in N. T.

32 . a steep place ] Translate, the steep place . The slope of Gergesa, familiar to Matthew and to the readers of his Gospel.

33 . they that kept them ] It does not appear whether these were Jews or Gentiles, more probably the latter; if the former, they were transgressing the law.

(1) This narrative may be regarded as a signal instance of Metanoia , or change from the old evil state to the new life. (2) It recalls the connection between sin and disease. The majority of cases of mania may be traced to sins of impurity; the impurity expelled, the man becomes sound in body as well as in mind. (3) The destruction of the swine should present no difficulty. The same God, who, for purposes often hidden, allows men to die by thousands in war or by pestilence, here, by the destruction of a herd of swine, enforces a moral lesson which the world has never forgotten.

34 . that he would depart ] The motive for the request was fear lest a greater disaster should follow (Meyer).