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The Gospels · New Testament

Matthew 8

Matthew 8: healings, a storm stilled and a city's request

General context

Coming down from the mountain with crowds following, Jesus is met by a leper who says he can make him clean if he will. Jesus touches him, the leprosy is cleansed, and he is told to say nothing but to show himself to the priest and offer what Moses commanded. At Capernaum a centurion asks help for a servant sick of the palsy, says a word spoken at a distance will be enough, and explains his reasoning from military authority. Jesus marvels, speaks of faith not found in Israel, of many coming from east and west, and of children of the kingdom cast out, and the servant is healed in that hour. In Peter's house he touches the hand of Peter's wife's mother and the fever leaves. At evening many possessed and sick are brought and healed, which the narrator ties to a saying of Esaias. Two would-be followers are answered, one with a saying about foxes and birds, the other with a command not to wait for a burial. Crossing the sea, Jesus sleeps through a tempest, is woken, rebukes the winds and the sea, and the men ask what manner of man he is. On the other side two possessed men meet him among the tombs, the devils enter a herd of swine that drowns, and the whole city asks him to leave.

Cited passages: Matthew 8:2, Matthew 8:3, Matthew 8:4, Matthew 8:6, Matthew 8:8, Matthew 8:9, Matthew 8:10, Matthew 8:11, Matthew 8:13, Matthew 8:14, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:17, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 8:22, Matthew 8:24, Matthew 8:26, Matthew 8:28, Matthew 8:32, Matthew 8:34

Matthew 8 (KJV)

1When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

2And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

3And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

5And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,

6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

14And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.

15And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

16When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

18Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

19And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

21And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.

22But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

23And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.

24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.

33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Neither the leper nor the centurion is named, and the centurion's servant is not named either. The woman healed at Capernaum is identified only by relation, as Peter's wife's mother, which is the chapter's one statement about Peter's household. Matthew prints the Esaias quotation as Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses, while Isaiah 53:4 reads Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, so the terms differ. Matthew's account of the crossing names the country of the Gergesenes and says two possessed men met him. The phrase Son of man appears here for the first time in the book, spoken by Jesus about himself. The second would-be follower is called another of his disciples and is not named. The chapter records that the city asked Jesus to leave and does not say what happened to the two men afterward.

Cited passages: Matthew 8:2, Matthew 8:5, Matthew 8:14, Matthew 8:17, Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:20, Matthew 8:21, Matthew 8:28, Matthew 8:34

Literary context

The chapter is a run of short scenes joined by movement, and the word behold marks its turns, from the leper in verse 2 to the city in verse 34. Touch runs through the first half. Jesus puts out his hand and touches the leper, and he touches the hand of the woman with the fever, while the centurion asks for the opposite, a word spoken without a visit. That request draws the chapter's one recorded instance of Jesus marvelling. The second half sets two questions side by side. The men in the ship ask what manner of man this is and get no answer from the narrator, and the devils in the next scene answer with a title before anyone else does. The ending refuses a triumph: the crowd's astonishment of chapter 7 is replaced by a whole city asking him to go.

Cited passages: Matthew 8:3, Matthew 8:8, Matthew 8:10, Matthew 8:15, Matthew 8:16, Matthew 8:24, Matthew 8:25, Matthew 8:27, Matthew 8:29, Matthew 8:34

Key moments

  1. The leper touched (Matthew 8:3). Jesus touches the leper and the leprosy is cleansed at once.
  2. Speak the word only (Matthew 8:8). The centurion asks for a word rather than a visit to his house.
  3. Faith not found in Israel (Matthew 8:10). Jesus marvels at the centurion and says he has found no such faith in Israel.
  4. Fever leaves at a touch (Matthew 8:15). Peter's wife's mother is touched, the fever leaves, and she serves them.
  5. Nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8:20). Jesus answers a volunteering scribe with a saying about foxes, birds and the Son of man.
  6. The storm rebuked (Matthew 8:26). Jesus rebukes the winds and the sea and a great calm follows.
  7. The city asks him to go (Matthew 8:34). After the swine drown, the whole city asks Jesus to leave their coasts.

For reflection

The men in the ship ask what manner of man this is, and the narrator never answers them. What does it change that the next voices to name him are the ones coming out of the tombs?

People in this chapter

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