May 23, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Matthew? Here’s today’s reading:
Matthew 8 (NIV)
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
1 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,”he said. “Be clean!”Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.……Continue Reading
Matthew 8
The man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus. He asked Jesus if he was willing you can make me clean. Jesus said I am willing. Be clean! and he was immediately cleansed and healed. He asked and already believed that Jesus could do this if he was willing. We get not because we ask not.
The centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant with out going to his home. Jesus said he had not seen anyone with that much faith in all of Israel. Jesus said Go! Just as you believed it was done!.
The disciples in a boat in the middle of a storm said Lord save us we are gong to drowned . You of little faith. Why are you so afraid. He calmed the winds and the waves. Even after them seeing everything he had done before this! After sending the demons into the pigs and them drowning the whole town came and pleaded with him to leave their region.
Psalm 107: 29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
And so it is calm, a peace that passeth all understanding, thank you Jesus! -reb
Lots of Jesus healings today in Matthew 8. The man with leprosy, the centurion’s servant, and Peter’s mother-in-law. The centurion in particular was quite a special one because the centurion believed that Jesus could heal his servant without even being in the home. Jesus praised him for his great faith and healed his servant. A disciple asked to go and bury his father and Jesus said,”Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”(Matthew 8:22) This may seem harsh but Jesus knows and wants what is best for us and we need to trust Him with all of our hearts. When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, she immediately got up and started to serve him. We should do all of our activities with this kind of vigor and enthusiasm for God’s glory.
“The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!'”
The Lord keeps his people safe at all times. It is funny how the disciples said,”‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him.'”
“He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.”(Matthew 8:32)
The pigs were afraid of the demon-possessed men so much that they went as far as to drown themselves in the river. The farmers did not like that all their pigs were killed and pleaded Jesus to leave their region. Those tending the pigs ran into town and told of what had happened. The word of this would spread and create people who dislike Jesus, creating a necessary public disliking for Jesus which would/may have contributed to his death.
”The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.“
Matthew 8:8-13 NKJV
Again, we see the difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven is Christ’s earthly kingdom in His Millennial reign (and if it had been established at His first coming). The Kingdom of God is in our hearts by faith and is spiritual. If we equate the two, then we enter and remain by our works and some sons will be thrown out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Jesus is acknowledging the Centurion’s faith and belief in Him….that many in Israel do not have….and those “sons of the kingdom of heaven” will be cast out.
Matthew 8:
Incredible examples of faith, along with examples of lack of faith due to fear.
The leper did not even ask Jesus to heal him. His was not a request…it was a statement of faith. “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” This man professed faith in the power of Jesus, and then left it up to Jesus to decide what He would do with that power. The man did not demand anything of Jesus, did not make a deal with Him or tell him he would follow Him if Jesus would only heal him. The man simply acknowledged Jesus as God and was content to be in His presence.
The centurion displays similar faith and humility, recognizing that Jesus was superior in all ways to himself, the centurion addresses Jesus as Lord. He also understands that Jesus has all authority to command sickness and illness to depart, indeed, to command reality itself. He tells Jesus there is no need for Him to come under his roof, and indeed, that he is not worthy to have his Lord in his house…but that if Jesus would only say the word, his servant would be healed. Jesus marvels at the faith of this man and makes it clear that many outside of Israel (from the east and from the west) would come and be joined with the patriarchs of the faith in the kingdom of heaven, while many of the Jews themselves (sons of the kingdom) would be cast away and punished.
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. For all our Roman Catholic friends…Peter, the one on whom they have built their priesthood, was married. Why are priests not allowed to be married again? Where is the biblical basis for this prohibition?
“Leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Seems harsh, right? But Jesus is making it clear that following Him must take priority over all things…even the burial of our loved ones here in this life. Why? Because there is far more to our existence than this life, and Jesus’s kingdom is not of this world…so we have to learn to let go of worldly things, as important as they may be, in order to be ready to follow Jesus in whatever He calls us to.
Storms at sea can be terrifying, I don’t blame the disciples for being scared. Jesus tells them to calm down…and then calms the storm. A display of absolute power over His creation, right in front of the disciples. And yet, fear would rise again and again in these men, as it does in us, and cause them to forget the power of God, and even deny they had anything to do with Jesus. Will we learn from their example and examples in our own lives, that the power of Jesus is absolute, and that ultimately, we have nothing to fear when we are in Christ? We fear the loss of our lives because we value ourselves too highly…
Even the demons believe. In the casting out of the demons, we see that they rightfully identify Jesus as “Son of God.” We see that it is not just knowing about Jesus that brings salvation, for certainly these demons were not saved through their knowledge of Jesus. But rather, it is faith in Christ…a living, active, observable faith, a free gift, given to us by God, that results in our salvation.
Matthew 8
In Matthew 8 he shows Jesus’s power and authority’ in the physical and spiritual realm over disease, demons, the weather when he calmed the storm and called out his followers for their lack of faith in him. He showed humility with the Centurion, for his faith and the humility he showed for his servant, so Jesus healed his servant. Jesus was able to drive out demons with a single word they fled his presence. He has the power to heal.
Amazing miracles in this chapter. Healing with a touch or a word, speaking to calm the weather, with a word casting out 2 demons.
Truly the Son if Almighty God.
Jesus didn`t always heal people by the same means. Sometimes by touch like the leper or Peter`s mother in law. Sometimes He just spoke and a person was healed like the centurion`s servant or calming the storm that His disciples were pleading for Him to stop. With the leper and centurion it was their faith in Him that caused a person to be healed. Sometimes, Jesus was showing an act of kindness by healing without someone asking Him in faith. As when He did when He healed Peter`s mother in law. Perhaps Peter or his wife asked Jesus to heal her but it doesn`t say. Jesus also freed two men of demons but they didn`t ask Jesus. It is only the demons that address Jesus. He sends the demons into swine and they drown. Other scripture says that there were around 2,000 swine. Does this mean that there were 2,000 demons? I believe so. Jesus continued to show His compassion toward people and did many miracles to show who He is. There were many other ways that Jesus did miracles such as putting mud on a blind man and healing him or sending a proud man into a dirty river to be healed. For those that believe that Peter didn`t get married; here is scripture clearly saying that Peter had a mother in law. It is always good to verify things with scripture for scripture gives us the answer.
Jesus can do anything He chooses to do and there is nothing too difficult for Him to manage. And as Dennis shares, He is not constrained by healing in a certain way for us to think the means is important, but it is about the power of Jesus/the Father and the faith people have in Him. He is also welcoming. It is not easy for a leper or a gentile to approach Him. They would be rejected by others, but not by Jesus. He even makes the miracles for these more public to show His acceptance of them. I like how Jesus says to the centurion, that an aspect of His ministry will be that Gentiles get it and the Jews don’t. And a stormy sea and a public nuisance caused by a demon possessed man is nothing for Jesus. It is important though to learn that Jesus works in the way that He chooses and it is best to trust Him for that and not drive Him away because you don’t like the way He did something. Because that is the nature of following Jesus. He doesn’t bring comfort and you can’t have your affections in two places. The key is to follow Him and leave our cares behind..or have Him transform our responsibilities to His glory rather than our own, without worry or pride…
Matthew 8
Matthew 8
Several great examples of not just Jesus’ power to heal in this chapter but also His ability to meet people where they are. Jesus heals people in so many different ways during His time on earth and they are typically reflective of the individual…a lepor needing to be touched but a centurion man only needing to be told. Jesus really does meet our needs and so often meets us where we are at; such great power but also such great love.
Matthew 8