Matthew
8
New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus
Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith
8
When [a]Jesus came down from the mountain, [b]large crowds followed Him. 2 And
a leper came to Him and [c]bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are
willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched
him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was
cleansed. 4 And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show
yourself to the priest and present the [d]offering that Moses commanded, as a
testimony to them.”
5
And when [e]Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6
and saying, “[f]Lord, my [g]servant is [h]lying paralyzed at home, fearfully
tormented.” 7 Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the
centurion said, “[i]Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but
just [j]say the word, and my [k]servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man
under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he
goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he
does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were
following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith [l]with
anyone in Israel. 11 I say to you that many will come from east and west, and
[m]recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;
12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in
that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to
the centurion, “Go; [n]it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the
[o]servant was healed that very [p]moment.
Peter’s
Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed
14
When Jesus came into Peter’s [q]home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in
bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got
up and [r]waited on Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who
were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all
who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
“He Himself took our infirmities and [s]carried away our diseases.”
Discipleship
Tested
18
Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other
side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow
You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the
birds of the [t]air have [u]nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His
head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go
and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead
to bury their own dead.”
23
When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there
arose [v]a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the
waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him,
saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He *said to them, “Why are you
[w]afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and
the sea, and [x]it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said,
“What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Jesus
Casts Out Demons
28
When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who
were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so
extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out,
saying, “[y]What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come
here to torment us before [z]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine
feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying,
“If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He
said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole
herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The
herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [aa]including
what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to
meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
Bible
Panorama
Matthew 8
V 1–17: COMPREHENSIVENESS Jesus heals the unclean leper (verses 1 to
4), the centurion’s servant (verses 5 to 13), Peter’s mother-in-law (verses 14
and 15) and demon-possessed and sick people (verses 16 and 17). He meets the
needs of many different types of people, irrespective of their background,
social standing, gender, or age.
V 18–22: COST Jesus’ responses to
a scribe and then to a disciple reveal that following Him must come before
where we prefer to live and what our family wants us to do. (There is no
suggestion that the disciple’s father is actually dying at the time when his
son wants to delay following Christ until after his burial.)
V 23–34: CALM The Lord Jesus
Christ stills the storm, showing His power over nature, and casts out demons
from demon-possessed people, showing His power over Satan. He can deal with the
storms and domination of Satan in men and women. That is why the whole city
comes out to meet Him. But, sadly, they want Him to leave.
The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005
Day One Publications.
Yours by His
Grace
Blair
Humphreys
Southport, Merseyside
January 19th
2014
