Matthew Chapter 8 Study

Welcome to Matthew chapter 8 bible study, presented by BibleStudyMinistry.com. This is a very interesting chapter in the Bible, and especially in the gospels. It continued the narrative from the previous chapter as Jesus was giving the “Sermon on the Mount.”

When He finished, He came down and the crowd was probably astonishingly following Him. A leperous man approached and asked Jesus if He would heal him by making him clean.

Interesting that this is the first specific healing to take place in the gospels, a man desiring to be clean. All mankind are dirty before the LORD and we all need to be cleansed.

The Kingdom of Heaven is Near

The man was commanded by Jesus to show himself to the priest, a custom in Israel commanded by Moses, and to present a gift for his testimony. At this point, the ministry is in full operation.

In the previous chapter the LORD was teaching, He’d already told people to turn back to the LORD God of Israel because the Kingdom of Heaven is near to come. Now the LORD Jesus was healing people.

He cleansed a man of the nation of Israel of his uncleanness and bid or committed him to keep the Torah law of Moses. The next event to happen in this chapter was for a centurion to approach Jesus. A centurion is a Roman military officer or Roman official.

The Centurion’s Faith

First thing is that he is not of the household of Israel, Judah, or anything connected to Abraham (so we presume). It could be he was an Israelite who was also a Roman official, just as we have people from distinct nations enlisted in their current nation in a government role or in the military.

However, it is presumed the centurion was not of the nation of Israel because of the nature of the encounter with Jesus and Jesus’ words following. The centurion asked the LORD to heal his steward who apparently fell ill to a very painful debilitating illness.

From the description, it sounds as if he had a stroke, but it is said to be the palsy. This is defined as paralysis, especially one accompanied by involuntary tremors and pain. Jesus agreed to heal the centurion’s steward.

Under Authority

Whether this was a man of the nation or not, the LORD agreed to heal him. This is where this took a detour from other healings. The centurion voiced to Jesus that he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus come to his home. He also understood authority.

He said he is under the authority and he has men under his authority. Paraphrased, he told Jesus that I give commands and whoever I give the command to, they go, come, or do as I said.

So all he wanted Jesus to do was give the command; he wanted Jesus to authorize the healing by giving the word, and he knew his steward would be healed.

Lack of Faith in Israel

This is something we should understand here!! Just as I was amazed hearing this, Jesus also marveled that this man, a centurion, also understood authority. Jesus turned to His disciples and said that He had not found such great faith in all Israel.

And because of the lack of faith in Israel, many of them will be outside looking in as many people would have come from the east and west, sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

However, the children of the kingdom, speaking of the physical children of Jacob, will be outside in outer darkness, weeping and gnashing their teeth. This is something very key to hopefully be explained to the children of Israel who more often than not, simply lack faith.

Healing the People

So Jesus sent the centurion on his way and authorize the healing by word and the steward of the centurion was healed in the same hour. Jesus’ reference that He had not found such faith in Israel and the whole children of the kingdom being removed, references why it is believed the centurion was actually a Roman and non-Israelite.

Therefore, Jesus healed and dealt with those who were not physical children of Israel. The chapter then gives us a couple of verses on Jesus healing Peter’s wife’s mother of fever. He also healed many people who were filled with demons or devils.

By a word, He removed the evil spirits in them. The LORD then made a reference that He was there to work. A man wanted to follow Him wherever He went; Jesus replied that He doesn’t have a home.

Spiritually Dead

This means, if you’re going to follow Him, you’re going to have to be on the move because that is what the Son of man does. He also addressed a man who wanted to bury his father first, where Jesus told him to leave that job to other spiritually dead people.

Let’s be about life, resurrecting others through the Word of God. The LORD then showed His power and connection to the Father by calming the sea of a violent storm that threatened to kill those aboard the ship.

They were headed to Gergesa and a violent storm came upon them and nearly knocked them over. Jesus, the Son of man, operated powers we don’t see too often. He calmed the sea by His word. He spoke to it because He had the authority.

Demons Trapped in the Earth

Now off the ship in the country of the Gergesenes, Jesus met a couple of guys filled with devils. These guys were fierce too; nobody in that town messed with them at all. They headed right for Jesus. They knew who He was.

Demonic spirits trapped on the earth know of or heard of Jesus from their days in the Heavenly Kingdom before they were thrown out. So they approached Jesus and asked if the time of judgment and torment was moved up.

Jesus told them to come out of the men and they asked if they could jump into a nearby herd of swine. Jesus allowed this and the herd of swine violently ran into the body of water.

Jesus Calms Even the Most Ruthless

The two men previously possessed by devils were back in their normal minds, and the people of the town did not like what took place. This is understandable. The two craziest and most ruthless men in the town were now subject to Jesus and His disciples.

It did not abode well with them. In addition, their herd of pigs was lost in the events. They wanted no trouble and asked Jesus to leave. No problem, because those two men will witness to the town, Jesus’ work was already done.

Undoubtedly, this is a chapter on healing, faith, more healing, more faith, and more healing. In order to come back to God, the world needs to be cleansed and healed. To do that, those who would be administered, need to act in courageous amounts of faith.

World Healing the World

The faith needs to be much like the centurion, who understood authority, and that of Jesus, who simply spoke the word. The world needs to be healed, physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, socially, economically, structurally, religiously, and theologically.

I hope you enjoyed this bible study and that you’ve gained from it immensely. If you have, we are happy and we hope you share it with someone you enjoy learning and growing with.

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May the Creator enrich you and keep you forever, Amen. This study was brought to you by BibleStudyMinistry.com

Thank you for being here, reading, or listening to this post.

We’re grateful for you and pray you’ve been edified in the name of the Word of ELOHIM. We pray peace, blessings, and healing over you and your household and we pray the blessings of the Holy Spirit for the fullness of the Gospel to be presented to you.

CHRIST came and said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. His disciples asked, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” This reminds us the LORD ALMIGHTY said, “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

This whole thing is about the Kingdom of ELOHIM. Each of us will find ourselves on one side of His Kingdom, and it is drawing nearer than many of us can actually perceive. If you have any questions, leave them in the comment section or contact us @ our contact page.