Matthew 8:1 ¶ When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And 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.
Chapter 8 of Matthew is the one that calls into question my belief
that the sermon in Luke 6 is a different sermon rather than a differently
remembered account of the one here in Matthew. Here is Matthew, before Jesus
encounters the Centurion’s sick servant he heals a leper. In Luke 7 He goes
right to Capernaum and His encounter with the sick servant of the Centurion.
So, if it is true that the Sermon on the Mount is the same event
in Matthew and in Luke then we come to a very important point of Biblical
interpretation. These writers are going on memory of the importance and meaning
of what Jesus said. We can never know what the originals were, at least on
earth. We have the meaning, the points made, here in Matthew and Luke’s
memories.
But different events are emphasized and different conditions are
explained. When things happened in reference to others is not as important as
the teachings given to us. Still, I am inclined to believe that these sermons
were given at different times, even if only slightly different, due to the
details. Think about that and pray. Most evangelicals believe they are the same
sermon, just different recollections. Just remember you cannot read the Bible
like you would your car owners’ manual.
We are reminded in this discussion that given by inspiration
does not mean word for word dictation and even uses, not only the writing
skills of the men who wrote, but their all too human memories. Keep in mind
what God has said about inspiration.
Job 32:8 But there is a
spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
2Peters 3:15 And account
that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother
Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
Keep in mind also that Matthew, an exacting collector and recorder
of taxes, relates a very spiritual message while Luke, recounting eyewitness
accounts he has gathered together, relates an almost social sermon.
What do you think? Do you believe they are the same sermon, just
two different versions, or are they different sermons given at different times
to different audiences?
Jesus is willing to heal the leper and the leper is willing to be
healed. This is very important for us. We ask for healing, spiritual and
physical, but are we willing to be healed? I remember a book by a
pop-psychiatrist named M. Scott Peck. I think it was People of the Lie. He
said, if I recall correctly, that he was amazed at the number of people with
severe mental illness who clearly resisted the efforts to heal them. The leper
was willing to be healed and Christ was willing to do the healing. Perfect
arrangement. What about us?
Jesus tells the healed leper to go to the priest and follow the
Law to be a testimony to the priests. See Leviticus, chapter 14. As one sermon
possibility when we follow the rules and are not rebellious as Christians we
testify to God’s power before those over us in authority. However, that is
difficult in reality in today’s world where outright communists rule over us
using a twisted definition of democracy as a cloak for their evil designs.
Another possible sermon illustration is that the Jews looked upon
someone with leprosy as a shameful recipient of God’s particular displeasure,
much like poverty was sometimes looked at in the past.Jesus was willing to heal
even the outcasts of society as He is willing to save even the bottommost part
of the social web.
Matthew 8:5 ¶ And when
Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching
him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant
lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and
heal him. 8 The 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. 9 For 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.
10 When 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. 11
And 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.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall
be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13 And 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.
A centurion was an officer in the Roman Army, the commander of a
century, about 80 legionnaires. Centuries were grouped into cohorts under senior
centurions.
The palsy is a reference to a form of paralysis (we
saw in Matthew 4 and will see in Mark 2 instances of this.)
The Roman officer declares an important point about God’s
sovereignty. God created the universe by a word, His Word, capital W, even, and
controls the universe, the one spoken sentence, by His words. It is by Him that
all things are held together.
Colossians 1:17 And he is
before all things, and by him all things consist.
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all
things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Christ’s authority and power is underscored elsewhere;
Luke 4:32 And they were astonished at
his doctrine: for his word was with power…36
And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a
word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits,
and they come out.
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in
earth.
The centurion’s declaration leads Jesus to make an important point
of prophecy for all of us Gentile Christians whose ancestors at this time were
worshipping the dead, some of them practicing human sacrifice, worshipping
trees, fire, water, and all manner of diverse vanities, living in utter and
complete darkness.
Jesus declares that such faith is not found in Israel. This
becomes one of the statements that open up the gospel and salvation to
Gentiles, as in all of the people of the earth, not just the Jews.
Genesis 12:3 And I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 22:18 And in thy
seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my
voice.
Genesis 28:14 And thy seed
shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west,
and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Psalm 22:27 All the ends of
the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the
nations shall worship before thee.
Psalm 98:3 He hath
remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of
the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Isaiah 2:2 And it shall
come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills;
and all nations shall flow unto it.
Luke 13:29 And they shall
come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south,
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
Acts 11:18 When they heard
these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God
also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Verse 13 has its parallels also. Here are a few examples. 13 And 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.
John 4:50 Jesus saith unto
him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had
spoken unto him, and he went his way.
Matthew 9:29 Then touched
he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even
as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
Matthew 8:14 ¶ And when
Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a
fever. 15 And he touched her hand, and
the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. 16 When 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: 17
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet,
saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Here is a reinforcement of the last passage with Jesus healing
with a touch and a word and casting out devils. Peter’s mother-in-law is
healed. Matthew tells us that this confirms and fulfills Isaiah when he writes;
Isaiah 53:4 ¶ Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
This confirms as well that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah
explained in Isaiah.
Isaiah 52:13 ¶ Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he
shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. 14 As many were astonied at thee; his visage was
so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men: 15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings
shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall
they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.
53:1 ¶ Who hath believed our report? and to whom is
the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty
that we should desire him. 3 He is
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and
we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and
from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was
any deceit in his mouth.
10 ¶ Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he
shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD
shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall
see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall
my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
See how Peter alludes to Isaiah 53:5;
5 But he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
1Peter 2:24 Who his own
self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Matthew 8:18 ¶ Now when
Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other
side. 19 And a certain scribe came, and
said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. 20 And 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. 21 And
another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my
father. 22 But Jesus said unto him,
Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
This scribe swears that he will follow Christ anywhere and Christ
replies with the fact that He, as the Messiah of the Jewish people, indeed of
the world, has no home. This suggests that the scribe better think of the cost
before he writes a check with his tongue that his actions can’t cash. Here is
the cost of following Christ in another passage;
Luke 14:25 ¶ And there went
great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
26 If any man come to me,
and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and
sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and
come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first,
and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the
foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and
was not able to finish. 31 Or what king,
going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth
whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with
twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the
other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions
of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he
be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Matthew 8:22 is a significantly important statement about how the
Jews of that time were spiritually dead. This is a stark condemnation of their
spiritual state. According to John Gill, who preached in Spurgeon’s church a
hundred years before him the Jews counted the sinner as dead and spoke of them,
even while alive, as dead.
Matthew 8:23 ¶ And when he
was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. 24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in
the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him,
and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And 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. 27 But the men
marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea
obey him!
Notice this Psalm;
Psalm 107:23 ¶ They that go
down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; 24 These see the works of the LORD, and his
wonders in the deep. 25 For he
commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go
down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man, and are at their wits’ end. 28 Then
they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their
distresses. 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.
Christ, God in human flesh, has power over the elements. He is
present in the storm but He is not the storm. See the following also;
Psalm 65:7 Which stilleth
the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
Psalm 89:8 O LORD God of
hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about
thee? 9 Thou rulest the raging of the
sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Matthew 8:28 ¶ And 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. 29 And,
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? 30 And there was a good way off from them an
herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the
devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the
herd of swine. 32 And 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. 33 And 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. 34 And, 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.
In this chapter Christ’s authority over disease and natural
occurrences like storms is made apparent. Here He will show His power over the
spirit world. Matthew reports that there were two men possessed of devils. Matthew
was an eyewitness. Mark gives a variant spelling of Gadarenes with Strong’s
saying they are the same and John Gill saying they are different towns near
each other and Mark only mentions one possessed person but Mark, supposedly
John Mark, is writing based on testimony of others. Only one possessed man is
focused on in Mark’s account in chapter 5 of his gospel. The difference is
completely irrelevant. I’ve seen many historical accounts that focus on one or
a few when many more were participants. If you have ever seen Band of
Brothers on HBO you certainly didn’t believe that they were the only
soldiers in the U.S. Army during WW2, did you? John Mark was writing, according
to tradition and the testimony of early church fathers, from sermons and
writings of Peter. I’ve discussed that previously and will again in my study on
Mark’s gospel.
Possessed people having a fascination with tombs and graveyards is
nothing out of the ordinary for us as we have a cult of death in this country
that associates everything from satanic rites in graveyards and horror movies
to abortion to a mass-die off of the human race to “save the planet” as being
good things. Gill wrote that the Jews had many myths about how the deads’
spirits hovered near their bodies for a period of time resulting in some people
trying to speak to them like the witch of Endor in 1Samuel 28. He also noted
that these tombs were large enough that you could find shelter in them.
The violent aspect of possessed people is attested to in other
places;
Mark 5:3 Who had his
dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with
fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the
fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the
mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
Acts 19:14 And there were
seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
15 And the evil spirit
answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
16 And the man in whom the
evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them,
so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
The devils acknowledge that Jesus is the Son, uppercase S, of God,
or God in the flesh, and has authority over them. What they plead with Jesus to
do, understanding that He will do something, is very interesting.
We know that swine are forbidden as food for the Jews. Pork was a
big part of the Roman soldier’s diet and there were probably many Gentiles in
this area who may have owned the swine. Let’s suppose for now that it was Jews
who owned and cared for these swine, whether their intent was on selling to the
Romans or not. Jews throughout history have been keen and, indeed, have made a
lot of money pandering to the desires of the Gentile. From banking in the
Middle Ages to something as unseemly today as peddling pornography they have
had a tremendous influence in satisfying the desires of the Gentile populations
around them. It would not be impossible to imagine Jews herding swine they
could not eat to make money off of the Gentile occupiers.
Here in the first recorded instance of “hogicide” or “deviled ham”
as Dr. Ruckman jokingly noted. Here is a characteristic of devil possession in
animals. They will destroy themselves. This small fortune for the owners is
lost and as a matter of good business practice the owners ask Jesus to leave.
This is a very easy to understand situation. Can you imagine a
revival you were instrumental in causing in a bar and how the owners would want
you to leave and stop damaging their livelihood as their clients left? Some
commentators say it was out of fear for a greater judgment coming on them.
Whatever the reason, this situation caused quite a stir and much evangelism was
accomplished as the city knew about Christ’s power over the spirit world.
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