THE NEW TESTAMENT - THE BOOK OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER # 8

THE BOOK OF MATTHEW  CHAPTER # 8 (ESV) _8:1__9:38 The Authoritative Power of the Messiah: Kingdom Power Demonstrated. Jesus has shown himself as the Messiah in word through his teaching (CHAPTERS 5__7) and now shows himself to be the Messiah in deed through the performance of many miracles, demonstrating that the kingdom of God truly has arrived.
8:1__9:8 _Healings, Discipleship, and Overpowering Satan's Strongholds. Jesus mission involves ministering to the marginalized (8:1__17), disappointing the messianic expectations of some who wanted to follow him (8:18__22), and overthrowing Satan's strongholds (8:23__9:8).
8:2__3 _leper. The OT provided specific guidelines for the examination and treatment of those with a variety of skin diseases, generally called leprosy, many of which were highly contagious (See LEVITICUS 13__14). Lord (Greek kyrios) is the title to respect (similar to "Sir") that people commonly used when they came to Jesus for aid, though in contexts that show knowledge of its OT background it can be an affirmation of deity (See 1 CORINTHIANS 12:4__6). make me clean Not only was leprosy a disease, it made the leper as well as anyone who touched him ceremonially unclean (LEVITICUS 13:45__46; NUMBERS 5:2__4; LEVITICUS 15). But when Jesus touched him, he was healed, and Jesus did not become unclean.
8:4 _show yourself to the priest. Jesus instructs the man to do what the law required for lepers to return to society. say nothing to anyone. Jesus carefully avoids stirring up a misunderstanding of his messianic identity. Although miracles attest to the authenticity of his message concerning the kingdom's arrival, he does not want to draw crowds who come simply for the sake of miracles. For other instances of what some have called the "messianic secret," See 9:30; 12:16; 17:9.
8:5__7 _centurion. A Roman officer in charge of a hundred men. In Luke's account (LUKE 7:1__5), others came to Jesus on his behalf, but Matthew does not mention them. The accounts are not contradictory; Matthew, as is often the case, simply abbreviates the story. He actually reports what the centurion said through his messages, based on the idea that what a person does through an agent is what the person himself does (See JOHN 3:17).
8:8 _Addressing Jesus as Lord (verse 2), the Roman centurion reveals a remarkable sensitivity for Jewish traditions, saying that he is unworthy of receiving Jesus into his Gentile home. A Jew who entered the home of a Gentile became ceremonially unclean (See ACTS 10:28).
8:10 _The centurion seems to understand what no one in Israel understands: Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah. Jesus marveled, commending the centurion for his exemplary faith and censuring Israel for lack of faith.
8:11__12 _recline at table. The peoples of the earth who respond to Jesus ministry will join the patriarchs at the end-time messianic banquet in the kingdom of heaven (REVELATION 19:9), fulfilling God's promise to Abraham (GENESIS 12:3). But the sons of the kingdom (a Semitic term for national Israel) will lose their claim to the kingdom unless they follow the centurion's example of faith. weeping and gnashing of teeth. This description of terrible suffering in hell appears several times in Matthew (MATTHEW 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30) and in LUKE 13:28).
8:14 _The home belonged to both Peter and his brother Andrew (MARK 1:29). Peter's mother-in-law was afflicted with a fever, perhaps malaria.
8:16__17 _He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. A reference to Isaiah's prophecy of the servant (ISAIAH 53), focusing on Jesus messianic role as healer (See ISAIAH 53:5; MATTHEW 11:3__5). The fact that not all sicknesses have a demonic origin is seen in the distinction between the healings of the sick and the casting out of spirits from those oppressed by demons.  
8:19 _scribe. An expert in handling written documents. in Israel, scribes duties included teaching, interpretation, and regulation of the law (See 2:4).
8:20 _Son of Man (See JOHN 1:51; DANIEL 7:13) is Jesus favorite self-designation, indicating the true meaning of his idenity and ministry: (1) _the humble servant who has come to forgive common sinners (MATTHEW 9:6); (2) _the suffering servant whose atoning death and resurrection will redeem his people (16:13, 27__28); and (3) _the glorious King and Judge who will return to establish God's kingdom on earth (25:31; 26:64). nowhere to lay his head. Since believers can expect to be treated as Jesus was (JOHN 15:18; 16:33), the Christian life will not be one of ease and comfort.
8:22 _leave the dead to bury their own dead. While Jesus dearly upholds the biblical command to honor father and mother (See Verses 15:1__9), the call to follow him rises above all other allegiances. Anything that hinders unqualified commitment to him and to the new covenant family of faith must be set aside.
8:23__24 _great storm (Greek seismos, "violent shaking, earthquake"). Athrough the Sea of Galilee is located in the earthquake-prone Jordan Rift Valley, Matthew also mentions "winds" (verse 26), which points in the direction of a powerful stormthe created large waves that shook the boat. This boat may have been similar to the one discovered in Galilee in 1986.
8:26 _Little faith (Greek oligopistos) is not "no faith" (GREEK apistos), but "ineffective," defective," or "deicient" faith (6:30). Jesus calls the disciples to a clearer understanding of who he is rebuked. Jesus is able to command even the forces of nature, just as God in the OT "rebukes" the sea, showing his sovereign control over the natural world (2 SAMUEL 22:16; PSALM 18:15). 
8:27 __Marveled (Greek thaumazo, "to wonder, be amazed") is different from the term used to describe the reaction of the crowds ("astonished," 7:28), yet even the disciples do not yet fully grasp Jesus identity. 
8:28 __Other side often marks the movement from a Jewish to a Gentile territory and vice verse 14:22; 16:5). Gadarenes refers to both the town of Gadara (modern Umm Qais), about 6 miles (9. 7 km)southeast of the Sea of Galilee, and also the surrounding region (See MARK 5:1). 
8:29 __Son of God. The demons recognize that one of Satan's strongholds, the spirit world, is being invaded and overpowered. before the time. The demons know that they will be judged and punished at God's appointed time. 
8:30__34 __The herd of pigs would have been raised for food in this Gentile region on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the local people were very upset(all the city ... begged him to leave) at the loss of this large herd (about 2,000, MARK 5:13). The pigs 'fate in the sea prefigures and pictures the final fate of demons, when God defeats Satan and throws him into the lake of fire (REVELATION 20:10). Jesus accomplished the decisive defeat of Satan in his earthly resurrection (JOHN 12:31; COLOSSIANS 2:15; HEBREWS 2:14__15).