Matthew 8
8
Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith
1When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds #See note 4:19.followed Him. 2And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).” 3Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”
5As Jesus went into Capernaum, a #A Roman military officer commanding a hundred men.centurion came up to Him, begging Him [for help], 6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, with intense and terrible, tormenting pain.” 7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8But the centurion replied to Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9For I also am a man subject to authority [of a higher rank], with soldiers subject to me; and I say to one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you truthfully, I have not found such great faith [as this] with anyone in Israel. 11I say to you that many [Gentiles] will come from east and west, and will sit down [to feast at the table, and enjoy God’s promises] with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven [because they accepted Me as Savior], 12while the sons and heirs of the kingdom [the descendants of Abraham who will not recognize Me as Messiah] will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place [which is farthest removed from the kingdom] there will be weeping [in sorrow and pain] and grinding of teeth [in distress and anger].” 13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour.
Peter’s Mother-in-law and Many Others Healed
14When Jesus went into Peter’s house [in Capernaum], He saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever left her; and she got up and served Him. 16When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah], 17so that He fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He Himself took our infirmities [upon Himself] and carried away our diseases.”
Discipleship Tested
18Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to cast off for the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 19Then [on His way to board the boat] a scribe [who was a respected and authoritative interpreter of the Law] came and said to Him, “Master, I will accompany You [as Your student] wherever You go.” 20Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the #Jesus uses this title to identify Himself as Messiah. It appears over eighty times in the Gospels.Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21Another of the #Disciple does not always refer to a true believer, but may also be used to refer to someone who is merely a student or learner.disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and #Possibly an idiom meaning something like, “after my father dies and after I observe the traditional mourning period and after I receive my inheritance, then I will do such and such.” This was probably nothing more than a petty excuse to avoid making a commitment to Jesus and had nothing to do with the condition of the man’s father (who was probably fine).bury my father (collect my inheritance).” 22But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me [believing in Me as Master and Teacher], and allow the [spiritually] dead to bury their own dead.”
23When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24And suddenly a violent storm arose on the sea, so that the boat was being covered by the waves; but Jesus was sleeping. 25And the disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us, we are going to die!” 26He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was [at once] a great and wonderful calm [a perfect peacefulness]. 27The men wondered in amazement, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Jesus Casts Out Demons
28When He arrived at the other side in the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs met Him. They were so extremely fierce and violent that no one could pass by that way. 29And they screamed out, “#Lit What to us and to you, originally a Hebrew idiom which does not translate well into English. The idiom is meant to bluntly inform the other person that the speaker is not aware of any obligation between them, and does not wish to deal with the other person (cf 2 Sam 16:10). It can also express the speaker’s protest that he has not harmed the other individual, and therefore should not suffer harm at the hands of that person (cf 1 Kin 17:18).What business do we have [in common] with each other, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time [of judgment]?” 30Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was grazing. 31The demons began begging Him, “If You drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32And He said to them, “Go!” So they came out [of the men] and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and died in the water. 33The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons. 34And the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their region.
Amplified® Bible
Copyright © 2015 by
The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
All rights reserved. http://www.lockman.org
Matthew 8
8
Jesus Heals a Man
(Mark 1.40-45; Luke 5.12-16)
1As Jesus came down the mountain, he was followed by large crowds. 2Suddenly a man with leprosy#8.2 leprosy: In biblical times the word “leprosy” was used for many different kinds of skin diseases. came and knelt in front of Jesus. He said, “Lord, you have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”
3Jesus put his hand on the man and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared. 4#Lv 14.1-32. Jesus told him, “Don't tell anyone about this, but go and show the priest that you are well. Then take a gift to the temple just as Moses commanded, and everyone will know that you have been healed.”#8.4 everyone will know that you have been healed: People with leprosy had to be examined by a priest and told that they were well (that is “clean”) before they could once again live a normal life in the Jewish community. The gift that Moses commanded was the sacrifice of some lambs together with flour mixed with olive oil.
Jesus Heals an Army Officer's Servant
(Luke 7.1-10; John 4.43-54)
5When Jesus was going into the town of Capernaum, an army officer came up to him and said, 6“Lord, my servant is at home in such terrible pain that he can't even move.”
7“I will go and heal him,” Jesus replied.
8But the officer said, “Lord, I'm not good enough for you to come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well. 9#Ba 3.33-35. I have officers who give orders to me, and I have soldiers who take orders from me. I can say to one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I can say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I can say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he will do it.”
10When Jesus heard this, he was so surprised that he turned and said to the crowd following him, “I tell you in all of Israel I've never found anyone with this much faith! 11#Lk 13.29. Many people will come from everywhere to enjoy the feast in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 12#Mt 22.13; 25.30; Lk 13.28. But the ones who should have been in the kingdom will be thrown out into the dark. They will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
13Then Jesus said to the officer, “You may go home now. Your faith has made it happen.”
Right then his servant was healed.
Jesus Heals Many People
(Mark 1.29-34; Luke 4.38-41)
14Jesus went to the home of Peter, where he found that Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 15He took her by the hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served Jesus a meal.
16That evening many people with demons in them were brought to Jesus. And with only a word he forced out the evil spirits and healed everyone who was sick. 17#Is 53.5. So God's promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
“He healed our diseases
and made us well.”
Some Who Wanted To Go with Jesus
(Luke 9.57-62)
18When Jesus saw the crowd,#8.18 saw the crowd: Some manuscripts have “large crowd.” Others have “large crowds.” he went across Lake Galilee. 19A teacher of the Law of Moses came up to him and said, “Teacher, I'll go anywhere with you!”
20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens, and birds have nests. But the Son of Man doesn't have a place to call his own.”
21 #
Tb 4.3,4. Another disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, let me wait till I bury my father.”
22Jesus answered, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”#8.22 let the dead bury their dead: For the Jewish people a proper burial of their dead was a very important duty. But Jesus teaches that following him is even more important.
A Storm
(Mark 4.35-41; Luke 8.22-25)
23After Jesus left in a boat with his disciples, 24a terrible storm suddenly struck the lake, and waves started splashing into their boat.
Jesus was sound asleep, 25so the disciples went over to him and woke him up. They said, “Lord, wake up! Save us before we drown!”
26But Jesus replied, “Why are you so afraid? You surely don't have much faith.” Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to calm down. And everything was calm.
27The men in the boat were amazed and said, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.”
Two Men with Demons in Them
(Mark 5.1-20; Luke 8.26-39)
28After Jesus had crossed the lake, he came to shore near the town of Gadara#8.28 Gadara: Some manuscripts have “Gergesa.” Others have “Gerasa.” and started down the road. Two men with demons in them came to him from the tombs.#8.28 tombs: It was thought that demons and evil spirits lived in tombs and in caves that were used for burying the dead. They were so fierce that no one could travel that way. 29Suddenly they shouted, “Jesus, Son of God, what do you want with us? Have you come to punish us before our time?”
30Not far from there a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31So the demons begged Jesus, “If you force us out, please send us into those pigs!” 32Jesus told them to go, and they went out of the men and into the pigs. All at once the pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
33The people taking care of the pigs ran to the town and told everything, especially what had happened to the two men. 34Everyone in town came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their part of the country.
Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.