Cure of a leper
1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
2 Then a leper came forward. He knelt before him and said, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to, be clean again.” At that very moment the man was cleansed from his leprosy.
4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not tell anyone, but go to the priest, have yourself declared clean, and of fer the gift that Moses ordered as proof of it.”
The faith of the centurion
5 When Jesus entered Caper naum, an army captain approached him to ask his help,
6 “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralyzed and suffers terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8 The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have you under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed.
9 For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one: ‘Go,’ he goes, and if I say to another: ‘Come,’ he comes, and to my servant: ‘Do this,’ he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those who were following him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel.
11 I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abra ham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven;
12 but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; there they will wail and grind their teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment his servant was healed.
14 Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever.
15 He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on him.
16 Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word he drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick.
17 In doing this he fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah: He bore our infirmities and took on himself our diseases.
18 When he saw the crowd press around him, Jesus gave orders to cross to the other shore.
19 A teacher of the Law approached him and said, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.”
22 But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus calms the storm
23 Jesus got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
24 With out warning a fierce storm hit the lake, with waves sweeping the boat. But Jesus was asleep.
25 They woke him and cried, “Lord save us! We are lost!”
26 But Jesus answered, “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?” Then he stood up and ordered the wind and sea; and it became completely calm.
27 The people were astonished. They said, “What kind of man is he? Even the winds and the sea obey him.”
The demoniacs and the pigs
28 When Jesus reached Ga dara on the other side, he was met by two demoniacs who came out from the tombs. They were so fierce that no one dared to pass that way.
29 Sud denly they shouted, “What do you want with us, you, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time?”
30 At some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding.
31 So the demons begged him, “If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32 Jesus ordered them, “Go.” So they left and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.
33 The men in charge of them ran off to the town, where they told the whole story, also what had happened to the men possessed with the demons.
34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their area.
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Comments Mathew, Chapter 8
• 8.1 In this new section of his gospel (8:1–9:35) Matthew has placed a collection of miracles. For him, these miracles are not only extraordinary events: they contain lessons on what a disciple of Jesus is. To begin with: the cure of a leper; on the part of Jesus this is an act of courage, and an act that openly violates the law of purity (see Mk 1:40).
Then, the faith of the centurion, a Roman officer (8:5). Jesus speaks of the Jews who will be excluded from the kingdom of God. That may also be the case of the new heirs of the Kingdom who are the Christians of the West.
• 5. See commentary on Luke 7:1.
The heirs of the Kingdom (v. 12). These words are intended to express the Jewish term used by Jesus: the sons of the King dom, that is: those who belong, or: those who side with, are associated with the Kingdom. Because all of Jewish life was aimed at inheriting the kingdom promised to them.
Among the Jewish people, at that time, religion was taught by the religious community. There was no problem of personal conversion; the children of Jewish families became Jewish believers. The Jewish teachers did not belittle faith, but in fact they always spoke about practices and commitment.
Jesus does not belittle the practices, but it is faith that he admires and praises; see Matthew 9:2; 9:22; 9:28.
Many will come (v. 11). Likewise for us, practices and religious habits will not introduce us to the Kingdom. We must discover the loving presence of the Father while experiencing the power of Jesus’ word and controversial deeds.
They will be thrown out into the darkness (v. 12). Let us not im me diately think of hell: Jesus is using the style of the prophets. Staying with the appearance of a learned religion, one goes everywhere except where life is.