Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds
followed him. 2 A man with leprosy [The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.] came and knelt before him and said,
“Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am
willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself
to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him,
asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering
terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you
come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For
I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one,
‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do
this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those
following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such
great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,
and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside,
into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done
just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s
mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever
left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were
brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the
sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our
diseases.” [Isaiah 53:4 (see Septuagint)]
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to
cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him
and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury
their own dead.”
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over
the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying,
“Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?
Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the
Gadarenes,[Some manuscripts Gergesenes; other manuscripts Gerasenes] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were
so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son
of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed
time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.
31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the
pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in
the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported
all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the
whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him
to leave their region.
NOTES:
8:1–9:38 This narrative section of the second book of the
gospel is composed of nine miracle stories, most of which are found in Mark,
although Matthew does not follow the Marcan order and abbreviates the stories
radically. The stories are arranged in three groups of three, each group
followed by a section composed principally of sayings of Jesus about discipleship.
Mt 9:35 is an almost verbatim repetition of Mt 4:23. Each speaks of Jesus’
teaching, preaching, and healing. The teaching and preaching form the content
of Mt 5–7; the healing, that of Mt 8–9. Some scholars speak of a portrayal of
Jesus as “Messiah of the Word” in Mt 5–7 and “Messiah of the Deed” in Mt 8–9.
That is accurate so far as it goes, but there is also a strong emphasis on
discipleship in Mt 8–9; these chapters have not only christological but
ecclesiological import.
8:2 A leper: see note on Mk 1:40.
8:4 Cf. Lv 14:2–9. That will be proof for them: the Greek
can also mean “that will be proof against them.” It is not clear whether them
refers to the priests or the people.
8:5–13 This story comes from Q (see Lk 7:1–10) and is also
reflected in Jn 4:46–54. The similarity between the Q story and the Johannine
is due to a common oral tradition, not to a common literary source. As in the
later story of the daughter of the Canaanite woman (Mt 15:21–28) Jesus here
breaks with his usual procedure of ministering only to Israelites and
anticipates the mission to the Gentiles.
8:5 A centurion: a military officer commanding a hundred
men. He was probably in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee; see
note on Mt 14:1.
8:8–9 Acquainted by his position with the force of a
command, the centurion expresses faith in the power of Jesus’ mere word.
8:10 In no one in Israel: there is good textual attestation
(e.g., Codex Sinaiticus) for a reading identical with that of Lk 7:9, “not even
in Israel.” But that seems to be due to a harmonization of Matthew with Luke.
8:11–12 Matthew inserts into the story a Q saying (see Lk
13:28–29) about the entrance of Gentiles into the kingdom and the exclusion of
those Israelites who, though descended from the patriarchs and members of the
chosen nation (the children of the kingdom), refused to believe in Jesus. There
will be wailing and grinding of teeth: the first occurrence of a phrase used
frequently in this gospel to describe final condemnation (Mt 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51;
25:30). It is found elsewhere in the New Testament only in Lk 13:28.
8:14–15 Cf. Mk 1:29–31. Unlike Mark, Matthew has no implied
request by others for the woman’s cure. Jesus acts on his own initiative, and
the cured woman rises and waits not on “them” (Mk 1:31) but on him.
8:16 By a word: a Matthean addition to Mk 1:34; cf. 8:8.
8:17 This fulfillment citation from Is 53:4 follows the MT,
not the LXX. The prophet speaks of the Servant of the Lord who suffers
vicariously for the sins (“infirmities”) of others; Matthew takes the
infirmities as physical afflictions.
8:18–22 This passage between the first and second series of
miracles about following Jesus is taken from Q (see Lk 9:57–62). The third of
the three sayings found in the source is absent from Matthew.
8:18 The other side: i.e., of the Sea of Galilee.
8:19 Teacher: for Matthew, this designation of Jesus is
true, for he has Jesus using it of himself (Mt 10:24, 25; 23:8; 26:18), yet
when it is used of him by others they are either his opponents (Mt 9:11; 12:38;
17:24; 22:16, 24, 36) or, as here and in Mt 19:16, well-disposed persons who
cannot see more deeply. Thus it reveals an inadequate recognition of who Jesus
is.
8:20 Son of Man: see note on Mk 8:31. This is the first
occurrence in Matthew of a term that appears in the New Testament only in
sayings of Jesus, except for Acts 7:56 and possibly Mt 9:6 (// Mk 2:10; Lk
5:24). In Matthew it refers to Jesus in his ministry (seven times, as here), in
his passion and resurrection (nine times, e.g., Mt 17:22), and in his glorious
coming at the end of the age (thirteen times, e.g., Mt 24:30).
8:22 Let the dead bury their dead: the demand of Jesus
overrides what both the Jewish and the Hellenistic world regarded as a filial
obligation of the highest importance. See note on Lk 9:60.
8:23 His disciples followed him: the first miracle in the
second group (Mt 8:23–9:8) is introduced by a verse that links it with the
preceding sayings by the catchword “follow.” In Mark the initiative in entering
the boat is taken by the disciples (Mk 4:35–41); here, Jesus enters first and
the disciples follow.
8:24 Storm: literally, “earthquake,” a word commonly used in
apocalyptic literature for the shaking of the old world when God brings in his
kingdom. All the synoptics use it in depicting the events preceding the
parousia of the Son of Man (Mt 24:7; Mk 13:8; Lk 21:11). Matthew has introduced
it here and in his account of the death and resurrection of Jesus (Mt 27:51–54;
28:2).
8:25 The reverent plea of the disciples contrasts sharply
with their reproach of Jesus in Mk 4:38.
8:26 You of little faith: see note on Mt 6:30. Great calm:
Jesus’ calming the sea may be meant to recall the Old Testament theme of God’s
control over the chaotic waters (Ps 65:8; 89:10; 93:3–4; 107:29).
8:28 Gadarenes: this is the reading of Codex Vaticanus,
supported by other important textual witnesses. The original reading of Codex
Sinaiticus was Gazarenes, later changed to Gergesenes, and a few versions have
Gerasenes. Each of these readings points to a different territory connected,
respectively, with the cities Gadara, Gergesa, and Gerasa (modern Jerash).
There is the same confusion of readings in the parallel texts, Mk 5:1 and Lk
8:26; there the best reading seems to be “Gerasenes,” whereas “Gadarenes” is
probably the original reading in Matthew. The town of Gadara was about five
miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, and Josephus (Life 9:42) refers to it as
possessing territory that lay on that sea. Two demoniacs: Mark (5:1–20) has
one.
8:29 What have you to do with us?: see note on Jn 2:4.
Before the appointed time: the notion that evil spirits were allowed by God to
afflict human beings until the time of the final judgment is found in Enoch
16:1 and Jubilees 10:7–10.
8:30 The tending of pigs, animals considered unclean by
Mosaic law (Lv 11:6–7), indicates that the population was Gentile.
BACK TO:
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher.
No comments:
Post a Comment