A Deeper Look at Matthew:  An End-Times Bible Study
Copyright 2012
 
 
Matthew 8
 
            Great multitudes of people follow Jesus.  They are so blown away with His love, power, and authority that they are compelled to follow.
            A leper approaches Jesus with faith to be healed.  The man tells Jesus that Jesus can heal him if He wants.  Jesus heals the man and tells him to keep silent about it.  Why this is the case, is not known.  Jesus tells him to see the priest, and offer the gift Moses has commanded for a testimony.
            A centurion approaches Jesus in 8:5.  A centurion was a Roman military officer that commanded about 100 men.  You might compare it to a modern-day captain.
            This centurion approaches Jesus and tells Him his servant is at home sick of the palsy.  Apparently, some part of the servant's body was paralyzed.
            Now, this is an interesting picture - a Roman military officer commanding 100 men with the Creator of the universe.  You cannot even compare it to a corporal talking to a general.  This centurion is talking to the Man that created him.
            So Jesus tells the man He will come and heal his servant.  Then the centurion says something to Jesus that causes Him to marvel.  The centurion explains how he is a man of authority and he goes on to tell Jesus to just "speak the word" and the servant will be healed.
            There are only two instances of Jesus marveling in the gospels.  Jesus marvels here at the faith displayed by the centurion.  He also marvels at the unbelief (lack of faith) of the people in Mark 6:6.
            Jesus says He has never seen greater faith than what the centurion has displayed.  In 8:12, Jesus says the children of the "kingdom" will be cast into outer darkness.  What "kingdom" is Jesus referring to?  Well, apparently people of this kingdom end up in what is called "outer darkness" where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The term outer darkness is mentioned three times in the Bible - once here, again in Matthew 22 in reference to a man who wasn't wearing a wedding garment, and finally in Matthew 25 in reference to an unprofitable servant.
            What is outer darkness?  According to www.prophecies.org, it is a place of divine punishment that is separate from hell itself.  However, according to the book Pistis Sophia, Jesus says it "is a great dragon, whose tail is in its mouth, outside the whole world and surrounding the whole world.  And there are many regions of chastisements within it (p 263)."  Jesus goes on to say in this book that "the chastisements of Outer Darkness are more painful compared with all the chastisements of the judgments, but all the souls which are led into that region, will be frozen up in the violent cold and the hail and (punished in the) exceedingly violent fire which is in the region, but also at the dissolution of the world, that is at the ascension of the universe, those souls will perish through the violent cold and the exceedingly violent fire and be non-existent forever (p. 268)."
            Please do not go to outer darkness!  Repent of your sins today and make Jesus your Lord and Savior.  Cry out to Him and He will save you!
            Here in 8:14-17,  Jesus comes to Peter's house, sees Peter's wife's mother sick, touches her and heals her.  In 8:16 many people are brought to Jesus that were possessed with devils and spirits.  So Jesus casts them out with His word and heals all who were sick.  8:17 says this fulfills Isaiah 53:4 where it says the Messiah will take our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.  Isaiah 53 has a lot to say about the Christ or Messiah and I encourage you to read all of it.
            Jesus gives the command to go to the other side in 8:18 when He sees the number of people around Him.
            A scribe approaches Jesus in 8:19 and tells Jesus he will follow Him wherever He goes.  Then Jesus says something very interesting - He says, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."  What does this mean?  Well it seems Jesus was a wandering nomad who had no place to call home.
            One of Jesus' disciples asks Jesus to permit him to bury his father.  Jesus replies to the man and tells him to let the dead bury their dead.  (What Jesus is saying is to let the spiritually dead bury their dead.)  It is far more important to follow Jesus and do His work than to bury the dead.  One more thing can be gleaned from 8:22.  Jesus says to let the dead bury their dead.  Some people die but they go to eternal life.  Others die but go on to hell, which is eternal death.  Jesus uses the word "their" in this verse.  Apparently, the person who died belongs to the spiritual dead because Jesus says "their" dead.  So, we learn that spiritually-dead people should bury their dead, that is, those people that go on to spiritual death when they die, also known as hell.
            So Jesus enters a ship and His disciples enter with Him.  They set out to sea and we see here in 8:24 that there is a great storm while they are out at sea.  The waves are crashing over the sides of the ship.  But, somehow, Jesus is sleeping during this time and HIS disciples begin to panic and fear.  Let me tell you, most people would be a bit fearful in a situation like this.  It takes a lot of trust in God to stay calm when your life is at risk, like in this situation.  But, of course, Jesus has no fear because He is in total control.  Jesus has no reason to fear because he is all-powerful.
            So the disciples wake up Jesus and they tell Him, "Save us, we perish."  Jesus rebukes the wind and sea and there is a great calm.  I believe Yahweh, Most High God, allowed this situation so that the disciples and all who would ever read this remarkable story would learn that Jesus is in complete control, and the very wind and sea obey His command.
            Jesus and His disciples reach the other side of the sea and 8:28 says they are in the country of the Gergesenes.  This country is also known as Gergesa, and it is a place located on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee.
            So, Jesus is met by two men who are possessed by devils that are so powerful no one can pass that way.  Now, notice that there is a similar account of Jesus rebuking the storm at the end of Mark chapter 4.  In this account, Jesus and the disciples get out of the ship and are approached by one man by the name of Legion.  We must not assume that this story beginning in Mark 5:1 is the same as the story beginning in Matthew 8:28, although they probably are because the stories are very similar.  There are two main differences.  The account in Mark says Jesus and the disciples enter the country of the Gergesenes while the account in Mark says they entered the country of the Gadarenes.  Note that these are two DIFFERENT cities that were to the east of the sea of Galilee.
            Note in 8:29 that the men identify Jesus as the "Son of God."  I ask you, did the two men, themselves, identify Jesus as the Son of God or did the demons inside of the men identify Jesus as the Son of God?  Well, we know that the demons are controlling these two men, so it is reasonable to assume that the words "spoken" by these men were the words of the demons or "devils" themselves.
            So, in Matthew 8:29, these two demon-filled men ask Jesus what He wants with them, and ask Jesus if He has come to torment them "before the time."  What does this mean?  Well we know that ultimately, according to Revelation 20:15, whoever is not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire.  We find in Revelation 20 that this takes place after the 1,000 year reign of Christ.  So, perhaps the "time" these devils speak of is the time of the great judgment when the Book of Life is opened.
            Off in the distance is a large herd of swine and the devils beg Jesus to let them go into the pigs.  Jesus allows them and the herd then runs down a steep bank into the sea, and they die in the water.
            The owners of the pigs flee into the city and explain what happened to the two demon-possessed men.  Then, in 8:34 the whole city comes out to meet Jesus and they beg Him to depart from their coasts.