Matthew 8

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Matthew 8 follows the Sermon on the Mount with a chapter of action, as if to show that the one who taught with authority also acts with it. Jesus touches and cleanses a leper, heals a Roman centurion's servant from a distance and marvels at the man's faith, cures Peter's mother-in-law, and heals crowds in fulfillment of Isaiah's "He took on our infirmities." He tells two would-be followers what discipleship costs, sleeps through a storm and then silences it, and frees two demon-possessed men in Gentile country, after which the whole town asks him to leave.

Apri commento del capitolo

Matthew 8 begins the moment the Sermon on the Mount ends. Jesus comes down the mountain and the crowds follow, and the first person to reach him is a leper, a man the law required to keep his distance. Jesus reaches out and touches him. The second is a Roman centurion, an officer of the occupying army, who asks for his servant and then declines Jesus's offer to come, because he understands authority: say the word, and it will be done. Jesus marvels, and says that many will come from east and west to sit with Abraham while the expected guests are left outside. Peter's mother-in-law is healed with a touch; an evening of healings follows, and Matthew hears in it Isaiah's servant who took on our infirmities. Then the chapter turns to cost. A scribe volunteers and is told the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; a disciple asks to bury his father first and is told to let the dead bury their dead. A storm rises on the sea while Jesus sleeps; the disciples wake him, he rebukes the wind and the water, and they ask the question the whole Gospel exists to answer: what kind of man is this? The chapter ends on the far shore, where two men are delivered from a legion of demons, a herd of pigs drowns, and the whole town comes out to ask Jesus to leave.

Passi chiave

Matthew 8:1-4 Matthew 8:5-13 Matthew 8:18-22 Matthew 8:23-27 Isaiah 53:4

Historical and literary context

The chapter opens as Jesus comes down the mountain, and Matthew arranges ten miracles across chapters 8 and 9 to present Jesus as the Messiah in deed as the sermon presented him in word. Lepers were excluded from the community under the law; a centurion was a Gentile officer of the occupying army; the region of the Gadarenes, on the east side of the sea, was Gentile territory where pigs were kept. Each encounter crosses a boundary of purity, nation, or power. The quotation of Isaiah 53:4 in verse 17 ties the healings to the suffering servant.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 4 are the leper, touched and cleansed and sent to the priest. Verses 5 to 13 are the centurion, whose understanding of authority astonishes Jesus and prompts the saying about many coming from east and west. Verses 14 to 17 are Peter's mother-in-law and the evening of healings, with Isaiah quoted. Verses 18 to 22 are two would-be disciples: foxes have dens, let the dead bury their dead. Verses 23 to 27 are the storm on the sea, the sleeping Jesus, the disciples' cry, and the calm. Verses 28 to 34 are the two demon-possessed men, the pigs, and the town that begs Jesus to go.

Why this chapter matters

Matthew 8 shows the range of Jesus's authority: over disease, over distance, over demons, over the sea itself. The centurion's words, "just say the word," have entered Christian liturgy, prayed before communion in many traditions. The question the disciples ask in the boat, "What kind of man is this?", is the question the whole Gospel is answering. The chapter is also honest about the cost and the rejection that come with Jesus: the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, following him outranks even burying a father, and a town that has just seen two men freed asks him to leave because of the pigs.

Interpretive tension to watch

"Let the dead bury their own dead" is among the hardest sayings of Jesus, apparently overriding one of the most sacred duties of the ancient world. Was the man's father already dead, or was he asking to wait until an aged parent died? Either way, Jesus places the call to follow above every competing claim, and the saying resists softening. The pigs, too, trouble readers: two men are freed and a herd is lost, and the town prefers its pigs. The chapter lets the reader feel that choice.

Domande per questo capitolo

Jesus touches the leper before speaking. What does the touch communicate that the word alone would not?
The centurion understands Jesus's authority from his own experience of command. What in your experience helps you understand how Jesus works?
The town asked Jesus to leave after he freed two men. What might make a community prefer its pigs to its neighbors' healing?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Aggiungi alle note

1 耶稣下了山，有许多人跟着他。 2 有一个长大麻风的来拜他，说：「主若肯，必能叫我洁净了。」 3 耶稣伸手摸他，说：「我肯，你洁净了吧！」他的大麻风立刻就洁净了。 4 耶稣对他说：「你切不可告诉人，只要去把身体给祭司察看，献上摩西所吩咐的礼物，对众人作证据。」 5 耶稣进了迦百农，有一个百夫长进前来，求他说： 6 「主啊，我的仆人害瘫痪病，躺在家里，甚是疼苦。」 7 耶稣说：「我去医治他。」 8 百夫长回答说：「主啊，你到我舍下，我不敢当；只要你说一句话，我的仆人就必好了。 9 因为我在人的权下，也有兵在我以下；对这个说『去！』他就去；对那个说『来！』他就来；对我的仆人说：『你做这事！』他就去做。」 10 耶稣听见就希奇，对跟从的人说：「我实在告诉你们，这么大的信心，就是在以色列中，我也没有遇见过。 11 我又告诉你们，从东从西，将有许多人来，在天国里与亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各一同坐席； 12 惟有本国的子民竟被赶到外边黑暗里去，在那里必要哀哭切齿了。」 13 耶稣对百夫长说：「你回去吧！照你的信心，给你成全了。」那时，他的仆人就好了。 14 耶稣到了彼得家里，见彼得的岳母害热病躺着。 15 耶稣把她的手一摸，热就退了；她就起来服事耶稣。 16 到了晚上，有人带着许多被鬼附的来到耶稣跟前，他只用一句话就把鬼都赶出去，并且治好了一切有病的人。 17 这是要应验先知以赛亚的话，说：他代替我们的软弱，担当我们的疾病。 18 耶稣见许多人围着他，就吩咐渡到那边去。 19 有一个文士来，对他说：「夫子，你无论往哪里去，我要跟从你。」 20 耶稣说：「狐狸有洞，天空的飞鸟有窝，人子却没有枕头的地方。」 21 又有一个门徒对耶稣说：「主啊，容我先回去埋葬我的父亲。」 22 耶稣说：「任凭死人埋葬他们的死人；你跟从我吧！」 23 耶稣上了船，门徒跟着他。 24 海里忽然起了暴风，甚至船被波浪掩盖；耶稣却睡着了。 25 门徒来叫醒了他，说：「主啊，救我们，我们丧命啦！」 26 耶稣说：「你们这小信的人哪，为什么胆怯呢？」于是起来，斥责风和海，风和海就大大地平静了。 27 众人希奇，说：「这是怎样的人？连风和海也听从他了！」 28 耶稣既渡到那边去，来到加大拉人的地方，就有两个被鬼附的人从坟茔里出来迎着他，极其凶猛，甚至没有人能从那条路上经过。 29 他们喊着说：「　神的儿子，我们与你有什么相干？时候还没有到，你就上这里来叫我们受苦吗？」 30 离他们很远，有一大群猪吃食。 31 鬼就央求耶稣，说：「若把我们赶出去，就打发我们进入猪群吧！」 32 耶稣说：「去吧！」鬼就出来，进入猪群。全群忽然闯下山崖，投在海里淹死了。 33 放猪的就逃跑进城，将这一切事和被鬼附的人所遭遇的都告诉人。 34 合城的人都出来迎见耶稣，既见了就央求他离开他们的境界。

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