The Gospel Of Matthew Class 2
Building Blocks – Matthew 8-10
Overview:
· Matthew 8:1-4 Jesus heals a leper.
· Matthew 8:5-13 Jesus heals a Centurion’s servant.
· Matthew 8:14-17 Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and casts out demons and healed the sick.
· Matthew 8:18-22 Jesus rejects a scribe and a disciple who are not willing to give all.
· Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus calms a storm.
· Matthew 8:28-9:1 Jesus casts out demons out of two men.
· Matthew 9:2-8 Jesus forgives a man’s sins then heals him of being paralyzed.
· Matthew 9:9-13 Jesus calls a tax collector Matthew to follow him.
· Matthew 9:14-17 John’s disciples question why Jesus’ disciples don’t fast.
· Matthew 9:18-26 Jesus heals an “unclean” woman and raises a girl from the dead.
· Matthew 9:27-31 Jesus heals two blind men.
· Matthew 9:32-34 Jesus casts out a demon and heals a mute man.
· Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus preaches the good news, healing every disease and sickness because of compassion which drives Him to encourage the disciples to pray for more harvesters.
· Matthew 10:1-15 The Twelve Apostles are given authority over demons and to heal and are sent out to share the good news, heal the sick, raise the dead, heal lepers, and cast out demons.
· Matthew 10:16-25 The Disciples will suffer persecution but must endure.
· Matthew 10:26-33 Do not fear man but fear God and do not be afraid, instead testify of Christ.
· Matthew 10:34-37 Loyalty to Jesus must come above even family.
· Matthew 10:38-39 A disciple must lose his life and take up his cross.
· Matthew 10:40-42 Those who show kindness to disciples will show kindness to Jesus.
Matthew 8:1–9:34 contains the core actions that Jesus would use as proof that He was the Messiah (Matthew 11:1-7, Isaiah 26:19; 29:18; 35:5–6; 42:18).[1] It opens up with Jesus coming down from the mountain. We should immediately think of Moses coming down the mountain after receiving the 10 commandments. Whereas Moses came down the mountain to great sin and idolatry, Jesus came down the mountain and began to reverse the curse of sin! Whereas Moses punished the people for their wickedness Jesus healed them. Jesus here is the new Moses, but is greater than Moses. Whereas Moses brought the Torah to bring order to chaos, Jesus sets about restoring chaos to order. He is not containing it, He is removing it!
These chapters contain 3 sets of 3 healings and miracles. The first set is followed by rejection of possible disciples. The second set is followed by the calling of Matthew (the last Disciple to be called?). The third set is followed by the anointing and sending out of the Disciples. All this is followed with the call to endure persecution, not fear, be loyal to Jesus and take up our cross. In other words, following the sending of the 12 Apostles Matthew then shows us what is required of us to be called and sent out.
Matthew 8:1–9:34 contains three clusters of three healings.[2]
First Cluster (8:1–22)
• Healing of a leper (8:1–4)
• Healing the centurion’s servant (8:5–13)
• Healing of many at Peter’s house (8:14–17)
Discipleship sayings—the demands of discipleship (8:18–22)
Second Cluster (8:23–9:17)
• Stilling of the storm (8:23–27)
• Healing of the demonized in Gadara (8:28–9:1)
• Healing of the paralytic (9:2–8)
Calling of disciples and question of fasting (9:9–17)
Third Cluster (9:18–38)
• Resuscitation of the synagogue leader’s daughter and healing of a woman (9:18–26)
• Healing of two blind men (9:27–31)
• Healing of a mute man (9:32–34)
Matthew 8:1-4 ESV
“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
The first miracle that Matthew chooses to talk about after Jesus came down the mountain was the healing of a leper. Leprosy was a group of skin diseases, not the same disease as what we call leprosy today.[3] It was considered highly contagious and lepers were avoided. The closest comparison today would be to compare the way they viewed leprosy with how some view AIDS today.[4] Lepers were the untouchable. Leprosy was often compared to death.[5] In other words, lepers were the walking dead!
Everything about this story is extreme. A leper is so filled with desperation that he is willing to brave the crowd and come to Jesus directly. That was against all social norms, as lepers were to be kept on the outside, they weren’t supposed to come around people. But even more extreme is that Jesus touched Him! Jews, indeed, anyone, did not touch lepers (Leviticus 5:3)! They were untouchable! But Jesus did touch Him! Remember that they believed that uncleanness was contagious!
Haggai 2:12-13 (ESV)
“'If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?'" The priests answered and said, "No." Then Haggai said, "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "It does become unclean."
Jesus did not break the law, for the moment He touched them they ceased to be unclean. Just as darkness is the absence of light, and so when there is light the darkness ceases to be, so too, when the power and life of Jesus touched the leper He ceased to be leprous! But remember that leprosy was compared to death! Here Jesus is doing more than touching the untouchable, He is “raising the dead”! Death to life. He is restoring the cosmos at it’s most basic level. He is reversing the curse that came with the fall. The King has come to His people and is making all things right.
But more than this, the lepers were the social outcasts, doomed to never be touched! Can you imagine living your life without the touch of another person?! They did. Yet here Jesus did touch them. Do you have areas in your life where you feel you are untouchable? Do you feel that you are “walking dead”? Do you feel like an outcast, and outsider? Because that is what the lepers were. Yet Jesus touched them. He wants to touch your heart. The part of you that you believe is evil and dark, the part of you that you want to hide from everyone. You feel like you’re not enough, you feel like you’re dirty or not worthy. He sees that and yet He loves you and wants to embrace you. Jesus sees you for who you are, really, deep down inside, and He loves you! He touches us all, all of us “lepers”.
QUESTION: Is there an area that we hide from God because we believe that it or we are untouchable?
“Now when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. A scribe then approached and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Matthew 8:18-22 (NRSVue)
Compare with the call of Matthew:
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Matthew 9:9-13 (NRSVue)
The Scribe came to Jesus and wanted to follow Him as a disciple. Consider this, the Scribes were the learned class, akin to secretaries and politicians today. The Scribe here is offering to humble himself and follow Jesus after having already achieved status as a Scribe.[6] [7] However, Jesus points out that, although He has a home, as an itinerant minister He often sleeps outdoors (or perhaps in a tent). In other words, although He was a homeowner, He lived a lifestyle of homelessness. This seems to be too much for the Scribe.
The rejection of the man who wants to burry his dead father should be compared to Elijah calling Elisha and allowing him to go kiss his father and mother goodbye in 1 Kings 19:19-21.[8] Here we see that Christ is greater than Elijah and His mission is more urgent.
The picture here should not be individual but put together to show that a disciple of Christ must give up everything. This leads us directly to the call of Matthew.
Consider this, Matthew was a tax collector[9], collecting much like a toll booth worker today.[10] Tax collectors were hated and looked down on, they were considered as bad a sinner or Gentiles.[11] Jesus has just rejected a scribe, but here He accepts a tax collector! This would have been extremely controversial and not a good move politically. But Jesus isn’t interested in the Kingdom of man, He is building the Kingdom of God.
QUESTION: Do we judge others as being like “tax collectors”? Is there anyone that Jesus can’t forgive, heal, and restore?
“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
Matthew 8:23-27 (NRSVue)
To better understand this miracle of Jesus we need to go back. It is clear that Jesus walking on the water symbolized His power over chaos and the world itself.[12] But there is more here. To understand this, we must go back to Daniel.
“As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13-14 (NRSVue)
These verses must be compared to Psalm 68:4, 33, as Yahweh is the one who rides upon the clouds (of heaven)![13] What is most extraordinary about this statement is that it was also a term used to describe Baal![14] Thus Daniel is seeing a man (but also Yahweh) who has the power of a God. This is why he was so disturbed by the vision (v15). He does not understand, how can a man have the power of a God.
Indeed, the Jews did not understand what Jesus meant when He called Himself the “Son of Man”. This is because it is used to mean “man”. However, Jesus made it clear what He meant when He stood before the Hight Priest.
“But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath before the living God, tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.”
Matthew 26:63-65 (NRSVue)
Jesus is not just showing His power over nature, He is showing that He is the Son of Man, who has all power and the Kingdom! He is revealing who He is!
QUESTION: We often read about miracles like this in the Bible. Whether it is turning water to wine, walking on water, or raising the dead. But how often do we apply this faith to our life? What area of our life is God asking us to have faith in?
“While he was saying these things to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.”
Matthew 9:18-22 (ESV)
Why did this woman believe that if she touched the “fringe of His garment” she would be healed? The Greek word here most likely refers to the tassels of a garment, what would later become tzit zits.[15] Malechi 4:2 says that “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.” 1 Samuel 24:4 uses this Hebrew word for the “corner” of the robe. The connection here is probable, since the fringe was worn around the four corners of the robe (Numbers 15:38)! The connection cannot be made directly, but I believe this is what she understood. It is likely that the woman, reading this verse, saw that Jesus, the “sun of righteousness” would have healing “in his fringe”. Thus if she touched it she would be healed.
The “sun of righteousness” may refer to Yahweh our righteousness.
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.”
Jeremiah 23:5-6 (ESV)
QUESTION: There are parts of us that are unclean. What part of you does Jesus want to purify and heal?
“Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”
Matthew 10:1 (NRSVue)
Then the Twelve Apostles were sent out. Until Jesus anointed the Twelve for ministry, He alone was able to combat the forces of darkness. Yet He instructed them to pray, because there were not many laborers.
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction…“Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;” Matthew 9:35, 37 (ESV)
Now, having prepared the Twelve, He anoints them to have authority over the unclean spirits. He can do this because He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18 (ESV)
As Craig S. Keener explains in the The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary we can see a connection to Elijah.
“The model of training other miracle-workers fits the ancient Israelite model of prophetic guilds: Elijah trained Elisha and also apparently led a revival of wilderness prophets (cf. 2 Kings 2:3–18); Samuel also was training a prophetic movement that had not existed when God first began calling him (1 Sam 3:1; 19:20–24).”[16]
He is sending them out by two’s, and He is sending them out alone, without Him.[17]
Imagine the courage it would have taken, and the faith, to go out with just one other. Until now, they have been following Jesus as He does the works, as He does the miracles, as He casts out demons. Now He says to them “go”, and they go.
He sends them to:
1. Share the good news of His Kingdom (v7)
2. Heal the sick (v8)
3. Raise the dead (v8)
4. Heal the lepers (v8)
5. And cast out demons (v8)
He warns them that persecutions are coming (v16-23) but that they should not be anxious or afraid (v26, 28).
QUESTION: How many of us feel a calling on our life but we feel afraid?
Kieth Green said that this generation is responsible for this generation of the unsaved. He also said that we shouldn’t wonder if we are called, because we are called.
It is clear from Scripture that we are all called to be disciples, and that we are all called to make disciples. The calling of the Lord is not given to the few, it is given to all. The Lord has not called me, He has called us. We are all called to follow after Him as a disciple and to share the good news. We are all called to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons.
QUESTION: Do you feel a calling on your life that you’re afraid of? Are you afraid of others? Are we willing to serve Him?
Sources-
[1] David B. Capes, Matthew through Old Testament Eyes: A Background and Application Commentary, ed. Andrew T. Le Peau and Seth M. Ehorn, Through Old Testament Eyes: New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2024), 132.).
[2] David B. Capes, Matthew through Old Testament Eyes: A Background and Application Commentary, ed. Andrew T. Le Peau and Seth M. Ehorn, Through Old Testament Eyes: New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2024), 133.
[3] David B. Capes, Matthew through Old Testament Eyes: A Background and Application Commentary, ed. Andrew T. Le Peau and Seth M. Ehorn, Through Old Testament Eyes: New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2024), 131.
[4] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 138.
[5] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 260–261.
[6] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 274.
[7] Anthony J. Saldarini, “Scribes,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992) 1014.
[8] Craig L. Blomberg, “Matthew,” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos, 2007), 33.
[9] It is interesting that Jesus had both a tax collector as a disciple and a zealot. The zealots revolted because of taxation. Thus the tax collectors could be seen as the opposites of zealots.
See Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 476.
[10] John R. Donahue, “Tax Collector,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992) 337.
[11] “Negative views of the telōnai occur in secular literature, in the NT, and in rabbinic writings. In Roman and Hellenistic literature they are lumped together with beggars, thieves, and robbers (Cicero, De offic. 15–51; Diogenes Cynicus, Ep. 36.2; Lucan, Pseudolog. 30; Dio Chrysostom, Orat. 14.14; Michel TDNT 8:99). In the NT they are paired with sinners (telōnai kai hamartōloi, Mark 2:15; Matt 9:10; 11:19; Luke 7:34; 15:2) and with “immoral people” (pornai, Matt 21:31), and they are likened to Gentiles (Matt 5:46; 18:17).”
John R. Donahue, “Tax Collector,”
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992) 337.
[12] Craig S. Keener, Matthew, vol. 1 of The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), Mt 8:23–27.
[13] Normally, the Hebrew term ʿărābâ has the meaning ‘steppe’ or ‘desert’. Consequently the expression in Ps 68:5[4] is usually understood as ‘the one passing through the steppes’. Yet because Yahweh is celebrated in v 34[33] as the ‘Rider in the heavens, the heavens of old’ (rōkēb bišmê šĕmê-qedem), it has been surmised that ʿărābôt in v 5[4] is in fact a word for ‘clouds’ (cf. Akk urpatu, erpetu ‘cloud’, plural urpātu, urpētu, erpētu: CAD E [1958] 302–304; AHW 243, 1432).
W. Herrmann, “Rider Upon the Clouds,” in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst (Leiden; Boston; Köln; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: Brill; Eerdmans, 1999), 703–704.
[14] ibid
[15] κράσπεδον, ου, τό (Trag., X. et al.; LXX; loanw. in rabb.)
① edge, border, hem of a garment (Theocr. 2, 53; Appian, Bell. Civ. 1, 16 §68 τὸ κ. τοῦ ἱματίου of the Pontifex Maximus; Ael. Aristid. 47 p. 416 D.; Athen. 4, 49, 159d; 9, 16, 374a; PGM 7, 371 ἐξάψας κράσπεδον τοῦ ἱματίου σου; Zech 8:23) ἥψατο τοῦ κ. τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ Mt 9:20; Lk 8:44 (s. Acta Pilati 7=ASyn. 95, 90) cp. Mt 14:36; Mk 6:56.—But mng. 2 is also prob. for these passages, depending on how strictly Jesus followed the Mosaic law, and also upon the way in which κ. was understood by the authors and first readers of the gospels.
② tassel (צִיצִת), which an Israelite was obligated to wear on the four corners of his outer garment, acc. to Num 15:38f; Dt 22:12 (Schürer II 479 [sources and lit.]; Billerb. IV 276–92). Of the Pharisees μεγαλύνειν τὰ κ. make the tassels on their garments long Mt 23:5.—B. 859f. DELG. M-M. TW.
William Arndt et al., in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 564.
[16] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 310.
[17] Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22 of The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 167.