ON OUR LORD'S MIRACLES. The Greek word translated miracle means literally ‘power'; the idea of wondering underlies our word miracle. A miracle is therefore some wonderful display of power; the special sense being that of a display of ‘supernatural' power. This does not mean contra-natural, but simpl... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:1. WHEN HE CAME DOWN. Comp. Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-15. Notwithstanding the apparently definite statement of Matthew as to time and place, the chronological order of Mark and Luke is more correct GREAT MULTITUDES, literally, ‘many crowds,' companies from different regions. NOTE ON LEPROS... [ Continue Reading ]
GENERAL CHARACTER. The magna charta of Christ's Kingdom: the unfolding of His righteousness; the sublimest code of morals ever proclaimed on earth; the counterpart of the legislation on Mount Sinai; Christ here appears as Lawgiver and King; Moses spoke in God's name; Christ speaks in His own. Its po... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:3. AND HE (the best authorities omit ‘Jesus') STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND AND TOUCHED HIM. Such touch was forbidden. Despite the consequent healing, it may have been regarded by the Pharisees as rendering Jesus unclean. I WILL; BE THOU MADE CLEAN, in direct correspondence with the leper's e... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:4. SEE THOU TELL NO MAN _i.e_., do not stop to blaze it abroad, but GO THY WAY, go directly AND SHOW THYSELF TO THE PRIEST. The telling was forbidden until this duty was fulfilled. It is said that the first inspection was performed by the priest of the district, then a second one after sev... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:5-13. THE HEALING OF THE CENTURION'S SERVANT. Compare the fuller account in Luke 7:1-10. This miracle must not be confounded with the healing of the nobleman's son (John 4:47-53) in the same city. The two cases have striking points of difference. AND WHEN HE HAD ENTERED INTO CAPERNAUM. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:6. LORD. This word, used by the elders, probably means more than a title of respect and less than an acknowledgment of Messiahship. MY SERVANT, lit. ‘boy,' as in many languages. His personal house servant (‘held in honor by him,' Luke), as distinguished from the soldiers who served under... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:7. AND JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, to those whom he sent (Luke 7:6): I WILL COME AND HEAL HIM. According to Luke, our Lord went, expressing in act the willingness here expressed in word, and on the way the occurrences mentioned in the next verses took place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:8. THE CENTURION ANSWERED, through friends (Luke 7:6). LORD, I AM NOT WORTHY, etc. This humility sprang out of his consciousness that he was a heathen, as well as his esteem of our Lord. BUT ONLY SAY IN A WORD. This means one word of command, as Matthew 8:9 shows. AND MY SERVANT SHAL... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:9. FOR I ALSO AM A MAN UNDER AUTHORITY. ‘Also' as in Luke 7:8. The meaning is: I am in service, knowing how to obey and also how to command: HAVING SOLDIERS UNDER MYSELF; hence if I who am after all a subordinate can command, much more one who is ‘in authority' over disease. The last thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:10. HE MARVELLED. Not to be explained away. Our Lord could marvel; a mystery of His humanity. TO THEM THAT FOLLOWED. A multitude was probably near, all Jews. WITH NO MAN IN ISRAEL HAVE I FOUND SO GREAT FAITH. This is the sense of the correct reading, which however places last, for emph... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:11. Luke omits the further application contained in this and the following verse, recording them, however, when repeated on a different occasion (Luke 13:28-29). THAT MANY SHALL COME FROM THE EAST AND WEST. A prophecy that the Gentiles, even the most remote, shall enter the kingdom of he... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:12. BUT THE SONS OF THE KINGDOM. The Jews, who, by hereditary right and according to the ordinary law of gracious influences, might be expected to enter, shall be cast out, expelled from the feast or home of their patriarchal ancestors, INTO THE OUTER DARKNESS. The figure is that of darkne... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:13. AS THOU HAST BELIEVED, etc. The faith of the master resulted in the healing of the servant. IN THAT HOUR, at once, at the moment. The same kind of faith was exercised by the Syro-Phenician woman; also a heathen (Matthew 15:21-28). The three believing centurions of the N. T: this one,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:14. AND WHEN JESUS WAS COME INTO PETER'S HOUSE. At Capernaum (comp. Mark 1:21; Mark 1:29; Luke 4:31; Luke 4:35). Bethsaida, however, is called (John 1:45) ‘the city of Andrew and Peter.' When or why they removed is unknown. This miracle, together with others in ‘his own city' (chap. Matthe... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:15. AND HE TOUCHED HER HAND. Our Lord could heal by a word at a distance, in the response to faith, but He generally made some outward sign of His willingness and will to cure; the sign corresponding to the cure and proving that His will healed. The healing was instantaneous and perfect, S... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:17. Peculiar to Matthew, and in accordance with the purpose of his Gospel. ISAIAH THE PROPHET. In the beautiful Messianic prediction, chap. 53. The Evangelist does not quote from the common Greek version, but makes a more exact translation, varying from the original only in the substituti... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:18. NOW WHEN JESUS SAW GREAT MULTITUDES. Some very ancient authorities omit ‘great,' but it is better to retain it. The ‘multitudes' had listened to the discourse in parables (chap. 13). HE GAVE COMMANDMENT TO DEPART. To avoid the crowd, who may have been in an excited condition, and to... [ Continue Reading ]
CHRONOLOGY. Matthew inserts this group of events here; Mark and Luke at a later point. We accept the chronology of Mark, who explicitly says that Jesus crossed the sea on the evening of the day the parable of the sower was delivered. The events of this day are recorded more fully than those of any o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:19. AND ONE WHO WAS A SCRIBE. ‘One' is emphatic; either one disciple (Matthew 8:21) who was a scribe, or ‘one scribe,' suggesting that it was are for one of that class to be among his followers. It is an ingenious hypothesis of Lange, that these persons all became Apostles, being specially... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:20. AND JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM. The answer alone reveals an improper motive in the proposal. FOXES HAVE HOLES, etc., caves, dens. BIRDS OF THE HEAVEN HAVE NESTS, more literally, ‘lodging places.' The two represent the lower order of animals. THE SON OF MAN. A term applied to no one else... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:22. LEAVE THE DEAD TO BURY THEIR OWN DEAD. ‘This is a hard saying, and who can bear it' The common interpretation is: Let the (spiritually) dead attend to burying the (naturally) dead. Such a double meaning is common in brief-pointed remarks. ‘The goal and end of those who are spiritually... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:23. A BOAT. The best authorities omit the definite article. It was, however, the boat from which he had been teaching (Mark 4:36). HIS DISCIPLES, probably the Twelve, though others followed in other boats (Mark 4:36).... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:24. A GREAT TEMPEST IN THE SEA. The ‘storm of wind' is mentioned by Mark and Luke. The word ‘tempest' properly refers to the effect of the wind, being used also of an earthquake. This lake, like most inland seas, is subject to sudden and violent storms. SO THAT THE BOAT WAS COVERED, lit,... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:25. SAVE, WE PERISH, or, ‘are perishing.' Disconnected language of anxiety or terror, as in the parallels (Mark 4:33; Luke 8:24).... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:26. WHY ARE YE FEARFUL. ‘Afraid' would be too weak, and ‘cowardly' too strong. OF LITTLE FAITH. Fear while the Saviour was with them, evidence of ‘little faith;' the cry to Him evidence they were not faithless. He rewards the faith they had, but rebukes them, because of their ‘little fai... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:27. THE MEN MARVELLED. Probably all who were in the boat. The parallel passages oblige us to include the disciples as well as the boat's crew. The former (‘of little faith') also wondered. WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS. An expression of astonishment. It neither means, What country does he c... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:28. INTO THE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES. Our version has: ‘Gergesenes;' in Mark and Luke: ‘Gadarenes.' The best established reading in Matthew: ‘Gadarenes;' Mark: ‘Gerasenes;' Luke: ‘Gergesenes;' though there are variations in all three. We know who changed the word ‘Gadarenes' into ‘Gergese... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:29. AND BEHOLD, they cried out. They strangely enough (‘behold') did not assail; even their hostile words confessed the superiority of Jesus. WHAT HAVE WE TO DO WITH THEE, lit ‘What (is) to us and thee,' what have we in common? The language of the demons, who recognized Him as the son of... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:30. A GOOD WAY OFF. Mark says: ‘Nigh unto the mountains'; Luke: there on the mountain.' The miracle probably took place on the plain. A HERD OF MANY SWINE, according to Mark, ‘two thousand.' FEEDING, under the care of herdsmen (Matthew 8:33). They were the property either of Gentiles o... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:31. SO THE DEMONS BESOUGHT HIM. Mark and Luke insert here a question and answer respecting the name of the demons, which brings their number into view. The former speaks of their begging not to be sent ‘out of the country,' the latter, ‘into the deep.' The latter phrase suggests that ‘befo... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:32. GO. Their request was fulfilled, and THEY WENT AWAY INTO THE SWINE. The fact of the possession of the swine is stated. It is not more improbable than that the human body could be under demoniacal control. The animal soul has desires and appetites which could be influenced by the demons... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:33. AND THEY THAT FED THEM (herdsmen) FLED, in fright and astonishment. The miracle probably took place at some distance from the city. AND WHAT WAS BEFALLEN THE POSSESSED WITH DEMONS. The destruction of the swine was their personal concern; the other stands in a subordinate place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Matthew 8:34. THE WHOLE CITY, the great mass of the inhabitants from city and country, as it appears from the other accounts. THEY BESOUGHT HIM THAT HE WOULD DEPART FROM THEIR BORDERS. The people were heathen, and as such were more affected by the loss of property and the fear of further damage th... [ Continue Reading ]