Daily Bible Reading (Wednesday, Jan. 11th)

15

Matthew 8 (ESV)

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 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 Faith of a Centurion

5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 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.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

15 Comments

I am very privileged to be reading John MacArthur's commentary on Matthew with Mrs. Marguerite Drury 4x a week. We take it very slow and absorb so much together. This chapter is so rich. The condition of the leper who had faith enough to approach Christ when he was forbidden to be in close proximity to anyone. The centurion who recognized that Christ did not have to be in the presence of his servant to heal, but merely needed to speak the words. Another demonstration that Christ knows the heart of man as He reminded the two disciples of the commitment needed to follow Him. He demonstrates His deity throughout the chapter as He has power over disease, creation and the demons. How humbling that He chose to save me, yet how often do I lack the faith shown in this chapter? Don't I believe that He can save others?

The faith of the centurion really convicted me. How many times have I witnessed God's work in my life and then I doubt Him. I would display a total lack of trust in Him. Yet the centurion, aware of his unworthiness, approached God believing Him to have all authority. One display of that is when he called Him Lord several times. Lord.

I like my commentary on vs 21-22. "Apparently, this man had not yet put his commitment to Jesus above these cultural expectations." Sometimes it's freightning to think that I might have done that if put in that position because I would be to fearful to leave behind what I thought was more important.

The people were more focused on the loss of the pigs than Christ in the flesh being right there...they totally missed it.

Amazed at the authority of Christ shown in this chapter and convicted of my own lack of faith and encouraged by y'alls comments.

I pray my love of bacon will not let me chose between that over Jesus. And I love Ernest Borgnine's portrayal of the Centurian!

What an amazing plot twist is seen in the last verse! You would think the people would prefer Jesus over the herd of pigs. But they didn't want Him around at all. This just reminds us again that the choice is between heaven and this world and many prefer the world. Also, it reminds us that salvation is an intensely spiritual issue. People can hear all the facts and, in the case of these people, see all the facts but their hearts can remain hard towards the Lord. We need to pray that the Lord would give people hearts to believe like the centurion did.

I'm struck by the compassion of Jesus. He touched the leper as He healed him. Anyone else would have been made unclean to touch a leper, but Jesus alone has the power to make the unclean one clean and send him to the priests, proving He is the holy one. And I agree with Sarah about how convicting the account of the centurion is - how I desire to grow in my faith to increasingly recognize Jesus' authority. But again, He showed such compassion to a Gentile centurion. And with the disciples, though He rebuked their lack of faith, still He had compassion and stilled the wind and waves, giving them such a demonstration of Who He is. May I never stop growing in my love and faith in our awesome Savior. I am forever grateful and amazed for the compassion He has shown me in saving me.

I find the story of the centurion very convicting. In the story, we read about a man who had seemingly little contact with Jesus and how he displays amazing faith in the absolute power of Christ. Yet how often I, who have seen many displays of God's absolute power throughout my life, fail to trust Him when things get tough.

Ultimately, if the Lord wills it, it will be done (verses 2,3), amazing! Every time I read the faith of the centurion I think of Ernest Borgnine in "Jesus of Nazareth". It always moves me. By faith alone...amazing! However, verses 11 & 12 stand out to me after following verse 10. Have mercy on me a sinner, Lord.

I love seeing the faith of the centurion in that he sees Jesus is not merely a miracle working healer who can do some sleight of hand tricks to make people well, but is a man who is in a position of authority over these things. Unlike the centurion however, Jesus' authority is not limited to the men who are under Him, but it extends to all things as He "upholds all things by the word of His power" Heb 1:3

I am amazed at Christ's sovereignty and authority. Jesus cleanses the leper, heals the centurion's servant and Peter's mother in law, cast out demons (who by the way identified Him as the Son of God) even the winds and sea obeyed Him. I am thankful that He is the one teaching us of little faith to walk by faith. That's AWE mazing.

As vv. 18-22 indicate people gave all kinds of excuses for not following Jesus, but Jesus would accept none of them. We must call people to leave their excuses behind and to follow Jesus now wholeheartedly!

We see Jesus doing the easy work, Healing the people. In their desperate condition they amassed at the his "door" seeking his physical help. There does not appear that they had doubts of his ability to care to their bodies. As for the Priests Jesus sent the healed former leper as to them as evidence that he was/IS the Messiah. How many of these people experienced the spiritual healing of their souls? Praise be to God that he completed the hard work to redeem us.

There is so much in each chapter, but my favorite part of this one is when the disciples understanding of their situation changed from standing in the presence of their teacher to standing in the presence of God.

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