Matthew 8
8
Jesus Cures a Man with a Skin Disease
(Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16)
1When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
2A man with a serious skin disease came and bowed down in front of him. The man said to Jesus, “Sir, if you’re willing, you can make me clean.” #8:2 “Clean” refers to anything that Moses’ Teachings say is presentable to God.
3Jesus reached out, touched him, and said, “I’m willing. So be clean!” Immediately, his skin disease went away, and he was clean.
4Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this! Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifice Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean.”
A Believing Army Officer
(Luke 7:1–10)
5When Jesus went to Capernaum, a Roman army officer came to beg him for help. 6The officer said, “Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain.”
7Jesus said to him, “I’ll come to heal him.”
8The officer responded, “Sir, I don’t deserve to have you come into my house. But just give a command, and my servant will be healed. 9As you know, I’m in a chain of command and have soldiers at my command. I tell one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I tell my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10Jesus was amazed when he heard this. He said to those who were following him, “I can guarantee this truth: I haven’t found faith as great as this in anyone in Israel. 11I can guarantee that many will come from all over the world. They will eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12The citizens of that kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.”
13Jesus told the officer, “Go! What you believed will be done for you.” And at that moment the servant was healed.
Jesus Cures Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others
(Mark 1:29–34; Luke 4:38–41)
14When Jesus went to Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. 15Jesus touched her hand, and the fever went away. So she got up and prepared a meal for him.
16In the evening the people brought him many who were possessed by demons. He forced the ⌞evil⌟ spirits out of people with a command and cured everyone who was sick. 17So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true: “He took away our weaknesses and removed our diseases.”
18Now, when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he ordered ⌞his disciples⌟ to cross to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
What It Takes to Be a Disciple
(Luke 9:57–62)
19An expert in Moses’ Teachings came to him and said, “Teacher, I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
20Jesus told him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to sleep.”
21Another disciple said to him, “Sir, first let me go to bury my father.”
22But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Jesus Calms the Sea
(Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25)
23Jesus’ disciples went with him as he left in a boat. 24Suddenly, a severe storm came across the sea. The waves were covering the boat. Yet, Jesus was sleeping.
25So they woke him up, saying, “Lord! Save us! We’re going to die!”
26Jesus said to them, “Why do you cowards have so little faith?” Then he got up, gave an order to the wind and the sea, and the sea became very calm.
27The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Cures Two Demon-Possessed Men
(Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39)
28When he arrived in the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side ⌞of the Sea of Galilee⌟, two men met him. They were possessed by demons and had come out of the tombs. No one could travel along that road because the men were so dangerous.
29They shouted, “Why are you bothering us now, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us before it is time?”
30A large herd of pigs was feeding in the distance. 31The demons begged Jesus, “If you’re going to force us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
32Jesus said to them, “Go!” The demons came out and went into the pigs. Suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the cliff into the sea and died in the water. 33Those who took care of the pigs ran into the city. There they reported everything, especially about the men possessed by demons.
34Everyone from the city went to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Matthew 8
8
He Carried Our Diseases
1-2Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and dropped to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”
3-4Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.”
5-6As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, “Master, my servant is sick. He can’t walk. He’s in terrible pain.”
7Jesus said, “I’ll come and heal him.”
8-9“Oh, no,” said the captain. “I don’t want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I’m a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes; to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10-12Taken aback, Jesus said, “I’ve yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God’s kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up ‘in the faith’ but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened.”
13Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, “Go. What you believed could happen has happened.” At that moment his servant became well.
14-15By this time they were in front of Peter’s house. On entering, Jesus found Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed, burning up with fever. He touched her hand and the fever was gone. No sooner was she up on her feet than she was fixing dinner for him.
16-17That evening a lot of demon-afflicted people were brought to him. He relieved the inwardly tormented. He cured the bodily ill. He fulfilled Isaiah’s well-known revelation:
He took our illnesses,
He carried our diseases.
Your Business Is Life, Not Death
18-19When Jesus saw that a curious crowd was growing by the minute, he told his disciples to get him out of there to the other side of the lake. As they left, a religion scholar asked if he could go along. “I’ll go with you, wherever,” he said.
20Jesus was curt: “Are you ready to rough it? We’re not staying in the best inns, you know.”
21Another follower said, “Master, excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have my father’s funeral to take care of.”
22Jesus refused. “First things first. Your business is life, not death. Follow me. Pursue life.”
* * *
23-25Then he got in the boat, his disciples with him. The next thing they knew, they were in a severe storm. Waves were crashing into the boat—and he was sound asleep! They roused him, pleading, “Master, save us! We’re going down!”
26Jesus reprimanded them. “Why are you such cowards, such faint-hearts?” Then he stood up and told the wind to be silent, the sea to quiet down: “Silence!” The sea became smooth as glass.
27The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. “What’s going on here? Wind and sea stand up and take notice at his command!”
The Madmen and the Pigs
28-31They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, “What business do you have giving us a hard time? You’re the Son of God! You weren’t supposed to show up here yet!” Off in the distance a herd of pigs was grazing and rooting. The evil spirits begged Jesus, “If you kick us out of these men, let us live in the pigs.”
32-34Jesus said, “Go ahead, but get out of here!” Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.