WORDS OF JESUS - READING THE RED
Matthew 8 Amplified Bible
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came up to Him and bowed down before Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You are able to make me clean (well).”
3 Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one [about this]; but go, show yourself to the priest [for inspection] and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony (evidence) to them [of your healing].”
The Centurion’s Faith
The Leper Does Not Beseech Cavalierly (8:1-2)
This leper was in a desperate and apparently lifelong situation. Biblical leprosy (distinct from modern Hansen's disease) was an assortment of serious skin problems that isolated the leper from the rest of society (Trapnell 1982:459). Sometimes we pray passively, almost unconcerned as to whether God hears a particular prayer or not; the leper did not have this luxury. For another expression of desperate faith, see comment on 9:20-21.
The Leper Approaches Jesus with Humility (8:2)
The Leper Approaches Jesus with Humility (8:2)
Bowing down before another person was a great act of respect for the other's dignity, especially for a Jewish person (as in Test. Ab. 3-4, 9, 16A). The leper not only shows physical signs of respect toward Jesus; he acknowledges that Jesus has the right to decide whether to grant the request. To acknowledge that God has the right to grant or refuse a request is not lack of faith (8:2; compare, for example, Gen 18:27, 30-32; 2 Sam 10:12; Dan 3:18); it is the ultimate act of dependence on God's compassion and takes great trust and commitment for a desperate person.
The Leper Has Perfect Trust in Jesus' Power (8:2)
The Leper Has Perfect Trust in Jesus' Power (8:2)
He knows Jesus is able to make him clean if he wants to; he is not using if you are willing as a religious way of saying, "I doubt that you can, but I would be happy if you might do something for me anyway." Yet the text demonstrates, as has been already noted, that his trust in Jesus' power is not presumption either.
Jesus Not Only Heals but Touches the Untouchable (8:3)
Jesus Not Only Heals but Touches the Untouchable (8:3)
Jewish law forbade touching lepers (Lev 5:3) and quarantined lepers from regular society (Lev 13:45-46); people avoided most contact with them (2 Kings 7:3; Jos. Ant. 9.74). Some ruled that the defilement of leprosy was one of the greatest defilements, for a leper could communicate it even by entering a house (m. Kelim 1:4). It is thus no small matter for Jesus to compassionately touch the man. Yet by touching Jesus does not actually undermine the law of Moses, but fulfills its purpose by providing cleansing (Mt 5:17-48; compare Lev 13:3, 8, 10, 13, 17).
Some Christians today would fear to touch a Christian brother or sister who, through blood transfusion, past lifestyle or a spouse's infidelity, was HIV-positive, even though HIV is less contagious than many people thought leprosy was. As often happens today, some people in antiquity constructed theological rationalizations for others' misfortune perhaps to escape from the fear that they too were vulnerable; hence some later teachers decided that leprosy was divine punishment (m. Seqalim 5:3; Lev. Rab. 17:3).
Jesus Wants to Make the Man Whole (8:3)
Verse 3 implies what is elsewhere explicit: Matthew views compassion as a primary motivation in Jesus' acts of healing (9:36). Even if in some cases God has some higher purpose in mind than an immediate answer to our request (as in 26:39, 42), he is never sadistic. Jesus demonstrated his feeling toward our infirmities by bearing them with us and for us (8:17) and by healing all who sought his help (8:16). Matthew hardly expects us to suppose that Jesus has lost any of his power (28:18) or compassion since the resurrection. Unfortunately, many of us Western Christians today feel more at home with the Enlightenment rationalism in which we were trained than we do with the desperate faith of Christians who dare to believe God for miracles. Those in desperate need cannot afford to rationalize away God's power and compassion.
Jesus Does Not Seek Human Honor for Himself (8:4)
Some Christians today would fear to touch a Christian brother or sister who, through blood transfusion, past lifestyle or a spouse's infidelity, was HIV-positive, even though HIV is less contagious than many people thought leprosy was. As often happens today, some people in antiquity constructed theological rationalizations for others' misfortune perhaps to escape from the fear that they too were vulnerable; hence some later teachers decided that leprosy was divine punishment (m. Seqalim 5:3; Lev. Rab. 17:3).
Jesus Wants to Make the Man Whole (8:3)
Verse 3 implies what is elsewhere explicit: Matthew views compassion as a primary motivation in Jesus' acts of healing (9:36). Even if in some cases God has some higher purpose in mind than an immediate answer to our request (as in 26:39, 42), he is never sadistic. Jesus demonstrated his feeling toward our infirmities by bearing them with us and for us (8:17) and by healing all who sought his help (8:16). Matthew hardly expects us to suppose that Jesus has lost any of his power (28:18) or compassion since the resurrection. Unfortunately, many of us Western Christians today feel more at home with the Enlightenment rationalism in which we were trained than we do with the desperate faith of Christians who dare to believe God for miracles. Those in desperate need cannot afford to rationalize away God's power and compassion.
Jesus Does Not Seek Human Honor for Himself (8:4)
This healing would be viewed as no small miracle; later Jewish teachers regarded leprosy as akin to death (compare Num 12:12; 2 Kings 5:7) and cleansing a leper as akin to raising the dead (b. Sanhedrin 47a). Yet not only does Jesus refuse to take advantage of the opportunity for publicity, he attempts to suppress it. Some other prominent biblical prophets at times worked clandestinely, endeavoring to accomplish their mission without seeking their own honor (for example, 1 Kings 11:29; 13:8-9; 21:18; 2 Kings 9:1-10), partly because they were investing their time especially in a small circle of disciples (1 Sam 19:20; 2 Kings 4:38; 6:1-3; Keener 1993:134). There are also other important reasons for the messianic secret, but whatever the other reasons, Jesus is not interested in getting credit from others for everything he does (compare Mt 6:1-18).
Jesus Honors the Requirements of the Law of Moses (8:4)
Jesus Honors the Requirements of the Law of Moses (8:4)
Jesus upholds the law (Mt 5:17-20): the law commanded lepers who thought they were cleansed to submit to priestly inspection and offer sacrifice (Lev 14:1-9; CD 13.6-7; m. Nega`im). Jesus may not seek credit for the miracle, but his faithfulness to the law takes precedence over his personal prohibition against announcing the work.
The Centurion Acknowledges His Inferior Status as a Gentile (8:7-8)
The Centurion Humbles Himself on Behalf of a Servant (8:5-6)
This Roman soldier was one that Jewish people would have to count as an exception (compare explicitly in Lk 7:4-5). The slave was probably the centurion's entire "family" (Roman soldiers were not permitted to have legal families during their two decades of military service; A. Jones 1970:155-56). (Matthew's audience may even think of Jewish relatives enslaved by the Romans after Jerusalem's fall in A.D. 70.)
The Centurion Acknowledges His Inferior Status as a Gentile (8:7-8)
Matthew reports such self-humbling on the part of both Gentiles who entreat Jesus for help (here and 15:27). The centurion's initial announcement of the need (8:6) is an oblique form of request; one rarely simply presumed on others' favor (compare Lk 24:28-29; Jn 1:38-39), and one of higher social status rarely would utter a direct request unless desperate (compare Jn 2:3). But Jesus forces the centurion to admit his status as a suppliant.
The emphatic Greek I in 8:7 suggests that Jesus' words there are probably better translated as a question: "Shall I come and heal him?" (France 1977:257). Most Palestinian Jews, after all, considered entering Gentile homes questionable (compare Acts 10:28; m. Pesahim 8:8; Oholot 18:7). Here Jesus erects a barrier the Gentile must surmount, as in 15:24, 26: an outsider who would entreat his favor must first acknowledge the privilege of Israel, whom other peoples had oppressed or disregarded (compare Jn 4:22). Such initial rejection was a not uncommon ploy for demanding greater commitment (see comment on Mt 19:16-22). Rather than protesting, the centurion acknowledges his questionable merit before Jesus (compare Lk 7:4, 6), adopting the appropriate role of a suppliant totally dependent on a patron's benefaction-a role centurions themselves often filled for local populations (Malina 1981:78; Malina and Rohrbaugh 1992:70).
The Centurion Recognizes Jesus' Unlimited Authority to Heal (8:8-9)
The emphatic Greek I in 8:7 suggests that Jesus' words there are probably better translated as a question: "Shall I come and heal him?" (France 1977:257). Most Palestinian Jews, after all, considered entering Gentile homes questionable (compare Acts 10:28; m. Pesahim 8:8; Oholot 18:7). Here Jesus erects a barrier the Gentile must surmount, as in 15:24, 26: an outsider who would entreat his favor must first acknowledge the privilege of Israel, whom other peoples had oppressed or disregarded (compare Jn 4:22). Such initial rejection was a not uncommon ploy for demanding greater commitment (see comment on Mt 19:16-22). Rather than protesting, the centurion acknowledges his questionable merit before Jesus (compare Lk 7:4, 6), adopting the appropriate role of a suppliant totally dependent on a patron's benefaction-a role centurions themselves often filled for local populations (Malina 1981:78; Malina and Rohrbaugh 1992:70).
The Centurion Recognizes Jesus' Unlimited Authority to Heal (8:8-9)
The man shows faith not only by acknowledging his own unworthiness but also by recognizing that Jesus' power is so great that this request is small to him. Most of the centurion's contemporaries would have balked at such faith; even Jewish people considered long-distance miracles especially difficult and rare, the domain of only the most powerful holy men like Hanina ben Dosa. The centurion reasons, however, from what he knows: he himself can issue commands and receive obedience because he is under authority, that is, backed by the full authority of the Roman Empire, which he represents to his troops. In the same way, the authority of Israel's God backs Jesus, and a mere command from his lips banishes powers in subjection under him, such as sickness.
Do we have such faith to recognize the greatness of God's power? Those who are submitted to Jesus' will may act on it today, recognizing that the authority he provides to carry out his work is his and not our own (10:8, 40).
Jesus Accepts This Attitude as Faith (8:10)
Do we have such faith to recognize the greatness of God's power? Those who are submitted to Jesus' will may act on it today, recognizing that the authority he provides to carry out his work is his and not our own (10:8, 40).
Jesus Accepts This Attitude as Faith (8:10)
Jesus accepts the centurion's recognition of Jesus' great authority as faith and heals the servant (8:13). But the text also offers a second lesson, a lesson about our prejudices. Jesus "marvels" (NIV was astonished) only twice in the Gospel traditions, here at a Gentile's faith (v. 10) and in Mark 6:6 at his hometown's unbelief (France 1977:259). It is often those closest to the truth who most take it for granted and those who have had the least exposure to it who most recognize its power when it confronts them (Mt 2:1-12).
Many church workers focus on getting people saved in churches where new people rarely visit; we may need to focus more on sharing the faith by word and deed in our communities outside church walls, and across cultural barriers as well. As one missionary statesman put it, "I do not see why anyone should hear the gospel twice when so many people have never heard it once." Or as R. T. France muses (1985:157):
The Centurion Is a Promise of More Gentiles to Come (8:11-12)
Many church workers focus on getting people saved in churches where new people rarely visit; we may need to focus more on sharing the faith by word and deed in our communities outside church walls, and across cultural barriers as well. As one missionary statesman put it, "I do not see why anyone should hear the gospel twice when so many people have never heard it once." Or as R. T. France muses (1985:157):
The centurion's story has thus highlighted faith as the "one thing needful." It is a practical faith which expects and receives results. Such faith renders tradition and heredity meaningless, and "of such is the kingdom of God." Schweizer draws an appropriately uncomfortable moral: "The warning in this story may be especially urgent in an age when Africans and Asians in the community of Jesus may well be called on to show `Christian' Europe what Christian life really is."
The Centurion Is a Promise of More Gentiles to Come (8:11-12)
Evidence supports this as an authentic saying of Jesus (Semitisms and background in Jeremias 1958:55-62). Matthew may draw Jesus' words here from another context (Lk 13:28-29) to reinforce the point that this story prefigures the Gentile mission, which Jesus endorsed in advance (France 1977:260).
Subjects of the kingdom (literally "sons of the kingdom"; compare Mt 13:38; 23:15) refers to Jewish people-those who expected salvation based on their descent from Abraham (3:9). The damnation of those who thought themselves destined for the kingdom sounded a sober warning to nationalist Jews of Matthew's day; it sounds a similar warning to complacent Christians today (Goldingay 1977:254; compare 13:38).
Rome was the great power that lay to the west, and Matthew had earlier illustrated the coming of pagans from the east (2:1). Pagans thus would recline at table (the standard posture for feasts and banquets) in the kingdom with the patriarchs-the messianic banquet Israel expected for itself (5:6; 22:2; Lk 16:23; 4 Macc 13:17; 1 Enoch 70:4).
"Exceptions" can make a difference. When one white minister living in the U.S. South was experiencing the deepest trauma of his life, some African-American Christians took him under their wing and nursed him back to spiritual and emotional health. The white minister began to experience the spiritual resources and strength that the black American church had developed through slavery, segregation and contemporary urban crises and was eventually ordained in a black Baptist church. Subsequently he discovered slave narratives and other accounts that brought him face to face with what people who looked like him had done to the near ancestors of his closest friends. He became so ashamed of the color of his skin that he wanted to rip it off. But the love of his African-American friends and the good news of Christ's love restored him, and soon he began to feel part of the community that had embraced him.
He often joined his friends in lamenting the agony of racism and its effects. But one day after a Sunday-school lesson, a minister friend said something about white people in general that he suddenly took personally. "I didn't mean you," the black minister explained quickly. "You're like a brother to me." The black minister made an exception because he knew the white Christian, but the white Christian wondered about all the people who didn't know him. He had experienced a taste of what most of his black friends regularly encountered in predominantly white circles.
The next week the ministers were studying together the story of the centurion's servant in Luke, and they noted that the centurion's Jewish contemporaries viewed him as an exception to the rule that Gentiles were oppressors. They also noted that the Gospels tell this story because that exception in Jesus' ministry points to a huge number of Gentile converts pouring in at the time when the Gospels were being written.
If even a few people become exceptions and really care enough about their brothers and sisters of other races to listen, these exceptions can show us that the racial and cultural barriers that exist in our societies do not need to continue. If we are willing to pay the price-which will sometimes include hints of rejection from people we have come to love-we can begin to bring down those barriers.
Subjects of the kingdom (literally "sons of the kingdom"; compare Mt 13:38; 23:15) refers to Jewish people-those who expected salvation based on their descent from Abraham (3:9). The damnation of those who thought themselves destined for the kingdom sounded a sober warning to nationalist Jews of Matthew's day; it sounds a similar warning to complacent Christians today (Goldingay 1977:254; compare 13:38).
Rome was the great power that lay to the west, and Matthew had earlier illustrated the coming of pagans from the east (2:1). Pagans thus would recline at table (the standard posture for feasts and banquets) in the kingdom with the patriarchs-the messianic banquet Israel expected for itself (5:6; 22:2; Lk 16:23; 4 Macc 13:17; 1 Enoch 70:4).
"Exceptions" can make a difference. When one white minister living in the U.S. South was experiencing the deepest trauma of his life, some African-American Christians took him under their wing and nursed him back to spiritual and emotional health. The white minister began to experience the spiritual resources and strength that the black American church had developed through slavery, segregation and contemporary urban crises and was eventually ordained in a black Baptist church. Subsequently he discovered slave narratives and other accounts that brought him face to face with what people who looked like him had done to the near ancestors of his closest friends. He became so ashamed of the color of his skin that he wanted to rip it off. But the love of his African-American friends and the good news of Christ's love restored him, and soon he began to feel part of the community that had embraced him.
He often joined his friends in lamenting the agony of racism and its effects. But one day after a Sunday-school lesson, a minister friend said something about white people in general that he suddenly took personally. "I didn't mean you," the black minister explained quickly. "You're like a brother to me." The black minister made an exception because he knew the white Christian, but the white Christian wondered about all the people who didn't know him. He had experienced a taste of what most of his black friends regularly encountered in predominantly white circles.
The next week the ministers were studying together the story of the centurion's servant in Luke, and they noted that the centurion's Jewish contemporaries viewed him as an exception to the rule that Gentiles were oppressors. They also noted that the Gospels tell this story because that exception in Jesus' ministry points to a huge number of Gentile converts pouring in at the time when the Gospels were being written.
If even a few people become exceptions and really care enough about their brothers and sisters of other races to listen, these exceptions can show us that the racial and cultural barriers that exist in our societies do not need to continue. If we are willing to pay the price-which will sometimes include hints of rejection from people we have come to love-we can begin to bring down those barriers.
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Disclosure: Much of what is in my posts are things I have compiled through the years and I do not know if they have copyrights. What I do know about origin or website I give credit and have tried to always post a link to the origin. I do not market anything in any way on this blog -- I merely hope it will encourage and inspire others.
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Disclosure: Much of what is in my posts are things I have compiled through the years and I do not know if they have copyrights. What I do know about origin or website I give credit and have tried to always post a link to the origin. I do not market anything in any way on this blog -- I merely hope it will encourage and inspire others.
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