Matthew 8:14 Miracle - For The Glory of Jesus

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Miracle

Jesus uses a miracle three times to heal a woman who was ill; then stills a storm; then two men are healed of demons that are sent into pigs.

This is a Bible Study. Have your own Bible handy to look up the references mentioned.

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Matthew 8:14-34

14. Peter’s mother-in-law “was in bed with a fever, and Peter and Andrew told Jesus about her need when they all arrived home after the synagogue service (Mark 1:21).” (Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. [Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004], 33)

15. To heal her all Jesus did was touch her hand.

16. “This seems like a ‘minor miracle,’ but the results were major, for after sundown (when the Sabbath ended), the whole city gathered at the door that the Lord might meet their needs (Mark 1:32-34).” (Wiersbe, 33)

17. “Matthew uniquely includes a fulfillment quotation of the Old Testament (Isaiah 53:4). This quote comes from one of the ‘suffering servant’ passages of Isaiah, which early Christianity consistently saw as pointing to the Messiah’s atone for sin (cf. 1 Peter 2:24).” (Blomberg, Craig L., The New American Commentary, Volume 22, Matthew. [Nashville: Broadman Press], 144)

Multitudes

18. “Notice the great multitudes of people about Him. Literally, He had healed thousands of afflicted people, and not just those individual cases recorded.” (McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983], 49)

19. A scribe “came out from the crowd, apparently fell down before the Lord and said, ‘I’ll follow You wherever You go.” (McGee, 49)

“The scribe professes absolute allegiance, but Jesus realizes that the man doesn’t know what such a commitment would actually involve.” (Blomberg, 146)

20. Jesus “describes his itinerant ministry as even more austere than the lives of birds and foxes.” (Blomberg, 146)

This man “would not pay the price. This is the first use of ‘Son of man’ in Matthew as a name for Jesus. It comes from Daniel 7:13 and is definitely a messianic title and a claim to kingship.” (Wiersbe, 34)

21. “The man is not ready to follow quite yet.” (Blomberg, 147)

22. This “might be said, ‘Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.’” (Wiersbe, 34)

“Many who are alive postpone their response to the direct call of Jesus because of more pressing human allegiances.” (Blomberg, 148)

Miracle

23. “We have now come to the fifth miracle. Here the power of the Lord Jesus is demonstrated.” (McGee, 50)

“The three miracles in 8:23-9:8 illustrate Jesus’ power over disaster, demons, and disease. The storm stilling contains a rebuke of the elements that resembles an exorcism (8:26).” (Blomberg, 148)

24. This involves the next miracle. “It was not unusual for violent storms suddenly to sweep across the water. He [Jesus} permitted it that He might teach His disciples some lessons.” (Wiersbe, 34)

25. “The boat is in danger of being swamped, and lives are at risk. Amazingly, Jesus remains so calm that he continues to sleep. The disciples rouse him and beg for help.” (Blomberg, 149)

26. “Matthew places Jesus’ rebuke before the miracle, while Mark reverses the sequence (Mark 4:40). Jesus demonstrates power over the destructive forces of nature, which remain under the devil’s sway. As with his healings, Jesus’ ‘cure’ takes effect immediately.” (Blomberg, 149)

27. “Jesus has demonstrated the identical sovereignty over wind and waves attributed to Yahweh in the Old Testament (cf. Jonah 1-2; Psalm 104:7; 107:23-32).” (Blomberg, 150)

“Such power can do far more than just heal sickness. Miracles over ‘nature’ remain much rarer in Jewish and Christian history.” (Blomberg, 150)

Gergesenes

28. “Matthew offers his first full-length narrative illustrating Jesus’ ministry of exorcism, already summarized in 4:24 and 8:16. As in both those verses, and consistently in antiquity, demon possession is distinguished from illness in general through sometimes seen as the cause of a particular malaise.” (Blomberg, 151)

This miracle “shows what Satan does for a man: robs him of sanity and self-control; fills him with fears; robs him of the joys of home and friends; and (if possible) condemns him to an eternity of judgment.” (Wiersbe, 34)

29. “It is difficult for us to understand the import of this miracle because of our lack of understanding of demons.” (McGee, 51)

30-31. “The demons besought Jesus to send them into the swine.” (Wiersbe, 34)

32. “The fact that the demons destroyed two thousand pigs is nothing compared with the fact that Jesus delivered two men from the powers of Satan.” (Wiersbe, 34)

33-34. “Jesus should have been welcomed, but the Gadarenes dwell only on the loss of their pigs and fear the power that could vanquish Satan so dramatically.” (Blomberg, 152)

“A man with Jesus’ power must be divine and holy, but sinful humans recoil in the presence of holiness because it points out their own shortcomings all the more glaringly.” (Blomberg, 152)

Jesus “brought peace to these men’s lives and to the community where, for a long time, they had been causing trouble.” (Wiersbe, 34)

References

In this article Scripture quotations taken from KJV.

Blomberg, Craig L., The New American Commentary, Volume 22, Matthew. Nashville: Broadman Press
McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible: Volume IV. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1983
Robertson, A. T., A Harmony of the Gospels. New York, HarperCollins Publishers
Wiersbe, Warren W, The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume 1 Matthew-Galatians. Colorado Springs: David C Cook, 2004

Centurion Forgive

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