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| − | '''8:1-4 Why did Jesus charge the leper not to tell anyone about Him?'''<br>
| + | ====8:1-4 Why did Jesus charge the leper not to tell anyone about Him?==== |
| | Jesus charged these people not to tell anyone about Him, because He was yet to suffer and He did not want it publicly known that early in His earthly ministry that He was the Messiah – the one sent from God – knowing the controversy it would cause (cp also Mt 9:27-30; 12:15-16; 16:13-31; Mk 3:11-12; 5:21-24; 7:32-36; 8:22-26; 9:9). | | Jesus charged these people not to tell anyone about Him, because He was yet to suffer and He did not want it publicly known that early in His earthly ministry that He was the Messiah – the one sent from God – knowing the controversy it would cause (cp also Mt 9:27-30; 12:15-16; 16:13-31; Mk 3:11-12; 5:21-24; 7:32-36; 8:22-26; 9:9). |
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| − | '''<div id="8:11-12 Who is Jesus referring to here and what is outer darkness?"> 8:11-12 Who is Jesus referring to here and what is outer darkness?<div>'''
| + | ''Back to [[Matthew Study]]'' |
| − | In Mt 8:11 Jesus is referring especially to Gentiles who will readily accept Him as Saviour, while He is rejected by the Jews (cp Isa 2:2-3; 11:10-12; 65:1 with Mt 21:43; Lk 2:30-32; Ro 15:8-12). In Mt 8:12 the children of the kingdom refers to Jews who professed to believe in God and His Eternal Kingdom, but rejected Christ (cp Lk 13:28-30; Ro 9:22-33). Outer darkness in Mt 8:12 means obscurity. In this context it refers to Hell (cp also Mt 22:13; 25:30). See also comments on Mt 21:42-45; Lk 2:33, 2:34-35; Ro 9:22-24, 9:25-29, 9:30-33 and author’s studies Hell, and Israel in God’s Eternal Purpose in his book Advanced Studies in the Christian Faith (Volume 1).
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| − | '''<div id="8:16-17 What was Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus fulfilled here?"> 8:16-17 What was Isaiah’s prophecy that Jesus fulfilled here?<div>'''
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| − | (cp Isa 53:4-5). This is Isaiah’s prophecy that Mt 8:16-17 speaks of. It teaches us that there is healing for our bodies in Christ’s atoning death as well as salvation for our souls. Griefs and sorrows in V4 (KJV) mean sicknesses and pains. Jesus bore our sicknesses and our pains so that we could be healed of them the same as He became a sin offering that we could be forgiven our sins. This teaching is reinforced as we study the scriptures in detail. In Mt 8:17 the griefs and sorrows of Isaiah 53:4are correctly translated as infirmities and sicknesses. Matthew asserts here that Isaiah's prophesy was being fulfilled in the healings Jesus rendered to the sick, "...that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses." That is not teaching that Jesus completely fulfilled Isaiah's prophesy before the cross and therefore there is no bodily healing in the atonement, as many believe. It teaches that by contemporaneously healing the sick and forgiving their sins during His earthly ministry Jesus was demonstrating that bodily healing is an integral part of the atonement (cp Mk 2:1-12).
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| − | These people were amazed to learn that as sin and sickness go hand in hand at one end of the spectrum, so too do healing and forgiveness at the opposite end of the spectrum (see also comments on Mt 9:1-8). There are a great many Christians today who still do not know this truth and cannot obtain their healing as a result (cp Jn 5:1-14). All these scriptures are irrefutable proof that God's redemptive plan is all-inclusive. It provides for our physical healing as well as our spiritual healing. Jesus' healings in His earthly ministry simply foreshadowed the healing in His atonement on the cross (cp 1Pe 2:24-25). Peter affirms here that Jesus bore the punishment for our sins on the cross so that our bodies are healed as our souls are saved from hell. Peter is attesting to this as being an established fact, accomplished by Jesus' stripes. All we have to do is believe what the scriptures teach and claim our healing by faith. Christ bore our sins and our sicknesses on the cross so we do not have to bear them ourselves. He did not bear our sicknesses to merely enter into the fellowship of our sufferings as some teach, but to deliver us from them altogether (cp Jn 19:28-30). When Jesus said "it is finished", just before He died here, that signified that the complete redemptive plan of God was fulfilled in Christ on the cross (cp Ga 3:13-14, 28-29).
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| − | There can be no confusion over what this scripture means. It confirms everything the other scriptures in this study teach. Jesus died on the cross so that all who believe on Him can be partakers of the salvation benefits He bought for us with His blood. What is the curse He died to redeem us from? (cp Deut 28:15-68). There are 54 verses relating to all the curses here and everything listed is what Christ died to save us from but for the purpose of this study we will only look at the different sicknesses that are listed. These include deafness, blindness, lameness, barrenness, mental illness, fear, consumption, fever, emaciation, cancer, ulcers, boils, haemorrhoids, rheumatism, arthritis, dermatitis, etc, etc, Verse 61 even takes into account sicknesses and plagues not listed. No doubt we could include herpes, aids, emphysema, heart disease and many others among them but praise God, Jesus has redeemed us from them all and healing is ours if we will but believe and comply with the conditions (cp Ro 5:17). This scripture clearly teaches that the abundant life Jesus promised believers applies to this life, not the next as many would have us believe, and sickness and disease have no place in it (cp 3Jn 2). This is still further evidence that it is still in God's eternal purpose to heal us. The word wish here means pray. The verse should read, "beloved I pray above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." There are three blessings of God involved in John's prayer here: material prosperity, bodily healing and health, and the saving of Gaius' soul. If any one of those blessings was not the will of God, John would have known and he would not have prayed for them. If such blessings are the will of God for one man, they are for all men alike who will have faith for them, because in the gospel of Christ there is no respect of persons.
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| − | It is plainly evident from scripture that God still heals, that He always heals and that it is His will to heal everyone who meets the conditions. God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. It is also plain in scripture that sickness is not God's chastening of His children; it is not a blessing in disguise, and God is not glorified in sickness. Only good gifts and perfect gifts come down from God. Now we need to know what we must do to be healed, and what are some of the hindrances to healing (cp Mk 9:23). First, we must dispel any doubt that God will heal us. We have the assurance of His word. His promises are right throughout scripture as we have found in this study, but for the promises to work we must meet the conditions (cp Psa 66:18). If there is any unconfessed or unrepented sin in our life the Lord will not hear any prayer we pray, whether it be for healing or anything else. We must bring the sin before God and confess it before our fellowship can be restored with Him (cp 1Jn 1:7-10). Any sin not confessed and repented of puts a wall up between us and God and because of this we can no longer experience God's favour, or His salvation.
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| − | (See also comments on Mt 9:1-8, 13:53-58; Mk 1:40-41, 8:22-26, 10:46-52, 16:9-20; Lk 4:38-39; Jn 3:14-15, 9:3; Ac 4:4; Php 2:25-30; 1Pe 2:24,
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| − | '''<div id="8:18-22 What is meant by “Let the dead bury their dead”?"> 8:18-22 What is meant by “Let the dead bury their dead”?<div>'''
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| − | This teaching is also found in Luke’s gospel where it expands upon Mt 8:22 and includes a third candidate for salvation in addition to the two men recorded here (cp Lk 9:57-62). Jesus is testing those who would follow Him in these passages. There are three seemingly sincere candidates for salvation here, but all failed to measure up to the standards Jesus has set for His followers. Jesus is teaching us that anything less than total commitment to God eliminates one from the future eternal kingdom. The first incident teaches that an emotional enthusiasm that has not considered the cost of abandoning material security to follow Him is insufficient by Christ’s standards. The second teaches that loyalty to Christ must take precedence over all other loyalties – following after Christ must be our highest priority. Jesus is not being insensitive to the propriety of funerals here, but is teaching against putting off the work of God “…but go thou and preach the kingdom of God” (cp Lk 9:60). Followers of Christ have the urgent task of proclaiming the life that is in Him to them that are lost. This is more important work than burying spiritually dead people who have physically died. Jesus said let their own spiritually dead bury them. The third incident, which is only recorded by Luke, teaches that once we start in God’s service we cannot turn away. Service to God commands our undivided attention, and if we are not prepared to singlemindedly serve God, then we will forfeit our place in His kingdom. (See also comments on Mt 5:13-16, 10:37-38, Mk 4:21-25, Lk 14:28-35).
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| − | '''<div id="8:23-27 See comments on Mk 4:35-39.">8:23-27 See comments on Mk 4:35-39.<div>'''
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| − | '''<div id="8:28-34 Why did Jesus allow the demons to go into the pigs, causing them to drown?"> 8:28-34 Why did Jesus allow the demons to go into the pigs, causing them to drown?<div>'''
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| − | To better understand why Jesus allowed the demons to go into the pigs, causing them to drown, we need first to study Mark’s and Luke’s account of this incident. In Matthew’s account there are two demoniacs mentioned, whereas both Mark and Luke only mention one. That is not to say that there were not two demoniacs involved, but that only the most prominent one was mentioned (cp Mk 5:1-20; Lk 8:26-39). Jesus’ purpose was to save the man. His wellbeing is the issue here, not the pigs. What happened to the pigs was incidental to a human life being saved, which is more precious to God than a whole herd of animals. Jesus simply consented to the demons entering into the pigs because their eternal punishment was not yet due. He did not tell the demons to kill the pigs. They just did to the pigs what they eventually would have done to the man. He was already in the place of the dead – the tombs –and would have surely died but for Jesus delivering him from death and enabling him to re-enter life and become a witness to God’s saving grace. The townspeople also missed the point here – the pigs were more important to them than the fact that a human life was saved, and that the Saviour of the world was in their midst. The whole town turned on Jesus – preferring pigs to salvation.
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| − | '''Back to [[Matthew Study]]'''
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Jesus charged these people not to tell anyone about Him, because He was yet to suffer and He did not want it publicly known that early in His earthly ministry that He was the Messiah – the one sent from God – knowing the controversy it would cause (cp also Mt 9:27-30; 12:15-16; 16:13-31; Mk 3:11-12; 5:21-24; 7:32-36; 8:22-26; 9:9).
