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The Man With Leprosy
1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed
him. 2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord,
if you are willing, you can make me clean."
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing,"
he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
4Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But
go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded,
as a testimony to them."
Explanation: JESUS RULES NATURE-AND DISCIPLES (8:1-9:38)
After completing Jesus' sermon, Matthew begins recounting signs
reported in Mark and some other source(s) Matthew shares with Luke.
Matthew arranges these accounts about Jesus' authority in a special
way. Many scholars count ten specific miracles in this section,
some emphasizing the view that this points to the ten signs of a
new Moses (Teeple 1957:82). Others emphasize the whole narrative's
structure: because two of the miracles appear in one miracle story,
Matthew narrates a total of nine miracle stories, which break into
sets of three, separated by blocks of Jesus' teaching (Meier 1979:67
and 1980:80). Matthew 8:1-17 shows Jesus' authority over sickness;
8:23-28 shows his authority over nature, demons and paralysis; and
9:18-34 demonstrates his authority over disabilities and death.
Whereas these narratives demonstrate how much authority Jesus has
in creation, the intervening paragraphs teach that we humans should
also acknowledge Jesus' rightful authority over us (8:18-22; 9:9-17).
The concluding summary of miracles (9:35) also contains another
declaration of Christ's authority: we must ask the Lord to send
out workers to demonstrate Jesus' authority over these needs (9:36-37).
That final summary section (9:35-38), like the one preceding the
Sermon on the Mount (4:23-25), could also be classified (with 10:1-5)
as the narrative introduction for the discourse that follows in
chapter 10.
Jesus' Authority over Sickness
(8:1-22)
Even the best of ancient historians were interested in the meaning
of history, its moral, as well as its information; most biographers
especially explored their characters as positive or negative examples.
(Many ancient writers, unlike many modern ones, had a sense of responsibility
to their society!) The Gospel writers are interested in more than
listing all Jesus' deeds (as if that were possible anyway-see Jn
21:25); they select examples from their materials to emphasize relevant
points for their own readers (compare Jn 20:30-31). In narrating
events like Jesus' healings, Matthew encourages his audience that
the Lord to whom they pray for their needs in the present demonstrated
his ability to meet those needs during his earthly ministry. While
Matthew addresses particularly the need to trust Jesus to heal,
the principles can apply to other desperate needs in our lives.Jesus'
Willingness to Heal (8:1-4)
One could draw a number of lessons from this narrative. Because
this is Matthew's first extended healing miracle, I will treat some
elements in greater detail here than in some subsequent narratives.
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 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 Faith of the Centurion
5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking
for help. 6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home
paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you
come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be
healed. 9For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under
me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and
he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
10When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following
him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel
with such great faith. 11I say to you that many will come from the
east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the subjects
of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just
as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that
very hour.
Explanation: A Roman Exception (8:5-13)
The Gentile mission was at most peripheral to Jesus' earthly ministry:
he did not actively seek out Gentiles for ministry (Mt 10:5), and
both occasions on which he heals Gentiles he does so from a distance
(8:13; 15:28). The Gentile mission became central to the early church,
however, and early Christians naturally looked to accounts of Jesus'
life for examples of ministry to the Gentiles (compare 1:3, 5-6;
2:1-2, 11; 3:9; 4:15). Matthew here draws from Q material (on the
Q hypothesis, see the introduction) to emphasize his theme favoring
the Gentile mission.
The significance of the passage is clarified by some basic information
about Roman centurions and what they represented to Jewish people
in the first century. In this period soldiers in the Roman legions
served twenty years (Ferguson 1987:39). Unlike aristocrats, who
could become tribunes or higher officials immediately, most centurions
rose to their position from within the ranks and became members
of the equestrian (knight) class when they retired (J. Jones 1971:201-3).
Roman soldiers participated in pagan religious oaths to the divine
emperor (J. Jones 1971:212).Matthew here demonstrates that a call
to missions work demands that disciples first abandon ethnic and
cultural prejudice. His Jewish readers would be tempted to hate
Romans, especially Roman soldiers, and perhaps their officers even
more; this would be especially true after A.D. 70. Jesus' teaching
about accommodating a Roman soldier's unjust request (5:41), paying
taxes to a pagan state that used the funds in part for armies (22:21)
or paying a temple tax that the Romans later confiscated for pagan
worship (17:24-27) would seem intolerable to anyone whose allegiance
to Christ was not greater than his or her allegiance to family and
community. But Jesus is not satisfied by our treating an enemy respectfully;
he demands that we actually love that enemy (5:44). No one challenges
our prejudices-and sometimes provokes our antagonism-more than a
"good" member of a group that has unjustly treated people
we love. This narrative challenges prejudice in a number of ways.
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 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)
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):
@BLOCK = 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.
Jesus Heals Many
14When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law
lying in bed with a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever left
her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought
to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all
the sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet
Isaiah:
"He took up our infirmities
and carried our diseases."
The Cost of Following Jesus
18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to
the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to
him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have
nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
21Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and
bury my father."
22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their
own dead."
Explanation: Following Where Jesus Leads (8:18-22)
The same Jesus who has authority over nature (Mt 8:23-27), demons
(8:28-34) and paralysis (9:2-8) is the One whose authority we should
acknowledge over our own lives. David Bryant tells of a people movement
in India in which twenty thousand poor Christians have divested
themselves of virtually all their meager resources, mobilized to
send forth as many of their number as possible to reach unreached
peoples of India with the gospel (Bryant 1984:52). By contrast,
it is difficult to engage many Western church members in such small
gestures of self-discipline as fasting a meal or giving up an evening
of television for door-to-door witnessing. In view of the way Jesus
defines what it means to be his follower, one might well wonder
how many of these church members are genuinely following the Jesus
who speaks to us in the Gospels.
Following Jesus May Cost Us the Most Basic Security (8:18-20)
The scribe no doubt supposes that he is paying a high price in volunteering
to follow Jesus; such a decision will cost popularity in some circles,
and going through the process of discipleship after already being
a scribe would be a humbling experience (like having to repeat high
school after finding out that one's school was unaccredited).
Jesus, however, warns his prospective disciple that even such a
sacrifice may be inadequate. Jesus is, after all, the Son of Man
who must suffer before his exaltation (compare Dan 7:13-22). As
the Arab Christian commentator Ibn Sa'id remarked on this passage,
the disciple "does not understand that `follow' means Gethsemane,
and Golgotha, and the tomb" (Bailey 1980:24). Although Jesus
still had a home base in Capernaum (Mt 4:13), his traveling ministry
left him and his disciples at the mercy of others' hospitality.
In practice, then, Jesus was essentially homeless. Matthew records
Jesus' words not merely as a matter of historical interest but as
a call to his own generation, and by implication to ours: are we
ready to follow Jesus even at the cost of all securities (10:5-14;
compare Heb 11:38)?Following Jesus Takes Precedence over All Social
Obligations (8:21-22)
Jesus' priority over social obligations includes even those family
obligations one's society and religion declare to be ultimate. Let
the dead bury their own dead may refer to the "spiritually
dead" (compare Lk 15:24, 32); others suggest, "Let the
other physically dead in your father's tomb see to your physically
dead father," a manifest impossibility characteristic of Jesus'
typically shocking and graphic style (compare McCane 1990:41).
Jesus' demand may prove less harsh in some respects than it sounds
to us at first. The disciple (by calling him this Matthew makes
the narrative explicitly relevant for Christians' commitment) is
probably not asking permission to attend his father's funeral later
that day; his father likely either was not yet dead or had been
buried once already.
When a father died, mourners would gather immediately and a funeral
procession would take his body to the tomb (see Mt 27:59-60; Mk
5:35, 38; Lk 7:12), leaving no time for a bereaved son to be talking
with rabbis.
For a week afterward the family would remain mourning
at home and not go out in public (Sirach 22:12; Judith 16:24). But
current Semitic idioms show that "I must first bury my father"
can function as a request to wait until one's father dies-perhaps
for years-so that one may fulfill the ultimate filial obligation
before leaving home (Bailey 1980:26).A custom practiced only in
the period immediately surrounding the time of Jesus may illumine
this passage more directly, however. In Jesus' day the eldest son
would return to the tomb a year after the father's death to "rebury"
his father by neatly arranging his now bare bones in a container
and sliding it into a slot in the wall. If the father of the man
in Matthew's account has died, this young man cannot be referring
to his father's initial burial and so must be asking for as much
as a year's delay for a secondary burial (see McCane 1990).
At the same time, Jesus' demand also proves harsher than it sounds
to us at first. The offense lies not in the immediacy of the demand
but in the priority the demand takes over family obligations (Mt
10:21, 35-37). Many Jewish people considered honoring parents the
supreme commandment (Ep. Arist. 228; Jos. Apion 2.206) and burial
of one's parents one of the most important implications of that
commandment, regardless of the circumstances (Tobit 4:3-4; 6:14;
1 Macc 2:70). In most current interpretations of biblical law, only
the honor due to God took precedence over the honor shown to parents
(Deut 13:6; 4 Macc 2:10-12; Jos. Apion 2.206).
Jesus does insist on honoring parents (Mt 15:4-6),
yet he demands a greater affection toward himself. Jesus scandalously
claims the supreme position of attention in his followers' lives.
If we devote ourselves to anyone or anything more than to him, our
claim to be his followers becomes hollow, no matter how many "disciples"
around us live the same way. And lest we think that Jesus could
never demand the immediate abandonment of family obligations we
would have otherwise read into the demand, Luke adds a third account
that requires just that (Lk 9:61-62; see Keener 1993:215).
Jesus' words in Matthew 8:18-22 were probably intended mainly to
weed out would-be disciples who would prove weak in commitment.
Jesus wanted people to follow him and welcomed the masses; he did
not actually want prospective disciples to abandon him. Mark tells
us that Jesus loved a prospective disciple-just before he effectively
discouraged the man from following him (Mk 10:21-22). But those
who would genuinely be disciples of the King must count the cost
before they begin following him (Lk 14:26-35). (Parallels from some
other radical ancient teachers demonstrate that commitment rather
than harshness was Jesus' intent; see comments on Mt 19:16-22.)
Jesus Calms the Storm
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without
warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves
swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went
and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely
calm.
27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this?
Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
Explanation: Jesus' Authority over Nature and Disciples
(8:23-9:17)
As in the preceding section (8:1-22), here Matthew recounts three
signs of Jesus' authority over creation (8:23-9:8), then turns to
Jesus' proper authority over humanity and our response to him (9:9-17).Jesus'
Authority over Nature (8:23-27)
This passage affirms Jesus' authority over nature (8:26), and if
over nature, then over any crisis his followers may face. Many ancient
accounts of nature miracles were purely legendary, but these generally
surrounded characters of the distant past (compare R. Grant 1986:62)
rather than arising when eyewitnesses remained. The tradition behind
this particular story is very likely Palestinian, describing in
traditional Galilean (contrary to foreign) fashion the Lake of Galilee
as a "sea" (v. 24, literally, against the NIV; see Mk
4:39; see Theissen 1991:105-8).
Jesus' Ministry Exhausts Him (8:23-24)
Jesus' exhausted slumber in the boat passage incidentally illustrates
his statement in verse 20 that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay
his head. Perhaps as if to underline the point, Matthew omits Mark's
mention of the makeshift cushion (Mk 4:38). Matthew also purposely
emphasizes that Jesus' true disciples followed him (8:22-23).Jesus
Reproves the Disciples for Their Fear (8:25-26)
Jesus' peace (v. 24) contrasts starkly with the disciples' fear
(v. 25); they are of little faith (v. 26), just like those who are
anxious for tomorrow (6:30) or who doubt Jesus' power to work extraordinary
miracles (14:31; 16:8; 17:20). Ability to sleep during trouble was
often a sign of faith in God (Ps 3:5; 4:8), and the Greeks also
praised philosophers who demonstrated consistency with their teaching
by maintaining a serene attitude during a storm (Diog. Laert. 1.86;
2.71; 9.11.68). Just as Jesus demands that we express our love for
God by trusting him for material provision (Mt 6:25-34), he demands
that we trust him for safety. Our heavenly Father may not always
protect us from earthly ills, but he will do with our lives what
is best for us (10:29-31). By this point in the narrative the disciples
appear without excuse for their unbelief, like Israel in the wilderness;
"Jesus expects them to have taken charge of the storm themselves"
(Rhoads and Michie 1982:90, 93).
Jesus' Power Reveals His Identity (8:27)
If the disciples thought the boat might sink with Jesus aboard,
it was because they did not understand Jesus' identity. His power
over the sea, however, forces them to grapple afresh with that question.
Faith in Jesus' authority flows from conviction concerning his true
identity (compare 8:8; 9:6).
Stories about nature miracles occasionally circulated in antiquity,
usually either stories about deities (R. Grant 1986:62) or legends
about heroes of the distant past (as in Diog. Laert. 8.2.59; Blackburn
1986:190; compare t. Ta`anit 2:13). Parallels to the Jonah story
(Cope 1976:96-98) can link the disciples' amazement at Jesus' stilling
of the storm to God's stilling the storm in the Jonah story (Jon
1:15-16); other backgrounds in the Hebrew Bible also point to Jesus'
identity with God (see in Lane 1974:176). In biblical tradition
it was God whom the seas obeyed (as in Job 38:8-11; Ps 65:5-8; 89:8-9;
France 1985:162). The astonishment of Jesus' disciples is therefore
understandable (Mk 4:41; 6:51)! Their cry for Jesus to save them
reflects one sense of the Greek term save ("deliver safely")
but probably also alludes on a literary level to Jesus' broader
mission (Mt 1:21).
The Healing of Two Demon-possessed Men
28When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,
two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were
so violent that no one could pass that way. 29"What do you
want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come
here to torture us before the appointed time?"
30Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31The
demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the
herd of pigs."
32He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into
the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the
lake and died in the water. 33Those tending the pigs ran off, went
into the town and reported all this, including what had happened
to the demon-possessed men. 34Then the whole town went out to meet
Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their
region.
Explanation: Jesus' Authority over Demons (8:28-34)
The setting builds suspense. Gadara and (Mark's) Gerasa were both
part of the Decapolis, a primarily Gentile area with a large Jewish
population (Jos. War 1.155). That tombs were unclean (for example,
m. Nazir 3:5; 7:3; t. Baba Batra 1:10-11) and considered the usual
haunts of demons and magic (PGM 101.1-3; Nineham 1977:153) increases
the audience's suspicion that these demons are inordinately powerful-hence
the narrative's opening suspense and christological impact.
Even Demons Know Who Their Lord and Judge Is (8:28-29)
The demoniacs ran to Jesus (Mt 8:28), and the demons protested his
coming to torture them (compare Test. Sol. 5:5). Jesus' presence
also reduced them to entreating permission just to enter some pigs
(v. 30). Yet in contrast to demons, many people remain unaware of
Jesus as Lord and Judge.
The Kingdom Is "Already" As Well
As "Not Yet" (8:29)
Because the King of the future age arrived in the first century,
his kingdom also invaded this world in a way hidden to people but
recognized by the evil one and his forces (see also Cullmann 1950:71).
The demons here, believing they are free to torment people until
the final day and expecting eternal torment in the day of judgment,
recognize that their judge has just shown up, before the appointed
time. God's ultimate intervention is yet to come, but this does
not prevent us from depending on his power over the evil one in
the present.
Jesus Values People More Than Animals or
Property (8:30-32)
In ancient exorcism traditions, demons typically made a public scene
when they departed, melodramatically indicating their protest and
the exorcist's power (as in Jos. Ant. 8.48-49; Philostr. V.A. 4.20);
but rarely did they make this much of a scene! Pigs can normally
swim for some distance if necessary (Alexander 1980:214); given
the mortality of demons in some Jewish traditions, this account
may suggest that the demons were at least disabled or bound in hell.
It would have made sense to the earliest Jewish hearers of this
story that demons wished to enter pigs and that Jesus let the herd
perish, but to the owners of the swine (in preinsurance days) the
destruction of their herd meant financial loss, not just "deviled
ham." The deliverance of the demoniacs mattered more to Jesus
than the fate of the swine (see also Hooker 1983:39).Most People
Value Property More Than God's Deliverance (8:33-34)
Gentile wonderworkers were often "magicians," whose power
others perceived as malevolent more often than not (as in Apul.
Metam. 2.5, 20, 30; 3.16-18; 9.30). Ignoring the men's deliverance
and focusing on the destruction of the property, the Gadarenes viewed
Jesus as a magician, dangerous to their interests.
People's presuppositions are so strong that even divine miracles
will not always convert them. I once debated for about seven hours
with a professor in his office, providing evidence to refute his
objections to Christianity and citing line after line of evidence
for the truth of the Christian faith, each of which he dismissed
on the basis of presuppositions. Finally exasperated, I demanded,
"Would you believe in Jesus if someone were raised from the
dead in front of you in his name?"
"No," he responded, "I'd say they weren't really
dead."
"And you have the audacity to call me closed-minded for being
a Christian?" I retorted.
We cannot, however, assume in advance who will respond to our testimony;
most of us would have guessed that of all the Gadarenes, the ones
least likely to respond to Jesus would be the demoniacs. As an atheist
I argued vehemently against the gospel the first day I heard it,
and the people who witnessed to me did not learn until a year later
that I had become a Christian later that day and led ten people
to Christ in the intervening year. We are responsible to sow seed
everywhere and leave the harvest with God (13:3-23).
