14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” – Matthew 8:14-27 ESV
In these three short narratives, Matthew provides us with condensed glimpse into the life of Jesus. He uses these three scenes to reveal not only the kinds of circumstances Jesus regularly encountered, but to further support his claim that Jesus was the Messiah.
The first involved the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus found her bedridden, suffering from a fever. In the Hebrew mindset, a fever was seen as a disease, not simply a symptom of something more serious. We are not told what was causing this woman’s fever, but only that Jesus healed her with a touch of His hand. And Matthew indicates that her healing was immediate and complete. There was no lingering weakness or recovery time necessary. She was able to get up out of bed and serve Jesus and His disciples. It’s important to notice that there is no expression of faith mentioned in this story. Unlike the leper and the centurion, Peter’s mother-in-law said nothing and showed no sign of belief in Jesus. And there is no indication that Peter had asked Jesus to come to his home in order to heal his mother-in-law. Jesus saw the woman’s need and, in an act of mercy, healed her. As always, word of this miracle got out and that evening Jesus found Himself surrounded by more people desiring to be healed. Matthew tells us that Jesus cast out demons and healed all those who were sick, and all in fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 53:4:
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…
For Matthew, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and the subsequent miracles performed by Jesus that evening were all further proofs that Jesus was the Messiah.
Jesus performed His miracles without discrimination or prejudice. He healed an unclean leper, a pagan centurion, the Jewish mother-in-law of one of His followers, and a host of other unnamed individuals who suffered from all manner of diseases and disorders, including demon possession. Again, there is no indication that these people expressed faith in Jesus or declared their belief in Him as their Messiah. They simply came to Him in hopes of receiving healing, and Matthew records, “he healed all who were sick.”
Jesus did not turn away any of those who came to Him with their needs. And these acts of physical restoration provide a foretaste of the spiritual restoration that Jesus would make possible by His death.
…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. – Matthew 20:28 ESV
Jesus would be a equal opportunity Savior, offering His life as a ransom or payment for the sins of many. He would die on behalf of Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, the educated and uneducated, and slaves and freemen. The people Jesus healed had done nothing to earn their restoration to health. And those whom Jesus saves find themselves the undeserving recipients of God’s grace as made possible through the selfless sacrifice of His Son.
As always, the healing ministry of Jesus attracted followers. News of His miracles spread quickly and the number of His followers increased exponentially. Which is exactly what Matthew records in the next vignette. As Jesus attempted to sail to the other side of the lake to escape the crush of the crowds, a scribe approached Jesus, boldly declaring, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (Matthew 8:19 ESV). This man was an expert in the Mosaic law and he is obviously intrigued by Jesus. So much so, that he indicated his desire to follow Jesus as one of His disciples. This was not an indication that the man believed Jesus to be the Messiah. He addressed Jesus as “teacher,” which was nothing more than a display of his respect. And Jesus seems to have seen through the man’s intentions, declaring, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20 ESV). This was less a statement of Jesus’ poverty than it was a declaration of His vagabond lifestyle. He rarely stayed in one place very long, but traveled all throughout the region of Judea, lacking any place that He could truly call home. The most important part of Jesus’ statement was His reference to Himself as the Son of Man. This term is used 80 times in the gospels and, in virtually every case, it is a clear reference to Jesus as Messiah. This scribe was not following Jesus because he believed Him to be the Messiah. He saw Jesus as a popular teacher who was attracting vast crowds of people, but nothing more. And Jesus knew the day would come when men like this would lose interest in His ministry and message.
Matthew follows this encounter with yet another one that involves a disciple stating his desire to follow Jesus, but asking for permission to bury his father first. This man was asking for a leave of absence in order to take care of a pressing family matter, but Jesus somewhat callously replied, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22 ESV). As He had done with His 12 disciples, Jesus called this man to follow Him, and that call involved a leaving and forsaking of everything and everyone. It was to involve an all-out commitment to the cause of Christ. And it would seem that this man was unwilling or unable to to make that kind of commitment. Receiving healing from Jesus is easy, but following after Him requires commitment and involves cost.
The third scene described by Matthew involved Jesus and His disciples in a boat. As they sailed across the Sea of Galilee, a fierce storm arose, swamping the boat with waves and pelting the disciples with rain. But while all this was happening, Jesus slept, undisturbed and seemingly unconcerned. In fear for their lives, the disciples wake Jesus up and demand that He save them. What were they expecting Him to do? While they had seen Jesus perform acts of healing, they had no way of knowing that He had power over the wind and waves. But in their fear and desperation, they called out to Him. And Jesus, rather than immediately solving their perceived problem, addressed the real danger they faced: Their lack of faith.
“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” – Matthew 8:26 ESV
These men had seen Jesus do the impossible. He had healed the sick and cast out demons from the possessed. And while none of them suffered from a physical ailment that required the healing touch of Jesus, they suddenly found themselves in desperate need of salvation. Their lives were in danger. They were at the mercy of the elements, facing certain death, and there was nothing they could do to remedy the situation – in spite of the fact that many of the men on that boat were seasoned fishermen.
Evidently, none of the disciples had an answer for Jesus’ question, because Matthew records that Jesus “rose and rebuked the winds and the sea.” In the original Greek, that word, “rebuked” means “to admonish, reprove, censure severely.” Jesus didn’t just speak to the wind and waves, He scolded them. He read them the riot act. The life-threatening fierceness of the storm came face-to-face with the power of the Messiah. The Savior attacked the very thing that was threatening the lives and intimidating the faith of His followers. And at His word the storm immediately ceased. Matthew states that there was a great calm, which not only refers to the elements, but to the hearts of the disciples. They had been miraculously saved from certain death by the Savior. And all they could say was, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Little did they know that this scene was to serve as foretaste of the greater salvation to come. Jesus came, not just to calm the storms of life, but to rebuke the spiritual wind and waves of the enemy that threaten to overwhelm the lives of men. These 12 men would would day discover that their greatest foe was not the elements of nature, but the prince of this world. And their greatest fear was not that of physical death, but eternal separation from God the Father. But Jesus had come to defeat sin and death, and to calm the spiritual storm created by Satan and intended to drown mankind in the tempest of temptation.
55 “O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NLT
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.