⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰ And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³ Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Matthew 9:9-13 ESV

By this point in Matthew’s narrative, it is obvious that there is something radically different about Jesus. He is not your average rabbi or teacher. He has supernatural powers that allow Him to heal with a touch of His hand or a word from His mouth. He exhibits a never-before-seen authority that allows Him to cast out demons and control the wind and waves of the sea. To the Jews, He’s like nothing they have ever seen before. To the religious leaders, He is an enigma and a growing concern, because of His increasing popularity among the people.

And in today’s passage, we are going to see yet another aspect of Jesus’ radically different nature. We have already seen that He has no problem associating with the unclean, such as the leper whom He touched and healed. And unlike most Jews, Jesus was willing to have contact with Gentiles, even healing the servant of the Roman centurion. Now, in Matthew’s account of his own calling by Jesus, we are going to see that Jesus broke all rules of social protocal by associating with known sinners, such as tax collectors. It just so happens that Matthew himself had been a tax collector, and his retelling of his call by Jesus provides the perfect occasion to, once again, illustrate the radically different nature of Jesus’ ministry.

Just as He had done with Peter, Andrew, James and John, Jesus used a simple two-word phrase to issue His call to Matthew: “Follow me.” And Matthew records that he did just that. Luke provides us with a bit more information regarding this initial encounter between Jesus and Matthew.

Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. – Luke 5:27-28 ESV

We’re not given an explanation as to why Matthew (Levi) had two different names, but it was probably nothing more than a case of him having a given name as well as a nick-name. But Luke makes it clear that Matthew “left everything” and followed Jesus. He turned his back on what had to have been a lucrative business as a tax collector in order to obey the invitation of Jesus. And one of the first things he did was invite Jesus into his home for a meal. It was this occasion that set the stage for yet another illustration of Jesus’ out-of-the-ordinary behavior. Evidently, Matthew wanted his friends and business associates to meet Jesus, so he records that he invited “many tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 9:10 ESV). Notice the close association between these two groups. From a Jewish perspective, tax collectors were despised and seen as some of the worst of all sinners. They were traitors to their people, choosing to make a profit off their fellow Jews by collecting taxes for the Roman government. Tax collectors were well known for their corruption and vice. They were viewed as social pariahs by the Jewish community. Which explains why Matthew invited other tax collectors and known sinners to his party. And yet, Jesus willingly accepted Matthew’s invitation, choosing to dine with those whom the average Jew would readily shun.

The Pharisees who witnessed this appalling scene addressed their shock to the disciples of Jesus, asking, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And before the disciples had a chance to respond, Jesus provided the Pharisees with an answer:

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” – Matthew 9:12 ESV

This carefully worded retort from Jesus was like a missile aimed at the prideful arrogance of the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and was well aware that these men saw His actions as unacceptable and unworthy of someone who claimed to be a faithful Jew, let alone a rabbi or teacher. In their minds, Jesus had discredited Himself by His actions. But Jesus’ statement revealed the radical difference between His outlook on sinful humanity and their own. The Pharisees saw themselves as anything but sinners. They were not only Jews and, therefore, part of the chosen people of God, but well-respected religious leaders and experts in the law of Moses. They were professional law-keepers, priding themselves on their knowledge of the law and their adherence to it. But as Jesus had revealed in His sermon on the mount, most of their interpretations of the Mosaic law were flawed. And their so-called righteousness was deemed inadequate by Jesus when viewed from God’s perspective.

The problem, as Jesus exposes it, was that these men did not see themselves as sinners. They prided themselves on their righteousness and their ability to earn a right standing with God through their actions. Which is why Jesus refers to them sarcastically as “those who are well.” They had the mistaken impression that they were somehow better than the tax collectors and sinners sitting at the table with Jesus. It is reminiscent of the story Jesus told about the two men praying in the temple. Luke tells us that “Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else” (Luke 18:9 NLT). In the story, Jesus compares the prayers of tax collector and a Pharisee. The tax collector “dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner’” (Luke 18:13 NLT). But the Pharisee exhibited a dramatically different attitude.

“The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’’” – Luke 18:11-12 NLT

Notice that the Pharisee prided himself on a sinlessness that was based on his self-manufactured righteousness. He fasted and tithed. He didn’t cheat, commit adultery or sin. But remember what Jesus said in His sermon on the mount: “But I warn you–unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20 NLT). This self-produced kind of righteousness was inadequate. It was insufficient to earn anyone a place in the Kingdom of God. No man could earn his way into God’s favor. As Paul puts it in his letter to the Romans, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT).

The Pharisees, standing outside Matthew’s house and shaking their judgmental fingers in the face of Jesus and His disciples, pridefully viewed themselves as non-sinners. They were above the fray, having already earned their right standing with God through their status as God’s chosen people and their strict adherance to the law. But Jesus reveals that He came to minister to those who recognized their need for a physician. In other words, He came to provide spiritual healing to those who recognized their sinfulness. Like the tax collector in Jesus’ story, they cry out, “be merciful to me, for I am a sinner!”

When Jesus stated, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners,” He was not commending the Pharisees or indicating that they were somehow exempt from the need for His salvation. He was simply stating that their prideful belief in their own self-produced righteousness was going to keep them from ever admitting their need for a righteousness outside of themselves. They were convinced that they could earn a right relationship with God on their own. They needed no Messiah. But they were wrong. Dead wrong.

Jesus refers the Pharisees to an Old Testament passage they would have not quite well: Hosea 6:6:

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
    the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Like their Old Testament ancestors, the Pharisees prided themselves on their strict adherance to the laws of Moses and their keeping of the religious rules and rituals associated with temple worship. But in all their activity they had lost their knowledge of God. It had become all about rule-keeping, not a relationship with God. And these arrogant men were as guilty as their ancestors, whom God condemned as little more than hypocrites.

“These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” – Isaiah 29:13 NLT

Jesus willingly associated with sinners, because they are the ones for whom He came give His life. And while the Pharisees refused to admit it, they too were sinners in need of a Savior. But pride and self-sufficiency would prevent them from seeing and admitting their need. Their self-reliance would keep them turning to Jesus for the salvation they so desperately needed.

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.

¹ And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. ² And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” ³ And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” ⁴ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? ⁵ For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ⁶ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ⁷ And he rose and went home. ⁸ When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. – Matthew 9:1-8 ESV

According to the other two synoptic Gospels, this event actually occurred before the scenes depicted in chapter eight, but Matthew chose to place it here in order to continue his effort to prove Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah. Matthew seems less interested in providing us with an accurate timeline of the events in Jesus’ life than with evidence for His deity. Matthew has grouped these scenes together in an effort to display Jesus’ power over disease, nature, the demonic realm and, with this story, sin itself.

There are several interesting aspects to this story. First, there is the reference by Jesus to the faith of the men who brought the paralytic. There is no mention in the story of the paralyzed man exhibiting faith. His friends brought him to Jesus in order that he might be healed. And we know from Luke’s account of this same story, that the men had been unable to make their way through the crowds that had gathered inside the home where Jesus was teaching. So, they got creative.

…finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. – Luke 5:19 ESV

They were so determined to get their paralyzed friend in front of Jesus and so certain that Jesus could heal him, that they went out of their way to make it happen. And this leads us to the second interesting part of this story. The text tells us that Jesus saw their faith. Their actions were a visible manifestation of their faith. They had been willing to go the extra mile because they fully believed that Jesus had the power to heal their friend. This was exactly the point made by James in the book that bears his name.

Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.“ – James 2:18 NLT

And the visible faith of these men resulted in the physical healing of the paralyzed man. Nowhere does Jesus mention the faith of the man himself. The paralytic had been the fortunate recipient of the faith of his friends. But this brings us to the third interesting aspect of this story. Notice what Jesus said to the man.

And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” – Matthew 9:2 ESV

He didn’t say, “Rise up and walk!” He forgave the man’s sins. This is not necessarily an indication that the man’s paralysis was a result of sin. It also does not mean that the man had been paralyzed by God as a form of punishment for a sin he had committed. Jesus is simply indicating that there is a close association with sin and sickness. Both are the result of the fall. Disease and death are the byproducs of sin’s entrance into the world. And by addressing the issue of the man’s sin, rather than his paralysis, Jesus was clearly indicating that sin was the greater problem. The man’s paralysis kept him from walking, but sin kept him from walking in newness of life. His paralysis left him bed-ridden, but his sin left him in bondage and condemnation, destined to an eternity separated from God. So, Jesus did for the man what only He could do: Forgive his sins. And in doing so, Jesus displayed His divine authority, not just over disease, but over death.

This action on the part of Jesus did not go unnoticed by the Jewish religious leaders. Upon hearing Jesus’ words, they immediately accused Him of blasphemy. From their perspective, Jesus was assuming divine authority, the ability to forgive sins. That was something only God could do. And that’s the point of the entire story. It’s the reason Matthew chose to place it at this point in his Gospel. Jesus had already proven He could heal, cast of out demons and calm storms. But in this scenario, He had upped the ante, displaying a unapologetic claim to have power over sin. What the scribes viewed as blasphemy was simply Jesus displaying His divine authority. He wasn’t claiming to have god-like authority, He was announcing that He was God.

And Jesus responds to these men with a question.

“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?” – Matthew 9:5 ESV

Of course, the answer to His question is simple. It is far easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven” because there is no way to prove the veracity of your statement. How would anyone know if the man’s sins were truly forgiven? Only time would tell if what Jesus said was true. It wouldn’t be until the man died that even he would know whether his sins had been actually been forgiven.

So, Jesus does the more difficult thing. He tells the man to pick up his bed and walk and, not surprisingly at this point in the story, that’s exactly what the man does. But Jesus provides the scribes with the reason behind his actions.

“…that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” – Matthew 9:6 ESV

Jesus spoke and the man was healed. He was restore to perfect physical health. And the fact that the man did just as Jesus had commanded him, picking up his bed and walking home, was proof that Jesus had God-given authority over disease. But the real point of the story is that Jesus had authority over sin and death. Jesus had not come to restore men and women physically, but spiritually. The greater miracle performed that day was the forgiveness of the man’s sin debt. He had been spiritually paralyed by the debt of sin that hung over his life. He had been incapable of walking in community with God because of his unforgiven sin.

The fact is, every person in the crowd that day, including the scribes, were in the same sad state as the paralyzed man. While they had full use of their limbs, they too were paralyzed by sin. And as the author of Hebrews makes clear, “it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 ESV). The sacrificial system was never intended to remove sin.

Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. – Hebrews 10:11 NLT

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. – Hebrews 9:13 NLT

The scribes may have been ceremonially pure, but their sin debt had left them stained and impure before a holy God. And they were right when they assumed that only God could forgive sin. But that was the whole point of this entire exchange. Jesus was God. He was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 NLT). And John reminds us, “You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5 ESV).

Matthew wraps up this account by describing the reaction of the crowd who had witnessed it all.

When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. – Matthew 9:8 ESV

The crowd had seen yet another miracle performed by Jesus and they were appropriately amazed by what they had seen. They even saw Jesus’ actions as God-ordained. There was no doubt in their minds that Jesus had divinely-provided power. But that does not mean they saw Him as their Messiah and Savior. It is likely that their response was driven by the man’s physical healing, because that had been visible and verifiable. They had no way of knowing whether the man’s sins had been forgiven or not. And for most of them, it probably didn’t even matter. They were stuck on a physical plane and more interested in the miracle of a paralyzed man suddenly able to walk. But had they realized that Jesus had come to provide forgiveness from sin and escape from the sin debt that paralyzed each and every one of their lives, they would have been truly amazed and glorified God all the more.

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.

²⁸ And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. – Matthew 8:14-27 ESV

Matthew has already mentioned Jesus’ power to cast out demons.

So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. – Matthew 4:24 ESV

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. – Matthew 8:16 ESV

But in this case, he provides us with a first-hand description of one such case. This one involved two men who were both possessed by demons. Jesus and His disciples encountered these two demoniacs in the country of the Gadarenes, which was located on the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. This was a region populated primarily by Gentiles, which would explain the herd of swine mentioned in the story. Swine were considered unclean by the Jews and they were forbidden by the Mosaic law from not only eating them, but coming into contact with them.

In contrast to the accounts of Mark and Luke, Matthew mentions that there were two men who were demon possessed. In their Gospels, Mark and Luke describe there being only one man. But rather than writing this off as a contradiction or proof that the Bible is full of errors, it is more likely that Matthew and Mark concentrated their attention on the one man whose demon did all the talking. The important thing is that all three synoptic Gospels include the story, thus validating its authenticity.

The truly significant aspect of this story is that all three of the Gospel authors took seriously the spiritual warfare portrayed by this encounter between Jesus and the demonic spirits. Mark and Luke both describe the demon as falling down before Jesus in fear, displaying a recognition of Jesus’ divinity. And all three Gospel accounts carry the verbal reaction of the demon(s), as they lie prostrate before Jesus.

“What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” – Matthew 8:29 ESV

Reflecting their awareness of Jesus’ divinity, the demons address Jesus with His messianic title, “Son of God.” They knew exactly who He was. Which provides an interesting contrast to the reaction of the disciples when Jesus had calmed the storm.

“What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” – Matthew 8:27 ESV

The demons had no doubt as to Jesus’ identity, but their use of His messianic title does not reflect any sense of worship or reverence for Him. They simply recognized that He was the Son of God and had the power to do with them as He wished. At this point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, these demons had a better awareness of Jesus’ true identity than the disciples did. And James makes it clear that demons have a belief in God, but that is not a mark of saving faith.

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. – James 2:19 NLT

Even as the disciples would eventually grow in their awareness of Jesus’ identity, their belief in His deity would not be enough to secure their salvation. It was going to be their faith in His death, burial and resurrection that marked them as true believers.

Later on in his Gospel, Matthew records a conversation between Jesus and His disciples in which He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15 ESV). And Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16 ESV). And Jesus replied in return, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17 ESV). Peter correctly described Jesus as the Son of God and was blessed by Jesus for his answer. But just a few verses later in the same chapter, Matthew reveals another exchange between Jesus and Peter. Jesus “began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21 ESV). 

And Peter took exception to Jesus’ announcement, rebuking Him for even saying it.

“Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” – Matthew 16:22 ESV

Peter had known Jesus’ true identity, but he was totally unaware of Jesus’ earthly mission. He was fully convinced of Jesus’ role as Messiah, but had no idea that death was part of the divine plan for salvation to be possible. Peter’s refusal to accept the reality and necessity of Jesus’ death and resurrection caused Jesus to identify him with Satan himself.

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” – Matthew 16:23 ESV

Like the demons, Peter was willing to recognize Jesus’ deity, but was unable to accept the need for Jesus to die in order that men might have eternal life. The demons wanted salvation from the eternal torment they knew was inevitable. But they were not looking for salvation that resulted in eternal life. Their question, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?,” seems to indicate that they knew there was future judgment awaiting them. They were aware of their fate, but were afraid that their encounter with Jesus was going to bring about a premature end to their existence. The book of Revelation records the ultimate destination of Satan and his demons.

…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. – Revelation 20:2 ESV

Fearing that Jesus was going to relegate them to the lake of fire, the demons begged Jesus to cast them into a herd of swine. And with a word, Jesus did just that. The result was that the entire herd of swine “rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters” (Matthew 8:33 ESV). Matthew does not tell us what happened to the demons after the swine were killed. That doesn’t seem to be of relevant interest to him. He also doesn’t provide us with an explanation as to why Jesus cast the demons into the swine, thereby destroying someone’s form of livelihood. The real issue for Matthew was the power of Jesus over the spiritual realm. And it’s interesting to note that, upon seeing what Jesus had done to their swine, the herdsmen fled in terror, returning to town and telling their neighbors what had happened. And the townspeople, rather than worshiping Jesus, begged Him to leave their region. They saw Jesus as a threat, not a Savior. They were more interested in the loss of the swine than they were the miraculous deliverance of the two men. Salvation had come to the region of the Gadarenes in the form of the exorcism of the demons from these two men. But rather than worship Jesus as the Messiah, they begged Him to leave. Rather than rejoice over the deliverance of these two men, they mourned the loss of a herd of swine. And the very next chapter begins with the rather sad statement, “And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city” (Matthew 9:1 ESV).

Jesus left. He exhibited His power and proved His claim to be the Messiah. But He had been rejected. He delivered two demon-possessed men, but was forced to leave behind an entire community of people who, while not possessed, were just as equally under the control of the enemy. They remained enslaved to Satan and captive to sin and death. The Messiah had come and they had turned Him away. And that pattern would repeat itself over and over again in the weeks, months and years to come.

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.

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.