Matthew 8
1 When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.
Worship identifies both faith and belief. This leper understood who Christ was and the power He has.
3 And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
Christ is telling the one leper to do this. Christ is sending a message to the priests of miracles and he is also to take the two birds, following the sacrifice ritual.
5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto Him a centurion, beseeching Him,
6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
This "centurion" a Roman military officer has 100 men under his command. He loves the one he serves and knew who to go to for help. Many are hearing about the things Christ Jesus says and does.
7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
Christ will answer his request because of his faith.
8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
This centurion, a Gentile is showing his faith more so than most that claim to be Christian today.
9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
Many listened to him under his authority, yet he knew beyond any doubt what Christ said would happen because he knew what authority Christ had. He knew the power of God was Christ Jesus.
10 When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
This centurion has shown his faith. Where's yours?
11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
These "children of the kingdom" are those that claim to be Christian but will follow satan instead. They didn't have time to study The Word. They did have time to listen to any other doctrine though.
13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
What you believe is what happens in your life. Can you see the blessings from God or do you see misery? We decide what happens every hour of each day. Free will, do your best, give God the rest, then see blessings flow †
14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
16 When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick:
17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Isaiah 53:5 But He was sounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest.
Christ went to the other side to let them have the opportunity to choose The Way.
20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.
Everything has a home, but The Lord must stay on the go. There is work to be done.
21 And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Another that studied under Christ Jesus is asking if he could go bury his dad, probably in the hopes Christ would come with him.
22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead.
There is still work to be done. There are things that need to be done.
23 And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him.
24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep.
Christ knows who is in control. Do you, when you know you have done your best and the waves are out of your control?
25 And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Christ always sets the example. When your in Christ, you should just sit back and enjoy the ride.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is This, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!
Their flesh just couldn't rap their heads around what they saw. They have witnessed many things Christ has done, yet they still can't see clearly spiritually. The only way to see spiritually is to clear your head of the fleshly way of thinking. Christ Jesus is God in the flesh, with power to control all He has made.
28 And when He was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
These two are filled with evil to were people didn't get near them out of fear they would be killed.
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?
These evil ones knew who Christ was. They have no doubt He is The Son of God.
30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
Far away you could hear pigs chopping down, snorting their way through their food.
31 So the devils besought Him, saying, If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
These evil ones are telling Christ where they would rather be.
32 And He said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
They troubled the whole herd so much, they ran off a cliff, into the sea and died.
33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.
They didn't care Christ had power over evil, they cared about their profits being affected so they asked Him to leave. People that love money, will hate Christ Jesus.