The gospel of Matthew is the first of four gospels in the Bible to record the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. Each one has its distinct style and point of view, as Matthew in particular emphasizes Jesus’ Jewish heritage. In doing so, Matthew wants His audience to know that Jesus is in fact the Son of David. A royal ancestor and the rightful Messiah. The coming King. The One everybody’s been waiting for. Since Matthew is situated as the first book of the New Testament, it perfectly positions this gospel as the link to the Old Testament… indicating that Jesus is indeed the link. The intermediary. The fulfillment of the law. The redeemer. The One who transcends the gap between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. He is the covenant Himself. Matthew also implements many Old Testament passages within his gospel that prophecy about Jesus’ divinity and Lordship. This establishes His presence in the Old Testament as the One who the world had always anticipated, while cementing the fact that He is the only One who can fulfill the prophecies and save the world from sin. He alone. And as we get to know Jesus in Matthew, we see Him as the facilitator of our faith. The promised one. The King of the ages. The One who was, and is, and is to come.

Summary: Matthew 8

Jesus is followed by large crowds while descending a mountain/hill in the Galilee region where He preached the famous sermon on the mount in chapters 5-7; Jesus heals a man with a serious skin disease; Jesus enters Capernaum and heals the servant of a centurion after the centurion begs Jesus to heal Him; Jesus recognizes and praises the centurion’s faith; Jesus prophecies saying that many like this centurion (gentiles) will soon come to enter the Kingdom of God as more sons of the Kingdom (Israelites/Jews) are denied entrance – signifying Christ’s invitation to all people, without preference to Jew or Gentile, which is made possible by His death and resurrection that is recorded later in the book of Matthew; Jesus goes to Peter’s house ; Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and then she begins to serve Him; Jesus also heals many demon-possessed people and sick people that are brought to Him while at Peter’s house; Jesus and His disciples decide to travel to the other side of the sea (Sea of Galilee); Jesus addresses what it means to follow Him; Jesus and His disciples get into the boat just as a storm is coming; Jesus falls asleep; the disciples wake Jesus and tell Him that they are going to die from the waves and storm; Jesus rebukes the winds and waves, and calms the storm; Jesus points out to His disciples that they lacked faith; the disciples are amazed at His ability to make the storm stop; they reach the other side of the sea in the region of the Gadarenes; two demon-possessed men come out of tombs to meet them and Jesus rebukes them and sends the demons into pigs, who go over a bank into the sea; the townspeople are angered about the loss of the pigs.

You can also read Matthew chapter 8 here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+8&version=ESV

Jesus in Matthew 8

Jesus is a leader (verse 1)

Jesus embraces followers (v. 1)

Jesus is approachable (v. 2)

Jesus reaches out to those who ask Him for help (v. 3)

Jesus makes us clean (v. 3)

Jesus is always willing to heal (v. 3)

Jesus cares more about his ministry than publicity (v. 4)

Jesus is available to people in need (v. 5-6)

Jesus prioritizes healing people (v. 7)

Jesus’ power and glory is evident to anyone who comes into His presence (v. 8)

Jesus loves to see faith demonstrated (v. 10)

Jesus prophecies about the future kingdom (v. 11-12)

Jesus acts according to a person’s faith (v. 13)

Jesus recognizes others’ pain (v. 14)

Jesus wants to heal (v. 15)

Jesus responds when we bring others to meet Him (v. 16-17)

Jesus fulfills prophecies (v. 17)

Jesus challenges us to follow Him whole-heartedly (v. 19-22)

Jesus draws those who want to follow Him (v. 23)

Jesus is never shaken (v. 24)

Jesus is the One we go to for help (v. 25)

Jesus wants us to have more faith (v. 26)

Jesus calms the storm (v. 26)

Jesus calms fears (v. 26)

Jesus has all authority on earth (v. 26-27)

Jesus amazes with His power and authority (v. 27)

Jesus meets those who others are afraid to interact with (v. 28)

Jesus is immediately recognized as the Son of God by demons (v. 29)

Jesus does whatever it takes to heal people (v. 30-32)

Jesus draws critics from those who care more about their own provisions than others’ healing (v. 34)

Jesus illuminates the contents of people’s hearts (v. 34)

“Then a leper appeared and went to His knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”  Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone.” – Matthew 8:2-3 – (The Message)

Questions for Today:

• What stood out to me about Jesus in Matthew 8?
• How does the recurring theme of Jesus as a healer speak to my current situation?
• How can these attributes of Jesus help me to trust Him more? And have more faith?
• What can I do to be more like Him?
• What next step is Jesus asking me to take in my walk with Him?