Matthew Chapters 8 and 9

Matthew Chapters 8 and 9 - 2011-05-27

Over the past few weeks while discussing Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 we continued to see many of the clear connections between the Old Testament and the New, that they truly are but one book containing the same teachings, for the same children of Israel. We especially saw that Yahshua Christ in His Sermon on the Mount was teaching many of those same precepts found in the ancient Hebrew literature, for the most part in the Psalms and in the Wisdom of Sirach. Yet this does not lessen the importance of the mission of Christ one iota. Rather, it magnifies it all the more, once one understands that this is the same God, talking to the same people that He had once spoken to through the Old Testament prophets and the Law of Moses. We saw that the Sermon on the Mount was meant for Israelites only. The word neighbor in in the phrase in Leviticus 19:18 which says love thy neighbor in Hebrew is ultimately derived from a verb which means to graze together, and therefore can only refer to the sheep. The Greek word for neighbor does not mean to refer to geographical proximity, for there are other more specific words for that. Rather it simply denotes one who is near to a person. With all of the other injunctions found in the law, it too can only refer to one of the sheep, and not to a wolf who has moved in nearby. This meaning is magnified where Yahshua tells His followers not to share their pearls or that which is holy with dogs and swine. That this entire message is therefore exclusive – in the racial sense, there should be no doubt.

VIII 1 And upon His descending from the mountain many crowds followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper coming forth worshipped Him, saying “Prince, if You wish You are able to cleanse me!” 3 And extending His hand He touched him, saying “I wish, be cleansed!” And immediately his leprosy had been cleansed. 4 And Yahshua says to him: “See that you speak to no one, but go show yourself in the temple and offer the gift which Moses prescribed, for a testimony to them.”

While it is disputed that modern leprosy is the same disease as that which we see in the Old Testament, in ancient times those people who were lepers were cast out of the camp, town or village and left on their own, usually to die a miserable death. In the Old Testament at Numbers chapter 12 we see that Miriam had spoken against Moses, and was struck with a plague of leprosy. She was relieved of her plague after seven days, according to the Word of Yahweh, but she spent those seven days as an unclean person outside of the camp. In 2 Kings chapter 7 there were four leprous men stuck outside of the gates of Samaria, who were portrayed as having expected death.  

Christ tells the disciples of John that His mission is true in these signs, at Matthew 11:5, that: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” We have prophecies concerning the blind and the deaf in Isaiah, however there is evidently nothing in these prophecies about lepers. At Isaiah 29:18 we read: “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.” And at Isaiah 35:5: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”

It is my opinion, that while the healing of lepers is not specifically prophesied of the ministry of Christ, and since contracting the disease in the ancient world was so horrible a sentence of death, that Yahshua's having cleansed lepers was symbolic of His mercy upon the children of Israel: that no matter how horrible the sentence of death, His promise uttered through the prophets was to cleanse them of all of their sins, and as Isaiah 45:25 says, He promises to justify all of the offspring of Israel, without exception and no matter how grievously they have sinned.

5 And upon His coming into Kapharnaoum, a centurion came forth to Him summoning Him 6 and saying: “Prince, my servant is a paralytic, stricken in the house, being tormented terribly!” 

Paralysis is actually a Greek word, spelled the same way except for one letter. The text still means today exactly what it inferred then, that there was a loss of motor skills in the person affected. For example, Aeneas (Acts 9:33) was a paralytic bedridden for eight years.  

7 And He says to him: “I coming shall heal him.” 

This account is also told at Luke chapter 7, where it is somewhat more complete. The centurion is definitely not a Judaean, however it is not certain that he is a Roman or a Greek either. The Roman army was constructed from men all over the empire, and the Romans purposely used men from areas other than where they were stationed, to decrease the likelihood of insurrection. The centurion may have been from one of any number of the White Adamic nations.

8 But responding the centurion said: “Prince, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof! But only say a word, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I also am a man appointed by authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say to this one ‘go’, and he goes, and to another ‘come’, and he comes, and to my servant ‘do this’, and he does it!” 10 And hearing Yahshua marveled and said to those following: “Truly I say to you, from no one in Israel have I found such faith! 

Christ seems to mean Israel in the geographic sense here, or possibly in a sense referring to those of Judaea who had kept the law and the prophets. While we know that many Greeks, Romans, Kelts, etc. were indeed descended from Israelites dispersed long beforetime, who had for the most part already forgotten their identity in their blindness, as Paul said in his epistle to the Ephesians, they were alienated from the civic life of Israel, and therefore being divorced from Yahweh they truly were not counted as Israel. As Hosea says, they were His people, but they were called “Not His people” until the time when they would accept Christ and be reconciled to God.

11 I say to you that many shall come from east and west and they shall recline with Abraham and Isaak and Jakob in the kingdom of the heavens, 12 but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outermost darkness. And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!” 

Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

The “sons of the kingdom” are those who pretend to have the law and the prophets, those in the seats of authority in Jerusalem, but they are not necessarily Israelites. Actually, many of them are not Israelites, they are usurpers. And that is why they would be put out. This passage should be cross-referenced to Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, which describe those who claim to be Judaeans, but are not, they are of the assembly of the adversary.

Psalm 112: “10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.”

13 And Yahshua said to the centurion: “Go, as you have believed, it must be for you!” And the servant was healed at that hour.

Our prayers are answered according to the sincerity of our faith, therefore as the centurion actually believed it would be, in that manner was his prayer answered. Yahshua later explained to his students, that if they only had faith without disputation, that they truly could move mountains. It is evident to me, that none of us really have such faith, because even if we profess it with our mouths, our actions are still too much attached to the world.

14 Then Yahshua coming into the house of Petros saw his mother-in-law stricken and sick with fever. 15 And He grasped her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served Him.

Peter had a wife, as Paul also relates, where he is speaking of himself, at 1 Corinthians 9:5 where he asks: “Do we not have license to always have with us a kinswoman: a wife, as also the other ambassadors, and the brethren of the Prince, and Kephas?” So we see here also that Peter had a mother-in-law, and therefore he was married. Peter's following Yahshua for three-and-a-half years while he was married, is also illustrative of the priorities that we too should all have: that service to the Word of God comes even before marriage.

16 Then upon its getting late they brought to Him many who were possessed by demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all those having maladies, 17 that the word would be fulfilled which through the prophet Isaiah says: “He has taken our weaknesses and bears our diseases.”

The quote from Isaiah is found at 53:4. Chapter 53 of Isaiah is a messianic prophecy in its entirety. To the Greeks, a demon was a spirit-being that was perceived to be a god or goddess. In the New Testament the word is a spirit-being of lesser power and authority than God. The two differing perspectives reflect very well the Biblical assertions concerning the origin of idolatry and false religions. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the Enoch literature it is found that unclean spirits originated with the spirits of bastards, specifically those bastards created by the watchers (fallen angels) when they mixed their seed with other kinds. Paul explains in Colossians chapter 2, and more clearly in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, that these demons are the sources of the world's false religions. Paul says that “whatever the Nations sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to Yahweh”. In Psalm 95 verse 5 in the Septuagint, the verse reads “For all the gods of the nations are demons: but the Lord made the heavens.” The King James Version has only idols at that verse. We also see the Greek word for demons at Isaiah13:21 and 34:14, where the King James Version has satyrs and wild beasts instead.

That these demons were real spirit-entities was a belief of all of the earliest branches of our race. Today we have a tendency to dispute the existence of such things, and to attempt to explain the unknown by searching for explanations in the natural world as we perceive it to be. Quite often the explanations fall short of the circumstances related by the descriptions of the events in question. While many strange events and apparitions may have a logical explanation in what we may consider to be natural phenomena, there are some that certainly do not, and these accounts are among them. The gospel writers knew the difference between those who had maladies, or diseases, and those who were possessed by demons. Later in the chapter, it is evident that these demons even speak through those people whom they possess.

18 Then Yahshua seeing a crowd around Him had commanded to depart for the other side. 19 And one scribe coming forth said to Him: “Teacher, I shall follow You wherever You should depart!” 20 And Yahshua says to him: “The foxes have dens and the birds of heaven nests, but the Son of Man has not where He may lay the head.” 21 Then another of the students said to Him “Prince, allow me first to depart and to bury my father!” 22 But Yahshua says to him “Follow Me and allow the dead to bury the dead for themselves!”

This is an example, that those of us who desire to follow Christ, really have no part with those of us who do not. Furthermore, those of us who do not wish to follow Him, may as well be dead. Without Him there is no life for any of us, so we should all desire to follow Him!

23 And with His boarding into a vessel His students followed Him. 24 And behold, a great commotion happened on the sea, so for the vessel to be covered by the waves, but He slept. 25 And coming forth they roused Him saying “Prince, save us! We are being destroyed!” 26 And He says to them: “What, are you cowards, you of little faith?” Then arising He censured the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. 27 Then the men marveled, saying “From whence is this man, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

The apostles were all led by the Spirit to follow Him, and they all did so happily. Yet they still did not understand exactly who He was, and so even they marveled at His power.

28 And upon His coming to the other side to the country of the Gadarenes two men possessed by demons coming out from among the tombs met with Him, exceedingly troublesome, so that not anyone is able to pass by through that road.  

The King James Version has here Gergesenes, and not Gadarenes. The account of the events concerning the possessed man and the swine, is given in three gospels, at Matt. 8, Luke 8 and Mark 5. In the King James Version it is Gadarenes in Mark and in Luke. The name of the district in which this event took place is a matter of much dispute and speculation, even in the earliest times. Among the mss. five different names appear, and each of these will be discussed briefly here, relying upon comments from Thayer’s lexicon.

• Γαδαρηνός (1046), “of Gadara, a Gadarene. Gadara was the capital of Peraea (Joseph. b. j. 4, 7, 3), situated opposite the southern extremity of the Lake of Gennesaret to the south-east, but at some distance from the lake on the banks of the river Hieromax (Plin. h. n. 5, 16), 60 stadia from the city Tiberias (Joseph. vita 65)...” (Thayer). The references from Josephus’ Wars and Pliny’s Natural History, and Thayer also cites Josephus’ Antiquities further on, show that Gadara is a likely candidate, and so it appears in the text here.
• Γαζαρηνός, “of Gazara, a Gazarene”, the word is not treated by Strong or Thayer, since it appears nowhere in the A.V. It is the name of a town in Ephraim, far from the Sea of Galilee (Lake of Gennesaret), and appears often in the Septuagint (Josh. 16:5 and 21:21; I Chr. 14:16; I Macc. 9:52 et al.).
• Γερασηνός (which has no Strong # but is given an entry in Thayer’s:) “Gerasene, i.e. belonging to the city Gerasa (τὰ Γέρασα, Joseph. b. j. 3, 3, 3): Matt. viii. 28...Mk. v. 1... Lk. viii. 26 and 37...according to very many codd. seen by Origen. But since Gerasa was a city situated in the southern part of Peraea (Joseph. 1.c. [passage cited], cf. 4, 9, 1), or in Arabia...that cannot be referred to here...” (Thayer). And Thayer also cites an edition of Origen’s writing, which shows the antiquity of the uncertainty concerning this location, which shall also be evident below.
• Γεργεσηνός (1086) “Gergesene, belonging to the city Gergesa, which is assumed to have been situated on the eastern shore of Lake Gennesaret : Mt. viii. 28...But this reading depends on the authority and opinion of Origen, who thought the variants found in his Mss. Γαδαρηνῶν and Γερασηνῶν...must be made to conform to the testimony of those who said that there was formerly a certain city Gergesa near the lake. But Josephus knows nothing of it, and states expressly (antt. 1, 6, 2), that no trace of the ancient Gergesites [A.V. Girgashites...] (mentioned Gen. xv. 20; Josh. xxiv. 11) had survived, except the names preserved in the O.T. Hence in Mt. viii. 28 we must read Γαδαρηνῶν...and suppose that the jurisdiction of the city Gadara extended quite to the Lake of Gennesaret...” (Thayer).
• Γεργυστηνός, or “Gergustene, of Gergusta”, is found nowhere but in one ms. in Mark, and so is not treated by Strong or Thayer.

Manuscript support for these various names is as follows:

 P75 (𝔓⁷⁵) - formerly Papyrus Bodmer XIV–XV, now Hanna Papyrus 1 ; א - Codex Sinaiticus; A - Codex Alexandrinus; B - Codex Vaticanus; C - Codex Ephraemi Syri; D - Codex Bezae; W - Codex Washingtonensis; P - Codex Guelferbytanus A; Ξ - Codex Zacynthius; MT - Majority Text. 

Based upon ms. support, and the antiquity and perceived reliability of the mss., I would be obliged to follow the NA27 in each instance. However, I have chosen to follow the opinions of Thayer in this matter, based upon the historians’ records. There are several names in the Old Testament similar to Gadara (Geder, Gederah, etc.) yet none of them can be connected to this place. Instead, all of them seem to be far to the south, in the ancient land of Judah.

29 And behold, they cried out saying “What is with us and with You, O Son of Yahweh? Have You come already, to torment us prematurely?” 

The demons recognized who He was, and knew that He was their enemy – obviously we learn from this that even the demons know that it is not the intention of God to convert His enemies.

30 Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding. 31 And the demons exhorted Him saying “If You cast us out, send us into the herd of swine!” 32 And He said to them “Go!” And they coming out departed into the swine, and behold! The whole herd rushed headlong down the bank into the sea and died in the water. 33 And those feeding them fled, and coming into the city reported everything, even the things concerning those possessed by demons. 34 And behold, the whole city came out for a meeting with Yahshua and seeing Him they exhorted that He would pass over from their districts.

There is nothing in Scripture or in history that we can ascertain about the race of these people. Luke (8:26) tells us that this district was adjacent to Galilee. There were many settlements of Greeks, Romans, White Syrians (as Strabo tells us that the Syrians were White) and even some remnant Israelites in this area. An examination of the Old Testament reveals that there were children of Israel who escaped the Assyrian captivity, not taken by the Assyrians, although they were nevertheless cut off from their relationship with Yahweh.  

What is obvious here, however, is that these people would rather continue to suffer with the status quo, than to see change come even if it were for the better. They preferred the world – and their swine – to the Word of God. That, to me, is a very good portrait of most of our own race today. Most so-called Christians would never trade in their swine for any amount of the Truth.

IX 1 And having boarded into a vessel He crossed over and had come to His own city. 2 And behold! They brought to Him a paralytic placed upon a cot. And Yahshua, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic “Have courage, son, your errors are forgiven!”

In Luke's account, when He returns there are multitudes of people anxiously awaiting Him. Here Yahshua does not necessarily assert that He is God, having the authority to forgive this man of his sins, but the way His statement is worded reveals only so much as His having knowledge of the fact that this man's sins are forgiven. The scribes took it the first way, that He was asserting to be God – although of course Christians should know that is also true.

3 And behold, some of the scribes said among themselves “This man blasphemes!” 4 And Yahshua, seeing their considerations, said “For what reason do you ponder evil in your hearts?

The jew is the “false accuser”, always quick to prosecute without actually understanding the facts of a matter. They have played that same role throughout all time.

5 For what is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Arise and walk’? 

The jew should have seen the truth of the power of God and praised it. Rather, when they saw Yahshua heal the paralytic, their hearts were even more hardened because then their own authority was challenged. We should never forget, that the jew would react in much the same way today.

6 But in order that you would know that the Son of Man has authority upon the earth to forgive errors (then He says to the paralytic): Arising take your cot and go to your house!” 7 And arising he departed for his house. 8 Then seeing it the crowds feared and honored Yahweh for giving such authority to men.

Correctly, the crowds did not honor Yahshua, who they perceived as a mere man, but rather they honored Yahweh for the things which Yahshua had done. Men should never seek the honor of men, but rather all should honor God, that they are able to help their brethren.

9 And Yahshua passing from there sees a man sitting at the tax office, called Maththaios, and says to him “Follow Me”, and arising he followed Him.

Here Matthew who wrote this gospel is beckoned to be an apostle. I have thought in the past, and still think, that it is possible that Matthew was a Levite. This is circumstantial, because in Hebrew tradition it was customary for a son to take up the vocation of his father. Therefore it would make sense that Matthew, being a tax collector, had ancestors who were tax collectors, and in the ancient kingdom of Israel, it was the role of the Levite to collect the tithe. Of course, so long a time later that must not necessarily be the case for Matthew, but it is plausible that he was a Levite.

The publicans of ancient Rome occupied a solid position among the classes despised most by the people. They were notorious for extortion, since they all had quotas to meet and would often take the short route and meet them dishonestly. The more dishonest publicans worked partly for the government and mostly to line their own pockets. In any case, they were seen as traitors much as people today see IRS agents as traitors, working against the working man for the sake of a tyrannical government.

10 And it happened upon His reclining in the house, then behold: many tax-collectors and wrongdoers having come reclined with Yahshua and His students. 11 And the Pharisees seeing said to His students: “For what reason does your Teacher eat with tax-collectors and wrongdoers?” 12 But He hearing said “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who have maladies. 13 Now going you learn why it is ‘Mercy I desire and not sacrifice’! For I have not come to call the righteous but the wrongdoers.”

“Mercy I desire and not sacrifice” is a quote from Hosea 6:6. Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in chapter 5: “7 Blessed are those having mercy, because they shall be mercied.” The Pharisees were just as unforgiving religiously as the publicans were when it came to collecting taxes.

One version of the Septuagint has it at Proverbs 16:7 “The beginning of a good way is to do justly; and it is more acceptable with God than to offer sacrifices. 8 He that seeks the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness: and they that rightly seek him shall find peace.”

14 Then the students of Iohannes came forth to Him saying: “For what reason do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your students do not fast?” 15 And Yahshua said to them: “The sons of the bridechamber are not able to hunger for as long as the bridegroom is with them. But the days shall come when the bridegroom has been taken from them, and then they shall fast. 16 Now no one puts a patch of uncarded cloth upon an old garment. For it lifts its borders away from the garment and it becomes torn worse. 17 Nor do they put new wine into old skins, but if it is, the skins break and the wine pours out and the skins are destroyed! Rather they put new wine into new skins, and both are kept together.”

John the Baptist was still in prison, as Matthew 11:2 informs us that he still lives. His death is recorded in Mark chapter 6, and so it is evident that Mark's gospel is quite incomplete because Mark chapter 5 contains the story of the Gadarenes which we saw here in Matthew chapter 8. In Hosea chapter 2 Yahweh promises to once again marry the children of Israel who are being divorced by Him and cast out of His polity: “19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” Here Yahshua Christ, calling Himself the bride-groom, asserts that he is Yahweh who would remarry Israel. In John 3:29 John the Baptist is said to have professed that “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” Therefore Yahshua being the bridegroom, He must be Yahweh in the flesh!

18 Upon His speaking these things to them, behold! One leader having come worshipped Him saying that “My daughter has just now died! But coming put Your hands upon her, and she shall live!” 19 And arising Yahshua followed him, and His students.

Luke describes the man here as Jairus, the leader of a synagogue, at Luke 8:41. Here the narrative is broken by the story of the woman who grabbed his garment, which is briefer here than in Luke's gospel where it appears in Chapter 8.

20 And behold, a woman having a flow of blood for twelve years approaching from behind grabbed the hem of His garment. 21 For she had said within herself: “If only I may grab His garment I shall be saved.” 22 Then Yahshua turning and seeing her said “Have courage, daughter, your faith has saved you!” And the woman had been saved from that hour.

Remember what Yahshua had said to the centurion, that as his faith was, thus it would be with him. The KJV has it: “as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Again, calling the woman “daughter”, whom He did not know in person, Yahshua discretely asserts Himself to be Yahweh our Father.

23 And upon Yahshua’s having come to the house of the leader and seeing the flute-players and the disturbed multitude 24 He said “Withdraw! For the child has not died, but sleeps!” And they derided Him. 25 But when He had cast out the crowd, entering in He held her hand, and raised the child. 26 And the report of her went out into that whole land.

Evidently they were mourning the girl by holding what we may call a wake. Note that Yahshua did not display any empathy for the crowd. Most people today would consider Him to be rude. The mind of God is quite different from the mind of man!

27 And with Yahshua passing from there two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying: “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” 

The blind men already knew that Yahshua was an heir to David.

28 And upon having come into the house the blind men approached Him, and Yahshua says to them: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They say to Him: “Yes, Prince!” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying “It must be for you according to your faith.” 

Recognizing our God and His sovereignty is apparently the first step to curing our blindness!

30 And their eyes opened. And Yahshua admonished them saying: “You must see that no one knows!” 31 But they having departed made it known in all that land.

This happens often in scripture, and seems to be a habit throughout those of our race, that the things which we should profess, we do not, and the things we should not profess, we announce loudly!

32 Then upon their departing, behold! They brought to Him a mute man possessed by a demon. 33 And upon the demon’s having been cast out the mute spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying: “Never yet has such been seen in Israel!” 34 But the Pharisees said: “By the Prince of demons He casts out demons!”

The Pharisees were obviously envious of His ability, and quick to turn His good into evil. In John 10:21 we read of a similar instance where "Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open the eyes of the blind?"

35 And Yahshua went around all the cities and villages teaching in their assembly halls and proclaiming the good message of the kingdom and healing every disease and every weakness.

36 But seeing the crowds He had been deeply moved on account of them, because they were troubled and downcast, just as sheep not having a shepherd. 

First century Judaea was much like America is now become: a nation of lost people, because their independence was stolen by a tyranny which seemed to be headed by a cabal led by the international jew. Wherever they turned, either to the government or to the religious authorities, who were working hand-in-hand, there was no mercy and no justice, but only oppression. How could Rome be just, having given over the kingship in Judaea to a corrupt tyrant such as Herod?

37 Then He says to His students: “Great is the harvest, but the workers are few! 38 Therefore it is necessary for the lord of the harvest, that he send out workers into his harvest!”

In other words, Christ needed His apostles to share in the labor of spreading the Word of God, and He was about to send them out to do so, as we shall see next week in Matthew Chapter 10.