Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 8:16-17

"And when even was come, they brought unto him many possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying: Himself took our infirmities, and bare our diseases." — Matthew 8:16-17 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Because the crowd of believers was now very great, they would not leave Christ, even though it was getting late. Instead, in the evening they brought the sick to Him: When it was evening, they brought to him many that had demons.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The words, Now when it was evening, show that the evening of that same day is meant. This would not have been implied if it had only said, "when it was evening." ¹

Remigius of Auxerre: Christ the Son of God, the author of human salvation, the fountain and source of all goodness, provided a heavenly medicine: He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were sick. He sent away demons and diseases with a word, so that by these signs and mighty works, He might show that He had come for the salvation of the human race.

St. John Chrysostom: Observe how the Evangelist recounts a great number of healings here, not describing each case individually but summarizing an innumerable flood of miracles with a single phrase.

So that the greatness of the miracle—that so many people with such various diseases could be healed in such a short time—would not cause disbelief, he brings forward the Prophet to testify to what was done: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities.

Rabanus Maurus: He took them not to possess them Himself, but to take them away from us; and He bore our sicknesses in the sense that He carried for us what we were too weak to bear.

Remigius of Auxerre: He took on the infirmity of human nature in order to make us strong, who had previously been weak.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: And by the passion of His body, according to the words of the Prophet, He absorbed all the infirmities of human weakness.

St. John Chrysostom: The Prophet seems to have intended this to refer to sins; why, then, does the Evangelist apply it to bodily diseases? It should be understood that either he is quoting the text literally, or he intends to teach that most of our bodily diseases originate from sins of the soul, for death itself has its root in sin.

St. Jerome: It should be noted that all the sick were healed not in the morning or at noon, but around sunset, just as a kernel of wheat dies in the ground so that it may produce much fruit.

Rabanus Maurus: Sunset foreshadows the passion and death of Him who said, While I am in the world, I am the light of the world (John 9:5). While He lived for a time in the flesh, He taught only a few of the Jews; but after trampling the kingdom of death underfoot, He promised the gifts of faith to all the Gentiles throughout the world.

1. De Cons. Evan., ii, 22