Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 8

Jesus came down out of the hills , where the Sermon on the Mount had been delivered; and the great crowds (4:23–25; 7:28–29) still pursued him.

Matthew now starts to elaborate on some specific miracles of Jesus, beginning with a leper (on leprosy, see comment on Mk 1:40). This man “knelt” (GK 4686) before Jesus, though this verb can also mean “worshiped.” Clearly the former is meant in this historical setting. Yet as with the title “Lord” , Christian readers of Matthew could not help concluding that this leper spoke and acted better than he knew. “If you are willing” reflects the leper’s great faith, prompted by Jesus’ healing activity throughout the district (4:24): he had no question about Jesus’ healing power but feared only that he would be passed by. In affirming his willingness to heal, Jesus proved that his will is decisive. He already had the authority and power and only needed to decide and act. Jesus reached to touch the leper, probably because the leper did not dare come close to him.

By touching an unclean leper, Jesus would become ceremonially defiled himself (cf. Leviticus 13–14). But at Jesus’ touch nothing remains defiled. Far from becoming unclean, Jesus makes the unclean clean. Both Jesus’ word and touch (8:15; 9:20–21, 29; 14:36) are effective, possibly implying that authority is vested in his message as well as in his person.

Matthew now starts to elaborate on some specific miracles of Jesus, beginning with a leper (on leprosy, see comment on Mk 1:40). This man “knelt” (GK 4686) before Jesus, though this verb can also mean “worshiped.” Clearly the former is meant in this historical setting. Yet as with the title “Lord” , Christian readers of Matthew could not help concluding that this leper spoke and acted better than he knew. “If you are willing” reflects the leper’s great faith, prompted by Jesus’ healing activity throughout the district (4:24): he had no question about Jesus’ healing power but feared only that he would be passed by. In affirming his willingness to heal, Jesus proved that his will is decisive. He already had the authority and power and only needed to decide and act. Jesus reached to touch the leper, probably because the leper did not dare come close to him.

By touching an unclean leper, Jesus would become ceremonially defiled himself (cf. Leviticus 13–14). But at Jesus’ touch nothing remains defiled. Far from becoming unclean, Jesus makes the unclean clean. Both Jesus’ word and touch (8:15; 9:20–21, 29; 14:36) are effective, possibly implying that authority is vested in his message as well as in his person.

Jesus’ command for the leper to keep silent shows that Jesus is not presenting himself as a mere wonder-worker who can be pressured into messiahship by crowds whose messianic views are materialistic and political. His authority derives from God alone; he came to die, not to trounce the Romans. The people who disobeyed Jesus’ injunctions to silence only made his mission more difficult.

Jesus commanded the cured man to follow the Mosaic prescriptions for lepers who claimed healing (cf. Leviticus 14). Why? Partly because Matthew wants to show that Jesus did submit himself to God’s law. But the result is startling: the law achieves new relevance by pointing to Jesus. In conforming to the law, the cured leper becomes the occasion for the law to confirm Jesus’ authority as the healer who needs but to will the deed for it to be done. Thus the supreme function of the “gift” Moses commanded is not as a guilt offering (Leviticus 14:10– 18) but as a witness to others concerning Jesus.

This is Matthew’s second mention of Capernaum (cf. 4:13). In Jesus’ day it was an important garrison town. No Roman legions were posted in Palestine, but there were auxiliaries under Herod Antipas, who had the right to levy troops. These were non-Jews, probably recruited from outside Galilee, perhaps from Lebanon and Syria. Centurions were the military backbone throughout the empire, maintaining discipline and executing orders. Matthew stresses this centurion’s faith and race (vv.10–11).