Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 8:16

"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:" — Matthew 8:16 (ASV)

Matthew mentions the evening to show the pace of Jesus’ ministry. He focuses his attention on Jesus’ power and on the scriptural witness to his person and ministry. He drives out “the spirits,” evil beings that are often recognized in intertestamental literature as agents of disease (see comments on Mk 1:23–26, 34).