In Matthew 8, we learn about Jesus’ healing touch and consider what is the cost of following God. We also learn about our enemies and what Jesus did when He confronted many of them at once.
Jesus heals
Jesus healed everyone who was brought to Him. “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: ‘He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases'” (Matthew 8:17).
During His time on earth, Jesus performed many miraculous healings. He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy:
“Surely our sickness He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Jesus healed with great compassion. When a leper came to Him, “Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed'” (Matthew 8:3). Jesus touched a person who was unclean and shunned by society, because God does not despise our afflictions.
“For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.” (Psalm 22:24)
God’s healing is also available to us today. Do you want to be healed? To learn more about this topic, see Sickness and Health.
The cost of our faith
Some people think believing in Jesus is to get what we want. That is, we get eternal life, we get our prayers answered, and God helps us become successful in this world. But this is a very self-centered way of thinking.
Jesus tells us that when we decide to follow Him, we need to consider the costs.
For example, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man [Jesus] has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20).
Jesus and His disciples often slept in the open wilderness, and did not always have a pre-determined place to sleep at night. When we follow Him, we need to accept that many times we can find ourselves in uncomfortable situations for the sake of the kingdom of God.
1. We get eternal life
Yes, we have eternal life. But we need to lose our old way of life and follow Christ. What does losing our old way of life mean? It means our lives are not our own anymore. We have been bought with a price. Christ takes priority now, not our own will and plans.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
2. We get our prayers answered
Yes, we get our prayers answered. But what are the motives behind our prayers? “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
We need to lose our old desires for worldly pleasures, and seek the pleasure of knowing God.
“You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Psalm 16:11)
Enjoy the pleasure of knowing Jesus, because in His presence is fullness of joy. We need to learn to rejoice in God and not in worldly pleasures. Afterall, God is the Creator and the source of joy and life. True joy comes from God, not from the world.
So when we pray, we need to seek God and His kingdom and righteousness. All that we need will be given to us as well (Matthew 6:33).
3. God helps us to be successful
God helps us in our lives on earth. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Jesus did not come to make us rich in this world. There were many poor people in Jesus’ time. Even though He is the Son of God and can ask the Father for all things, Jesus did not come to make every poor man rich in this world.
Instead, Christ wants us to be rich toward God. Jesus told a parable about a rich man, who said to himself: “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry”.
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:19-21)
So from now on, let us turn our focus to Jesus and the kingdom of God, instead of focusing on how to be successful in the kingdom of this world. Seek the things above and the treasures in heaven.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)
Counting the cost
Jesus confronted the enemy. In fact, He faced many of them at once when He met two demon-possessed men in the country of the Gadarenes. These men were so possessed that many demons had entered them. And “they were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way” (Matthew 8:28).
The demons said to Jesus, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8:29).
The demons know what would happen to them in the future – that they would be punished for their rebellion. Yet not only do they continue to rebel, but they sought a way of escape from God’s judgment.
Knowing Jesus would cast them out, they asked permission to go into a herd of nearby swine instead. But instead of dwelling in the swine when they got permission, they made the swine drown in the sea. After that, the demons left the swine and most likely went somewhere else to seek their next victim.
Jesus was well-aware this would happen. Jesus granted permission for the demons to enter the swine in order to test the townspeople. Would the townspeople of the Gadarenes seek God after seeing this miracle?
The townspeople saw that the demons came out of the two men. They knew the demons were evil and had destructive intent. Yet instead of seeking God to protect them, they cared more about the money they lost through their livestock than their eternal well-being.
They counted the cost of following God and chose not to follow Him! “And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region” (Matthew 8:34).
Some people would not follow God no matter what miracle they see, because in their hearts they care more about the things of this world (e.g. how to make money in this world) than the things of God.
Today, we face the same choice. What is more important to us?
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.” (Matthew 16:26-27)
Conclusion
From God, we can get healing, life, and all the help we need. But we must place Him first in our lives and follow Him. The cost of discipleship is to not live by our own will but by His.
Many people might think God’s will is hard. But the truth is true joy and life are from God. When we follow God, we discover that great is our joy when we follow Him!
“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:7-11)
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
Read Matthew 8 (NIV) in the Bible. See other lessons in the Gospel of Matthew.