Matthew 8:3-4

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-4

The leper. This incident follows immediately after the sermon on the mount. It is questionable whether any of the great words of that discourse reached the leper, who could only have stood beyond the outermost ring of the crowd. But though at first he was quite shut away from Christ, his opportunity came while our Lord was coming down the hill; then he could claim the beggar's privilege and stand by the wayside. Jesus speaks to multitudes, but he cares for individuals. He is not so taken up... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-4

The leper's example Some concise account of the nature of the disease of leprosy, of the place it held in the Jewish economy as the "sacrament of death," of the leading allusions to it in the Old Testament, and of the Levitical provisions in the event of a recovery or supposed recovery, may form introduction to discourse. Then dwell on some suggestions arising from the fact of— I. THE FAME OF JESUS TRAVELLING TO A LEPER . II. A LEPER TRAVELLING TO JESUS HIMSELF... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-4

The leper. Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, spake with an authority that asserted his Divinity. He claimed to be the King and Judge of men. Coming down from the mount, followed by the multitudes who were astonished at his doctrine, he wrought, a miracle which proved his authority to be no assumption. The miracles of Christ were not only miracles of power; they were, moreover, miracles of wisdom—parables of omnipotence. I. LEPROSY IS AN EMBLEM OF SIN . 1 . It is a most... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-13

The leper and the centurion. The miracles of our Lord are an integral and necessary part of God's revelation of himself to men. Christ came not so much to reveal God's power as to reveal God's disposition to use that power for us; not so much to show God's holiness as to show his desire and purpose to make us also holy. Miracles, therefore, lay as naturally and inevitably in the way of Christ's work as his teaching with authority did. I. THE HEALING OF THE LEPER is the first... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-17

1. Christ ' s miracles of healing , and the secret of his ability to perform them. Observe: (a) One of the chosen people, who had lost all social and religious privileges; (b) a Gentile, an outsider by birth; (c) the near relation of a personal follower; (d) multitudes. (a) The request by the sufferer; (b) the request by another; (c) apparently no request, yet the personal follower has Christ with him; (d) the sufferers are brought to him. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:1-34

MESSIAH 'S WORK AS COMPLEMENTARY TO HIS TEACHING . We return in this section to matter which resembles that of Mark and Luke, and undoubtedly belongs to the Framework ( vide Introduction). St. Matthew has given a lengthy summary of the teaching of the Christ, and he now supplements it by a summary of his daily work. He is not concerned with the chronological connexion of the incidents here narrated, for this is evidently to him a matter of but secondary importance. He... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:3

And Jesus put forth ( and he stretched forth , Revised Version) his hand, and touched him . The careful record of the twofold action may be either a trace of the increasing astonishment of the bystanders or a means of indicating that this was no accidental touch, but the result of deliberate will (cf. Matthew 14:31 ). According to the Law (Le Matthew 13:46 with 11:40), our Lord by this action would become unclean until the evening. But of this there is no hint. That indeed he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:4

And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man ; i.e. of those who were not present (Bengel). The command may have been given read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 8:4

Our Lord's avoidance of public excitement. "See thou tell no man." There may have been some precise reason for this injunction in this particular case; but it is only one instance among many of our Lord's desire to work quietly, and keep free from the pressure of mere crowds, and the rush of popular excitement. To understand our Lord's objection to crowds, we must realize how excitable Eastern people are, and how entirely it is animal excitement, with very little intellectual or moral... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 8:3

And Jesus ...touched him - It was an offence to the Jews to “touch” a leprous person, and was regarded as making him who did it ceremonially impure, Leviticus 13:3. The act of putting forth his hand and “touching” him, therefore, expressed the intention of Jesus to cure him, and was a pledge that he “was,” in fact, already cured. read more

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