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
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
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
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
See thou tell no man - This command is to be understood as extending only to the time until he had made the proper representation to the priest. It was his duty to hasten to him immediately Leviticus 14:2; not to delay by talking about it, but, as the first thing, to obey the laws of God, and make proper acknowledgments to him by an offering. The place where this cure was performed was in Galilee, a distance of 40 or 50 miles from Jerusalem; and it was his duty to make haste to the residence of... read more
Matthew 8:4. Jesus saith, See thou tell no man Although our Lord was now followed by a great multitude of people, yet it seems not many of them were witnesses of this miracle, Jesus, probably, taking the person aside from the people before he wrought it, otherwise, as Doddridge observes, it does not appear that there could have been room for this charge of secrecy; the meaning of which undoubtedly was, Tell no man that thou wast healed by me; that is, as some suppose, till thou hast offered... read more
30. Jesus cleanses a leper (Matthew 8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16)People with leprosy and other skin diseases were considered unclean and a danger to public health. They were outcasts from society (Leviticus 13:45-46). If they were healed they had to offer sacrifices to symbolize their cleansing and express their thanks (Leviticus 14:1-20).On the first recorded occasion when Jesus healed a leper, he did what anyone else would normally avoid doing; he touched the man. He then told the man to... read more
no man = no one. go. To Jerusalem. shew thyself, &c. See Leviticus 14:4 . Moses. The first of eighty occurrences of "Moses" in the N.T. Thirty-eight in the Gospels (see the first occurrence in each Gospel (Matthew 8:4 .Mark 1:44 .Luke 5:14 .John 1:17; John 1:17 ); nineteen times in Acts (see note on Acts 3:22 ); twenty-two times in the Epistles (see note on Romans 5:14 ; once in Revelation (Revelation 15:3 ). See App-117 . read more
And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.Mark's account reveals that the leper disobeyed the Lord's command not to publish the matter (Mark 1:44,45). Christ, on several occasions, made similar requests to conceal such miracles. Examples of this are: the blind men (Matthew 9:30), many who were healed (Matthew 12:16), the disciples to whom he was revealed as the Messiah (Matthew 16:20),... read more
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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