Matthew 8: Authority in Action

MATTHEW 8 STRUCTURE
    │
    ├─ vv. 1-4    DISEASE     → Leper healed by touch
    │                            "I am willing"
    │
    ├─ vv. 5-13   FAITH       → Centurion's authority-understanding
    │   └─► "I have not found such great faith in Israel"
    │
    ├─ vv. 14-17  FULFILLMENT → Isaiah 53 realized
    │   └─► "He took up our infirmities"
    │
    ├─ vv. 18-22  COST        → What following actually requires
    │   └─► Homelessness, total priority
    │
    ├─ vv. 23-27  NATURE      → Storm rebuked
    │   └─► "What kind of man is this?"
    │
    └─ vv. 28-34  DEMONS      → Legion expelled
        └─► Town asks Jesus to leave

JESUS' AUTHORITY IN CHAPTER 8
    │
    ├─ Over UNCLEANNESS (vv. 1-4)
    │   └─► Touches leper without becoming unclean
    │       Cleanness flows FROM Him, not TO Him
    │
    ├─ Over DISTANCE (vv. 5-13)
    │   └─► "Just say the word" - no proximity needed
    │       Authority travels
    │
    ├─ Over SICKNESS (vv. 14-17)
    │   └─► Fever, demons, all diseases
    │       Fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy
    │
    ├─ Over NATURE (vv. 23-27)
    │   └─► Wind and waves OBEY Him
    │       Creation recognizes Creator
    │
    └─ Over DEMONS (vv. 28-34)
        └─► They know who He is
            They obey His command
            They ask permission

THE ENCOUNTER
    │
    ├─ SETTING: Jesus descends from mountain
    │   └─► Large crowds following
    │       First act after Sermon on Mount
    │
    ├─ THE LEPER:
    │   ├─ "Came and knelt before him"
    │   │   └─► Worship posture
    │   │
    │   └─ "Lord, IF you are willing, you CAN make me clean"
    │       │
    │       ├─ No doubt about POWER
    │       └─ Question about WILLINGNESS
    │           │
    │           └─► "Do you WANT to help someone like me?"
    │               The question of the outcast
    │
    └─ JESUS' RESPONSE:
        ├─ "Reached out his hand"
        │   └─► TOUCHED him
        │       │
        │       └─► Levitically, this should defile Jesus
        │           Instead: cleanness flows the other direction
        │           Jesus' purity is contagious
        │
        ├─ "I AM WILLING" (θέλω)
        │   └─► Answers the deeper question
        │       Not just "yes" but "I WANT to"
        │
        └─ "Be clean!" → IMMEDIATELY cleansed

THE INSTRUCTIONS (v. 4)
    │
    ├─ "Don't tell anyone"
    │   └─► Messianic secret
    │       Jesus controls the revelation
    │
    └─ "Go, show yourself to the priest"
        ├─ Follow Leviticus 14 procedure
        └─ "As a testimony to them"
            │
            └─► The priests will have to certify
                what Jesus did

THE REQUEST (vv. 5-7)
    │
    ├─ WHO: Roman centurion
    │   └─► Gentile, occupying force
    │       Unlikely candidate for faith
    │
    ├─ WHAT: "My servant lies at home paralyzed,
    │         suffering terribly"
    │   └─► Cares about a servant
    │       Unusual for the era
    │
    └─ JESUS: "Shall I come and heal him?"
        └─► Offers to enter Gentile home
            Breaking social barriers

THE CENTURION'S INSIGHT (vv. 8-9)
    │
    ├─ "I do not DESERVE to have you come under my roof"
    │   └─► Humility despite rank
    │
    ├─ "But JUST SAY THE WORD, and my servant will be healed"
    │   └─► No touch needed
    │       No proximity required
    │       WORD is enough
    │
    └─ THE REASONING:
        │
        ├─ "For I myself am a man UNDER AUTHORITY"
        │   └─► He operates within a chain of command
        │
        └─ "I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes;
            that one, 'Come,' and he comes.
            I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."
                │
                └─► THE LOGIC:
                    I have authority → my words are obeyed
                    Jesus has GREATER authority
                    → His words will be obeyed by sickness

THE AUTHORITY FRAMEWORK
    │
    ├─ CENTURION understands:
    │   ├─ Authority is delegated
    │   ├─ Words carry the authority of the speaker
    │   └─ If Jesus has authority over sickness,
    │       His word travels with that authority
    │
    └─ WHAT HE'S REALLY SAYING:
        │
        └─► "You don't need to come physically
             because your authority isn't limited by proximity.
             When you speak, sickness must obey,
             just like my soldiers obey me."

JESUS' RESPONSE (vv. 10-13)
    │
    ├─ "AMAZED" (ἐθαύμασεν)
    │   └─► One of only two times Jesus is amazed
    │       Here: at great faith
    │       Mark 6:6: at unbelief
    │
    ├─ "I have not found anyone in Israel
    │    with such great faith"
    │   └─► A Gentile outfaiths Israel
    │       Outsider sees what insiders miss
    │
    ├─ PROPHECY (vv. 11-12):
    │   │
    │   ├─ "MANY will come from east and west"
    │   │   └─► Gentile inclusion
    │   │
    │   ├─ "Take their places at the feast
    │   │    with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"
    │   │   └─► Kingdom banquet
    │   │
    │   └─ "But subjects of the kingdom
    │        will be thrown outside"
    │       └─► Ethnic Israel ≠ automatic entry
    │           Faith is the criterion
    │
    └─ "Go! Let it be done just as you believed"
        └─► "At that moment" = healed

THE PERSONAL HEALING (vv. 14-15)
    │
    ├─ Peter's mother-in-law
    │   └─► Fever
    │
    ├─ "He touched her hand"
    │   └─► Same pattern as leper
    │       Physical contact
    │
    └─ "The fever left her"
        └─► "She got up and began to wait on him"
            │
            └─► Immediate restoration
                Not just healed—serving

THE MASS HEALING (vv. 16-17)
    │
    ├─ "When evening came"
    │   └─► After Sabbath ended
    │       People could travel
    │
    ├─ "MANY demon-possessed were brought"
    │   ├─ "Drove out spirits with a WORD"
    │   └─ "Healed ALL the sick"
    │
    └─ PURPOSE (v. 17):
        │
        └─► "To FULFILL what was spoken through Isaiah:
             'He took up our infirmities
              and bore our diseases'"
                │
                └─► Isaiah 53:4
                    The suffering servant prophecy
                    Jesus' healings are prophetic fulfillment

ISAIAH 53:4 APPLICATION
    │
    ├─ CONTEXT: Suffering Servant passage
    │   └─► Usually applied to atonement
    │
    └─ MATTHEW'S USE: Applied to healings
        │
        └─► Jesus' physical healings are part of
            His redemptive mission
            Not separate from salvation
            Part of the whole package

WOULD-BE FOLLOWER #1: THE TEACHER OF THE LAW (vv. 19-20)
    │
    ├─ HIS OFFER:
    │   "Teacher, I will follow you WHEREVER you go"
    │   └─► Enthusiastic
    │       Unconditional language
    │       But did he count the cost?
    │
    └─ JESUS' RESPONSE:
        │
        └─► "Foxes have dens and birds have nests,
             but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head"
                │
                ├─ Not: "Welcome aboard!"
                ├─ IS: "Do you know what you're signing up for?"
                │
                └─► HOMELESSNESS
                    Animals have more security than Jesus
                    Following means sharing His displacement

WOULD-BE FOLLOWER #2: THE DISCIPLE (vv. 21-22)
    │
    ├─ HIS REQUEST:
    │   "Lord, FIRST let me go and bury my father"
    │   └─► Legitimate duty
    │       Highest family obligation
    │       Could mean:
    │       - Father just died
    │       - Father is elderly (wait for death)
    │
    └─ JESUS' RESPONSE:
        │
        └─► "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead"
                │
                ├─ SHOCKING statement
                │   Family duty was supreme
                │
                └─► THE MEANING:
                    │
                    ├─ "Let the [spiritually] dead
                    │   bury the [physically] dead"
                    │
                    └─► Those without Kingdom life
                        can handle earthly duties
                        │
                        └─► YOUR calling is different
                            FIRST = Jesus
                            Everything else = second

THE PATTERN
    │
    ├─ FOLLOWER #1: Enthusiastic but naive
    │   └─► Jesus reveals: no comfort
    │
    └─ FOLLOWER #2: Reasonable but divided
        └─► Jesus reveals: no competition
            │
            └─► Following Jesus means:
                - Less security than animals
                - Higher priority than family

THE SETUP (vv. 23-24)
    │
    ├─ "He got into the boat"
    │   └─► "His disciples followed him"
    │       Same word: akoloutheō
    │       Following led into the storm
    │
    ├─ "A FURIOUS storm came up"
    │   └─► σεισμός μέγας = "great shaking"
    │       Violent, terrifying
    │       "Waves swept over the boat"
    │
    └─ "But Jesus was SLEEPING"
        │
        └─► Contrast:
            Disciples: panic
            Jesus: peace
            │
            └─► Either He doesn't care
                Or He knows something they don't

THE CRY (v. 25)
    │
    └─► "Lord, SAVE US! We're going to drown!"
            │
            ├─ Correct address: Lord
            ├─ Correct request: save
            └─ Wrong conclusion: "we're going to drown"
                │
                └─► With Jesus in the boat?

THE REBUKE (vv. 26-27)
    │
    ├─ TO DISCIPLES:
    │   "You of LITTLE FAITH (ὀλιγόπιστοι),
    │    why are you so afraid?"
    │   └─► Not "no faith"—LITTLE faith
    │       They came to Him
    │       But they didn't trust His presence
    │
    └─ TO STORM:
        "He got up and REBUKED the winds and waves"
        └─► Same verb used for demons
            He speaks to nature like He speaks to spirits
            │
            └─► "It was COMPLETELY calm"
                Not gradual
                Immediate

THE QUESTION (v. 27)
    │
    └─► "What KIND OF MAN is this?
         Even the winds and waves OBEY Him!"
            │
            ├─ They're asking the right question
            │   Who has authority over creation?
            │
            └─► Answer they're approaching:
                The Creator
                │
                └─► Psalm 89:9 - "You rule over the surging sea;
                    when its waves mount up, you still them."
                    That's YHWH's job

THE ENCOUNTER (vv. 28-29)
    │
    ├─ "Region of the Gadarenes"
    │   └─► Gentile territory
    │       Pigs = non-Jewish area
    │
    ├─ "Two demon-possessed men"
    │   ├─ Coming from tombs
    │   │   └─► Living among the dead
    │   │       Unclean place for unclean spirits
    │   │
    │   └─ "So violent that no one could pass that way"
    │       └─► Community threat
    │           Uncontrollable
    │
    └─ THE DEMONS' CRY:
        │
        ├─ "What do you want with us, SON OF GOD?"
        │   └─► They KNOW who He is
        │       Demons have clarity humans lack
        │
        └─ "Have you come to TORTURE us
             before the APPOINTED TIME?"
            │
            ├─ They know judgment is coming
            ├─ They know Jesus has authority to execute it
            └─ They're asking: "Is it time already?"
                │
                └─► Reveals: there IS an appointed time
                    Final judgment exists
                    Demons know it

THE NEGOTIATION (vv. 30-32)
    │
    ├─ "A large herd of pigs was feeding"
    │   └─► About 2,000 (Mark 5:13)
    │
    ├─ DEMONS BEG:
    │   "IF you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs"
    │   │
    │   └─► Note: They ASK PERMISSION
    │       They cannot act without His word
    │       Even their destination requires consent
    │
    └─ JESUS: "Go!"
        └─► One word
            │
            └─► Pigs rush down bank
                Drown in the lake
                Demons prefer destruction to displacement

THE AFTERMATH (vv. 33-34)
    │
    ├─ "Those tending pigs ran off"
    │   └─► "Reported all this, including
    │        what happened to the demon-possessed men"
    │
    └─ "THE WHOLE TOWN went out to meet Jesus"
        │
        └─► RESPONSE:
            "They PLEADED with Him to LEAVE their region"
                │
                ├─ Two men freed
                ├─ Demons expelled
                ├─ Pigs lost
                │
                └─► Town's verdict: "Please leave"
                    │
                    └─► They preferred their pigs
                        to Jesus' presence
                        Economic loss > spiritual gain

THE AUTHORITY HIERARCHY
    │
    ├─ DEMONS:
    │   ├─ Know Jesus is Son of God
    │   ├─ Know final judgment exists
    │   ├─ Cannot act without permission
    │   └─ Obey His command immediately
    │
    └─ HUMANS (townspeople):
        ├─ See the miracle
        ├─ See the freed men
        └─ Ask Jesus to leave
            │
            └─► Demons recognize authority
                Humans reject it

THE AUTHORITY DEMONSTRATION
    │
    ├─ OVER UNCLEANNESS: Leper touched, cleansed
    │   └─► Jesus' purity is contagious
    │
    ├─ OVER DISTANCE: Centurion's servant healed remotely
    │   └─► Jesus' word travels with His authority
    │
    ├─ OVER SICKNESS: Many healed (Isaiah fulfilled)
    │   └─► Jesus is the suffering servant
    │
    ├─ OVER NATURE: Storm rebuked
    │   └─► Creation obeys Creator
    │
    ├─ OVER DEMONS: Legion expelled
    │   └─► Evil submits to His command
    │
    └─► THE QUESTION:
        │
        ├─ Leper: "Are you willing?"
        ├─ Disciples: "What kind of man is this?"
        ├─ Demons: "Have you come to torture us?"
        └─ Town: "Please leave"
            │
            └─► Everyone is responding to the same authority
                With vastly different conclusions

HIS LOGIC
    │
    ├─ I speak → soldiers move
    │   └─► My word carries my position
    │
    └─ Jesus speaks → sickness leaves
        └─► His word carries His authority
            │
            └─► No proximity needed
                The word IS the action

WHAT I MIGHT CHOOSE OVER JESUS
    │
    ├─ Comfort over calling
    ├─ Security over surrender
    ├─ Reputation over obedience
    └─ My timeline over His
        │
        └─► "Please leave" can sound like
            "Not yet" or "Not that" or "Not here"

SUMMARY
    │
    ├─ Before: Oversized authorities, internalized constraint
    │
    └─ Now: Re-scaled perspective, grounded agency
        │
        └─► Not transformation into someone new
            Identity clarification
            Remembering who I already was
            Before the fear