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Matthew 8:16-27

Matthew has collected a series of miracles done by Jesus to bear witness to Him; that Jesus is Israel’s
Messiah, and the Savior of the world. There are ten specific miracles, contained in chapters eight and nine.

We have just studied the first three of these miracles - all healings - and as we continue, we find that
Matthew presents what we might call an interlude, in which he records responses to Jesus (8:18-22). As we
scan ahead, Matthew then records three more miracles (8:23-9:8), and another interlude, with responses
(9:9-17); and then a last group of four miracles (9:18-33a), and a final response of certain people (9:33b-
34).

It appears that Matthew had a specific intention, for each group of miracles: to reveal Jesus in a particular
capacity, as God. For instance, the first three miracles reveal Jesus as Jehovah rophe. Jehovah rophe is a
title for God from the OT which means, the LORD heals.

The LORD first revealed Himself to His people as Jehovah rophe after He brought the children of Israel out
of Egypt. We’re going to look at this in Exodus chapter 15.

The LORD had delivered His people from Egypt with a strong arm, having dealt ten blows to Pharaoh - the
ten plagues. These were designed to convince Pharaoh to release the LORD’s people from their hard
bondage, in Egypt.

Pharaoh finally released the children of Israel, but then he hardened his heart again. This led to the armies
of Egypt being destroyed, and Pharaoh with them - and the great deliverance of the children of Israel by the
LORD through the waters of the Red Sea - which was a physical deliverance of the nation.

The children of Israel rejoiced in that deliverance. They sang songs of praise to the LORD, recognizing His
great power, to part the waters of the sea and to save them alive through them; and then His overthrow of
Pharaoh and his armies, as the LORD released the seas and the pursuing enemy drowned.

But as Moses led the children of Israel from the Red Sea into the Wilderness of Shur, the praises of the
people dissolved on their lips - and re-formed as murmuring and complaining.

[Exodus 15:22-26]

v. 22 So this was right after the victory of the LORD on behalf of the children of Israel over Pharaoh. Moses
followed the LORD’s leading, to bring the people out into the Wilderness of Shur.

Shur literally means “rampart”, indicating a point of observation; a place from which something could be
seen. The LORD had brought the people to this place, in order for them to learn a spiritual lesson.

For three days in that wilderness, the people could not find any water to drink. Who would know where
there was water to drink? The LORD. But it seems no one inquired of Him.

v. 23 So the people found water! But it turned out that this water was impotable; it was brackish;
undrinkable. The name of the place was called Marah, meaning bitter.
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Can you imagine being thirsty for three days, and thinking you have found the means to satisfy your thirst,
only to find out that the water was undrinkable? Of course, they could have inquired of the LORD, but they
didn’t. This is the water they came to, based on their own efforts. The waters of Marah couldn’t sustain
life; they were in essence the waters of death.

v. 24 Still no one inquires of the LORD - the One who had just delivered them with such a strong arm from
the Egyptians. Instead, the people complain about the lack of water - against the LORD’s representative,
Moses.

v. 25 We can see that Moses knew who to turn to; he cries out to the LORD. Moses depended on the LORD,
to sustain their lives. And so the LORD showed Moses a tree.

In the Hebrew, the word for “showed” in this tense literally means “taught”. The LORD taught Moses a tree;
He revealed it to Moses. Not a variety of trees; but a particular tree. And clearly, the LORD taught Moses
about this tree; that when Moses cast it into the waters of Marah - the bitter waters - it would make the
waters sweet; the water would be potable; drinkable.

Do you know of any tree like that? There is one; one particular tree. It’s the tree upon which our Lord
Jesus was lifted up.

Jesus bore that tree to Calvary, and then cast it - Himself, upon it - into the waters of death.

The psalmist prophesied for Messiah, “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink
in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me” (Ps
69:1-2). These were the bitter waters of God’s judgment for our sin, which engulfed Jesus on the cross; the
waters of death.

But what came out of that tree, cast into the bitter water? The water was made sweet. Out of His death on
the cross for us, Jesus brought forth the water of eternal life - that all might drink of it and live. Jesus
passed through the waters of death - to make of them the water of life.

This episode was to be a point of observation, for the children of Israel - who had searched for three days
without finding any water they could drink. What does the number three represent, in Scripture?
Resurrection.

The LORD was making the point to Israel that their Messiah would be cast into the waters of death in their
place, and bring forth eternal life for the body through His resurrection - to be shared with all who are
willing to partake of Him.

This is the first of many occasions in the wilderness when the gospel was preached to the children of Israel,
according to the writer to the Hebrews (Heb 4:2). The LORD did so in picture form - no doubt providing an
explanation to Moses, for the people - so that they could understand what the picture meant. But in order to
profit from it, the children of Israel had to mix this preaching of the gospel with what? With faith.

This would be a test, for Israel - to prove what was in their heart.

v. 26 This incident showed the heart of the children of Israel. They had sought to make their own
provision - to sustain their own lives, which only brought them to the bitter waters - instead of trusting in
the LORD to make the provision for them.
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And the LORD knew this heart issue extended into the spiritual realm - that the people would try to obtain
eternal life by their own doing, instead of trusting in the One whom God would send.

So the LORD tested them - keep My commandments perfectly; keep all My statutes - and you won’t be
plagued as the Egyptians. What will happen when they try to do this? They will fail the test - utterly.

But the LORD has a final word of reassurance for them: I am the LORD who heals you - Jehovah rophecha.
There’s healing to be had, in the tree that would be cast into the waters. All the people have to do is to trust
the LORD, at His Word - and receive His provision.

[Return to Matthew 8]

By Matthew’s day, the LORD’s provision for His people had been sent to them. And as the account
continues, Matthew shows Jesus’ works of healing to be a fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah.

8:16-17 The idea is that there was no one who was brought to Jesus who remained afflicted; that all were
made completely well.

Matthew viewed this healing ministry of Jesus as a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, in the most literal sense
of the Hebrew words used - He [Messiah] took our sicknesses, and bore our suffering. But as we look at
the original prophecy in context, we see this has a somewhat different meaning.

Turn to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah was prophesying of the Servant of Jehovah, who would perfectly fulfill
the His will, on behalf of men. We’re just going to look at the immediate context.

[Isaiah 53:4-5] Would you say that Isaiah was referring to Messiah bearing our actual sicknesses and
physical sufferings, here? No; what is Messiah bearing, translated griefs and sorrows? Messiah is bearing
our iniquities; our transgressions - our sin. But the physical imagery is nonetheless present in Isaiah, as
well - see in verse 5, “by His stripes we are healed”.

[Return to Matthew 8] What Matthew recognized, writing after the death of Jesus, is that the healing of
physical sickness by Jesus foreshadowed His healing work on the cross as Jehovah rophe - the LORD who
heals.

Jeremiah wrote that the heart is deceitful above all, and desperately wicked - more literally, it’s incurably
sick (Jer 17:9).

Jesus heals men of their sin-sickness by creating in them a new heart - a clean heart (Ps 51:10) - in which
righteousness reigns. And Jesus heals men of death - that fatal disease that infects all the sons of Adam -
by giving their bodies the cure - His resurrection life, to all who will receive it.

Matthew’s account continues with an interlude, in which Jesus indicates His intention to depart. But in the
time before Jesus leaves, we read of the reaction of two men, to Him.

8:18 So Jesus gazed upon the great multitudes who had been following Him and were now all around Him
- drawn by His words and His works - and He made the decision to withdraw from them.

Does that seem surprising to you? Doesn’t it seem like it might be best to stay, in order to preach to all
those people? To reach as many souls as possible? That would seem to be very efficient. But what’s
efficient is not always effective.
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People in crowds have the tendency to feed off of one another, in terms of response - and the response is
generally emotionally based. When emotions are out of control, rational thought is generally overrun; and
contemplations of the spirit, the deepest part of man, are virtually impossible.

This crowd had already heard the teaching of Jesus, and they’d seen His miraculous works. By now, it is
likely that most of them kept following Jesus because they wanted to continue to see what they regarded as
an engaging performance. Jesus wasn’t there to entertain them; He was there to save men - whomever
would be saved.

Those who were truly drawn to Jesus and not merely to His works could again seek Him out, when He
returned to the area. But meanwhile, Jesus would use the time away from the crowd for profit - to teach
those who had already committed themselves to follow Him, whom He had called to Himself - for these
would press ahead to stay with their Master.

But there were also some that occupied a gray area - somewhere between those who were completely
devoted to following Jesus, and those who were merely wowed by Him. Matthew describes an exchange
between two of these would-be disciples, with Jesus.

These two men separately address Jesus as He is about to depart to the other side. The other side of what?
Well, Jesus was in Capernaum (8:5), which is on the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is what we would
refer to as a large lake. Jesus was giving command to depart to the other side of it.

So what was on the other side? A largely non-Jewish area known as Decapolis - that is, Jesus was
departing for Gentile territory. That in itself would dissuade many of the Jewish crowd, from following
Him!

But the boat that Jesus took would also have dissuaded them - because of its size. This would have been
one of the small fishing vessels found on the Sea of Galilee - it wouldn’t even fit 20 people. When Jesus
gave a command to depart to the other side of the lake, it would have been His committed disciples that
responded, some of whom had access to such boats.

But there was another who wanted to join them.

8:19-20 You may remember that scribes were those skilled in the Law of Moses. They frequently
explained the Law in schools and synagogues. They were the instructors; the teachers of the people.

As we read what this scribe said to Jesus, it might seem to us at first as if he was ready to commit himself
to becoming Jesus’ disciple. It is true that in Jewish culture, disciples usually did seek their own teachers.

But in the gospel records, Jesus is seen first calling His disciples to follow Him - that’s the divine initiative,
to which the disciples responded, by faith. Did Jesus call this scribe? There is no evidence that He did.

The scribe addressed Jesus as “Teacher”. That seems like an appropriate address; except that if the scribe
was desiring to become a true learner of Jesus, it would have been more appropriate for him to address
Jesus as “Lord”; a term of greater respect. The scribe is a teacher; did He view Jesus as his Master, or just
another teacher - a scholar, such as himself?

And the scribe’s statement has a little more to it, than the translation. Matthew said that Jesus gave orders
to depart - literally to go away - to the other side. This scribe used the same term. He was saying something
more like, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You may be going away to”.
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That changes his meaning, doesn’t it? The scribe was not saying he’d follow Jesus wherever He goes; he
was saying he’d just follow Jesus wherever He was going to go, right now. This level of commitment
suggests merely spontaneous enthusiasm.

Perhaps this scribe just wanted to engage Jesus on His teaching of the Law - an interpretation, as the scribe
would have viewed it. It would seem, then, that what the scribe was seeking was not Jesus Himself, but
some religious instruction from Him.

The response of Jesus is curious. On the surface, it might seem that Jesus was simply discouraging the
scribe from following Him based on His ministry being an itinerant one: Jesus didn’t even have an
assurance of lodging. But I think that Jesus was making a more significant point than that, to this scribe.

Consider the two animals that Jesus mentions; what are they? Foxes, and birds of the air. Both of these
creatures were despised, in Jewish thought. In Scripture, birds of the air represent the emissaries of the evil
one; Satan. And a fox is a metaphor for a crafty, cunning person.

Jesus was saying, creatures such as these make their home, in this world. But what about Jesus? Not Him;
He was not at home, in this world.

Notice that Jesus speaks of Himself as the Son of Man, emphasizing His humanity here. God the Son was
born in a body of flesh into this world, but He was not of this world (Jn 8:23). Jesus never fit into the
political, economic, religious world system, that Satan had built on the face of God’s earth.

The point of Jesus to this scribe may be that, if the scribe really wants to follow Him, he cannot remain a
part of the world, either - which would include the religious system of Judaism - something a Jewish scribe
would be heavily invested in. Was the scribe willing to leave the world behind - his world? For that is
what it takes, to follow Jesus.

We read of no response, from the scribe, after that. I think his enthusiasm quickly fizzled out.

But there was yet another, who wanted to come with Jesus.

8:21-22 Matthew actually calls this man a disciple. This more generalized usage simply means the man
had been following Jesus; not necessarily that he was a committed follower, and true believer. But we do
see that this man used the more reverent term, “Lord”, in addressing Jesus. Perhaps he had actually
believed into Jesus, and his address indicates a more sincere interest on his part in becoming a committed
disciple of Jesus.

Nonetheless, the man has something he feels he must do first, before he can follow Jesus - another
commitment. And he seems to make of Jesus a reasonable request: to bury his father first. The response of
Jesus appears to us rather harsh, in light of that.

But actually, the term “bury my father” is a standard Jewish idiom for fulfilling one’s filial responsibilities
for the remainder of the father’s lifetime. There is no prospect of the father’s imminent death. That means
that this would-be disciple was seeking an indefinite postponement of discipleship; very likely for years.
What kind of disciple is that?

Now we can see the answer that Jesus gives with the right perspective. This man intended to allow his
family relations to supersede a relationship with Jesus.
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What does Jesus mean when He says, “Let the dead bury their own dead”? Who are these “dead”, that will
do the burying? The sons of Adam - natural men, dead in trespasses and sins. They are the ones who make
earthly, natural things their priority in life - including natural ties. Jesus encouraged this man to follow
Him instead - and leave natural ties to natural men.

The man couldn’t do both, could he? You can’t follow the course of this world, and really follow Jesus, as
a learner of Him. Jesus must be first, in the heart. So what of this would-be disciple? Matthew is silent;
that is probably all he remained, though Jesus invited him to be more.

Matthew intended these illustrations to show that how men respond to Jesus is a choice. The crowd will be
left behind; for most, their interest in Jesus was but for the moment.

Some thought they wanted to follow Jesus, but when challenged, their interest seems to have evaporated;
following Jesus was just too costly.

A true disciple of Jesus will sweep aside the things of the world, so that there is no impediment, in his way
- nothing in between him, and Jesus. The eyes of the disciple are set upon Jesus, and Him alone, to follow
after.

And so the true disciples were seen to follow Jesus, into the boat. Matthew continues.

v. 23-27 The Sea of Galilee was normally a placid lake. But due to its unique location, well below sea
level and near to Mt. Hermon, strong winds could sweep through the narrow surrounding gorges, causing
very sudden and violent storms - such as this one. Now, remember that this is just a small fishing vessel.
And who’s in it? Jesus, and His true disciples.

Some of those disciples were fishermen, weren’t they? Peter, Andrew, James and John all were in a fishing
cooperative. And where did they fish? On the Sea of Galilee. Do you think they had seen their share of
storms? Of course they had; and so they would have been experienced with these storms, on the lake.

And that’s what tells you that this storm was not one such as these seasoned fishermen had ever
encountered. The little boat was taking on water.

What might happen, if a boat keeps taking on water? It might sink. And on a stormy sea, what might
happen to the people who were in the boat - who are now in the water? They might drown. This powerful
storm was causing some fearful circumstances!

And those circumstances caused the disciples to fear. They saw the waves washing over the sides of the
boat. They heard the deafening roar of the storm. They felt the boat lurching, tossed wildly by the sea. So
what did the disciples do? They went to Jesus.

But what was Jesus doing? He was sleeping. Certainly, this was in part because He was completely at rest,
despite the storm. But it was also a measure of the level of weariness that Jesus experienced, from all of
His ministering. It’s a very touching portrait, of His humanity.

But the disciples hardly had time to consider that, because they were consumed with fear. And they hastily
woke up their Master, imploring Him to save them from that storm - for they were perishing, in it.
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Were they? Was there anyone in the sea, under water? No. Was the boat even sinking? No; the boat was
just taking on water, from the waves. But in their fear, the disciples had actually envisioned themselves in
the water, and they were drowning in it.

Fear does that. We think of what might happen; and then we assume that it will happen; and then we begin
to see it as if it is happening.

Fear is not rational. And because fear is not rational, but emotional, you can’t reason fear away. So what
can you do, with fear? The Psalmist said, “ Whenever I am afraid I will… what? I will trust in You” (Ps
56:3). The antidote for fear is trusting in the Lord.

Is that what the disciples were doing? Were they trusting the Lord? No, they were full of fear; they were
expressing their panic, to Jesus. But even in this, they had learned at least the first part, about trusting in
the Lord; they had learned to go to Him, with their fear.

Jesus used the opportunity of the storm to teach His learners. First He enquired as to why they were afraid.
Why were they afraid? Because they chose to be. In that pressing trial, they chose to look at their
circumstances, instead of looking at Jesus. But the disciples had gone to Him; they had cried out to Him to
save them; so weren’t they looking at Jesus? No; their eyes were on the storm. If they were really looking
at Jesus, they would have ceased to see the storm; they would have seen instead the One who had power
over the storm. So their fear remained; the evidence of their unbelief.

This is not to say that the disciples had no faith in Jesus at all. They simply did not yet believe that Jesus
had power and authority in these circumstances. They had a little faith, that needed to be made bigger.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience. You believe in Jesus, yet you haven’t learned to trust Him in all
the circumstances, of your life.

What do you think will cause you to trust Him? Practice. Practice seeing that Jesus is in the circumstance -
He’s in the boat with you. Practice knowing that Jesus is Master of the circumstance - He allowed it; He
controls it. And practice learning that Jesus can lead you through the circumstance - if you’re willing - in
perfect peace. But trusting Him is a choice; just as it was, for these disciples.

So first came Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples, but this was followed by His rebuke of the storm; Jesus
rebuked the winds and the sea. And did the winds and the sea respond? They did; they took the rebuke,
and immediately settled down.

The Sea of Galilee was completely calm. The only evidence of the storm was the pounding of the
disciples’ hearts. But they soon calmed down, as well.

And as they did, the disciples marveled. Does it surprise you that they asked, “Who can this be, that even
the winds and the sea obey Him”? Didn’t they know who this is? No, they really didn’t.

In the Greek, the term “Who can this be?” literally means, “What soil?” The idea is an inquiry into what
something is composed of; what it’s made of, or comes out of.

It’s as if the disciples were not so much asking who Jesus was, as what He was; “What kind of being is
this”?
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They had seen Jesus in His capacity as Israel’s Messiah; they had heard the wisdom of His teaching, and
witnessed His ability to heal.

But to have power and authority over the mighty forces of nature? There is only one who has that -
omnipotent God, Himself. What kind of being is this? Deity.

The disciples had just seen Jesus as God - the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe. Their Scriptures
declared this to be so (Ps 2:7, Jer 23:6, Zech 12:10), but now, they had seen it for themselves - with their
own eyes.

And as they kept their minds stayed on that reality - to know that God was in the boat with them - they
would learn that they could trust Him - with all the storms, of their lives.

Reading: Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Isa 65:1-5