Cleansing a Leper

1After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

Jesus was so popular, than large crowds followed him everywhere that he went.

2And a leper approached, and bowed low before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

According to rabbinic teaching, only the Messiah could heal lepers.

3He stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Leprosy was contagious. This leper had most likely never been touched since he was diagnosed with this fatal skin disease. Jesus touched him, which most likely shocked the crowds. The leprosy was cured instantly. According to Dr. Luke, this was an advanced stage of leprosy, meaning that the leper was close to death.

4Then Jesus said to him, “See that you do not speak to anyone, but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

There was a Mosaic offering that was supposed to be made for the healing of a leper. However, all throughout history, this offering had never been made, because never was a leper healed. The Levitical priest had to ask three questions. The first question was "Did you have leprosy?" The answer would be yes. The second question would be "Were you healed?' The answer would be yes. The third question would be "Who healed you?" The answer would be "Jesus of Nazareth". The priest would have to report this incident to the Jewish leadership. The Jewish leadership would have to announce to the people that Jesus was the Messiah. However, the leper did not follow the interactions of Jesus. He went and told all of the people that Jesus had healed them. This incident made Jesus even more of a celebrity, but the people were now coming out not to hear him teach about the kingdom, but to see him perform miracles.  This situation is very similar to that of the modern day charismatics. They do not go to church to hear the Word of God. They go to church to observe miracles. 

Healing the Centurion’s Servant 

5When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him asking for help:

Capernaum was the headquarters of Jesus in Galilee. The centurion was a Roman commander who was in charge of 100 men.

6“Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.”

The centurion called Jesus "Lord", meaning his master, or his deity. His servant was paralyzed. The centurion had been patrolling the Galilean area, so he was familiar with the claims and works of Jesus.

7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

Jesus agreed to come and heal the servant.

8But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.

The centurion was a Gentile. The message of Jesus was the offering of his kingdom to the Jews. The centurion knew that Jews were not allowed into the house of a Gentile. Therefore, he asked Jesus just to heal him with a word from his mouth.

9For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

The centurion possessed authority over 100 men. The centurion knew that Jesus possessed authority over all of creation.

10When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

This Gentile centurion had more faith in God than any Jew in Israel. All of Israel should have possessed the faith of this Gentile.

11I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

When the Millennial Kingdom arrives, many Gentiles will share in the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This means that these three patriarchs will have to be raised from the dead to share this banquet with Gentiles.

12but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The "sons of the kingdom" were the Jews. The Pharisees taught the Jews would all be saved universally by Abraham, who was sitting at the gates of hell, ready to pull all Jews out of eternal damnation. Jesus taught the opposite. He taught that many of the Jews would burn in the Lake of Fire forever. Jesus was not a seeker-friendly pastor.

13Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour.

The other gospels reported that the centurion was a friend of the Jewish nation who had actually built them a synagogue. The Abrahamic Covenant promised that those who blessed Israel would be blessed and those who cursed Israel would be cursed. Therefore, this Gentile centurion was blessed by this Abrahamic Covenant.

Healings at Peter’s House

14Now when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying down, sick with a fever.

This was after the Sabbath. After the Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were sharing a meal at Peter's house. His mother-in-law was sick with fever. Notice that the Catholics teach that popes are not allowed to marry. However, Peter "the first pope" was married!

15He touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and began to serve them.

Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law.

16When it was evening, many demon-possessed people were brought to him. He drove out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick.

The demons attempted to keep Jesus so busy casting out demons, that he would have little time to deliver his message. 

17In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: “He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”

This is a quotation from the Suffering Servant prophecy of Isaiah 53:4. The Suffering Servant was to be the Messiah who would heal all weaknesses and diseases. 

Challenging Professed Followers

18Now when Jesus saw a large crowd around him, he gave orders to go to the other side of the lake.

Large crowds were following Jesus everywhere. He had to teach from boats in order to keep the crowds from touching and pressing upon him.

19Then an expert in the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”

The scribe was asking Jesus if he could become his disciple.

20Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

Jesus explained that he did not own any property or material possessions. He called himself "the Son of Man", which was a messianic title from the Book of Daniel. God the Father was to hand all authority of heaven and earth to the Son of Man.

21Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

Another disciple wanted to follow Jesus, but he wanted to wait until his father died. This did not mean that the father was going to die in the next year or so. This meant that the disciple wanted to serve his father until he died, which might be fifty years later, inherit his fortune, and then serve Jesus.

22But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Jesus was only going to be around for about two more years. If the disciple really loved God, he should have followed Jesus immediately. He should have given up his father's inheritance in order to follow Jesus. He lost an opportunity to become a disciple of Jesus and effect the eternal kingdom.

Stilling of a Storm

23As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.

Jesus often traveled by boat to keep the crowds from pressing in upon him.

24And a great storm developed on the sea so that the waves began to swamp the boat. But he was asleep.

This storm could have been sent by Satan in order to destroy Jesus and the disciples.

25So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!”

The disciples called Jesus "Lord", meaning deity. They asked Jesus to save them.

26But he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm.

The disciples should not have been afraid. The God of the universe was in the boat with them.

27And the men were amazed and said, “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!”

Jesus proved that he was deity by his control of nature. 

Healing the Gadarene Demoniacs

28When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way.

The Gadarenes were those Jews who had descended from the tribe of Gad. Joshua took all of the tribes of Israel into the Promised Land to give them a land inheritance. However, the Tribe of Gad liked the land outside of the Promised Land. They asked for land on the wrong side of the Jordan River, which was outside of the Promised Land. There was a demon possessed man who controlled this commercial route.

29They cried out, “Son of God, leave us alone! Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

The demons called Jesus the "Son of God". They knew his identity. Jesus did not accept testimony from demons. Notice that the demons knew that Jesus would one day judge them.

30A large herd of pigs was feeding some distance from them.

According to the Mosaic Law, it was unlawful for Jews to eat pigs. The Gadarenes were so far from the Word of God, that they had entered the pig business.

31Then the demons begged him, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

The demons did not want to be sent to the Abyss. The Abyss was a temporary holding place for demons who break God's divine law. Some of these demons will be released from the Abyss during the Great Tribulation.  Instead, these demons wanted to be sent into a herd of pigs.

32And he said, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned in the water.

Men will allow demons to possess them, but pigs would rather commit suicide.

33The herdsmen ran off, went into the town, and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men.

These Jewsih herdsmen were from the Tribe of Gad. They had no business participating in the pig business.

34Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Jesus ruined the economy of the Gadarenes. They were not joyous that a man had been delivered from demons. They were angry that they had lost their profits from their pig business.