This week’s reading is chapter 8 of the Gospel of Matthew.
This chapter begins when Christ came down from the mountain after his Sermon on the Mount.
He was followed by a throng of people who had heard Him speak. Immediately a man with leprosy asked Him to heal him, or “clean” him of his disease.
Jesus touched him, commanding him to be made clean, and immediately, the leper’s disease was gone.
He then told the healed man not to tell anyone of his healing, but instead he go to the priest and offer to the priest the gift that Moses prescribed. This gift is a reference to what Moses talked about in Leviticus 14:2-9 about what a person should offer when he is healed of leprosy.
When He got into the town of Capernaum, a Roman centurion came to Him, asking for his servant to be healed. When Jesus said that He would go there and heal him, the centurion said, essentially, that he believed that if Jesus commanded the healing, it would be done, whether He was at the house or not.
Jesus told the centurion that he had more faith than anyone in Israel, and then He healed the servant remotely.
Then He goes to his disciple Peter’s house and heals Peter’s mother-in-law. He indicates that He is fulfilling a prophecy when he quotes Isaiah.
While He is surrounded by huge crowds, He is approached by a man who tells Jesus that he will follow Him wherever He goes, but first he has to go bury his father. Jesus tells him to follow Him now and “let the dead bury their own.”
Then Jesus and the disciples got into a boat and a storm overtook them, and He commands the sea to be calm.
Finally, He drives demons from two men who were possessed. The demons are driven into a bunch of pigs who then run into the water and died.
When word got out about this, the people from the town came to Jesus and begged Him to leave town.
Now, I’d like to do something a little different. I’d like to know what you all think about some of the things in this chapter. If you would, I’d like you to pick at least one of these questions and comment on what you think, and we can discuss them.
Don’t worry, it’s not graded. 
Just your thoughts.
- When Jesus told the leper not to tell anyone, why do you think that would be?
- In verse 11 and 12, Jesus tells the centurion about that many people will be weeping and gnashing their teeth. What do you think He was talking about?
- In verse 17, Jesus says that he is fulfilling a prophecy. What was that prophecy, and what does it refer to?
- In verse 20 through 22, what is happening that might apply to us today?
- In verse 34, the townspeople beg Him to leave town. Why would they do that?
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