Bible Study

Stories from Matthew 8: Jesus cleanses a Leper, Jesus heals a Centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law healed, Many healed in the evening, Wind and wave obey him, two demon possessed men healed. 

Leper healed- Leperosy was a disease that made you “unclean.”  If you were unclean, you could not be in the city.  If someone unclean or something unclean touched a clean person, that person became unclean.  Jesus touched this leper to heal him.  Did it make him unclean?  Why not?

Centurion’s servant healed- a centurion was a Roman officer.  Romans ruled the Promised Land in Jesus' time.  This centurion is not a Jew but he believes in Jesus.  Many of the Jews do not like the Romans and want them to leave.  This Centurion has a servant that is sick and asks Jesus to heal him.  Jesus says that he will come and heal him.  What does the centurion say in response to this?  What does Jesus say in response to him?

Jesus Calms a storm-  The important thing to remember in this story is that it comes at the end of a very big day.  What happens earlier in the day?  Jesus takes a multitude up on a mountain and preaches the Sermon on the Mount.  When he comes down, he heals a leper.  Right after that he heals the Centurions servant.  After this he goes to Peter’s house and heals his mother-in-law of a fever.  After this he heals many sick people and heals the possessed that are brought to him.  It is at this point in the story that he and his disciples enter the boat.  Jesus goes down to take a very much needed nap!  It is amazing how much Jesus accomplishes in one day.  He is a man and tires just like we do.  He is exhausted and finds rest once he is on the boat.  The disciples have been with Jesus all day.  They listened to his sermon earlier in the day and they watched him heal so many.  But as soon as the storm comes, the forget all that Jesus has said and done.  To their defense, it is clear that this is no ordinary storm.  Some of his disciples are fishermen and are very savvy in a boat.  So this is the kind of  storm that can bring a boat down.  They rush down to Jesus and wake him up, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” 

In the story of the centurion, what did Jesus commend?  His faith.  What are the disciples lacking in the story of the storm?

“Who can this be”, the disciples say after the watch Jesus rebuke the waves and storm.  What else did Jesus rebuke this very busy day?

We have seen how important faith is in the stories we have looked at today.  What is faith?

It is easy to forget our Savior when things are hard and overwhelming (and when things are easy!).  But in this chapter we want to be like the leper who knows Jesus can heal him.  We want to be like the Roman Centurion who had faith and knew that Jesus could heal his sick servant.  We do not want to forget Jesus but believe in him all of the time!  Learning these stories will help make our faith strong.  We want these stories deep in our hearts so that we can remember them. 

Lets Pray.