The Study of Matthew

8:18-34

Explaining the Demand of Discipleship (18-22)

Here we have two people who approach Jesus about following Him.
A certain scribe (19) who seems to remove himself from other scribes who rejected Jesus says, Teacher,
I will follow You wherever You go. Jesus reveals to the scribe the cost of following Him: Foxes have holes
and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. It is a life of self-denial to
truly follow Jesus. Denying our own will and sometimes our own comfort. If we seek comfort and
convenience in this world, many times it will clash with following Jesus. How many followers of Jesus hold
on to their money for self-comfort rather than helping missionaries go to proclaim the gospel? How many
would-be missionaries and others remain at home instead of going to the far reaches of the globe to tell His
story of redemption? How many Christians hold on to time, convenience, comfort, etc. rather than going
out of their way to lead someone to Christ? In His public ministry, He had no home of His own; however,
there were homes where He was a welcome guest and He ordinarily had a place to sleep. The true force of
His words seems to be spiritual: this world could not provide Him with true, lasting rest. He had a work to do
and could not rest till it was accomplished. The same is true of His followers; this world is not their resting
placeor at least, it shouldnt be! 1
Jesus refers to Himself 83 times as the Son of Man (20) in the gospels. It was a messianic title (Dan. 7:13,
14), with an obvious reference to the humanity and the humility of Christ. 2

Then another of His disciples said to Him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Was his father dead
awaiting burial? The phrase, I must bury my father was a common figure of speech meaning, Let me wait
until I receive my inheritance.3 This passage most likely describes a follower whose father was still alive,
because by Levitical law the man would not be out in public if his father had just died. 4 The point is clear
from a few words of the disciple, Lord me first (21). We must never make excuses for not following
Jesus. Jesus always ministered to those who lost loved ones in death so He will never be unreasonable.
Following Him is always right.

Calming the Tempest on the Sea (23-27)

One wanted to follow Jesus and He said He didnt have a place to lay His head (20). Here, His disciples
follow Him and it leads them to a great tempest on the sea (24). Following Jesus doesnt mean smooth
sailing in life. But following Jesus means we are with the Master of the sea (27). The disciples had seen
demons cast out of people and people healed by Jesus. Now they will learn that He is also over nature. A
great tempest arose on the sea while they were in the boat with Jesus. Note that the boat was covered
with the waves (24). In contrast, Jesus was asleep. Why was Jesus asleep and why did the storm not
wake Him? MacArthur says it shows His humanity and that He was weary. We might forget that even
though Jesus did miracles, He also grew tired. He was not only God among humanity. He was God and man.
It seems the disciples had some faith in Jesus that if He could cast out demons then maybe He can save
them from the stormy sea. They awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us! We are perishing! (25). Look at

1 Ibid
2 MacArthur, J., Jr. (Ed.). (1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed., p. 1406). Nashville, TN: Word Pub.
3 Ibid
4 Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelsons new illustrated Bible commentary (Mt 8:2122). Nashville: T. Nelson

Publishers.

BKD Matthew Lesson 8.2 Page 1 of 2

Jesus response: Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Jesus did not rebuke them for coming to Him
but for their little faith (26). How little they comprehended that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe
was in the ship that day! 5 Jesus response is to rebuke the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm (26). Even though they had seen Him perform miracle after miracle, they still marveled, saying,
Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him? (27).

Casting demons out of men (28-34)

This passage increases our understanding of some of the spirit world. We learn from what the demons
already knew:
- They recognized Jesus even in His humanity (29a). What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of
God?
- They knew there was a day of judgement coming for them (29b). torment us before the time?
- They knew Jesus had power/authority to cast them out of the men (31). If You cast us out
- They were subject to Jesus authority (31). permit us to

We also gain insight into demon possession:

- Even though men feared them, they feared Jesus (28-29). exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass
that way
- Swine cannot endure demons but men do (32). the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep
place into the sea
- Swine prefer death over demon possession (32). and perished in the water
- Two men endured what 2000 swine could not (Mark 5:13).

Then, we see the peoples response:

- They valued their pigs more than having men set free from demons (34). they begged Him to depart
from their region.

5MacDonald, W. (1995). Believers Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 1233). Nashville: Thomas
Nelson.

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