TAWG - December 12, 2022 - Matthew 8:18-34
December 12, 2022

Matthew 8:18-34

8:19-22 | To the scribe who pledged to follow Jesus wherever He went, Jesus explained that inconvenience and self-denial will be the experience to those who follow Him. The disciple who wanted to bury his father before following Jesus was actually saying, “Lord, I will follow You after my father dies.” Jesus’ response – Let the dead bury their own dead – means “Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.” The call to follow Jesus takes priority over everything (Luke 9:57-60).

8:23-27 | The Sea of Galilee is famous for violent storms that occur without warning. When the terrified disciples awakened Him, Jesus first rebuked the disciples for their insufficient faith. He then rebuked the wind and the sea so that a great calm descended upon them (Ps. 65:7; 89:9; 107:29). Jesus is both the human being in need of rest and the Sovereign Creator who can calm a storm.

8:28-32 | The demons acknowledged Jesus’ authority over them as the Son of God (James 2:19) and recognized that they would one day be judged. Mark writes that the herd of swine numbered 2,000 (Mark 5:13). In this Gentile area, their death signified a huge loss of income.

8:28-29 | Rather than the solitary man described by Mark and Luck (Mark5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39), Matthew writes that two demon-possessed men charged out of the tombs. This is not a contradiction. The Gospels often mention only the more prominent individuals in a story rather than including everyone involved.