Mateus 8
R.C.H. Lenski · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 8
Lenski explains why Jesus said he had great faith - (1) The greatness of the centurion’s faith is evident in its humility. The man, although he is a high military officer and a great benefactor of the Jews, deems himself utterly unworthy. (2) In the second place this man’s faith centers in the word of Jesus, the very experience Jesus had so much difficulty in attaining among the Jews. On his own accord, merely from what this man had heard about Jesus, without further experience and teaching he shows absolute trust in Jesus’ word; compare the court officer mentioned in John 4:50 for an example of a man who slowly arrives at faith in Jesus’ word. A word is sufficient, Jesus does not need to come in person. (3) Thirdly, and as the basis of this humble confidence in the mere word, the centurion has a proper conception of the exalted person of Jesus. His word, spoken at a distance, works with omnipotence to save from death. It is an ill comment on Jesus’ estimate of the centurion’s faith to suggest that he had some pagan conception as to how the power of Jesus would work the healing, yet that this did not affect the nature and the value of his faith. Any pagan conception would vastly reduce, if it did not make void, this Gentile’s faith. The remarkable feature of the man’s faith was that it accorded so fully with the truest Israelite teaching and was wholly free from pagan conceptions. (SEE Interpretation of St. Luke's Gospel, Chapters 1-11 - Page 395) Faith Works Read: Luke 7:1-10 According to your faith let it be to you. —Matthew 9:29+ Not all Christians exercise the same degree of faith. Some people seem to think their problem is too big for God to solve. Others are sure that God is all-powerful, but they’re not confident that He will do what is best for them. Still others affirm, “I know what God can do, and I’ll trust Him to do what He has promised.” These various attitudes range from a weak and tentative faith to a firm confidence that takes God at His word and believes He is good. As we study the ministry of Jesus, we see varying degrees of faith in those who came to Him. He cast out a mute spirit from a son whose father wavered between faith and doubt (Mk. 9:17-24). He healed a leper who knew He could but was not sure He would (Mk.1:40-45+). And He healed the servant of a centurion who was so sure of the outcome that he asked Jesus merely to speak the word from afar (Lk. 7:1-10+). O for the peace of a perfect trust, My loving God, in You— Unwavering faith that never doubts The good You choose to do. —Anon. Our faith in God grows greater as we recognize the greatness of our God. Matthew 8:11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; NET Matthew 8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, GNT Matthew 8:11 λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν καὶ δυσμῶν ἥξουσιν καὶ ἀνακλιθήσονται μετὰ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, NLT Matthew 8:11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world-- from east and west-- and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. KJV Matthew 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. ESV Matthew 8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, NIV Matthew 8:11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ASV Matthew 8:11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: CSB Matthew 8:11 I tell you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. NKJ Matthew 8:11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. NRS Matthew 8:11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, YLT Matthew 8:11 and I say to you, that many from east and west shall come and recline (at meat) with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the reign of the heavens, That many - Mt 24:31 Ge 12:3 Ge 22:18 Ge 28:14 Ge 49:10 Ps 22:27 98:3 Isa 2:2,3 11:10 Isa 49:6 52:10 60:1-6 Jer 16:19 Da 2:44 Mic 4:1,2 Zec 8:20-23 Mal 1:11 Lu 13:29 14:23,24 Acts 10:45 Acts 11:18 Acts 14:27 Ro 15:9-13 Ga 3:28,29 Eph 2:11-14 3:6 Col 3:11 Rev 7:6 recline Lk 12:37 Lk 13:29 Lk 16:22 Rev 3:20,21 in the kingdom of heaven- Mt 3:2 Lu 13:28 Ac 14:22 1Co 6:9 15:20 2Th 1:5 Matthew 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries JEWS AND GENTILES DINING TOGETHER! I say to you that many will come from east and west - So here was another miracle in Capernaum! Probably no city in Israel saw as many miracles which probably accounts for Jesus words of warning in Matthew 11:23 in which He declared "And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day." And not only that but because of the "greater light" in Capernaum Jesus added there would be a greater degree of punishment declaring "“Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” (Mt 11:24) In the context of the centurion, a Gentile who displayed great faith, the many obviously will include Gentiles as well as Jews. The many are "His elect (JEW AND GENTILE) from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." (Mt 24:31) Indeed Micah's prophecy declares that "it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains (SPEAKING OF ISRAEL AND THE HOLY CITY, THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING). It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. Many nations (GENTILES) will come and say, “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For from Zion (THE HOLY CITY) will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:1-2+, cf Isaiah 2:1-2+) East (395)(anatole from ana = up, again + tello = to make to rise) means rising (as of a star or the sun). In some context anatole refest to the rising of the sun or "breaking of the dawn" which means East or Orient (used with this meaning especially in the Lxx - Ge 2:8, 10:30, 11:2, 12:8; used of the Magi from the east who saw the star in the east - Mt 2:1, 2, 9+, those who come into God's kingdom will be from "east and west" = Mt 8:11, Lk 13:29+, "lightning comes from the east" = Mt 24:27). Here Luke is using anatole to refer to the coming of Christ. John uses anatole to describe the "angel ascending from the rising of the sun." (Rev 7:2+), to describe "kings from the east" as they assemble at Armageddon (Rev 16:12+), and lastly to describe the "three gates on the east" of the holy city of Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven from God (Rev 21:13+). Anatole - 11x in 11v - Mt. 2:1; Mt. 2:2; Mt. 2:9; Mt. 8:11; Mt. 24:27; Mk. 16:8; Lk. 1:78; Lk. 13:29; Rev. 7:2; Rev. 16:12; Rev. 21:13 And recline (anaklino) at the table - Recline at the table is a phrase reflects standard Jewish image of future banquet in God’s kingdom. Although the Bible declared that it was for all peoples (Isa 25:6). People were seated at banquets according to rank. They “sat” at regular meals but “reclined” at feasts; table fellowship signified intimacy, so fellowship with the great patriarchs was thought to represent a future hope for the Jewish people, not for Gentiles, with whom Jewish people did not eat. Recline at table on couches as Jews and Romans did. Hence Leonardo da Vinci's famous picture of the Last Supper is an anachronism with all seated at table in modern style. The Jews were accustomed to speak to the delights of the Messiah's kingdom as a feast with the patriarchs. The language implies intimate domestic intercourse and fellowship. NET Note on recline at the table - as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one's side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. The word "banquet" has been supplied (Mt 8:11NET) to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery. The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of being among the people of God at the end. (ED: If this does not generate a "Glory! Hallelujah!" from deep in your being, I don't know what will!) Luke refers to this future reclining at the table “Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.(Lk 12:37+) COMMENT - This is an amazing verse. Who is the one who will gird himself? This speaks of the Messiah. And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.(Lk 13:29+) With Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven in the kingdom of heaven - Gentiles reclining at the table with Jews! And not just with any Jews but with the great patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! This would border on almost blasphemous to ears of Jewish hearers! Indeed, Jesus’ words to those Capernaum Jews were startling in the extreme. What He said utterly contradicted everything taught by their rabbis. The twenty-ninth chapter of the apocryphal book of Second Baruch pictures what Jews believed would be the great heavenly feast at which all Jews were going to sit down and eat behemoth, the elephant, and leviathan, the giant sea monster, or whale-symbolic of an unlimited amount of food. In the eyes of many Jews, one of the most significant and appealing things about the feast was that it would be totally free of Gentiles. How deceived and misconceived they were! And sadly still are for the most part. David Guzik has some excellent thoughts on this section - i. This was a radical idea to many of the Jewish people in Jesus’ day; they assumed that this great Messianic Banquet would have no Gentiles, and that all Jews would be there. Jesus corrected both mistaken ideas. ii. These few words of Jesus tell us a little something of what heaven is like. It is a place of rest; we sit down in heaven. It is a place of good company to sit with; we enjoy the friendship of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in heaven. It is a place with many people; Jesus said that many will come into heaven. It is a place with people from all over the earth; from east and west they will come to heaven. It is a certain place; Jesus said many will come, and when Jesus says it will happen, it will happen. iii. “But ye shall hear those loved voices again; ye shall hear those sweet voices once more, ye shall yet know that those whom ye loved have been loved by God. Would not that be a dreary heaven for us to inhabit, where we should be alike unknowing and unknown? I would not care to go to such a heaven as that. I believe that heaven is a fellowship of the saints, and that we shall know one another there.” (Spurgeon) (Matthew 8 Commentary) Alfred Edersheim (Messianic Jewish author) gives us some background on Jesus insertion of this illustration of a great feast which is not found in the parallel account in the more "Gentile oriented" Gospel of Luke - SUMMARY: Many Jews believed that when the Messiah came, Israel alone would share in a great Messianic feast with the patriarchs, while Gentiles would be excluded and cast into darkness. Jesus overturned this expectation. Using familiar Jewish imagery of “outer darkness” and the Messianic banquet, He taught that entrance into the kingdom depends not on Jewish ancestry but on faith. Thus believing Gentiles, like the centurion, would share in the kingdom with the fathers of Israel, while unbelieving Jews could be excluded. In this way Jesus redefined the kingdom as based on spiritual relationship rather than ethnic privilege. For the fuller understanding of the words of Christ, the Jewish modes of thought, which He used in illustration, require to be briefly explained. It was a common belief, that in the day of the Messiah redeemed Israel would be gathered to a great feast, together with the patriarchs and heroes of the Jewish faith. This notion, which was but a coarsely literal application of such prophetic figures as in Is. 25:6, had perhaps yet another and deeper meaning. As each weekly Sabbath was to be honoured by a feast, in which the best which the family could procure was to be placed on the board, so would the world’s great Sabbath be marked by a feast in which the Great Householder, Israel’s King, would entertain His household and guests. Into the painfully, and, from the notions of the times, grossly realistic description of this feast, it is needless here to enter. One thing, however, was clear: Gentiles could have no part in that feast. In fact, the shame and anger of ‘these’ foes on seeing the ‘table spread’ for this Jewish feast was among the points specially noticed as fulfilling the predictions of Ps. 23:5. On this point, then, the words of Jesus in reference to the believing Centurion formed the most marked contrast to Jewish teaching. In another respect also we mark similar contrariety. When our Lord consigned the unbelieving to ‘outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,’ he once more used Jewish language, only with opposite application of it. Gehinnom—of which the entrance, marked by ever-ascending smoke, was in the valley of Hinnom, between two palm trees—lay beyond ‘the mountains of darkness.’ It was a place of darkness, to which, in the day of the Lord,e the Gentiles would be consigned. On the other hand, the merit of circumcision would in the day of the Messiah deliver Jewish sinners from Gehinnom. It seems a moot question, whether the expression ‘outer darkness’ may not have been intended to designate—besides the darkness outside the lighted house of the Father, and even beyond the darkness of Gehinnom—a place of hopeless, endless night. Associated with it is ‘the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.’ In Rabbinic thought the former was connected with sorrow, the latter almost always with anger—not, as generally supposed, with anguish. To complete our apprehension of the contrast between the views of the Jews and the teaching of Jesus, we must bear in mind that, as the Gentiles could not possibly share in the feast of the Messiah, so Israel had claim and title to it. To use Rabbinic terms, the former were ‘children of Gehinnom,’ but Israel ‘children of the Kingdom,’ or, in strictly Rabbinic language, ‘royal children,’b ‘children of God,’ ‘of heaven,’ ‘children of the upper chamber’ (the Aliyah) and ‘of the world to come.’e In fact, in their view, God had first sat down on His throne as King, when the hymn of deliverance (Ex. 15:1) was raised by Israel—the people which took upon itself that yoke of the Law which all other nations of the world had rejected. Never, surely, could the Judaism of His hearers have received more rude shock than by this inversion of all their cherished beliefs. There was a feast of Messianic fellowship, a recognition on the part of the King of all His faithful subjects, a joyous festive gathering with the fathers of the faith. But this fellowship was not of outward, but of spiritual kinship. There were ‘children of the Kingdom,’ and there was an ‘outer darkness’ with its anguish and despair. But this childship was of the Kingdom, such as He had opened it to all believers; and that outer darkness theirs, who had only outward claims to present. And so this history of the believing Centurion is at the same time an application of the ‘Sermon on the Mount’—in this also aptly following the order of its record—and a further carrying out of its teaching. Negatively, it differentiated the Kingdom from Israel; while, positively, it placed the hope of Israel, and fellowship with its promises, within reach of all faith, whether of Jew or Gentile. He Who taught such new and strange truth could never be called a mere reformer of Judaism. There cannot be ‘reform,’ where all the fundamental principles are different. Surely He was the Son of God, the Messiah of men, Who, in such surrounding, could so speak to Jew and Gentile of God and His Kingdom. And surely also, He, Who could so bring spiritual life to the dead, could have no difficulty by the same word, ‘in the self-same hour,’ to restore life and health to the servant of him, whose faith had inherited the Kingdom. The first grafted tree of heathendom that had so blossomed could not shake off unripe fruit. If the teaching of Christ was new and was true, so must His work have been. And in this lies the highest vindication of this miracle,—that He is the Miracle. (Life and Times of the Messiah) MARRIAGE CUSTOM IN BIBLE TIMES: 1). The father chose the bride for his son (Eph 1:4). 2). A binding wedding agreement, the bethrothal, was made before the marriage was consummated. (2 Cor 11:2,3,4).To break that covenant, a bill of divorcement was required. If impurity (any unfaithfulness was considered adultery) was found in the bride, then the bride could be put to death. 3). At the appointed time for the marriage, the ceremonies began with the wedding procession, which usually took place near midnight. (2 Thes 4:13,14-18). 4).The BRIDEGROOM and his friends went to the bride's home to get her and her attendants and take them to his home. (Mt 25:1-13). Bride is taken to the father's home, led to a canopy and beside her husband spoke the wedding vows. (Rev 19:7-8). 6). THE MARRIAGE SUPPER followed (Mt 22:1-14) usually at the home of the groom and lasted from 3-7 days, the last day being the most elaborate. The MARRIAGE SUPPER was the ''bringing home'' of an already accredited bride to her covenanted husband, to which guests were invited. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb'' (Rev 19:9). Abraham, Isaac & Jacob probably are ''those who are invited" (Mt 8:10,11,12). Possibly all who enter the 1000 year reign of Christ are guest. Matthew 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." the sons - Mt 3:9,10 7:22,23 21:43 Ac 3:25 Ro 9:4 be cast - Mt 13:42,50 22:12,13 24:51 25:30 Lu 13:28 2Pe 2:4,17 Jude 1:13 Matthew 8 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 13:41-42+ “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:49-50+ So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 22:13+ “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness (skotos); in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 24:48-51+ But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards; 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, 51 and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Luke 13:26-28+ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART (aorist imperative) FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ 28 “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. THE DREADFUL DOOM FOR ALL SELF-RIGHTEOUS SOULS France rightly remarks “There could hardly be a more radical statement of the change in God’s plan of salvation inaugurated by the mission of Jesus.” But the sons of the kingdom - Jesus has just commended the great faith of the Roman centurion, a Gentile, who came seeking healing for his servant. The sons of the kingdom, in context, refers to UNREPENTANT JEWS who thought that their ancestry automatically entitled them to the kingdom of God (see John 8:31-59+). Jesus is using the term sons of the kingdom to describe what their (THE JEWS) "potential destiny" could have been had they chosen to believe in the King of that Kingdom! In reality, however, they were not genuine children of the King or His Kingdom, John explaining that "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (Jn 1:11-13+, cf Mt 7:21-23+; Mt 13:38+; Luke 13:22-30+) Those who come from the east and west (Mt 8:11) is a reference to those Gentiles who exercise personal faith in Jesus Christ. The Jews thought that they were assured of special favor by God, but the Lord reminded them that they could be "last" in the kingdom of God while those who thought themselves "last," such as publicans and prostitutes (AND EVEN THIS ROMAN CENTURION WHO CONSIDERED HIMSELF NOT "WORTHY!"), would be "first" if they exercised faith in Him for Jesus declared "Truly I say to you (SPEAKING TO JEWISH RELIGIOUS LEADERS - Mt 21:23) that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you." (Mt 21:31). Furthermore, the UNREPENTANT JEWS would be cast out because of their hypocritical claim that they were the children and followers of Abraham declaring to Jesus “Abraham is our father.” To which Jesus responded “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. (Jn 8:39+) Abraham was the father of the faithful, those who had faith (cf Ge 15:6+) and demonstrated they had saving faith by doing the deeds of Abraham, but the Jews while physical descended from Abraham were not part of Abraham's family of those who had faith in Jesus.
Mateus 8
Lenski observes, such a person “sees the soldiers on parade, the fine uniforms, and the glittering arms and is eager to join, forgetting the exhausting marches, the bloody battles, the graves, perhaps unmarked." (Interpretation of St. Matthew’s Gospel)