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Week 6 — Day 1
2 And behold, a 1leper, coming near, worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me.
3 And stretching out His hand, He 1touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
5 And…a centurion came…beseeching Him
6 And saying, Lord, my servant is lying in the house paralyzed, terribly tormented.
7 And He said to him, I will come and heal him.
8 But the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.
9 For I also am a man under 1authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, Go, and he goes;…and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.
10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed, Truly I say to you, With no one in Israel have I found such great faith.
21 The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior to be the people of the kingdom is represented by a leper. According to the examples in the Scriptures, leprosy results from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against God’s deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). Naaman’s leprosy was cleansed because of his obedience (2 Kings 5:1, 9-14). All fallen human beings have become leprous in the eyes of God because of their rebellion. The kingly Savior came to save men from their rebellion and to cleanse them from their leprosy that they might become His kingdom people.
31 According to the law, a leper was to be isolated from the people because of his uncleanness. No one was allowed to touch him (Lev. 13:45-46). But the new King, as a man and as the kingly Savior, touched this leper. What mercy and sympathy! By His one touch, his leprosy was immediately cleansed. What wonderful cleansing!
91 The centurion, a Gentile, recognized the authority of the kingly Savior and realized that His word had the authority to heal. Thus, he believed not only in the kingly Savior but also in His word, asking Him not to go in person but only to speak the word. This was stronger faith, and it was marveled at by the Savior (v. 10).
In Matthew 8:1-17 three miracles — the cleansing of the leper, the healing of the paralyzed Gentile servant, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law — and the healing of many are grouped together to present a meaningful doctrine, that is, they have a dispensational significance.
The diseases healed in the cases recorded in Matthew 8 are significant, for every disease signifies a specific spiritual sickness. The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior to be the people of the kingdom is represented by a leper.…The leper here represents the Jews. The Jews have become rebellious against God.…Nevertheless, the heavenly King came…not to judge them, but to heal them.…He came as a Physician to heal the sick [9:12].
The Jewish leper was healed by the King’s direct touch.…But the centurion’s servant was…healed by the King’s word. The Gentile centurion believed in this word, and his servant was healed. The Jews are always saved through the King’s direct touch, but we Gentiles are saved…through believing the enlivening, regenerating word of the gospel. Hence, the centurion’s servant represents all the Gentile believers. The Lord did not commend the faith of the leper, because faith was not the outstanding characteristic there. The significant thing was the King’s touch. But with the healing of the centurion’s servant, faith is very outstanding. Hence, the Lord praised the centurion’s faith. Consequently, the servant was healed. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 311-312, 315)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 309-315; Hymns: #1078
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Day 2
14 And Jesus, coming into Peter’s house, saw 1his mother-in-law lying down and in a fever.
15 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served Him.
16 And when evening fell, they brought to Him 1many who were demon possessed, and He cast out the spirits with a word, and 1all those who were ill He healed,
17 So that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “1He Himself took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
141 Peter’s mother-in-law in vv. 14-15 represents the Jews living at the end of this age, who will be saved by receiving the kingly Savior (Rom. 11:25-26). At that time, during the great tribulation, the Jews in the eyes of God will be “in a fever” (v. 14), “hot” in things other than God. After the fullness of the salvation of the Gentiles, the kingly Savior will come back to this remnant of the Jews that they may be saved (Rom. 11:25-26; Zech. 12:10). Peter’s mother-in-law was healed in Peter’s house. At the end of this age all the remnant of the Jews will be saved in the house of Israel. Furthermore, they will be saved by the kingly Savior’s direct touch (v. 15), as was the Jewish leper (v. 3).
161 Many who were demon possessed and all those who were ill represent all the people on earth in the millennium. The millennium is the last dispensation of the old heaven and old earth; thus, it is considered the “evening” of the old heaven and old earth. In the millennium the power to cast out demons and heal illnesses will be manifested to the uttermost. Hence, all the demon possessed and all the sick will be healed. Such extensive power is the power of the coming age (Heb. 6:5). The casting out of demons and the healing of the sick in this age are only a foretaste of the extensive power of the coming age. The signs recorded in vv. 2-17 bear a dispensational significance and show the coming kingdom in miniature.
The order of the four incidents recorded in vv. 2-16 differs from that in Mark 1:29—2:1 and Luke 4:38-41; 5:12-14 and 7:1-10. In Mark’s record, which shows that Jesus is the Servant of God, the order is according to history. In Matthew’s record, which proves that Christ is the King of the kingdom of the heavens, the order is according to doctrine; i.e., Matthew puts certain incidents together to present a doctrine. In Luke’s record, which reveals that Jesus is the proper man to be man’s Savior, the order is according to morality. In John’s record, which testifies that Christ is the Son of God and even God Himself, the order is somewhat according to history.
171 All healings accomplished on fallen people are a result of the Lord’s redemption. On the cross He took away our infirmities, bore our diseases, and accomplished full healing for us. However, in this age the application of this divine healing power can be only a foretaste to us; in the coming age we will experience the full taste.
The temperature of the Jews today is very high in their fervency for [science, finance, education,] politics, industry, agriculture, and warfare.…But in their heat and fervency they neither trust in God nor care for morality. [Nevertheless], at the Lord’s second coming, the Jews will be directly touched by His arrival and be saved.
Immediately after Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she arose and served the Lord (v. 15). This signifies that at the Lord’s coming back, the remnant of the Jews, after being saved, will arise and serve Him in the millennium. (Life-study of Matthew, p. 316)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 315-317; Hymns: #757, #1065
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Day 3
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to 1depart to the other side.
19 And a scribe came near and said to Him, Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.
20 And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have roosts, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.
21 And another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.
In verses 18 through 22 we see the way to follow the heavenly King. The way is revealed through the cases of two who came to the King. The first, [was] a scribe,…[and the second, a disciple].…The Lord seemed to be saying to the scribe, “Do you intend to follow Me? You have underestimated the price. You, a scribe, a learned one with a high rank in society, must realize that I am nothing and that I have nothing. I have even less than the birds and the foxes, for I have nowhere to lay My head.” I believe that the scribe was disappointed and that he did not follow Him. The principle of following the Lord is the same today. We must consider the price. In following this King, there is no material enjoyment.
Verse 21 says, “And another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” In saying this, this disciple, who was not a scribe, overly considered the cost of following the King of the heavenly kingdom. This disciple, apparently warned by the first case, overestimated the cost. He seemed to be saying to the Lord, “I will follow You, but I have a dead father. Let me first go back to bury him, and then I will come back to follow You.”…Because this disciple overestimated the cost of following the King, He answered him in the way of encouraging him to follow Him, to drop his consideration of the cost, and to leave the burial of his father to others. The Lord said, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” How wonderful the Lord Jesus is! He purposely disappointed the first and deliberately encouraged the second. The Lord was very wise in dealing with people.… Thus, He discouraged [the] person of high rank. But to the disciple who had been warned by this case not to follow the Lord in a light or loose way, the Lord…encouraged him to forget about all the preparations he was making, to leave the dead to bury the dead, and to follow Him.
By these two cases we see that it is not easy to contact people. How would you deal with these two if they came to you today? Probably you would accept both of them. However, the Lord differentiated between them, discouraging the one and encouraging the other.
In these two cases we see the way to follow the heavenly King. First, as we follow Him, we should not expect to have any material enjoyment. Second, in order to follow Him, we must ignore the requirements of the dead. The Lord told the disciple to “let the dead bury their own dead.” The first dead refers to those who are dead spiritually, as mentioned in Ephesians 2:1, 5; the second dead refers to the disciple’s father, who was dead physically. Eventually, the spiritually dead will fulfill the duty of burying the physically dead.…We are the living ones and we must go on to follow the King.…If you do not expect any material enjoyment and if you will leave the dead duties to the dead, you can go on to follow Him. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 318-320)
181 In His ministry as recorded in the four Gospels, the Lord always withdrew from the crowds; He did not want the curious ones to be with Him. He did not care for crowds but cared only for those who sought Him sincerely.
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 318-320; Hymns: #445
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Day 4
8:24 And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves; but He was sleeping.
25 And they came near and roused Him, saying, Lord, save us; we are perishing!
26 And He said to them, Why are you cowardly, you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
28 And when He came to the other side,…two possessed by demons met Him.…
29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here before the time to torment us?
31 And the demons entreated Him, saying, If You cast us out, send us into the herd of hogs.
32 And He said to them, Go! And they came out and went into the hogs. And behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and they died in the waters.
9:2 And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Take courage, child; your sins are forgiven.
3 And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes.
6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins — then He said to the paralytic, Rise, take up your bed and go to your house.
In 8:23—9:8 we see the authority of the King.…This authority is of three aspects: the authority over the winds and the sea (8:23-27); the authority over the demons (8:28-34); and the authority to forgive sins (9:1-8).
As the Lord and the disciples were sailing across the sea…something in the air and under the sea began to cause them difficulty.…The King rebuked the winds and the sea because in the winds were the fallen angels of Satan (Eph. 6:12) and in the sea were the demons (Matt. 8:32). The fallen angels in the air and the demons in the water collaborated to frustrate the King from going to the other side of the sea because they knew He would cast out the demons there (vv. 28-32).
When the Lord Jesus had come to the country of the Gadarenes, He was met by two who were possessed by demons.…The demons cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with You, Son of God? Have You come here before the time to torment us?” (v. 29). The King called Himself the Son of Man (v. 20), but the demons called Him the Son of God, tempting Him to deviate from His standing as the Son of Man.…The word “Go!” [in verse 32] was the King’s authoritative order, and the demons obeyed it. The King complied with the demons’ entreaty to enter into the hogs because hogs are unclean in the eyes of God (Lev. 11:7). Unable to tolerate being possessed by the demons, the hogs rushed into the sea. The demons consented because the water is their lodging place (Matt. 12:43-44).
In 9:1-8 we see the King’s authority to forgive sins. [Here] a paralytic was brought to Him.…The mention of sins in verse 2 indicates that the paralytic was sick because of his sins.
“Some of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes” [v. 3]. The scribes, confident that they knew the Scriptures, thought that only God had authority to forgive sins and that Jesus, who in their eyes was only a man, had blasphemed God when He said, “Your sins are forgiven.” This indicates that they did not realize that the Lord was God. By uttering such a word, they rejected the King of the heavenly kingdom. This was the first rejection by the leaders of the Jewish religion.…As God, He not only has authority over the natural environment and over demons; He also has the full authority to forgive people of their sins. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 321-324)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 321-326; Hymns: #148, #310
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Day 5
9 And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man sitting at the tax office, called Matthew, and He said to him, Follow Me. And he rose and followed Him.
10 And as He was reclining at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined together with Jesus and His disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?
12 Now when He heard this, He said, Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.
13 But go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
In 9:9-17 we come to a very fine, sweet, and intimate portion of the Gospel of Matthew. After the King decreed the constitution of the kingdom of the heavens and after He manifested His authority as the King in many situations, in 9:9-13 we see Him feasting with sinners.
In 9:9 we have the calling of Matthew.…Matthew was also called Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27). He was a tax collector who became an apostle by God’s grace (Matt. 10:2-3; Acts 1:13, 26). He was the writer of this Gospel.…According to the record in 9:9 it seems that this was the first time the Lord met Matthew. There must have been some attracting power with the Lord, either in His word or appearance, that caused Matthew to follow Him.
After being saved, Matthew was so grateful to the Lord that he opened his house and prepared a feast for Him and His disciples. Thus, this section of the Word opens in such a sweet, intimate way.…While the Lord Jesus was enjoying the feast with all the tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees criticized and condemned Him, and they asked the disciples why their teacher ate with such people [v. 11]. This question indicates that the self-righteous Pharisees did not know the grace of God. They thought that God deals with man only according to righteousness.…This was a continuation of the rejection of the heavenly King, begun in verse 3, by the leaders of the Jewish religion.
In verse 12 we see the Lord’s reply to the Pharisees’ question: “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.”…In calling people to follow Him for the kingdom, the King of the heavenly kingdom ministered as a Physician, not as a Judge. A judge’s judgment is according to righteousness, whereas a physician’s healing is according to mercy and grace. Those whom He made people of His heavenly kingdom were lepers (8:2-4), paralytics (8:5-13; 9:2-8), the fever-ridden (8:14-15), the demon possessed (8:16, 28-32), those ill with all kinds of diseases (8:16), despised tax collectors, and sinners (9:9-11). If He had visited these pitiful people as a Judge, all would have been condemned and rejected, and none would have been qualified, selected, and called to be the people of His heavenly kingdom. However, He came to minister as a Physician, to heal, recover, enliven, and save them that they might be reconstituted to be His new and heavenly citizens.…The Lord’s word here implies that the self-righteous Pharisees did not realize that they needed Him as a Physician. They considered themselves strong; hence, blinded by their own self-righteousness.
The self-righteous Pharisees were confident they knew all things concerning God. In order to humble them, the Lord told them to learn more [v. 13].
Mercy is part of the grace that man receives from God. But self-righteous men do not like to receive mercy or grace from God; they prefer to give something to God. This is contrary to God’s way in His economy. Just as God desires to show mercy to pitiful sinners, so He wants us to show mercy in love to others (Micah 6:6-8; Mark 12:33). (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 327-331)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 327-333; Hymns: #757
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Day 6
14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but Your disciples do not fast?
15 And Jesus said to them, The sons of the bridechamber cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 No one puts a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment, for that which fills it up pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear is made.
17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.
Matthew presents us another case in 9:14-17: the case of fasting without the Bridegroom.…John the Baptist’s ministry was to introduce people to Christ that Christ might become their Redeemer, their life, and their all. However, some of John’s disciples drifted away from his goal, Christ, to some of his practices, and made those practices a religion. To be religious is to do something for God, without Christ. To do anything, even if it is scriptural and fundamental, without the presence of Christ is to be religious. Both John’s disciples…and the Pharisees, who were…without Christ…made fasting a matter of religion. Meanwhile, they condemned the disciples of Christ, who did not fast but had Christ with them and lived in His presence.
In the case of the new religion, the Lord is not only the Physician but also the Bridegroom.…Now Christ, the kingly Savior, reminded some of them of this. The kingly Savior first healed His followers, and then made them the sons of the bridechamber; eventually, He will make them His bride.…They were with Him at a joyful wedding, not without Him at a mournful funeral. How then could they fast and not feast before Him?
In 9:16 the Lord continues with something even finer, sweeter, and more intimate.…The Greek word translated unfulled…means…unfinished, unshrunk, untreated. The unfulled cloth signifies Christ from His incarnation to His crucifixion, as a piece of new cloth, untreated, unfinished; whereas the new garment in Luke 5:36 signifies Christ as a new robe after He was “treated” in His crucifixion.…Christ first was the unfulled cloth for making a new garment, and then through His death and resurrection was made a new garment to cover us as our righteousness before God that we might be justified by God and be acceptable to Him (Luke 15:22; Gal. 3:27; 1 Cor. 1:30). A patch of unfulled cloth sewn on an old garment pulls away from the garment because of the strength of its shrinking, thus making the tear worse. To sew a patch of unfulled cloth on an old garment means to imitate what Christ did in His human life on earth.…The old garment in verse 16 signifies the good behavior, good deeds, and religious practices produced by man’s old, natural life.
The new wine [v. 17] signifies Christ as the new life [who] strengthens us, energizes us, and makes us very happy.…Old wineskins signify religious practices, such as the fasting maintained by the Pharisees, who were of the old religion, and by the disciples of John, who were of the new religion. All religions are old wineskins. New wine put into old wineskins bursts the wineskins by the power of its fermenting.…The new [fresh] wineskin is the church life…Christ enlarged.…He is the Bridegroom, the new garment, the new wine, and also the corporate vessel to contain what we enjoy of Him. The meaning here is very profound. (Life-study of Matthew, pp. 333-338, 341-342, 344)
Suggested daily reading: Life-study of Matthew, pp. 333-353; Hymns: #541
Enlightenment and inspiration:
Week 6 — Prophecy
III. The King’s ministry (4:12—11:30)
C. The continuation of the ministry (8:1—9:34)
1. Signs with dispensational significance (8:1-17)
2. The way to follow the King (8:18-22)
3. The authority of the King (8:23—9:8)
а. Over the winds and the sea (8:23-27)
b. Over the demons (8:28-34)
c. To forgive sins (9:1-8)
4. Rejoicing with the sinners (9:9-13)
5. Being incompatible with religion (9:14-17)
After decreeing the new law of the kingdom, the first things the new King did were to cleanse the unclean, heal the sick, and cast out the demons (Matt. 8:2-17). These miracles are grouped together to present a meaningful doctrine; that is, they have a dispensational significance.
The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior is represented by a leper. The leper here represents the Jews. Leprosy in the Scriptures signifies rebellion and disobedience. The Jewish leper was healed by the King’s direct touch. In contrast, the Gentile centurion’s servant was healed by the King’s word. At the end of this age salvation will come back from the Gentiles to the Jews, not the scattered ones, but to the Jews in the house of Israel. At that time the Jews will be sick of a fever — fervent in science, in finance, in education, and in all manner of worldly pursuits. In the eyes of God all this is a fever. In their fervency they neither trust in God nor care for morality. Just as the Lord healed Peter’s mother-in-law (vv. 14-15), so will He come back again at the end of this age to heal the Jews not through their faith, but through His direct touch.
In verses 18 through 22 we see the way to follow the heavenly King. The way is revealed through the cases of two who came to the King. First, as we follow Him, we should not expect to have any material enjoyment. Second, in order to follow Him, we must ignore the requirements of the dead. Eventually, the spiritually dead will fulfill the duty of burying the physically dead (Eph. 2:1, 5).
In Matthew 8:23—9:8 we see the authority of the King which is of three aspects: over the winds and the sea, over the demons, and the authority to forgive sins. Together these cases reveal a clear picture of who this heavenly King is. He is the Savior of the Jews and also of the Gentiles. As God, He not only has authority over the natural environment and over the demons; He also has the full authority to forgive people of their sins.
After He manifested His authority as the King, in many situations, in 9:9-13 we see Him feasting with sinners. The Pharisees criticized and condemned Him. They assumed that God deals with man only according to righteousness. As the Lord was feasting with all those sick ones, He revealed Himself as the Physician to heal them, not as a Judge to condemn them.
Matthew presents us another case in 9:14-17: the case of fasting without the Bridegroom. The disciples of John the Baptist were fasting without Christ, without the Spirit. Hence, they formed another religion. Religion is doing things to please God apart from Christ and the Spirit. Now in this case the Lord Jesus likens Himself to a bridegroom at a wedding. The Lord asked if the sons of the bridechamber can mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them. It is a joyful time with the Bridegroom, but when the Bridegroom is taken away, they may fast.
Finally, we see that Christ is not only our new garment as our outward qualification and new wine as our inward energizing life, but being increased He is also our new wineskin, the church, the Body (1 Cor. 12:12), capable of holding the wine. Christ is everything.
Composition for prophecy with main point and sub-points:
