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Matthew 8:1. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him. Matthew 8:2. And so the leper came up and, bowing to Him, said: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me. The leper, being reasonable, did not climb the mountain so as not to interrupt the teaching. But when Christ came down from the mountain, he bowed to Him and, showing his great faith, did not say: “if you pray to God, you will heal me,” but “if you want.” That is why Christ acted this way. Matthew 8:3. Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him and said: I want you to be clean. And he was immediately cleansed from leprosy. Matthew 8:4. And Jesus said to him: See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. The Lord touched the leper, showing that He is not subject to the law, which commands not to touch the leper, but that He is His Master, that for the pure there is nothing unclean, and that His holy flesh imparted sanctification. However, avoiding glory, the Lord orders not to tell anyone, but to show himself to the priest, for if the priest had not said that the leper had been cleansed, he would have remained outside the city. Christ commands the gift to be brought as a testimony to the Jews, that is, as if saying: “If I am accused as a lawbreaker, be a witness to whom I commanded to bring what is brought by the law.” Matthew 8:5. When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him and asked Him. And this one did not approach the mountain, so as not to interrupt the teaching. This is the same centurion as in the Evangelist Luke. Although the evangelist Luke says that he sent others as ambassadors to Jesus, this does not contradict Matthew, who says that the centurion himself came. It is obvious that first the centurion sent others, and then, when the danger increased, he went himself and said: Matthew 8:6. God! my servant lies at home in relaxation and suffers cruelly. Matthew 8:7. Jesus says to him: I will come and heal him. The centurion did not bring the boy on the bed, believing that the Lord could heal him even when he was absent. And therefore: Matthew 8:8. The centurion, answering, said: Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will recover; Matthew 8:9. for I am a subordinate man, but, having soldiers under my command, I say to one: go, and he goes; and to another: come, and he comes; and to my servant: Do this, and he does. Matthew 8:10. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following Him, “Truly I say to you, even in Israel I have not found such faith.” If, he says, being a slave of the king, I command the soldiers subordinate to me, then all the more can You command death and illness so that they move away from one and turn to another, for bodily illnesses are warriors and punishers with God. Therefore, Christ is surprised, saying: “Even among Israel I did not find such faith as I found in this pagan.” Matthew 8:11. I tell you this, that many will come from the east and the west and lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; Matthew 8:12. and the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. He did not say that many pagans would lie down, so as not to upset the Jews, but he said covertly: “from the east and the west.” He mentioned Abraham in order to show that He is not an opponent of the Old Testament. Speaking about external darkness, he showed that there is also internal darkness, lighter than the first, for the degrees and torments differ. He calls the Jews sons of the kingdom, since the promises were given to them: “Israel is My Son, My firstborn.” Matthew 8:13. And Jesus said to the centurion, Go, and as you have believed, so be it done to you. And his servant was healed at that hour. Having healed with a word, the Lord showed that He also spoke the truth regarding the expulsion of the Jews. Matthew 8:14. Arriving at the house of Peter, Jesus saw his mother-in-law lying in a fever, Matthew 8:15. touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and ministered to them. He entered Peter's house to eat food; touching the hand, he not only calmed the fever, but also returned the woman to full health, so that her strength returned and she was able to serve. And we really know that it takes a lot of time for patients to get stronger again. While other evangelists say that the Lord was asked and therefore He healed the sick woman, Matthew, caring for brevity, did not say this. For I told you at the beginning that one of them omits what the other says. But also know that marriage does not in the least hinder virtue, for the chief of the apostles had a mother-in-law. Matthew 8:16. When evening came, they brought many demon-possessed people to Him, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick, Matthew 8:17. may what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah be fulfilled, who says: “He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” (Is. 53:4). The sick were brought in in the evening and at the wrong time, but He, as a lover of mankind, healed everyone. Then, so that you do not have doubts about how He could heal so many diseases in a short time, the evangelist brings Isaiah as a witness. True, the prophet says this about sins, but Matthew applied his words to illnesses, because most of them come from sins. Matthew 8:18. When Jesus saw a large crowd around Him, He ordered the disciples to sail to the other side. He was not ambitious, but at the same time he avoided the envy of the Jews. Matthew 8:19. Then one scribe came up and said to Him: Teacher! I will follow You wherever You go. Matthew 8:20. And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. A scribe calls one who knows the books of the law. This one, seeing many miracles, thought that Jesus was profiting from them, so he was trying to follow Him in order to collect riches himself. But Christ, going to meet his intention, almost said this: “by following Me, you hope to collect riches; but don't you see that I don't even have a house? So should My follower be.” The Lord said this for the purpose of convincing him to follow Him, to change his mood: but the scribe leaves. Some people mean demons by foxes and birds. So, the Lord says to the scribe: “The demons have rest in you, therefore I do not find rest for Myself in your soul.” Matthew 8:21. Another of His disciples said to Him: Lord! let me first go and bury my father. Matthew 8:22. But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” After someone has given himself up to God, he should not return again to the things of this world. We must honor our parents, but we must place God above them. Here the parent was also unfaithful, as can be seen from here: “let the dead, that is, the unfaithful, bury their dead.” If this one did not receive permission to bury his father, then woe to those who, having accepted monasticism, return to everyday affairs. Matthew 8:23. And when He entered the boat, His disciples followed Him. Matthew 8:24. And behold, there was a great disturbance on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves; and He was sleeping. The Lord took only his disciples with Him so that they could see the miracle. He allows them to be exposed to danger in order to prepare them for temptation and so that, having seen a miracle, they will believe all the more. He sleeps for the purpose that the disciples, being frightened, would realize their weakness and turn to Him in prayer. Therefore it is said: Matthew 8:25. Then His disciples, approaching Him, woke Him up and said: Lord! save us, we are perishing. Matthew 8:26. And he says to them: Why are you so fearful, you of little faith? The Lord does not call them unfaithful, but of little faith, because when they said: “Lord, save us,” they showed their faith, but the word “we perish” is not from faith. They had no need to fear as the Lord sailed with them. Please note that by reproaching them as timid, the Lord shows that timidity attracts danger. Therefore, He first calmed their spiritual storm, and then calmed the sea excitement. Then, getting up, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great silence. Matthew 8:27. The people, amazed, said: Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him? They were surprised because in appearance He was a man, but in deeds He was God. Matthew 8:28. And when He arrived on the other side in the country of Gergesin, He was met by two demoniacs, While those in the ship are perplexed: where does this come from, that both the winds and the sea obey Him? – Demons are preachers. Evangelists Mark and Luke talk about one sick person who had a legion of demons, because one of these sick people was more terrible than the other. The Lord Himself approached them, since no one dared to bring them. those who came out of the graves ** were very fierce, so that no one dared to pass that way. Demons lived in coffins, wanting to instill in people the idea that the souls of the dead become demons. But let no one think this, because the soul, having left the body, does not wander in this world, but the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God; As for the souls of sinners, they too are taken away from here, like, for example, the soul of a rich man. Matthew 8:29. And so they cried out: What have you to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? You came here ahead of time to torment us. Behold, they proclaim Him to be the Son of God after having previously discovered enmity towards Him. They consider it torment that they were not allowed to harm people; understand the words “before the time” in the sense that the demons thought that Christ, not having endured their too strong anger, would not wait for the time of punishment, which in reality is not the case, for they are allowed to fight with us until the end of the century. Matthew 8:30. Far from them, a large herd of pigs was grazing. Matthew 8:31. And the demons asked Him: if you drive us out, then send us into the herd of pigs. Matthew 8:32. And He said to them: Go. And they went out and went into the swine herd. Demons strive, by destroying pigs, to sadden their owners so that they do not accept Christ. Christ yields to the demons, showing what malice they have against people, and if they had power and did not encounter obstacles, then they would treat us worse than pigs. He protects the possessed so that they do not kill themselves. And so, the entire herd of pigs rushed down a steep slope into the sea and died in the water. Matthew 8:33. The shepherds ran and, having come to the city, told about everything and about what had happened to the demoniacs. Matthew 8:34. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw Him, they asked Him to depart from their borders. Saddened and thinking that after this they will suffer worse, they ask Him about it. Find out that where there is a pig's life, it is not Christ who dwells there, but demons.