Matthew 8:13

Other similar words of Jesus help us understand what He meant when He said that He would do for the centurion "as" (Gr. hos) he had believed (cf. Matthew 15:28). Jesus did not grant his request because the centurion had faith or in proportion to his faith. He did so in harmony with what the centurion expected. Jesus did for him what he expected Jesus would do for him.

"It is . . . interesting to observe that the Gentile follows the Jew in the sequence of healing events. This is in accord with Matthew’s plan of presenting Jesus first as Son of David and then as Son of Abraham." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 124.]

This healing marked Jesus as the Messiah who was under God’s authority.

The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law 8:14-15 (cf. Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39)

Peter and his family were evidently living in Capernaum when Jesus performed this miracle (Matthew 4:13). People considered fever a disease in Jesus’ day rather than a symptom of a disease (cf. John 4:52; Acts 28:8).

"The Talmud gives this disease precisely the same name (Eshatha Tsemirta), ’burning fever,’ and prescribes for it a magical remedy, of which the principal part is to tie a knife wholly of iron by a braid of hair to a thornbush, and to repeat on successive days Exod. iii. 2, 3, then Matthew 8:4, and finally Matthew 8:5, after which the bush is to be cut down, while a certain magical formula is pronounced. (Tractate Shabbath 37 a)" [Note: Edersheim, The Life . . ., 1:486.]

Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law with a touch. His touch did not defile the healer, but it healed the defiled (cf. Matthew 8:3). Matthew consistently stressed Jesus’ authority in this brief pericope. He probably mentioned the fact that when Jesus healed the woman she immediately began to serve Him to illustrate the instantaneous effectiveness of Jesus power (cf. Matthew 8:26). Usually a fever leaves the body weak, but Jesus overcame that here. [Note: Barbieri, p. 37.]

"Some see great significance in Matthew’s deliberate rearrangement of these miracles. Since Matthew did not follow the chronological order, it seems he intended to illustrate the plan of his Gospel. Accordingly, the first miracle shows Christ ministering to the Jews. His mighty works bore testimony to His person, but His testimony was rejected. Consequently, He turns to the Gentiles, who manifest great faith in Him. Later, He returns to the Jews, represented by the mother-in-law of the apostle to the Jews. He heals her and all who come to Him. This third picture is that of the millennium, when the King restores Israel and blesses all the nations." [Note: Toussaint, Behold the . . ., p. 125.]

This miracle shows Jesus’ power to heal people fully, instantaneously, and completely. It also previews His compassion since the object of His grace was a woman. The Pharisees considered lepers, Gentiles, and women as outcasts, but Jesus showed mercy to them all. By healing a leper who was a social outcast, a Gentile, and finally a woman, Jesus was extending His grace to people the Jews either excluded or ignored as unimportant. Jewish narrowness did not bind Jesus any more than disease and uncleanness contaminated Him. [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 65.]

"He began with the unfit persons for whom there was no provision in the economy of the nation." [Note: Morgan, p. 82.]