8:1 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
8:2 Then there appeared a leper who bowed down before him, saying, “Master, if it pleases you, you can purify me.”
8:3 Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am pleased – be purified.” Then immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
8:4 Then Jesus said to him, “Show or tell no one, but go on your way and show yourself to the Altar priest and make an offering of a gift – which Moses instructed – as your testimony."
8:5 When Jesus had entered into Capernaum, a centurion approached and made a request of him –
8:6 saying, “Master, my servant lies at home, ill with the palsy, with great suffering.”
8:7 Thus Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
8:8 The centurion replied, “Master, I am not worthy of your coming under my roof. But just speak the words and my servant will be healed.
8:9 For I am a man of authority, having soldiers under me. I can tell someone to ‘go’ – and he goes. Or to another, ‘come’ – and he comes. And to my servant, ‘do this’ – and he does it.”
8:10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed, and said to his followers, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith in all of Israel.
8:11 And I tell you, many will arrive from east and west to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the sanctuary of the spiritual realm.
8:12 But the servants of the material world will be cast out into the darkness – and there will be weeping and suffering.
8:13 Thus Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Just as you have trusted, so it will be done for you.” His servant was healed at that very moment.
8:14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s home, he saw his wife’s mother lying ill in bed with a fever.
8:15 He touched her hand and the fever left – and she got up and served him.
8:16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were possessed with demons – and he cast out the spirits with his words and healed everyone who was sick.
8:17 This accomplished the teachings of Isaiah the Prophet who said, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”1
8:18 Thus when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave instructions to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe arrived and said to him, “Master, I will follow you where ever you go.”
8:20 Jesus replied, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Servant of Humanity has no place to lay his head.”
8:21 Another follower of Jesus said to him, “Master, let me first go and bury my father.”
8:22 “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead,” replied Jesus.
8:23 Then he got into a boat and his disciples accompanied him.
8:24 And soon there rose a great storm on the sea, and the boat was besieged by waves. Yet Jesus was asleep.
8:25 Then his disciples awoke him, saying, “Master, save us, for we will perish.”
8:26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith.” Then he got up and admonished the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
8:27 Thus the men were amazed, saying “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and seas obey him!”
8:28 As he came to the other side of the region of Gadarenes, two people possessed with demons met him as they were leaving the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
8:29 Suddenly they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, servant of God? Do you come here to torment us before out time has come?
8:30 Now a good ways off from them was a herd of pigs that were feeding.
8:31 Thus the demons beseeched him, saying, “If you are going to cast us out, let us go into that herd of pigs.”
8:32 So he said to them, “Go!” And they left and went into the pigs – and the whole herd rushed down a steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.
8:33 Those who tended the pigs ran off and went to the city and reported everything that happened to the demon-possessed men.
8:34 Then the whole village came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they requested that Jesus leave their region.
Footnote:
1. Verse 8:17. From Isaiah:
8:2 Then there appeared a leper who bowed down before him, saying, “Master, if it pleases you, you can purify me.”
8:3 Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am pleased – be purified.” Then immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
8:4 Then Jesus said to him, “Show or tell no one, but go on your way and show yourself to the Altar priest and make an offering of a gift – which Moses instructed – as your testimony."
8:5 When Jesus had entered into Capernaum, a centurion approached and made a request of him –
8:6 saying, “Master, my servant lies at home, ill with the palsy, with great suffering.”
8:7 Thus Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”
8:8 The centurion replied, “Master, I am not worthy of your coming under my roof. But just speak the words and my servant will be healed.
8:9 For I am a man of authority, having soldiers under me. I can tell someone to ‘go’ – and he goes. Or to another, ‘come’ – and he comes. And to my servant, ‘do this’ – and he does it.”
8:10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed, and said to his followers, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith in all of Israel.
8:11 And I tell you, many will arrive from east and west to sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the sanctuary of the spiritual realm.
8:12 But the servants of the material world will be cast out into the darkness – and there will be weeping and suffering.
8:13 Thus Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way. Just as you have trusted, so it will be done for you.” His servant was healed at that very moment.
8:14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s home, he saw his wife’s mother lying ill in bed with a fever.
8:15 He touched her hand and the fever left – and she got up and served him.
8:16 When evening came, they brought to him many who were possessed with demons – and he cast out the spirits with his words and healed everyone who was sick.
8:17 This accomplished the teachings of Isaiah the Prophet who said, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”1
8:18 Thus when Jesus saw great crowds around him, he gave instructions to depart to the other side.
8:19 Then a certain scribe arrived and said to him, “Master, I will follow you where ever you go.”
8:20 Jesus replied, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Servant of Humanity has no place to lay his head.”
8:21 Another follower of Jesus said to him, “Master, let me first go and bury my father.”
8:22 “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead,” replied Jesus.
8:23 Then he got into a boat and his disciples accompanied him.
8:24 And soon there rose a great storm on the sea, and the boat was besieged by waves. Yet Jesus was asleep.
8:25 Then his disciples awoke him, saying, “Master, save us, for we will perish.”
8:26 He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith.” Then he got up and admonished the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
8:27 Thus the men were amazed, saying “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and seas obey him!”
8:28 As he came to the other side of the region of Gadarenes, two people possessed with demons met him as they were leaving the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
8:29 Suddenly they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, servant of God? Do you come here to torment us before out time has come?
8:30 Now a good ways off from them was a herd of pigs that were feeding.
8:31 Thus the demons beseeched him, saying, “If you are going to cast us out, let us go into that herd of pigs.”
8:32 So he said to them, “Go!” And they left and went into the pigs – and the whole herd rushed down a steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.
8:33 Those who tended the pigs ran off and went to the city and reported everything that happened to the demon-possessed men.
8:34 Then the whole village came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they requested that Jesus leave their region.
Footnote:
1. Verse 8:17. From Isaiah:
Awake, awake, Zion, clothe yourself with strength! Put on your garments of splendor, Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.
Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, Daughter Zion, now a captive.
For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed."
For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them.
"And now what do I have here?" declares the LORD. "For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,"
declares the LORD.
"And all day long My Name is constantly blasphemed.
Therefore My people will know My Name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I."
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The LORD will lay bare His Holy Arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the articles of the LORD's house.
But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
Just as there were many who were appalled at him — his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being and his form marred beyond human likeness—
so he will sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For what they were not told, they will see, and what they have not heard, they will understand.
Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 52:11-54 NIV)
