The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Authority” it comes from the Greek Word “exousia” which means “authority, power.”
A Roman officer says something about Jesus that leaves even Jesus amazed. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Matthew 8.
Coming down from the mountain, Jesus heals a leper with a simple touch and a word, then enters Capernaum, where a Roman centurion asks him to heal his paralyzed servant. When Jesus offers to come to his house, the centurion insists it is not necessary, comparing his own military chain of command to Jesus’ spiritual authority. “I am a man under authority… and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth.” The Greek word for authority here is “exousia.” Jesus marvels at this, declaring, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,” and heals the servant from a distance.
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever, and that evening heals many who are sick or possessed with devils, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy that “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” As crowds press in, Jesus responds to would-be followers with hard honesty about the cost of discipleship, noting that even foxes and birds have homes, but “the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”
Crossing the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, a violent storm arises while Jesus is asleep in the boat. Terrified, the disciples wake him, and He rebukes the wind and the sea, bringing “a great calm.” He then travels to the country of the Gadarenes, where he casts demons out of two men into a herd of pigs, which rush violently into the sea.
Every miracle in this chapter shows the same underlying truth, Jesus has authority over sickness, over nature itself, and over the spiritual realm. The centurion understood something many others missed, that Jesus does not need to be physically present to exercise complete authority over any situation.
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