Matthew 8 - Introduction

CHAPTER 8.

THE HEALING MINISTRY OF JESUS.

These two Chapter s consist mainly of miracle narratives, the greater number being reports of healing acts performed by Jesus, nine in all, being the second part of the programme sketched in chap. Matthew 4:23-25. These wonderful works are not to be regarded, after the manner of the older apologists, as evidential signs appended to the teaching on the hill to invest it with authority. That teaching needed no external credentials; it spoke for itself then as now. These histories are an integral part of the self-revelation of Jesus by word and deed; they are demonstrations not merely of His power, but above all, of His spirit. Therein lies their chief permanent interest, which is entirely independent of all disputes as to the strictly miraculous character of the events. This collection is not arranged in chronological order. The connection is topical, not temporal.