1. The man with leprosy makes a remarkable statement in 8:2, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” In a sentence or two, discuss this.
2. Jesus did and said many things that amazed his followers and the crowd. But, in 8:10, it is Jesus who is amazed. Why?
3. What Old Testament verse is referred to in Matt. 8:17? How does this fulfillment help us to understand who Jesus is and the nature of his ministry on earth?
4. In Matt. 8:20, Jesus, referring to himself with the messianic title "Son of Man," says that he has no place to lay his head. What does this mean?
5. After quieting the winds and the waves, the disciples are amazed and say: "What kind of man is this?" In what way must we all ask this question?
6. This chapter contains extraordinary stories: miraculous healing, controlling wind and waves, setting demon-possessed people free. Why then, in the final verse (8:34), do people want Jesus to go away?
One theme that emerges from this chapter, which anticipates other sections in Matthew's gospel account, is the tension between insiders and outsiders. Often it is the "religious" people who misunderstand Jesus and/or reject his ministry; while those who might otherwise be considered far from God, seem to have more understanding and receive grace.
In the case of this chapter, a sick man who was ceremonially unclean and a non-Jewish soldier. It is noteworthy that the disciples actually seem to exhibit fear instead of faith when, we assume, they had observed Jesus more closely than anyone else.
Does this challenge you, that often in the gospels it is the outsiders, the nobodies, the forgotten and the otherwise dismissed people who seem close to Jesus and who most often "get it"? Does this still happen today?