1 WHEN he [ Jesus. ] was come down from the mountain, [ The mount where just finished the sermon on the mount. ] great multitudes followed him. [ So there are a lot of people around, it is on main street so to say. And yet here we have the leper, The leper would have been afraid of all of the people because he has been cut off from the, so it took great courage for the leper to come into the crowd. ]

2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, [ I know you can do this, so if it is your will I plead will you do it. ] thou canst make me clean. [ Heal me. See Lev 14 as a reference to spiritual healing and the law. Remember that iin those days that a condition like this was considered due to his sin. And in Luke it says he was full of leprosy so he would have been a person that people stayed a long ways away from. ]

3 And Jesus put forth his hand, [ Jesus touches the untouchable, he reaches out to him. ] and touched him, saying, I will; [ The answer to the question from the leper in the previous verse - he asked if thou wilt. The answer is I will. Then Jesus’s commands the elements here to return an ordered state. Then what happened? It says, quote, and immediately his leprosy was cleansed. The elements immediately honored his command and returned to their ordered state. See, Jesus, the beloved son of the high god, has the power and authority to reverse the cosmic degeneration caused by satan. ] be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, [ This is required by the law. ] and offer the gift that Moses commanded, [ Found in Lev 14. ] for a testimony unto them. [ When the law is applied by the priest he will see that the leper has been healed and this will stand as a testimony that Jesus is the Christ capable of healing power. ]

5 ¶ And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, [ This has in a way become the base of opperations for Jesus in a way. ] there came unto him a centurion, [ Called such as he had command of a hundred soliders in the roman army. This is someone that the Jews would have most likely feared and hated as well. ] beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant [ Luke adds that this is a servant that the centurion cares deeply about, and is ready to die, time is of the essence. ] lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. [ Had the centurion asked him to heal his servant? no he simply said he is very sick and I care greatly about him. ]

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, [ I have enough trust in your power that if you will just say it, it will be so. In a way the centurion feel like a leper in asking for his servant to be healed. ] and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, [ A man with authority. So here he is explaining why he asked the elders of the Jews to ask the Savior to help the centurions servant. It is because he did not want it to sound like a command that Jesus was forced by law to complete. By profession I give commands all day and what I command they do. I don't want you to think that is what I am doing here Lord. I know who the master is here. ] having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. [ He uses the centurion to point our to the Jews that here is what you would call an outsider, and yet he is the one who is setting the example for everyone there. ]

11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, [ Foreigners including Gentiles ] and shall sit down [ Shall be saved. ] with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, [ Those who are choosen; blessed with special blessing through covenants with God. ] in the kingdom of heaven. [ Celestial kingdom. ]

12 But the children of the kingdom [ The Jews considered themselves to be God's only choosen people and all others were inferior to them because of this special status that they held with God. ] shall be cast out into outer darkness: [ More likely spirit prison and not as sons of perdition see Alma 40:11-13. ] there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. [ In direct proportion to your belief it will be done. ] And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. [ This is testimony of the amount of faith that the centurion had, as the servant was healed right away. ]

14 ¶ And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. [ At this time Peter's mother-in-law was very sick. ]

15 And he [ Jesus. ] touched her hand, [ He was not asked to do this, but he reaches out and lifts her up. ] and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. [ She took care of them - So she went from very ill to getting up and working to care for them in such a short time. Only done by a miracle. Usually when someone is sick and they get better it takes time for them to regain their strength - not here. ]

16 ¶ When the even [ Evening. ] was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: [ The physical healing is symbolic of the spiritual healing that is available through the atonement as well. ]

17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias [ Isaiah. Matthew uses every chance that he can to quote scripture as proof that Jesus is the Messiah.] the prophet, saying, Himself [ Christ. ] took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. [ So the atonement applies to more than just sin but will work toward our imperfections and weakinesses. see Isaiah 53:5; Alma 7:12. ]

18 ¶ Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. [ Or the other side of the Sea of Galilee. ]

19 And a certain scribe [ A leader from among the Jews. Wait aren't the scribes the ones always looking to correct Jesus when he breaks the LAW? Jesus holds some of his strongest rebukes for the scribes because these were the very ones who were manipulating the text to have it read the way that they wanted - they were perverting that ways of God. ] came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. [ What this might mean about Jesus and the mortal side of Jesus. Do you understand the cost of what it means to follow me? This is not just a free ride and following me means that you're going to be an itinerant teacher. Foxes have holes, birds have homes, but I don't have a house to live. I don't have one of those basic comforts. Are you willing to give up that as well, if you're going to follow me, to give all things, to sacrifice all things, to come and follow me or are you a disciple with a but clause? "I will follow you but," and then fill in the blank. I see that as a verse that helps to see a little bit of a window into Jesus. So both the Savior as well as we do need to make personal sacrifices in order to completed the work that we have been given here on earth - discipleship requires committment. ]

21 And another of his disciples [ Followers. ] said unto him, Lord, suffer me[ Permit me or allow me. ] first to go and bury my father. [ We don't know if his father is dead already or if he is just old at this point. ] .

22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. [ We most likely do not have the entire story here; but we do learn that following the Savior does mean that we have to do things that are not what we always want to do, but what is expected of us. Is he teaching us here that God will need to come first if we are to be a true disciple. ]

23 ¶ [ New subject. ] And when he was entered into a ship, [ Remember that Jesus said that they needed to go to the other side. So they take a ship to do so. ] his disciples followed him.

24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, [ The Sea of Galilee is cupped in a rift valley, its surface being some 690 feet (210 m) below sea level. Rocky slopes flank its shores, and to the north, majestic Mount Hermon juts into the sky. In winter, frigid winds may at times whip up choppy waves. In summer, hot air blankets the surface waters. With little notice, violent storms tumble down from the surrounding mountains and release their fury on sailors traversing the sea. Jesus and his disciples were caught in just such a storm. ] insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he [ Jesus ] was asleep. [ We learn the Savior is like everyone else he got tired - as a matter of fact he was so tired that he was sleeping through the strom that caused everyone else to get up. The waves were crashing over the side and Jesus was sleeping through it. Hymn 105 There is a little story behind the story here. The disciples are fisherman, they are on the lake, their home turf, they have this as they have a thousand times before. The waves come and they still let Jesus sleep. They don't bother to ask for his help until things become critical, their backs are against the wall, they are afraid. Are we like that, we don't invite the Savior to help us until things are really bad, on the every day things well, we have it. Do we not invite him to keep Jesus alert in our daily activities, the stuff we have done a hundred times ourself, we just don't ask him we let him sleep. when we think we can do something on our own God usually lets us try, and then we turn around and ask God why he did not help us. ]

25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. [ This is coming from fisherman who grew up on this lake and now they are fearing for their own lives. We have seen storms like this before and many people have died as a result. Mark 4:38 "carest thou not that we perish?" This is more than just doubt it is do you even care about us at all. Like since you are not doing a thing about our situtation it must be because you just don't care. Are we that way? When we are in our greatest perils and it appears as if God is nowhere how do we respond? Our advice might be that there is really nothing to be alarmed about. ]

26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! [ Evidence that the disciples are still learning who Jesus really is; his power. That he is not man but is really the son of God. ]

28 ¶ And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, [ Located on the eastern side of the sea of Galilee Talmage - Jesus the Christ pg 323-324. These Gergesenes, though living on the other side Jordan, were Jews. What had they to do with swine, which by the law were unclean, and not to be eaten nor touched? Probably, lying in the outskirts of the land, there were many Gentiles among them, to whom this herd of swine belonged: or they kept them to be sold, or bartered, to the Romans, with whom they had now great dealings, and who were admirers of swine's flesh. ] there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, [ Symbolic of death both physical and spiritual. ] exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

29 And, behold, they [ The evil spirits. ] cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God? [ Oh yes they remember, and last time they saw him he cast them out. Now if they remember him then what else do they remember about you and I? ] art thou come hither to torment us before the time? [ They know there will be a end to them being able to play as they please, and they know it is not yet so they ask let us alone until that time. The time when Christ returns to rule and reign. ] [ There are many things that can be learned about evil spirits based on this incident apostle Bruce R McConkey summarize these things as follows: 1) that evil spirits are actual beings from lucifers realm gain literal entrance into mortal bodies;
2) that they have such power over those bodies as to control the physical acts performed even to the framing of the very words spoken by the mouth of those so possessed;
3) that persons possessed by evil spirits are subjected to the severest mental and physical sufferings and to the basest sort of degradation - all symbolic of the eternal torment to be imposed upon those who fall under Satan's control in the world to come;
4) that Devils remember Jesus from preexistence recognize him as the one who is foreordained to be the Redeemer and know that he came into mortality as the son of God;
5) the desire to gain bodies is so great among lucifers minions as to cause them not only to steal the mortal tabernacles of men but to enter the bodies of animals;
6) that Devils no their eternal destiny to be cast out into an eternal hell for once there is no return;
7) that rebellious and worldly people are not converted to the truth by observing miracles;
8) that those clams from all evil spirits can then be used on the Lords to testify of his grace and goodness so that receptive persons maybe led to believe in him (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary page 311). ]

30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

31 so the devils besought [ Asked or questioned. ] him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer [ Allow. ] us to go away into the herd of swine.

32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. [ Once again we learn a great lesson about Satan and his followers. Once they get a hold of something they will not stop until they have destroyed it completely. They only care about one thing themselves and their pleasure. ]

33 And they [ The herdsmen. Both Jews and Gentiles populated the region of Galilee, so this may have been a herd of pigs owned by Gentiles, maybe they even could have been owned by Jews. But most commentators believe that since the pigs were unclean for Jews, they should not have been there, even if a Gentile man owned them.] that kept them [ The pigs. ] fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.

34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts. [ Or they asked Jesus to leave. Why? maybe beause of the the bad attention that it got creating economic turmoile In Mark 5:13 we learn that there were some 2,000 pigs had drown. ]