Matthew 8 shows Jesus healing, calming a storm, and confronting demons, while his followers are asked what it really costs to come after him. These questions work for a small group, a Sunday class, or a personal study. Each set is built so a leader can read the question, read the verses aloud, and open the discussion without any separate summary.
Matthew 8 at a Glance
The chapter opens with Jesus coming down from the mountain and healing a leper, then a centurion whose servant is healed from a distance because of his trust in Jesus’ authority. Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law and many others that evening, which Matthew ties to the prophet Isaiah. Then the focus shifts to would-be followers who are asked to count the cost, followed by a storm on the sea that Jesus calms with a word.
The chapter ends with Jesus crossing to the country of the Gergesenes, where he frees two violently possessed men, and the people of the region respond by asking him to leave. Read together, the healings, the demands of discipleship and the sea miracle all ask one question: who is this man, and what does following him require?
Observation Questions
Use this set first, before anyone offers an interpretation. Ask the group to look only at what the text states, and invite them to point to specific words. Keep answers short and let the room notice details before explaining them.
Matthew 8:2-3
2 Behold, a leper came to him and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
(WEB)
Read this passage to show how the leper approaches Jesus with humble confidence and how Jesus responds with both touch and word. It sets the tone for the whole chapter as a picture of Jesus meeting people in their need.
Matthew 8:8-10
8 The centurion answered, “Lord, I’m not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I am also a man under authority, having under myself soldiers. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and tell another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and tell my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel.
(WEB)
The centurion’s words and Jesus’ response reveal the faith that astonishes him. Reading these verses aloud lets the group hear the sentence that drives much of the discussion on trust and authority.
Matthew 8:17
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, “He took our infirmities, and bore our diseases.”
(WEB)
This single verse gives Matthew’s interpretation of the evening healings through Isaiah’s prophecy. It is short enough to read twice and helps the group see how the Old Testament shapes the Gospel account.
Matthew 8:20
Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
(WEB)
Jesus’ words about having nowhere to lay his head are among the most direct statements in the chapter about the cost of following him. Reading it slowly invites the group to weigh that cost against their own commitments.
Matthew 8:26-27
26 He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 The men marveled, saying, “What kind of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
(WEB)
The rebuke of the disciples’ fear and the calming of the storm bring the chapter’s central question into focus. Read these verses last in the session to let the group sit with the question of who Jesus is.
Memory Verse for Matthew 8
Matthew 8:26
He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
(WEB)
This verse is short enough to memorize and speaks directly to fear in the middle of a storm. Encourage the group to repeat it aloud and consider where they might need to hear Jesus’ question about their faith this week.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you as people who often wait for signs before we trust you. Thank you that your word has authority over sickness, fear, and every storm we face. Help us to take you at your word the way the centurion did, and to follow you even when it costs us comfort or plans. Calm the winds in our hearts, and give us the courage to ask you to draw near. Amen.
