Matthew
8:1-17: “Jesus Heals A Leper, A
Centurion’s Slave, Peter’s Mother-in-law, And Many Others”
by
1.
INTRO: In these verses we note that the first three miracles
that Jesus performed were all for people who were considered as second class
citizens or outcasts in the Jew’s estimation: a leper, a Gentile, and a woman
1.1.
We see in
these miracles the compassion and empathy that Jesus had for those who were
suffering to any degree
1.1.1. Jesus loved to heal and He turned none of those away
who were sincere and heart and came to Him for healing
1.1.2. Most people would completely avoid a leper, but Jesus
entreated lepers and even touched a leprous man in this chapter in order to
heal him
1.2.
We see
also the power that Jesus had to cure any disease or to perform any miracle,
and thus these miracles testify to the unbelieving of Him and who He was
1.3.
We see
also the great faith in Christ that men such as the Centurion can have, as well
as faith’s rewards
2.
VS 8:1-3 - “8:1
And when He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2
And behold, a leper came to Him, and bowed down to Him, saying, “Lord, if You
are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 And He stretched out His hand and
touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy
was cleansed” - Jesus heals a leper
2.1.
We note first of
all now that Jesus has finally finished His Sermon On The Mount, for He comes
down from the mountain
2.2.
Leprosy is a very
gross disease to have or even be around, and it brings great suffering to the
individual who has it, and thus
throughout history it has been one of the most dreaded of diseases
2.2.1. In the book, “Unclean, unclean!”, L.S. Huizenga writes of the horrors of
the disease of leprosy recorded in the Bible, “The disease which we today
call leprosy generally begins with pain in certain areas of the body. Numbness follows. Soon the skin in such spots loses its
original color. It gets to be thick, glossy,
and scaly...As the sickness progresses, the thickened spots become dirty sores
and ulcers due to poor blood supply. The
skin, especially around the eyes and ears, begins to bunch, with deep furrows
between the swellings, so that the face of the afflicted individual begins to
resemble that of a lion. Fingers drop
off or are absorbed; toes are affected
similarly. Eyebrows and eyelashes drop
out. By this time one can see the person
in this pitiable condition is a leper.
By a touch of the finger one can also feel it. One can even smell it, for the leper emits a
very unpleasant odor. Moreover, in view
of the fact that the disease-producing agent frequently also attacks the
larynx, the leper’s voice acquires a grating quality. His throat becomes hoarse, and you can now
not only see, feel, and smell the leper, but you can hear his rasping
voice. And if you stay with him for some
time, you can even imagine a peculiar tasted in your mouth, probably due to the
odor”.
2.2.2. Another author, Dr. Paul Brand, has written a modern
book that describes leprosy, and he writes, “Hansen’s disease (HD) is cruel,
but not at all the way other diseases are.
It primarily acts as an anesthetic, numbing the pain cells of hands,
feet, nose, ears, and eyes. Not so bad,
really, one might think. Most diseases
are feared because of their pain- what makes a painless disease so
horrible? Hansens’s disease numbing
quality is precisely the reason such fabled destruction and decay of tissue
occurs. For thousands of years people
thought HD caused the ulcers on hands and feet and face which eventually led to
rotting flesh and loss of limbs. Mainly
through Dr. Brand’s research, it has been established that in 99 percent of the
cases, HD only numbs the extremities.
The destruction follows solely because the warning system of pain is
gone. How does the decay happen? In villages of Africa and
2.2.3. According to the Old Testament Law, if a person was
found to have leprosy his clothes were to be torn, his head was to be
uncovered, his mouth covered, and wherever he went he was to cry,
“Unclean, unclean!”, in order to warn people of his coming. Likewise, the lepers were to live in a colony
apart from all civilization and have nothing to do with any type of community
(Num. 5:2)
2.2.4. It was thought in Jesus’ day that if a person
contracted leprosy that this was from the Lord and was a recompense to him for
something he had done
2.3.
Now, we might be
able to see why it is that in the Bible ‘leprosy’ symbolized “sin” in a
person’s life
2.3.1. Sin causes great suffering and inconvenience, and it
literally causes us to rot away
2.3.2. Sin destroys lives, as it eats them up just as the
ulcers of leprosy eat a person up
2.3.3. Sin also causes separation of our fellowship,
separation from God, and separation of us from other people
2.4.
One truth worth
mentioning here is that each one of Jesus’ miracles paints a unique picture of
how it is that the Lord heals us spiritually
2.4.1. It is only natural then that Jesus might perform his
first miracle by healing a person from leprosy
2.5.
It is interesting
to note here that if a person touched a leper that he would immediately become
ceremonially unclean according to the Old Testament Law, however Jesus
intentionally and of His own will touched this man yet because He was the Son
of God, and because in touching this man He healed his leprosy, He did not
become ceremonially unclean Himself
2.5.1. We need to learn from this to come to Jesus when we
are suffereing from the leprosy of our sins, for He will not reject us but
rather heal us.
2.5.1.1.We must never think we must clean up our life and then
come to Him, for only He can cleanse and renew us
2.6.
Notice the
character of this leper:
2.6.1. Knowing that people always feared lepers and would do
anything to avoid them, this man sought out Jesus and approached Him sensing
that Jesus would not turn Him away
2.6.2. He comes and bows down in worship to Jesus
2.6.3. He did not doubt that Jesus had the power to heal, for
he had faith in Jesus, he just didn’t know if Jesus was willing to heal him
2.7.
Jesus always
healed all of those who came to him in humility and who had faith, and this
demonstrates:
2.7.1. He genuinely cares for those who are suffering in any
way
2.7.2. He desires to bring healing to people of all ages and
strata of life, people of all races, and even those on the lowest plain of
existence
2.8.
All of Jesus’
healings were complete healings, which demonstrates His deity and verifies that
He is who He claimed to be, and here we see that this leper was healed
‘immediately’
2.9.
One final note
about this here, and that is that we Christians ought to be like Christ ourselves
and reach out and touch the lives of those who are downtrodden and of all
strata and segments of society, and we ought also to be touchable by all
3.
VS 8:4 - “4 And
Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the
priest, and present the offering that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.””
- Jesus told the leper not to tell anyone
about what had happened
3.1.
Many have
conjectured as to why it was that Jesus told this leper (as well as others whom
He healed) not to tell anyone about what had happened, but in fact we do not
know why He did this
3.1.1. Jesus might have tried to quel arousing too much
publicity about the great things He was doing
(news of Him spread fast anyway however) because He knew that this would
only put His mission in jeopardy
3.1.1.1.It would have rushed His going to the cross
3.1.2. Jesus does mention here that the priests were to have
‘a testimony to them’ as a result of the offerings that were prescribed by the
Old Testament Law because of healings, and we know that the gospels reveal much
later that many priests had converted to faith in Christ as the Messiah
3.2.
Mark reveals in
his gospel (Mk 1:45) that this man did however go out and publish what had
happened everywhere
3.3.
Jesus lived and
taught others to live under the authority the Old Testament Law, and the Law
prescribed certain sacrifices that one was to offer if he was healed of
leprosy, thus Jesus told the man to present the offering for having been
healed
3.3.1. Jesus knew that the man also needed to express his
thankfulness to the Lord for this healing
4.
VS 8:5-13 - “5 And when He had entered Capernaum, a centurion
came to Him, entreating Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed
at home, suffering great pain.” 7 And He *said to him, “I will come and heal
him.” 8 But the centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to
come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9
“For I, too, am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to
this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my
slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled,
and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found
such great faith with anyone in
4.1.
In these verses,
we see that Jesus was willing to perform healing upon a Gentile man’s slave,
and that this Gentile was a man of deep character and devotion to God
4.2.
This Centurion
was a man of high character and faith:
4.2.1. In Luke 7:4 we read that this Centurion was greatly
esteemed by the Jews for he had built a synagogue for them, and it was in fact
the Jews who came to Jesus first to present this request, and as Jesus was
walking to the Centurion’s house, He was met by him
4.2.2. He was a man of humility, for he felt that he was
unworthy for the Lord to even come under his roof, and therefore he requests
that Jesus just say the word in order to heal his servant
4.2.3. He was a man of compassion, for though some sought
healing for a son or a daughter, there is no one else in all of the gospel
accounts who sought out Jesus in order to have a servant of his be healed
4.2.4. He was a man who understood authority, for he had much
authority, therefore he knew that if Jesus just said the word that because of
the great authority that Jesus had that the man would be healed
4.2.5. He had faith to believe that Jesus did not need to be
brought near to where his slave was in order to perform the healing, he
believed that Jesus could just say a word and it would be accomplished
4.2.6. Jesus commends the man’s faith saying that He had not
seen such great faith in all of
4.3.
Jesus ‘marveled’
at the Centurion’s faith, but not because He was suprized at it, since He knew
all men and what was inside of men, as the gospels record, but rather He
commended it and ‘marveled’ or ‘admired’ it
4.4.
Jesus used this
situation of performing this healing for a man who was a Gentile to teach the
truth that there would be many Gentiles who would be in His kingdom, however
many of the Jew’s who were called to be God’s people would be rejected because
of their sin and unbelief
4.5.
Jesus describes
for us here what hell (the ‘
4.5.1. Those who are cast out of God’s kingdom will enter
hell, and hell as described by Jesus is going to be a place of ‘outer darkness’
4.5.2. There will be ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’
4.6.
Jesus commends
the Centurion’s faith by telling him that this healing of his servant would be
‘according to your faith’
4.7.
Matthew records
that the servant was healed ‘that very hour’
5.
VS 8:14-15 - “14 And when Jesus had come to Peter’s home, He
saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 And He touched her
hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and waited on Him.” -
Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law
5.1.
Jesus had been in
the habit of staying at this home during his travels, and when He comes to
Peter’s house he finds out that Peter’s mother-in-law is sick and probably
close to the point of death with a fever
5.2.
Jesus touch heals
Peter’s mother-in-law so thoroughly that she is able to get up immediately at
that point and actually wait upon them like a good hostess
6.
VS 8:16-17 - “16 And when evening had come, they brought to Him
many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and
healed all who were ill 17 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the
prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “He Himself took our infirmities, and
carried away our diseases.”” - Jesus
heals many who were brought to Him
6.1.
Since Jesus had
performed these two wonderful miracles in
6.2.
Matthew brings to
our attention that the Lord’s healing ministry was a fulfillment of what Isaiah
wrote about him in the 53rd chapter of his book, vs 4
6.2.1. Jesus’ atonement provides for the healing of all of
our sins, as well as all of our diseases, however as we follow the many
accounts of disease and healing in the New Testament, God does not choose to
heal all of the dieseases even of good men
6.2.1.1.Though the Lord performed many healing acts through
the apostle Paul, he himself prayed three times to be healed of the thorn in
his side (which he called a messenger of satan), which probably involved his
eyesight, yet the Lord chose not to heal him
6.2.1.2.Paul wrote that he had left Trophimus at
6.2.1.3.Paul wrote to Timothy to use a little wine for his
stomach, indicating that the Lord had chosen not to heal him of this affliction
which he had (1 Tim. 5:23)
6.2.1.4.When the Lord returns, He will forever heal us of all
of our diseases
6.2.2. In 1 Peter 2:24, Peter quotes from these same verses
in Isaiah 53, however in that place the reference is directly to the healing
from our sins which the Lord performs in our lives