Audio - Jesus Heals the Faithful

Play Audio
MP3 Download (21.6mb)

The Third Sunday in Epiphany
January 25, 2009
Jesus Heals the Faithful

TEXT:  (Matthew 8:1-13 NKJ) When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6  saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,`Go,' and he goes; and to another,`Come,' and he comes; and to my servant,`Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.
This section of Matthew’s Gospel describes the miraculous events that took place immediately following Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount—parallel accounts are recorded in Mark and Luke’s Gospels
 
(Mark 1:40-45 NKJ) Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." 42  As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.
 
(Luke 5:12-16 NKJ) And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded." 15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
 
So we learn from these accounts—the healing of the leper took place in some city on the way to Capernaum
 
The first thing we learn is that the leper had faith—he knew Jesus had the power to heal him—we are not told what the source of that faith was—but there is no mistaking the fact that there was faith—we also know the man was a leper—and in Biblical times the disease was considered incurable except by a miracle
 
TEXT:  (Matthew 8:3 NKJ) Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
 
Mark adds in his Gospel that Jesus was full of compassion
 
(Mark 1:41 NKJ) Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."
 
And the Word of God—the Son of God—Jesus—healed with the words “be cleansed”!
 
There are some that teach that the man had to have faith before Jesus could heal him—that’s absurd—do you really believe Jesus needed the help of the man to heal him?—there are so-called faith healers today that claim that if you have enough faith you can be healed—ridiculous!—healing is in the hands of God—not in the hands of manthink of the Scriptural examples of healings—and even people being resurrected—and they were not even aware that Jesus had been summoned to help them—if they didn’t even know Jesus was asked to help—how could they have the opportunity to believe or not believe?
 
Did the Centurion’s servant believe?  Did Jairus’ daughter believe?  Did the widow’s son at Nain believe?—none of these people even knew Jesus was being asked to heal them—Jesus willed to heal this leper—it was Jesus’ will to heal—and Jesus’ power that healed the man—and it was the example of Jesus’ healing that strengthened the faith of those involved
 
The faith of the leper was strong before the healing—and it became stronger after the healing—after witnessing the power of the Word—how could a man’s faith not be strengthened?—those of the multitudes also experienced strengthened faith because they witnessed this healing of the leper
 
Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  The leper’s skin was restored—immediately this man was restored to good health—healed by the Word of God—Jesus the Christ—the Word—then Jesus instructs the man not to tell anyone—but go immediately to sho himself to the priest—so the priest could declare the man clean in accordance with the Law
 
This healing took place before a multitude of people—there is no way that it will be kept a secret—why does Jesus give such an instruction?—we again need to understand the weakness of translating the Scriptures into English—the Word Jesus uses to send the man away is a “direct charge”—Jesus instructs the man to go directly to the priest to be declared clean of the disease—do not stop and talk—go directly
 
Jesus sends the man to show himself to the priest—perhaps Jesus does not want the priest to know about the miraculous healing until after he sees the result—Jesus command to “show yourself to the priest” takes us back to the Old Testament and the ceremonial laws—since Jesus is living according to the Law—perfectly—to defeat the Law on our behalf—He sends the man to the priest to be declared clean according to the Law
(Leviticus 14:2-3 NKJ) "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3 "And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; and indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper,
 
NKJ Leviticus 14:2 "This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest. 3 "And the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him; …
 
If the priest determines that the leper is healed—he will give instructions to be followed to restore the healed leper to the people—a second phase of cleansing would restore the leper to the point that he could again participate in the things of the Temple
 
Our text contains a second healing performed by Jesus
 
TEXT:  (Matthew 8:5-6 NKJ) Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6  saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."
 
Jesus is now entering the town where He moved His mother and His brothers and sisters moved at the beginning of His ministry—Capernaum—during this time of peace—the Romans did not have soldiers in Capernaum—so we know that this centurion made a special trip to ask Jesus to heal his servant—apparently this was the Centurions slave-type servant—and he could not be transported to Jesus because he was in much pain—terribly tormented by pain—in Luke’s record of this healing—he adds that the servant was close to death—and the Centurion is requesting that the boy be saved by Jesus
 
(Luke 7:1-7 NKJ) Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum. 2 And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was sick and ready to die. 3 So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, pleading with Him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was deserving, 5 "for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue." 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7 "Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.
 
 
The Jewish elders were begging on behalf of the Centurion—telling Jesus of the great things the Centurion did for the Jews in Capernaum—including the building of a place for them to worship—so Jesus responds by accompanying the party sent by the Centurion to heal the servant
 
Now here it is important to note that the Jewish Laws prohibited a Jew from entering the home of a Gentile—that home would be considered unclean—the Centurion, understanding the Jewish Law—knowing that it would not be acceptable for a Jew to enter the house of a Gentile—tries to stop Jesus—and tells Jesus to just say the word and his servant would be healed—what faith!
 
The Centurion knew that if a leader of soldiers has the authority to accomplish great things by merely telling others—and by those words the deed is done—how much more should the Son of God speak the word and this healing will be done—this Centurion knows the Jews—loves the Jews—built the Jews a synagogue—and perhaps is even a convert to Judaism—and Jesus recognized the great faith of the man
 
TEXT:  When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! (Matthew 8:10 NKJ)
 
The Centurion’s faith was rooted in his humility—even though he was a high ranking military officer—and a generous benefactor to the Jews—he considered himself unworthy to approach Jesus on behalf of the sick servant
 
The faith of this Centurion should also serve us well as an example to follow—and now let us consider the closing message of this lesson
 
TEXT:  (Matthew 8:11-12 NKJ) "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 "But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
 
Here the kingdom of heaven is described as a great oriental feast—with honored guests such as Abraham—Isaac—and Jacob—but Jesus is telling the Jews that they will not be allowed to participate in the feast—they will be cast out into the darkness—the three patriarchs are mentioned because to each of them God made His promise of salvation—with them God made His covenant
 
In the Gospel of John we learn that the Jews were not doing the works associated with sons of Abraham—and therefore would not inherit the promise of salvation—all due to unbelief—and a lack of faith
 
(John 8:37-41 NKJ) "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 "You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father-- God."
 
As verse 12 of our text tells us that the Jews would be cast out into darkness—the Gentiles are not mentioned—because Gentiles such as this Centurion never presumed to have any right to enter the banquet—the weeping of the Jews will be eternal—unless they come to faith and believe—and that is why we can never stop preaching, teaching, and witnessing
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!