Matthew
8:1-17
If
you interviewed people to see what they thought of Jesus I’m sure you would get
a wide variety of responses. Some would
say that he was just a man, nothing more.
Some would say that he was a myth or legend. Some would say that he was a great religious
teacher and that we would all be doing good by applying the golden rule of
loving our neighbor. Others would say
that he was a prophet speaking on God’s behalf, but he wasn’t God. Some people would tell you that he was
homophobic or sexist. There are people
that think of him as harsh and judgmental.
And there are some who would say that he only loves people and doesn’t
judge anyone. And still others would
just say that they have no idea about him. I’ve heard people tell me all of
those things, and then some.
What
do you believe about him? Do you shy
away from him because you think he’s ashamed of you? Do you not bother asking him anything because
you think he doesn’t care? Do you feel
like he’s distant because he hasn’t shown up recently?
When he came down from the
mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him
and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the
man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his
leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show
yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to
them.” – Matthew 8:1-4
Before
I became a Christian I saw Jesus as distant.
I didn’t think that he wanted to be involved in my life. I knew at a real young age that there was a
creator but I didn’t think of this creator as personal. But something interesting happened to me when
I was in college. I finally understood
God’s forgiveness for my own life. As I
read the Bible I realized that Jesus was personal and he wanted to be involved
with my life.
In
this story about the leper we see a picture of Jesus that shows how personal he
is. You weren’t supposed to touch
lepers. It was a very contagious and
aweful disease. He had a chronic
illness. I imagine that he wasn’t
welcome at a synagogue, that is, if he wanted to go to a synagogue. I can only guess that he probably felt
isolated. If I was him, I probably would
be wondering if I would be alone for the rest of my life. After all, who would make a sacrifice of
their time and health to come visit someone like me.
Amanda
Maguire has mentioned going to visit a lady in Brookdale. The people that live there can’t get out on
their own. Even though they live in the
same building with other people I can assume that some of them feel alone. There’s a risk going into places like this. The flu and stomach viruses can run wild like
fire through a prairie and a dry, windy day.
There’s also a sacrifice of time.
There’s
been numerous times that some of the girls in the church have come to help us
clean our home. They’ve also come to
bring some brightness during some of the trying times that Miriam has gone
through. To you I say, “Don’t let anyone
look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in
speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)
As
we’ve gone through some tough times I feel like I’ve developed more compassion
for people who are, in some ways, not in the mainstream of life. I’m talking about the people who aren’t able
to come to the church meetings, or people who need someone to consistently be a
friend to them on their turf, or someone who just needs some physical help.
Here
Jesus comes into this lepers’ life and touches him. We don’t even know this guy’s name. He’s just known as “a leper”. People who have disabilities or chronic
illnesses, if not careful, can be swallowed up by their condition. They are known as “so-and-so who has heart
trouble” or “so-and-so who has depression.”
I’m sure this guy had more going on in his life than leprosy, don’t you
think? A pure God came and touched a
diseased sinner. Jesus came to the
leper’s own turf. He didn’t have a
meeting and wait for him to come to it.
Jesus pursued people. Jesus paid
attention to this guy. The great King
came to earth and listened to the plea of a begger. And not only that, he granted his
request. That’s the kind of king Jesus
is.
When Jesus had entered
Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my
servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”
Jesus said to him, “I will go
and heal him.”
The centurion replied, “Lord,
I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my
servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers
under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he
comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and
said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in
Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east
and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the
centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant
was healed at that very hour. – Matthew 8:5-13
More
than likely, this Centurion was a Gentile, not a descendent of Abraham, Isaac
or Jacob. Jesus’ response was a rebuke
to the descendants of these men. He said
that the kingdom wasn’t just for the people of Israel. All the nations could be a part of his
kingdom. That’s the kind of king that
Jesus is.
He
knew that Jesus’ words had authority over sickness. His words had power. Jesus had been performing miracles right in
front of the people of Israel. And, yet, many of them didn’t take Jesus at his word
like this Centurion did. Jesus met the
centurion in Capernaum. We read in
Matthew 11 that Jesus rebuked the people in Capernaum because of their unbelief
even though they had seen his miracles, “20 Then Jesus began to denounce the
cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not
repent... And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies?
No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you
had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you
that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for
you." (Matthew 11:20, 23-24)
As
it says in Romans 3, God gave us the Scriptures through the people of
Israel. There was an advantage to being
a Jew. But as Paul explained in the book
of Romans, their heritage didn’t save them.
They needed to unite the words of God with faith (or trust). In today’s time there are people who are, in
some ways, in a similar situation to the Jews in Jesus day. They have grown up in church and have heard
the Bible preached. To these people I
say something silly like, “Growing up in church doesn’t make you a Christian
just like walking into a McDonald’s doesn’t make you a hamburger.” I’ve known students who sang in the gospel
choir, a student-run organization at Clemson.
Several of them told me that they were trying to become a better person
so that they could have God’s forgiveness.
They didn’t understand that they could only be saved by grace through
faith in Christ. Many people have heard
the teachings of Christ but have never responded in faith.
When Jesus came into Peter’s
house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left
her, and she got up and began to wait on him. – Matthew 8:14-15
In
Jesus’ day, many Jewish men wouldn’t have talked to a woman in public who
wasn’t his wife. Matter-of-fact, my understanding is that many rabbis, in order
to hold to their man-made tradition to nth degree, wouldn’ even talk to their
own wives in public. In this story we
see Jesus touching a woman to heal her.
Jesus, for good reason, broke through some of the normal social barriers
of his time. That’s that kind of king
that Jesus is.
When evening came, many who
were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a
word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the
prophet Isaiah:
"He took up our
infirmities
and carried our
diseases." – Matthew 8:16-17
Why
did Jesus perform miracles? He was showing
compassion and demonstrating the character of God. Also, you see that God the Father was
validating Jesus as being the Son of God
as explained Acts 2:22 when Peter was preaching, “‘Men of Israel, listen
to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles,
wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves
know.’” Jesus explained that he had
qualities that only God possessed when he said, “For just as the Father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased
to give it.” (John 5:21). The people of
Israel knew that only God was able to give life. Jesus said that he was the giver of life. He was communicating that he was God and he
was demonstrating this by performing miracles, like raising people from the
dead. Later on, in John 14:11 Jesus
stated this same idea, “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles
themselves.” At the end of the Gospel of
John (John 20:30-31) he says, “30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the
presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But
these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” He’s not saying that Jesus is a creation of
God when he says “Son of God”. He’s
saying that Jesus is God. Afterall, who
can give life other than God? John said
that if you believe Jesus, take him at his word, then you can have “life in his
name.”
In
the story of the leper we read about Jesus touching someone who was considered
untouchable. In the story about the
Roman Centurion, we read about Jesus reaching someone that others wouldn’t dare
reach. In the story about Peter’s
mother-in-law being healed, we read about Jesus breaking through some of the
social norms of the day. That’s the kind
of king that Jesus is. Since Jesus is an
all-powerful king that touches the neglected, reaches the rejected and speaks
to the ignored, then my question for you is, “Will you trust him?”
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