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Through these miraculous healing, Jesus physically demonstrates that he came to rescue us from our ultimate suffering which is rooted in our sin and our guilt. 

Review

Matthew 8-9 give a series of miracles Jesus performed that all point to his authority from God. The miracles call on us to respond. We see faith before the miracle in the person seeking Jesus. We are called to respond in faith after the miraclen because the evidence is mounting that Jesus is the Messiah

Passage

¹⁴And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.  ¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.  – Matthew 8:14-15

• Jesus was leaving the synagogue when they approached him about Peter’s mother-in-law.  She had a high fever which he rebuked.  Then she got up and was well enough to serve him (Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39).
• We aren’t told much about this woman or her faith.
• The fact that she extended hospitality to Jesus shows how fully she recovered.
• Hospitality in that culture was very important. She would have wanted to serve guests in her home both as a duty and an honor.
• The personal connection to Peter reminds us that these miracles are individual acts of compassion, not just supernatural events.

¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.  ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”  – Matthew 8:16-17

• The word fulfill (πληρωθη; Strongs G4137) can mean 1) something predicted has come to pass; or 2) “X is the fullest picture of Y,” the fullness, epitome or completeness of an Old Testament theme.
• Quite often Matthew means this second usage. Fuller discussion in chapter 1.
• Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4 which is a prediction of Jesus, the Messiah.
• In both biblical Hebrew (Isaiah) and biblical Greek (Matthew), the words in these passages can refer to physical problems (e.g. illness, disease) or spiritual/emotional problems (e.g. griefs, sorrows). The translators translate them as physical illness in Matthew, but as spiritual illness in Isaiah.
• The context in Matthew tells us Jesus is healing many who were oppressed by demons, casting out the spirits and healing all who were sick, suggesting this is broader than physical disease.

¹Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 
²For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 
³He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
⁴Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 
⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 
⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  – Isaiah 53:1-6

• Isaiah was a prophet to the Southern Kingdom (Judah) His ministry spans 50-60 years from approximately 740 – 680 BC during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah (kings of Judah).
• The last section of Isaiah (40-66) is set against the Babylonian captivity and is addressed to a group of people who lived about 120 to 140 years after Isaiah ministered.
• In this section Isaiah predicts a Servant who will suffer for his people. That Servant is the Messiah who is Jesus.
• Isaiah 53 tells us that the Servant is an unimpressive man who is acquainted with sorrows and griefs.  But in fact it is our sorrow and our grief that he has taken upon himself.  He is going to offer his life as a guilt offering so that we can be forgiven, healed, and find well-being and peace.
• Matthew witness both the cross and the resurrection. He heard Jesus explain their significance (e.g. Matthew 26:27-28). Matthew knows what Jesus came to do and that Isaiah predicted it. Matthew could have quoted this passage as direct predictive prophecy when he describes the crucifixion.
• Instead he chooses to quote Isaiah in this context, using the term “fulfilled” in the thematic, analogous reality sense.
• By quoting Isaiah Matthew highlights the symbolic message these miracles carry.
• God chose supernatural acts of deliverance to testify to the authority of His Messiah, because deliverance is what Jesus came to do. As the Messiah, his life’s mission is to deliver his people from their ultimate grief, sorrow and sufferings by dying in their place. These miracles symbolically reflect that deliverance.
• Isaiah 53 predicted the Messiah would die as a guilt-offering for his people and so that they could be mercifully rescued from their sorrows and suffering.  Through these miraculous healing, Jesus gives a physical demonstration that he came to rescue us from our ultimate sufferings which are rooted in our sin and our guilt. 

Summary

When Jesus heals several things happen at once:

1. An individual exercises faith in Jesus by seeking him for healing before the miracle.
2. The miracle testifies that God has given Jesus His authority.
3. The miracle confronts watchers and listeners with the need to respond in faith.
4. The miracle is a specific act of mercy and compassion for an individual.
5. The miracle symbolically reminds us why Jesus, the Messiah, came.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 44 Matthew 8:18-22 Foxes & Funerals

Previous: 42 Matthew 7:28-8:13 Authority of Jesus

Series: Gospel of Matthew 8-13 Behold the King, Part 2

Study: Matthew Resources

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In the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew quoted Jesus as claiming to have authority from God. Now Matthew turns our attention to how Jesus acts with God’s authority, by performing miracles only God can perform. These miracles confront us with a choice to believe Jesus is who he says he is.

Review

Matthew’s Gospel Simple Outline

• Chapters 1-4 – Prologue
• Chapters 5:1-16:12 – Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, including 3 discourses.
• Chapters 16:13-17 – Turning Point; Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem
• Chapters 18-28 – Journey to Jerusalem, culminating in the passion week, including 2 discourses.

In chapter 4, Matthew describes how Jesus began his ministry in Galilee.  Jesus preached to large crowds, healing many people and teaching: “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.” 

In chapters 5-7, Matthew gives us an example sermon Jesus’ early ministry.  Now Matthew turns our attention to a series of miracles.

Authority

• The authority of Jesus is a key theme in the next section of the gospel.
• If several police officers knock on my door with a search warrant, I have no choice but to accept their authority.
• When Jesus returns, he will exercise that kind of authority. He will descend from heaven with the glory of God and all of us will have no choice but to submit.
• At his first coming, Jesus exercised a different kind of authority. He gave people a choice whether to accept and reject him.
• Like his teaching, the miracles confront us with the question: Is Jesus exercising God-given authority or not?
• Before the miracle, we see someone who has confronted that question, decided to trust Jesus and come to him seeking help.
• After the miracle, we see others confronted with the question of whether or not to believe Jesus is acting for God.

²⁸And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,  ²⁹for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes – Matthew 7:28-29

• Many argue that Jesus teaches with authority because he quotes no other rabbis or sources.
• Jesus based his teaching on a clear and profound understanding of the Old Testament and good interpretative methodology.
• But Jesus claimed a more profound kind of authority for himself.
• Jesus compared himself to the prophets who had a message from God (Matthew 5:10-12).
• Jesus describes himself as on a mission from God to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17).
• “For I tell you” carries the weight of one sent from God, similar to “Thus says the Lord. (Matthew 5:20).
• Jesus claims God has given him the authority to decide our fate on judgment day (Matthew 7:21-23).
• Jesus claims rejecting his words will have devastating consequences (Matthew 7:24-27).
• No scribe or Pharisee made these kind of claims.
• Jesus makes a clear claim to having the authority of God.
• In these miracles we see him do things only God can do.

Passage

¹When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.  ²And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”  ³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  ⁴And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”  – Matthew 8:1-8:4

• It’s unclear exactly what disease this man had. What is called leprosy in the Bible is probably a collection of various kinds of infectious skin diseases.
• The leper has wrestled with the question of the authority of Jesus and come to Jesus in faith. He acknowledges Jesus has the power to heal him, but is not required to do so.
• Jesus touches the leper even though the leper is physically and ritually unclean.
• When you share your water glass with someone sick, he does not become well; you become sick. That’s how the world works. Yet the leper is healed.
• In some cases, Jesus requests those he’s healed not to tell anyone in order to prevent gathering a mob. Here he requests the Leper to fulfill the law (Leviticus 14:1-11).

⁵When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶“Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”  ⁷And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”  ⁸But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  ⁹For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  ¹⁰When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.  ¹¹I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,  ¹²while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  ¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.  – Matthew 8:5-8:13

• During this part of his ministry, Capernaum functioned as a kind of home-base for Jesus (Mark 2:1; Luke 4:16).
• Like the leper we see the prior faith of the Centurion.
• The centurion knows that a Jew would never enter the home of gentile. He acknowledges he is unworthy of Jesus’ attention, but recognizes the authority God has given Jesus
• Jesus marvels as such faith in a Gentile. He paints a metaphorical picture of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob feasting on the day when the kingdom of God is fully established. Many “sons of the kingdom” (Jews, those to whom the kingdom promises were given) will be turned away while many from east and west (Gentiles) will feast at the table.
• The difference between those two groups is responding to Jesus in faith, like the centurion and the leper.
• The faith they approach Jesus with is confidence that Jesus is the Messiah and is acting with the authority of God.

Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.

Next: 43 Matthew 8:14-17 Jesus heals many, fulfilling Isaiah

Previous: 41 Matthew 7:12-29 The Golden Rule and the 2 Roads

Series: Gospel of Matthew 8-13 Behold the King, Part 2

Study: Matthew Resources

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