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Jesus -- the Guru #12

We saw earlier emails how the crowds recognized Jesus’ authority in His teaching (Matthew 7:29). Now we will see how Jesus displayed His authority in His deeds. Jesus didn’t bring just the Word of God; He brought the power of God. He taught God’s will, and He did God’s will.

In the upcoming passages of Matthew’s gospel, we will see Jesus bringing God’s authority over life and death, over forgiveness, over the demons, over illness. This is why Jesus’ followers not only called Him their Master; they called Him their “Lord.”

We saw at the end of our last lesson (Matthew 4:23-25) that many people came to Jesus for healing. In this lesson, we will have some accounts of these healings.

Read Matthew 8:1-17.

The Man With Leprosy

1When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him.2A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.4Then 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.”

The Faith of the Centurion

5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.6“Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”

7Jesus said to him, “I will go and heal him.”

8The 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.9For 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.”

10When 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.11I 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.12But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13Then 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.

Jesus Heals Many

14When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.15He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

16When 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.17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

v. 3 – Jesus said, “ I am willing to heal.”     Why does Jesus heal? The answer is clear from the Old Testament quotation Matthew provides in v. 17: “He took our infirmities and carried our diseases.” (Isaiah 53:4) The prophet Isaiah says that this is what God will do when He comes as the Messiah. This, then, is the purpose for which the God the Father sent the Son to earth. We see this purpose spelled out even more in the rest of Isaiah 53. Here are the verses from Isaiah 53:4-6:

“Surely He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus’ healing of leprosy and illness and fever and demon-possession in Matthew 8 was a sign of His whole purpose of healing. God had come to heal the world.

Jesus’ miracles of physical healing were a sign of the greater, eternal healing He had come to bring. We will see in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection that indeed the Lord “laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)

What is the healing that you need in your life?

  • Physical healing?
  • Family quarrels?
  • Personal guilt?
  • Financial problems?
  • Social conflict?
  • Other?
To you also, Jesus says, “I am willing.”

Let me know how I can pray for you today,

Yesudas


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