Matthew 8 - What Does Faith Look Like?
Matthew 8 - NIV Translation
Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy
8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 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,
After Jesus' teaches the disicples about what it looks like to be a follower of his who lives in kingdom power and with his kingdom ethics, he starts showing what it looks like in his ministry. Now he starts showing his deeds of power to the crowds.
A man with leprosy, which was a common and very debilitating disease in his day, came to him and asked him to make him clean. Notice an important part of his ask, "If you are willing?" The man might have wondered becasue lepers were spurned by society, and he thought Jesus might not be able to help him. Lepers were unclean to Jews and had to yell out "unclean" when they came in public. You can only imagine what shame this brought them.
But in front of the crowds Jesus healed the man. He says, "I am willing". We know the man was Jewish, because Jesus commanded him to go to the local priest and offer a gift commanded in the book of Moses, the Torah. It was also a testimony to what Jesus did and why. When Jesus did miracle it was also a testimony to His divine nature.
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” 7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” 8 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. 9 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.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 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. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Then Jesus healed a Roman centurion's servant, who was a paralytic. There are several things to note about this story.
1. The man was not Jewish, we was Roman.
2. The man had a lot of power, as he was a leader of 100 soldiers.
3. Though he was a man of authority, he recogized Jesus' authority as superior.
4. He was humble. "I do not deserve for you to come to my house!"
5. He had faith, "He had faith that Jesus could do it."
6. Jesus commended him for his faith and remarked that his fellow Jews had not yet exhibited such faith and many never did.
7. Then, Jesus goes on to say that this man will be at the feast in heaven and so will many others who aren't Jewish. Ie. Many will come from the east and west of Israel geographically.
8. Jesus healed the man's servant because of his faith.
9. The servant was healed right at that moment despite that Jesus was not with him and did not lay hands on him etc..
There are so many things to learn from this story as you can see! Jesus shows that it did not matter if you were Jewish, only faith mattered. Jesus shows his authority and power, and the centurion recognized. Jesus can heal someone in any way he chooses.
Do you believe in the healing power of Jesus? Would you have as much faith as the centurion to come to him to ask for it?
Jesus Heals Many
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 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. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.” (Isaiah 58:4)
Jesus then went into the house of Peter, who would become his chief apostle, and healed his mother-in-law. This shows us Peter was married. In this case he touched her hand and she was healed. When she was healed in gratitude she waited on him.
Many who were brought to him who were demon possessed. He not only drove out the demons with a word, but also healed ALL of the sick there. This shows us Jesus' authority and power were not just over physical matters, but also spiritual powers. In this case Jesus' spoke his authoritative WORD and they were delivered and healed.
You can see the many ways Jesus healed and the different methods he employed. And we see that demonic activity is real and also makes people sick spiritually speaking.
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
Of course, all of these healings brought a crowd, as word spread quickly. People were willing to follow Jesus as a prophet and spiritual leader. They even said they would follow him wherever he would go. But Jesus gave them a foreshadowing of what it would mean to follow him. There would be no earthly palaces he would be going too. In fact, he really had no home to speak of.
Another disciple wanted to follow Jesus, but said he had to bury his father. Of course, this was an honorable thing to do, but Jesus could see that in his heart he was making an excuse, as Jesus would never have told someone not to honor their Father and Mother, which is the 4th commandment.
Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Now Jesus is back in a boat with his disciples. A furious storm came up, which is often the case on the Sea of Galilee due to where it was located. It was so bad the waves started swamping the boat. The disciples had every reason to be very afraid. They woke Jesus knowing he had done all these other things, so maybe he could help save them from the storm and the boat being capsized.
Jesus wondered why they had so little faith after seeing all he had done, but rebuked the wind and waves and the storm was stilled. Once again we see the authority of Jesus words. The wind and waves had to obey His word. This disciples apparently hadn't realized the range and scope of Jesus' power, as they wonder who is this man. They would demonstrate this kind of doubt, even though they saw Jesus do many more powerful things that even this.
Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,[c] two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
As we close out chapter 8, Jesus again delivers two men who were "demon-possessed". This meant the devil had complete control over these men. How that happened we don't know, but it shows that "demon posssession" is real. Yet, Jesus power and authority was exercised again, as he casts out the demons into some pigs and they ran into the lake and died.
This was clear evidence about the physical nature of demons. We often wonder if demons are real, or if they are made up for some Hollywood movie. Jesus showed that there are individual demons under the reign of Satan, the anti-Christ. Even Paul tells us in Ephesians 6, "Our enemy is not flesh and blood but principalities of this present darkness!"
Though a Christians can't be demon-possessed, which can give them power in our lives and a foothold, as Paul says, "In your anger, do not give the devil a foothold." Ephesians 4:27
Interestingly this led the whole town out to meet Jesus and they were scared of him.
We see Jesus exercising power in many ways using many methods. He showed us power over sickness, demonic powers, and even nature. He still has power of these things today. The question is do we have faith that we can exercise that power in his name today?
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