The Outsiders.
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Scripture is the ultimate authority in the life of a believer. Wether a person believes or not, there is nothing left to debate. The Word is TRUTH. Our greatest strength as believers, besides the indwelling of the Spirit of God, is studying the Word and allowing the Word to interpret itself. The Word tells us who Jesus is, why He came, who He came for, and what He came to do.
But as we study scripture, we cannot just read it, then attempt to apply it to our life. We have to interpret it so that we can accurately and carefully apply it to our lives. Interpreting scripture takes time. Historical, cultural context, context of the scripture within a passage, the passage within the whole of the book, and the book within the Bible. But when we study out this passage I believe there’s some powerful revelation for the saved and those who are on the fence so to speak..
Matthew 8:1-15
Matthew 8:1-15
Matthew 8:1–15 (ESV)
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And 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.”
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But 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. 9 For 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.” 10 When 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. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And 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.
14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.
There’s several interesting things we see right from the beginning. What mountain did Jesus come down? He came down from preaching His “Sermon on the Mount”. Notice He left the pulpit and walked straight down to meet the needs of the people head on. That’s Who Jesus is. Truth and Grace in action. I think our first application is
- DON’T TALK ABOUT IT, BE ABOUT IT.
Now I say this delicately.. We are to preach the Word. We are to tell the truth in love. We are to share about the greatness of God in all that He did in the creation of this world, and His wisdom and plan for salvation. But even Jesus.. Who I guarantee had more anointing on one syllable then I will have on anything i’ll ever preach. Even He brought the truth to the streets. Jesus didn’t just give you fire word, a fire revelation and then dip off. Jesus put His foot to the ground and walked out every principal He ever taught.
OUTSIDE THE CAMP
- To understand really just how powerful and dramatic v 2, 3 are here we have to understand the cultural context of leprosy and how it was treated.
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead. 3 You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4 And the people of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord said to Moses, so the people of Israel did.
44 he is a leprous man, he is unclean. The priest must pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.
45 “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.
These people afflicted by leprosy were closely associated with death. Left outside the camp with very little resources, they were to stay outside the camp. In order to be pronounced clean, there was a very strenuous process of being examined by the priest, then offering the appropriate sacrifice and going through ritual cleansing.
We see clearly in scripture that one who breaks the law is one worthy of death. This man was willing to risk his life to come to Jesus. Why? I think it’s two fold. One, he realized he was dying already.. Do we realize that? Do we realize our sin problem is killing us? Do we realize our dying need for Christ? are willing to go against the grain? Are we willing to go great lengths to be made whole? The other reason I believe this man came is because he clearly had faith. He calls Jesus Lord. Why is this significant? Well in context, Jesus had just finished preaching His sermon on the mount. This leper must have either heard the words of Christ, or heard of His deeds, and it gave him enough confidence in Him to risk his very life.
The application here, i think is, Are we preaching the word? Are we sharing our stories and testimonies? Are we giving others a reason to believe? Are we showing them proof for why they should place their faith in Christ? But i want us to really see how this man approached Jesus. Let’s go to the parallel passages.
12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
40 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
See, the leper knew the law. He knew what was at stake here as he walked to Jesus, defying the law of quarantine. But this man, he came anyways, because he recognized something GREATER WAS HERE. Here’s the application.. Do we recognize this? That something greater is here? Greater than our sin, greater than our infirmities, greater than our problems? But even more so, greater than US. Our life, our desires, our wants. He is greater. He is worthy. Our life should be about Him, not about what He can do for us.
Look at the humility of the leper. He fell down and worshipped, on his face. Beseeching Him, imploring Him, beggin Him, seeking Him. Do we worship like this? Do we reverence God in this way? If not, we should..
I also think it very significant that this is the first recorded miracle in Matthew is the healing of this leprous man. Jesus told him not to tell anyone but the priest. Jesus says it will be a proof to them, other translations say a testimony. What a testimony this would be, because this would be the first recorded Israelite healed from leprosy since Miriam in the time of Moses. It’s no coincidence in my mind, that Moses prophesied of Jesus, saying God would raise up for them another Prophet, God last healed an Israelite of leprosy in the time of moses, and doesn’t do it again until Jesus does it here in the Gospel of Matthew.
Jesus was doing a new thing. Leaving evidence and proof for the Priests that the Messiah had arrived, for they would have to investigate the circumstances of this cleansing, of this healing for the man to be deemed clean. But He also left evidence for us, through His word! Of who He is. He showed us HIS AUTHORITY
Later we see Jesus healing with only a word. But here He TOUCHED THE LEPER. If anyone else had touched the leper they would become unclean. Jesus was showing that His cleanness would make ALL CLEAN.
His touch shows that He identifies with sinners, as He ultimately would in His death. He wouldn’t just see our sin, and acknowledge our sin, He would TOUCH our sin as all our sins were laid upon Him, but it would not make Him unclean; He is Holy. Instead, He would be sanctifying us, making us clean.
WHEN WE REACH OUT IN FAITH, GOD WILL REACH OUT HIS HAND
The man knew God was able, he wasn’t sure if Christ was willing, but Jesus in His compassion shows him that He is certainly willing. Shows Him love with a touch. Christ is willing. I believe scripture has made that clear. We must come to Him, with hearts full of faith, in a posture of worship. It’s okay to be uncertain about the outcome, but it’s never okay to waiver in faith about His ability to bring about the proper outcome.
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But 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. 9 For 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.” 10 When 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. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And 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.
OUTSIDE THE COVENANT
There’s so much to consider in this part of the passage. First, we need to see the irony of the centurion’s position. He is in a position of authority over the Jewish people. Rome ruled Israel with an iron first. But this gentile man with authority comes forth, humbles himself to someone who in his culture is perceived as beneath him, and he asks Jesus to heal His servant. The greatness of his humility is highlighted greatly in the parallel passage
2 Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.
Here is says that some elders of the Jews came forward and spoke well of the centurion. Calling this gentile WORTHY of healing, for he loves the nation and even built a synagogue. Clearly this man had realized the One True God, and knowing He came from the nation of Israel, his love grew fond of the nation.
Before we go further, we see an application here. Our God is the God of Israel, our Savior born of Jewish descent. Therefore as Christians, our love for the nation of Israel should be great. Originally chosen as God’s people, salvation has come from the Jews, and therefore they should hold a special place in our heart.
But lets look again at the centurions humility. They spoke well of him, but he knew HE WAS NOT WORTHY. Perhaps he understood that a Jew ceremonially could never enter the house of a gentile. Especially not a rabbi. But regardless, this man knew that his worthiness paled in the face of a holy savior.
Do we, like the centurion understand the level of unworthiness we truly have? (Talk about how the centurion could have felt entitled) Church going doesn’t make us worthy. Works don’t make us worthy.
10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”
See what Jesus had to explain to his Jewish disciples, was that their ethnicity was not their entrance into the Kingdom. Jesus told them even when they do all they’ve been commanded, they are still not worthy. They didn’t understand the concept because they didn’t understand salvation would come through faith for all, not by election as the first covenant was. So the centurion, being outside the covenant had this understanding that HE WAS NOT WORTHY! His only hope was Jesus, and His love and compassion.
His faith was so great that in his humility, he knew that Jesus did not need to come to his house to heal his servant. He knew Jesus had the authority to JUST SPEAK THE WORD!
The application is
HIS WORD IS ENOUGH
If He said it, He’ll perform it. You don’t need a man to lay his hands on you; it’s biblical, it’s good, I’m not saying we shouldn’t do it, in certain instances the word says as in James 5 to have the elders lay hands on the sick. My point here is, if you have a Word from God, IT IS SUFFICIENT! If He doesn’t tell you to go to Bible College HIS WORD IS ENOUGH HE WILL ANOINT YOU! If there is a promise in the Word you can stand on it!
His understanding of being under authority yet having authority shows his understanding of Christ having the authority of God, being One with Him. This caused Jesus to marvel at this man’s great faith. And look what He says.. He hasn’t seen this kind of faith in Israel. A faith that says “I am not worthy, Jesus YOU ARE WORTHY, YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY YOU ARE MY HOPE.
And this is where Jesus shows us the NEWNESS of the NEW COVENANT..
10 When 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. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The patriarchs in heaven won’t be surrounded by Jews alone. Look what is says. FROM EAST AND WEST! Gentiles from ALL OVER.
The SONS OF THE KINGDOM those Jews who thought they had the RIGHT to enter the kingdom yet REJECTED THE ONLY DOOR TO ENTER! These who believe they can be apart of the family of God based on their own righteousness, their own works, their own deeds.. Look where they will be.. OUTER DARKNESS! Those who fail to see their need for christ are the REAL OUTSIDERS and those of us made to feel as outsiders will be INSIDE THE KINGDOM!
FOR GOD TAKES THE OUTSIDERS AND CHANGES US FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Jesus shows us it’s a work from the inside out; as He tells the centurion go, let it be done for you AS YOU HAVE BELIEVED.
Something happens when we doubt..
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
It will happen as you believe. Healing, deliverance, break through. BELIEVING IT IS RECEIVING IT NOT VICE VERSA. Recognizing I was dead to sin but alive to God in Christ changed my walk forever..
14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.
OUTSIDE SOCIETY’S STANDARDS
We see here that Jesus was above the economic relations of His day. Women were second class citizens in that day. Treated with less privilege and less right. Yet Jesus enters into Peter’s house to heal his mother in law.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Jesus reveals this through His ministry time and time again. (MARY AND MARTHA WOMEN DID NOT GET DISCIPLED THEY DID NOT SIT AT THE FEET OF RABBIS JESUS ALLOWED IT) WOMEN are jointly made in the image of God (Speak of bringing forth life.
Jesus was showing that walls would be tore down in the kingdom to make room for all who would believe. See under the law Jews were not to intermarry for they would be carried away. Jesus is revealing His authority to bring ALL TO SALVATION.
one of many applications here is JUST BECAUSE IT’S CUSTOMARY DOESN’T MEAN GOD APPROVES
The pharisees had many traditions in the name of God that actually broke the law!
JUST BECAUSE ITS IN A CHURCH DOESNT MEAN ITS TRUE WORSHIP
JUST BECAUSE 2 MEN SIGN A CERTIFICATE DOESNT MEAN ITS MARRIAGE
JUST BECAUSE GOD IS LOVING DOESN’T MEAN WE DONT HAVE TO REPENT
Jesus comes outside of society’s standards.
Our final application tonight is to
RESPOND APPROPRIATELY
15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.
Here we see the appropriate response to Christ healing us, making us whole. SERVE HIM!
Alot of us leave it to where Christ serves us by setting us free, when Christ set the example for us! We are to be like our Master. Jesus said the greatest of all is the greatest servant.
To respond in faith is to reverse roles. Christ became a lowly servant. He set aside His majesty to set me free. Now i must put on my servants cloak, the towel of a bond servant and serve Christ, by serving others. When Jesus washed the disciples feet He said He set an example. He explained He has truly washed us, showing these works do not save us, His washing does. But a true believer, with true faith responds by SERVING! FOREVER.