Power

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to share the Word of God with the saints and faithful believers of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church.

As of 2022, 76% of adults in America say that they believe in the historical existence of Jesus Christ. That is to say 3 out of every 4 people believe that Jesus even existed, that says nothing of who is He or what He did, simply did he exist? 76% of people believe so.

What’s interesting is that even in circles that would be considered at least culturally Christian, 1 in 10 people said they weren’t sure If Jesus existed. Now this survey included a wide variety of denominations and organizations. But even among self identified conservative evangelicals, 1 out of 25 expressed uncertainty in the existence of A historical Jesus.

After establishing a baseline on people’s belief in a historical Jesus, the Study then asked people’s views on Jesus’ importance as a spiritual figure. Interestingly, people were more likely to see Jesus as an important religious figure than believe in the historical existence of Jesus.

From there they found that Americans are split on how they would describe their relationship with Jesus. 38% say close and personal, 34% say private, 10% say pubic, 24% say they have no relationship with Jesus, and 8% prefer not to answer. Curiously, even 9% of members of a non-Christian religion said that they have a close and personal relationship with Jesus. While at the same time, 9% of mainline Protestants say they have no relationship with Jesus.

Americans who identify as Christians were also asked to choose what they find to be the most meaningful aspect of Jesus. They were allowed to choose up to three descriptions. Here are the results: 53% see Jesus as Savior as His most meaningful aspect. 50% said Him being the Son of God. 21% say Messiah, 20% Lord. Healer 17%. Shepherd 14%, Friend 12%, Mediator 7%. Liberator 3%, Disruptor 2%, Brother 3%. Son 2%.

Now you did not come here this morning for a statistic lesson, and it is important to note that statistics can be an imperfect representation of reality as there are a lot of factors that influence how we interpret the data. But I wanted to share all of this this morning because one thing that is very clear from this survey is that while Jesus holds an important place as an idea in our society, there is a large variety in the application of what that means. From people claiming to be Christian saying they have no relationship with Jesus to non-Christians saying they are close with Jesus, it is clear that there is some confusion around us.

In hopes of adding clarity to the confusion, we are going to take the next 9 weeks to walk through the book of Matthew, chapters 8 and 9. We will look through some of the miracles Jesus did and the conversations He had that give us a greater insight to who He really is.

And let me just say, as we have spent the onset of this message discussing a variety of views on Jesus, it needs to be known that your view of Jesus is absolutely important. However, if your view of Jesus is different than the Jesus presented to us in God’s Word, it is your view that needs to change.

The Apostle Paul chastises the church in Corinth for accepting and putting up with people proclaiming another Jesus, another spirit, and another gospel, than that which was originally proclaimed. In Galatians it says that anyone who changes the message, whether it be preacher, apostle, or even angel, if the gospel is changed to something else, the person changing it is accursed. 2 Peter calls the changes to the gospel destructive heresies that ring swift destruction.

From the warnings included in these epistles we can learn two things:

Your view of Jesus matters.

There is a CORRECT view of Jesus.

In our world of postmodern deconstruction and relative truth, that second lesson can be hard to swallow. But it must be said. There is a CORRECT view of Jesus. This also means there is an incorrect view of Jesus. And the stakes are High. The real Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through me. If the real Jesus is the real way and the way is exclusive as the real Jesus says, than your view of a false Jesus does you no good. I hope that this series allows all us to have a better grasp and appreciation for the REAL Jesus.

Before we walk through our text this morning, I want to provide three pillars that will give us a foundation for everything learn throughout this series.

Jesus is real and a historical figure. Luke, the Physician, wrote his gospel to give the orderly account of Jesus’ life. It was written so that Theophilus would have certainty in the things he had been taught about Jesus. Despite 24% of Americans doubting the existence of Jesus, His existence is simply a historical fact.

Jesus is to be believed in, not just known of. We will explore this idea more throughout this series, but the Apostle John wrote that his gospel was written so that people would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, the anointed one, The Son of God, and that by believing in Him, people would have life in His name.

Jesus, the real Jesus, is better than anything you could ever imagine in the fancies of your mind. You can’t add to perfection. Real best don’t get better. The real Jesus made known to us through God’s Word is so so good.

With that in mind, would you turn in your Bibles, if you have not already, to Matthew 8. This morning we are going to look at the first 17 verses. We will see 3 pictures of the greatness of Christ, that are tied together in a mosaic of glory.

The first story we read is the cleansing of a Leper. Read with me verses 1-4.

Matthew 8:1–4 ESV

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 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.”

The background to this story is the Sermon on the Mount. If you are reading straight through the book of Matthew you see the birth of Jesus, followed by the temptation of Jesus, then the start of formal ministry of Jesus. Jesus begins to call His disciples and ministers to crowds. Matthew then records what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. That is Jesus’ masterclass on righteousness on the kingdom of God. It both shows the followers of Jesus the cost of doing so and their inability to save themselves. It shows the necessity of obedience and the worthiness of Christ to be followed. When the Sermon is concluded, the crowds are astonished by what they had heard. They were astonished not just because of the content of the message, but because of how it was delivered. They were astonished by the authority with which Jesus gave this message. Jesus speaks with an authority matched by any teacher they had ever heard. Hearing the sermon, the people see that there is something different about Jesus than the other teachers. The Scribes quote the rabbis, Jesus says Truly *I* say to you. Everyone who hears these words of *mine*. Jesus is properly presenting Himself throughout the Sermon as the second person of the Triune God. He is communicating His divinity. Now, as we enter into the story we just read, we see that Jesus’ authority, His divinity, is not just smoke and mirrors and boisterous talk.

As He comes down from the mountain the crowd is still following closely. Some members of the crowd were likely in wonder, others in disbelief. Little did they know that Jesus was about to back up His words with action.

Behold, verse 2, a leper came to Him. Now pause right here. You have to understand just how big of a deal this is. We don’t deal with leprosy a lot in our culture. But it is a contagious skin disease that affects the skin causing it to smell, get discolored, and change texture, but it also destroys the nervous system. Lepers would often lose the tips of their fingers or toes or have broken limbs because they couldn’t feel when they stubbed, cut, burned, or crushed one of their appendages. And to add to their plight lepers were outcasts from society due to the contagious nature of their diseases. “According to Leviticus 13 a leper had to wear torn clothes, keep his hair uncut, cover his mouth, and cry out “unclean! unclean!” in order to prevent spreading his disease to others.” They couldn’t live within the villages. They weren’t allowed in the temple.

With this background, what we see playing out in verses 2-4 becomes quite the scene! I can only imagine the shocked crowd parting around the contagious outcast. The longsuffering soul makes his way to Jesus, desperate and alone with nothing else within himself to say but, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Notice those words because there is a deep understanding within them. Notice the faith of the Leper.

Lord - “Jesus I recognize you as the one to follow, the One whom’s words are wise. The narrow Gate.”

if you will - “Lord, thy will be done, thy kingdom come.”

you can make me clean - “the power is yours to do with what you see fit. You can do this.”

Also notice that this is not posed as a bargain as we are apt to do at times. The Leper doesn’t say, You are Lord IF you heal me. No. The faith of the Leper is evident in saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

So what does Jesus do? He does something incredible, something that likely sent shockwaves through the crowd. We’ll see later this morning that Jesus could’ve healed the man simply by speaking the words, but instead, Jesus stretches out His hand and touched the leper. In a shocking display of affection and compassion, the man is healed.

There are a lot details in the story that we don’t know. One of which is that we don’t know how long this man had been a leper. It could have been weeks, years, a decade? We don’t know. But we do know this, however long this man had been dealing with such an affliction, it was gone instantly. Immediately, verse 3, his leprosy was healed. Immediately. And what did this look like? Did the scale-y skin fall to ground showing fresh, healed skin beneath? Did the tips of his fingers grow back? Did the patches of hair on his head fill in? We don’t know, but we know that at the touch of Jesus, this man was healed immediately.

Upon being healed, Jesus gives the man an opportunity for obedience. He tells him to go to the priest to be cleared back into society and to make an offering. The sacrificial system is still in place, the sacrifice to be made once for all is coming but has not happened yet, so the leper is to honor God by creating a picture of what is to come, what would culminate in Christ. The greatness of Jesus is on full display.

Let’s look to the next picture of His greatness:

Matthew 8:5–13 ESV

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 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. 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.” 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. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 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.

Here we have a Roman Centurion approaching Jesus, not because of any personal maladies, but because of those of his servant. This is another instance of when simply reading without dwelling upon the mechanics of the passage causes us to miss what is going on. This isn’t just some guy coming up to Jesus. The fact that this man is Roman Centurion is a big deal. Centurions were the working officers of the Roman army that was occupying Israel. They commanded groups of 60 to 80 soldiers. The have been described as “the agents of a godless empire.” So this centurion approaching Jesus, is different in context but similar in cultural impact to that of the Leper.

Notice the Centurions approach. As the commanding officer in the region, you may think that he would command Jesus, this man whose miracles have been making a splash in the region, to go and heal his servant. But that’s not what he does. He addresses Jesus as LORD. Though he politically had the power in the situation the Centurion realizes it is Jesus who is in control here. As the centurion describes the situation he doesn’t make a command of Jesus. He simply lets Christ know of the situation with his servant.

Jesus’ response is interesting in that it can properly be rendered to english in both as the statement “I will come and heal him.” And as the question, “Am I to come and heal him?” In either case, Jesus is giving the Centurion the opportunity to clarify his intentions in this interaction. And the Centurion responds with great humility! “I’m not worthy of that! For you, Jesus, to come into my house would be an honor that I am not worthy of.” The Centurion knew the cultural dynamics. For Jesus to enter his home, the home of an unclean gentile, it would be a massive breaking of the norm. The centurion shows his understanding of Jesus’ greatness with a comparison to his position within the Roman army. In that context it is the Centurion gives the orders and the foot soldiers do it, likewise for the servants. Here, the Centurion humbly recognizes Jesus’ authority amongst other people in calling him Lord, but he is also recognizing Jesus’ SUPERNATURAL authority!

The Centurion says, when I tell these people to do stuff, they do it. Jesus, if you tell this affliction on my servant to go away, it will be done! This is a recognition of the mighty power of Jesus Christ as the very Son of God. The Centurion realizes that Jesus might heal WITH a touch, but not BY a touch. Jesus’ power isn’t constrained to a particular method or location. “As Son of God, He is omnipotent and omnipresent and can project power” in accordance with His will. The centurion has some grasp on this glorious truth.

And Jesus is pleased with the Centurions recognition! “With no one in Israel have I found such faith.” This is both a testament of the Centurions faith and a chastisement to Israel, God’s people. In verse 11, Jesus explains the breadth of God’s plan of salvation, the culmination of the Abrahamic covenant. Many “unclean gentiles” will be saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. But many who claimed to be right with God due to their birth, their status as an Israelite, will be cast into darkness.

You can see that Jesus is using the faith of the Centurion as a warning to the surrounding Hebrews. It can also serve as a warning to us today, growing up in the household of faith is not a substitute for personal faith. The faith of our fathers is good and instructive, but if it does not lead to personal faith it is of no use.

So Jesus then turns His attention back to the centurion and says, Go back home. It will be done. Your servant will be healed. And it happened once again at the moment of Jesus’ declaration.

We are given a second picture of Jesus’ greatness. Let’s look to the third:

Matthew 8:14–17 ESV

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That 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. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The first two pictures of Jesus’ greatness deal with two strangers to Jesus, that were also estranged from the Hebrew people. The outcasted leper, and the conquering Centurion. Now we move to someone familiar, within the people of Israel. Not only that, but one of Jesus’ closest disciple’s own mother-in-law. The first application here as we think about Peter likely bringing this before Jesus for His intervention, is as difficult as it might be, fellers, we gotta be nice to our mother-in-laws! Just kidding, but sometimes we do need a good reminder!

But the incredible display of Jesus’ greatness and grace is evident in that once again, he touches this person and immediately, the ailment dissipates. The fever left her!

Then what did she do? It says that she got up and started serving Jesus!

Now, we have made it through grasping a basic understanding of the context of the stories. If you are still following along with me, you may have been wondering about the application, its been 20-30 minutes and thus far there haven’t been many imperatives given, any quick tips and tricks for you to implement in daily life.

We’re going to get to application here as we round out the conclusion, but before we do, I want to spend a quick bit of time on what the application is NOT.

Many times we want to read ourselves into the text. And from that we can get two improper applications:

The first improper application is to read this passage with the intention of learning how to heal people like Jesus heals people. This may seem wild to some of us, but there are many out there claiming the gift of healing. There are schools carrying the name of Christian that say they can teach healing. But the whole point here in the passage is that Jesus is doing something others cannot do. In that time, and even today, there are alleged healers who use a variety of incarnations, objects, incense, and other things to conjure up some sort of mystical healing experience. Jesus does none of this. Jesus simply heals by the touch of His hand or the sound of His voice. That’s probably why the crowds are so enamored. They’ve seen the supposed healer put on a show with limited results, but this Jesus does so little and yet the results are immediate and obvious. Verse 16 says that many were brought to Jesus that evening, and with a word he healed all who were sick. That is glorious power.

The other improper application of this text is to assume that faith in Jesus Christ will instantly and unilaterally heal you from any and every ailment. Remember how the leper and the centurion approached Jesus, “Lord, if you will.” “Lord, here’s the situation.” We aren’t given the conversation around the healing of Peter’s Mother-in-law, but it’s likely it was similar. These healings begin with a an understanding that the healing is not dependent upon the person’s desire to be healed, but whether that healing is the will of God. Even though we are going through some of the miracles of Jesus for the next couple of months, we need to recognize, that even biblically speaking, miraculous healings were extremely rare. For the first 2,500 years of biblical history there are no mentions of healings whatsoever. You will find some instances spread throughout the rest of the Old Testament, but they aren’t the norm. You will see a couple references in the Acts and the epistles, but there is a huge spike during the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. When we read of the miraculous healings of Jesus our first instinct and application ought not to be, well He better heal my back too! We understand that as Son of God, as the Divine Christ, as Lord, Christ owes us nothing.

So the application is not that we should see how we can heal people like Jesus, nor that Jesus owes us healing. So what, then, is the application? What are we to do with these stories? Why do they matter? Look at verse 17 once more.

Matthew 8:17 ESV

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The application that we are to have from this text is check ourselves and our egos at the door, sit back, and declare that Jesus is Lord.

In Matthew 8:17 Matthew references Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 describes the coming of the Suffering Servant. It is revealed that this Servant will suffer physical blows and be disfigured. He will be a man of innumerable sorrows. He will, like a gentle sheep, go to the slaughter as a sacrifice. He will bear the sins of many and make intercession for the transgressor. Through His sacrifice, He will justify many so that though they are sinners, through faith in Him, the sinners will be counted as righteous before the Holy God. Matthew repeatedly and purposely throughout his gospel ties the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 to Jesus because they are one in the same.

Jesus’ healings throughout His ministry are a tangible outworking of His ultimate plan: His substitutionary atonement made for sinners on the cross. All of our ailments, are pains, our sickness, all of them are a result of sin. Prior to the fall, there was no sin. In these three pictures of Jesus greatness, the larger picture is that of what He is going to do on the cross. He is declaring that He is the one with the right and power to deliver mankind from the effects of sin. Its not some combination of magical artifacts, its not a mantra, it IS God incarnate, Jesus Christ! These healings that Jesus does are good. They are nice, but they pail in comparison to the ultimate healing that comes to all those who believe in Him! These healing were temporary goods. The people who received healing eventually passed away. But those who believe now and then believed in Jesus receive ETERNAL life in the full presence of God!

Any medical professional will tell you that it is better to treat the root of the problem than the symptoms. In our text the medical maladies are a symptom of the existence of sin. Jesus shows dominion over the symptoms, but we also see He is addressing the root!

All of us may ask God for healing today, the book of James even directs us to do so. But we must understand that healing is dependent not on our desire to feel better, but on the very will of God. The same God who chose not to heal His servants Paul and Timothy.

But as we do so, may we also understand that an achy body is just a side-effect of the Fall. A symptom of the primary problem in the universe. The eternal Healing that the Suffering Servant brings to all who believe in Him is complete and beyond any temporal healing we could ask for. The Lord is worthy to be served. Do you see that this morning? Do you humbly approach the King saying ‘thy will be done’? Do you see Jesus as the King He is?

There is a song I learned in youth group growing up. The chorus goes, “Come let us sing a song, a song declaring we belong to Jesus. He is all we need. Lift up a heart of praise, sing now to Him with voices raised to Jesus, sing to the King.” then later in the second verse, “We'll join in singing with all the redeemed 'Cause Satan is vanquished and my Jesus is King.”

Jesus is King. Sin will be no more. Eternal healing comes through the Suffering Servant. The only question I have left this morning, is are you able to join in singing with all the redeemed? Do you know, see, and follow Christ as King?

If not, come forward today.

Let’s pray.