An Unforgettable Touch
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Serve 101
Last week we had a set of Missionaries with us from the country of Honduras. Today, we have a special guest with us. Phyllis Rose: Missionary to the country of Peru. Would you give her a warm Freedom Chapel welcome as she comes to share the work that she is doing for God in Peru.
Let’s Jump into today’s message.
If you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.
We are currently walking through the NT book of Matthew.
Today we are moving forward. We find Jesus finishing The Sermon on the Mount and now Matthew is Setting off in a new Direction.
Remember the entire purpose of Matthews Gospel is to prove to Believing Jews that Jesus is in Fact the Messiah.
So far He has established that Jesus comes from the right family blood line.
Jesus is the better Adam.
Secondly, He has proven that Jesus has the Authority to interpret the Torah.
In fact the final verses of Chapter 7 and the beginning of Chapter 8 reveals this again.
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.
1 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
I want to remind you Jesus has not taught anything new at the Sermon on the Mount.
His listeners had most likely already heard all this.
17 “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
So if Jesus is not teaching anything new what does it mean he taught differently then the Scribes.
It was common practice for the Scribes to appeal to the authority of previous teachers. Rabbi Jimmy said this in the name of Rabbi Bob and so on.
Scribes were constantly quoting other Rabbi’s instead of teaching from the word itself.
Jesus is the author of the Word in the Flesh therefore is interpretation is that of Authority.
Jesus is fulfilling one of the anticipated ministries of the Messiah:
Matthew Presents Yeshua, King Messiah (A Messianic Commentary) The Wise Disciple 7:15–29
The Holy One, blessed be He, will sit and expound the new Torah which He will give through the Messiah. “New Torah” means the secrets and the mysteries of the Torah that have remained hidden until now. It does not refer to another Torah, heaven forbid, for surely the Torah which He gave us through Moses our Master, peace be upon him, is the eternal Torah; but the revelation of her hidden secrets is called “new Torah” (Midrash Talpiyot 58a).
We see this today.
Pastor So and So teaches it this way.
“Well you don’t teach it like so and so.”
So as Jesus moves from the Mountain we See Matthew push in a new Direction.
Matthew now moves from Jesus’ Authority over the Kingdom to Jesus’ power as the promised King of the world.
As we Journey through chapters 8 and 9 Matthew records 10 miracles of Jesus
These ten accounts support Jesus’ claims to be Messiah.
Matthew arranges these 10 miracles to invite comparisons with the 10 plagues of Egypt, Jesus is the Better Moses
Where Moses miracles brought destruction, Jesus’ miracles bring Healing and restoration to his people
These miracles are Not in Chronological Order, Matthew is establishing that Jesus has power over three principle issues his people deal with.
He will demonstrate Jesus’ ability.
Jesus’ Ability To Heal the Body
Jesus’ Ability To Heal the Body
Jesus’ Power over Creation
Jesus’ Power over Creation
Jesus’ Authority over the Spirit Realm
Jesus’ Authority over the Spirit Realm
Matthew bookends all ten miracles with two that validate Jesus’ claim to be Messiah.
Today we are looking at the first of those bookends.
1 When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
2 Right away a man with leprosy came up and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Leprosy, called Hansen’s disease today, is a bacterial infection
Only about 5% of the world’s population is capable of contracting it; 95% of the world is naturally immune
Interesting fact…here, in South Texas, armadillos naturally carry the bacteria that causes the disease
The bacteria is very slow growing, so the disease progresses through a series of stages over many years
First, the nerves in the extremities are attacked, leaving fingers and toes permanently numb and susceptible to injury
Then, over the next 10 years or longer, the numbness spreads and lesions develop under the skin over the whole body
The skin and hair near the lesions will adopt a yellowish-whitish color, causing the person to begin to turn white all over
In later stages, the lesions break through the outer layer of skin, forming sores and scabs and making the skin hard and scaly
Nails swell and fall off, gums bleed constantly
The nasal passage becomes permanently blocked, there is a constant stream of saliva, and the person loses taste and smell
In the very last stages, the disease attacks the internal organs
The victim suffers from chronic diarrhea, chronic thirst, and a burning fever and ultimately death
Today, the disease can be treated successfully with a 1-2 year course of antibiotics, but in Jesus’ day there was no cure
So leprosy sentenced a person to a slow, painful death
And because the disease was so mysterious, it made those who contracted it pariahs in their community
In Luke’s account of this scene, Luke the doctor described the man as “covered” or “full” of leprosy, which means the man was already in the later stages of this horrible disease
But beyond the horrible physical and social aspects of the disease, we also need to appreciate a uniquely Jewish perspective on this affliction
The disease of leprosy is specifically mentioned in Leviticus
In fact, this relatively rare disease is the focus of two entire chapters in the book of Leviticus…a total of 116 verses
No other disease receives so much attention in the Bible
In Leviticus, all suspected lepers were required to be officially diagnosed by the priesthood
Once a person was designated a leper, he must tear his clothes and wear torn clothes thereafter
He must cover himself from the nose down whenever in public
And depending on the stage of the disease, a leper could be clean or unclean, ritually speaking, for periods of time
9 “When a case of serious skin disease may have developed on a person, he is to be brought to the priest.
10 The priest will examine him. If there is a white swelling on the skin that has turned the hair white, and there is a patch of raw flesh in the swelling,
11 it is a chronic serious disease on the skin of his body, and the priest must pronounce him unclean. He need not quarantine him, for he is unclean.
12 But if the skin disease breaks out all over the skin so that it covers all the skin of the stricken person from his head to his feet so far as the priest can see,
13 the priest will look, and if the skin disease has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the stricken person clean. Since he has turned totally white, he is clean.
14 But whenever raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean.
During the some stages of Leprosy a person could actually be symptom free and declared clean until it worsened.
So this meant a back and forth to the temple to see if you were able to be near people again.
The Jewish people understood leprosy to be a defilement, something that made a person unclean to God.
In fact, even the Hebrew word for leprosy reflects this thinking
The word tzaraat translates “mark” or “blemish”
It refers to something that marks or stains something that is otherwise clean and pure
When unclean, a leper could not enter the Tabernacle or Temple compound to worship or give sacrifice.
They were barred from the feasts and family
They could not even touch another human being, for doing so made that person unclean for a time
Lepers were made to walk down the road yelling “unclean” to warn others to steer clear
But then you have Leviticus 14
But Leviticus also gave instructions for when a leper was healed of their disease
In Leviticus 14, the Lord instructed the priests to verify any supposed healing of leprosy
1. They carefully examined the person’s body for a week, including shaving all body hair to examine the skin
2. If after seven days, there was no evidence of leprosy found, the person was declared healed and the eighth day became a day of rituals to mark the healing
3. The priests conducted a sin offering, a trespass offering, a burnt offering and a meal offering
4. Blood was applied to the leper’s body on the right ear lobe, right thumb and right big toe multiple times, and the body was anointed with oil
During the history of Israel, there had never been a time when Leviticus 14 had been used
Now there had been famous cases of people struck with leprosy
Miriam – however she came before the Law
Gehazi, Uzziah were all struck with the disease
And none of them were ever healed under the Law
In fact, in the time since God gave Israel the Law in Leviticus, no Jew had ever been healed by God of leprosy
So the healing rituals in Leviticus 14 had never been put into practice…the eighth day ritual had never been done
I want you to understand the implications of Leprosy Because it paints a picture of Sin itself.
Like leprosy, sin lives in the flesh of our body, growing over time to consume us
It defiles the body, robbing us of our senses and destroying our fellowship with others
It renders us unclean and unable to approach God
Ultimately, sin is a death sentence for everyone, just like leprosy
And like leprosy, no one can be cured of sin apart from God’s mercy
But also like leprosy, when we are clean of sin, we are as white as snow
18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.
And the Bible also says that such a cleansing can only be accomplished by the application of blood.
In the case of curing leprosy, Leviticus 14 required the blood of animals to be applied to the body
But in the case of sin, only the blood of a perfect sinless human being applied to the Mercy Seat in Heaven could cleanse it…only the blood of Christ.
By the time of Jesus’ day, the leprosy cleansing ritual had never been instituted because God had not yet provided a cure for the disease
And in the case of sin, the solution had not yet appeared either
As it turned out, both awaited the arrival of the Messiah
In fact, the similarities of leprosy and sin led rabbis to conclude that God intended to associate the healing of leprosy with the arrival of the Messiah.
I wasn’t as if there had never been a miracle before.
Elisha and Elijah are key examples.
However there were miracles that would validate the Messiah and only he would do it.
This is one of those Miracles.
Up unto this point no Jew had been cured of Leprosy and therefore Leviticus 14 had never been used.
Isn’t it cool to see how God orchestrates things throughout the old testament.
The man approaches Jesus’ Notice he does not say can you.
He kneels in worship to Jesus a posture that publicly declares that He believes Jesus is devine.
And says “If you are Willing”
By His faith this man sets the stage for Jesus to perform one of three Messianic Miracles.
and notice how Jesus does this.
Matthew 8:3 (CSB)
3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him
Jesus Just made himself unclean.He touch a dirty stinking Leper.
Get this Even if a Pharisee had the power to heal leprosy-He never would have done it because it would have required him to do something that would have defiled himself.
Isn’t that sometimes how we look at sinners.
I love how Stephen Armstrong put it
“Jesus touches the man to make Him clean
So in effect, Jesus makes the man clean by taking upon Himself the man’s uncleanness
Symbolically, Jesus took the man’s curse so that the man might be freed from it”
In the Process Jesus performed a Messianic Miracle
Modern medicine can only stop the progression of the disease.
Jesus didn’t stop the progression.
Jesus’ restored the the man to completion.
3 Reaching out his hand, Jesus touched him, saying, “I am willing; be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 Then Jesus told him, “See that you don’t tell anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
This wasn’t about secrecy but rather Priority.........
Instead, Jesus wants the man to take the three-day journey south to Jerusalem to present himself to the priests in the temple as Leviticus 14 requires
And when he arrived at the temple, the man was to present the offering as Moses commanded
This was that 8-day complex series of offerings required by Leviticus 14, an event that had never before been seen in all Israel’s history
So what do you suppose the response was going to be among the priests and all the leaders of Israel when a cleansed leper arrives at the temple?
They will not be able to deny his healing
Because Leviticus 13 would have required this same man to present himself to the priests on numerous occasions in the past
And so his leprosy would have been well-known and his diagnosis would have been recorded in the temple records
But now the man appears fully cleansed, and not just in remission, but his body completely restored
As they recognize the magnitude of what has happened, the priests will realize that one of the Messianic miracles will have taken place
They will have no choice but to acknowledge that the Messiah was in their midst
What’s more, the priests will be digging out Scripture to remind themselves of what they do next in response, since it was unprecedented
And as they accomplish the rituals required, they perform a beautiful picture of the atoning sacrifice of Christ for the sake of sin
That’s why Jesus ends His instructions in v.4, saying this will be a testimony to them
This man’s healing was certainly a blessing to him personally, and as such, it was a beautiful display of God’s mercy and grace
But more importantly, the restoration of His body was intended to communicate something far more important to Israel
That a divine Healer had arrived, the One Who had power to heal both the body and the soul
And that He had the power and willingness to make men clean
As a result of this miracle, Mark reports that Jesus could no longer openly enter a city, for fear of the Pharisees
Because as soon as the Pharisees learned of this healing, they traveled down from Jerusalem to investigate the miracle
That was a requirement of rabbinical law, that when a Messianic miracle took place, an investigation must follow to verify the man’s claim to be Messiah
So the question was, would these religious leaders embrace Jesus as Messiah in light of the incontrovertible evidence Jesus was giving them?
But there’s where things get difficult
Because for the priests and scribes to acknowledge Jesus was Messiah, meant they also must concede that their system was bankrupt
Jesus has set Himself against the establishment and its way of teaching, so you couldn’t have it both ways
So if you were a rabbi invested in the current system, you had to make a tough choice
In order to embrace the Messiah and the Kingdom, you had to reject your culture, your system, your livelihood, your own identity
Or you could hold on to your prized position of power and reject Jesus despite His miracles, which meant you must find a way to discredit His claims
Every generation since then has been faced with the same choice…keep the system that rules your life, or reject the world and come to Jesus