The Power of the Kingdom: Jesus Over Disease

Matthew 8:1–4 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.”

What is shame?

You are different.

You are rejected.

You are exposed.

You are contaminated.

You are worthless.

You are nothing.

You feel unclean.

You are dirty.

—Sex outside of its intended boundaries. This brings shame.

—Verbally battered people. When you’ve been told you’re worthless for so long you begin to believe it. This brings shame.

—Any rejection, neglect, or demeaning words by someone who is supposed to love you. This brings shame.

—Explosive and unpredictable anger. This brings shame because a person begins to believe they deserve it. This brings shame.

—Losing a job, losing all your money, or being forced to rely on the generosity of others all bring shame.

—Adopted children can feel different from children living with biological parents. Even when their adoptive parents love them well, they can hear the message inside their heads, “You were rejected. Somebody didn’t want you. You are not like everyone else.”

Guilt and shame are similar to one another.

Guilt is like standing in the courtroom before a judge and hearing…

“You’re responsible for your wrongdoing!“

“You’re in the wrong!”

Shame and guilt are different though.

Shame stands in the community that says,

“You don’t belong here!”

“You’re an outcast and there is no place for you here!”

Jesus’ grace has the power to transform you regardless of how unclean, isolated, or dead you are inside when you come in faith.

An important pattern that seems to be different from the other gospels is the way Matthew present his material.

He does not present it in the same way that Mark and Luke do.

The others seem to focus on a chronological approach to the timeline.

But Matthew seems to do something entirely different by focusing on the categories as a whole.

He gives nine different healing events in Matthew 8-9.

Matthew 7:28–29 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Is Jesus really in charge?

Is Jesus really the One who has authority to say, “But I say unto you”?

Who really has the authority?

If He did have authority, how would we know?

The small section (Matthew 8:1-4) gives a good “snap-shot” to consider the larger section from Matthew’s Gospel.

Matthew 8:1 ESV

1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.

After the Sermon on the Mount.

Sermon on the Mount described what life in the new kingdom that He is bringing consists of.

In Matthew 5-7, Jesus seems to be presented in similar terms to Moses.

He is presented the New and Greater Moses.

Jesus gives the laws of this New Kingdom that He is ushering in.

He comes down from the Mountain (Exodus 34:29) where He taught the crowds and began healing diseases.

Jesus stands as the New and Greater law giver that has come to proclaim the way of the kingdom that He is ushering in.

Like Isaiah prophesied, Yahweh would lead the New Exodus out of slavery and the result would be healing (Isaiah 35:5-7).

Yahweh’s glory will appear to the people of Israel like water that flows in the desert to satisfy the thirst of those in a drought.

After the judgment of the nations, Yahweh will bring new life to His people!

The crowds waiting at the bottom of the mountain languishing.

It’s here that we’re not told but we can see that Jesus goes away from Jerusalem because of who He encounters.

A Leper’s Life in Israel

Matthew 8:2 ESV

2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him…

A “leper” is not what we understand as modern day leprosy.

It was a skin disease of some kind that rotted away a person’s flesh while they were living.

Extremely contagious.

A leper’s life meant being ceremonially unclean.

Uncleanness in the OT was not the same as sinfulness.

Uncleanness was thought of more like a scale.

For instance, if you touched a dead body you weren’t sinning.

But you were temporarily unclean.

Uncleanness as a general category meant that a person could be cleansed again by offering the appropriate sacrifices.

If someone touched this leper, they would be “unclean.”

They would need to wash in certain ways to be brought back into the community.

This was a reminder to the people that they could not merely walk into the presence of Yahweh without first being clean.

What did this create for the leper?

A leper’s life was one of isolation and exclusion away from the people.

It meant that he would be relegated to the fringes of society.

It meant that he would be held as “outside the camp.”

To touch him meant that you were now unclean.

It’s hard to make friends when you’re perpetually unclean.

Leviticus 13:45–46 ESV

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.

People abhorred lepers.

They hated them because they made them unclean.

Most Jews actually saw “lepers” as “cursed by God.”

God used leprosy to curse Moses temporarily to show His power.

Exodus 4:6–8 ESV

6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.

Leprosy was something God cured.

Only God had the power to cure it.

Since they were viewed as under a curse the community relegated them to the outskirts.

A leper was considered as good as dead.

“a state of exclusion, a state of living death.” —Peter Leithart

To be a leper meant that you were regarded as the “living dead”

Take one example from the OT.

2 Kings 5:1 ESV

1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

Naaman was a part of an army that raided Israel and took a little servant girl.

The little girl directed Naaman that a prophet in Israel could heal his leprosy.

So the king sends a letter for the king of Israel about their ability to heal a leper.

Notice how the king of Israel responds…

2 Kings 5:7 (ESV)

“Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?”

The king of Israel saw that a cure for leprosy was on par with something only God could do.

It’s only a true prophet of Yahweh that eventually heals Naaman.

This background in Israel’s history is important for a leper.

Where is a leper to find hope of healing?

To cure leprosy was on “par with raising the dead” (R. T. France)

This leper’s only hope was that God could heal him.

This leper is UNCLEAN, ISOLATED, and as good as DEAD.

Where do you place yourself in this story?

Maybe you place yourself as just someone in the crowd?

Matthew 8:2 ESV

2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

A Leper’s Expectation of Jesus by faith.

Here’s a man that was relegated to the fringes of society.

Here’s a man that is unclean.

Here’s a man that is considered like a living dead man.

Yet he comes to Jesus…

Matthew 8:2 ESV

2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

A leper’s expectation in his posture–lowly and contrite.

This leper doesn’t come in pride or position.

He doesn’t come bringing demands.

He comes in needy dependence.

He comes in humility and utter contrition.

He has NO other hope.

He has NO WHERE else to go.

Lynette’s sickness and the lack of answer.

Matthew 8:2 ESV

2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”

A leper’s expectation in principle–Jesus is able.

He doesn’t ask, “If you’re able…” or “If you can…” but, “If you’re willing!”

Hear the faith of man that is an absolute outcast.

Hear the faith of a man who is ostracized within his community.

Now we wonder, was this leper confident?

Was he bold in his expectation that Jesus was able?

Was he weak and timid?

Was he scared and afraid?

We have no idea.

But none of these things matter.

Matthew–Luke Response

The crucial element is

The object here to wonder at is not the leper, its Jesus.

A leper’s expectation in his plea–make me clean!

Hear him coming to the Lord Jesus and asking with humble contrition,

“Make me clean!”

“Cleanse me, if you will!”

This man was very bold to come to Jesus and do this.

There is a neediness from this man.

There is a dependence from him.

Application for Unbelievers

Unbeliever, your sophistication is what keeps you from coming to Christ.

Unbeliever, your “strength” is what keeps you from coming.

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Unbeliever, it’s your ability to “handle it on your own” that keeps you away from Jesus.

He would have needed to believe that Jesus was able, and willing to cleanse him.

Christian with A Shame-Filled Background

Every Christian deals with shame in one way or another.

“Shame is the deep sense that you are unacceptable because of something you did, something done to you, or something associated with you. You feel exposed and humiliated…You are disgraced because you acted less than human, you were treated as if you were less than human, or you were associated with something less than human, and there are witnesses.” —Ed Welch

Christian, can you repeat what this leper says by faith?

“Lord, if you will, you can make me clean?”

Can you say it?

Can you believe it?

The leper should have made Jesus ceremonially “unclean.”

Jesus’ Expanding Kingdom in Power Over Disease.

But what happens when the “unclean” become “clean” by touching the “cleanser”?

My children from time to time like to write on their body with markers.

We tell them not to do for many reasons but one of the reasons is the markers get over everything they touch.

It’s as if a person with pen marks all their face touches someone else with it.

Everyone expects the person touched to have marks.

But the marks disappear.

To touch a leper under the law meant that person would then be “defiled.”

But what happens here is truly remarkable.

Jesus touches the leper and He is not defiled.

The leper is cleansed.

We see Jesus’ power and authority beginning to spread.

His power and authority spreads over all the region.

Matthew 8:3 ESV

3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.”

Jesus cleanses the leper by touching him–“I will, be clean!”

Think about this: it may have been years since this man was touched.

He was repudiated in his context.

He was an outcast if there ever was one.

We show signs of affection all the time.

Hugs to a close friend, hand shakes to acquaintances, and even high-fives to little kids.

But this man only receives cold sneers, bitter refusals, and being passed over.

So don’t miss the wonder of the Lord Jesus reaching out to touch him.

At Jesus’ touch, the unclean become clean.

The defiled are cleansed.

The outcasts are brought near.

Coming to Jesus as an Outcast

From time to time, we feel like out casts.

Less often, we actually are outcasts.

But in Jesus Christ, there are no out casts.

If you come to Jesus as an outcast, You will not find someone who is repulsed by you.

He will NOT echo what everyone else may say in your life.

Everyone else may look at you with disgust.

Everyone else may look at you and react with an “ick!”

But Jesus shows us here with this leper the kind of Savior He is.

He has come to stretch his hand out and touch you.

Christian with A Shame-Filled Background

Do you believe the words of Jesus here for you, Christian?

“I will, be clean!”

It may be easy to believe them for someone else.

But for you today.

Do you believe them?

If you struggle to believe the words of Jesus to this leper today.

“You are giving more authority to your worthlessness than you are to Jesus…you’re essentially saying that Jesus is not telling you the truth. You’re saying that Jesus’ touch is less powerful than even Elisha’s.” —Ed Welch

If Jesus has the authority to cleanse this living dead man.

Than certainly He has the authority to say the same to any manner of uncleanness you bring.

These signs that Jesus is performing only serve to validate the Son of God.

Matthew 8:3 (ESV)

And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Every society has con-men.

Men who sell a false bill of goods.

But Jesus is not like them.

When He acts, there are results.

Jesus speaks to our shame.

When we touch the Lord Jesus, He displaces our uncleanness with purity.

Shame wants to tell us,

“You’re unworthy of anything good!”

“If people really knew you, they wouldn’t love you!”

But Jesus tells us,

“You’re shame has been swallowed up in my death, and I’ve made you clean!”

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus’ grace has the power to transform you regardless of how unclean, isolated, or dead you are inside when you come in faith.

Faith comes to Jesus with outstretched hands to receive cleansing.

Faith brings nothing with it.

Matthew 8:4 (ESV)

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.”

It seems strange that Jesus would tell this man to keep quiet.

But remember that Jesus knew His destiny was the cross.

He did not want news to spread and mobs to come out to Him.

This actually happens at multiple places.

The crowds try to make Him king (John 6:15).

In Mark’s account of the same story, he adds that Jesus is pushed out into the wilderness to avoid the crowds because the man refused to be silent (Mark 1:40-45).

Mark 1:45 ESV

45 But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

The man who was healed spoke openly about Jesus and thus made him an outcast because of the crowds.

Jesus trades places with this leper.

The leper was once an outcast to society but Jesus takes his place.

He heals the leper and becomes an outcast himself.

Matthew 8:4 (ESV)

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.”

Jesus corroborates the healing with the law of God.

Moses commanded in the Leviticus how an unclean person could be made clean again.

He commanded how a person who was “diseased” would be brought back into fellowship with God and the community.

A diseased person did not come to the priest to be healed. (Leviticus 14:2-32)

Rather, they came to witness that healing has happened and the appropriate cleansing that goes along with it.

The cleansing took place in two stages.

(1) Stage one occured with the priest taking two birds outside the camp to see the diseased person and kill one of the birds to represent that person’s disease being removed outside the camp.

The second bird is let go outside the camp to symbolize that person’s freedom to be restored to the camp.

This led to stage two,

(2) where the person was brought back into communion with God inside the camp and sacrifices were made for their cleansing.

The priest’s job was not to bring healing.

The priest’s job was to “attest to the benefits received from God.” (Carson)

The person’s job was to “give an expression of his gratitude.” (Calvin)

Jesus wants the man to go to the priest so that he can confirm that God has truly done a work in this man!

It was the way that healing was authenticated and “official.”

But it was also for the man to acknowledge that God had truly healed him.

The Catholic Church & Spiritual Leprosy

Calvin points out that the Catholic tradition is to understand this as a “spiritual leprosy” which is our “sin.”

The Catholic church will go on to defend that we should go to priests and make “confession” to be “cleansed” as Jesus says.

The priests within the Catholic system then act as though they are similar to OT priests.

Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke Matthew 8:1–4; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 5:12–16

To transfer to another that right, which God has declared to be the prerogative of his own Son, is a detestable sacrilege.

Why would Jesus do this?

Is He trying to keep the law Himself?

It’s not as though Jesus is commending the ordinances of the law here.

Rather, He is using the law to point to Himself as an authentic healer.

The law is acting here as validating the authority that Jesus has to heal lepers.

The priest upon seeing a man healed of leprosy should think…

“Who did this to you!”

“Bring me to the person who did this for you!”

The priests were confronted with the signs of the Messiah.

They would either accept or reject him then.

Jesus’ compassion restores the man fully.

The end of this section hinges upon a fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah.

This leper’s biggest problem wasn’t his leprosy.

His biggest problem was the sin-dominating presence over his whole life.

It wasn’t merely “sickness” that plagued him.

It was a “sin-sickness” that plagued him.

Matthew 8:17 ESV

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

Quoting from Isaiah 53:4-5

Isaiah 53:4–5 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Jesus is coming and doing what Yahweh will do when He comes to bring His people through the New Exodus.

Isaiah 35:5–7 ESV

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Yahweh Himself promises to come and liberate His people from bondage to sin and oppression.

The eyes of the blind will again see, the lame will again walk, and the effects of the fall will begin to be reversed.

When we see Jesus beginning to heal in the gospels, we are seeing the culmination of this prophecy come to full bloom.

What is the way out of shame?

Knowledge that leads to belief.

Belief that leads to trust in Jesus.

Belief that leads to trust in His Words.

Belief that leads to trust in His promises.

Jesus’ grace has the power to transform you regardless of how unclean, isolated, or dead you are inside when you come in faith.