The Miracles of Jesus
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:20
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Introduction
Introduction
Miracles are a prominent feature of Jesus’ ministry
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them.
Why?
Proof of divinity
Acts 2:22
Mark 2:10-12
Other people are impressive, but nobody is as impressive as God
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.
Signs
11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
These signs communicate something about God
Consider the types of miracles
Exorcisms - power over Satan and demons
Feeding Miracles - Connect Jesus to Passover and the new exodus he’s leading
Walking on water - demonstration of something only God could do
By far, the most common type of miracle is healing - 17/35 of them
Healing Miracles
Healing Miracles
Three healing miracles in Matthew 8
Cleanses a leper
Heals the centurions servant
Heals Peter’s mother-in-law
Matthew tells us why Jesus is healing
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Another fulfillment passage: Isaiah 53:4
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
Matthew is quoting from a Greek translation
ESV translates directly form the Hebrew
Remember: to fulfill is not merely to do what Isaiah said, but to do it in a bigger and better way
The virgin birth in Isaiah signaled the defeat of Syria
The virgin birth of Jesus signaled the defeat of sin
Isaiah 53 in Context
Isaiah 53 in Context
Starts all the way in Isaiah 52, describing God bringing his people out of Babylonian captivity
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the Lord to Zion.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
He does this through a Servant that is shockingly disfigured
13 Look, my servant will succeed!
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted—
14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you)
he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;
15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human—
so now he will startle many nations.
Kings will be shocked by his exaltation,
for they will witness something unannounced to them,
and they will understand something they had not heard about.
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He is disfigured for the sake of God’s people
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.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Sickness As An Image of Sin
Sickness As An Image of Sin
Notice the parallel that Matthew sees
Sickness is an image of sin
He takes on all of it and bears it himself
So what does Matthew see when Jesus heals a person?
Illustration: Cancer
You can’t see cancer without tests
We can’t always see our guilt, but we might feel something is off
Likewise, we can’t see our remission
Nor can we see our forgiveness
Jesus proves he can heal our soul by healing bodies
Jesus is making people fit to stand in God’s presence
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”
Just like a sacrificial animal - only the best and complete can be offered to God
Holiness of conduct was to be physically represented
Sin broke the world in many ways
Spiritually broken as we rebel against God
World is broken as it suffers from the curse
Physically broken as we live in a world marred by death
No, that does not mean you’re sick because you sinned - it means we all suffer from a broken world
Why Did Jesus Heal These People?
Why Did Jesus Heal These People?
16 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.
Why did Matthew chose these three stories specifically?
He could have chosen from many others
Matthew wanted to see these three together to make a point
Mark arranges these stories differently
Peter’s MIL | Mark 1:30-31
Preaches in Galilee
No centurion
Cleanses a leper | Mark 1:40-45
Paralytic through the roof
Calls Matthew
Luke’s arrangement
Peter’s MIL | Luke 4:38-39
Preaches in Galilee, similar to Mark
Calls his first disciples (great catch of fish)
Leper | Luke 5:12-16
Heals paralytic
Calls Matthew
Questions of fasting
Sabbath Controversies
Heals a man with w withered hand
Sermon on the Plain
Centurion’s Servant | Luke 7:1-10
Outcasts of Society
Outcasts of Society
Lepers
Ritually unclean
Social outcast
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.
Viewed with suspicion
Gehazi 2 Kings 5:27
Uzziah 2 Chron 26:20
Miriam Numbers 12:10
Joab 2 Sam 3:29
Covenantal Curse Deut 28:27
The man doesn’t ask if Jesus can heal, but if he’s willing
His cleansing brings him back into the community
The Centurion
Gentile
Rome was the occupying force in Israel
He wasn’t just a Roman, he was a leader of the soldiers doing all of the oppressing
Now he’s said to join Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven
Peter’s Mother-in-Law
This is the only miracle in Matthew where Jesus isn’t asked to heal somebody
Mark and Luke mention that the disciples did ask
Maybe Matthew is emphasizing how often women have been overlooked and thought unworthy of care and attention
Matthew’s Point:
I can heal every disease
I can forgive any sin
Yes, even those sins
I can bring even those people into the presence of God
Jesus is expanding the our views of who can be healed, forgiven, and made whole by Jesus
This point is made more clear in his conversation with the Centurion
From East and West
From East and West
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.”
East and west is more than descriptive of where people come from
Alluding to Psalm 107
Luke has Jesus saying this in another context where north and south are added
Look at all the places God gather his redeemed
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
doing business on the great waters;
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their evil plight;
28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
