I will

“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” (Matthew 7:28–29, ESV-CE)

These are the closing words of the Sermon on the Mount, and moves right in to the section we begin today,

To this point in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has exercised

a ministry of Words with teaching and instruction,

concluding with the Sermon.

Then we have today’s passage:

He came down from the mountain

accompanied by great crowds.

With that, the Gospel starts a new section

The ministry of Deeds,

which begins with today’s account of the healing of the leper;

concluding with the Mission Sermon (Matthew chapter 10).

In that Sermon, Jesus sends his Apostles to extend his mission of Words and Deeds.

But first is the transition

The crowds were astonished that he taught with such authority.

Then, he proceeds to demonstrate that authority with acts of mercy.

Today’s Gospel tells the story of the first of these miracles

Jesus ‘came down from the mountain, followed by great crowds.’

A leper approached

Lord, if you will …

the question is not ‘can you heal me?’, but ‘Will you?’

‘you can make me clean.’ (Lit. you have the power δύνασαί)

a simple declaration of faith

that contains his request:

make me clean.

Jesus responds just as simply

he (1) touched him, (2) saying, I will: θελω I am willing;

be clean.

They both use the same word, to be made clean

In the NT, it’s only used for the cleansing of lepers:

When Jesus uses κᾰθᾰρίζω with lepers, he’s performing an act that transcends medical healing. He’s restoring someone to full participation in Jewish religious and social life—a restoration that θεραπεύω alone couldn’t capture. The leper’s healing demonstrates Jesus’s authority over both disease and the ritual boundaries that governed Israel’s covenant community.

AI generated from Verbum

The healings thus function in exact parallel with the welcome of sinners, and this, we may be quite sure, was what Jesus himself intended. He never performed mighty works simply to impress. He saw them as part of the inauguration of the sovereign and healing rule of Israel’s covenant god.

N. T. Wright

3. Then follow the accounts of ten miracles

a. Over the next two weeks

b. we’ll hear about each of these ten miracles (part of the ministry of Deeds).

c. After them comes the Missionary Sermon

Jesus instructs, empowers and sends out his apostles

so that they can learn to proclaim and heal

extending the reach of Jesus’ ministry

at the same time preparing them to carry on after he is taken up.

The closer we are to Jesus, the more likely it is that he will call us to share in his work of compassion, healing and feeding, bringing his kingdom-work to an ever wider circle.

N. T. Wright

4. You and I have been commissioned to carry on the Apostles’ mission of Words and deeds in Christ’s name:

Through Baptism and Confirmation,

the Eucharist empowers us

renews us, day by day.

and ordination impels us.

May the Holy Spirit enlighten us to the task ahead with clarity, and empower us to exercise humbly the authority Christ has shared with us to proclaim and heal and cleanse all whose hearts open to him.