Our Griefs He Bore
Notes
Transcript
1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
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Introduction
There’s a certain kind of blessing that provides momentary provision, and there’s another kind of blessing that provides a lasting position. (Momentary provision and lasting position) I don’t know about you, but I naturally think of blessings in the momentary sense. When we sit down to dinner we thank God for the food on our plates, the roof over our head, or the good health we’ve been given. It’s good and right that we thank God for those things. Jesus in the text addresses some very real momentary needs. Jesus has just finished teaching his disciples not to worry about such things, but there’s more to each of these blessings if we look closely. It’s more than just momentary provision. Each of these desperate characters in the narrative are welcomed into a new position in the kingdom of heaven. The blessing they find in Jesus is more than just relief from their physical ailments, it’s the reception of a position of honor in the kingdom of heaven.
The question remains, how does one acquire this blessed position of honor in the kingdom?
From a worldly perspective you might expect the kingdom of heaven to be trying to fill those positions of honor with honorable people. For those who hold positions of prominence and prestige in the world, perhaps they can make a sort of lateral move into the kingdom of heaven. The extraordinary thing about this narrative is that the trio of people Jesus extends positions of blessing and honor have almost nothing in common. If you put these three characters in a room together, you likely wouldn’t see a room full of prime candidates for positions of honor in the kingdom. In fact it’s quite the opposite. Can you imagine the leper shaking the hand of a centurion and hitting it off like two successful businessmen about to land their dream jobs? No way. Imagine Peter’s mother-in-law having the local centurion over for dinner. That’s not happening. Maybe the leper and the Peter’s mother-in-law have their Jewish heritage in common, but the leper is unclean and relegated to stay outside the camp. What is it that these three have in common?
They’re all desperate! Let’s just start there. The first two come to Jesus absolutely desperate. They have nowhere else to go. The last Jesus finds laying in her bed with a fever. They’re all patients in the emergency room desperate for a doctor, but it’s not their desperation that gives them that position of honor.. it’s Jesus. That’s what unites them. That’s what unites us as a church. We’re all desperate people from every walk of life, but we’re all gathered together in this place because we all found the doctor. In truth, it’s more appropriate to say, the doctor found us! These three characters in this story begin to give us a picture of the kingdom, a picture of Christ’s church that He’s going to build. It’s a gathering defined not by the honor or prestige we bring to the table, but rather a gathering of people graciously given positions of honor at our Savior’s table.
Jesus takes upon Himself the burden of sin of those who are least that they would be given positions of honor in the kingdom.
Jesus takes upon Himself the burden of sin of those who are least that they would be given positions of honor in the kingdom.
The unclean made clean for a testimony
The foreigner welcomed to the table for fellowship
The sick relieved of their burden for service
The unclean made clean for a testimony
The unclean made clean for a testimony
Jesus has just finished his teaching on the mountain, and is making His way down with crowds following when he comes across a leper. This leper is right where you’d expect him to be. He’s in the countryside away from civilization where the unclean are supposed to be. Since the time of Moses, lepers were expected to live outside the camp to ensure no one else would be made unclean - and no one else would contract their illness.
45 “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 “He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
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It’s important to note from the beginning that in the Levitical law and in broader Jewish culture there’s a close association between uncleanness and sin. This leper not only suffered from the stigma of being a leper, but he likely also suffered from glances with unspoken questions behind them: “What did you do to deserve that?”
In the time of Moses, God was using the law to teach His people about sin. From the ten commandments to the levitical washings and purification rituals it was all pointing to something deeper. These men were to go outside the camp for medical reasons and for the common good, but it’s a picture of how we treat sin. Open sin has a corrupting affect that must be treated with a certain seriousness for the good of the community, and if someone is to come back into the community having been cleansed a sacrifice of atonement was to be made.
Unfortunately the culture during Jesus’ day took this a little too far. They missed the larger lesson God was teaching in the law and presumed that cases of illness or debilitation correlated directly to that person’s sin. We see an example of this with the blind man in John 9.
Jesus sees a blind man who was blind from birth, and his own disciples ask this striking question that gives us a glimpse into the culture of the time.
2 And His disciples asked Him [Jesus] , “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”
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I take the time here because this scene in Matthew is absolutely packed with an underlying tension.
Firstly, if you were a leper - you’ve been living largely in isolation for some time and you see a crowd coming down from a mountain - would you place yourself at the front of this crowd of people to speak with Jesus? You know you’re supposed to distance yourself from people because you’re a leper. You know what so many people think when they look at you. Who would subject themselves to that kind of scrutiny? Who would have the boldness to stop an entire crowd in their tracks, be scrutinized as a sinner by the whole of them in order to ask a question of Jesus?
When we really set the scene, we can see this man’s utter desperation and the boldness of his faith all in one simple question.
2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
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Just as a side note, it’s important to always include surrounding teaching in the interpretation of gospel narrative. Very often the gospel writers will show us Jesus’ teaching lived out in the narrative particularly in Matthew. I believe Matthew’s doing that very thing here.
Does this man’s request have bit of an echo to you? We’ve seen this before. It’s almost like this man was in the back pew during Jesus’ sermon.
Firstly, he has the faith to believe that this Jesus might bring him some kind of momentary provision and bless him.
Secondly, he comes to Jesus in the way Jesus taught his disciples to pray.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done.” He appeals to the will of Jesus. He calls Him Lord.
Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our sins.”
This desperate leper pleads, “You can make me clean.” Again, cleanliness and sin go hand in hand in the Jewish mind.
David’s prayer in Psalm 51 joins the two explicitly.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
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This is an unheard of request! Not even the priests can make a man clean, they only approve what is already clean. This many is praying for a miracle and nothing less. If you’re a disciple watching from the sidelines, there is no category for what is playing out before your eyes... and yet it’s truly a beautiful picture of the repentant coming to faith. It’s a wonderful picture of the Christian heart.
Utter desperation knowing our condition
A fear of God that supersedes any fear of man
A posture of worship
Faith in the power and provision of Christ to bless
A prayer for a miraculous provision
A longing to be clean
In God’s gracious sovereignty he put the most perfect picture of what Jesus had just taught right before the eyes of all of his disciples and followers. There’s no theorizing necessary. “So what does it look for someone to ask and receive, to seek and find, to knock and the door to be opened?” This is it! This man with his desperate plea of faith, that’s what you’ve been called to. What likely would have been detestable in the eyes of the disciples was in truth the example they were to follow, and Jesus makes that very apparent.
If everything that’s happened so far isn’t shocking look what Jesus does and says.
3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
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You ever see a child reach out to touch something hot and your instinct kicks in and you grab their arm so they don’t hurt themselves. We can only imagine of course, but from what we know, you can imagine that kind of instinct kicking in in the minds of Jesus’ disciples. No one touches what is unclean! No one touches a leper for risk of contracting whatever disease they have. As Jesus is reaching out his hand, I can’t help but wonder how many bystanders are thinking, “What is he doing?!?! Don’t touch him!”
In what everyone understood to be an act of taking upon Himself the uncleanness of the leper Jesus touched the man and healed him with a word.
“I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
With divine authority Jesus fulfills His Word. He who asked received. The one who sought the Savior found real blessing. The leper who was an outcast knocked and found an open door.
This man’s life has been utterly changed for the better. It is a momentary blessing of healing, but in that more lasting sense he’s been welcomed back into society. Once again he can enjoy the fellowship of the people of God. He’s gained a lasting position in just being made clean, but Jesus goes further.
4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
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You’ll see this call multiple times throughout Jesus’ ministry. “Tell no one.” Jesus says. Jesus isn’t interested in gathering a massive following and attention like the Pharisees, he’s interested in making disciples. He’s interested in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and you’ll see this man is given a very particular mission to that end. Jesus directs this man to do as the Levitical law prescribes. Go to the priests that they may inspect you and declare you clean.
If you have a particularly specialized job you might need a medical waiver to do your work. If you’re a pilot you go to the doctor to make sure your eyes are working so you can fly the plane.
Since the time of Moses the priests provided a kind of medical waiver to those who were once unclean, that formally welcomed them back into the community.
Jesus tells this man to go get his medical waiver of sorts, but his final words are most important, “as a testimony to them.”
You can also read this, “as a witness to them.”
This man hasn’t only been given a position in society again, he’s been tasked to be a witness to the priesthood of Jerusalem! If that isn’t a position of honor I don’t know what is?
In essence, “Go tell the priesthood what Jesus has done for you.”
If you’re a priest during that time you’re very literally the expert in town on cleanliness and purity. It’s your job to determine what is clean and what is not. It’s your job to perform sacrifices and washing in order to atone for sin and make things clean, and here comes this leper. “I’m clean! Yesterday I was a leper and Jesus made me clean. Look, not a spot.” As these priests proceed through that ritual which Moses prescribed it actively provides affirmation to the miraculous provision of Jesus. The law is testifying to the Messiah who cleanses right before the eyes of the priesthood.
This bold witness in the most respectable of places before the most of honored among men is accomplished through a humble outcast made clean by the authority of God.
For us here this morning I hope we might be encouraged by God’s ability to turn outcasts into witnesses. The most effective witnesses are those who began desperate and empty - ready to be filled by all that God can provide. It’s from that fullness and blessing they find in Jesus that they come to bear witness to the glory of God in Christ. They didn’t bring anything to the table. They have nothing else to boast about as Paul says. Don’t discount what God might be able to do with you if we should come to him like this leper has. If I may go back to that list that describes the heart of a Christian, the heart which receives this honorable position.
Utter desperation that comes needy.
Fear of God that fears no man.
A posture of worship.
Faith in the power of Jesus to bless us.
Prayer for miraculous provision.
A longing to be clean.
There’s a righteousness that reaches the depths of the heart in this leper’s example - we do well to follow it, and if we do God will indeed grant us the honor of being His witnesses.
...
This narrative is truly a rollercoaster. We come to another unlikely figure coming desperate before Jesus.
The foreigner will be welcomed to the table for fellowship
The foreigner will be welcomed to the table for fellowship
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
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Let’s begin with the who. Who is this centurion? Firstly, a centurion is someone of substantial military position. They’re highly respected by those beneath them for their years of service and valor and also highly trusted by those above them. They’re extremely competent, and they demand the respect of those who follow them. They also only answer to a select few.
Now for this particular centurion, Luke tells us he’s also well respected by the Jewish leaders in the community! He’s a God fearing man who funded the building of the local synagogue.
Totally different background from our leper, and yet we find them both knocking on the same door if you will. Both desperate. Both humble.
Even this centurion who commands dozens of men, humbles himself before this Jewish carpenter, and addresses Him as, “Lord...”
Even this foreigner recognizes the authority of God in the person of Jesus and submits himself to him like any servant would with a desperate plea.
He implored Him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented...”
and when Jesus offers to come, he recognizes a problem.
This centurion who carries all this respect and honor in his community much like the Pharisees long for with their outward displays of righteousness - this centurion proves different. He does not see Himself worthy of the Lord’s presence because look at the synagogue he built. Look what I’ve done for the kingdom. No
He sees Himself before God... not in comparison man. He knows His heart.
8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
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Again, an example standing right before all of Jesus’ followers. This man has judged Himself as God would judge. He has not listened to the judgement of men. He does not see Himself as deserving because of His position.
He proves Himself unlike those false prophets who use the name of Jesus to accomplish their own will. He’s proven to be like John the Baptist who considered Himself unworthy to untie the master’s sandal. He is not using his position for his own gain, he’s very literally humbled Himself before Jesus crying Lord, Lord (twice now) that his servant may receive the benefits of Christ. All the while acknowledging his own unworthiness.
There’s a great example for us to follow here, particularly myself actually: No matter what position of authority or means we find ourselves in in this life we knock at the same door as the lepers, and we ought to do so for the good of those in our care.
As life goes on we might gain some respect from people. We might acquire wealth. We may acquire authority. We may even be excellent stewards of all that we’ve been entrusted, but that doesn’t give us any more worth than the leper who has nothing. We come with the same humility, the same fear of God, the same desperation, the same posture of service, the same need for God to work miracles in our own lives and those around us.
For the dad’s in the room, come to God for the sake of your kids like this centurion comes to Jesus for the sake of his servant. Do it often.
For Steve, Jeremiah and myself, I believe there’s an example for the shepherd here. We can be faithful stewards of all the means God has given to us, and be respected among the congregation, but we need God to work at the end of the day. We come to our Savior not with our worth, but rather the position that God has graciously given us for the sake of Christ. We don’t deserve it. And that goes for everyone in the room.
And for all of us in the room who are faithful stewards coming desperate to our Lord and Savior we can rely on the authority of Jesus to work on our behalf this very day! He sits on the throne of heaven.
Might we have the faith of this centurion in our prayers today.
He says, “just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
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This centurion is looking more and more like a pastor every minute. He’s got good illustrations too!
He appeals to the plain just like Jesus does in his teaching. “If I can tell this man to go, surely You can command my servant to be healed.” Now let’s just pause and recognize the extraordinary jump that is. He’s openly putting Jesus’ authority in the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the miraculous. Again, the centurion is openly asking for miracles like the leper did. He expects it. It’s plain to him. It’s plain to him that the authority of Jesus is absolute! The words that spoke creation into existence are more than capable of healing the paralyzed.
Most importantly here are Jesus’ words and the lasting position he offers this man of faith.
10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
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What’s the linchpin here? What’s the means by which the people of God are welcomed into that lasting position? What’s the posture of the heart that welcomes people from east and west into fellowship with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven? It’s faith!
Jesus looks around at the people of Israel who ought to be the example of faith and makes it known to everyone, this foreigner is your example. I haven’t seen anyone like him in all of Israel. And he goes one step further, there are those in Israel who will be cast out because they did not have the faith of the foreigner. - they did not have the faith of Abraham.
Talk about a humbling reality check for Jesus’ followers. For those who may have thought they belonged at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they were citizens of Israel, that simply is not the case! No heritage, no citizenship grants one a place of fellowship with the saints and their Savior. It’s faith! People from every nation, tribe, and tongue who look to Jesus in faith for their righteousness and blessing, it’s these who will be granted that lasting position of honor.
In the words of the writer of Hebrews: It’s those who come to God, believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him who are pleasing in the eyes of God. This centurion is the epitome of what the letter to the Hebrews speaks of when it describes faith. He comes to Jesus firstly, He believes He is God, He expects of Him what only God can do, and He seeks a reward and yet even that is not for himself.
Jesus makes it clear to everyone in response, “This is pleasing to God” This man belongs in the kingdom of heaven. He belongs just as much as all the disciples who would look to Jesus in faith.
I’ve had the opportunity to spend a little time overseas during my time in college and seminary, and as much as I truly enjoy travelling, sometimes it can be really difficult being the foreigner. Multiple times, I’ve found myself having absolutely nothing in common with the people around me, and I wonder how I would survive without an interpreter. As humbling as it was, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, because it was when I went to church with those people who I had nothing in common with on the outside that I realized, these are my brothers and sisters. I had the privilege to preach at a church in Guatemala one Sunday, and as much as I needed an interpreter, it was so encouraging to me.. to encourage brothers and sisters with the gospel on Sunday. I couldn’t even carry on a conversation with most of them. I couldn’t understand all the words they were singing (My Spanish isn’t that good) , but it was evident, we all share the same faith. As much we had nothing in common on the outside we had everything in common in the gospel. We all recognized that we would be nothing but foreigners and outcasts if it weren’t for Jesus being cast out and crucified for us. We all shared a common hope in the position of honor we would have with Christ in glory.
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Odds are a lot of people here this morning have never been abroad and never will. That’s totally fine. Nevertheless, it’s worth considering what it’s like to be the foreigner. Consider what it’s like for a moment to not belong to the people around you. We might naturally gravitate to certain things we have in common that give us the comfort, “I belong here.” , but in truth none of us belong here. Apart from Jesus becoming despised and forsaken of men as Isaiah says, Apart from Jesus becoming despised and rejected, treated like a stranger and an exile, Apart from the burdens he bore for us we don’t belong here. It’s only because we have set our faith in our dying and rejected Savior that we can say, “I belong here, I’m a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.” I belong at the table. It’s not of anything found in us, it’s because He who deserved to be at the table more than anyone, the Master of the house belongs at the table, and yet He became an outcast that we might be given that position of honor at the table. That’s why we belong.
Knowing why we belong, we have a duty to make sure other people know it as well. Might we take it upon ourselves as Christ did to let everyone know that the foreigner and the stranger who believe belong to the fellowship of the saints. It’s more than just the foreigner though, it’s all those who may think they don’t belong here because they don’t have everything in common with us. Maybe they have a different upbringing, maybe they have a different vocation, maybe they’re in a different season of life, maybe they’re Michigan fans... If they share the same faith we do, they belong at the table. Let’s make it a priority to assure them of that fact. Let’s not wait for Jesus to come back to invite us all to the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Maybe we can use our own dinner tables to extend that gospel fellowship to those who may not have everything in common with us. It’s a beautiful picture of heaven and a testimony to the common faith we share. Find someone who may not feel they belong, and invite them to your table.
Matthew finishes this section with one more unexpected character:
The sick will be relived of their burden for service
The sick will be relived of their burden for service
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.
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Sometimes the gospels puts desperation into words, and sometimes there aren’t any words at all. There’s no dialogue here. There’s no plea. There’s no asking or knocking per se, and yet that doesn’t keep Jesus from meeting her needs in that moment. “He knows our needs before we ask.” We are called to pray! We know prayer is effective, and God uses prayer for His glory and our good, but prayer is not a limitation to God. As much as the two previous characters provide extraordinary examples for Jesus’ disciples I believe Peter’s Mother - in -law is intended to point us to Jesus first. Before there’s any kind of extraordinary example to be followed there’s the extraordinary power and grace of God. When God’s people are absolutely helpless, perhaps even wandering as sheep do, the Shepherd is faithful! The good Shepherd will go after the sick and the wandering even when they don’t call to him. After all, didn’t He call us out of darkness and death into his marvelous light. Lazarus made no prayer from the tomb, and yet Jesus rose him from the dead. Peter’s mother-in-law made no cry for help, There’s no evidence Peter made a plea like that of the centurion, and yet the sovereign grace of Jesus was sufficient for him to see, to come, and to heal the helpless and the wanderer.
I want to be clear, there’s no evidence here that Peter’s mother-in-law was wandering or sinful in any way, but much like the leper, God has used physical illness to teach Israel about sin for hundreds of years.
As Leviticus is coming to a close God is providing Israel with a summary of the blessings if they obey and the curses should they disobey, and he says this.
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.
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When Jesus comes to address a fever, he’s providing his disciples a picture of what it looks like for God to graciously address the sins of His people. I can’t help but notice that Jesus is providing a picture to Peter in his own home of what He would eventually do for Peter... Peter would come to deny His Savior three times, and winds up running away in fear and shame for what he had done. Jesus went to the cross for Peter’s sin to bear the shame that he deserved. After rising from the dead, He appeared before Peter and the other disciples as the good Shepherd going to scattered sheep declaring, “Peace.” None of them deserved it. None of them asked for it, and yet he came with the assurance, “Peace.” Their sin had been done away with. Their sickness was no more.
After the sickness has been graciously dealt with you’ll see in both cases the position of honor which the sheep receive.
What does Peter’s mother-in-law do?
“She got up and waited on Him.”
The power and grace of God in Christ not only heals, it equips for an honorable service!
I’m sure she did not realize it at the moment, but she was proving to be an example of the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
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To serve Christ Himself, there is no greater position of honor! Those dressed in white in heaven having endured the great tribulation are given the honor of serving God night and day in His temple. (Revelation 7:15)
Peter’s given a similar call to service before Jesus ascends into heaven.
Jesus calls him to the same work of the shepherd which Peter has benefited from, “Feed my sheep” Jesus says. Serve the shepherd in caring for His sheep.
Peter and Jesus’ disciples would get there eventually, but at this point in the narrative they would have done well to take after the example of Peter’s mother-in-law. They were all just as desperate apart from Jesus. They were all just as dependent on the sovereign grace of God to attain that honorable position - that position of service... In the end Peter was outdone by his mother-in-law. She may not have realized it, but she found that position of honor before Peter did.
For us here this morning, the sooner we recognize our desperate need for the sovereign grace of God in our lives, the sooner we’ll find ourselves in that position of fruitful service, honorable and pleasing to God. The two go hand in hand. This whole text, every character here bears witness to that reality. If we are going to be faithful witnesses, if we are going be a blessing to our brothers and sisters and our families, if we’re going to serve our Lord with the humility He intended, we must acknowledge our desperate need for Him for apart from Him we can do nothing.
Apart from Him we are still unclean.
Apart from Him we don’t belong.
Apart from Him we’re still sick with the curse of sin.
The closing verses of this section are really the culmination of this entire passage. All of these characters in all their desperation are pointing to the work which Christ will accomplish on our behalf.
16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
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What Matthew has been doing in the narrative he makes really plain in the description of Jesus’ broader ministry and the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus continues to go around delivering people from the domain of darkness and the maladies of a broken world. With divine authority He casts out demons and heals the sick. The influence of the devil and every kind of illness that plagues humanity find their origin in the curse of sin all the way back in the garden of Eden, and here Jesus addresses both. He’s addressing the curse of sin. That’s what he’s come to do, and Matthew makes that explicit with this reference from Isaiah 53.
“He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
You might be more familiar with the translation, “Our Griefs He Bore.”
If you would turn back to Isaiah 53 it’s apparent Jesus did not come to die to merely relieve of us illness or disease.
Perhaps you can see our three characters in this passage.
3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
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This is our hope in the midst of our desperation. This is the epitome of the grace of God for us. He’s taken upon Himself the curse of sin which we deserved that we might know His grace. The chastening for our well-being fell up on Him, and by His scourging we are healed. Though we were wandering and going our own way, He took the curse of sin upon Himself.
At the end of the day the position of honor we’ve been given in the kingdom, is only possible because of the sacrifice Christ has made for us. In our desperation our glorious Savior took our shame, took our sin, was smitten of God, and afflicted for us.
Knowing what Christ has accomplished on our behalf, let’s not hesitate to take on the honorable position we’ve been given.
Let’s be witnesses of the cross of Christ.
Let’s readily invite our brothers and sisters as different as they may be to fellowship with us.
Let’s readily serve one another in service of our King who died for us.
Let’s Pray.
Michael and Ram Edwards - Luke
Thank you for how you’ve provided and blessed them in recent months in giving them Luke. Would you continue to provide for them and bless them. In the abundance of your provision for them use them as your witnesses in the workplace. Equip them that they would be fruitful as the serve in this season.
To Every Tribe Ministries - Missions in Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, and Southeast Asia.
