Jesus’s Power Authority Over sickness
INTRODUCTION
RECAP - Jesus is the Messiah (Explain Messiah)
CONTEXT - Who is Jesus? He is God’s Messiah.
SERMON (Three Case studies)
The Leper
Since no one knew how it could be cured and since its effects were so horrible, the only treatment was quarantine. Lepers were not allowed to live in towns or villages, but had to remain outside centers of habitation (Lev. 13:46). They were required to keep their distance from people, and if they happened to approach anyone they were required to call out “Unclean” (Lev. 13:45). Leprosy was not only a terrible disease, but it was defiling; anyone who had it was ceremonially unclean, cut off from the religious and social life of the community
The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that lepers were treated ‘as if they were, in effect, dead men’. Immediately leprosy was diagnosed, the leper was absolutely and completely banished from human society. ‘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’ (Leviticus 13:46). Lepers had to go with torn clothes and dishevelled hair, with a covering upon the upper lip, and, as they went, they had to cry: ‘Unclean, unclean’ (Leviticus 13:45)
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4
Having stretched out his hand, he touched. Under the Law, the touch of a leper was infectious; but as Christ possesses such purity as to repel all filth and defilement, he does not, by touching, either pollute himself with leprosy, or become a transgressor of the law.
Nor did he only stretch out his arm to us, but descended from heaven even to hell, and yet contracted no stain from it, but, retaining his innocence, took away all our impurities, and sprinkled us with his holiness. By his word alone he might have healed the leper; but he applied, at the same time, the touch of his hand, to express the feeling of compassion. Nor ought this to excite our wonder, since he chose to take upon him our flesh, that he might cleanse us from our sins. The stretching out of his hand was therefore an expression and token of infinite grace and goodness. What we indolently read, and coldly pass by, cannot be duly weighed without great astonishment. The Son of God was so far from disdaining to talk to a leper, that he even stretched out his hand to touch that uncleanness.
By his word alone he might have healed the leper; but he applied, at the same time, the touch of his hand, to express the feeling of compassion. Nor ought this to excite our wonder, since he chose to take upon him our flesh, that he might cleanse us from our sins. The stretching out of his hand was therefore an expression and token of infinite grace and goodness. What we indolently read, and coldly pass by, cannot be duly weighed without great astonishment. The Son of God was so far from disdaining to talk to a leper, that he even stretched out his hand to touch that uncleanness.
The Centurion
The Centurion
The Centurion
The Centurion
A commanding officer of up to 100 soldiers.
Even Gentile possessions needed to be purified before they were used by Jews.
rather than being strictly defined as such by the law of Moses. It was ‘unlawful’ (athemitos) in the more general sense of being against their custom. This was especially so because Gentiles did not observe the biblical rules about food. Such defilement would have to be removed by following the provisions of the law for cleansing
Even Gentile possessions needed to be purified before they were used by Jews.
Third, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law despite conventional taboos based on gender uncleanness (vv. 14–15).
The Woman With A Fever (Peters Mother in Law)
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
Women did not hold a high position in Israel, and it is doubtful that a Pharisee would have paid much attention to the need in Peter’s home. Jesus healed her with a touch, and she responded by serving Him and the other men.
In the regions where the Jordan River entered and left the Sea of Galilee, there was marshy ground; there the malarial mosquitoes bred and flourished, and both Capernaum and Tiberias were areas where malaria was very prevalent. It was often accompanied by jaundice and shivering, and was a most wretched and miserable experience for the sufferer from it. It was most likely malaria from which Peter’s wife’s mother was suffering.
Women did not hold a high position in Israel, and it is doubtful that a Pharisee would have paid much attention to the need in Peter’s home. Jesus healed her with a touch, and she responded by serving Him and the other men.
Here there was no publicity, here there was no crowd to look and to admire and to be astonished. Here there was only a simple cottage and a poor woman suffering from a common fever. And yet in those circumstances Jesus put forth all his power.
That is a terrible parable of how the gifts of Christ and the mercy of God are used. Peter’s wife’s mother used the gift of her restored health to serve Jesus and to serve others. That is the way in which we should use every gift of God.
This seems like a “minor miracle,” but the results were major; for after sundown (when the Sabbath ended), the whole city gathered at the door that the Lord might meet their needs (Mark 1:32–34
In the time of Jesus, many considered fever an illness in and of itself and not simply a symptom of a disease. It also had more theological significance since, according to Leviticus 26:16 and Deuteronomy 28:22, it was a punishment sent by God to those who violated the covenant. Because of Deuteronomy 28:22, some considered fever to be a divine chastisement curable only by the intervention of God. In a later rabbinic tradition a rabbi pronounces:
Greater is the miracle wrought for the sick than for Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. [For] that of Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah [concerned] a fire kindled by man, which all can extinguish; whilst that of a sick person is [in connection with] a heavenly fire, and who can extinguish that?
The implied answer is that no one can extinguish it except God.
In this incident, Jesus goes to Peter’s mother-in-law and raises her up by seizing her hand, and the fever forsakes her. The translation “the fever left her”
Such menial service does not suggest her insignificance; on the contrary, the angels offered Jesus the same service in the desert (1:13). Serving is also a characteristic of discipleship, which Jesus tries to get across with some difficulty to his disciples (9:35; 10:41–45). Jesus’ female followers seem to grasp the need to give themselves in service to others more quickly than the male followers. Mark describes the women who saw his death from afar as those who “had followed him [in Galilee] and served him” (15:41; “cared for his needs,” NIV). This miracle reveals that God heals so that one may better serve.