Part 27 | Jesus Heals Many

Matthew 8:14–17 (ESV)

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 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. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

There is an ancient philosophy called Epicureanism that was founded in Athens, by a philosopher named Epicurus.

It is a worldview that allows for the existence of God or gods, but insists they are not involved in our world, nor are we involved in theirs.

In the ancient world, there was a great fear of displeasing the gods, but Epicurus argued that people should not be anxious about their behavior, because the gods are detached from our world.

There are many people today—even within the church—who hold to some modern version of this ancient philosophy.

It’s like, I believe in God—but He is too busy to be burdened with my personal needs. So, God exists, but He is detached from our world.

What we find in Matthew, chapters 8 and 9, crushes the Epicurean worldview. We see that God is involved in our world and He is quite concerned with our personal needs and issues.

In chapters 8 and 9 Matthew records miracle after miracle—where Jesus takes time to minister to the spiritual and physical needs of others.

Everyone of us in this room have some need—be it spiritual, physical, relational, or emotional—and my hope today is that our text will remind you that you can cast your cares upon the Lord, because He cares for you.

I have broken the passage down into two main points:

The Benevolence of Jesus (His desire to help those in need).

The Efficacy of Jesus (His ability to meet those needs)

I. The Benevolence of Jesus

When one reads through the Gospel Accounts of Jesus’ earthly ministry, it is clear that the God we serve is anything but aloof or detached from the needs of people.

Throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we read about miracle after miracle—healing after healing—deliverance after deliverance. And the miracles are saturated with the tenderness and love that the Lord has for his people (seen ultimately in his sacrificial death). In Matthew’s Gospel alone, let’s consider some of the occasions where he points out that Jesus was moved by the needs of the people:

Matthew 9:36 (ESV)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 14:14 (ESV)

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Matthew 15:32 (ESV)

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”

Do you see a pattern? Our Lord is compassionate! He cares about the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of people.

Our text for today, states that many who were sick and oppressed are brought to Jesus—and He miraculously ministers to them all. So, with multitudes of people being healed, “why does Matthew give the details of the three particular miracles in chapter 8?”.

Let’s just quickly review the accounts described so far in chapter 8:

In verses 1-4, Jesus heals a leper and restores him to His community.

In verses 5-13, He heals the servant of a Roman centurion.

And now—in verses 14-17, He heals a Jewish woman.

Well, to understand the significance of these accounts, we must consider a bit of historical context:

In ancient Judaism:

(1) Lepers were considered ceremonially unclean, and were considered outcasts—destined to live in isolation from the religious community.

(2) Gentiles were considered “unclean”

(3) Women were often marginalized

It was common for many male Jews to pray the following prayer each morning: “Lord, I thank Thee that I was not born a slave, a Gentile, or a woman.”

Remember, Matthew is writing his gospel account, primarily for Jews. By showing that Jesus heals an unclean leper, heals a Gentile slave, and heals a Jewish woman, he is showing his audience that Jesus breaks the barriers of uncleanness, ethnicity, and gender. Christ came to offer the Kingdom of God to all who would receive Him.

Galatians 3:28 (ESV)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

As we consider the benevolence of Christ, it is clear that Gender, race, social status, or ethnicity have no advantage of disadvantage when it comes to his message or his miracles. He is no respecter of persons.

Today, we should celebrate that—through Jesus—we are all welcomed into God’s Kingdom. Your race, your social class, or your gender. hold no weight—positively or negatively—when it comes to salvation. The invitation to be part of the family of God is given to all who would come humbly by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I would add also that as a church we must follow in Christ’s footsteps—welcoming and ministering to people of all races, social classes, and both genders. Racism, misogyny, or the preferential treatment of certain classes of people has no place in the Lord’s church.

II. The Efficacy of Jesus

Jesus has the power to bring about what He desires to accomplish.

Matthew 8:14–16 (ESV)

And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 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.

Have you every really cared about someone’s situation, but feel powerless to help them? It’s like you don’t have the time, the resources, the knowledge, or the power to truly meet their needs.

My wife and I —this past week— were discussing two dear children who are living in less than desirable circumstances. We deeply care about their welfare.

Yet, caring about them doesn’t do them much good. Of course, we can pray (which is immensely effective), but beyond that—its like— we do not have the power or authority to really help them like we wish. The power belongs to the parents and to the state—neither of which seem to be doing much.

In Matthew 8 and 9, we see Jesus has the desire to help people—to heal, to deliver, and to forgive. But His benevolence means little if He doesn’t have the power to back up those desires.

So the wonderful news is this: the Lord has the power and authority to actually meet the needs of others, according to His perfect will.

There are some who believe that God is caring and willing to help them in their time of need…but feel like he is incapable of actually helping them.

Others believe God has the power to do anything, yet He is unconcerned with the affairs of this life.

What we see in the Bible, though, is that God is compassionate AND he has the power to meet our needs!

________________________________________________________

What is the purpose of these miracles that Jesus does during His earthly ministry?

On one level, it is compassion.

But the ultimate purpose of the miracles during Jesus earthly ministry goes beyond compassion. Matthew gives us the ultimate “why” for these miracles.

Matthew 8:17 (ESV)

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

Here, Matthew quotes Isaiah 53:4

Isaiah 53:4 (ESV)

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53 is a prophecy about the Messiah who would come and bear the sins of God’s people.

Isaiah 53:5–7 (ESV)

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.

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.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:11 (ESV)

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

The prophecy is about the Messiah who would come and suffer, ultimately bearing the sins of His people. And the result (as seen in verse 11), is that many would be accounted righteous because of His sacrifice.

We know from the NT, that this is precisely what Jesus accomplished at the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

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

Through Jesus Christ—we who are unrighteous can be made righteous through the one who gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

The picture that Matthew has been painting for His Jewish audience—by recording the genealogy of Jesus, the message of Jesus, and the miracles of Jesus— is that Jesus is Israel’s long awaited Messiah. He is the Christ!

Anybody can claim to be the Christ, God’s anointed one. But the fact that Jesus is healing and delivering people from demonic oppression shows that He is—in fact—the Christ.

Anybody can claim to be a musician, or a web designer, or a plumber, or anything for that matter, but—as they say— the proof is in the pudding.

Before you higher a contractor, you want to hear testimonies of previous clients and see the work of previous jobs. You say you want me to take your word that you are a contractor? Its like no! Before you start tearing into my house, I want the proof that you can do what you claim you can do.

Matthew wants his audience to see that the idea that Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ) is more than a claim—Jesus demonstrates the power to back up that claim.

So, what do we do with this “healing ministry” of Jesus? How does it apply to us today?

Let me make two points here—one positive and one negative.

(1) Jesus still heals and delivers today.

There are some who would argue that the miracles we read about in the Gospels are no longer for today.

I do not think this is true. After Jesus’ ascension, there are numerous accounts of healings that take place as recorded in the New Testament.

Some would argue that—even so—that these miracles died out with the apostles.

That argument—in my estimation—has no Biblical grounds.

First, it wasn’t just the apostles who performed signs and wonders.

For instance, the Lord used Phillip—who was not an apostle—to do many signs—as recorded in Acts chapter 8.

Furthermore, Paul mentions “gifts of healing” as one of the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows upon the church.

There is no evidence in Scripture that suggests that we should expect those miracles to die out after the first century.

There are also multitudes of testimonies from across the ages of verifiable miracles.

Dr. Craig Keener recently published a book titled ‘Miracles Today: The Supernatural Work of God in the Modern World.’ In this book he provides compelling reasons to believe in miracles today and even includes many accounts that offer evidence for verifiable miracles. I highly recommend it.

For about five or six weeks, I kept waking up in the morning and all of my limbs would be numb and tingly. A couple of weeks ago, while studying Matthew 8, I just stopped and asked the Lord to heal me. And, since then, I’ve not experienced those symptoms like I did before.

I believe that the Lord still heals and delivers!

So, we should pray for those miracles!

____________________________________________________

That being said, I don’t believe these passages teach that healing always happens in this life for the believer. It doesn’t. And there is some mystery here.

Healings—when they do occur—are a foreshadowing of what’s to come when Christ returns.

The State of God’s Kingdom is “Already, But Not Yet.”

1 John 3:2 (ESV)

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

There are those who argue that because we are “healed by the stripes of Jesus” that Christians are guaranteed perfect health—hinging of course on our faith.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (ESV)

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We don’t know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but we know he wanted it gone. And I would argue he is kind of a man of faith. But the Lord had his own reasons as to why healing would not come to Paul.

In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul encourages Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent stomach ailments.

Paul doesn’t tell Timothy to cast out the demon of stomach bugs.

He doesn’t tell him to have more faith.

While faith is important, the lack of it is not always the reason someone is not healed.

Paul tells Timothy, essentially, to use a little alcohol to help his stomach.

So, let’s consider the logic that says “Jesus paid for my sickness on the cross, so I can always be healed in this life.”

A. Christ died for our sins. When we come to Jesus by faith, we are no longer bound by sin, but believers still sin from time to time. Yet, when Jesus returns, sin will be completely eradicated.

B. Jesus dealt with death on the cross, yet believers still die. But when Christ comes, we will be raised and will never experience death again.

C. It is the same with sickness. Jesus bore our sickness at Calvary. Yet, His people still become ill and suffer. When He returns, there will be no more sickness. Healings—in this life—serve as a foreshadowing of what will be ours perfectly in the life to come.

The State of the Kingdom is “Already, But Not Yet.” We are part of God’s Kingdom now, but the full arrival of the Kingdom has not yet taken place. We long for the day of Jesus’ return!

So, we should pray and believe for healing, while—at the same time—remembering that God is sovereign, and His Kingdom has not yet come in fullness.

When healing comes—it is a gift to be celebrated. When it doesn’t come in the way we expect we must trust God and His purposes—and trust that His grace is sufficient for us.

Closing

I hope through the study of Matthew 8 and 9, you realize that God is NOT far off and unconcerned with our needs. He is very much involved in the world, and He cares about your needs.

We are going to have a time of prayer for those who have a need (lift your hand) lets pray for one another.

As I close I would to remind you that the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior—the invitation to become a part of God’s Kingdom—is yours.

Your social class, you gender, or your race gives you no advantage nor disadvantage.

If you come from a Christian family, that terrific—but that alone does not save you—it doesn’t give you a seat at the Lord’s table.

If you come from a rough family and a colorful past, it doesn’t preclude you from coming to the Lord for salvation.

We all come into the Kingdom by grace, through faith, in Christ—because of His death burial and resurrection.

If you have not made the decision to follow Christ—may today be the day of salvation for you.