He Took Our Diseases (Matthew 8:1-17)
May 10, 2020
What should Christians do with sickness and suffering? This question will pop up multiple times in our lives. Do we have an answer to it? We are going to consider this question as we study our text in Matthew 8. I did not decide to talk about this topic. The Holy Spirit decided that this would be a good direction to go in the book of Matthew and we have just tagged along for the ride.
Today we are going to begin a new section of the book of Matthew. We have seen the arrival of the king in the first four chapters. Then we saw the teachings of the king in the Sermon on the Mount of chapters 5-7. Now, we will see the power and authority of the king in chapters 8-9. These two chapters contain three sets of miracles. All three sets demonstrate a different aspect of Jesus' authority. He has power over disease, nature, spiritual forces, sins, death, and even disability. However, in between every set, we see a discussion about discipleship. Then, after the three sets are over, we see a whole chapter focused on Jesus sending the disciples out to minister.
The Sermon on the Mount provides the foundation of discipleship, but now he wants to help us understand what it was like to walk with Jesus. The following stories in this book are supposed to strengthen our resolve and help us grow more compassionate or discerning in our own lives.
Lord of Sickness
In the first seventeen verses of Matthew 8, we find three specific healings that make up the first set of miracles. Matthew brought up the fact that Jesus heals diseases back in Chapter 4, giving us a snippet of his ministry. But now, we will see the detailed account.
Leper
Matthew 8:1--4 (ESV) --- 1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
In the first event, Jesus comes down from the mountain where he just shared the law with everyone, and a leper approaches him. We might be tempted to wisp this away, but this is a significant event. Lepers are not supposed to be among all the ordinary people. They have an infectious disease. According to Leviticus 13-14, they are supposed to have separated themselves from society, and everywhere they go, they are supposed to cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" so that everyone knows not to go near them. I imagine that the crowd made way for this person to keep from touching him. The social aspect is only one part of the issue. Leprosy is a bacterial disease that causes nerve damage. Parts of the body become numb. So much of the damage that is done to the body from this disease is self-inflicted. They don't realize that something is hurting them when it is causing significant damage to their body.
He comes up to Jesus and says, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." The man has faith in Jesus' authority and power over disease. He has come looking for relief. He knows that Jesus has the power; it is just a matter of him being willing to do it. What happens next is truly amazing. Jesus doesn't say, "Get out of here before you get me sick." He doesn't say, "Go wash in a pool somewhere," as Naaman did in 2 Kings 5. Jesus doesn't just speak a word and heal the man. He touches him. To make contact with a leper is to become unclean. But Jesus does not become unclean or defiled. He makes the man clean.
Then, he gives him two commands. First, he says, "See that you say nothing to anyone." Why would Jesus say that? The text doesn't tell us, but notice how Jesus wasn't just healing people for his own glory. He is not trying to grow in popularity and get as many followers as he can through miraculous power. Maybe popularity hindered Jesus' real mission by bringing in the wrong kind of people.
Second, he tells him to show himself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to them. Jesus had not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it (5:17). Matthew shows him directing the man he heals to follow the law of Moses. He expects this man to be obedient to the law. Jesus has not yet established the new priesthood, so this man must abide by the current priesthood system as Jesus did until his death.
Centurion
Matthew 8:5--13 (ESV) --- 5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 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.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
In this second miracle, we see a centurion asking for Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant. Does anything seem odd about this to you? First of all, notice that this is a Gentile who is a member of the Roman army. The Jews do not like Gentiles, and they especially do not like members of the Roman army. He comes up to Jesus and appeals to him on behalf of his servant. Again this is odd. Do we see his humility? This guy is a centurion, meaning that he is over around 100 men. He is powerful and wealthy enough to have slaves, but he comes to Jesus, calling him "Lord," and appealing to him for help with his servant.
Jesus agrees to heal the servant. But Jews do not go into the homes of Gentiles. Throughout Matthew's gospel, we have seen many foreigners find acceptance in the kingdom. Rahab, Ruth, and the wise men from the east have already been faithful. Will this Roman centurion be accepted as well?
The man responds by stating that he is not worthy for Jesus to come into his home. What humility! Instead, he believes that Jesus could say the word and heal his servant. Verse 10 is one of the most boggling statements in scripture. It says, "When Jesus heard this, he marveled." Jesus was surprised to hear these words come out of the mouth of a Gentile. Can you believe it? Jesus was blown away. Now he could have been acting this way to help everyone see how unthinkable this is. The rest of verse 10 through 12 explains why.
Matthew 8:10--12 (ESV) --- 10 “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.”
Matthew clearly explains his major theme in this text. He is telling everyone, "Be amazed at this!" Gentiles are entering in with faith before the Jews! Gentiles get to eat at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! If we remember our study on Genesis, these three men all received promises of blessing from God because of their faith. Apparently, Gentiles are going to enjoy that promise while the Jews are suffering for eternity. Jesus is saying that someone who seems to be an enemy of God's people is actually more pleasing to God than his people. In verse 13, Jesus heals the man's servant as he has requested.
Peter's Mother
Matthew 8:14--15 (ESV) --- 14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.
The third person Matthew brings up only gets two verses, but she is still significant. In that culture, women were considered second-class citizens. But Jesus doesn't see them that way. Matthew gave them significance in the genealogy. Now he shows that Jesus cares about them. She is lying sick with a fever. A fever in those days could be caused by several things and could easily be contagious and deadly. But Jesus touches her, and immediately, he heals her.
Notice what she does as soon as he heals her. She rose and began to serve him. This woman experiences the compassion and mercy of Jesus, then she responds by serving him. What an example!
He Took Them Away
Matthew 8:16--17 (ESV) --- 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. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
The last two verses we will look at in detail show us that this is just a small sampling of a much larger group of people coming for healing. Jesus was healing people of demon possession, sickness, and all kinds of diseases. According to Matthew, this was all happening to fulfill what Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 53. Matthew showed us the prophets in the first four chapters, and Isaiah seems to be a favorite.
Chapter 53 of Isaiah is probably the most famous because it describes how Jesus would be treated on the earth and what he would come to do.
Isaiah 53:1--6 (ESV) --- 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 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.
Notice the difference in verse 4 with what Matthew says. "He took our sorrows/illnesses and bore our griefs/diseases." Matthew interprets the sorrows and griefs of this life to be representing the illnesses and diseases that we struggle with. Initially, Isaiah 53 is speaking about Jesus taking away our sins and spiritual death. The whole section seems to be about our transgressions and our iniquities, but does Matthew see these illnesses and diseases as part of the griefs and sorrows Jesus wants to remove?
Jesus here gives us a little taste of what he is offering. Can you imagine life without disease? Imagine bodies that do not break down or suffer. Jesus can make that a possibility. Many false teachers will use this section to say that Jesus will heal all of our diseases if we just have enough faith. I met someone in West Palm who struggled because some "pastor" told her that she would be healed if she had enough faith. She did believe, but the pain and suffering did not go away. Was she lying about her faith? Jesus isn’t describing the new way of life on earth going forward because people still die today, but what does this mean?
What Do We Do With Sickness?
All of this begs the question, "How should we deal with sickness and diseases in this life?" When a loved one gets cancer, an autoimmune disorder, Alzheimer's, Covid-19, MS, ALS, or some other rare disease that they weren't supposed to get, how do we deal with that? How does this text help us? Many in this congregation have chronic health issues or loved ones who do. Is it because there is something wrong with us or because we lack faith? Of course not. There should be no fear of revealing our struggles to one another. We must not do like the Jews and look down on those who are suffering as though they are paying for their sins. It may be that they are blessed with suffering.
How Can Suffering Be A Blessing?
This may seem like a silly statement, but the New Testament teaches us to rejoice in our suffering. Over and over again, we see that we should count it all joy when we go through trials. Paul, writing about suffering, said, "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have" (Phil 1:29) Some suffering is a gift that God has granted so we can be like Christ, while other sufferings could be punishment for sins (1 Pet 2:20). It could also be the discipline of the Lord. What category does illness or the sickness of a loved fall into? Should we rejoice in all sickness?
We can rejoice in our own suffering because of what it is able to produce in us. James says it is producing steadfastness. Paul says it produces endurance, character, and hope. Peter says that it creates other believers, and the Hebrew writer says that it may produce holiness and the "peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." (James 1:2, Romans 5:3, 1 Pet 4:12-14, Hebrews 12:5-8)
I cannot tell anyone which category their sicknesses or illnesses fall into. It could just be the result of living in a fallen world (Ecc 9:11)? Only God knows. But, regardless, it is not the worst thing that can happen to us in life. It could be a blessing, depending on how we handle it. The question is, "Will we grow closer to God and bear fruit out of it?"
Of course, rejoicing when suffering is easier to say than to do. I can see myself suffering a year from now and running across this sermon. After getting frustrated and complaining a lot, I will hear these words and think, "Rejoice? What is there to rejoice over? I pray, and I pray, but nothing changes!" Do we see the faith of the leper, the centurion, and the woman? The leper risks being ridiculed to appeal to Jesus. The centurion doesn't even know that much about God, but he believes that he can do what seems impossible. The woman doesn’t even ask for healing, but she responds to the gift she receives. All three are humble and full of faith.
Should we be like them? Should we ask God to perform a miracle? We are free to do that, but God rarely used miracles throughout scriptures. They are typically used to accomplish a higher purpose that God has in mind. Maybe God will grant our request through some providential means (doctors, science, family members, government, or even wisdom). We see that throughout scriptures.
But consider this: When faced with the cross, Jesus prayed for God's glory to be first and foremost. Jesus asked God to take away the cross, but he wanted God's name to be glorified more than he wanted to live a pain-free life. He even had the power to stop his own pain and bring down ten thousand angels, but he chose to endure the pain to death. He leads us. He is the pioneer of our faith.
It may be better for us to keep the sickness and glorify God through it. Paul got that response when he prayed for the thorn to be removed five times.
2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV) --- 9 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.
Conclusion
Jesus came to teach us about God's compassion and love. He knows what we are going through, and he wants to help us. Jesus healed the leper because he came to remove all uncleanness. He healed the centurion's servant because he came to bring all of the nations into his kingdom when they have faith in him. He healed Peter's mother-in-law because there is no second-class citizen. He loves us all, and he wants to take away all of our suffering for eternity. Will we let him heal us from our greatest disease? Then, will we rise up and serve him?