As Moses gains credibility by the ten plagues, Jesus is now validated as the Messiah with ten miracles that Matthew includes immediately following the Sermon on the Mount. He seems to be refuting the communally held belief that to be eligible for the Kingdom you needed to the a Jew, a Man, kept ceremonially clean and would be healthy and wealthy. Jesus now intentionally includes people in the kingdom by performing these miracles to indicate they were also part of the kingdom
SHOW NOTES
Matthew 8 NIV Ten Miracles which validate the Divinity of Jesus
Introduction
Matthew now recounts ten miracles of Jesus to substantiate the truth of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven. These miracles parallel the ten miracles (plagues) which Moses brought on Egypt. In his ten miracles Jesus rains a tsunami of mercy and compassion on lepers, Romans, women and demon possessed men. Some asked for a miracle, others received without asking. Buckle up for the ride.
1. Jesus Heals a Leper
8 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Leprosy was regarded as the direct punishment of God for serious sin. It was called “the stroke” meaning that God had stroked the victim with his punishment. This idea may have originated with Miriam becoming a leper after she and Aaron criticized Moses (Numbers 12:1-16). Miriam is the only recorded leper healed in Israel prior to this healing. This leper displays great faith in Jesus’ ability. “If you are willing” substantiates the belief that the cause of leprosy was a direct punishment from God.
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”
Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
Verse 2 and 3 demonstrate the interactive word play for this incident:
Leper’s action: came and knelt
Jesus’ action: touched him;Leper: “If you are willing,”
Jesus: “I am willing
;”Leper: “You can make me clean,”
Jesus: “Be clean.”
The crowd would have expected Jesus to become leprous because of touching the leper. Lepers were quarantined and commanded to avoid society. Any form of contact was prohibited. “They had to wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their faces and shout 'Unclean!” https://www.google.com/search?q=laws+for+lepers+in+the+bible&sca.
Jesus’ willingness to heal the leper means that he has also forgiven the leper of his sins. “Be clean” encompasses every facet of the leper.
One of the tests for the authenticity of any suspected Messiah was the ability to heal an Israelite leper. The healing of this leper confirmed that Jesus was Messiah. He had short circuited the process as described in Leviticus. Firstly, bird blood and water had to be sprinkled on the leper and a live bird sent away (Leviticus 14:2-7). Next the leper had to bath, launder and shave at the beginning and end of a seven-day quarantine period (14:8-9). Finally, the leper had to bring sacrifices (14:10-32) and blood and oil were placed on the ear, thumb and toe of the healed person (8:22-30).
4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
There are at least two reasons for this injunction by Jesus. Firstly, he does not need a greater crowd to hinder his teaching. Secondly, the priests might have refused to give him a bill of health if they knew where the healing originated.
Jesus never sent anyone to the temple for forgiveness by animal sacrifice. The reason for sending the healed leper there was to secure confirmation of his healing and his reintegration onto society before it became common knowledge that Jesus had healed him.
2. The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Jesus is proclaiming the gospel. Salvation is for the Gentiles too. This is the mystery that was now being revealed. The Chosen were selected to tell the Gentiles that are just as precious to God as the Chosen are.
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus responds joyfully to the centurion’s faith or belief or trust. Every person Jesus met was his brother or sister. Most of them had no appreciation of their identity as Jesus understood it. It is still true. Many do not know that they are God’s special children created to live in the deepest intimacy with God for all eternity.
3. Jesus Heals Peter’s 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.
No one asked Jesus to heal Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus does what comes naturally for him. He is an ever- flowing fountain of grace and goodness. This healing demonstrates the reality of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman,
John 4:14 NLT But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”.
This is the only mention of Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus does not heal her because of what she can do for him. He heals her because this is what he can do for her. This is normal for those who love. Love seeks to benefit others.
4. Jesus Heals Many
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah (53:4):
“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
In these miracles it is explained what taking up our sicknesses meant. It meant he took their suffering into himself. It cost Jesus nervous energy to heal people. He sensed the outflow of healing energy from himself when a woman surreptitiously touched his robe and was healed (Matthew 9:20-22).
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19 Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Jesus explained to an enthusiastic, potential disciple that there is no comfort and position in being his disciple. Jesus had no real estate, no savings, no income, and only one suit of clothes. There was no material advantage in being his disciple.
21 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
He discouraged another enthusiastic, potential disciple by questioning his commitment.Dead people were placed in a cave or tomb to allow the flesh to rot off the bones. About a year later the bones were buried in an ossuary, a stone box which only needed to be as long as the longest bone of the skeleton. This man was delaying his commitment until after the burial. Jesus had only three years. He did not have a year to delay commitment.
5. Jesus Calms the Storm
23 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Job demonstrates that the Satan can influence the forces of nature. It is not too far to suggest that the storm on the lake was created by Satan to destroy Jesus and his disciples. When Jesus rebukes the storm, he is rebuking Satan as he did when Satan confronted him with the temptations in the wilderness (Chapter 4). The storm attempt to destroy Jesus is a prelude to demon possessed men trying to destroy him.
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