Matthew 8:1-18
Mat 8:1-18 The King, having spoken in Wisdom, works with Power 1. WHEN he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
Curiosity drew the crowd. Our Lord was popular; but he never prized this popularity for its own sake. He was too wise to think much of that which is so fickle a thing. Yet we are glad to see multitudes gathered to hear the Word, for good may come of it. Jesus came down to lift the multitudes up.
2. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. This verse begins with a "behold." It was not wonderful that great multitudes came to Jesus; but it was a marvel that a leper should believe that he could remove an incurable disease. The leper rendered to Christ divine homage; and if Jesus had been merely a good man, and nothing more, he would have refused the worship with holy indignation. Those who call Jesus "Lord", and do not worship him, are more diseased than the leper was. His was a high degree of faith; for, so far as we know, no one had previously believed in Jesus in this fashion. Leprosy breeds great despair; but this poor creature rose superior to all doubt: if Jesus willed it, even he might be healed.
He did not doubt the Saviour's will when he said, "Lord, if thou wilt." Nay rather, he so believed in our Lord's power, that he felt that he had but to exercise his will, and the cure would be effected at once. Have we as much faith as this? Are we convinced that the mere will of Jesus would make us whole?
Lord, I can and do go as far as this, and farther still.
3. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Anyone else would have been defiled by touching a leper; but the healing power in Jesus repelled pollution. He touches us by the finger of his humanity, but he is not thereby defiled. His touch proves his condescension, his sympathy, his fellowship. It was no accidental touch: "Jesus put forth his hand." Our Lord has come to us by his own act and effort: he was determined to come to us in all our loathsomeness and pollution. After the touch carne the word: "I will." One has well observed that Jesus never says, "I will not." He wills, whether we will or not. "Be thou clean "was the royal word of one conscious of abundant power. What a work, to cleanse a leper! Yet it is easy enough to our King, seeing he is divine: else unbelief would be most reasonable. With what pleasure Jesus spake! With what joy the leper heard! With what curiosity the bystanders looked on! They had not to wait: the miracle followed the word without a moment's delay. The cure was instantaneous. He spake, and it was done. Our King's having left his throne to stand side by side with a leper was the greatest of all miracles; and after that wo wonder not that other miracles sprang out of it.
4. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. Our Lord would not increase his own reputation. He sought no honour of men, and he did not wish to swell the crowds which, even now, made it almost impossible for him to go about his work. He sought usefulness, and not fame. It would have been hard for the leper to have held his tongue, but he ought to have done so when bidden. Be it ours to speak, or to be silent, as our Lord requires. The old law stood, and our Lord would have it honoured while it lasted; therefore the healed leper must go to the priest, present his offering, and get from the proper official a certificate of health. Besides, he would thus be bearing witness to the nation that there was One among them who could cure the leprosy. The man was clean, and yet he must go to be ceremonially cleansed. After we have the thing signified by an ordinance, we are not, therefore, to forego the sign, but the rather to attend to it with care. How prudent was it on the part of our Lord not to remove ancient regulations till the full time had come for the introduction of the new!
5-7. And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home side of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. A Gentile approaches our King—a soldier, one of Israel's oppressors; and our Lord receives him with an "I will", even as he had received the leper. This Roman officer came about his slave-boy. It is good for masters to be concerned for their servants, especially when they are sick. It is best of all when they go to Jesus about their servants, as this centurion did. The boy was at his master's house: he had not packed him off because he was ill. The kind master watched his servant's bed, and he sympathetically describes what he had seen. He seeks a cure, but does not prescribe to the Lord how or where he shall work it: in fact, he does not put his request into words, but pleads the case, and lets the sorrow speak. That the youth is "grievously tormented'" is mentioned as an argument to move our Lord to pity. One does not often see palsy and acute pain united; but the watchful centurion had marked these symptoms, and he pleads them with Jesus. Not merit, but misery, must be our plea with the Saviour. Our Lord needed very little beseeching. He promptly said, "I will come and heal him." Lord, say this to us concerning those for whom we lovingly intercede!
8, 9. The centurion answered and said, Lord, L am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For 1 am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
He would not put the Lord Jesus to so much trouble as to come to his house. He felt unworthy to be served at such a cost by such a Lord. He argues that a word will do it all. He was under authority himself, and hence his power to exercise authority over others. He believed that the Lord Jesus had a commission also from the supreme power, and that this would gird him with command over all the minor forces of the universe, a command which he could exercise from a distance with a single word. If soldiers would come and go at a centurion's bidding, much more would diseases fly at the word of the Lord Jesus. It was a thoughtful argument, but it was fair and conclusive. May we also know Jesus under authority, Jesus with authority, and ourselves under authority to Jesus! May wo also believe in the omnipotence of the divine word, and go forth and prove its power in the hearts of men! 0 thou, who art our King, display thy royal power!
10. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Jesus marvelled to see any man believe; for men are incredulous by nature. He rejoices to see a far-off one believe; for, alas! the favoured hearers are slow to trust him. He marvels at a soldier, an officer, having so much faith. Jesus did not praise the centurion to his face, but what he spoke "he said to them that followed." Avoid flattering young converts. Learn, from what our Lord said, that he looks out for faith; that he looks for it among hearers of the Word; that he usually does not find it; but that, when he does, it may be so great as to astonish him. Great faith may grow where there is little soil, and no faith where everything seemed to promise and promote it. Great faith is very dear to the Lord Jesus; but he marvels when he sees it, for it is so rare.
11, 12. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Heaven will be filled. If the likely ones will not come, the unlikely ones shall do so. Many beloved ones are there already, a sort of nucleus to which we gather, even as Israel gathered to "Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob." From "east and west "great multitudes shall come, undeterred by distance; and these shall share the same heaven as do the patriarchs of old. How sad to think that the descendants of those patriarchs shall be cast out like refuse, thrown behind the wall in the dark, and left in the cold to gnash their teeth in anguish! What a turning of things upside down! The nearest cast out, and the furthest made nigh! How often is this the case! The centurion comes from the camp to Christ, and the Israelite goes from the synagogue to hell. The harlot bows at Jesus' feet a penitent, while the self-righteous Pharisee rejects the great salvation. Oh, that this incident may sweetly persuade us to believe greatly; and may none of us doubt the power of the incarnate Son of God!
13. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. In the words, "Go thy way", we see that, oftentimes, a return to our usual duties, and our habitual calm of mind, may be the best proof that our faith has apprehended the promised blessing. Why should he linger who has obtained all he sought? Rather let him go home, and enjoy the fruit of his success in prayer. The Lord often gives in proportion to faith. "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee ", is a word by which we are allowed to bring our own measure, and set the standard of blessing which we would possess. Our Lord spoke the word as the centurion desired. The result was immediate and complete: not only was life spared, but health restored. Many a time prolonged prayer is but muttering unbelief; and to go about one's business would be to take the Lord at his word, and honour his veracity.
Lord, grant me faith enough to go about my business, having prayed the prayer of faith. In the selfsame hour in which I believe thee, be pleased to work the miracle I seek.
14. And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
It was a feverish place. Piety does not make unsanitary places healthy. Peter had a wife: let the so-called successors of Peter remember that fact. His wife's mother took the fever: holiness does not secure immunity from disease. This mother-in-law was a specially good woman, for she was allowed to live with her son-in-law, and he was anxious to have her restored to health. The Lord Jesus said the sick one, for she was not put away in a back-room, and he was not careful to keep away from the contagious disorder. Jesus feared no fever. Our Lord sees all our sick ones, and herein lies our hope for their recovery.
15. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. Our Lord was entreated by her friends, and therefore took her hand, and by a touch recovered her. The first miracle in this chapter was by a touch, the second by a word, and now this by a touch again: it is all one to Jesus. The cure was instantaneous. It was a very complete cure. We expect to read that the fever left her very weak; but our Lord's cures are always perfect ones. She felt active enough to rise, energetic enough to work, and we need hardly add, grateful enough to wait upon her Physician, and all his friends. No proof of recovery from the fever of sin is more sure than the holy earnestness of the healed ones to do works meet for thankfulness towards him who has restored them.
16. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all. that were sick. Our Lord made long days: set of sun was not the setting of his power. Wise persons brought their sick within the circle of his presence, as soon as the Sabbath was ended. His power flowed forth at once. He lived in a hospital, and it was a hospital of incurables, which contained "many" distressing cases: yet in no case was he overmatched. He dispossessed the devils who possessed poor men and women; not only calling them out, but "casting them out "with a divine violence. As for sicknesses, nothing came amiss to him; he "healed all that were sick." The Kingly One battled with legions of foes, and readily overcame them all. What were demons or diseases to the omnipotent Lord? His Word is still Almighty.
17. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. His deeds of healing proved his living sympathy with men. Becoming man, he reckoned man's infirmities to be his infirmities. He looked on men's ills as if they were his own, and did not delay a moment to remove them. Moreover, the cure cost him much as to his corporeal frame, which was loaded with the burden of human woe. Virtue, as it went forth from him, made a drain upon his system; and thus, while his strength went forth to men, their weaknesses seemed to come back upon himself. He bowed his back beneath our burden, and thus raised it from those shoulders which had been crushed to the earth by it.
O Lord, let me never forget what a brother thou art, and how surely thy help of us proves that thou dost truly share our griefs!
18. Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
He ran away from popularity. Having healed all that were sick, the royal Physician sought to begin practice on fresh ground. He saw the crowds becoming dangerous, and perhaps too enthusiastic, and so he took ship for the further shore to be away from their rash acts. Too often we court the notoriety which our Lord avoided. Is it not because we are swayed by inferior motives, which had no power over him? We ought not to keep to the side where we get flattery, but we should "depart unto the other side" to begin fresh work. Moreover, "the other side " maybe the side which needs us most, and it is right even to leave a multitude which have had their share of privilege to go to a smaller company who have had no time of gracious opportunity.
Lord, dost thou command me "to depart unto the other side "! Go with me, and I start at once.