Matthew 6
ABSChapter 6. The Miracles of the Kingdom"He has done everything well," they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” (Mark 7:37)After the giving of the law by Moses, Israel’s lawgiver, comes the record of the mighty works of Joshua, their great captain of faith and victory. And so, after the Sermon on the Mount, and the new law of righteousness proclaimed by the Lord Jesus, we are introduced to the victorious work of the Captain of our salvation. The two chapters which follow the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 8 and Matthew 9, contain a striking group of the miracles of our Lord, specially clustered together so as to set forth His mighty power in the most emphatic and convincing manner. They are not presented in their strict chronological order, but rather with special reference rather to their bearing upon His revelation as the Messiah and King. They are worthy of careful study in connection both with the kingdom and the King.
Section I: the Kingdom
Section I—the KingdomThoughtful students and teachers of dispensational truth see in these successive miracles a striking foreshadowing of the kingdom in its future developments. While we have no authority to say that the narrative was intended to set forth these future facts, yet there is nothing to forbid such an interpretation so long as it does not exclude the literal and immediate application of the truth to the present, or gospel, age. One of the dangers of dispensational teaching is that it is apt to pigeonhole important portions of the Scriptures and limit them to the future when they are needed for the spiritual comfort of God’s children in the present. The Leper In this view of their dispensational applications, the healing of the leper in the eighth chapter of Matthew is applied to Israel. The Lord was in the house when the leper came to Him, and so Israel in her sinfulness and helplessness, of which leprosy was the special Levitical type, is represented as coming to her King for healing. Centurion’s Servant The next miracle, the healing of the centurion’s servant, was quite different. Christ was absent from his house, and His healing virtue was transmitted through the intervening spaces to this Gentile believer, whom the Lord commended for a faith such as He had not found even in Israel. This represents Christ’s healing and sanctifying power among the Gentiles through the Christian age, not through His visible and manifested presence, but through His Word, which is emphasized especially in this miracle. Peter’s Mother-in-Law The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, which follows, brings the Lord again into the house, and once more He is dealing with Israel, who is represented by the sick one here, whom He raises up to minister unto Him. This stands for the restoration of Israel at the coming of the Lord and the glorious ministry to which she shall be called during the Millennial age. The Multitude Then follows the healing of the people in Matthew 8:16, and the casting out of demon power without limitation. This, we are told by our dispensational friends, foreshadows the universal extension of the healing power of Christ after His second coming, when it shall be without limitation or restriction. Now some are healed, but then the promise will be fulfilled, “No one living in Zion will say, ‘I am ill’” (Isaiah 33:24), The Tempest Stilled The story of the stilling of the tempest in the eighth chapter of Matthew represents, according to this view, the trials and troubles of God’s people during the present time, which are to be brought to an end at the appearing of the Lord, when He will rebuke the angry waves of this troubled world, and there shall be “a great calm” (Matthew 8:26). This will be followed by the destruction of Satan’s power in the Millennial earth, represented by the miracle of the healing of the Gadarene demoniacs, whom the Savior met on the other side of the lake after the stilling of the tempest. The Paralytic Then follows the healing of the paralytic at Capernaum, accompanied especially by the statement, “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6). Our friends represent this as the appearing of Christ on earth and His restoring of His people Israel, raising them up from their paralysis of ages, and sending them forth to walk and work for Him. Other Miracles After this comes the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, standing for the future resurrection. And finally, the two miracles of the healing of the blind and the dumb complete the group, and tell of the time when the veil of blindness shall be taken away from Israel, and the promise shall be fulfilled, “then will… the mute tongue shout for joy” (Isaiah 35:6).
Section II: the King
Section II—the KingBut whatever may be the dispensational meaning of these miracles, there is no doubt about their present meaning. They present an impressive exhibition of the power of Christ over sickness, Satan, nature, death and sin. Power Over Disease This is illustrated in a series of striking cases of healing. The Will of Christ Respecting the Healing of Disease, As Revealed in the Healing of the Leper This poor sufferer came to Him representing a suffering world. His appeal expresses the attitude in which most people stand toward the Lord. They do not doubt His power, but will He? “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean” (Matthew 8:2). The answer of Christ was prompt and unequivocal and leaves no doubt upon the mind of any candid sufferer about His attitude toward disease: “I am willing… be clean” (Matthew 8:3)! “Not only am I willing, but I am positively wanting to heal and help all who come within reach of My touch. But there must be a corresponding will on your part.” Therefore, He adds, “be clean.” You must bring a sanctified will, which is the true seat of faith, and meet His will, and when your will cooperates with His, then will come the manifestation of the healing power. The Word of Christ for Healing “Just say the word,” said the centurion, “and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). This miracle is especially valuable for our dispensation. This represents the power of an absent Christ, through His Word, to reach our need. We do not need to Climb the heavenly steeps To bring the Lord Christ down. His Word still holds in solution all His ancient power. Like that living seed they took from the mummy’s hands, which had been lying there for 3,000 years, but which contained in its bosom a vital germ, so that the moment it touched the soil it germinated into life, and today our land is filled with Egyptian wheat. So the Word of Christ comes down to us across 2,000 years with unextinguished vitality in its every sentence, and if we will claim the promise, if we will plant our seed in the soil of a trusting heart, if we will commit ourselves to the promise and put our weight upon it, we shall find that it is as real as in the days of Galilee, and God’s words will become living deeds in our life. The Work of God The next healing, Simon Peter’s wife’s mother, represents the purpose of divine healing. It is not for your selfish gratification or gain, but, like her, you must rise and minister to Him, and give back to God in loving service, the blessing that He has vouchsafed to you. The Atoning Blood The next reference connects our healing with the cross. The reason that He healed was because it was incumbent upon Him as the Messiah to fulfill the picture given by Isaiah the prophet, “He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). This He did when He hung on the cross and bore in His own body all the physical liabilities of our bodies, making it true that “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). It is the deep foundation of divine healing, the solid rock of Christ’s atonement. Sin and Sickness The next example in the first part of the ninth chapter shows the connection between sickness and sin. They had brought this man to Christ with much faith on their part. But the Lord did not heal him at once. He saw a deeper need and at once He touched the real root of the trouble: “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2). Back of his sickness was the deep source of sin, and not until he was pardoned and prepared to take his place as an accepted child of God, was the Master ready to pass on to the healing. It is not true, therefore, that the Lord healed this man because of the faith of the four men that led him. Through their faith, the Lord took the case in hand and saved him first; and then, after he was saved, he had faith enough to take the Lord for healing and for anything, himself. It was through his own faith that he rose up and took his bed and walked. After we meet the Lord in salvation, it is easy to trust Him for everything besides. The Touch of Faith This is beautifully exemplified in Matthew 9:20-21, in the woman who pressed through the jostling crowd, and, with something in her own heart that had been awakened to apprehend God and feel its way to the living Christ, reached Him, and drew from Him the very dynamite of His power (the word “power” in Mark 5:30 literally is dynamite). The spiritual life has a set of senses corresponding to the outward senses of touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Just as the root of a tender grapevine feels after the hidden spring until it finds it, and then drinks from it its fertilizing nourishment, so there is something in a hungry heart that feels after God until it finds Him. And when it finds Him, it recognizes His reality just as sensibly as we know the light we see, the water we taste, the fragrance we breathe, the hand we touch. We cannot take the Lord’s healing till we have this sense of spiritual touch. God will give it to us. The beginning of it is the sense of need; and as we press this up to God and follow hard after Him, we shall surely find Him and a new life and revelation will come to our inmost being. The Touch of Christ “He touched their eyes” (Matthew 9:29). There are two touches. There is the touch of our trusting hand; there is the mighty touch of His healing hand. Both are necessary, but His will follow ours in every case. He did not touch them until they had answered his challenge to believe, and when He touched them, His message was: “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29). Such is the picture of the power of Christ to heal. That power is still unchanged. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Power Over Satan Along with the healing of disease mentioned in Matthew 8:16, was also the casting out of evil spirits with His word. Indeed, in the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law, there is a suggestion of demon power behind the disease. He “rebuked the fever,” as Luke expresses it (Luke 4:39), and this implies that there was some evil power behind the fever with moral responsibility. In the same way, He rebuked the “winds and the waves” (Matthew 8:26), implying that they were controlled by the power of Satan. The severest conflict, however, with the demon powers of the pit is recorded in Matthew 8:28-34. This occurred in the country of the Gadarenes, immediately after the stilling of the tempest and the crossing of the sea of Galilee. Immediately on landing, there met Him two demon-possessed men, so violent that no man might pass that way. They were possessed by a legion of evil spirits. There seemed to be a double personality in them. One power excited them to dread and try to escape Him and the other drew them to Him for mercy and help. This was usually the case with such victims. At times the human personality prevailed and cried out for deliverance; at other times it was the voice of the demon that controlled. In this case, a strange request was permitted and granted by the Lord, that they should not be driven from the country and forced back into the dark abyss, but allowed to enter into the herd of swine. This the Lord permitted. The result was the immediate destruction of the animals, who, frenzied with terror, fled headlong into the sea and perished. What a fearful exhibition not only of the violence and power of Satan, but also the power of the human soul in that it could endure the presence of a demon host sufficient to drive to madness 3,000 swine. The effect of this miracle to the citizens of this country was a terrible dread that the presence of the Lord would be fatal to their forbidden trade in these unclean animals. The Lord granted their request, too, and departed out of their coasts. The last case of the casting out of demons was the mute man (Matthew 9:32-33), whose infirmity was evidently caused by the evil spirit, for when the demon was cast out, “the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel’” (Matthew 9:33). Power Over Nature The story of the stilling of the tempest tells a larger story of Christ’s providential control over all the forces of nature and all the events of time. He who stilled the waves of Galilee sits supreme above all the surges of human history, and is able to calm the storm and quiet the troubled heart. The ship in which He sails is always safe; and, although He may seem to be asleep in the hinder part, and we may not always be conscious of His presence, yet He is ever there, and in the hour of need will manifest Himself in power and deliverance. Power Over Death The raising of the daughter of Jairus from the dead tells of One who is the Conqueror of death. His own resurrection has confirmed His title as the Prince of Life. But the time of resurrection is not yet. “But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Corinthians 15:23). Soon the sad days that intervene will have passed away, and the glad morning of the resurrection will have come. This is the blessed hope that takes the sting from death and robs the grave of its victory (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Power Over Sin This was His mightiest victory. He tells them, in connection with the healing of the paralytic, that it is easier to say to the sick and the paralytic, “get up and walk” than it is to say, “your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:5). But “the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matthew 9:6), and He has power in heaven, too. This is the age-long victory of His love. And this will be the everlasting song of heaven. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5). Matthew the Publican The chapters we have just been following give several fine illustrations of His power over sin. We have one in the calling of Matthew, the publican. Here was a man that was engaged in the most degrading and disreputable occupation. He was a collector of taxes for the Roman government, and this was something which every loyal Jew recognized as a badge of shame and a sign, usually, of the lowest moral tendencies. The men engaged in this nefarious business were themselves largely the beneficiaries, and all that is now understood by the word graft was familiar to them. They demanded extortionate and oppressive taxes from the people in the name of a cruel government, and they reimbursed themselves abundantly for the trouble and humiliation. Matthew was doubtless like the rest of the tax gatherers, of whom Zacchaeus is held forth as a fair sample. The Lord Jesus met Matthew one day and uttered to him one single command—“Follow me” (Matthew 9:9). There is something sublime in the promptness with which the call was obeyed. Instantly he left his desk, his receipts and all his ambitious prospects and simply, wholly followed Christ. This is the power that still can turn us from the world and lead us to follow Jesus. A little later we find the Master sitting down with publicans and sinners at the house of Matthew and giving His excuse for it: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:13). That is still the supreme business of His life. Shall we, as we read the story, repeat it yet once more in our own lives, or trust Him to repeat it in the lives of those we love? The same Christ is still “able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).