“He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”

Matthew 8:1-17 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. ² And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ³ Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴ And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵ And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, ⁶ and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” ⁷ Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; ¹² but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.

¹⁴ When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”

When we read about the healing miracles Jesus performed we see that there was no specific pattern, or method which He employed. In John 5:19, Jesus speaking of His actions and motives says: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. The key to Jesus miracles was not based in spells or incantations, it was based in His unity with the Father. Jesus mission was to fulfill the will of the Father in everything He did. In Matthew 12:28, when Jesus was accused of performing miracles through dark magic, through the power of evil, He said:  "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”   Jesus often said: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” When He taught us to pray, He said pray this way: “…Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

1 John 5:14-15 says: This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.      We see this principle, this truth, demonstrated in today’s text in the account of the healing of the leper.      And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” ³ Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  In John 14:13-14 Jesus says:  Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.      To ask in Jesus name is not a magical seal that we put on our prayers. To ask in Jesus name we must have the same unity with Jesus that Jesus has with the Father. Our mission and our desire must be to fulfill His will and to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.

In the account of the centurion, we see another spiritual principle demonstrated.  a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, ⁶ and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” ⁷ Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; ¹² but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.

The authority of Christ is not limited or restricted by time our space. His word, His authority, His power to heal and perform miracles can affect situations and circumstances around the world. In Matthew 16:18-19, Jesus says we too will have this same authority.    “upon this rock(the revelation that Jesus is the Christ) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  Based on the revelation, the recognition that Jesus is the Christ, we have the same authority, acting according to His will and in His name, to change circumstances and situations around the world.

The final account of healing in today’s text also demonstrates something for us today.  When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. ¹⁵ He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. ¹⁶ When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”     When Peter’s mother was healed, there was no great fanfare, she simply resumed her normal activities. Miracles and healing, demonstration of the power of God should be normal and common place in the church today. It is not that we should not be thankful or even that we should not celebrate when we see miracles. But they should not surprise or amaze us. They should be our expectation and the norm. Miracles after all are a manifestation of the realities of heaven here on earth. They are the fulfillment of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray; Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  

Every miracle we need, every healing is already complete in the heavenly realm. On the cross Jesus said: “It is finished” Everything He came to do, the completion of the will of the Father, was and is finished from that point on.  Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father, to redeem man from sin, to reconcile man to God and to restore everything that was lost and fallen through the curse of sin. There was no sickness, disease or deformity in the garden. There is no sickness, disease or deformity in heaven. Jesus says: “It is finished”  

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.