He healed all

Matthew 8:1-17 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.”

In today’s text we see three separate accounts of Jesus healing those who had various infirmities. Throughout the gospel accounts we see that Jesus did not always heal in the same way. At times He simply spoke. Other times He touched people and in still other instances the one to be healed was required to do something. This teaches us that it is not a method, a ritual or something we can duplicate which brings healing, but rather as the text says in verses 16-17:   they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”      It is not a particular method or particular words, it is nothing that we can do at all; It is He, Jesus Himself who takes away our infirmities and diseases. Healing comes through Him, not at the hand of any person, even the most anointed of ministers. There are some who have been given the gift of healing as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11:      Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.      Still the healing itself is through Christ alone and the finished work of the cross. 

The text begins with the healing of a leper:    a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”        In this we learn that we should not presume to know the will of God. It is not that we pray without faith as if we don’t deserve to be healed. We don’t hide our lack of faith by saying whatever You will God. Rather in faith we, like the leper, should say I know You can, in fact I know that it has already been done. When Jesus said, on the cross, “It is Finished,” it was already done. What we really need is for God’s will to be done, for His kingdom to come, for it to be on earth as it is in heaven. Because God is not subject to the limitations of finite time or our physical realm, we can’t be certain when in our finite time and within our finite realm, He will complete the finished work of the cross. It is not a question of if He can or when He will. He can and He already has completed healing all diseases. What remains is if it is His will that we would see the physical manifestation of the finished work here and now. So our prayer for healing, in faith which also seeks the will of God is not about whether He will answer, but rather how the answer will be manifested in our lives. Lord if You are willing, because of the finished work of the cross, may we see here and now, in this time and place, the manifestation of the finished work. May earthly realities now be aligned with the eternal heavenly realities.

In the text we also see the account of a centurion, a Roman military commander who comes to Jesus on behalf of his servant who is at home, lying sick and paralyzed. The text reads:   Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 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.  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.” 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… 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.    We need to recognize, like the centurion, that because God is omnipresent, the Father, Jesus Himself and the power of the Holy Spirit are everywhere. Just as time is no barrier to the finished work of the cross, neither is distance. The healing power of the presence of God effects change across the world the same way it does across the room. The finished work of the cross has authority anywhere Jesus does. Jesus says: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit thank You for Your word. May we apply the truth of the Word in our lives. May we better understand and comprehend how this world we live in is like and how it differs from Your eternal heavenly kingdom. May we learn to walk in the fullness of Your will. May we declare the authority of the finished work of the cross and truly may Your kingdom come, may Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May we truly see the fulfillment of what Isaiah wrote: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”      Amen