8 When he 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.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 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.”
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 and in terrible suffering.”7 Jesus said to him, “I will go 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 astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, 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.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that very hour.
In the first miracle of our passage Jesus heals a leper - an outcast in every possible way. Nobody wanted to go physically near him because of his physical condition, and he was also ceremonially unclean - a living illustration of sin. And Jesus reached out to this man in a marvelous illustration - that His kingdom was not for the super-pious, but for the desperate and the hurting. The leper came to Jesus with confidence and without embarrassment because he was desperate. He worshiped Jesus in humility and in faith. And Jesus healed him and redeemed him in an analogy of salvation. And when He had healed him, He told him to obey the Law of Moses and give testimony. And that's what we should do in our lives when we've been redeemed - obey and be a witness.
One thing I love about this miracle is the fact that Jesus, who can heal with just His voice (as seen in the next miracle), healed this leper with a word and a touch.
Bob Deffinbaugh adds....
The law was unable to save, just as it was unable to heal. The law could define sickness and health, but it could not produce health. It could only condemn (declare unclean) the illness. Jesus, on the other hand, was able to heal sickness, just as He was able to forgive sins. This was His authority as the Son of God and His calling as Messiah. And yet He did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it....
What can the law do for him? It can only condemn him, and if by some miracle of God he should be healed, it can pronounce him clean. But the law cannot heal a leper. Jesus could heal the leper, and He did.
This is like our sin. The law can define sin and expose it, but it cannot remove it. The law declares what righteousness looks like, but it does not provide the means to become righteous. The law declares us all to be sinners, but the law cannot do anything to save us from our sins (Romans 3:9-20). Only Jesus can remove the filth of our spiritual uncleanness.
Jesus sent the leper to the priest, in obedience to the law (Leviticus 14). He also did so as a witness to the priests. Let them recognize that this leper was cleansed, and that Jesus did it. Let them ponder who Jesus must be, because of this miracle. Let them see, as Matthew indicates in verse 17, that Jesus is not seeking to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, as Messiah. He alone can heal a leper and make him clean. He alone can cleanse a sinner from his sins and assure him of eternal life.
In the second miracle Jesus heals at the request of another man rejected by the Jews - a Roman centurion who was also likely a Samaritan acting under the authority of Rome. Couldn't get much worse than that in the eyes of the Jews. Luke fills in more of the details of this story and we see that the Roman centurion actually send some Jewish elders to tell Jesus about his very ill servant. This Roman centurion was obviously a man of great moral character, in MacArthur's words an "excellent pagan" - he loved the Jewish nation and helped build a Jewish synagogue (which is why they were willing to come speak for him and why they considered him to be worthy of a miracle from Jesus), he knows enough about Jewish culture to know that he should not expect Jesus to come into his house, and his concern is not for himself but for his servant, considered to have the same value as a tool or a work animal by the majority of the people of that day.
He comes to Jesus with a Beatitude attitude - humble, loving and sensitive.
He had obviously heard a great deal about Jesus and he refers to him as Lord - he, a Samaritan half-breed Gentile Roman centurion confirms the Lordship of Christ!
And notice v6 - he doesn't even ask Jesus to heal his servant. He simply tells Jesus the information that his servant is suffering. He just gives Him information, and then the Jews says, "Do it. He's worthy. Do it. Do it." But he doesn't presume to ask that. His prayer is a prayer of information. "Lord, here is the need. I lay it before You. I accept Your sovereignty and Your choice."
What a prayer of faith!
And Jesus decides to come heal the servant. But when they are almost there, the centurion sends messengers telling Jesus not to come to his house - he feels unworthy to even be in His presence! But he acknowledges the authority of Jesus, of the power of His voice to heal from a distance. And Jesus marveled at his faith, a faith He had not seen, even among the Jews.
He had found faith among the Jews. No question about that. We saw that in Matthew 4. Sure He had found faith, but never in this kinda combination, never this much virtue. I mean love is there, affection is there, thoughtfulness is there, humility is there, sensitivity is there, absolute confidence in the power of Christ, assurance that He is God in human form.... this man had great faith.
And in v11-12 Jesus makes some incredibly shocking statements. He tells the Jews that the kingdom will be filled with Gentiles who came to faith in Him, and that those who considered themselves sons of the kingdom would be thrown out into the darkness and torment. Genetics can't save you. Lineage can't save you. Being born into a Christian family can't save you. Only your own belief in Jesus can save you.
Do you see what Jesus is saying here? "I reach for lepers, and I reach for outcast Gentiles, 'cause My Kingdom encompasses those who believe, who believe, not those...who are of some particular race."
The law provided no solution to the barrier between Jews and Gentiles, but Jesus removed this barrier, in fulfillment of the promises contained in the law and the prophets. The law separated Jews and Gentiles; Christ brought the two together as one new man....Christ removes the barriers between God and man and also the barriers that separate men. Jews and Gentiles can enter into God’s blessings (including fellowship with each other) by faith in Jesus as the promised Messiah. Jews and Gentiles become one in Christ. It is only Jesus who can do such an amazing thing. The law cannot do it. The law was never intended to do it. The law was given to reveal our sins, and to point us to Jesus.
And Jesus, in His sovereignty, healed the boy because of the faith of the centurion and for the benefit of those witnessing it then and for us reading it today, and ultimately, for His glory.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Matthew 8:14-22
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