Stories of Healing Pt 1

Matthew chapter 8 Matthew chapter 8 we have finished the sermon on the mount and now it's time to get back into some of the other ministries that we've been talking about today so I'm going to read a little bit of the story that Jesus did the title of this morning's message message is stories of healing part one I tried really hard to come up with a creative title for the next two chapters but I came up with nothing that's the best I could do so hang with me because basically chapters 8 and 9 are a bunch of well stories of healing which is why I came up with that title at the end of Matthew chapter 4 we read that Jesus went about preaching teaching and healing now we have

seen in Matthew 5 through 7 a lot of his teaching but as we come into Matthew chapter 8 what we see is the healing ministry of Jesus and really chapters 8 and 9 though a couple of other stories are mixed in or dominated with stories of how he healed people because that was part of the the ministry that he had and it's going to be the focus of these two chapters and in these two chapters there's three things that we're going to pay attention to we're first of all going to take note of the power of Jesus because he's going to heal in lots of different ways lots of different diseases and he's going to heal in lots of different ways that were incurable some of them at points in time and yet Jesus had power over these different

diseases we learned that the power of Jesus is so great that it's not based upon location he didn't even have to be in the same location as the individual that was healed and so we see a lot of the power of Jesus but not only do we see the power of Jesus but we see the compassion of Jesus we're going to see the great love that he had for people and how much he cared about people and also the last thing that we'll pay attention to because it's it's going to come up at the end of the section that we covered today we'll see the marks of the messiah there were certain things that the messiah the chosen one the Christ was supposed to do a lot of it had to do with

healing as we're going to see is pointed out in Isaiah chapter 53 and so in these two chapters we'll see a lot of the marks of the messiah and so we pick up in chapter 8 verse 1 and this is what it says when Jesus came down from the mountain large crowds followed him and a leper came to him and bowed his head and said to him I'm going to heal you I'm going to heal you I'm going to heal you and bowed down before him and said Lord if you are willing you could make me clean Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying I am willing be cleansed and immediately his leprosy was cleansed 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 now this morning we're going to cover three different stories of healing the three stories of healing that we're going to cover first of all we're going to cover the story of Jesus and then we're going to cover the story of this leper that we see in this first section we'll see the centurion's servant healed and then we'll also see Peter's mother-in-law healed now as we come to this first story it seems as though this is taking place immediately after Jesus has come down from the sermon on the mount so he has finished his teachings everybody is in awe they're marveling at the great authority at the great

knowledge that he has in the way that he taught them because he taught not like the scribes and the pharisees but one with authority that really knew what he was talking about and so as he comes down this mountain with his disciples large crowds are gathering themselves to him so paint the picture if you will of Jesus following perhaps a mountain trail perhaps a small road as he comes down the mount that where he's given this sermon and as he's coming down there's lots of people around him and so picture if you will a large crowd surrounded Jesus while he's on his way down no doubt the talking going on in the background and all of a sudden as the crowd is following Jesus down the mountain there's a particular man that's there to meet him and this

is a man that is a leper you can picture how the crowd probably responded as Jesus is coming down the mountain because probably the more people that saw the leper the more people began to kind of back away from where this leper stood because a leper was one of the greatest outcasts of society at this point in time as we get into the more into the book of Leviticus on Wednesday nights we'll talk more about the laws of leprosy but there were certain laws that went along with leprosy and so as this crowd followed this leper was there and he was there and he was there and he was there and they were no doubt disturbed it says a leper came to him and bowed down before him

leprosy is something that seems to come up a lot within scripture because it not only has physical implications but it has spiritual implications the spiritual implications are this I look this up to see if there was just a good google dr google definition of leprosy and this is what I was told leprosy is an infection that leads to nervous system and it's an infection that leads to nervous system and it's an infection that leads to nervous system and it's an infection that leads to nerve damage and an inability to feel pain it results in sores and loss of fingers and toes it eventually destroys the entire body leprosy begins as a sore I don't know how you picture this in your own mind but I always picture somebody with a bunch of running sores all

over their entire body and that's not exactly the picture of what leprosy actually is leprosy starts as sort of a red spot on you and it really is a sore but it doesn't have that oozing sort of a way that you would think of that leprosy begins as a sore that begins to deaden the nerves of the body and as it begins to deaden the nerves of the body you begin to not be able to feel pain and as you stop feeling pain you begin to develop other sores because you don't know injuries have occurred it starts to really affect the extremities of the body like the fingers and the toes and as those sores begin to grow as those as that lack of pain begins to develop it starts to deaden

different parts of your body and as those sores begin to grow as that lack of pain begins to develop and so you start getting infections in different parts of your body and the problem with leprosy is it never stops until it consumes your entire body and eventually causes death not from the leprosy itself but usually from the residual sores that have been affected because of the leprosy now those are the physical implications of the leper the spiritual implications go just a little bit deeper than that because you see leprosy pictures for us sin you see sin starts as a small spot inside of our lives but as that sin begins to spread it begins to deaden our lives to conviction and as it deadens our lives to conviction

we stop feeling that pain any longer and because we stop feeling the pain of conviction we continue on in the sin and as we continue on in the sin it causes a decay inside of our soul that is unstoppable and just like leprosy sin will not be finished until it consumes our entire being eventually and that's why we're here today and we're here today because we're here today because we're here today destroying us well you see leprosy was one of the things in scripture that they were told had to be dealt with and the only way that it could be dealt with was first of all by inspection when somebody realized they had some sort of a leprous spot they were to go to the priest they were to be inspected

by the priest and the priest would then give them a 14-day quarantine kind of sounds familiar doesn't it he would give them a 14-day quarantine and for 14 days they were to be examined and when they came back after those 14 days they were to look and if there were more of these spots on their body they realized that it was leprosy and they had to be dealt with and they had to be put outside of the camp a leper was treated just like it sounds like a leper would be treated no one could come near them as a matter of fact i didn't realize this until reading it this time around but according to david guzik anybody that was a leper there had to be guess how much distance maintained between them and everybody else you guessed it six feet six feet distance

between the leper and anyone else unless you were downwind from the leper in that case you had to be 150 feet away from them so that nothing would spread although it turns out the leprosy was not quite as contagious as everybody thought that it was though you didn't want to be around it jay vernon mcgee painted an interesting picture in his commentary he said you can imagine what this particular leper would have gone through perhaps this man was married and had a family you can picture the scene can't you he wakes up one morning and there's a spot on him that doesn't quite look right and his wife says that looks pretty suspicious you better go get that checked out by the priest and he goes and gets checked out by the priest and

the priest says well the best thing for us to do is to give you the two-week quarantine the 14-day quarantine and then we'll check you out after those 14 days for those 14 days he wouldn't have been around been allowed to be around his family or anyone else for that matter he had to separate himself from everyone at the end of the 14 days he probably came back to the priest and when he came back to the priest the priest said bad news it's spread it's leprosy you must have been immediately go live outside of the camp imagine being this leper who now cannot go back and give his wife one last kiss and tell her how much he loves her he couldn't go and pick up his kids and

give them one last hug and tell them how much he loved them he simply had to leave and be outside of the camp completely cut off from people completely cut off from his family completely cut off from community completely cut off from any kind of worship of the lord and he was going to Lord, and completely cut off from any sort of human touch. Imagine the life he lived. Well, he'd been hearing stories about this Jesus. Remember, Jesus was going around teaching, preaching, and healing, and he'd heard stories about this Jesus. And so as he had heard stories

about this Jesus, he decided it was time for him to track this Jesus down. And that's exactly what he did, which is what it says in verse 2. It says, this leper came to him and bowed down before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. It's a beautiful picture that we're seeing here because this guy realizes as far as the world is concerned, he is completely without hope in the world. The only thing he has to look forward to is a life of isolation,

a life of being ostracized, a life of being an outcast from society, a life where he will never see his family or loved ones again, a life that will surely end in no doubt a very difficult life. A very painful death. He was completely hopeless, except for one thing. He'd heard about Jesus. And so what did he do? Well, he went and tracked this Jesus down, no doubt saw the large crowd,

and he said, that must be him. That must be Jesus. So he comes and he bows down before Jesus. Take note of the tone of worship that comes about in the life of this leper. He bows down before Jesus. He prostrates himself before him. He, if you will, humbles himself before the mighty hand of God. And what does he do? He looks at Jesus and he says, Lord, if you are willing, you can

make me clean. Did you take note of the fact that there was no doubt that Jesus could make him clean? What was the one thing he doubted? Lord, are you willing to make me clean? You see, I'm reminded that this leper was considered the outcast of society, the one that nobody wanted to look at, the one that nobody wanted to think about, the one that nobody wanted

to pay attention to, the one that everybody wanted to look at. And he said, Lord, if you wanted to believe, just didn't exist, at least not in their neighborhood. And he comes to Jesus and says, Lord, if you're willing, I know this has never happened before. I know as far as the world is concerned, nobody gets healed of leprosy. But Lord, I know that you have the ability. Now, are you willing? I don't know about you, but sometimes I can feel kind of

like this leper. I know that God can do all kinds of powerful things. I know that God is able to do anything that he wants. I know that God can do anything that he wants. I know that God can do anything that he wants to do. I sometimes doubt that God will do it for me. When I face things in my life, I can believe God for everybody else in the world, but I can't always believe him for me.

I can't always believe that God would do this for me. And perhaps you're just like me. You can believe God for everybody else in the world, but it's really hard to believe God for yourself. Therefore, you can find rest for everybody else, but you can't find rest for you. Well, this leper is in the exact same position. He comes and says, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean.

I want you to take note of how Jesus responds to him because I think it's interesting how Jesus responds to this outcast. In verse 3, it says, Jesus stretched out his hand and he touched him, saying, I'm willing, be cleansed. And immediately the leprosy cleansed him. Now, Jesus could have done this any way that he wanted to. And what we'll find out is that Jesus

heals in lots of different ways. But in this particular instance, Jesus does something very interesting. He does the one thing you're not supposed to do with the leper, the one thing that ceremonially unclean. He reaches out to touch him. Now, there's a lot of debate here that says, why would Jesus have made himself unclean? But I agree with the commentators that say,

but the minute he touched him, he was healed. So did he ever actually become unclean? But the question has to be asked, why did Jesus choose to heal this way? Why did Jesus choose to heal this guy by reaching out his hand and touching him, risking being unclean? Because you know what? This guy probably hadn't felt in years. Human touch. You see, Jesus reached out and did

something for him that not only healed him physically, I believe it healed him emotionally. Because what he needed was a touch. And Jesus did exactly what he needed in this particular instance. Because that's what Jesus does for us. Jesus doesn't just heal what we need, on the outside. Jesus heals what we need on the inside. And he does for us that which we don't

always even realize that we need for ourselves. Because he reaches out and ministers to each of us in the most personal way possible. Do you know what I always appreciate after a Sunday morning sermon or after I do a funeral? I appreciate when somebody comes to me and says, this is what God spoke to me through what you said. You know why? Because if three people come to me and say,

this is what God spoke to me, do you know all three of those people? They'll tell me something completely different. And do you know what oftentimes they'll tell me? They'll tell me a point I never intended to make. As a matter of fact, when they tell me what God spoke to them, I think, did I even say that? And sometimes I didn't. It's just how God ministered

to them. Because that's what Jesus is able to do. It's what he's able to do for each and every one of us. Is he is able to reach down and touch us in a way that we didn't even know was possible. Because what this guy was dealing with was a physical ailment. But what he was really dealing with was a spiritual problem. And Jesus reached out and touched him. And when Jesus reached out and touched him, he said, I'm willing to be cleansed.

I think that's a very powerful statement on the part of Jesus, is it not? It's a very powerful statement on the part of Jesus for him just to simply say, I'm willing. Now listen, this leper did what all of us need to do when we pray for physical healing. He surrendered himself to the will of God. He surrendered himself to what God wanted to do in this particular instance. And I think that

that's really important because sometimes physically speaking, God chooses to heal us on this side of eternity. Sometimes physically speaking, God says, right now I'm going to heal you in this physical way so that it can be a testimony to my glory, so that it can be a testimony to my grace, so that it can be a testimony to what I'm able to do physically in the life of people and also spiritually in the life of people. But you know what? Sometimes God chooses to heal physically on the other side of eternity. And I've seen both

situations take place. I've seen where God has chosen to heal here and now, and it's a beautiful testimony to who God is. And I've seen where God is going to choose to heal on the other side of eternity, and it will be a beautiful testimony to who God is. But God always heals now, spiritually in our lives, when we surrender ourselves to him. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Because, quite frankly, these bodies, they're not made to last anyway. And so he reaches out and he says, I am willing, be cleansed. And I love what it says next. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Again, one of those things I want to be able to see

on replay in heaven because how did the cleansing take place? Like, it says immediately, so we have to believe that it was an immediate healing. But what kind of appendages had he lost by this point in time? What kind of physical damage had been done to his body at this point in time? And how did that healing take place? Did fingers start growing back? I have no problem believing that that can be the case. Because remember, what's Jesus going to do

at the very end of the gospel? When Peter cuts off a guy's ear, he's going to glue it back on his head. And so God can do anything he wants to. Was there like a washing sensation where it started in his head and washed down this way? And all of a sudden he had the best skin he'd ever had in his entire life. And it all flowed down this way. And it started at his head and worked down to his feet.

Was it just an immediate, everything was just cleansed? How did it work? I don't know. Kind of fun to think about though, isn't it? Because immediately the leprosy left him. You can imagine how all of the people in the crowd responded to him, am I right? Because they all had been backing away. Because the longer that they stood there near that leper, the more fearful they got. Just

like when somebody tells you, I have COVID. And you go, I love you. And you step back to six feet, right? Because even though you're not scared of COVID, you ain't trying to get it either. No doubt everybody kind of went, what just happened here? And it was a beautiful miracle that Jesus performed. You know what I love? I love when Jesus changes somebody on the inside. And everybody that maybe never wanted to be around that person

because of how terrible of a human being they are, before they came to know Jesus, now finds themselves drawn to them. Why? Because their leprosy has been removed. And now instead of their heart being filled with hate and anger and lust, their heart is full of the love of Jesus Christ. And everybody goes,

yesterday, was it yesterday? What day is it? Is today the second? Yeah, it was yesterday. I started reading the one-year Bible. Now, I picked up the one-year Bible this year, partly because we said goodbye to the man who introduced me to it last year. Pastor Rick, the pastor from up in Johnson County, is the one who... pumped into every single one of us that attended his church that you need to read through the Bible

in a year. Well, I used to do the one-year Bible, haven't done it for a really long time. And when he passed away, I started thinking more and more about it, how much it had meant to me in my own life. And so I picked it up. And as I was reading, all I could do was think about some of the things he would say as we would discuss what we were reading in the one-year Bible together. But you

know, one of the things Pastor Rick used to always tell us was, before I came to know Jesus, nobody wanted to be around me. Before I came to know Jesus, nobody wanted to be around me. And so I nobody wanted anything to do with me. I felt like an outcast. But now that I've come to know Jesus and his love flows through my heart, I have a family that could never cast me out because I

am now a part of the family of God. I think that is probably the testimony of this leper, because that's the change that Jesus makes in the lives of people. So notice what Jesus says to him. And Jesus said to him, Now, Jesus tells them, first of all, don't go tell anybody else. Don't start spreading this around. Why did Jesus say that? Well, because you know as well as I do, what happens when miracles

take place? Everybody's attracted to the miracles. And Jesus didn't want to just have people attracted to him for the miracles. That's not the reason we follow Jesus. We follow Jesus because he is the Messiah. He's the real place for life. He's the real place for life. He's the real place for life. He knew it would attract more attention for the miracles, not for the reality of who he really was.

But I think the second reason why he didn't want him to tell everybody is because it wasn't time for him to be revealed as the Messiah yet. That would take place in a couple of years when he would come marching into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, just like Daniel said that it would happen. So he said, don't go tell anyone. But here's what you do need to do. You need to go

show the priests. Why did he tell him to go show the priests? Because if you at this point in time were to go look at the book of the Bible, you would know that the Messiah is the Messiah. Leviticus chapter 14, you would find that there was a cleansing ritual for leprosy. Now, it's kind of interesting to think that there's a cleansing ritual for leprosy because

at this point in time, there was no cure for leprosy. There was no one within the nation of Israel that had ever been healed of leprosy. I guess there was one person. Her name was Miriam. You may also be thinking of another guy that was healed of leprosy named Naaman, but he wasn't an Israelite. He was a Gentile. So there was only one other person in history who

had ever been healed of leprosy. And that was after God had judged her and it was then taken away from her. And so he says, go show yourself to the priests because the priests would know something crazy must have just taken place because nobody's ever shown up for this cleansing ritual before. Can you imagine being one of the priests in the temple at this point in time? He says,

go show yourself to the priests. And he's like, well, okay. Of course, he's not going to listen. He's going to tell everybody in the world that he sees. He's like, hey, you used to have leprosy. Don't have it anymore. Hey, remember that one time you were like, ooh, get away. Hey, bro hug. Right? Like he was excited to tell everybody in the world that he'd been healed

of leprosy. So he disobeyed that first part. But can you imagine when he showed up to the priest? He's like, hi, I'm the leper. I need you to do that cleansing ritual. And they're like, it's in there somewhere, right? We got to find it. I know it's here. It's here. We've never done this before. This is a new day for us. Can you imagine how the priest could have responded to this? This is a miracle. And you know what they've told the priests?

The Messiah is here. We better pay attention. But you know what the priest didn't do? They didn't pay attention. And so we see this wonderful healing that takes place in the life of this leper. Well, Jesus isn't done yet. It says in verse five, and when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, imploring him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home.

Fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof. Just say the word, my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me. 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, 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. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. And in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus said to the centurion, go, it shall be done for you just as you have believed.

And the servant was healed that very moment. Now, the second story that we come to also carries with it an interesting individual. We're told that Jesus is in Capernaum because that was where he had set up his headquarters for ministry. But there was also a strong Gentile presence in Capernaum, which makes it kind of an interesting place for Jesus to go. And so as he's there in Capernaum, there was a guy who came to

him and this guy had a title and his title was a centurion. Now, a centurion was one who was in charge of about 100 Roman soldiers. For him to achieve this title, for him to achieve this rank, he had to have done something valiant in battle. So what we know about this guy is that he was a Roman commander, a Roman soldier who was known for being a great man of war and a valiant warrior.

So quite the interesting individual. But remember, the Romans were the ones occupying the land of Israel at this time. Do you know what the Jewish people hated? Romans. They hated tax collectors and they hated Romans. They hated tax collectors and they hated Romans. They hated tax collectors Romans. I love that Matthew, the tax collector, is writing about how Jesus is going to perform a

healing for a Roman. You see, if there was anyone that was an outcast of society in Jewish terms, or if you will, an outcast to the covenant, it would be this Roman soldier. Now I will say this, throughout the gospels, centurions are always spoken of in a very good light. As a matter of fact, not one of them has anything negative said about them. All of the gospel writers have very

positive things to say about the centurions. But this centurion comes to Jesus. Again, knowing that Jesus was a Jewish rabbi, knowing that Jesus had performed healings, but also knowing that he was hopeless. He had nowhere else to go, and he had an understanding of the truth. And so what does he do? He comes to Jesus. This outcast finds himself coming to one who might show

compassion. And so what he does is he shows up and he gives Jesus the situation. It says he implored him or he begged him. And this is what he said. He says, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and is fearfully tormented. He said, I have a slave basically at home, a piece of my property, if you will, at home. And this servant of mine is paralyzed. In other words, he can't walk. And it says he's

fearfully tormented. Now, I looked up this word tormented, and the word tormented, for lack of better terms, basically means the worst pain you can imagine. He was writhing in pain at this point in time. Now, this is where we see the centurion painted in a pretty positive light, one of two places where he is in this section. As a Roman soldier, as a Roman citizen, the slave would have been his property, meaning

that this slave, this servant, had no rights whatsoever. And as far as the Roman government was concerned, as far as Roman law was concerned, the slave would have been his property, meaning since a slave was not a person but a piece of property, and he could no longer fulfill his function, he would have been completely within his rights in the law to just simply kill this slave and move on to someone else, someone that could serve his purpose. It sounds cruel, but it was the law at that point in time. And yet, this Roman soldier, this centurion, found himself coming to Jesus. Why? Because he simply cared about this servant that lived in his house. And so he comes

to Jesus, and he doesn't just, he doesn't just, he doesn't just, he doesn't just, he doesn't just, he doesn't lightly ask Jesus. It says he implored him. He begged of him. Lord, you have to do something for my servant. And you can picture the heart of Jesus at this point in time, because he sees what's going on in the heart and life of this centurion, how much he loves this servant of his. And so Jesus'

heart is moved with compassion, like we talked about. And as Jesus' heart is moved with compassion, notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. Once again, we see the willing heart of Jesus. Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come,

and I will heal him. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And so Jesus' heart is moved with compassion. Notice what he says. He says, I will come, and I will heal him. And

He says, Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed because I understand authority. With soldiers under me, I say to this one, go, and he goes. And I say to another, come, and he comes. And to my slave, do this, and he does it. And when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to all those that were following, take note of the faith of this centurion.

He says, listen, I understand what authority looks like. And I know that you have authority. I know that you have authority even over sickness. He said, I am distinctly aware of authority. You know why? Because when I say something, it's done. If I tell a soldier to go do something, it's the same as if it just got done because I know that when I give a command, it will be obeyed.

Otherwise, there are severe, stiff consequences to be paid. Therefore, you don't need to come to my house. All you need to do is say the word. Now, from this, we gain an understanding of something. We gain an understanding of the fact that the power of Jesus is not bound by location. It's kind of interesting what we do with the power of Jesus, isn't it? We say, oh, if I'm going to pray, I've got to be at church.

Well, why? Why do you have to be here to pray? Oh, in order for there to be healing, you have to be right here with me. In order for God's spirit to move, then the pastor has to be right here. No. The power of Jesus is not bound. It's not bound by location. The power of Jesus is overarching, and he can do anything he wants to, anywhere he wants to, at any time that he wants to.

And this centurion understands this to a greater degree than all of the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees understood it. And so that's why Jesus marvels, and he says, I haven't seen faith like this with anyone in Israel. Now, that's a pretty bold statement, is it not? Because who does he say? All those who were following him. Well, who were all the people that were following him?

Mainly people of Israel. He said, he's got a lot more faith than any of you have. And then Jesus does something interesting here because he goes on to speak about future things. He says in verse 11, I say to you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom. Will be cast out into outer darkness.

In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You see, from here, Jesus begins to speak very prophetically. He begins to foretell a coming harvest among the Gentiles. He says, I'm telling you, there is going to be a time when many will come from east and west. What is he talking about when he says that? From the uttermost parts of the earth. That you and I would be the ones who would end up coming into the kingdom.

He says, they're going to come, and they're going to recline at the table. And the kingdom with Abraham and with Isaac and with Jacob. Now, I don't know about y'all, but I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. Not only because we're in the book of Matthew and I believe that the king is coming. But because I'm ready for the king to come. So I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom.

And as I've been thinking about the kingdom, I think, who am I going to see up there? Who am I going to hang out with up there? And I agree with David Guzik when he says, I don't always think about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I think about a lot of the New Testament saints. Can you imagine what it's going to be like to sit down and talk with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob?

Abe, what was it like to pack up the Honda Odyssey and for God just to say, go, and I'll tell you when to stop? What was it like to go up on the mountain and have to offer your only son, Isaac, and trust that God was either going to stop you or raise him from the dead? What was that like? What was it like to step out and have God say, look at the stars, because if you can count them, you can number your descendants.

And have you believe God and say, that's it, you're righteous. What was that like? Or to talk to Isaac and talk to him about all the things that he went through. What was it like to be raised by Abraham? What was it like to have your dad march you up a mountain, tie you down to the top of an altar and have the knife ready to go? Were you really that surrendered?

Jacob, what was it like? Why did it take you so long? What was it like to walk with your hip put out of place for all those years? He says, Many will come of the Gentiles, and yet there will be many who are sons of the kingdom who will be cast into outer darkness. Who are those sons of the kingdom that he's talking about? The Jewish people that have rejected the Messiah.

The Jewish people who were probably standing around him right then, who he knew would be some that would reject him as Messiah. You see, he foretells this future coming, this future influx of the Gentiles. And so as he does so, he's marveling at this centurion's faith. And notice what Jesus does in verse 13. Jesus said to the centurion, Go, it shall be done for you as you have believed.

And the servant was healed that very moment. Now, locationally, I'm curious how far apart they were, how far apart the centurion was from his house. Now, this centurion had grace. He had great faith. But you know as well as I do that just because you have great faith doesn't mean in the back of your mind you're not like, I think. Right? I mean, because that's kind of what we all do.

Like, I have great faith, but in the back of my mind sometimes I'm like, God's going to do this, I think. Right? But this guy's got a lot of faith. And so at that point in time, he says, Go your way, your servant's healed. And I wonder what that entire walk back. Let's say it took him 15, 20 minutes to get back. He's got to walk all the way across the village or the community.

15, 20-minute walk back to his house. And the whole time he's going, he's going to be healed. I just know he is. Man, this is going to be amazing. It's going to be really cool. But not only think about what it was like to be the centurion, but think about what it was like to be in the house. Because you were probably expecting Jesus to show up. You were probably expecting to see Jesus come walking through the door

to perform some kind of a healing and this guy be healed. Can you imagine? You're just laying there writhing in pain because you know everything has just gone wrong in your life. And you're feeling such physical pain and all of a sudden, you just go, and you're healed. No one was there. No one did anything. No one was applying anointment to you or even laying hands on you.

All of a sudden, you're just healed. Can you imagine being the servant standing around him going, that's pretty amazing. You see, that's the power of God. He can do anything he wants to in any way that he wants to. And so he heals that servant. You can just imagine the centurion show up, right? He's like, hey, how's he doing? Hey! He's healed! Okay, quick. What time was he healed?

Oh, I'd say 15, 20 minutes ago. Man, he really is that powerful. There really is something different about this Jesus. Well, one more story that we'll cover this morning. It says in verse 14, when Jesus came into Peter's home, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her. She got up and waited on him. When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed.

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. Now, this next story seems to be completely different than the first two. First of all, there's much less fanfare. Jesus simply comes into the home of Peter. And there in the home of Peter, his mother-in-law is laying there.

Now, in some of the other gospel accounts, it says that Peter brought him into the home because of what was going on. But take note of the fact that this particular time, nobody asked Jesus for a healing. Nobody implored him for the healing. Jesus was the one who initiated the action. Jesus was the one who initiated what needed to be done. Because there was Peter's mother-in-law laying there sick with a fever.

Whatever the issue was, we're not told any more detail than that, other than she was lying there sick with a fever. And no doubt it was getting worse, because this is what prompted Jesus to act. And as she was laying there sick with a fever, Jesus walks in, and he simply grabs her hand, and he heals her. Jesus initiated the action. Jesus did all of the work.

He simply reached out and touched her hand, and the fever left her. This time, he didn't say anything. This time, he didn't do anything. He just simply reached and grabbed, and the fever left. Now, the thing that I take note of is the way that she responded to what Jesus did. Because what she did is that she immediately got up and began to serve. Now, there's two things that are kind of interesting to pay attention to about this.

The first thing has to do with the physical healing. You know as well as I do that if you're running a really high fever, even when the fever breaks, you're just exhausted. You're just worn out from what that did to you, because fever means that your body is fighting something off, and so your body has some sort of an issue. And yet, she immediately... She immediately is able to get up and act like nothing ever happened.

Why? Because the healing was complete. It was a total, immediate, complete healing that took place in her life. That's the first thing that I take note of. The second thing that I take note of is this. The response to Jesus' work in our life is always service. You see, as we see what Jesus has done for us, we respond to that by serving. Some people say, I really have a hard time serving the Lord.

Well, then you probably need to be... shown a little bit more of what Jesus has done for you. Because I don't know about you, but the more I understand what Jesus has done for me, how can I not serve Him with all of my life? How can I not serve Him with all of my being and all of my strength? You see, I think sometimes the issue that we have in the 21st century church is

we've stopped paying attention to what Jesus is able to do and what Jesus has done in our lives. And because we've stopped paying attention to what Jesus has done in our lives, we don't pay any attention to how we can serve Him with what He's given to us. And so, as she sees what Jesus did for her, she simply serves. Now, there's one other thing that I didn't point out that I think is important to point out.

Actually, there's probably two more things I didn't point out about Peter's mother-in-law. First of all is the fact that Peter has a mother-in-law. Now, why is that important? And why should we pay attention to that? Well, if you follow our friends over at the Catholic Church, they would tell you that priests should not marry. They should remain celibate. And they say that,

because that's the way that it's always been. But who do they say was their original pope? It was Peter. Well, Peter was married. So if Peter, their original pope, wasn't married, or was married, then why are they telling all of their priests today to not get married? It's an interesting point that needs to be made and one that we should pay attention to. But the second thing that I think is important is this,

because it goes with the theme that we've seen with all of these. You see, the leper was an outcast of society. The centurion was an outcast from the covenant. But the woman was considered a second-class citizen. I'm sorry, ladies. That was the way it was in Eastern culture at that point in time. And yet, what did Jesus do the moment that he came in and he saw her lying there sick with a fever?

He reached out his hand. He grabbed hers, and the fever left her. Because you see, in the kingdom of God, women are not second-class citizens. And as J. Vernon McGeece always says, Jesus did more for women's rights than any woman out protesting today. Because Jesus elevated women to the status of being members of the kingdom of God, in the same standing as men.

And so, here was another somewhat of an outcast that Jesus reached out to. Well then, of course, we wrap up this section with a summary statement that matters. Matthew gives. It says, When evening came, verse 16, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he cast out spirits with a word, and he healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.

He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases. So evening comes, and more people are brought to him. And as more people are brought to him, he continues to perform more healings. Now, we're given the indication in the Greek that this carries with it the idea that there was over and over and over again, over and over again healings. And depending on who you read and listen to,

they say that there could have been thousands of people healed that night. Maybe hundreds of people healed that night. But we're given the indication that he spent the rest of the evening into the wee hours of the morning, healing all those who came to him. Why did he do that? Because he was fulfilling what was prophesied about the Messiah. In Isaiah chapter 53,

we're given this prophecy that he bore our infirmities and carried our illnesses. So what does that mean for us? Well, some would tell you that this means that if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, it means you should never be sick. And if you're sick, it means you have some sort of sin in your life. I feel like that disagrees with a good portion of Scripture.

I feel like that because it's true. That disagrees with a good portion of Scripture. So what does he mean when it says he bore our infirmities and carries our illnesses? What does he mean when he says that if that's the job of the Messiah, then why is there still sickness in the world? Well, there's still sickness in the world because sin still exists in the world.

And God sometimes allows things into our lives because that's what's best for us at that point in time. Sometimes the best thing for us is to bring about the physical healing. But sometimes the best thing for us is to sustain us in the midst of the illness. I'm reminded of the fact that these three folks, Jesus decided to heal. And yet Paul, the apostle, when he had some sort of a thorn in the flesh,

some sort of an illness, he cried out to the Lord three times. He implored, same Greek word, he implored the Lord three times to take it away from him. And what did God say? My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness. So if it doesn't mean that everybody's going to be healed, what does it mean? What is the effect of sin? What is the consequence of sin?

The consequence of sin is death. What are some of the things that were ushered in because of sin? Some of the things that were ushered into our culture because of sin are illnesses. Illnesses that lead to death. So what does it mean when it says he bore our infirmities? He bore the penalty of all of those infirmities because the ultimate penalty of sin is death.

And he took all those upon himself at the cross. Therefore, we know that ultimate healing is coming because he took them all away. We may still have to deal with it while we're on topside of planet Earth, but in eternity, all sickness, all illness, all aspect of death, things that we deal with, they'll be gone. Why? Because he bore all of those things in his own body on the tree.

Now, as we close up this morning, there's four things I'd like for us to take away from this. Four things that I think are important for us to pay attention to. Number one, I took note of the fact that each miracle was performed in a different way. Each miracle was performed in a completely different way. And we'll find that as we continue to go throughout these two chapters.

Is that Jesus always did things a little bit different. Why do you suppose Jesus always did things a little bit different? Because if Jesus had always done things the same, we would write a book about it. We would write a book about the healing method of Jesus. And we'd probably call it the healing method of Jesus. And we would all begin to do that one thing

and expect Jesus to always act the same way every single time. Because that's what we like to do. I'm sometimes weary of the books that come out in church culture today. Like, it seems every few years there's a new like, oh, this is the big thing and it's everything that you read. And you can get the coffee mug that says it. You can get the daily planner that says it.

You can get the calendar to put on your wall that says it. You can get the doily to put on your table that says it. Because that's the newest, biggest thing. And we like to put Jesus inside of this box and say, that's how Jesus acted this time. Therefore, that's how he'll act every single time. And Jesus is like, that's not true. I did things different. I did things different in everybody's life.

Because we're all different. And he likes to do things differently so that it's always fresh. Somebody at the end of New Year's Eve posted a verse on one of the social media platforms. I don't remember which one it was. And it says, have you not heard? Do you not know? I am doing a new thing. Because that's what God always wants to do. He always wants to do a new thing.

And that's something that we have to pay attention to. In the Calvary Chapel movement. It will not always look exactly the same as it did the first time around. It won't always look the same in every single church. There are certain things that always remain the same. It's always Jesus. It's always through the power of the Holy Spirit. And his word will always take precedence.

Other than that, a lot of the methods are going to look a lot different. And that's okay. Because he performs them all in a different way. Number two. Each miracle was performed on an outcast. Each of these three miracles was performed on somebody that society said was less than. Somebody that religion said was an outcast. Now I think that's really important.

Because you know what sometimes we all are? Outcasts. It's who we are by nature. We're all outcasts. And everybody has that feeling. But you know what? Everybody in the world right now that doesn't come to church. You know what they feel like? They feel like outcasts. Do you know why so many people are being outcasts? Do you know why so many people are being drawn to the transgender homosexual movement right now?

Because they feel like outcasts. They feel a little bit different. Somehow they feel like they don't fit into the rest of society. And yet that particular movement will welcome them with open arms. And they'll say, you can come be one of us even though you look different. Even though you act different. You can come be with our group because we'll accept you as you are.

And do you know why they're flocking to that? Because we as the church have stopped reaching out to outcasts. We want people that look like us. We want people that sound like us. We want people that talk like us. Do you know why more people are escaping to the liquor store than they are to church? Do you know why more people are escaping to a drug dealer than they are to church?

Do you know why more people are voting for legalized marijuana than they are for prayer in school? It's because we as the church stopped reaching out to outcasts. That's who Jesus always, always reached out to. And we have to remember that just because they look different, just because they smell different, just because they have habits we don't approve of, doesn't mean that they've not been created in the image of God and that Jesus did not die to save them.

Because He did. He died to save them all. And you know what? At the rate that we're losing people right now, I would say that we had better get a little bit of that heart of Jesus and start reaching out to the outcasts. Because some of them aren't even just choosing. To drown it in a bottle of alcohol. To numb it with another joint. They're choosing to end it forever with suicide.

Why? Because they feel like an outcast. Like nobody can accept them. Like nobody can love them. And Jesus does love them. And He wants to use us as His instrument of love in the lives of people. Number three. Each miracle reveals the power of Jesus. Each miracle reveals the power of Jesus. It's seen in so many different ways through incurable diseases by the fact that He's not bound by location

to the fact that He works in different ways every single time. But each of these miracles reveals the power of Jesus. And then number four. Each miracle reveals the compassion of Jesus. Each miracle reveals the compassion of Jesus. And that same compassion is what He wants to flow in our hearts. I heard a definition one time of compassion. This guy said, I was teaching to a group of people

and there was a homeless guy who happened to wander in and he said, I was teaching about compassion and I said, if I was to say how would you define compassion? What would your answer be? And this homeless guy piped up and said it's when it hurts so bad that you have to do something. And I'm just kind of curious in the world that we're living in now has it finally started hurting so bad?

Has it finally started hurting so bad that we have to do something? Because it hurt Jesus so bad that He decided to lay aside His glory and come down and dwell among us so that He could be the Savior for an entire group of outcasts. In our hearts does it hurt so bad that we have to do something? Because that's what He wants to do in us too. Well this morning is Communion Sunday.

So I'm going to invite Jared to come up and sing one last song for us and of course the ushers are going to come down and prepare to hand out the elements and as they do so I'll remind you of what we're told in Scripture and that's that as we partake of Communion we declare the death of Jesus Christ. That death of Jesus Christ that means our unity with Him and our unity with each other as the body of Christ. It's that death of Jesus Christ that declares that a bunch of outcasts can be a part of the family of God and a bunch of outcasts can be a part of the family with each other. And so we're to do so in a worthy manner and of course doing so in a worthy manner means allowing God to search our hearts to deal with the sin that we have in our lives

to deal with that unloving spirit that can sometimes be in our lives to deal with what God has been working on us about over all of the entire year last year and as we've moved into this new year. So I would encourage you that as Jared sings this last song and as the ushers hand out the elements that you would allow God to search your heart and make sure that your heart is clear before the Lord. As you receive your elements if you would please stand and then we'll partake together. In my mother's womb You formed me with Your hands Known and loved by You Before I took a breath When I doubted Lord remind me I'm wonderfully made You're an artist and a potter I'm the canvas and the clay You make all things Work together For my future And for my good

You make all things Work together For Your glory There's a healing light Just beyond the clouds Though I walk through fire I see clearly now I know nothing has been wasted No failure or mistake You're an artist and a potter I'm the canvas and the clay You make all things Work together For my future You make all things Work together For Your glory You make all things Work together For my future Work together For Your glory When I doubted I'm the canvas and the clay I know nothing has been wasted No failure or mistake You're an artist and a potter I'm the canvas and the clay You make all things Work together For my future And for my good You make all things Work together For Your glory Father we come before You

and Lord I just thank You so much for who You are Father I thank You for Your body that was broken for us Lord for the stripes that You took for us because it says by Your stripes we are healed Lord I thank You that You were willing to sacrifice Yourself for us Father I thank You for Your blood that was shed for us Your blood that is enough to cover all of our sins and Lord I thank You that You have not only unified us with You but Lord we are now a family and so Lord I pray that as we partake we would keep in mind Lord what You have done for us and I just thank You for that and I just pray that You would continue to do Your work in our hearts and our lives making us into who You have created for us to be and we just thank You Father in Jesus name

Amen Let's partake Would you bow with me one more time Father be with us as we go out from this place Lord as we start not only a new month but a brand new year Lord I pray that this year would be one that is dedicated to knowing and loving You that You would protect us from the attacks of the enemy and that You would do Your work in our heart as You see fit Lord draw us near to You and show us how we can serve You with all of our hearts and lives We just thank You Father in Jesus name Amen Be blessed