Stories of Healing Pt 1

And if you would open up in your Bibles to the gospel of Matthew chapter 8.

Matthew chapter 8. At the end of Matthew chapter 4, we read that as Jesus began his ministry, he went about teaching and preaching and healing all those who had diseases. We said that that was the ministry of the King. And so, we've seen some of the teaching as we looked at the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7. Well, today, we get into a lot of the healing

ministry. As a matter of fact, the next two chapters that we cover in Matthew, chapters 8 and chapter 9, will really all be stories of healing. I tried to come up with a really creative title because I always try to come up with something. And this time, I had nothing. I was like, gosh, chapters 8 and 9 are just a bunch of, well, stories of healing. And so,

I guess I could title it Stories of Healing. So, that's all I came up with. I'm sorry, guys. That's the best I got for you. It's right after Christmas, okay? So, as we come into chapter 8 and 9, that's exactly what we're going to focus on. And as we look at these stories of healing in chapters 8 and 9, there's a handful of things I would like for you to think about and pay attention to.

Number one, we're going to take note of the power of Jesus. We're going to see that he has power over all kinds of disease, even those that at this point in time were completely incurable. And that his power is not bound by location because he can even heal from long distance if he needs to. So, we're going to see the power of Jesus. The second thing I want you to take note of as we go through this section is the compassion of

Jesus, that he always cared about people. And then the third thing that we'll pay attention to is that this ministry of healing is actually one of the marks of the Messiah. And so, we're going to pay attention to the fact that this is one of the many areas of his life that proved him to be exactly who he said he was as the Messiah. And so, we pick up in chapter 8. There's going to

be three different healings that we're going to look at today. In the first half of chapter 8, we're going to see the cleansing of the leper, the healing of the centurion, the servant, and the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. 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 down before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus stretched out his hand and he touched him saying, I am willing, be cleansed. And immediately the leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, see that you tell no one, but go, show your hands. Now, this first healing that takes place is going to be the healing of the leper. Now, I think it's important that we spend just a few minutes talking about leprosy

and why this is such a big deal. Leprosy, I looked this up on the internet last night on Dr. Google to make sure that I was going to give a proper definition of this. So, if this is wrong, I blame Google. But I blame Google for a lot of things that's neither here nor there. Leprosy is defined by the word leprosy. It's defined by the word leprosy. It's defined by the word

it is an infection that leads to nerve damage and inability to feel pain. It results in sores and the loss of fingers and toes and eventually destroys the entire body. So, this guy that comes to Jesus is a guy that is dealing with this disease of leprosy. Now, I don't know how you've always pictured leprosy in the past. It seems like this comes up a lot in scripture more than

in any other book that I've ever read. I don't know how you've pictured it in the past, but this is the way that I picture it. I've always pictured leprosy as being these open, nasty sores that are running with goo in them. Perhaps you've pictured it the same way. That's actually not what it would have looked like. I actually looked up a picture and I thought to myself, I should put that picture up there. I

opted out of it, so don't worry. Don't shield your eyes. But basically, it's a bunch of red spots that show up on the body. But here's the problem is that what these red spots do, these sores begin to do is they begin to take away the pain that comes from the nerve endings. They begin to, if you will, deaden you to pain. And because they do that, they begin to take away the pain that comes

from the nerve endings. And because they deaden you to pain, you are more susceptible to infection because you don't realize that there's an issue with your body, and so it never gets addressed. And because this infection continues to grow, that's where you end up losing certain appendages of the body. But here's the thing about leprosy. It eventually takes over the entire physical body

until your body is completely destroyed. Now, leprosy in scripture gives for us the perfect picture of sin, because sin does the exact opposite. It takes over the entire body, and it does the exact same thing to us. You see, it starts off in a really small area of our life. And as it starts off in that small area of our life, it begins to deaden us to the conviction

that comes along with that sin. And as it begins to deaden us to the conviction that comes along with that sin, we don't realize that there's an issue. And because we don't realize there's an issue, a sinful infection begins to grow in our life until it starts to decay and eat away at portions of our life to where it eventually destroys us. And in the same way that leprosy takes over the physical body until your physical body is completely destroyed, sin takes over your spiritual being until you are completely destroyed. Now, at this point in time, when Jesus is

ministering, there was no cure for leprosy. And what was done if somebody discovered that they had leprosy, which we're told about in the book of Leviticus, is if somebody noticed some sort of a sore on their body that looks suspect, this is what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to go to the priest, and the priest was to examine him. And if the priest was suspect of the fact that this was a leprous sore, here's what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to quarantine that man for 14 days. Kind of sounds familiar,

huh? Wait, it's going to even sound more familiar. So he was to quarantine for 14 days. And after that 14-day quarantine, he went and he presented himself to the priest again. And as he presented himself to the priest again, if the sores had not gone away or if they had continued to grow, he was told, you have leprosy, and you must now dwell outside the camp.

You can't be here anymore. You can't be around people anymore. And so he was completely ostracized from the camp. As a matter of fact, anywhere that the leper went, he was to cry out unclean. And according to Jewish custom at this point in time, if you came across somebody that had leprosy, you were to maintain a distance. Guess how far? Six feet. You were supposed to

maintain a six-foot distance between you and the one that had leprosy, unless you were downwind from them, in which case you were to maintain a 150-foot distance. And so he was to maintain a 150-foot distance from them. That's what this man that we come across first in this story is dealing with. He's dealing with leprosy. J. Vernon McGee, in his commentary, painted a really interesting picture

that I thought was pretty important to pay attention to. He said, this is a man just like any other man. You can imagine what would have happened in his life. Perhaps this man had a wife. Perhaps he even had some kids. And one day he wakes up and his wife looks at him and says, what's wrong with your face? And he says, I don't know. She says, you'd probably better go get that

checked out by the high priest. And so we go there. And he says, I don't know. And he says, I have to quarantine for two weeks. Two weeks later, he goes to see the high priest to get in. The priest says, that's leprosy. You have to leave. There was no going home to hug his wife. There was no going home to pick up his kids and give them all a kiss. There was no saying goodbye.

There was simply leaving the camp. And now for the rest of his life, he would live as an outcast, completely cut off from society, completely cut off from fellowship, completely cut off from community, never to again feel the sensation of human touch, never again to be around a human being in any sort of close quarters. That was the life that he lived. That brings us to the story now. Because what we see is that Jesus has come down from the mountain.

He had just given this sermon on the mount that we spent so much time talking about. And he's coming down from the mountain. And we know that he's surrounded by disciples, not just his 12, many that had gathered themselves to him. And remember how they responded to his message. They marveled at his teaching because his teaching was with great authority. They were in awe of his

knowledge, but they were more in awe of his authority. And as they were in awe of this authority, people began gathering themselves to him. And you can picture the scene as he comes down perhaps a winding country road from the top side of the mountain. As he comes winding down that country road, crowds are all around him. And as the crowds are all around him, you can picture

it, right? That this leper begins to come up to him. And as he comes up to him, he begins to and as this leper comes up, he does exactly what the law said and would have had to pronounce that he was unclean. And all of the people that had gathered themselves to Jesus, as this leper begins to approach, start doing what you and I do. When we see somebody with that mask on that says,

sorry, I've got COVID. Because while I'm not scared of COVID, I ain't trying to get COVID. You know what I'm saying? It's that sort of a feeling that you get when somebody approaches like that. And then everybody's stepping back and clearing out except for one person. You know, the one person that wasn't clearing out was Jesus. Jesus stayed right there, with him. Jesus was willing to have a conversation with this man. This man who all of society

saw as an outcast. So take note of the conversation that takes place. Verse 2. It says, And the leper came to him, and he bowed down before him. And he said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Now, there's three things I'd like to point out to you. First is that the leper came to him. Why did the leper come and see Jesus? Well, because remember, what had been

taking place in the life of Jesus? He had been teaching. And he had been preaching. But he also had been healing. You see, the news of the fact that Jesus was able to heal was beginning to spread. And this man who was completely without hope as far as the world is concerned, because remember, there's no cure for leprosy. There was nothing that could have cleansed him. And there's no hope that he has in the world. The only hope that he

has is that hopefully when he goes, it won't be as painful as he thinks it's going to be. And so he's completely hopeless, completely cast out. And he has one thought, maybe, just maybe, this Jesus who I've been hearing about will be willing to heal me. And so it says he came to Jesus. But I take note of the second thing that he did. When he came to Jesus, he came in a worshipful

way. He came not knowing what Jesus was going to do, not ever having seen Jesus heal someone like him, but knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt there was something different about Jesus. And so what does he do? He bows down and worships. He falls down before the King of Kings. And he makes a request. It says he implored Jesus. He said, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean.

You know what's interesting about that statement? He had no doubt that Jesus was able to do this. I think that that's a pretty interesting amount of faith shown on the part of this man. Because again, there's been no story of Jesus healing a leper up to this point in time. He had no background knowledge to base this off of other than believing that this Jesus was able

to heal. And he says, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. He wholeheartedly believed that Jesus could heal him. What was the one thing he was struggling with? Will Jesus heal him? I think this leper is kind of like you and I can be sometimes. I don't know about you, but I can find that I can believe God for everybody else in the world except for myself.

I can believe that God can set anybody free from anything. I believe that God can take care of anyone. I believe all the things that God is able to do because I've heard all of the stories in my life. But sometimes I have a hard time believing that God wants to do that for me. And maybe you're that way too. Because you see, as this leper came to Jesus as a complete outcast,

he knew Jesus had no reason to talk to him. And as a matter of fact, as a good rabbi, he would have known that Jesus probably should have shunned him. So he says, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean. And I want you to notice how Jesus responds to this guy. Jesus stretched out his hand and he touched him saying, I am willing to be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Now Jesus could have healed this guy any way that he

wanted to. He could have chosen any option in the way in which he healed him. As a matter of fact, he could have healed him from long distance. And rather than getting within six feet of him, because that was what Jewish custom said at that point in time, maybe even up to 100 feet, instead of staying that far away and saying, whoa, you stay there, you be healed. He doesn't do that.

What does he do? The very first thing that we're told that Jesus does is he reaches out and he, touches him. Why? Why does he do this? You see, this could create a real problem for Jesus, because according to the law, if you touch someone who had leprosy, you were considered to be ceremonially unclean and you now had to quarantine for seven days. So why does Jesus do this? Why does

he reach out and touch him? Because what is the one thing that had not happened with this individual from the moment that he had been pronounced a leper? He had not felt physical touch. You know, they say that physical touch is one of the important senses that we have in our lives. They say that a 30 second hug every day decreases depression in the lives of people. You know why?

Because we are made for physical contact. We're made for physical touch. We're made for relationship. So how much do you think this guy was struggling with depression? Because he not only knew the diagnosis that he had, he not only knew how all of society viewed him, but he hadn't had contact with a human being in years. So yes, Jesus could have just spoken and healed him, but he knew that not only did he need physical

healing, he needed emotional healing. And that began with a touch. So Jesus stretches out his hand and he touches him. And I love this next thing that Jesus says, because what does Jesus tell him? The question he asked was, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean. And what does Jesus do when he reaches out and he touches him? He says, I'm willing. God, what a great

statement that Jesus said. And I love this next thing that Jesus says, because what does Jesus tell him? He says, I'm willing. I think that's important for us to pay attention to, because as we view the issues that we have in our lives, as we view the struggles that we have in our lives, the weaknesses that we have in our lives, and we think to ourselves, Lord, if you are willing, you can deliver me from this. And I know that you're willing to do it for everybody else, but I'm not sure you're

willing to do it for me. Jesus wants you to know he's willing. It's his desire. It's his desire to see his work take place in your life. It's his desire to heal you, not only physically. We'll talk about that in just a moment. But it's his desire to heal you, not only physically. And I think that's important for us to pay attention to, because he knows that as he presents himself to

Jesus to be healed, he says, Lord, if you're willing, understanding that it's not always God's will to heal physically. I think that's important for us to pay attention to. Sometimes God heals us by healing us on topside of planet earth, and it's for his glory. Sometimes God heals us in eternity by taking it away after we've gone home to be with him. It's completely up to God how he does what he does. But do you know what God will always do?

You know what God's will always is for us? Emotional and spiritual healing in our lives. That's his desire for us. So Jesus stretches out, touches him, and he says, I'm willing to be cleansed. Would you take note of what it said next? Immediately, the leprosy was cleansed. This is another one of those really interesting places where I want to watch it happen. Like, I want to be able to see how this took place, okay? So if he'd been a leper

for a long time, the potential of him having lost fingers and toes, very real. So at this point in time, is it like, like, did fingers grow back on him at this point in time? That's what I want to know. Is his ear all of a sudden back on? We've seen Jesus do that one before, right? He's going to do that later. He'll put somebody's ear back on. How did it work with him losing all of the sores? Because he would have been covered with these

sores. They might not have been oozing in the way that you and I view them, but I saw the picture, right? Still look pretty gnarly. Like, did it start at the top and just go work its way down, all of a sudden, like, and all of a sudden, his skin went from, like, gnarly and red and splotched to, like, brand new baby skin, and he's like, look. I don't know how it worked, or was it just

all of a sudden, like, and did he get a sweet head of hair while he was at it? I don't know. Those are all the things that go through my head. When I think about these kinds of things. However it happened, can you imagine standing there when this took place, and you heard the guy yell unclean, you saw what was going on in his body, perhaps even some of the missing appendages, and Jesus touches him, to which you go, ah,

because you just saw Jesus touch a leper, and then all of a sudden, he's completely healed, and he looks totally brand new. What an amazing scene to take place. Can you imagine how this guy would have felt at this point in time? Because now, in Christ, listen, he was no longer an outcast, but now he was a part of the family of God. What a beautiful moment. What a beautiful scene. You know, that same kind of healing that took

place on the outside for this leper takes place on the inside every time somebody comes to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Every time somebody puts their faith in Jesus Christ, he makes them brand new on the inside. Yesterday was January 1st, which meant I started my new reading plan, and I started reading through the one-year Bible. I chose to go through the one-year Bible this year partly because when Pastor Rick Jardine from up in Johnson County died back in October, a lot of memories of my time in Johnson County sprung back into my head, and one of them was that Pastor Rick always encouraged all of us to read through the one-year Bible, and as a matter

of fact, he said that's the best thing you can do as a Christian is to read through the Bible in a year. So I picked up the one-year Bible, and yesterday, a lot of thoughts of Pastor Rick sort of came flowing back for me, and as I was preparing this, it made me think about what he always said about who he was before he got saved. He said, Before I got saved, nobody wanted to be around me. I viewed myself as an outcast, and everybody else viewed me as an outcast. I was mean, and I was angry. Nobody liked me. He said,

But then I put my faith in Jesus, and he changed me completely, and now I love him, and now I love his people, and now I'm not an outcast because not only am I accepted by him, but now I have a family that I never thought I would have. It's impossible. That's what happens when we put our faith in Jesus. You see, it may not heal every outside problem that you have because that's up to God when he does that, but what he does is he gives you a brand new heart. He takes away that hard heart of steel, that hard heart of stone

that you have inside of you, and he gives you a brand new soft heart. I love talking to people that have walked with Jesus for a long time that tell me who they were before they came to know Jesus, and I'm like, I would have no idea. I would have no idea who you were before you came to me. I would have no idea who you were before you came to know Jesus because of who you are now. You know

why? Because Jesus heals from leprosy, and Jesus heals from sin. Well, Jesus has some instructions for this fellow that has been cleansed. In verse 4, it says, Now, Jesus tells him to do something. He says, don't tell anybody. You know how hard that would be? Well, if we read other gospel accounts, we know he completely screwed that first part up. He told everybody. We'll get to

that in a second. Why didn't Jesus want him to tell everybody? Well, I think that there's two reasons. Number one, as the Messiah, Jesus had not fully presented himself in that messianic role just yet. The works that he was doing were going to continue to present him that way, but his ultimate presentation as the Messiah would not take place until the week before his crucifixion

when he comes riding into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey, and they say, That's when, or Hosanna, blesses he who comes in the name of the Lord. That's when he'll present himself as the Messiah. So he's not ready for that yet. But the second thing is that Jesus knew what happens every time another miracle gets told about. People start following him, but they don't

start following him because of who he is. They start following him because they want to see what he can do. And so he says, don't tell anybody. Of course, this guy completely screws that first part up because as you read gospel accounts, he goes around telling everybody. I'm sure that he heard, you're cleansed. Brand new, right? Baby skin. He's like, oh, this is the

greatest thing ever. Do you know what the first thing I would do if that was me? First thing I would do is I would make it to my house as fast as I possibly could. And I would hug my wife, and I would hug my kids, and we would all dance around for a little while together, and my daughter would not make fun of me because it would be epic at that point in time, right? I guess the first thing I would do, I'm pretty sure,

went and saw the priest. That's what he did too. And everybody that he saw, he was like, I used to have leprosy, and now I don't. I think that's what he did. I think he told that to everybody that he came across because he was so excited about being healed. So the first thing he tells, don't tell anybody. But he does tell him to go see one person. Who does he say to go see? The priest. Why? Because

if you were to look right now at Leviticus chapter 14, which we won't, you should join us on Wednesday night. We'll be there soon. If you were to look at Leviticus chapter 14, you would see that there was a cleansing ritual for those who had been healed of leprosy. Now it's interesting that in the Old Covenant, God provided this cleansing ritual for those who would be healed of leprosy. Why? Because

at that point in time, there was no cure for leprosy. So if that was the case, then why did God include an entire ritual for those who had been cleansed from leprosy? Because he knew Jesus is coming, and this was going to be necessary. Can you imagine what it was like when he pulled up to the priest? He's like, hey guys, so you're supposed to go to, I don't know, there's something I'm supposed to do. I'm supposed to tell

you I got healed of leprosy. And they're like, yeah, right. He's like, no, but for real. Remember, I was like, unclean. They're like, wait, say unclean again. He's like, unclean. They step six feet away. It is you. What happened to you? How'd that happen? He goes, Jesus healed me, and you're supposed to do the thing. And they're like, the thing? Oh, shoot, the thing. Where's the thing?

It's in Leviticus. That's where we look. Most of your Bibles are like, Leviticus? What chapter? We'll get there. I promise. We know what we're doing. I don't know what I'm doing. And they're flipping, and they're trying to figure out what the ceremony is, because they've never done this. Hundreds of years, and they've never had to do this. Can you imagine being the first priest who's like, you know what? You tell your

kids, I was the first guy to ever perform the cleansing ritual for leprosy. Daddy, why was that you? Because of Jesus. And so this leper finds himself healed, and that's the first story we come to. The second one's pretty interesting as well. We pick up in verse 5, and notice what it says. When Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, imploring him and saying, Lord, my servant

is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. And 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, and 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've not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 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 into outer darkness. In that place,

there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, go, and it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed that very moment. Now, the second story that we come to also involves a pretty interesting individual. It involves a centurion. Now, a centurion was a Roman soldier who was in charge of a hundred different men. We're told that Jesus was in Capernaum. Now,

Capernaum is where Jesus had headquartered his ministry, which we said was kind of an interesting place for him to headquarter his ministry, because there was a Roman soldier in the Roman garrison there. So there was a lot of not only Jewish influence, but there was a lot of Gentile influence. So for a Jewish rabbi, this was an interesting place to set up his headquarters. But that's where he does it anyway. So this centurion comes to him. Now, a centurion was a

valiant Roman soldier. In order to get to the place where you could be a centurion in charge of about a hundred guys, you had to have done something very valiant in battle, and that earned you the rank of a centurion. But not only was he a valiant Roman soldier, but he was also a Roman soldier. And if you remember, Romans were the ones occupying Israel at this point in time.

Therefore, the Jewish people hated Roman soldiers. Now, I will say this. Anytime a centurion is mentioned in the gospel accounts, it's always in a very positive light. So it does seem like they were upstanding citizens. But in general, this guy would have been what we would call, a familiar word that we've used already, an outcast. Because this guy was an outcast as far as the covenant was concerned. And the Jewish people

wouldn't have wanted anything to do with him. And so this centurion finds himself coming to Jesus, probably in the same sort of situation. He knew that there was a need within his household because his servant was paralyzed. In other words, he couldn't walk. And he was greatly tormented. Now, I looked up this word tormented in the Greek. Rather than give you the definition, let me just

tell you what it means. Writhing pain. That's the idea of being tormented. And he was tormented. It was the worst pain you can imagine being in. And so this guy is dealing with something really intense. And this centurion, this Roman soldier, had heard, there's a Jesus who's been healing people. I should go and see if my servant can be healed by him. Now, there's one more interesting

thing for us to pay attention to about this centurion. Because he was a Roman, he was subject to Roman law. Now, according to Roman law, when you owned a slave, they call it a servant here to make it palatable. When you owned a slave, you called it a slave. And so this centurion, he was a slave. They were your property. Because they were your property, their job, their role in life

was to fulfill whatever job you had for them. Therefore, according to Roman law, if your servant or your slave, if you will, could no longer perform that task because of illness or injury, you were completely within the realm of legalities to simply kill that slave and move on with life and find yourself another one. So the fact that this Roman centurion cares enough about his slave that he's willing to go and beseech Jesus to heal him tells us a little bit about the kind of guy that this was. But that's not the only thing that tells us about his character. We'll look at another

spot here in just a minute. And so he comes to Jesus and it says he implores him. We could also substitute that for the word begged. He begged Jesus. I've got this servant. He's lying tormented. He doesn't even get to the request yet. And notice what Jesus says. It says, Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. I love this because he doesn't even get to the request yet. He doesn't

even have to say, will you please come heal him? Jesus is moved with compassion the moment that this guy starts telling him his story. And Jesus says, no problem. What I'm doing right now, not nearly as important as whatever I need to go do with you. I will come and heal him. But take note of how the centurion responds. He says, Lord, I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof.

Just say the word and my servant will be healed. This is the second time Jesus is willing to put himself into a position of healing. He's willing to come and heal him. He's willing to come and heal of being, according to Jewish custom, considered ceremonially unclean. Because for a Jewish man to enter the home of a Gentile, according to Jewish custom, not according to God's law,

but according to Jewish custom, that would have made them unclean. And I think that this centurion knew that, which is why he said, I'm not worthy for you to come to my house. I'm not even worthy for you to show up. He said, but I need you to realize something. I understand authority. And I know that you, Jesus, have authority. You see, I know as a centurion that if I tell someone

to go, they better go. If I tell someone to do something, they better do it. Because that's the kind of authority that I have. And I'm well aware of the authority that you have. And I know that all you have to do is say the word and he will be healed. I don't know about you, but I kind of respond in the way that Jesus does. Notice what Jesus says in verse 10. When Jesus heard him,

he marveled and said to all those who were following, truly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I agree with Jesus. That's an incredible amount of faith. At this point in time, it would have been completely understandable for the man to say, no, no, I'll bring him to you. But no, he doesn't even say that. He says, I'm not worthy

to have you come into my house. But you know what? I have an understanding about who you are. I understand the power and authority that you have. All it would take is for you from right here to simply say, be healed and he'll be healed because that's how much faith I have in you. I don't know if I have that kind of faith always. And notice how Jesus responds. He looks at all those who are following him, which by the way,

who are all those who would have been following him at this point in time? A Jewish rabbi. They would have all been of the nation of Israel. He sort of looks at him and goes, I haven't seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. Can you imagine standing there? You're like, he's not wrong, right? Because that was kind of how they were addressing Jesus at this point in time.

They believed him when he did a miracle. And when he didn't, they were like, do a miracle so we can believe you. But then Jesus does something really interesting here. Before he heals him, Jesus gives a little bit of a prophetic statement. Notice what he says. Verse 11. I say to you that many will come from east and west and will recline at 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 that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You see, Jesus speaks prophetically here. He foretells the coming harvest that will happen amongst the Gentiles. He said, I've never even seen this kind of faith in all of Israel. He says, but I need you to know something. There's going to come a time when many will come from east and

west. Who are those that will come from the east and west? All of the other nations of the earth. They will come and they will recline at the table with Abraham and Jacob. Why does he choose those three? Why does he choose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Because those, as far as the Jewish people were concerned, were the nation of Israel. Because those were the founding fathers of the nation. And so he says, there's going to be Gentiles coming

from all over the place that are going to sit in the kingdom of God with the ones that you consider your fathers, those who started the nation of Israel. Meanwhile, there will be sons of the kingdom. Some of those Jewish people started the nation of Israel. And so he says, there will be standing around him who will be cast out into outer darkness. Why? Because Jesus stood right

in front of them and they wouldn't put their faith in it. I love the picture that he gives us, though, of what's going to happen in the kingdom. Isn't that a beautiful thought? A beautiful thought to sit and hang out with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I don't know about y'all, but I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. Not only because I'm ready to go home to be with Jesus,

but because I think the king is coming and I think he's coming soon. So I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. And I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. And I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. And I've been thinking a lot about the kingdom here lately. And I've been thinking a lot, especially towards the end of the year, about the

kingdom and what that's going to be like. And I think about the loved ones that I'm going to get to see. I think about the people from the New Testament that I get to see. But you know what I don't always think about? I don't always think about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Wouldn't it be amazing to sit down and talk with Abraham and be like, Abe, what the heck was it like for God to

be like, pack up the minivan and drive till I say don't drive anymore. Drive till I say you're there. Like, what was that like? What was it like for God to take you outside and show you all of the stars and say, if you can number the stars, you can number the descendants, knowing you had none. And yet you said, I believe you. And God said, that means that you're righteous.

What was it like when you realized I'm going to have a son? This is the son of promise because there's no other way it could have come about. It had to be completely miraculous. And Abraham, what was it like to have to march that son up to the top of the mountain, lay him down on an altar, and be completely willing to kill him, knowing that God would either stop you or raise him from the dead? What was that like? Can you imagine what those conversations are going to be like?

And then you think about Isaac. Dude, what was it like growing up as the child of promise? What was it like to have your dad march you up a mountain and be completely surrendered to whatever was going on, knowing that God would either stop him or raise you from the dead? What was that like? What was it like the minute that the angel stopped your dad's hand and you saw the goat and you were

like, thank you, Jesus. What was that like? Jacob. Jacob, what was it like to have to run for your life, to live with Laban? What was it like to wrestle with God? What was it like to walk the rest of your life with your hip out of socket, and every time you walked, you were reminded that God wins? What was that like? Well, he says, faith is the only thing that'll get you there. And there's going to be a lot of people that

come from the east and the west that are going to hang out with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And there's going to be a lot of people standing here right now that won't be. And may I say, in the church today, there's going to be a lot of people who claim that they know Jesus, who have darkened the door of a church and warmed a church pew that will be cast into outer darkness. And some of the people that will shock you the most, some of the worst human beings on the face of the earth that finally came to a place where they put their faith in the only one who can save them from their sins, that'll sit at the kingdom, that'll sit next to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

While many who live that hypocritical life will be cast into outer darkness.

So Jesus goes on from there to say, Jesus said to the centurion, go, and it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed. And I love this last little caveat, that very moment. I wonder what that walk back was like for the centurion. I don't know how long it would have taken. Let's say it was a small town. Let's say he could walk there 10, 15 minutes. Let's say

about that long. Let's even go as far as 20. Let's say it took him 20 minutes to walk back to his house. And as he's walking back, the whole time he's going, I know Jesus healed him. But you know what I would be doing in the back of my mind? I think. Right? And I wonder if that went through his head. I think, no, I don't think it did. He had great faith. The whole time he's so excited

because he can't wait to get back and see his servant healed. Can you imagine what it would have been like being in the house of the servant? Because all you knew was your master had gone to go get Jesus to heal you. And nobody showed up. Nobody laid hands on you and you hadn't seen your boss just yet. And you're laying there and you're going, I wonder how long this is going to take. I'm healed. To me, that's an amazing thought.

Can you imagine being one of the people standing by him? Did you see anybody come in? I didn't see anybody come in. And then the centurion shows up. And as he shows up, he sees his servant. He's like, yay! And he gives him a great big bro hug. And if it was me, I would look and I would go, what time? What time was he healed? And they said, oh, I don't know. 15, 20 minutes ago, that was Jesus.

Well, now we come to this last story, at least the last story that we'll cover this morning about Peter's mother-in-law. When Jesus came into Peter's home, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick in the bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her and she got up and waited on him. When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed and he cast out the spirits with a word and he healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through

the prophet Isaiah. He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases. Now, this last one that we come to is Peter's mother-in-law. And do you know what the first thing that sticks out to me about this is? Peter had a mother-in-law, right? I think that's kind of important for us to point out because according to the Catholic Church, what are priests not allowed to be? Married. They have

to remain celibate. What does the Catholic Church consider Peter? The very first pope. Seems a little to me. I think it's an important thing to point out. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. It's kind of there. So Peter's mother-in-law. But the second thing that I'll point out to you is this, and that is how women were treated in this culture. In the culture of the first century,

women were viewed as second-class citizens. They were viewed as really not all that important. And yet Jesus shows up to heal this woman. If you will, this is one more outcast that Jesus shows up to heal. You know, Jesus did more. For the rights of women than anyone out holding a sign right now, than anyone out proclaiming their Me Too message right now, than anyone doing anything as far as women's rights are concerned.

Why? Because Jesus elevated the level of women to being every bit as good as men in the kingdom of God because we are all created in the image of God. And there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Greek. You are either in Christ or not in Christ. And now because Jesus did what he did for women, he did what he did for women. And now because Jesus did what he did for women,

in society, they are now free to be who God created for them to be, to be as unique as God created for them to be, to be as feminine as God created for them to be. And that's okay because it doesn't make them less. It makes them different. And so Jesus comes in, and as he comes in, they're lying on the bed as Peter's mother-in-law. Now you may have taken note of the fact that in the first two

instances, somebody else initiated the action. And then Jesus responded to the action by healing someone. But this one happens a little bit different. Did you take note of that? Let's read it again. It says, When Jesus came into Peter's home, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick in the bed with a fever. Jesus comes in, and he takes note of what's going on. He takes note of Peter's mother-in-law who's

lying there sick. And this time, Jesus is the one who initiates the healing. No one had asked. No one had sought him. He just showed up, and he's the one that initiated the healing. And how does he heal her? Did you take note of that? Well, let's read it. It says, He touched her hand, and the fever left her. That's it. He didn't say anything. He didn't do anything. He really didn't even say, be healed. He just simply reached out and touched her hand.

And as soon as he did, the fever was gone. Not only was the fever gone, but she was completely restored to full health. And that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the fever like she was before. You know how we know that? Because what does it say she does next? She gets up, and she serves them. Now, I've dealt with some pretty heavy sickness before where I've

been, where I've run a really high fever. And even when the fever goes away for two or three days later, you're still pretty sick. You're still pretty worn out, right? Those of you that have dealt with COVID and some of these things where you've been real sick, you know that for like two weeks afterwards, you're still just like, do I have to move today? Right? Because that fever drained

all of your energy. And yet, she was able to move. And that's what we're talking about. She was healed to the point, completely and totally, where she was able then to get up and serve Jesus and those that were there with him. But do you know what else I take note of? I take note of the fact that her response to the work of Jesus in her life was to serve. Her response

to what Jesus had done for her was to simply serve him. I remember when I was going to Bible college, I was asked a question by a group of pretty rough guys. I worked with over a summer break. Why do you want to be a pastor? At that time, I only wanted to be a youth pastor because I was young and stupid. And I was like, I just want to be a youth pastor. Like, why do you want to do that? And I remember not fully being able to answer that

question. Not really fully grasping exactly why I wanted to do what I did. And over the next two years, the Lord worked healing in my life in some areas where I needed healing in my life to the point where now, nobody has to ask me, why are you a pastor? Because I just tell them. Because it's the only thing I can do with what God has done for me. It's the only thing I could do with what God has done

for me. Because he has done so much in my life. He has changed me in so many ways. He has healed me in so many ways that all I want to do is tell people what I've learned. Tell people what Jesus has done in my life. And if I get to do that in the position of a pastor, that's wonderful. If something happens and I can't be the pastor, I can't be the pastor. I can't be the pastor. I can't be

the pastor here anymore. Do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to keep telling people about Jesus. And I'm going to keep talking to them about what God's done in my life. Whether it's in a pastoral role or what I do in normal life, I can't not talk about what Jesus has done for me. Why? Because he's changed me from top to bottom, from inside to out. It's the very fabric

of who I am now. And do you know why I think a lot of people don't serve? Why a lot of us don't serve the Lord the way that we should? Because we don't realize what God has done for us. We have forgotten what God has done in our lives. Because when I really grasp what God has done for me, all I can do is respond by giving him my entire life. All I can really do is respond by

offering him every aspect of myself on a daily basis. And so that's what she does. She gets up and she begins to serve them. And that's where our story is in for today. There's two verses we want to cover here. Summary verses that Matthew gives. Notice what he says. When evening came, they brought him many who were demon-possessed. And he cast out the spirits with a word. And he

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. At this point in time, Matthew gives a summary statement of what took place that night after the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. That night, more people came to him. We're given the indication that there was person after person,

after person, to where Jesus was probably up into the wee hours of the morning, healing everybody that came to him, turning no one away because he cared about people. And then Matthew gives us this little caveat by saying, this was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet. In Isaiah chapter 53, the chapter about the suffering servant, we're told that this is what the Messiah would do. That he would take, he himself would take our infirmities and carry away our diseases. Now, there's two different extremes we could go to with this verse.

Number one, we could say that means that we as Christians should never be sick. As a matter of fact, we should always be healthy because Jesus came to take away our infirmities and to carry all of our diseases. Therefore, a believer in Jesus Christ should never be sick. That's actually a philosophy of teaching that's out there somewhere. And it's completely false

because Jesus does what he wants to with our sickness. Sometimes he heals us while on top side of planet earth. And that's an important thing because I do believe that God can do that. Sometimes he heals us in eternity. that's completely up to him because in this chapter what we see is jesus heal at least three different people but you know what we see when we move later into the new testament we come to the

book of second corinthians and paul one of the greatest apostles that ever lived had a thorn in the flesh some sort of a physical ailment and what are we told it says that he implored jesus three times to take it away but how did god respond my grace is sufficient for you my strength has made perfect in your weakness so i don't believe that this is saying we should never be sick but then if you go to the other end of it some people will say well this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that jesus heals our diseases it just means that he took away our sin and i do think that that's ultimately what it is but i do believe that jesus came to heal i think that there

are many who jesus wants to heal as a testimony of who he is and he's willing to do so we just need to come to him and ask but ultimately what this is speaking of is the effects of sin because what was the consequence of sin remember what jesus you know what god told adam and eve he said don't eat of the fruit because in the in the day you eat of it you will surely die and so when they sinned it ushered in the consequences of sin which is death a part of those consequences of sin which is death is the sicknesses that go along with death therefore when it says he took our infirmities and carried away our sicknesses what does it mean to you what does it mean to you what does it mean to you what does it mean to you what

It means he bore the penalty for sin, which has to do with death in his own body on the tree. And we can rest in his ability to heal us, both physically and spiritually. And so as we wrap up, there's four things I want us to take away from this little section that we've covered. Four things that I think are important for us to pay attention to.

Number one, each miracle was performed in a different way. Did you notice that? Did you notice Jesus never worked the same way in any of the ways that he performed miracles? In the first one, he touched him. In the second one, he spoke from long distance. In the third, all he did was simply hold on to her hand and she was healed. Why did Jesus choose to heal in different ways?

Well, because you know what would happen if Jesus always did everything the same way? We would write a book called How Jesus Heals. And then we would sell that book in all of the Christian bookstores. And we would expect that that's what Jesus was going to do every time. And then after we... We would put that book in Christian bookstores. We would then make the How Jesus Heals calendar.

We would make the How Jesus Heals devotional. You would have the How Jesus Heals magnet on your refrigerator. You would have the How Jesus Heals coffee cup. And eventually, someone would write a CD to go along with How Jesus Heals. You see, that's not what God wants. God always wants to do something brand new in our lives so that we don't put him in a box and say,

but that's not my problem. That's not what it looks like in me. And so that's not what God did in me. God does it different for everyone. God's going to work in your life differently than He's going to work in your life. And He works in my life differently than He works in all of yours. Why? Because Jesus is always doing a brand new thing. Somebody posted a verse on the social media, one of them, the other day.

December 31st. There's 31 days. Yeah, December 31st. I had to go through my calendar there for just a minute. And it said this. Do you not see it? Do you not perceive it? Behold. I am doing a new thing in the land. Because that's what God wants to do. Sometimes we can view a new year and say, well, it's probably going to be just like last year. And for me, I do feel that way just a little bit.

But you know what? Everything in the world may look exactly like last year, but Jesus is going to do something brand new in you. Each miracle was performed in a completely different way. Number two, each miracle was performed on an outcast. Each miracle was performed. Each miracle was performed on an outcast. I think that this is really important because I think that sometimes as the church,

we forgot that that's who Jesus reached out to. We forget that Jesus loved the ones that the world loves to hate. All the people that the rest of the world viewed as outcasts, that's who Jesus was always willing to reach out to. I think that sometimes in our 21st century church, we want to keep things pretty clean and well taken care of, clean cut, make sure everybody looks just like we do, sounds just like we do, talks just like we do, and likes all the same music that we do.

And that's not the way that Jesus operated. Jesus went to the places and went to the people that were the outcasts. Jesus would have been seen ministering to those that the rest of the world would have said, don't talk to them. That'll ruin your reputation. I think Jesus was pretty willing to ruin his reputation on a fairly consistent basis. And I think that we as Christians need to remember that that's who Jesus ministered.

So that we as Christians can also be the ones that reach out to the outcasts. I did a funeral here recently. And it was for kind of a, it was a girl that had a lot of issues in life. And this girl that had a lot of issues in life had a lot of friends that had a lot of issues in life. And I remember standing up in front of this group of people to do this funeral.

And I remember thinking, that's a rough group of people. And that's a good group of people. And I remember thinking, that's exactly who Jesus wants to give the gospel to. Because they were all just lost. They were all just people that were created in the image of God. That made bad decisions in life. And are now paying the consequences for it. But that doesn't mean Jesus doesn't want to save them.

Each of those was performed on an outcast. Number three. Each miracle reveals the power of Jesus. Each miracle reveals this power. Because Jesus is greater than incurable diseases. Jesus is greater than distance. Jesus is greater than even the diseases that we might not think are all that big of a deal. His power is unending. And it's greater than anything that we can imagine.

And each of these reveals that great power in our lives. And that same power that was at work in Jesus to heal all of those people. The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is the same power that dwells in you. The same power that he wants to use in your life to get rid of that addiction that you can't seem to get rid of. To get rid of that addiction.

To get rid of that issue in your life that you can't seem to get rid of. To help you love that person that is so hard for you to even be around. That same power is at work inside of you. And these miracles reveal to us this power. And then the last thing that I think is really important for us. Is that each miracle reveals the compassion of Jesus. Each miracle reveals the compassion of Jesus.

I heard a guy teach on compassion one time. As he was teaching on compassion he recounted a story. Of a small group Bible study that he was a part of. That he was leading. And as he was leading the small group Bible study he said a homeless man came in. And he smelled like a homeless man. And he talked like a homeless man. He said but as I was teaching on compassion I realized that he was the one that I was there to teach.

He said I asked him all. I said if you could give me a definition of compassion what would it be? And he said this man who didn't smell right. Didn't talk very pretty. Gave the best definition of compassion I've ever heard. He said compassion is when it hurts you. So bad that you have to do something. That's what Jesus did. You see when Jesus looked at this lost world.

And that we were all on our way to hell. It hurt him so bad. That he had to do something. And the something that he did. Was to come down and dwell among us. To reach out to the outcasts in the three years that he served here on earth. And then to stretch out his arms for the outcasts on a wooden cross. So that you and I could no longer be outcasts. But instead be made a part.

Of the family of God. So that you and I could be changed. And that same compassion is what he wants to flow through you and I. That same compassion is what he wants to be in our hearts. You know why? Because as I respond to the compassion that he has shown me. That naturally comes out. And I'm afraid sometimes that in the church today. We've forgotten that we need to come to a place.

Where it hurts so bad. That we have to do something. Sometimes I don't like turning on the news. Or hearing anything that's going on in the world. Because it just hurts. I don't like seeing what's happening in people's lives. I don't like what's happening in the world. And quite frankly sometimes the hurt I have to deal with. I just don't like. And sometimes I think I'm just going to run as far away from it as I can.

And you know what happens every time I think that? God says. You can't. And he reminds me that he allows it to hurt so bad. So that I'll have to do something. Friends. Don't close up your hearts. To the pain that you see around you. Instead. Allow it to. Cause you. To bring the truth of Jesus. To a hurting world. Amen. This morning is communion Sunday. And as we mentioned.

The thing that qualifies us to be a part of the family of God. Has nothing to do with who we are. And has everything to do with what he did. And so that's what we celebrate this morning. When we take communion. We're told that every time that we take communion. Let's wait one quick minute. If there's kids outside. Can we go ahead and bring them on in? I don't know if the ushers are getting the kids yet or not.

There's a handful of them coming on in. I want all the kiddos to hear this too. It's important for them to. Find your moms and dads. There they are. Hila yours is over here.

Hers is over there. There you go. Come on in. Come on in.

So this morning. We're going to take part in communion. And what we do when we take communion. Is we celebrate. The death of Jesus. Because that's exactly what this proclaims. As we take part in. This ceremony. We declare the death of Jesus Christ. Because the thing that allows us to be unified with him. And the thing that allows us to be family with each other.

Is the fact that his body was broken. And his blood was shed. For us. So as we do so. We realize that Jesus took that bread. At that very last night of the feast. And he took and he broke the bread. And he said this is my body which is broken for you. Take and eat. And then he took the cup and he said this is the cup of the new covenant. In my blood which is shed for you.

Take and drink. And we know that every time we eat the bread. And drink the cup. We're celebrating. What Jesus did for us on the cross. But we're told to do so in a worthy manner. And that means a couple of things. If you hear this. If you hear this morning. And you're not a part of the family of God. You've never put your faith in Jesus Christ. You're like that leper that you need to come to him.

And you need to say if you're willing make me clean. Then today's the day that you come to him. And you say Lord I feel like an outcast. And I'm willing. If you're willing to make me clean. Today needs to be that day of salvation for you. But if you're here this morning and you're born again. Then the way that we partake of it. In a worthy manner is to allow God to search our hearts.

To see if there be any wicked way in us. So that we can confess. Confess that sin to him. And have our hearts clean before him. And so as Jared sings this last song. And as the ushers come down to hand out the elements. I want you to ask the Lord to search your heart. And see if there's anything evil in you. Just confess that sin to the Lord. Pour it out to him.

Now is the time to do it. As you receive the elements. If you would please stand. And we'll partake together.

When I doubt it. Lord remind me. I'm wonderfully made. You're an artist. And a potter. I'm a canvas and a 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 heal. 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 a canvas and a clay. You make all things. Work together. Your future. Make whole. Work together. For your glory. I mean, we got to work together. Work together. For my future. I'm working hard.

For my future. I'm working. I'm working. So I know every little bit. I'm working. So I know every little bit. Work together. You make all things. Work together. For my future. Work together. You're an artist. And a potter. I'm an artist. I'm a canvas. And a clay. I know nothing. Has been wasted. I know everything. My canvas and the clay. I know nothing has been wasted.

No failure or mistake. Your red and the clay.

Work together for my future.

Work together for your glorious future. Would you bow with me? Father, we come before you. Lord, I thank you for your body that was broken for us. Lord, for your willingness to bear our sins in your own body on the tree. Lord, I thank you for your blood that was shed for us that was enough to cover our sins. Lord, that is enough to make us brand new. And Lord, I thank you for rising from the dead, guaranteeing our righteousness in you.

And Lord, I pray that as we take part in this communion service, Lord, that our hearts and our minds would be brought to the understanding of the sacrifice that you made for us. Father, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's partake.

Would you bow with me one more time? Father, as we prepare to leave this place this morning, I pray that we would go in the power of your spirit. Lord, I pray that your word would sink deeply into our hearts. Lord, the knowledge of who you are, what you do, and what you desire to do in us would continue to flow through our hearts and minds this week. Father, as we enter not only a new week, but a new month and a new year,

may it be a year dedicated to knowing you. May it be a year dedicated to knowing you. May it be a year dedicated to knowing you. To knowing and loving you. To pursuing you with all of our hearts. Seeing you do a new thing in us. Father, we thank you and we praise you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.