Matthew 8:1-4
The Credentials of the King
Read…
√ Key verse
The key verses for unlocking the subject and application of the next two chapters are…
Matt.
Matt.
“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
Pray
Intro
√ Jesus Christ the King!
You’ll recall that Matthew’s purpose for writing his Gospel account is to present Jesus as the long awaited King! So, we find that the outline of his writing revolves around the events in the King’s life…
The birth of the King
The providence of the King
The presentation of the King
The influence of the King
The righteousness of the King
Then, he records the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus lays out for us the requirements for entrance into His Kingdom!
That is, by trusting in the work of the King to provide the righteousness that we cannot produce through good works of adherence to the Law.
That’s all well and good…
…but how could the people be sure that Jesus had the credentials to back up His claims as King?
That is the subject of chapters 8 and 9!
√ The Credentials of the King
Back to our opening verses that I said were the key to unlocking the subject and application of this next section of Matthew’s Gospel.
Matt.
Matt.
“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”
Remember that Matthew is writing primarily for a Jewish audience. Therefore, he appeals to the Old Testament prophets to present the credentials of the King.
Here he quotes from Isaiah 53 who foretold that the King (Messiah) would be a healer and a miracle worker.
So, in these next two chapters we find Jesus on a “miracle
tour”! Tearing up the
Healing the sick
Raising the dead
Casting out demons
Rebuking the wind and waves
So that the people of
“And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes
marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in
And indeed there had never been anyone like Jesus before!
That’s Matthew’s point! That Jesus is the long awaited Messiah King and that He proved it beyond any doubt by the miracles that He did…
These are the…
Credentials of the King!
Ap. You can trust your life into His keeping!
No other so-called holy man ever did what Jesus did. No miracles have ever been attributed to…
Mohamed
Joseph Smith
Mahatma Gandhi
…but there were multitudes of people, even His enemies, who testified that Jesus was a real miracle worker!
So, you have solid reasons to trust that Jesus is Who He claimed to be!
Faith in the King (vs. 1-2)
Matt. 8:1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.
Matt. 8:2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
√ Faith in the King
Let us first note the faith of the leper, he said…
“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Not…
“If you are able…”
Rather, this poor man was sure that Jesus had the power and ability to heal him, his only question was…
“Are you willing?”
Where did this man get such faith? Look at the context of our text…
Matt. 8:1 When He had come down from the mountain,
great multitudes followed Him.
Matt. 8:2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
It would seem that this poor man had been one of the many who sat on that hillside and listened to Jesus’ teaching.
That he too was one of the people who were “astonished” at the Lord’s teaching because He had taught with such authority.
Having heard Jesus teach he must have concluded as we suggested last week that this Jesus was more than a carpenter!
Note that the leper “worshiped” Jesus!
So, he trusted that anyone who taught with that kind of authority would also have the authority and power to heal his diseased body!
Ex. God’s Word imparts faith
This is one reason that we make such a huge deal about teaching God’s Word!
The whole counsel of God.
Because God has chosen to impart faith through the teaching of His Word!
Rom.
If you want to see people getting saved, being healed, and touched by the power of God…
…then you must faithfully teach His Word!
So, we know that Jesus the King is able to heal the leper, and that the leper has faith that Jesus could…
…but is He willing to?
Compassion of the King (vs. 3)
Matt. 8:3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
√ Compassion of the King
As you study the healings that Jesus did you’ll find that He never does anything the same way! Sometimes He’ll…
Speak a word to the sick
Spit in the dirt and apply the mud to the sick
Take the hand of the sick
Touch the sick
If there was ever a time when one wouldn’t want to touch the sick…
…it was now!
Ex. Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)
Under the Law a healthy person wasn’t to touch a leper, or anything that they had touched!
Practical way to prevent the spread of the disease.
Ceremonial significance in that leprosy is a symbol of sin in the Bible.
For a Jewish person then to touch a leper was to make that person “unclean” under the Law.
So, we’d expect (and everyone else gathered around Jesus that day) that He would just speak a word and heal the man!
Not the King! Note how He chooses to heal this poor man…
“Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”
If we were there we would have heard a collective gasp from the crowd as Jesus reached out His hand!
No one had touched this man in years (Dr. Luke tells us his
leprosy was advanced ~ Luke
No one wanted to touch him!
The Pharisees wouldn’t have!
But Jesus does! Why?
Because His heart was filled with compassion for this man and He wanted to demonstrate to everyone watching that He had the credentials of the King!
What credentials? Look at the rest of vs. 3…
“Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
Two observations stand out…
1) His leprosy disappeared!
Get a mental picture of that, fingers growing back, scabs vanishing, angry red skin turning to a baby like hue!
So, Jesus had the power to heal the man.
2) He was “cleansed”
The word doesn’t mean “healed”, it means to make clean ceremonially, or spiritually!
That is, instead of the Lord’s touch making Jesus unclean, as it would have made anyone else…
…His touch made the man who was unclean ~ CLEAN!
So, Jesus must be the King because only the King has the authority to make someone spiritually clean!
So, in His first miracle after teaching about how a person is made righteous (clean) before God…
…Jesus demonstrates by His compassion that He has the credentials of the King!
Credentials of the King (vs. 4)
Matt. 8:4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
√ Credentials of the King
After healing the man Jesus tells him to go to the
Ex. Lev. 14 ~ very intricate and specific set of instructions!
Lev. 14:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev. 14:2 “This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought to the priest.
Day 1 ~ 2 birds, wood, red yearn & hyssop
Kill 1 bird over running water, dip live
bird and other stuff in water and blood,
sprinkle over the man and release the
live bird.
Day 7 ~ Shave off all the hair on his body &
wash himself and his clothes.
Day 8 ~ 2 male lambs, a ewe lamb, flour & oil
Anoint the right ear, thumb, & toe of the
cleansed man with the blood & oil.
It was big deal!
Yet, there isn’t any record in scripture that any Israelite (other than Miriam) had ever been healed of leprosy!
So, when Jesus sends this cleansed man to the Temple to present himself to the priests it’ like sending a Day Spring Greeting Card that reads…
“Guess who’s here!?”
There could be no mistake or misunderstanding by the priests…
…the parade of healed lepers was proof positive that this Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the promised Messiah!
Ap. Jesus still heals the sick
We find that even after Jesus ascended into heaven that His chosen disciples continued to do miracles in His Name.
Lame walk
Blind see
Dead raised
Demon possessed set free
And, Jesus continues to work through His disciples to this day!
James tells us…
James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
Ex. My own experience
I’ve been prayed for and been healed. I’ve prayed for others who have been healed.
I have a friend who was raised from the dead!
So, having heard the Word of God, let Him impart faith into your life and see what He might do for you!
Close
√ The Credentials of the King
So we begin this new and exciting section of Matthew’s Gospel that records the credentials of the King!
He alone can…
Heal the sick
Raise the dead
Cast out demons
Control the wind and waves
So, believe in Him because He is the King who alone can make you righteous, whole, and clean!
“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”