If You Are Willing . . .I Am (Matthew 8:1-4)
Gary McManus, 03/21/2021Part of the Jesus Came to Restore series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
March 21, 2021 The Fifth Sunday in Lent Matthew 8:1-4
Jesus came for the humble.
Jesus came to the humbled. (Matthew 5:5)
Disease in the ancient world.
Forget what you know about disease.
Disease terrified ancient people.
Leprosy= contagious skin diseases of various kinds
Hansen’s disease, 1873
“leprosy, leper, leprous, lepers = 68X in the Bible
NT: 13 times In NT, several diseases are meant including Hansen’s Disease.
Leprosy as the New Testament understood leprosy
is a three way horrible disease:
--horrible as a disease
--leprosy separates a faithful person from faith practice
--leprosy is disfiguring
Hear writers of Jesus day describe the life
of someone with leprosy. . .
Even getting healed and restored from leprosy
was complicated. (Leviticus 14:11–31)
Were lepers humble/humbled?
Matthew shows us that Jesus healed lepers. Why?
--fulfillment of the promises of God
--it was the work of the Messiah
(Luke 4:18, Isiah 61, Isaiah 9)
Marvel at the faith of this man suffering with leprosy.
(Matthew 8:2)
--The leper knew the promises
--The leper knew what Messiah would do
[See Matthew 10:8, Matthew 11:5, Luke 17:12 ff.]
The leper already believed in the divine power of Jesus.
(See Matthew 8:2)
8:2: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
The leper knew that what Jesus wills gets done.
The leper might have ASKED. . .but didn’t.
At your willing it done, Lord, it will be done.
The life of faith is what the leper wanted back. . . to be CLEAN.
Only the priest can PRONOUCE officially that healing had taken place.
The leper knew that everything depended on the gracious will of God’s Messiah.
Jesus said, “See to it, that you don’t tell anyone.” (Matthew 8:4)
There are several possibilities for the reason for Jesus’ command.
--only the priest’s proclamation is official
--the faithful cought Jesus (not everyone)
--Messiah is about relationship to God, not what God can do
--The Messenger, the message, the faith and the healing are a package deal.
They can’t be separated.
(See John 14:1)
Jesus said, “I AM willing, . .be clean.”
Amen.
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