Jesus the Healer...
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
Good morning, it is a blessing to see you all here today!
I hope you enjoyed a good week! I am blessed that we have seen answered prayer this week and we’ve seen God at work in your lives.
What a blessings it is when we see what God is doing in and through us.
Now last week I asked you to pray for your neighbors this past week, were you able to do that?
This week I want you to pray for two things: I want to ask you to pray especially for the Youth Sports Camp. Those coming from the ISF and Hope to serve here and all the children we are going to minister too.
Thank you so much for praying for these specific areas, it is a blessings when you when we can pray for them and other workers.
This morning we are coming back to the Gospel of Matthew and with it we are looking at the people as they encountered Jesus and the work He did to bless, teach and heal them as He journeyed toward the cross.
So this morning lets look at the beginning of chapter 8, and we will begin with the first 6 verses.... but we will look at more as we move through this message.
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”
So let’s begin by looking at the faith of the two individuals this morning...
1. Their Faith...
Faith is important my friends, incredibly faith the one point we must have as we seek to move closer and closer to the Lord. The definition of faith is simply this…Hebrew 11:1
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And why do I bring up the faith of these two men?
Well, it is their faith, what they believed was true and beneficial if they could only see Jesus.
If there is anything I want you to hear today, it is this......”Faith always proceeds the work of God in our life”
So for our text, The first person we see in the text is the leper… as Jesus came off the mountain after this incredible day of teaching, we find that while many were following Him....
But this leper didn’t just follow Jesus… by faith he came and knelt down in front of Him.
And his words are simple.... verse 2
2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
Do you hear his faith? I’m going to paraphrase ....He said essentially, I know you can heal me if you will not turn me away....
Man, O’ Man, He knew Jesus could heal him, his faith was right there… he just didn’t know if Jesus would accept him, receive him since he was a leper.
You see a leper was considered an ‘Unclean person” in front of the Jewish people. It was infectious skin disease that affected the skin, nerves that are close to the skin, the nose and eyes.
Leviticus tells us if a person broke out with leprosy, the person would be brought to the High Priest, where by the Priest would examine him and upon confirming this disease, he would be declared unclean and placed outside the camp away from the community, their family and people.
And because they were unclean, if a person came near them they were to cover their head, raise their arms and yell.. unclean, unclean to warn others not to approach him and thus render their self unclean.
If they didn’t do this .. they could be stoned for coming into contact with people and not warning them.
But this day this man throws this all out the window, he sees Jesus and goes to Him immediately by faith....
He believed..... He believed Jesus could heal him...
And then, lets consider the other gentleman…Verse 5 tells us that in the city of Capernaum, Jesus encounters a Centurion officer and lives in that city.. Lets look at verses 5-6
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.”
Now a Centurion is a officer in the Roman army. He controlled the smallest group of a legion, about 100 soldiers were in His care. So he is a professional soldier, well respected and lived in the community with his family and servants.
He came to Jesus by faith, he came appealing ( asking, requesting ) Jesus to heal his servant. His servant whom he cared about was laying in his house suffering, he was in a terrible state.
And this man believed, He had heard about Jesus and he came to him asking because He knew Jesus could help.
Faith is the come denominator for the Leper and the Centurion officer, they believed Jesus could heal, help and bring relief to their situation.
Let me ask you… do you have faith?
Ask yourself, what do you believe is possible with Jesus....
Your need today, Jesus is able!
What need do you have today? Do you have faith? Do you believe?
Now this comes to our second thought for today....
2. Their Request.....
As we look at the text, we see they both came to Jesus with a request, the had a need, a real circumstance in their life that had left them almost without hope.
For the Leper, he had been placed outside of his city, away from so much that was important for him.
A. He had been removed from his family. Can you imagine being sick and not being able to see your family or friends. This year there have been times several have been in quarantine because of Covid 19.
We had just a small picture this man endured....
B. He has not been allowed to worship with other believers… When we were in quarantine several months ago we couldn’t come to church. We couldn’t be with our brothers and sisters here, it was difficult, it was painful.
It was a sad time for this man...
C. He was removed from society… He could not even chat with strangers as they passed by… is he saw people coming by he would have to scream about his condition, cover his head and move away from them. How sad....
And this day he came to Jesus and he confesses I know you are able to heal me, if you will??? verse 2....
He wanted his life back, psychically and spiritually! Please heal me.
D. And then for the Centurion
He cared for his servant, He was paralyzed, laying at his residence suffering and it was tearing him apart.
I tell you from what we can see from the text, this Centurion was a good man, he took care of those who served him, he was a good master.
He came, appealing, in a sense imploring Jesus to please heal his servant that He could return to health, return to His family whole and well.
They did what was natural my friends, for both of these men, by their faith they came asking Jesus for help… they made their request know to the Lord.
My friends we could testify that we know that our heavenly Father knows our needs before we do… He is at work in our lives But He calls for us to come asking....
Lets back up to Matthew 7, verse 7 and 8
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
My friends God wants us to ask. And when we ask, He responds with good gifts, He tells us plainly with the phrase, Ask and its given, seek and you will find and knock and it will be opened...
Now this is not a lustful covetous wish list..... I cannot ask selfishly… but I can appeal to him with my needs of health, safety, salvation for others, family… And I can trust that the Lord will be at work in us.
So stop here, in lite of what we have just examined, in lite of Matthew 7: 7-8…
What are you asking God for?
Are you praying for your family members? Are you praying for the salvation of others,
Are you praying for God’s will to be done in your life?
What are you asking for my friends?
Is there faith behind your requests? Do you believe that if you pray that God the father will answer?
Some of you may not believe or have faith that is consistent… if that is the case, if you doubt then ask God to help your un-belief....
Listen to Daniel as He prayed to God in the midst of his captivity in Babylon..
18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.
Do you see his heart?
Make that your example as you seek, ask and Knock asking God to help
Now let me take you to my last thought for today my friends...
3. His Answer ...
The glory of God is revealed to us every time we hear his voice and see hands at work in our lives. And I believe He loves to bless his children and show them kindness, compassion and mercy.
This is the same thing you see here in our passages as the Lord responds to the faith of those around Him.
Time and time again, in the Scriptures we see His touch upon the lives of those who seek Him by faith. Peter did it that night as Jesus came walking on the water and Peter cried out, Lord can I come to you? What did Jesus say… come on big boy… well that is my paraphrase… Peter got out and walked on the water for a little bit.
And see what is happening here..
Go back to verses 1-4
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
The Leper came by faith, believing he could be healed, He knelt before the Lord and asked for help...
And look with me at verse 3…Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.
My friends the most beautiful action, the man who had been shunned and avoided, run from and cursed by some was now received by the King of Kings and Jesus touched him.
But he just didn’t lay his hand on Him, No.... He really touched him, as He laid his hand upon Him Jesus said… I will be clean!
And immediately, his leprosy was cleansed.. He was healed, made whole… Can you imagine...
Jesus told the leper to say nothing as to how it happened, but to go and present himself to the priest and make the proper offerings ..
By doing this, not only was he healed, but he could return home to his family and his community.
You see my friends, when Jesus makes you whole, every area of your life is well.
Now lets turn ourselves toward the Centurion…verses 5-7
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
The Centurion came to Jesus asking for help, his servant lay dying and Jesus simply said I will come and heal him...
But there is a twist here, the Centurion exhibits great faith.... when Jesus says I will come and heal him the Centurion says No… Look at verses 8-9
8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
The Centurion told Jesus he was not even worthy to have Jesus step foot into His home… But believed if Jesus just spoke the word, His servant would be healed.
His analogy was simple, Just as he had men under him who carried out his orders to perfection, so Jesus held power under his authority and only needed to say the word and the servant would be healed.
And listen to Jesus response...
10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Jesus speaks to this man’s faith, but provides a little prophecy for the future here.
Jesus says to those who followed Him, that He has not seen such great faith in all of Isreal (not even among their own religious leaders), but a day was coming when many would come from the East and the West to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob..
This a future prophecy to the gospel being passed to the Gentile world and thus Salvation would appear to all people.
How wonderful that Jesus gives a little peak for us into the mission of God, it was for the whole world to be saved.
And verse 13… Jesus says to the Centurion, go let your servant be healed just as you have believed...
And immediately, as soon as Jesus spoke those words, that servant was healed. The faith of the servants master was returned with healing, The servant was healed…The Centurion’s faith grew more that day and many marveled at the work of God in their midst…
How wonderful it is my friends to see Jesus our healer at work!
Faith always leads us to Jesus
faith always brings to a place to seek from His hands, to request what we truly need
And finally, when we seek, when by faith we call out to Him, Jesus will always answer my friends.
So lets talk for a minute...
Do you have faith today? Do you believe Jesus can and will answer when you ask?
What is one your heart today? What need do you have? Like the old song, give it to Jesus today!
Let’s pray...
1 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
Their Faith...
Their Request ...
His Answer ...
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