The book of Matthew is systematically teaching us the things that Jesus wanted us to know for effective ministry. In the previous blog on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus gave us His primary teaching on righteousness. This is the foundation of our faith; righteousness by faith in Christ apart from our works. In Matthew chapter 8, Jesus demonstrated His ministry to hurting people by exercising His authority through words. Then in Matthew chapters 11 and 13, Jesus taught about the power of the gospel in producing miracles. In Matthew chapters 16 and 17, Jesus taught us about our identity in Him.
In Matthew chapter 8, we see the ministry of Jesus in Capernaum. This is Jesus' second round of ministry in Capernaum. Jesus had already preached the gospel and healed all kinds of sickness and disease in Capernaum, as recorded in Matthew 4:13-25 and Luke 4. This is important in understanding the context of Matthew 8. The people who received miracles in Matthew 8 had already heard Jesus preaching the gospel and seeing Him do miracles previously. This is vital if we are to follow His example in ministry. Our primary job as believers is to preach the gospel; the people believe it; God does the miracles. Miracles are the result of hearing and believing the gospel.
I used to read the story of the Roman centurion and wondered how he had such great faith. But he previously heard Jesus preaching the gospel in Capernaum and saw how Jesus commanded sickness and disease to leave people.
Matthew 8:1-3 "When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing, be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
This is the first of six miracles recorded in Matthew chapter 8. In each instance, Jesus spoke with authority directly to disease, demons, or a storm. The leper had heard about Jesus healing people. He had faith because of what he heard. He risked his life by approaching Jesus in the presence of the multitude; lepers could be stoned. But he trusted that Jesus would heal him. Notice that Jesus put His hand upon the leper in compassion, but the leprosy was not cleansed until Jesus spoke with authority directly to it. He did not ask God to heal the leper. Jesus spoke to the leprosy. It is interesting to note that Jesus blessed and gave thanks to the Father when receiving good things such as bread to feed the multitudes. He turned His eyes to heaven and gave thanks. When Jesus encountered evil such as disease or demons, He did not speak to God about them. He took authority over them.
Matthew 8:5-17 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum (again), a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only SPEAK A WORD and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go' and he goes; and to another 'Come' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel....... Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits WITH A WORD, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."
I capitalized the words SPEAK A WORD and WITH A WORD to emphasize how Jesus exercised His authority over both sickness and demons. All of this was in the context of Jesus preaching the gospel. It clearly states in Matthew 4:23 that "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people." We can never put God in a box and say that miracles never happen without the preaching of the gospel. But the pattern for successful ministry is primarily to plant the seed of the gospel into the hearts of people and trust God to confirm His word with miracles.
I have never heard anyone say it, but I have wondered if Jesus preached Isaiah 53 to the people when He healed them in Matthew 8:16-17. It states that He cast out spirits and healed all who were sick that the words of Isaiah 53 might be fulfilled. This leads me to believe that He preached this passage to the people before He healed them. In Luke chapter 4, when Jesus preached from the text in Isaiah 61, He said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
If we read the same story of Peter's mother-in-law being healed in Luke 4:39, it states that Jesus rebuked the fever. This is another instance of Jesus exercising His authority through words.
We see this same pattern repeated in Matthew 9:35. "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." Notice the pattern. Teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, then healing, in that order.
Matthew 9:37 - 10:1,8"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest." And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease..... And as you go, preach, saying 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received. Freely give."
Notice the reference to the harvest. What do laborers do to reap a harvest? They begin by planting seed, in this case the seed of the gospel; then comes the harvest. Jesus will refer to the gospel as seed in Matthew 13. Jesus gave them power to heal, but He told them to preach first.
In summary, the gospel of Matthew is laying out systematically the principles for successful ministry. We will continue to look at the gospel of Matthew in the next few teachings.
Keith Oliver
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