Back to the Bible: Matthew 8:1-13

The next two chapters show how Jesus certified His authority. He will perform a series of signs and we will see the response of both the crowds and the religious leaders.

A leper came to Jesus. Leprosy rendered a person ceremonially unclean, cut off from the spiritual and social community. His desperate need is revealed in the fact that He implored Jesus. He had no doubt in Jesus' ability, but wondered about His willingness. Jesus was touched by this man’s need and He touched Him. Under normal circumstances Jesus would have been made unclean by this man’s touch, but instead, Jesus reverses the direction and makes this man clean (Lev. 5:3; 13:44, 45). Jesus instructed him to follow the Law’s instructions for a person cleansed of leprosy (Lev. 14:2-32) to show them he had been healed. He told the man not to tell anyone. Perhaps Jesus recognized that the crowds would slow down His work.

A centurion, a Roman military officer, came to Jesus on behalf of His servant. Jesus said He’d come heal the servant, but the officer did not think that he was worthy to have Jesus in his house. He knew how authority worked. He gave and received commands. He could speak the word and the job would be done. He knew Jesus could just speak the word.

Jesus was impressed by His faith. It surpassed the faith of those in Israel. In addition, this pointed forward to a day when it would be outsiders from the nations who would join the spiritual fathers. Those who thought they were on the inside would be cast out.

Jesus told him that what he believed could be done would be. The servant was healed right then.

Lessons to Learn:

See the power of Jesus. Jesus was able to demonstrate His authority to speak in the way He did by showing His power in a variety of ways. He could heal disease with the touch of a hand or at a distance. We will see Him demonstrate His power in even more ways.

See the compassion of Jesus. The first man knew Jesus had the power, but didn’t know if He was willing. Jesus was. The centurion and his slave may have been outsiders, but Jesus met the Roman’s faith with healing power.

Great faith equals great humility. This is always the case. The first man trusted Jesus, but would not presume to demand Jesus’ attention. The second man trusted Jesus and did not feel like He had the value for Jesus to come into His house. If we know and trust Jesus, we will humble ourselves under His will. We won’t presume or assume we deserve anything.

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