Healing a leper (vs. 1-4)—There are several healing miracles done by Jesus in this chapter. The first one is a leper who asks for healing. Jesus obliges. Notice especially verse 3: “Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” There was no time delay here and it was a disease that could be seen. The modern day “faith healers” would have a lot more credibility if they could heal outward afflictions immediately. I’ve asked several of them over the years to heal my blind eye, that I would even put my glass eye on display for all the world to see if they would only give me my sight. Well, I still have my glass eye and, of course, it’s my fault for not having enough faith.
Healing the centurion’s servant (vs. 5-13)—A centurion was a Roman military officer, so he wasn’t a Jew. He had a “dreadfully tormented” paralyzed servant (v. 6), and requested that Jesus come heal him. The Lord immediately agrees, but the centurion, who actually had sent friends rather than go himself (Luke 7:6), told Jesus to just speak the word and the servant would be made well. The officer, a man of authority, knew how powerful the spoken word could be. Jesus marveled at his faith, perhaps because he was a Gentile, or perhaps just because he showed great faith. Christ then indicates in verses 11-12 that many Gentiles will be saved but many Jews lost. The servant was healed at that very hour.
Peter’s mother-in-law and others healed (vs. 14-17)—Peter obviously was married or he couldn’t have had a mother-in-law. Catholic Popes, who claimed Peter as their forerunner, cannot marry. Jesus heals many demon-possessed people; Matthew refers to this healing power as a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (v. 17).
The cost of discipleship (vs. 18-22)—Two men approach Jesus, both announcing they will follow Him. The Lord tells the first, in effect, it will cost you everything you’ve got. The second, who wanted to go bury his father first, is instructed to let the dead bury the dead. Jesus isn’t being cruel or unkind here, He senses an excuse—delay—and that can’t be brooked. So we must be willing to give up all to follow Christ, and we must be willing to follow Him now, not at our convenience. There will be a third example in Luke 9:61-62 where Jesus tells another man, “Come now and don’t look back.”
Jesus calms the storm (vs. 24-27)—Christ and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea (of Galilee, no doubt). A violent storm arose. The disciples asked the Lord to save them. He calmed the storm, and the men were amazed (why? They had asked Him to save them, and then they were astonished when He did! How many times have we prayed to God and been nonplussed when He answered?) But it truly must have been an awesome sight. A tremendously tempestuous storm. Jesus speaks a word, and the whole thing stops. The disciples’ statement at the end is understandable: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” There’s nothing He can’t do. They obviously hadn’t figured out yet that He was God in the flesh. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
Healing two demon-possessed men (vs. 28-34)—Jesus and the disciples, having crossed the sea to a region beyond the Jordan, meet two violent, demon-possessed men. The demons, of course, know Who He is, and they know that He is much more powerful than they. They request that He cast them into a nearby herd of swine, which He does. The herd, which was huge, about 2,000 according to Mark 5:13, rushed down a hillside into the sea and were drowned. The people of the nearby city, having been told what happened, came out and saw the formerly demon-possessed men clothed and in their right mind—something they had never seen before. Apparently the whole thing frightened the men of the region so much that they asked Jesus to leave; such an awesome event was too much for them. A strange reaction, but perhaps fear in the face of such majestic power is not an uncommon thing. Trembling in the presence of God is a proper response.
Some have criticized Jesus for the destruction of somebody’s property here—2,000 swine. But the spiritual is obviously more important than the physical and must be recognized as so, even by those who suffer loss. All of us must sacrifice for the cause of Christ. Besides, ultimately those pigs belonged to Him anyway; everything does. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills,” (Psalm 50:10).
No comments:
Post a Comment