Bible Study series: Matthew 8:1-4. Jesus healed everyne needing healing and who approached him.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 8:1-4
1 As Jesus came down from the mountain, a large crowd followed him. 2 And look! a leper came to him and fell down before him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to cleanse me.” 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, “See to it that you tell no one. Instead, go show yourself to the priest, and bring the gift which Moses ordered, for a testimony to them.” (Matt. 8:1-4)
Comments
From Matt. 8:1 to 9:34, there are three blocks of three miracles each (8:1-17; 8:23-9:8; 9:18-34) broken up by three discipleship sections (8:18-22; 9:9-13; 14-17) (Osborne, p. 280).
1:
Jesus coming down from a mountain recalls 5:1. Mountains are mentioned in Matthew at theological junctures: 4:8; 5:1; 8:1; 14:23; 15:29; 17:1, 9; 20:21; 24:3, 16; 26:30; 28:16. This fact may parallel Moses descending from his mountaintop (Turner and Osborne, comments on 8:1).
When the Father ordains a ministry and his chosen instrument teaches and heals people, the crowds gather. To be blunt, people gathered in large crowds around the healing ministries in the 1940s and 1950s, but from what I have read and observed in film clips on youtube and on Christian TV, it’s not clear to me that these healing ministers taught people adequately. Is there any chance that (so-called) “power-ministers” today can teach the kingdom and righteous living, as Jesus just did in the Sermon on the Mount?
Jesus is about to go into his adopted hometown of Capernaum (v. 5), and lepers would not be found in a town, so this happened out in the open, away from settlements of any kind. No doubt the people following Jesus scattered, when they saw the leper. No doubt he was shouting “unclean, unclean!” as the law prescribed.
2:
The standard translation is leprosy, and healing this disease was one of the signs that the Messiah had come. Scholars nowadays say the word was generic for skin diseases. But let’s call the man “leper” for convenience.
A leper was required by law to wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face, and, as noted, cry out “Unclean! Unclean!” in order not to contaminate someone else (Lev. 13:45).
45 “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 46 As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp. (Lev. 13:45-46, NIV)
Skin Disease, Mold in Leviticus 13, 14 from a NT Perspective
Leprosy came to symbolize sin’s pollution (Osborne on v. 2).
This leper was clearly desperate. It makes me wonder how desperate we get when our need is great. Are we casual, or do we fall on our face? He simply knew that Jesus was his answer. He had heard the reports about him, and now he fell on his face before his healer.
“if you are willing”: it could simply be translated “if you want to.” He asked for his specific need to be met. He did not hesitate to clarify his need. In other cases, Jesus asked what the disabled or blind person wanted (e.g. Luke 18:41). Sometimes the answer is not always clear, for the sick can get used to being a victim. Two blind men shouted out their need for a miracle, as this leper did (Matt. 20:29-34).
“look!” It used to be translated as “behold!” It is the storyteller’s art to draw attention to the people and action that follows. “As you, my audience, sit and listen to me read this Gospel, listen up! Look! A man with skin disease interrupts the flow of Jesus’s progress to his next stop!”
“Lord”: “When the man calls Jesus ‘Lord,’ … he is affirming Jesus’ healing authority. Most likely the man intends great respect, while Matthew wants the reader to see more. The man’s humility and faith are remarkable at this early date and are particularly emphasized. To him Jesus has the power [you are able] to heal him; the only question is whether Jesus ‘wants’ to do so … He throws himself at Jesus’ feet and depends on his grace” (Osborne on 8:2).
3:
Jesus’s response was perfect. He reached out his hand and touched him. God did that in the OT through a messenger: Exod. 3:20; 6:6; 7:15; 9:15; 15:12; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 2 Kings 17:36; Ps. 136:12; Jer. 32:21. Jesus was simply following his Father’s example. It was bold and courageous to touch this unclean man. One reason that a leper was required to call out “Unclean! Unclean!” is that he must not touch and so defile anyone else. The leper did not touch Jesus; Jesus touched him, unconcerned for his own health. How could a skin disease get transferred to Jesus when he had healing power flowing from him? This power pushed the disease backwards. He was the healing Lord, not the possible victim.
“I am willing”: As noted in v. 2 and the excerpt from Osborne, now the question comes up, Is Jesus willing to heal my sickness? And the answer is that he is willing, generally.
This question comes up: then why did God not heal my loved one? He died! Answer: we live on planet earth, and disease temporarily has a right to be here, because it is a natural thing; it works by the laws of nature, and nature is terribly flawed. (Later on, when God brings in a new heaven and new earth, diseases won’t be allowed to live there.)
Next question: what happens when disease strikes a believer’s body? The human body lives in the shadowland (C.S. Lewis), between light and darkness, the gray world between black and white. The believer’s body is part of the natural world, but it is also in the process of being renewed by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:10). That verse in Romans says that the body is subject to death because of the presence of sin (no, not only one single sin, but sin itself is still in us), but the Spirit gives life because of the gift of righteousness. That is the shadowlands—between our bodies wearing out and our bodies being restored. So Rom. 8:11 says that God will give life (future tense) to your mortal body. Therefore, one day you will depart from the shadowlands and go directly into heaven. Let’s face it. Sometimes the disease wins, despite the best medicine, like chemo, and despite the most faith-filled, fervent prayers. Again, let’s face it. Nature run amok sometimes wins.
Bottom line: we do not have enough information to figure out why your loved one did not get healed down here on earth, in the shadowlands. But one thing is certain: your loved one is in heaven, in perfect health. He no longer lives in the shadowlands, in his deteriorating body. He is in perfect light with his forever strong spirit body, waiting for his resurrected body.
Why Doesn’t Divine Healing Happen One Hundred Percent of the Time?
One day back in the early 1990s, I was invited to go in a carpool to pray for a woman whom I did not know and who had cancer. I went twice, and then the Spirit whispered to me that it was a sickness unto death. In other words, God was going to take her home. I told the driver over the phone before I went the third time that I don’t need to go. “Why not?” “Because I feel like she is supposed to go home.” “What?” “I could be wrong, but that’s what I heard. But don’t tell the lady; I could be wrong.” The driver, an older man, had very little discretion, so I don’t know whether he told anyone or even the lady with cancer. But that’s not the main point. The main point is that we did not end our first prayer session with the tag “if it be your will.” We assumed it was his will. However, sometimes God uses (not causes) disease to take us into eternity. The lady with cancer died; she was not healed.
Even the greatest faith teacher will eventually die, usually from heart failure. Yes, he may die peacefully in his sleep, but a bodily organ will have to give up; the body will visibly wear out from 21 years old to 91 years old or 101 (for example).
Kenneth Copeland Gets a Pacemaker
Many years later a close relative called me to say she got cancer. And the Spirit clearly whispered to me that this was “not a sickness unto death.” The chemo worked, and she is cancer free.
Back to this passage in Matthew. Praise God, this leper got healed instantly! Jesus was on the scene. Let’s hope with high expectations that you too will be healed. Don’t attach the tagline, “If it be your will” at the end of your prayer. Assume that it is his will, until you specifically and clearly hear otherwise. That’s the main lesson from v. 13: “I am willing.”
Recall Jesus’s own words. He said many lepers lived in ancient Israel, but only one Gentile leader was healed, Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:27). The other Israelites with skin disease did not seek healing from Elisha, so were they perpetual victims in their own minds? Whatever they believed, they did not ask for help. Seek Jesus hard for your own healing. I do.
4:
Why did Jesus tell him not to report the healing to anyone, when a large crowd saw the healing? He sent the healed man back to his hometown. His home context was about to come up.
Why did Jesus command him not to tell others? He did not want to excite popular excitement about Jesus miraculous work. Jesus downplayed the miracles (Luke 4:35, 41; 8:56; Matt. 9:30; 12:16; Mark 1:34; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26). He really wanted to teach. Miracles are the sign that back up teaching. Teaching is the main thing. Miracles without teaching is just a show. Turner: “Most likely the silence enjoined here is due to Jesus’s reluctance to stir up the crowds. At times Jesus found it necessary to withdraw from the scene when the notoriety due to his miracles reached near-riot proportions (e.g. 4:23-5:1; 8:18; 13:2; 21:11) […] Also, the hostility of the religious leaders seemed to grow in direct proportion to Jesus popularity with the masses (9:32-34; 12:22-24; 15:12, 21; 16:1, 4, 20)” (comments on 8:3-4).
The offering for recovery from skin disease was two live kosher birds and other items (Lev. 14:4-6). Then the cleansed person has to shave all his hair and beard, wash his clothes, and take a bath (v. 9). Later they must offer two male lambs and one-year-old ewe lamb and other items. Together, they must have been expensive, and the leper could not work, so he must have had grateful relatives who supplied him with the offerings.
“for a testimony to them”: It is all right to tell the priest—a doctor today—that God healed you. Let him take the x-rays and examine your blood and other things. Then he will see that you are healed. It is your miracle testimony to him.
One last comment on v. 14: Jesus followed the law of Moses about offerings before he died on the cross (though no record says that he offered any sacrifices). It is a sure thing that when he was resurrected and healed people with skin diseases through his disciples, he never told the healed persons to go to the temple and offer the sacrifices prescribed by Moses. The gospel was going out across their known world, far outside tiny Israel. There was no longer any need for the Levitical temple system, which was put under God’s judgment and was destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 (Luke 19:41-45; 21:20-24; 23:26-31; Matt. 21:33-45).
Matt 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 (and 17) in Parallel Columns Are Finally Clear
Progressive revelation is a fact of the Bible. Moral law from the Old is retained in the New, but rituals and harsh penalties and ceremonies and dietary laws and calendar observances (and so on) are not retained. Please interpret Scripture clearly and properly, in its historical context.
What Does the New Covenant Retain from the Old?
One Decisive Difference Between Sinai Covenant and New Covenant
Unlawful Sexual Relations in Leviticus 18 from a NT Perspective
Moral and Other Laws in Leviticus 19 from a NT Perspective
The Law Teaches Virtue and Restrains Vice
GrowApp for Matt. 8:1-4
1. Jesus was willing to heal the leper. Do you believe he is willing to heal you?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
To see the bibliography, please click on this link and scroll down to the bottom.
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