Friday, September 30, 2011

Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean

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. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Now, when Jesus had entered Capernaum, 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! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 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."

- Matthew 8:1-17

We have just completed the readings in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew's gospel. Those readings of the Sermon on the Mount include: The Beatitudes (Part 1), You are the salt of the earth - You are the light of the world, Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift, You have heard that it was said to those of old . . . , Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect, Your Father who sees in secret, who is in the secret place, Our Father in heaven - The Lord's Prayer, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you, Judge not, that you be not judged, and Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Yesterday's reading was the final in the series of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught about Judgment, that He is Judge. There will be those who have done great works, cast out demons, and prophesied in His name, but He will not recognize them, He said, on "that day." He emphasized that it is the doing of the will of His Father in heaven that is the truly important thing. The sayings in the Sermon on the Mount are the things we must remember in order to practice our faith. Most importantly, they are the things that teach us to build our houses upon a rock, so that all the various problems of life do not take away our security and firm foundation of faith. See Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

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. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." In today's reading, we have three healing miracles. The first is this, of a leper. It is immediately "when He had come down from the mountain" after the Sermon on the Mount. We hear of the great multitudes who follow Him, so we know that He is already a popular preacher. But leprosy is a particular and special case. It was considered a spiritual affliction -- a sign of having sinned, a direct punishment for sins. Lepers were considered, therefore, unclean and unable to live in community, even to worship. Only priests were allowed to purify lepers and leprous houses. And, my study bible points out, even touching a leper was forbidden by Mosaic Law. So, this is an extraordinary healing for several reasons and reveals Jesus' divinity. The Law doesn't apply to Him in the sense that He is at once beyond it and also the author of it; He has just given a sermon in which He expanded on and fulfilled the Law. He speaks with an authority of His own, and this is a part of it -- the authorship of the Law. But His messianic secret is just that, still a secret, except for those to whom it has been revealed. He respects the Law and teaches the leper to do so as well. But beyond even His divinity, we witness His compassion. Healing is a tremendous sign of divinity in its compassion and love. Couple that with the idea that leprosy was considered punishment for sin and you have not only compassion, but forgiveness and reconciliation -- a truly profound teaching on the nature of the love of God. And it is all for this man, alone, cast out, afflicted -- not a display of power for the world or worldly eyes.

Now, when Jesus had entered Capernaum, 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." Our next healing miracle takes place in Capernaum, the headquarters for Jesus' Galilean ministry. A centurion was a commander of 100 men in the Roman legion, a very powerful man. Nevertheless, He is a foreigner, another person who is not a part of the Jewish community, a Gentile. But we note again the sign of compassion -- this time on the part of this Roman commander. His servant is "dreadfully tormented." As we noted when we went through the Gospel of Mark most recently, the language here is judicial in its origin. This word for torment is akin to "torture" in the sense of extracting a confession by beating. As Jesus is Judge, the antidote to the harsh "ruler of this world" is His love and compassion. But we see a sign of similar compassion first in the centurion. Perhaps it is just this that sparks Jesus' positive response to 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!" The next thing we note is another sign of the character of this centurion. That is his humility. Jesus began His preaching in the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. He taught there, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The centurion shows this quality; he is humble before Christ. And moreover, He understands and grasps immediately the authority that is in Jesus. For this, it is Jesus' turn to marvel: "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

"And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 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. The revelation of the character, perception and faith of the centurion sparks a revelation from Jesus. My study bible points out that it is only twice that we are told Jesus marveled: the other occasion is at the unbelief He encounters in His own hometown. Here, the Gentiles are embraced as sons of the kingdom, while many who are "sons of the kingdom" as the chosen people of God will be cast out, an occasion for immense grief and loss. This is a new Gospel, indeed, a radical equalizing and embracing of all people. The expansion of the Law as in the Sermon on the Mount now becomes an expansion of what it is to be a part of the people of God: this God is for people of all nations. One enters this kingdom by faith. To be with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is to share the kingdom with its Patriarchs of that faith and the spiritual inheritance it implies. To lose that inheritance is tremendous beyond our understanding. Once again, as with the leper, the Gentile centurion is not a part of the Jewish religious community, yet Jesus offers to enter His house -- an act, says my study bible, that would make Jesus unclean in the eyes of the Jews.

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. Here is another distinct healing miracle. He heals a woman by touch. In this case, as Peter's mother-in-law, she is restored to her place, she "arose and served them." It's important that we consider this personal act of restoration and healing for a women, and an elderly woman - Peter's mother-in-law. It is another act of compassion for someone who is on the outskirts, not in the center of religious community life. And He heals her by touch -- again, a sign of His compassion and inclusion, His reach beyond the Law. This is not a ministry merely for men, but includes, truly, all of us in its call.

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." Here He casts out the spirits in the demon-possessed with a word, and heals all who are sick. Again, we can see the forces of two kingdoms at work -- the "ruler of this world" is an oppressor, and Jesus casts out its oppressive forces with a word in greater power. He heals all who are sick -- the words in the Greek also signify that illness is a kind of possession by some form of evil, something which harms man, takes away the good health that is of God, to be afflicted by something bad. So, "restoration" by a healing word or a healing touch takes on a quality of an assertive authority bringing in the reign of the good where the bad seeks to dominate and oppress. And how does this happen? The gospel gives us Isaiah's prophecy about the Suffering Servant. He is the one who saves by taking on all our illnesses and infirmities. He serves all.

We note once again, as we have an earlier readings, the act of sacrament at work. In this case, all is given up to Christ -- infirmities and faith, weaknesses and strengths. He takes on the infirmities Himself and returns to us our wholeness, just as He will take on the ailments of this world for Himself, although He is here to overturn that evil kingdom of oppression. Can we catch a touch of this grace? Can we understand it for ourselves? In Jesus' healings today, He exemplifies the tremendous grace of this kingdom. It reaches out to all, there is no exception. Can you hear the call? Can you grasp the faith as did the centurion? That is all it takes to become a son by adoption. He serves us all, and yet He is king and God, returning us to a life of restoration and healing, so that we may be with Him in His kingdom. By this we learn God's law of love.

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