Posts
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
In the recent readings, we have been through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, chapter 5-7 of Matthew's Gospel. We read see The Beatitudes; Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven; Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven; I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect; Do not be like the hypocrites; Our Father in heaven, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also; Sufficient for the day is its own trouble and Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you and Enter by the narrow gate. In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! 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: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
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." My study bible tells us: "The biblical law concerning leprosy is found in Lev. 13; 14. Deuteronomy 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses, which is a duty entrusted to the priests. Leprosy was considered a direct punishment for sins, and lepers were unclean, not permitted to live in the community or to worship God in synagogues or the temple. Touching the unclean was forbidden under Mosaic Law (Lev. 7:21). Jesus touched the leper, showing His compassion, and demonstrating He is not subject to the law but over it. To the clean there is nothing unclean."
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." My study bible says, "A centurion commanded 100 men in a Roman legion. The man is a Gentile. Jesus is the Savior of all; for Him ethnic and social distinctions are void."
And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." My study bible points out that many Greek scholars have read I will come as a question: Shall I come?... and heal him. It seems to me that the phrase in Greek emphasizes, in some sense, "when I come." That is, that Jesus will come to the one whom He heals. Perhaps the Lord's willingness to do so is an even greater sign of His grace than the healing itself. My study bible says, "Regardless, Jesus is ready to deal graciously with a Gentile and even to enter his house, which would make Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews."
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." My study bible tells us, "The centurion recognizes Jesus' authority, calling Him Lord. Although the centurion has authority over men, he understands that only Jesus has authority over disease." His phrase, "I am not worthy..." has been accounted a deep statement of humility before God, a recognition of the deity and majesty of Christ, and is used frequently in liturgical worship.
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!" My study bible tells us that "twice in the Gospels it is said of Jesus that He marveled: (1) at the unbelief in His hometown, His rejection in Nazareth (Mark 6:6); and (2) at the belief of this centurion that Jesus could heal his servant by simply speaking the word."
"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. My study bible points out that Jesus holds up the centurion, who is a Gentile, as a great model of faith. He "nullifies the ethnic supremacy of the Jews, saying that many from other nations will share the heavenly blessings with the Jewish patriarchs. The centurion's faith in Christ places him also in the kingdom of heaven." The sons of the kingdom here refers to Jesus' Jewish community, who understood themselves to be the chosen people of God. It adds, "Outer darkness and weeping and gnashing of teeth are not Old Testament references but descriptions of the state of the unrighteous dead in Sheol recorded in Jewish tradition (see Enoch 103:8; Parables of Enoch). These are common expressions in Matthew (13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), also occurring once in Luke (Luke 13:28)." This accentuates the critical situation of all -- Jew and Gentile -- that is reflected in Jesus' final teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, when He refers to the "narrow gate" and the two ways, one of life, one of destruction.
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." My study bible tells us that this passage indicates Peter was married. It notes that Jesus' healing miracles are diverse: Here, He heals by touch; He healed the servant of the centurion by the power of His word. This healing of Peter's mother-in-law is immediate and complete; but others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or require the cooperation of the person healed or of his or her loved ones or friends (Luke 8:54-55). But as the quotation from Isaiah in today's final verse tells us, my study bible says, "all of Christ's miracles manifest His redemptive ministry on behalf of ailing humanity."
It's interesting to think about the many ways that Jesus healed. The miracles in the Gospels are so diverse that we can't really assign any one pattern to them. As my study bible points out, the ways that healing happens through Christ are highly varied. We can add the examples of the woman healed of years-long bloodflow by touching the hem of Jesus' garment, and the man lowered down through the roof of a house by his friends in order to reach Jesus. But in all of these circumstances, there is one thing that is very clear: there is a clear pattern of connection required to Christ and His power. He is willing to come to the home of the centurion, but astonishingly, via the faith of the centurion, Jesus can heal with a word. A woman can touch the hem of His garment and He feels power going out of Himself - so that He asks His disciples in the crowds that jostle them, "Who touched Me?" In all of these diverse miracles, He is not only "with us" in order to help heal, but we witness that the power of God cannot be limited in the ways in which it works. Somehow there is a circuit formed through faith, and anything that makes that connection will be used. As such, we find community through His power working in connection with our faith. And that is something we should always remember. Jesus can also reach down into depths within ourselves we may not know about and help bring us to a conscious recognition of faith (as when a father prayed, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!"). I think the quotation from Isaiah at the end of today's reading is important, because these healing miracles in all ways illustrate that He is with us, and He shares in our suffering. I have a dear friend who is in 4th stage metastatic cancer, and lives thousands of miles away from me. It seems to me that we can be "like Him" by simply being with those who are hurting in any way we can, even from a distance, and especially via our word and our prayers. In this way we "take" others' infirmities, and help bear their sicknesses. Let us remember His example, and the power of faith! Jesus' work, above all, coming in the Gospel directly following the Sermon on the Mount, is love in action. Let us remember that giving of ourselves is sharing the suffering of others, just being with them however we can -- even with a word from a distance. Jesus was "God with us." Let us share in the spirit of His community, as He has taught us in all His work in the world.
