He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses

 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 8:5-17

We have just finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chs. 5-7.  In the previous lectionary reading, just after Jesus finished the Sermon, Matthew has written:  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."

 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying . . .   My study bible points out that a centurion -- who is a Gentile -- commanded 100 men in a Roman legion.  It says, "Jesus is the Savior of all, and in Him ethnic distinctions are void."

. . . "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."  And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."   A note here tells us that "I will come has been read as a question by many Greek scholars:  'Shall I come?'  Regardless, Jesus is ready to deal graciously with this
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."  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 notes here that there are two times in the gospels that it is said of Jesus that He marveled.  Once is at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and the second is at the belief of this foreigner.

 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.  A note here tells us that in this passage, "Jesus nullifies any ideas of ethnic superiority.  The rejected sons of the kingdom are both the Jews who deny Christ and those raised in the Church who do not live their faith; outer darkness and weeping and gnashing are descriptions of the state of the unrighteous dead in Sheol (Hades) in the Jewish tradition (Enoch 103:8).  They are common expressions in Matthew (13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30) and also occur in Luke (Luke 13:28)."

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 notes that this passage and one other (1 Cor. 9:5 -- where Peter is called Cephas)  indicate that Peter was married.  "Our Lord's healing miracles," it says, "are diverse.  In this case, He heals by touch; in verse 13, He healed by a word.  This healing is immediate and complete; others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or require the cooperation of the person healed or of his loved ones (Luke 8:54-55).  As the quotation in verse 17 indicates, all of Christ miracles manifest His redemption of ailing humanity."    The quotation in verse 17 is from Isaiah 53:4.

It's interesting to note how the Gospel readings tie in to one another in succeeding verses.  We note the obvious, that after the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows who He is by His works (just as He has finished teaching to us about how we live our lives according to His words).  But there's something unspoken here that shines through these miraculous works of healing:  His compassion.  And, it's not only His compassion, but today, we see also the compassion in the words of this Centurion, a Gentile, a significant member -- a kind of ruler -- in the detested occupying forces of Rome.  He feels compassion for a servant that shines through these words, in his request of Jesus.  And appropriately, compassion is tied to a great and marvel-ous capacity for faith.   Compassion is further emphasized in the quotation from Isaiah, that this is a true distinction of the One who comes in the name of the Lord, the Savior:  in the words of the New King James Version of Isaiah, "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."  The One of great compassion, whom we yet estimate only as someone stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  I think we come to the most profound sense of what compassion is here when we understand how Isaiah prophesies that we may see this great Savior:  stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  So we may also perceive the leper in his society, and the centurion in the context of the Jewish society of the time, and those whose roles in our own societies fill a contemporary version of the same.  To be healed by Christ may be the ultimate blessing, and we have to take note of just who receives these blessings in our Gospel readings.  In some sense, what we pray for -- whatever it may be -- is for healing on all levels and depths within ourselves and our societies, whatever they may be.  In the form of compassion that is defined by faith in Christ and His teachings and that which He shows through His works, let us remember that we find the truth we all always seem to miss -- that which was foretold by Isaiah.