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 yourselves 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 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 finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapters 5 - 7. We began with the Beatitudes, then we read You are the salt of the earth, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill, 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," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly, Our Father in heaven, You cannot serve God and mammon, Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things, Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets, and Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. In yesterday's reading, which is the final reading in the Sermon on the Mount, 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 yourselves to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." The biblical law concerning leprosy was given by Moses in Leviticus 13 and 14. Deuteronomy 24:8 describes the purification of lepers and leprous houses which was a duty of the priests. My study bible says that leprosy was considered a direct punishment for sins, and that as lepers were unclean, they couldn't live in community or to worship in synagogues or the temple. We have to understand leprosy as an infectious disease, and these laws worked in ways to prevent or contain infection, at least to the extent possible given the time and abilities. Touching the unclean was forbidden (Leviticus 7:21), but in today's reading Jesus touched the leper. My study bible says this shows His compassion, and it shows that He is not subject to the Law but over it. It says, "To the clean, nothing is unclean." Jesus has just taught that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, so what are we to make of this?
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!" A centurion was a Roman commander over 100 men in a legion. He is a Gentile, an outsider, one who rules with despised authority among the Jews. Many Greek scholars read Jesus' statement, "I will come and heal him," as a question: "Shall I come?" But Jesus' willingness to enter into this Gentile's house is yet another act that would make Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews. And there is more "unusual" to come -- this Gentile centurion calls Jesus Lord. "Lord, I am not worthy that You should cone under my roof," is traditionally quoted in liturgical texts as an ideal expression of humility. Jesus marvels twice in the Gospels -- one time is here, at the belief of the centurion. The other is in Mark 6:6, when He marvels at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth.
"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 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 says that here 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 (or Hades) in the Jewish tradition (see Enoch 103:8). And they are common expressions in Matthew's gospel (13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and are also found 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." This passage and another from 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:5, where Peter is called Cephas), tell us that Peter was married. My study bible points out that Christ's healing miracles are diverse. Here He heals by touch, in verse 13, above ("so let it be done for you") Jesus healed with a word. This healing is immediate and complete, and others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or they require cooperation from the healed person or their loved ones (Luke 8:54-55, Mark 2:4). As the quotation in our final verse (from Isaiah 53:4) tells us, each miracle manifests His redemption of ailing humanity.
So what's going on here? Jesus has just finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount, and these actions take place after He has come down from the mountain and resumed His wandering ministry. He said He'd not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill -- but here He seems to be violating direct Law. He touches a leper, He's the one who says He'll come into the centurion's home and it's the centurion who clearly says He doesn't have to. He touches Peter's mother, which really isn't exactly the right form for a Jewish man who's not a member of the family. So what's the point of all this? That seems to be the question we're meant to ask, and in so doing what we find is that Jesus is not just the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, but He's the manifestation of their aim. The law regarding leprosy was not intended to prolong leprosy or contain it, but to cope best in hopes of eradication. Healing is the real goal and fulfillment of that Law. And in each of these episodes, healing is taking place both as the obvious point of the story but also in a deeper and more complete way as spiritual balm for the world. The point of the Law was to keep a people to God, and to keep those people loyal to covenant with God, to faith. But Jesus expands this to the faithful people from all the world. This is the point and aim of Old Testament Law, to have a "people of God." And the good news is that this includes all people, including the mother-in-law of Peter, someone who would not normally have been considered so important as both a woman and one who was older and lives dependent on him. And everybody is brought to Jesus, not just the sick but also the demon-possessed. This healing is a much broader and greater reality than anybody could imagine. He is the healing reality present in the world, and He is that fulfillment and aim of the Law and the Prophets, made manifest to us in the world. He sets things aright, He heals a woman who is an essential part of a home, a household that supports the healing work of the world, a place where all can gather to be healed of all kinds of problems. Again, with just a word, the Word made flesh casts out spirits, He heals all who come to Him who are sick. He heals what ails us, and our union with Him is faith -- and therein is the sum of the purpose of the Old Testament, to heal and keep a people to God, to set right and in good order. As John's gospel teaches us, He's given "because God so loved the world," and this Kingdom is for all the world -- and the people of God are to be drawn from all the world. Let us close with the words of the Prophet Isaiah: "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses." This will be true in so many ways, and remains true for the faithful today.
