He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses

 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 finished reading through the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapters 5 - 7.  Yesterday's was the last reading in chapter 7, giving us Jesus' culmination of the Sermon.  He 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."  The biblical law concerning leprosy is in Leviticus 13 and 14.  Deuteronomy 24:8 gives instructions for the purification of lepers and and leprous houses, which was a duty that the priests carried out.  My study bible says that leprosy was considered a direct punishment for sins, and as lepers were unclean, they were not permitted to live in the community or to worship in synagogues or the temple.  To touch the unclean was forbidden (Leviticus 7:21).  But Jesus touched the leper, showing both compassion and also that He is not subject to the Law but over it.  My study bible says, "To the clean, nothing is 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."  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.    This is a remarkable story for a number of reasons.  The first is that this is a Roman Gentile, a centurion who is a commander in the Roman occupying military.  The second is that this man, a commander of the colonial forces, calls Jesus, a Jew, Lord.  The response by Jesus, "I will come," has also been interpreted as a question by many Greek scholars:  "Shall I come?"   Jesus' response is tied to the story of the leper.  It means that Jesus is ready to deal graciously with this Gentile and even to enter into his house -- which would make Him unclean in the eyes of the Jews.   The centurion then repeatedly calls Jesus Lord, in a statement frequently quoted in liturgical texts as an ideal expression of humility:  "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof."  The text also tells us that Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion.  That Jesus marvels happens only twice in all the Gospels:  once at the unbelief in His hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:6), and here at the belief of this foreigner.  We should take note that throughout the Gospels, Jesus heals in a number of ways.  In the previous verses, He heals a leper by touch.  Here, He needs neither to be present nor in direct contact with the one whom He heals -- but all is facilitated by faith.  Finally, Jesus nullifies all ideas of ethnic superiority, and teaches more about the nature of the Kingdom and its righteousness.  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.  They are common expressions in Matthew (13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30), and they 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."   In this passage and also in 1 Corinthians 9:5 we have indications that Peter was married.  Note again the diversity of healing miracles.  Here He heals again by touch, in verse 13 (above, in the case of the centurion's servant) He healed with a word.  This healing is immediate and complete, while others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or they require the cooperation of the person healed or even loved ones (Luke 8:54-55).  As the quotation in our final verse for today indicates, all of Christ's miracles are manifestations of His redemption of ailing humanity.

Just after the Sermon on the Mount, we are given several healings by Jesus.  We remember in context that these healings are signs of the Kingdom, and signs of Jesus' identity.  It's important that the ways these healings are done are varied.  That shows us something about Jesus and the true identity of the "God-man."  His power and His authority exists in many dimensions.  He doesn't have any walls or barriers that keep Him from exercising that authority and power.  He doesn't even need to to be present to effect a healing.  What does in fact make a difference, though, is the faith either in the one being healed or in those who bring him or her to healing, both loved ones and friends.  His healing restores people to their places in the community.  Peter's mother-in-law goes back to her honored place in the household, serving those who serve Christ.  The centurion's servant, who is "dreadfully tormented" is healed at the very hour at which Jesus tells him, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."   The healed leper is restored to community via Jesus' healing and His instruction to "go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."  Let us note the role of witness the former leper can now play.  The quotation from Isaiah gives us another flavor of the authority and blessedness in serving, as it describes Christ Himself in His condescension and service to humankind:   "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."  Each of these things tells us about Christ, and gives us an outward picture of the righteousness of the Kingdom expressed through Jesus' words and actions and teachings.  Let us note not only His compassion but the radical equality before God and God's love and favor.   Not only that, but God's viewpoint, as it does through the Old and New Testaments, will stand our worldly certainties on their heads, for "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."  The great connection  that makes all the difference here is faith.  It invites us into communion, into participation in the Kingdom, and there are no barriers to that faith except in our hearts and our capacity for it.  But even the smallest opening begins the journey.  Sometimes it's an opening only God sees, even unknown to ourselves.