Matthew 8:1-17 He Took Our Infirmities

After many weeks working our way through the Sermon on the Mount we now come down off the mountain to follow Christ and continue to observe all that Matthew records for us. We join together with the multitude as Matthew opens this eighth chapter: large crowds followed him. In chapter eight, the focus shifts from the teaching of Christ, the words of Christ, to the works of Christ. However, as I hope you'll see throughout this message, Christ's works and miracles are not there simply to dazzle us, although they do; instead, they are given so we might recognise Jesus for who he is and believe in him by faith.

This morning, our subject is the miracles of Jesus; yet more specifically, we will see how Matthew presents Jesus' miracles as clearly identifying him as the messianic servant of the Lord through whom we can be made whole and gain a welcome into the kingdom of heaven. As another has said, "Jesus' miracles are basically Christological in character," meaning they drive us to the identity of Jesus as Messiah and the prophesied servant of the Lord.

There is a certain flow and rhythm to this eighth chapter. Matthew first highlights three particular instances where Jesus performs miraculous healing: the first is a man with leprosy who comes to Christ. Some have compared this leper to the first of Jesus' beatitudes, he is poor in spirit and comes humbly to Christ. The second is the healing of the centurion's servant. The centurion comes on his servant's behalf and asks that Christ, with just a word, would heal him. Some have compared the centurion to the second beatitude in Matthew 5:4; he is one who mourns, he is grieved and comforted. The third healing is Peter's mother-in-law, bedridden with a fever; she may represent the third beatitude: "blessed are the gentle."

Matthew then provides a summary of the many healings Christ performed that day: "When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed; he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were ill." This is a broad summary of this aspect of Jesus' ministry.

However, our attention must focus for a moment on verse 17 as introduction to this portion. This is the next of Matthew's so-called fulfilment formulas. If you think back, throughout this gospel we often read, "this was to fulfil..." You see everything about Christ occurred not in a vacuum, but as the fulfilment of Old Testament scripture and prophecy. Matthew wants us to see that Jesus' healing ministry, all these signs, were not without purpose; they were works to point us to his Messianic identity and, ultimately, the true reason for which he came, the healing we receive through his death for us. So Matthew says in verse 17, "This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, 'He took our illnesses and bore our diseases'" (Isaiah 53:4).

Who is the Servant of the Lord?

Before we go further, let's consider this crucial question: who is the servant of the Lord? It is essential that we follow this "yellow brick road" that Matthew lays out in reference to Matthew 8:17. We want to contextualise the miracles of Christ, lest we misinterpret them and miss their meaning. The danger is that we become like King Herod at the trial of Christ who, according to Luke 23:8, simply wanted to "see some signs done by him." We do not want to be dazzled by the miracles of Christ and then simply leave; we want to understand why they are there and what they tell us about Christ.

Matthew draws his Old Testament quotation here from Isaiah 53, one of the most significant messianic prophecies in all of scripture. In Isaiah, we find what are called the four servant songs: Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and then across 52–53. These are monumental prophetic texts which anticipate Israel's hope for the promised deliverer and the kind of ministry he would have. In these songs, the Messiah is called the Lord's servant. Matthew wants us to view Jesus' miracles within this Isaiah context. That's why he quotes Isaiah 53. He is inviting us: behold Jesus; marvel at his words and works of authority and power; but see him as Israel's promised Messianic Servant "who took our illnesses and bore our diseases."

However, the main thrust of these servant songs is not merely the Messiah healing bodies but saving souls by giving himself for transgressors. Christ did not come simply to heal bodies but to redeem and restore our whole person. Miracles are signs of this reality: he came to carry away sin so we might become children of God.

The very next verse in Isaiah 53, after what Matthew quotes in verse 17, reads: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Therefore, there are two key points: first, the miracles of Christ point to his Messiahship; second, they point to his redemptive work for us.

The Power of the Servant

Let's consider our first main heading: the power of the servant. This is the remarkable power of Christ. Matthew goes to great lengths to show that Jesus' miracles cannot be dismissed as trickery; instead, in Christ, there is unmistakable divine power over both the physical and spiritual realms. This is one reason Jesus was inundated by crowds at the time, there was no local hospital to go to after all.

Matthew had already told us in Matthew 4:24 that "news about him spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics, and he healed them." Jesus healed the deaf and mute, lepers, the demon-possessed; the woman with a chronic haemorrhage; the man with dropsy. Think of Jairus' daughter, the widow's son at Nain, or Lazarus, whom Jesus called out of the tomb. Think of when Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus, who cried out, "Teacher, I want to regain my sight," and with a word, as Mark 10 records, Jesus said, "Go; your faith has made you well," and immediately, he regained his sight. Christ came in great power!

Now let's look at the power of Christ in these seventeen verses of Matthew eight. Consider first the healing of the man with leprosy, who, at the first opportunity, throws himself at Jesus' feet and bows before him. We have much to learn from this leper: such humility and surrender ought to be characteristic of all Christ's people. Notice in verse three: as Jesus heals the leper, "Christ stretched out his hand and touched the leper."

Leprosy is an awful disease and it primarily affects the skin. The leper's suffering occurred in three ways: physically, socially, and spiritually. Physically, a leper would lose the ability to sense pain or touch; when Christ touched this leper, it may have been the first time in years someone had touched him, and he truly felt it. The muscles of a leper would waste away, they could even lose limbs over time. Leprosy was considered virtually incurable.

Israelite law in Leviticus 13 and 14 contains details for a leper's reintegration into society if healed, but healing itself was rare and considered a divine act. A passage like 2 Kings 5:7 captures this. King Jehoram receives a request to heal the Syrian commander Naaman of leprosy, and he tears his clothes and says, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?" In other words, only God could cure the leper.

Socially, a leper suffered as well. By law, they were considered ceremonially unclean, forced to live away from family, banned from cities, and had to warn others by crying, "Unclean, unclean," as they walked among people. Spiritually, the suffering was immense, they were outcasts, seen as under divine displeasure. This intensified their shame. Yet here, Jesus reaches out and makes all the difference. Perhaps this leper had heard Christ's teachings, heard that he had the power of God to heal; so he bows before the only one who can make him clean and restore him from grief and suffering, something only God can do.

King Jehoram was right to say, "Am I God to cure a man of leprosy?" And that is precisely what Matthew wants us to see: this servant of the Lord is God incarnate, he heals the leper with a touch.

There is a wonderful linguistic link here: Matthew deliberately echoes Israel's exodus from Egypt. In Exodus 7:5 it says, "The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst." Dear friends, as you read of Christ stretching out his hand, do you see him as the one appointed for the new and better exodus, leading us from bondage? We are in shackles of sin and death, and only Christ's touch can heal, leading captives to freedom, to the promised land, where, in heaven, there will be no more such things. Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death, no more mourning, crying, or pain, for the first things have passed away."

Notice also Christ's power in healing the centurion's servant. The centurion says, "Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed." "Just say the word, Lord; from what I've seen and heard, you do not even need to be in the same room to heal him. Your power is divine and unlimited; you have power over life and death itself." Jesus marvels at such faith and tells the centurion, "Go; it will be done for you as you have believed," and the servant is healed that very moment.

The same power is shown in the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. With a touch, just as with the leper, the fever immediately leaves her. The efficacy of this healing is made clear in Matthew's words: "she got up and waited on him." She was restored instantly.

The Compassion of the Servant

Consider, secondly, the compassion of the servant. It is vital that we see Christ not only as possessing all the power we need, but also as having every compassion and willingness to use it for his people, to do what they cannot do themselves. The leper, coming to Jesus, says, "Lord, if you are willing." We have already learned much from this leper, but notice also that he understands that if he is to be healed, cleansed, restored to community and worship, it must be done to him. It will not come from within himself; someone with great power and equal compassion would have to notice him and act. He needed help beyond himself and saw his only hope in Christ.

In that fact is enough truth to fill the world over with books in writing. We have no access to God unless he not only has the power to remove our sin but also the compassion and willingness to do so. Jesus is both willing and able. While it is ours to ask Christ, "Are you willing to save me, will you do for me what I cannot do myself?" it is his to respond, "I am willing." Jesus says elsewhere in John 6:37, "All that the father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out." Call on Christ in faith, and you will find an intercessor who is gentle and lowly in heart, full of compassion for his people. In Isaiah 42, one of the servant songs, it is written, "A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench." In other words, he will not crush those who come to him. He will sympathise with their weaknesses, be with them in suffering, help them in temptation, and strengthen them in adversity.

It is no wonder, as Mark records, that the leper, after Christ healed him, could not restrain himself. Although Christ commands him to go to the priest as the law required, to be examined and declared clean, but he cannot help but tell everyone what Jesus has done. He becomes, in effect, Christ's chief evangelist. Mark records that he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town.

Christ's compassion is also evident for the centurion and his servant as well as Peter's mother-in-law. The centurion comes, imploring, "Lord, my servant is paralysed. You must help him." Christ responds, "I will come and heal him." The same is true for Peter's mother-in-law. Christ enters the room, stretches out his hand, and with a touch, heals her. He does not hesitate, and in her need, he is what she requires to be made well. Behold, the compassion and willing spirit of our Lord Jesus!

The Mission of the Servant

Thirdly, consider the mission of the servant. For whom was the servant sent? For what people did he come? The Jews of Jesus' day expected a Messiah for their own national benefit and gain, to suppress the nations, not save them. But Isaiah's servant songs confirm what Christ is saying to the centurion. He has come, as Paul says in Romans, "for the Jew first and also for the Greek", in other words, for the world. The revelation of God's salvation through the servant Christ is about to explode beyond the narrow borders of Israel and reach the world. The kingdom Christ inaugurates will reach from Judea to the outermost nations, even places like New Zealand. Isaiah 52:15 states, "thus he will sprinkle many nations," meaning the servant's ministry and atonement through death would reach far beyond Israel.

This is what Jesus means regarding the Roman centurion, a Gentile, who, Christ says, is of the great multitude from the nations who will share in the blessing of Abraham and the kingdom of heaven. Consider the leper as well: a social outcast, cut off from family, community, worship, and religious life, yet Christ casts a wide, deep net and draws people from all stations of life; no one is outside his power or reach. God has an eye for the weak and the vulnerable, the outcast. It is not an exaggeration to say that the majority in Christ’s church globally have been people of low station, yet Christ welcomes them.

Recall Ephesians 2:11ff: "Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called 'the uncircumcision' by what is called 'the circumcision', which is made in the flesh by hands, remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility."

Look particularly at Matthew's account of the Roman centurion again to see the mission of the servant: Matthew 8:10–12, "When Jesus heard this he marvelled, and said to those who were following, 'Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" Jesus is saying that this Roman centurion, whom many Jews would have despised because he was a Gentile, has believed in Christ by faith in a way not even matched by those Jews who were awaiting the Messiah. As one commentator phrased it, "the centurion exemplifies the many non-Israelites who will ultimately be included in salvation and the great final eschatological feast." Our Saviour is the ultimate missionary, welcoming into his kingdom people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

Isaiah 49:6 reads, "It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will make you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." Praise God that although we here are descended from those formerly without knowledge of God's salvation, far removed from his covenant people, in Christ the Father has fulfilled the commission failed by the first Adam to fill the earth with image-bearers who know, love, and worship the Creator God. This is the mission of the servant; we are testimony to it today.

A note on verse 12 is important: "the sons of the kingdom will be cast out." Jesus is stating that national Israel can only obtain salvation and the kingdom inheritance through coming to him as Messiah; otherwise, there is no place for them in God's covenant. There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ, no Messiah but Jesus of Nazareth. The promises granted to Abraham are not for his physical descendants alone but for those who, like Abraham, believe in the promise by faith. Paul puts it this way in Ephesians 3:6: "the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel." If you, like the Roman centurion, have placed your faith in Christ, by virtue of union with him you have been grafted into the new covenant, along with Jews who have by faith become spiritual sons, not merely physical descendants, of Abraham.

Conclusion

Let's conclude and make some application.

1 First, know the power that is in Christ to save. The miracles of Christ are not ends in themselves, nor are we promised that coming to Jesus will always result in healing of our physical ailments. Rather, his miracles teach about his power to redeem the whole person for the world to come. These miracles are signs of the powers of the coming age broken in through Christ; they draw us closer to look at him, to follow him all the way to Golgotha's hill and the cross. There we see the true healing he provides: provision and salvation for the whole person. What the leper found that day was not just restoration for his body, but ultimately, a Saviour who could save his soul; he discovered that Christ was the promised servant. The healings point to who Jesus is and what he did for us, for his church, when he was lifted up to die and rendered himself as a guilt offering.

There is power in Christ to heal your body should you suffer, and if it is God's will, he will do it, often through the church's prayers, yes and amen, but the power you truly need is the healing of your desperately wicked heart, which we all have by birth. We need Christ to stretch out his hand and lead us forth, as Moses did, through the waters of judgment, through the day of God's wrath, so we might reach safely to the true promised land, the new creation flowing with milk and honey, where there are no more tears, pain, or sin. That is where we want Christ to lead us.

I love how the commentator Mott puts it: "Our total redemption, body as well as soul, comes from him and from his work on the cross. In the new heaven and new earth, sickness will be as completely banished as will sin."

2 Secondly, know the willingness and compassion of Christ to save and restore all who come to him, even this morning. The leper came and said, "Lord, if you are willing." Remember, we are not owed salvation; God could rightly leave us in our own disobedience, but he is willing and mighty to save. But do not neglect so great a salvation. We do not know when the hand that is outstretched in mercy will be retracted and instead reach for the divine sword of judgment. Paul says in Acts 17:26 that we were made to seek God and perhaps feel our way toward him and find him, for he is not far from each of us. The question is, have you come to Christ this morning? Have you received his touch? Has he led you from bondage to sin and death? He is willing, will you come?

3 Thirdly and finally, know there is no salvation nor mission of God outside of the work of this servant, outside of what the church is here to do and witness to. The sons of the kingdom are those who have their faith in Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. If Matthew's presentation of Christ in word and work will not move you to bow low and surrender to him as the leper did, I fear you do not even know the state of your own soul. We must be healed of the problem of our sin; we must be made clean by Christ, who has the power and the willingness. Will you come, and will you see that the mission of God is uniquely found in the person and work of Christ?

John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, for the wrath of God remains on him."