The Gospel of Matthew

The signs of the Messiah

Chapter 8:1-17

Having finished the "Sermon on the Mount," the Lord Jesus came down from the mount, and there were huge crowds waiting for Him. In the sermon he had presented the law of his Kingdom to his disciples, now He was going to give concrete evidence of His power, thus fulfilling some prophecies regarding the Messiah who was to come (e.g. Isaiah 35:5,6).

Not all the "signs" performed by Him are reported here (many had already been made before as well), nor do they follow a strict chronological order, but only a selection is given to prove their variety and to bring us lessons and illustrations of spiritual themes.

Among other things, the Supreme authority of Christ is manifested about illnesses, demons, and nature, including death, His right to absolute lordship over the lives of those who follow Him, the growing rejection of Him by the religious leaders of Israel as well as His acceptance by some Gentiles.

The healing of a leper (v. 2-4)

A leper prostrated himself before the Lord Jesus and claimed to have faith that He could cure him, if he wanted to. Leprosy today is just a skin disease, curable with antibiotics. At that time, the name covered also other varieties of also contagious diseases. It was like sin, disgusting, destructive, contaminating and usually humanly incurable.

When extending his hand on a leper, a person would become "impure" in Jewish religious ceremonial, as he ran the risk of contagion. However, the Lord Jesus not only was not infected, but He healed the leper by declaring: "I am willing; be cleansed."

Then He ordered him to tell no one but to go and show himself to the priest to prove the cure and to offer the gift that Moses commanded. It was important to comply with what the law required. It also proved the divine power of Christ to the priest.

Healing the Centurion's servant (v. 5-13)

The Centurion (a Roman commander of a battalion made up of sixty groups of a hundred soldiers each) was a Gentile (v. 10) but showed greater faith than anyone in Israel, by declaring that the Lord Jesus could cure his servant, who was very sick, without need to go to the place where he was. He believed in the authority of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the Envoy of God, compared it with his own, and he considered himself unworthy to receive Him into his home.

The Jews despised the Gentiles because they were not descendants of Abraham, but the Centurion saw that this Person was of divine origin. The Lord Jesus marvelled at the faith of the Centurion, as much as He would later marvel at the unbelief of the Jews (Mark 6:6).

He therefore declared that many will come from all over the world to participate in communion with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, while the "subjects of the Kingdom" (as the Jews thought themselves to be) will be thrown out in the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Today there are many who think they are "subjects of the Kingdom" just because their family is "Christian" or formally attend a church: they must take care because they may be making the same mistake of the Jews, thinking they acquire rights to be citizens of Heaven by heredity or a simple ceremonial. They can really only be subjects through faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Saviour.

The sign that the Lord Jesus operated on this occasion demonstrated His power to effect a cure without needing to be present with the sick person. Nor was it necessary for the subject to show faith. It was the faith of the Centurion that He rewarded.

Healing the mother-in-law of Peter (v. 14-15)

The Lord came into the home of Peter and found his mother-in-law suffering from a fever. They made request of Him concerning her (Luke 4:38). All it took was for the Lord to touch her for her temperature return to normal and she immediately got up to serve Him.

This is a good example for us: to serve God first always, even after being blessed by God with recovery from an illness or something equally debilitating.

The various expulsions of spirits and cures (v. 16-17)

By nightfall on Saturday, when the first day of the Israelite calendar week began, they brought him many demon-possessed and sick persons. He drove out the spirits and healed all the sick. With this, the Lord Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "He has borne our grief, and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4).

The "Evangelical" healers use this verse in Isaiah more than any other, to base on it their theory that it was by dying on the cross that the Lord Jesus brought us physical healing, and that physical healing is something to which the believer is now entitled.

However, let us note that the Holy Spirit tells us that the prophecy was fulfilled at that time, during the ministry of the Lord Jesus on earth, and not later, when he gave His life at Calvary!

We will therefore open a parenthesis here to study that verse in its context and thus challenge the false doctrine.

We read in Isaiah 53:4 and 5: "Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. "

The last sentence tells us of what we were healed: it was the punishment that was coming upon us. The punishment was due to our transgressions and iniquities. The punishment consisted in Christ being hurt, crushed, trampled. To confirm this understanding, we read in 1 Peter 2:24: "Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed".

Peter makes it clear that we were healed of our sins by the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another verse in Isaiah 53 confirms this fact: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (v. 6): He took upon himself on the cross the iniquity of us all who receive Him as our Lord and personal Saviour. Only He could voluntarily receive the punishment that weighed on us, because He was holy and without sin.

Also to include our physical ailments is an absurdity and has no basis in biblical doctrine. We know that one day there will be no more curse (Revelation 22:3), which entered the world after man sinned (Genesis 3:17), but this is still in the future.

The Apostles were involved with physical ailments and never referred to the "right" of them being healed because of a supposed deliverance in the sufferings of Christ (i.e. Philippians 2:25 -27).

We have to accept that a cure is not always what God wants for us. Instead of seeking an “evangelical” healer, it is better to go directly to Him, on behalf of his Son, and pray for our healing personally. This is how we can check if it is His will that we might be healed. Give glory to Him, if we are healed or not, and not to another person.

We close the parenthesis here.

A commentator draws the following interesting parallels between these four signs and biblical eschatology:

The healing of a Jewish leper, with the presence of Christ = the ministry of the Lord Jesus to the Jews on His first coming.
The healing the Centurion's servant, in the absence of Christ = the dispensation of the Gentiles, with Christ in heaven.
The healing of the mother-in-law of Peter at the coming of Christ = the re-establishment of Israel at the second coming of Christ.
The healing of all possessed and infirm = the Kingdom of Christ in the Millennium, when everyone will be healed.

R David Jones

1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4 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."

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,
6 saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."
7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."
8 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.
9 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."
10 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!
11 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.
12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 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.

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever.
15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

16 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,
17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND BORE OUR SICKNESSES."

Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8, verses 1 to 17