Our scripture reading this evening is from Matthew 8, Matthew chapter 8, verses 1 through 17. These are the first of the healing miracles that Matthew records for us in his gospel. Matthew 8, Matthew 8, verses 1 through 17. When he had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, a leopard 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. Thus far the reading of God's word. Our passage tonight begins with Jesus having great multitudes following him. This is a common and recurring theme throughout the gospels, throughout the records of Jesus' earthly ministry. And it should not surprise us that after having heard the Lord's teaching on the mountain, the people would be curious to hear more and thus follow him around, at least for a while. It may be surprising to us, however, that a leper, an unclean man, would now approach our Lord. Leprosy made one an outcast in Hebrew society, and this by law. The conclusion of the section of the law concerning leprosy in Leviticus 13, 45 through 46 reads thus. Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare. And he shall cover his mustache and cry, unclean, unclean. He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore, he shall be unclean. He is unclean and he shall dwell alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. And besides the law, it was perceived by the Jews to be a sign of God's wrath against a person. Leprosy, that is. Perhaps because of some particularly grievous sin. And this perception is not without reason. Remember in Chronicles 2.26, we read that God struck King Uzziah with leprosy. when he arrogantly tried to offer incense to the Lord that was not proper for any but the priests to do so. And he obstinately insisted on doing it despite the priest's objection and their resistance to such an abomination. Or perhaps we might consider the account from 2 Kings 5 of Gehazi the prophet Elisha's servant, who he was greedy for gain. Recall that the prophet Elisha had just healed Naaman's leprosy by the power of God, and he refused to receive any compensation for it. And Gehazi, chasing after them, was greedy for gain, and he was immediately struck with leprosy when he returned. And who can forget Numbers 12? What we read of God's immediate judgment against Miriam when she and Aaron spoke against Moses, the Lord's anointed at that time, because he had married an Ethiopian woman. And even in the New Testament, we are told that disease and even death are judgments from God. Are we not? In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul teaches us that those given over to a depraved mind receive in themselves the due penalty for their error. He also admonishes the Corinthians, warning them that the unworthy manner in which they approach the Lord's table is the reason why some of them have fallen sick or even died. James commands us to call for the elders of the church if we are sick. and to have them pray over us and anoint us with oil. He links this with sins, saying that the prayer of faith will save such a person and that if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven. Now, it is not always the case that a bodily affliction or even death is a sign of God's particular judgment on a person, but it most certainly can be. Now we are not told whether this man, this leprous man was such a notorious sinner as those aforementioned, but certainly it may have been suspected by the crowd that was following Jesus. And he was at least a sinner as we all are. And so whether a notorious sinner or not, we have here a man who is by law cast out from worship among the temple congregation and even from dwelling among the God's covenant people. He is cut off. Such a man as this now comes to our Lord, kneeling, worshiping, saying, Lord, if you are willing, willing, you can make me clean. This is a picture how we ourselves, apart from Christ, are cut off from fellowship with God and His people by our sin. When Adam in his first sin broke the covenant of life, he brought on himself and his posterity the curse God promised of death, of disease, of suffering, and most importantly, being cut off from fellowship with God, the author of life. And we add to our original lack of righteousness many sins daily, all of which are worthy of the wrath of God. This man was aware of his need for a Savior, and if the Holy Spirit has regenerated your heart, then you too are aware of your own need to be saved. Our first point of application is this, a command if you will receive it. Apart from Christ, you are unclean and cut off. Therefore, humble yourself before the Lord, who alone can cleanse you. Apart from Christ, you are unclean and cut off. Therefore, humble yourself before the Lord, who alone can cleanse you. And our Lord, full of compassion for this man's helpless and desperate condition, stretches out His hand and says, I am willing. Be cleansed. And don't miss this, brothers. Jesus touched this man. Jesus touched this man, this leprous man. Remember, leprosy is contagious. And so this leper was quarantined, essentially exiled for the duration of his sickness. This was a man who may not have had another human touch him for years. Not a kiss, not a hug, not even a handshake. How great is the compassion and kindness of our Savior towards sinners. Jesus touched a leper and instead of the leper making him unclean, Jesus made the leper clean. So this man is right. Jesus has the power to cleanse him if he is willing. And sometimes I wish we spoke a language other than English because it can be challenging for translators to convey the full sense of imperative verbs as we have here in the Greek. When Jesus says, be cleansed, He is not saying, you will be cleansed. Or, I see now that you are cleansed. No. This is no mere observation. Just as He, the Eternal Logos, had spoken the universe into being, Jesus now speaks with the same divine will, the same authority and power, and He declares, I will it. I desire it. And He commands the leper, be thou cleansed. And it was so. Our second application is another command. If you will believe on Him, Christ is both willing and able to accomplish your salvation. Be thou cleansed. If you will believe on Him, Christ is willing and able to accomplish your salvation. Therefore, be thou cleansed. And having cleansed this man, Jesus does not send him away without instruction. No. He bids him go and show himself to the priest and offer the sacrifices which Moses had commanded as a testimony. I commend the whole of Leviticus 13 and 14 to your personal study, but let us turn briefly to Leviticus 14, as there's one particular aspect I want to draw our attention to. Leviticus 14, starting in verse 1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall examine him. And indeed, if the leprosy is healed in the leper, then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living and clean birds, cedarwood, and the scarlet and the hyssop. And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water. As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood and the scarlet and the hyssop, and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over running water. And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose in the open field. He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water that he may be clean. After that, he shall come into the camp and shall stay outside his tent seven days. But on the seventh day, he shall shave off all the hair of his head and his beard and his eyebrows, all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes and wash his body in water and he shall be clean. And on the eighth day, he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one new lamb of the first year without blemish, three tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with oil as a grain offering, and one log of oil. Then the priest who makes him clean shall present the man who is to be made clean, and those things before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And the priest shall take one male lamb and offer it as a trespass offering in the log of oil, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where he kills the sin offering and the burnt offering, in a holy place. For as the sin offering is the priest, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy." Pay close attention here. The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. And the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. Then the priest shall dip his finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord, and the rest of the oil in his hand. The priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. The rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand, he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. The ceremony described in verses 14-17 may sound familiar to the children of the congregation who have been learning in our Sabbath school about how the Israelites were commanded to worship. That is, how they were commanded to worship God in the tabernacle and later in the temple. This ceremony to cleanse and restore a leprous person to fellowship with God and God's people is the same ceremony by which priests were consecrated to service. Blood has been spilled and it is applied to the whole man from head to toe, covering his sins. And oil, which and Scripture represents healing, and the Holy Spirit has been poured on him that he might be received into the camp, reconciled to his people. Yes, you could even say that he is consecrated to this end. What does that have to do with us, Brother Bill? Well, do you know that there are those in our congregation who are cut off? There are those from among our membership who are under church discipline, even excommunication, because they have sinned grievously and persist in an unrepentant state. They have brought much grief and suffering to themselves, to their families, even to their brothers and sisters in Christ, even their elders in the church. And by virtue of their excommunication, they are outside the covenant people of God. Though they may, of course, join us in our worship service, yet they are barred from the Lord's table as if they were unbelievers. They may see it only from afar. Like one afflicted with leprosy, they are cut off from the blessings of fellowship with God and His covenant people. And yet, even such as these, even such as these, if they will humble themselves before God and repent of their sins, if you will, if they will be cleansed by Christ, they may, indeed they must, be received once more into the assembly of the saints. The leprous man who was cut off is now commanded to be reconciled to God and to God's covenant people by the sacrifices prescribed in the law. And we may from these truths draw our third application. Those who have been cut off from God's church by excommunication, If they will humble themselves before God, repent, and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, they are to be received once more into fellowship with God's covenant people, the church." And briefly before we move on, we see from the totality of the account of the leprous man, as in so many other places in Scripture that grace precedes obedience. This man received salvation from his affliction by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And then he was commanded to walk in obedience. We come now to the account of The centurion who appeals to Jesus on behalf of, of his servant who was dear to him. Now, when the Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him pleading with him saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home, paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. Although Matthew makes no mention of them, the parallel passage in Luke 7 tells us that the centurion actually approached Jesus by means of intermediaries, namely, elders of the Jews. Their testimony was that he was a worthy man, that he loved their nation, and had built them a synagogue. This man was a Gentile, but from all indications here, I would conclude that he's most likely a believer. Let us examine him together. The centurion is a man of authority, but he also has compassion toward his servant who is sick. He recognizes that this servant who is dear to him is afflicted with something dreadful. He is told of a Jewish prophet, Jesus, who is passing through this part of the land and his immediate response is one of faith. He believes that Jesus can heal His servant. And so, he seeks now that Jesus will heal His servant. And Jesus again said to him, I will come and heal him. He's willing to heal those who receive Him by faith. He indicates that He will come to the centurion's house and heal his servant. Now, the centurion, knowing, it seems, the pharisaical tradition that those who even enter the houses of Gentiles are ceremonially unclean. This is not in the Bible, by the way. This is the pharisaical tradition, their misinterpretation of God's command to be apart from the Gentiles, to be a holy people. So this centurion, he did not want to defile our Lord in this way. Recall the complaints of the Pharisees that our Lord aid and sent with sinners and tax collectors, right? So he does not want Jesus to be inconvenienced by being ceremonially unclean, having come into the house of a Gentile. Now, perhaps the news of how our Lord had touched a leper and cleansed him hasn't quite reached the centurion. Nevertheless, the centurion, though he, like the Pharisees, is incorrect in his interpretation of Scripture, thinking that he might defile Jesus rather than Jesus cleansing him. He gets this right. that Jesus is a man of authority, and if He is willing, He can heal the centurion's servant. Look with me in verses 8 and 9. 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." Our Lord marvels at this Gentile's faith, and He rebukes the unbelieving Jews with a prophecy. Let's read verses 10 and through 12. 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." Christ is telling us here that the Gentiles are now included in the kingdom of heaven. This was prophesied, but He is now confirming it. And that those to whom the kingdom had previously been given, namely, Abraham's descendants according to the flesh, They, because of their unbelief, would be cast into outer darkness. Why? Because of the faith of the Gentiles that would come to be as the Gospel spread from the East and from the West. And the lack of faith on the part of the great majority of the Jews, which unbelief persists to this day with those who practice Talmudic or Rabbinical Judaism. Briefly, our fourth application, Christ will heal only those who receive Him by faith. Those who reject Him, even if they are children of God's covenant people, will be cast into outer darkness. Christ will heal only those who receive Him by faith. It is a warning. Those who reject Him, even if they are children of God's covenant people, will be cast into outer darkness. Verse 13, then Jesus said to the centurion, go your way. And as you have believed, so let it be done for you. Again, another imperative. And his servant was healed that same hour. Jesus now confirms as the centurion has given testimony, he now confirms his authority, his ability and his willingness to heal the centurion servant as with the leper. We may reiterate that Christ is willing and able to accomplish salvation for those who believe. We turn briefly to the closing verses. Now, when Jesus had come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand and her fever left, and she arose and served them. Now, we are not told whether Peter's mother-in-law was a believer, but Jesus cared for his disciples. That extends to their family regardless, even in light afflictions such as a fever. Pray for your sick kids, your moms, your dads, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, your spouses. pray for them. Jesus is able to heal them and He cares for them because He cares for you. Verses 16 and 17, we draw to a close now. 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 tells us that these healings fulfill the prophecy of the first part of Isaiah 53.4. Now the King James and the New King James, they render this, surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Well, these Hebrew words also convey a sense of sicknesses and pain. So Matthew's interpretation here is certainly within that meaning. And being scriptured is, of course, authoritative. You know, there is no contradiction here between the rendering of griefs and sorrows and infirmities and sicknesses. All right, so Matthew here relates this prophecy to the physical or temporal healing of the subject of Jesus's healing miracles in this passage. And these healings too, these are a shadow of what is to come when Christ consummates His kingdom and fulfills the beatific vision of Revelation 21.4. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Those who by faith receive Christ's healing will be given new bodies. free of any pains, disease, or other afflictions, free of any stain of sin and death, free from any and all demonic oppressions. Praise God. And it is here we will draw our final application. Whether your afflictions are bodily and light, such as a fever, whether they are serious, such as leprosy or paralysis, or whether they are spiritual in nature, such as demonic oppression and possession. The Lord Jesus can and will heal all of these, perhaps now, yes, physical healing in our bodies, but assuredly, fully and finally in heaven. He is willing. Be thou cleansed. And abide with him all the days of your life.