If you turn now in your copies of God's Word to Matthew once again, we're in his Gospel. You'll find chapter 8 on page 966, I believe, of your Pew Bibles. We'll be reading there the first 17 verses. Jesus has finished the Sermon on the Mount. Now we read of his ministry amongst the people. Let's give attention to God's holy word. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, the leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to them. When he'd entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly. And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes, and to another, Come, and he comes, and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. And Jesus heard this, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the centurion said to Jesus and to the centurion, Jesus said, Go, let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. this far in the reading of God's Word. Amen. Please be seated. Would you pray with me? Our Father and our God, we long to learn more about Jesus. And so we pray this morning, Father, use this passage to teach us, to teach us of our savior, of our high priest, our king, our prophet, our priest. Lead us, Lord God, by your spirit. We ask these things in his precious name. Amen. In Leviticus, there is a description of how Aaron, the priest, was to enter into the holy place, into the tabernacle, into ultimately the holy of holies. And God told Moses that it wasn't by any particular way that men would devise, but it was only by the way that God had devised. Aaron was to take two goats. One was to be sacrificed, and the blood was to be brought in. And the holy place was to be cleansed. But there was a second goat, and that goat was to remain alive. And Aaron was to take his hands and lay his hands on the head of the live goat. And at the same time, he was to confess the sins, the iniquities, the transgressions of Israel over that goat as he was laying hands on it. And as Moses records it, Aaron shall put them, meaning the sins, the transgressions, the iniquities of Israel on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness. And Moses continued, the goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area. There's this picture of this great transference of sin from the people of God to this animal who was then sent off into the desert. Into the wilderness. This morning, we have that picture of the scapegoat brought to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He's now finished the Sermon on the Mount, that description of the kingdom of God. The people have heard his teaching, great crowd heard it, and they were astonished at his authority. And now, as the ministry of Jesus continues, as recorded by Matthew, we see that authority being carried out in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This morning, I want us to see in this first portion of chapter eight of the Gospel of Matthew, that Jesus Christ takes away the sins of the children of God that they might serve him. Jesus Christ takes away the sins of the children of God that they may serve him. Three simple points this morning. First, healing requested. Secondly, suffering relieved and then finally serving restored. Well, first, healing requested. The Sermon on the Mount is over, and we read in verse 1 of chapter 8, When He came down from the mountains, great crowds followed Him, and, behold, a leper came to Him and knelt before Him. What was a leper? Leper is one who had leprosy. A dictionary provides this. Leprosy is a generic term applied to a variety of diseases, skin disorders, from white patches on the skin to running sores to loss of digits and meaning fingers and toes. Another Dictionary puts it this way, anyone who came in contact with a leper was also considered unclean because the leper was considered unclean himself or herself. And so this picture of a leper coming to the Lord Jesus Christ is really out of the ordinary. To cleanse a leper, Moses taught that the priest was to go out of the camp to the leper. But here the leper goes to Jesus. Why? Because he knew he had leprosy. There was a process for the priest to determine whether one was stricken with this disease of leprosy. Sometimes it took weeks. But this leper knew. He knew he had leprosy. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He knew he was unclean. And we know that this is a ceremonial uncleanness. that God had defined. If a person had leprosy because of those running sores, because of the exposed flesh, he would be unclean. He couldn't enter into worship. He had to be off by himself. And the leper knew it. He knew he was unclean. You can make me clean. It's implied. And not only did the leper know of his condition as he stood before Jesus, he recognized Jesus. In this passage, we have at least two who appear to know who Jesus is to an extent. We don't know to what extent, but they recognize him as to what he was able to do. Listen to those words of the leper again. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. There was no doubt in the heart and the mind of the leper. He first knew Jesus as Lord. As the Greek dictionary defines that term, it's one who's in charge by virtue of possession, ownership. It's one who is in a position of authority. Remember, we're tracking that authority from the Sermon on the Mount as it goes through. And now this leper recognizes him and says, Lord, you're in possession of authority. And this knowledge is bolstered by the fact that the leper knelt down, he bows before Jesus. He prostrates himself. It's a posture that tells what's going on in his heart. He's coming humbly, he's coming submissively before this one he identifies as Lord, as the one who possesses. And the leper knew that Jesus was the one who had the power to heal him. Think of his words again, if you will. If you want to, because I know you've got the power, if you want to, you can heal me, you can make me clean. You've got the power. Recognize Jesus as Lord and master and one who has the power over all things, even to make him clean, make him able to come and worship God. And so because the leper knows, now he asks, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Remember, it was as if the leper were sitting at Jesus's feet, listening to the Sermon on the Mount. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will not find. Knock and it will be open to you for everyone who asks, receives. And so he goes. He knows. He knows his condition and he knows who this is, who he's asking. And he asks. Now, consider the centurion. Centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly, terribly. He's imploring, as the New American Standard puts it, he's imploring Jesus again, this centurion, a Roman officer in the military. Usually they had about 100 soldiers under them, so he had much power himself. He stood in a position of power, but he was a Gentile. He was also unclean, according to the Jews. And he knew his estate. Much like the leper, he he knew who he was before Jesus Christ. Listen, Jesus says, well, fine, I'll come and heal him. And the centurion says, no. I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof. The Greek lexicon puts it this way, I'm not sufficient, I'm not adequate, I don't meet the standard. It's not appropriate for you to come because I'm not qualified. I'm not good enough. That's what he was saying. I'm not good enough for you to come into my house. Again, he was addressing Jesus as Lord. He knew that he was insufficient. He knew that he wasn't worthy. He knew that he was unqualified to warrant Jesus's entry into his home because he knew Jesus. Look at verse eight. Only say the word. And my servant will be healed. You see, he knew that Jesus didn't need to come to his house. He knew that he was unworthy, but he also knew that that Jesus didn't need to be physically present. Just say the word. I knew that he was given supernatural authority. He knew that his authority was true and powerful and able to bring about anything that he would command, even long distance, a centurion trusted in Jesus's authority and power, even as Jesus confirms his belief. And so you've got to see that because the leper knew Jesus, because the centurion knew Jesus, they ask, they both believe in his ability to heal. And as a result of their believing, they come before him, they approach Jesus and plead for healing, for cleansing. Their requests are both based upon knowing Jesus and trusting in his ability to cure life altering diseases. Faith involves knowing yourself. The leper and the centurion sought out Jesus because they understood their condition. The leper knew that he was unclean and he couldn't do anything about it. The centurion knew that he wasn't worthy. In order to make a statement like that, I am not worthy, you must recognize the worthiness of Christ. You must understand that he's the worthy one and that as you stand before him, you have no claim to being worthy. You have no case that can be made to even be in his presence or even ask for mercy. Centurion knew of his unworthiness because he knew of the worthiness of Jesus Christ. Faith begins, in a sense, with knowing yourself as an unclean sinner before a holy God. And then faith is founded in large part upon knowing Jesus, isn't it? As Jesus prays the high priestly prayer, he prays this way, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. You've got to know him. On the road to Emmaus. As the two disciples were walking along and now Jesus comes and they're still confused as to what's going on. And he said to them, O foolish one, slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. And he interpreted to them all the scriptures concerning himself. They needed to know Jesus. And so he tells them of himself who he is, the Philippian jailer. As he asks Paul and Silas, what must I do to be saved? And they say, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. And then they spoke the word of the Lord to him. They told him who Jesus was. Yes, the principal acts of saving faith are the accepting, receiving and resting upon Christ alone. You've got to know who he is before you can accept and receive. True faith is not only knowing, though, but it's also trusting in the power of Christ's blood to heal. As we see in this passage, the leper and the centurion were both trusting in Jesus's power and ability to heal. They knew that he could do it. Lord, if you will, you can. Make me clean. So faith is is also resting on Christ. Trusting in him. Friends, if you would be saved by Jesus this morning, you must trust your body and soul completely to Him. You need to believe in Him who justifies. As the writer to the Hebrews puts it, without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists, you must know and that he rewards those who seek him, trust. We find them both here in this passage. And so the call this morning is, if you're not following Christ, here's the solution. Know him, cry out to him that you might come to know him and then that you would trust in him. The leper did, the centurion did. And that's the call this morning. To know Christ. And to trust in him for your salvation. It brings us to our second point, suffering relieved. Well, we know that this passage, these passages do not end with merely the approach and the knowledge of the leper, the knowledge of the centurion and their trust. No, they were Cleansed, the leper was cleansed. Look at verse eight, excuse me, three. I will be clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Exactly what he needed. Healed in just the way that this one required. His leprosy was cleansed. What about the centurion's servant? Go, let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. Centurion believed that Jesus could just speak the word, and that's exactly what he did. And the servant was healed. And so presumably he goes back to doing what he wasn't doing. The terrible illness was taken away. He's relieved. And then we have Peter's mother-in-law. As Jesus enters the house of Peter, the mother-in-law is lying sick with the fever. He touches her hand. The fever leaves her. And she rose and began to serve exactly what she needed. The fever had stricken her. And now Jesus takes the fever away from her. He heals her. And then we have that omnibus verse in verse 16 that even they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons. He cast out the spirits. and healed all who were sick, healing in just the way each individual needed it. And now I want you to consider the last verse here that we're taking up this morning. This. Verse 17, this, and I think that this is there, including everything from verse one. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. Think of how Matthew puts that. He took our diseases. He bore our illnesses. I flipped that around. Matthew speaks of himself. He includes himself. Now, we don't read anything about Matthew in these three events. But now he takes these events, these particular events, these particular healings, and he applies this general rule to it, this general truth. He took our illnesses and bore our diseases, which comes directly, it's an illusion directly from Isaiah 53. Surely he's borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. It might cause us to consider more of Isaiah 53 actually. That's usually what happens when a gospel writer refers back to the Old Testament. He's assuming that the Jews who would know the scriptures would now take most of what was in that passage and say, oh, oh, oh, I remember, and apply it in the situation. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. With his wounds, we are healed. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah puts it in a global way, doesn't he? Matthew takes that up and he does the same. He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. Notice that language. Matthew knows that Jesus took our illnesses, carried away our diseases. Usually when we're thinking of an illness, we're thinking of just being rid of it, it being gone, our disease just, it's left us. We're restored, we're happy, we're rejoicing, but we don't think much about it. It's just, it's gone, it's left us. But here, Matthew writes that Jesus took them. That's a completely different idea than it merely being gone from your body. He took them. He bore our diseases. Think of Peter's mother-in-law being relieved of the fever and just think of this picture now or the leprosy being removed from the leper's body or the servant who is suffering terribly now relieved of that. Where did they go? Jesus took them. He carried them away. We don't want to place too much emphasis upon one word, but without Isaiah 53, we wouldn't be able to do this. But with Isaiah 53, we can certainly do this. Jesus took them. Causes our minds to go to the cross, doesn't it? To consider what he did there. In a sense, the illness that the leper had was now transferred to Jesus. The fever that Peter's mother had now is transferred to Jesus. He's bearing them. He's carrying them away. He's taking them. Isn't that what Matthew's teaching? Now, I don't think he physically did that. But we have that picture. of Jesus taking the fever, taking the leprosy upon Himself and bearing it away. Exactly what He did on the cross at Calvary. You were afflicted in your sins. You were in your filth. Just like the leprous sores that were all over his body, oozing, your sins had covered your very being, just as Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves because of their shame. Your shame of your sin has permeated your whole being. Until that shame is taken by Jesus. Until each and every one of your wretched transgressions were laid upon Christ. You see, that's what is meant by his by his stripes, you were healed with his wounds, you're healed because he took them upon himself. He took each and every one of your sins, every one of them. He carried them away from you. His father laid them on his son. He took your spiritual illnesses. So they could rid you of each and every one of them. That's how the leper was relieved. That's how the centurion servant was raised up. That's how Peter's mother-in-law's fever was carried up, taken away, because in each case he took their illness just like he took your sin upon himself. Praise be to God. That brings us to our third point, serving restored You see that each of these cases, each one, the leper, the centurion's servant, Peter's mother-in-law, they were kept from serving. Seems to be the picture. The leper was unclean, he was cast out from the community. Not only was he not with brothers and sisters, but he was unable to enter into worship. Worship is service. And so as a result of his leprosy, he was kept from serving God in worship. The centurion's servant, that was his job. He was to serve, serve the centurion. But now he was laying flat. He was out. He wasn't serving at all. He wasn't doing what he was called to do. And Peter's mother-in-law was kept from her hospitality. Culture, hospitality was so important, it was critical. Somebody comes to the door and they're welcomed in. Come, come, come, sit, tea, have food. Serving in hospitality, she couldn't. All of these impediments had to be removed, taken away, vanquished by Jesus. You see, as a result of our sins, we're kept, we're prevented from serving, aren't we? in the intended way, the designed way by God. God created the universe, the heavens, the earth, and everything in it, including us, mankind, we're created to serve. We can think of that most clearly as we think of worship. In worship, we serve and thus glorify the living God and sin separates us from that service. We see that clearly as Adam and Eve were removed from the garden. They were unable to serve the living God, unable to be in communion with him and fellowship with him. Jesus must take away that which plagues us. He must cleanse us from our filth. He must wash away our unrighteousness. He must take our sins upon himself so that we can be restored to service Certainly in worship. But we can think about serving others as well, can't we? And you have to ask that question, how can you serve another, a brother and sister, if you're immersed in sin? You wouldn't want to. You'd have no desire to. And you'd have no capability of it either. No, Jesus must remove the impediments to your service. He must restore. In each of these instances in the leper, the servant of the centurion, Peter's mother, he restores. There's a restoration to service, isn't there? We'd be remiss if we failed to note what happened as a result of Jesus's healing, as a result of his taking illnesses and bearing the diseases. Consider the leper. He's called to go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded. Imagine the conversation that might have occurred. I think it's okay to speculate just a little bit here. We don't know. It's not recorded for us. But imagine as the leper goes to the priest. Probably he would have known him as being leprous. And now he comes, his skin is clear. He's clean. He's able to go to the priest to show him, to be a testimony to him. Yes, I was a leper. I was afflicted. I was separated from my brothers. I was unable to enter into worship, but Jesus took my disease. He healed me. He bore away my disease and now I'm clean. And the priest who would have been accustomed to the process set forth by Moses and in Leviticus now seeing this one who had been immediately cleansed. Think of that testimony. Have no idea what the priest would have said. But it was a testimony. Of Jesus' love and compassion and mercy and power. Now, consider Peter's mother in law, Matthew doesn't record it, but there were others with him as he enters into Peter's house. And she was unable to do that, which she so desired, to serve him. And now that Jesus had taken her fever upon himself, so to speak, she was able to provide that hospitality to everyone who had come to her house, to serve these men, including the one who had just taken her fever away. What a testimony that would have been to all of these men. Yeah, my mom's down. She's out. She can't really help. and then to see her standing, serving joyfully, immediately. Would they not have been astonished at her restoration as a result of seeing this one on her feet? What a testimony this would have been to each of them as to who Jesus was. Is that what happens when you testify about the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart? Are people left in awe of Christ? Let me suggest that we probably don't think that way. When our illnesses are relieved, when we're out of bed, when we're restored to health. Indeed, we praise God for restoration, but do we see the effects, the result of that restoration and what it has on others? Do we look for it? Do we pray for that effect? We should. We must, if we're gonna tell others about this work of Jesus, what he's done in my heart. Are we telling our neighbors, our friends, our families, by our actions, by the way we live, that we've been healed by the great divine physician? Not necessarily from a fever, but from your hardness of heart. Are we explaining to those who are looking in upon us that our healing has been complete by the hand of Jesus Christ, that our hearts have been holy and completely changed, that we've been brought from stone to flesh, that we're a new person. We're able to serve the living God and delighted to do so. Is that our testimony? Is that your testimony? Brothers and sisters, sometimes we wonder why our pews aren't full, not just here. Are we telling others what Jesus has done just by the way we live? Are we telling them? Something for us to meditate upon and examine our hearts and ask the spirit to help us before we each need help. testifying to what Jesus has done for us so that others would see and stand in awe. Of him. Yes, Jesus takes away the sins of the children of God that they may serve him. And scapegoat went out. He wasn't coming back. It was a picture of taking the sins away, of bearing the sins of the people away. It was pointing always to the Lord Jesus Christ. who does indeed take our sins away and bears them on the cross at Calvary. Amen. Father and our God, we ask that you'd forgive us for failing to be good testifiers of what Jesus has done. Help us, Lord. We're weak, we're frail. We let opportunities pass by. Oh, Lord, we need Your Spirit. We need to be moved, Lord God, and that You would take all impediments away that we set up, and that You'd help us to confess Christ, to tell others what He's done in our hearts, just by the way we live. Work in us, Lord. Change us. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.