If you would take your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew chapter 8. Matthew chapter 8 is where we'll find our text this morning. And we'll read the opening 17 verses of Matthew chapter 8. Follow along with me as I read. When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And the leper came to him and bowed down before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, I am willing, be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, see that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him imploring him and saying, Lord, my servant is laying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled 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 recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness, in the place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, go, it shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. When Jesus came into Peter's home, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and waited on him. When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet. He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases. A few weeks back we looked at verses 14 and 15 in a message, and I wanted to finish this short section here in Matthew chapter 8 by looking at verses 16 and 17. This morning's study is another lesson from the healing ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, one that reveals to us the very purpose and power of Christ's redemptive work for sinners. Although it took place over 2,000 years ago, it is still as relevant now as it was then. There is great gospel truth packed into this passage, which if spiritually understood, can transform the lives of men and women, boys and girls. In this series of miracles that we just read of in this section, Matthew was showing how Jesus is establishing that he is God. Emmanuel, God who is with us, God in human flesh. Truly God, truly man. Yet Matthew's specific emphasis is in demonstrating that Jesus Christ is the King, the promised Messiah of Israel. In other words, these signs attest to the identity of Jesus Christ. In chapter four, verse 23 of Matthew's gospel, he summarizes the work of Christ at the beginning of his public ministry as teaching and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease and sickness among the people. In chapter 7, in the Sermon on the Mount, from chapters 5 through 7, we have the Lord's preaching found in the Sermon on the Mount that Matthew recounts. In chapter eight here, we have this second category that Matthew summarized back in chapter four, verse 23, the preaching and then healing. Here in chapter eight, Matthew was showing us that there is power both in Jesus's word and his work to transform our lives. The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah of Israel, the King of the Jews. His sovereign rule extends over the kingdom of heaven. His rule extends over all of creation, but it does not stop there. It extends also over the hearts and lives of those who submit to His kingly authority and devote their lives in submission and service to His kingdom. The problem is, in order to enter into that kingdom, the people of Israel, And all people everywhere, for that matter, needed a righteousness greater than their perceived self-righteousness or mere outward religion. This righteousness is only received, as we learn, by grace alone through faith alone in the Messiah, Jesus alone. So when we come to a passage like this, not only do we find one of the most beautiful scenes from the life of Jesus Christ, we also discover who he is, that he is God in human flesh, the eternal son of God who came into this world and wrapped himself in our humanity and what he came to do, that is to save, and who he came to save, that is sinners, not the righteous. So I want for us to view this passage in light of this truth by setting before you three proofs exactly of who Jesus is, what he came to do, and who he came to save. The first proof or evidence I want for us to look at is his divine authority, second, his divine power, and thirdly, his divine fulfillment. This passage here in Matthew chapter eight Verses 16 and 17 is also found in Mark's gospel, chapter 1, verses 29 through 31, and Luke chapter 4, verses 38 and 39. Before we look at these proofs or evidences of who Christ is, let me set the scene of this passage again, because it helps us and it sheds light on what exactly is going on here in this account of Jesus's ministry. Jesus has attracted, by this point in Matthew's gospel, a massive following. From the beginning of his public ministry in Galilee, he has performed great miracles, and he has just concluded the marvelous Sermon on the Mount in chapters five through seven. The people were astounded at his power, at his authority, and they followed him everywhere he went. Chapter eight opens with Matthew recording three miracles, three miracles that may very well have been performed on the Sabbath day. And now the Sabbath day is over and we pick up in verse 16. When evening came, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed and he cast out the spirits with the word and healed all who were ill. When evening came is important for us to note here. This marks the time of the day that this event takes place. Now evening is mentioned not because of the convenience for the people, that is, it is easier, more convenient to bring these demon-possessed and the sick at the later hours of the day when the sun is setting because it's cooler. The sick that are here are those described with diseased bodies, inflicted or afflicted with great disease and great weakness. So in order to bring them out, as we see here in these verses, would take great effort to do so. But evening is not mentioned here, I do not believe, although it is a part of the understanding of what these people may have in mind in regards to their sickness. It was not mentioned here because of the convenience or the weather. nor is it mentioned because of accessibility to Jesus. Jesus has just preached in the synagogue, he goes into the home of Simon Peter, and he dines there that afternoon, and it is not because people are waiting, well, we don't want to disturb and bother Jesus, so we're going to wait to approach him. The mention of the word evening or the time of day here is primarily mentioned because the setting of the sun, as Mark and Luke mentioned in their gospel, signaled the end of the Sabbath day. Sabbath started at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday. Actually, according to Jewish tradition, they had to wait until the first three stars were visibly apparent in the sky. before the Sabbath was over. And until that time came, the people at Capernaum could not bring out their sick to Jesus, or else, as they were taught by the religious leaders of the day of the Pharisees primarily, they would violate the Sabbath law. But as the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus taught his disciples The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. It was instituted, in other words, for the good or welfare of mankind, both for body and soul, a day occupied with worship, remembering the God of creation and remembering the God of salvation, deliverance, and the duties of necessity and mercy. It was never meant to be kept in mere outward observances, in strict law, as the Pharisees had taught. The legalistic Jewish leaders enforced oppressive laws, restricting the length one could travel on the Sabbath, and did not allow bearing burdens, even sick people. So the very act of carrying those that were diseased or even lame in their body, the very act of lifting them up together with a family member and bringing them over to Jesus would violate the Sabbath law according to the Jewish religious leaders because they believe that work along with healing itself was a violation of the Sabbath. So once the evening had come, and you can imagine the buildup, this large following of people watching Jesus perform probably thousands of miracles at this point, hearing him preach the Sermon on the Mount, and now he settles there in Capernaum, they're ready at once to go to their homes and bring their loved ones to Jesus, but they have to wait until sundown. So once the evening had come and the Sabbath had ended, we read, they brought to Jesus many who were demon-possessed and all who were ill. The word demon-possessed here means those that are under the power or control of an evil spirit or demons, plural. In the New Testament, they were individuals afflicted not only spiritually, but mentally and physically as well. They were afflicted with such things as despondency, as insanity, blindness, deafness, loss of speech, paralysis, epilepsy, and so on. The ill here that are mentioned are individuals afflicted by acute or chronic sickness or disease. The people flooded the streets and were streaming one after another, bringing their hopeless and helpless loved ones to Jesus. What was his response? Here we have our first proof, his divine authority. What was Jesus' response when they brought these people, when the streets were flooded and they were streaming towards him? We read in verse 16, and he cast out the spirits with his word. The word cast out here is ekballo in the Greek. It means to drive out, to throw out, or to expel. often with the idea of force. In this case, not by physical force, but by divine power. Notice it is not by a touch, as we just read of Jesus touching Peter's mother-in-law. It is not by a touch, as in the case of leprosy and fever that we read of earlier in this chapter. Christ never laid his hands on demoniacs, those that were demon-possessed. Instead, we read, he cast out the spirits with his word. Literally, in the Greek, by a word, uttered by the voice. Notice that it was not a long incantation or magic formula as we see in contemporary exorcisms. There is not a wrestling with the forces of evil. There is an authoritative word from the sovereign ruler over heaven and earth, a word just as he commanded the devil in Matthew chapter 4 verse 10 during his temptation in the wilderness. Then Jesus said to him, go Be gone, away with you, Satan. For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil left him. Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was in the beginning with God, co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. And all things came into being through him and apart from him Nothing came into being that has come into being, John's gospel tells us. He is both co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father and God the Spirit. He is the one and the same who spoke the world into existence by the word of his power, who by his own authority rebukes fevers and they vanish, who commands the winds and waves to be calm And they obey, who drives out demons, even plural, many demons possessing a body by a word. You see this divine authority of Jesus's word. No other man had authority like this at this level over not only over the worldly matters of this world as a ruler or a king, but over heaven and earth, speaking by the word of his power and they listen. The second proof that we have here is not only his divine authority, but his divine power. Not only his word, but his works. How about those who brought about the diseased and infirmed that we read about here in verse 16. And do not miss the fact that Matthew clearly distinguishes the demon-possessed from all who were ill. The point is that while demons may inflict those they possess with bodily sickness, as we see many times throughout the Gospels, not all disease is the result of demonic activity. While the Bible teaches us that disease and sickness is the result of sin, They were not to be seen as demonic in origin. Why is this important to us? In today's modern charismatic movement, people speak of the demon of sickness, and the demon of this, and the demon of that, associating anything negative, anything bad in regards to our bodies as being this demon relation to our bodies. Matthew distinguishes here between the demon-possessed and those who were physically ill. The stress here in verse 16, upon all who were ill, is upon the word all. It means without exception. Every kind of disease. Jesus is not some doctor who specialized in curing particular diseases. He is the great physician, mighty to save, rich in grace and mercy. He welcomed every infected or diseased person, and he healed them all. The word for heal here is therapeutic, the word from which we get our English word therapy. But listen, what do we think of in terms of therapy? When we fall ill in body, and they provide therapy for us. Therapy is thought of in applying natural elements in some way to bring about the healing process. That's how we understand therapy. The way it is used here by Matthew, when Jesus heals them all, is immediately. Just as we had read and studied about Peter's mother-in-law. takes her hand, rebukes the fever, and immediately she pops up. No time of restoration or recovery from this terrible sickness that she had been infected with. Immediately. The same is to be understood here. He restored their health with a touch, miraculously and supernaturally. The parallel passage in Luke's gospel, you don't have to turn there, but you can look at it for your own, at your own time to see the comparisons there. The parallel passage in Luke's gospel, chapter four, verse 40 again and following, uses the same verb for healing here, therapeuo, but in the imperfect tense, which gives us a striking picture of Jesus continually healing one after another, after another, after another. laying his hands on each one of them. Now, what do we have in our modern society to understand this picture going on? Have you ever been in the emergency room late at night and sat there and watched the hordes of people, all types of diseases? You hear the coughs and the cries, even from the young, even from children. I remember one of our children having to go to the emergency room, and the first thing he mentioned when he came back was, I don't ever want to go back to that place. because all he heard was pain and sickness and disease and cries in such an emergency room. This place was a hospital here before the Lord Jesus Christ. One sick person is brought to him and he would heal him. Then a lame person would come and he would heal him. Then a deaf person, he would come and he would place his hands over their ears and they would hear. We don't know how long this scene lasted, but Mark tells us the whole city was there. It is believed that that whole city, the population was about 1,500 people during Jesus's time. And it was evening, we are told. So this event may very well have lasted late into the night. And think of the day that Jesus has just had as it was. He goes to the synagogue service. He comes and it can be believed or can be assumed too that Jesus may have preached the Sermon on the Mount in the afternoon. He comes now into Peter's home. Heals Peter's mother-in-law, spends the time there. You can imagine as truly man, exhausted in his body, tired, but yet here comes these hordes of people streaming for healing. And he spends the rest of the day healing every single one that is there. It wasn't a question of their faith for Jesus. It wasn't a question of their circumstances. When it came to our Lord's healing, he healed them all. There was no demon which he could not conquer with his word. There was no disease which he could not cure. His power over the physical and spiritual realms of nature was and is limitless. In Exodus chapter 15 verse 26, Moses gives us one of the names of God and he calls the Lord Yahweh. Yahweh Rapha, I the Lord am your healer. Here Jesus showing this, embodying this great healing that God only can provide in these miracles. Now, why did he heal them all? Was it compassion? No doubt the Lord Jesus Christ had compassion upon these sick and diseased people because of this Because of sin. Was it previewing what his kingdom rule is all about? No doubt. But Jesus' healing ministry, in effect, is rolling back the dreadful effects of the fall of sin, of the curse. But I believe the reason that Matthew mentions here that is given to us in verse 17, and the reason behind Jesus's great work of healing this large crowd here in Capernaum is what Matthew says here in verse 17. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew writes, this was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet. And you would turn me, hold your place there in Matthew and turn with me quickly to Isaiah chapter 53. Since Matthew mentions this passage, it is good for us to see this passage once again and in the context of this passage, what Matthew is referring to and how Matthew is understanding what is happening here live. and then writing this years later under inspiration of the Holy Spirit in his understanding what just took place before him. Those words, this was to, by the way, we have purpose clauses in the Greek. The common purpose clause is the henna clause, giving us why something has happened. This is a different word, hapos, that Matthew is using here, but again, it is a purpose clause. So that, or in order that. He did this in order that something might come to pass. and it is the fulfilling of divine prophecy of Isaiah. Look with me in the beginning verse of Isaiah 53. Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of parched ground. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried, yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening For our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. Matthew here calling back to this prophecy found in Isaiah that was written some 600 to 700 years prior of the suffering servant, of the coming Messiah. Very simply, Matthew is telling us that Jesus is healing miracles in the physical realm, pointed beyond themselves to an event of cosmic proportion. It is revealing Jesus as the suffering servant who suffers God's wrath and dies on behalf of those he came to save or heal. You'll notice in Matthew's relating of this verse, that he uses the words infirmities and diseases, translating the words there from the Hebrew in Isaiah 53, griefs and sorrows, which can also be translated infirmities and diseases. The Old Testament not only predicted the Messiah would come, it also foretold many things about the Messiah through the prophets. such as the circumstances of his birth, the characteristics of his physical nature, as we just read, the conduct of his life, the context of his death, burial, and resurrection. And when Jesus came, he came fulfilling all those things and more. And among all the writings of the prophets was the prophecy of Isaiah 53, verse four, found in Matthew 8, verse 17. Isaiah not only tells us what the Messiah would look like, but also what he would do, that he would take away our infirmities and carry away our diseases or sicknesses. Why? Why is the question. that his people would identify him when he came, that they would know that their Messiah, Emmanuel, was among them, doing what only God can do. You remember what Nicodemus' response was when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ and saw the miracles that he performed and then met with the Lord Jesus Christ because he was trying to wrap his mind around who this man was? Nicodemus himself understood that only God could do, only if God is with someone can God do these things. He understood that there was something more that meets the eye with Jesus Christ. The evidence of his divine power and authority in this passage is without question. But Israel's conquering king came not to overthrow earthly enemies, but spiritual ones, sin and death and the devil. What Christ was doing in performing these healing miracles and dealing with disease and sickness was demonstrating that he is the one that has the power, not only to heal physical disease, but spiritual disease, the power to forgive sin, equated directly with God. And he would accomplish this in the most astounding way as the king, but the king that would come as a suffering servant. Matthew 20 and verse 28, Matthew writes these words, records these words of the Lord Jesus Christ who writes, who says about himself, the son of man did not come to be served, But to serve, a king is served. Jesus is a king, is the king of Israel, and is worthy to be served. But the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So we've established that His healing miracles, the ones especially found in this passage, confirmed His deity and Messiahship. They also were signs pointing beyond themselves to His work on the cross, His compassion towards sinners, and we can't miss His compassion and sympathy. Jesus is not performing these miracles of healing in some cold, clinical way. We are told time and time again throughout the Gospels that he was moved with compassion. That his very body yearned within himself when he saw those that were diseased and sick and demon-possessed. It showed the compassion, the very heart of God himself. And I think we can add a third point of what we see here, and I believe this is very important for us to understand. Last but not least, they were a preview of the effects of his redemptive work that are yet to come. What do I mean by this? Christ would deal such a devastating blow to sin in his death and resurrection that its saving effects would be seen not only in the conversion of the soul, when the believing repentant sinner is delivered from the penalty and power of sin, they would also be seen in the full final redemption of the body in glorification, when he will totally eliminate all sickness all disease, all pain, all death, and all sin. Listen to the words of C.H. Spurgeon. Jesus is able to heal all the mischief that sin has worked, because he himself took our sin upon himself by his sacred substitution. Sin is the root of our infirmities and diseases, and so, in taking the root, he took all the bitter fruit which that root did bear. This is what the Messiah came to accomplish in his redemptive work. And these healings are simply a preview of that glorious day. So, does Christ's atonement bring us physical healing? Yes. But it isn't for now. It is for later. How do we know this? Let me ask you a series of questions. Do you as a Christian believe that Jesus took your sin on the cross? Yes, we do. Do you still deal with the effects of sin in your life? The answer is yes. God saves the believer from the power and penalty of sin through the death of Jesus on the cross, but the full and final fulfillment of that salvation is what? It's yet future. Did Christ defeat death and remove its sting on the cross? Do you believe that? Yes, we do. Do Christians still die? Yes, they do. The full satisfaction of that effect is still yet to come. Did Christ deal with the root and fruit of sin, sickness and disease? Yes. Do you and I still get sick? Yes, we do. We are still awaiting that full, final fulfillment of Christ's redemptive work in that sense in that future day. Let me close with just a few words of application. First, in the physical sense. We have no right to expect that all our illnesses will be healed presently. Only in the eternal state will Christ's work be fully applied and all disease banished. Does that mean we do not believe that God can still miraculously heal our bodies? No, he still does heal. We should still bring our sick before the Lord in faithful intercessory prayer, knowing that our Lord still heals. He uses great means to heal today. He uses the skills and wisdom of doctors, of medical staff to heal. We pray as we bring before our sick loved ones, remembering that it is a matter of His will and not of His power. We can't do as Christ did here in this passage in Matthew, but we can and should adopt his heart of compassion and sympathy toward the infirmities of those that we love. Now, spiritually speaking, let me read to you a quote from the Puritan Octavius Winslow. He writes, in comparison or contrast with the physical healing with spiritual, He says, but a bodily healing was not the end of his, that is Jesus's, interposed compassion and power. There was a hidden and deep significance in every cure he affected. In other words, it was a living parable of gospel truth. Let me read to you what another commentator and author wrote. had come the divine healer of a more woeful malady. Again, pointing beyond the physical healing that happened here, who He is, that He is God in flesh, performing these miracles in His power and authority, out of a heart of compassion, He came the healer of a more woeful malady, a more diseased and imperiled part of our being. He had come to heal and save the soul. And while all physical disease fled at His command, vanished at His touch, He sought thus to illustrate His deeper compassion for and His higher power over the spiritual, that is, over sin. He is a great and sympathetic high priest. And even though he is now ascended into heaven, Jesus' sympathy and compassion is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In this account, we have the assurance that the Savior is able and willing to save, to save the sin-sick outcasts of the world, lepers, slaves, women, the demon-possessed, and the diseased. Behind each of these physical depictions lies its spiritual equivalent, the great diseases of our soul. We are born blind sinners. We are born deaf, unable to understand or even hear the truth to understand it. We are born with diseased hearts, the cancer of the soul, Jesus came to remove from us the disease of sin, the unbearable burden of our guilt. Salvation, according to scripture, is not only a deliverance from the curse and the ultimate penalty of sin. We're not simply saved from hell and saved from sin. It is also a restoration to spiritual health. which begins at conversion and ends with the full redemption also of the body in glorification. So for those here and those listening this morning, how can you receive such spiritual healing? the healing that was performed by Jesus this day, how can you receive such supernatural healing in your own soul this day? You must first see your need, just as those people saw the great need of their diseased loved ones and brought them to Jesus, or those that could, able in body, come to Jesus. you must see your great need of Jesus. The cure is only there for your soul if you see that you need a cure, if you need the remedy for your sin sick soul. And when you come to Jesus, believing that he can heal you and believing that he can save you and you come humbly depending wholly upon him to seek after him, not just the healing, not just what he can do, but Jesus himself. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Righteous One. When you come believing who He is, Knowing that He can save you, and you come that humility and love towards Him, the Bible says that you will receive that salvation that He offers. When? At some future point, immediately. The chains of sin and the enslavement of sin is broken. You're given new life, a new heart, new desires, and then that pollution of sin begins to fall away. purified in your body and then one day he promises not only that salvation from past sins but present sins and future sins and the pollution and the sin in your body now and in your soul now but one day he says that all sin will be forever banished from you when you will live before him to worship and adore him in eternal glory. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ if you do not know him as healer and Savior and you will find salvation for your soul. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word. We ask that you would apply these truths to our lives, that we would think deeply upon them, and that ultimately we would give the glory and worship that is due the name of our risen Lord Savior Jesus Christ. We ask and pray these things through his name. Amen.