The Healing Christ / Matthew 8:5-13
The theme of our church this year is "Healing Christ." From this year, the motto set by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea is to be adopted by the churches in the General Assembly with the same theme.
A summary of what Jesus did during the three years of his public life is recorded in Matthew 9:35 as follows: "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness." These were education to teach, evangelism to spread the gospel (mission), and healing to heal sickness and infirmities. Missionaries do these three things in parallel when they go to a mission field. They set up schools for education, build churches to spread the gospel, and build hospitals to heal sickness and infirmities. The missionaries who came to our country also did these three things in parallel.
If you look at the Gospels that were recorded focusing on the life and teachings of Jesus, that is, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, about a fifth of the entire Gospels are records related to the healing event of Jesus. In the four Gospels, the healing events performed by Jesus are recorded 41 times, and the number is duplicated 72 times. And if we add up the things that are not written, we can say that Jesus healed many sick and weak people.
So, one doctor wrote:
"The father of psychiatric medicine was Jesus of Nazareth, not Hippocrates of Kos." So much so that Jesus healed many sick and weak people.
If you look at the objects Jesus healed, you can see the demon-possessed, the mentally ill, the epileptic, the leper, the lame, the paralyzed, the withered person, the person with raised hands, the one who has been possessed by a demon for 18 years, and Peter who was ill with a fever. He raised the dead, the mother-in-law of the king, the son of the king's servant from a fever, the blind, and the handicapped. He healed physical ailments, mental ailments, and spiritual ailments.
There were many different ways Jesus healed. To some, he healed only with the word, to others, he applied acupuncture to the soil, spread his acupuncture to the soil, and laid his hands on him. I was healed just by touching my body.
Sometimes he saw the patient's own beliefs and healed them, other times he saw the patient's parents' beliefs and healed them, and sometimes he healed them without the patient's or parents' faith.
And the purposes for which Jesus healed the sick are varied.
Because sometimes I felt pity. He raised the only son of the widow of Nain. When he saw the widow weeping, he took pity on her and raised the dead son.
Sometimes he healed them to reveal the glory of God. “This sickness is not a disease to die, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified through it” (John 11:4)
On the other hand, Jesus healed him to reveal that he was the Messiah.
Sometimes he even warned me not to sin again after healing me.
There are several causes of the disease. Some diseases are caused by sin. Some diseases also come from natural disasters. Also, some diseases are to reveal the works of God.
In Matthew 8 alone, which we read today, Jesus heals a leper, a centurion's servant from paralysis, Peter's mother-in-law from a fever, and a man possessed by a demon in Gerasea. .
This passage is about Jesus healing the servant of a Roman centurion. When Jesus was going to Capernaum, a Roman centurion came to Jesus. A centurion is a Roman officer with a hundred men. This man was responsible for coming to the conquered nation of Judea and maintaining order and policing against rebellion. The soldiers of that time were characterized by brutality. But this centurion was a handsome soldier with a deep affection for his men.
The same is recorded in Luke 7:2-10. There, this centurion not only built a synagogue for the Jews, but he was also respected by the Jews. This centurion is in love with a servant who is not his parents, blood or superior, but can be ignored for now.
One of his servants was suffering from paralysis. I tried to fix it anyway. Then I heard rumors about Jesus. I have the belief that any disease can be cured. So they came to Jesus. And he pleaded with Jesus. "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, and is very distressed."
The centurion said to Jesus, “Lord.” These words show strong faith and respect for Jesus.
This centurion's sympathy for the servant led him to seek Jesus and beg Him. Hearing the centurion's plea, Jesus willingly accepted it on the spot. "I will go and fix you." However, the centurion rejected Jesus' offer. He said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my house. Just speak the word, and my servant will be healed."
Here, "I am not worthy" is the centurion's humble attitude.
He is spiritually and morally deficient, and he has a humble attitude that he is nothing in front of Jesus. And Jesus believed that his servant could be healed of disease just by the word.
In fact, in many cases, Jesus healed people with just the word. He said to the paralyzed man, "Get up and walk with your mat." Then the paralytic got up, picked up his bed and walked out. On the other hand, he only told the patient with a dry hand, “Stretch out your hand.” But his hand was restored cleanly. He only scolded them, “Get out of that man, you unclean spirit.” Then the unclean spirit came out and he became a perfect man. He said to ten lepers, "Go and show yourselves to the priest." Then they were all cleansed of leprosy.
This centurion also had this belief. He also explained why he had the belief that he would get better just by saying the word.
He said, "I am also a man under the control of others, and there are soldiers under me. If you say to one go, you go, and to another, you say, "Come," and they come, and to my servant, you say, "Do this," he said. It is said that soldiers live by orders and die by orders. A single command is an action.
When Jesus saw this centurion's faith, he praised all the people who had gathered next to him.
"Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith in any of Israel."
This kind of faith, this is the first time I have had such a great faith. Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go, it may be done according to your faith." And at the very moment Jesus said, the servant was healed.
What we need to pay attention to through this healing event is not the image of a good-natured and trusting centurion who was a Gentile, but rather Jesus healing the centurion's servant. In fact, the purpose of this evangelist for recording this event is clear.
First, the incident that Jesus Christ healed the sick with only the word shows evidence that Jesus is the Son of God who has this power. All the healing events of Jesus are so that people may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that they may have life by believing in His name.
The second shows that Jesus has compassion for sinners and the sick. When Jesus saw people wandering like sheep without a shepherd, He had compassion on them and had affection for them. Jesus does not break a bruised reed and does not put out a smoldering lamp. Jesus Christ does not ignore human suffering. Just as in the parable of the Good Samaritan, unlike the priests and Levites who passed by after seeing the man who had been hit by the robber, the good Samaritan saw the man who had been hit by the robber and felt pity, anointed him with oil, bound his wounds, put him on his own animal, and took him to an inn and took care of him. It shows the Lord's love for mankind.
Third, Jesus values people's faith. Jesus valued the centurion's faith and praised it.
A woman who had been suffering from bleeding for 12 years believed that she would be healed just by touching Jesus' clothes, so she touched Jesus' clothes. At this time, Jesus said to this woman, "Take heart, daughter. Your faith has saved you." The Syrobonic woman begged Jesus to heal her daughter when she was suffering from a vicious demon. But at first he did not answer, and then he replied that I had come to save the lost in Israel. Finally, he said that it was not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. I eat the crumbs that fall from my clothes." He praised this woman for her faith and said, "Your faith is great. Let it be done according to your faith."
Even today, if we believe in the Lord who will solve our diseases and all our problems, and report all our problems to the Lord, the Lord will surely solve our problems. We must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Son of God who created the heavens and the earth with His Word, and that He is powerful. When we pray earnestly before the Lord, we must believe that He has compassion on us and does not reject us. do.
James 5:13-16 says, "Is any of you afflicted? Let him pray, if there is anyone rejoicing, let him sing praise. Is there any sick among them, and he will call for the elders of the church, and they will anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord? "Pray. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If you have committed any sins, they will be forgiven you. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that they may be healed."
It is a blessing for the sick to find a good doctor. Jesus Christ is the best doctor. He is the doctor of our souls.
Our Lord said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." I pray that you will be able to have problems before the Lord and be resolved.