AM Jan 11th Matt 8

January 11^th Matthew 8 Christ heals leprosy

1: When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2: And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3: And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4: And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Christ - the Centurions servant

5: And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6: And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7: And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8: The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9: For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10: When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11: And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12: But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13: And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

Christ heals many others

14: And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever. 15: And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. 16: When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 17: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. 18: Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.

The Lord faced huge public acclaim. Even though they were like the seed sown in shallow ground that had no root. The coming of the leper was a very significant event in Christ’s ministry. This man comes to Christ to be cleansed. Now there had never been a case of a leper in Israel healed. The Rabbis were aware of this and so they had come to the conclusion that if a man appeared in Israel that could cleanse a leper then he would be a candidate for Messiahship. The Rabbis would respond to a healing of a leper by beginning a ten day rabbinical investigation to discover if this healer was significant or not. Rabbis would be chosen to go and watch him and listen to him but at this stage they would not engage in conversation. The Lord having healed the man sends him to the Caiaphas high priest to offer the sacrifice for the cleansing of the leper. Now the High Priest would probably have to go back to the law to reread what was necessary on this occasion.

• What was the significance of the healing of the leper?
• How did the Rabbis respond to this story of a cleansed leper?
• What instructions did the Lord give to the leper?