THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
INTRODUCTION
There is no reason to doubt that this Gospel was written by Matthew. It presents the narrative of our Lord’s life from the standpoint of the pious Jew; and the evident design of the writer is to show how completely and continually our Lord fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. No other Gospel contains so many quotations from the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms. In it the predominant aspect of our Lord’s character and work is the Messianic. He was great David’s Greater Son. The keyword of the book is “Behold your King.” As King, His line is traced through the kingly race. As King, He proclaims the kingdom of heaven. As King, He promulgates the laws, describes the subjects, and announces the rewards of the Kingdom. When describing His own action at the last, when He sits on His throne and all nations are gathered before Him, He speaks of Himself as King, Mat_25:40. It was on His avowal of kingship that He was condemned to die. From every viewpoint this Gospel is one of the most precious documents in the world.
By F.B.Meyer
{e-Sword Note: The following material was presented at the end of Matthew in the printed edition}
Find the outline of our Bible study on The Gospel of Matthew at the link below.
OUTLINE OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
The King of the House of David
3. Miracles of Healing, Mat_8:1-34; Mat_9:1-35
NB !Note:
The Judean ministry of Jesus, which lasted almost one year, is not discussed by Matthew. This one year period is covered in John 1;1 to the end of John 4: and fits between Mat_4:11 and Mat_4:12. Matthew takes us from the temptation directly to the Galilean ministry.
Today we will look at the following questions in the outline.
23. What spiritual truths do Jesus’ miracles of cleansing and healing illustrate?
Jesus Cleanses a Leper
When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying,
I will; be thou clean.
And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
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.
The Faith of a Centurion
And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
And Jesus saith unto him,
I will come and heal him.
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.
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.
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.
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.
But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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.
Comments by F.B.Meyer
on
The answer to question 23.
What spiritual truths do Jesus’ miracles of cleansing and healing illustrate?
REWARDS OF FAITH
The Lord can touch thy heart, leprous with impurity, and make its stain depart, so that, as in the case of Naaman, its foulness shall become like “unto the flesh of a little child.” See 2Ki_5:14. The psalmist cried, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean,” alluding to the rite for the cleansing of the leper. Compare Psa_51:7; Lev_14:4, etc. But one touch of Christ’s hand is enough, for He is the great High Priest.
He also can heal the paralysis which has limited thy service and pinned thee down in helplessness. As the centurion recognized, because Christ was obedient to the Father’s law He was able to wield the Father’s power. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the death of the Cross; therefore God hath highly exalted Him, that He might send tides of living energy into the paralyzed will. The Apostle Paul testified,
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Believer’s Bible commentary
Book by William MacDonald
V. THE MESSIAH’S MIRACLES OF POWER AND GRACE, AND VARYING REACTIONS TO THEM (8:1-9:34)
In chapters 8-12 the Lord Jesus presents conclusive evidence to the nation of Israel that He was indeed the Messiah of whom the prophets had written. Isaiah, for example, had foretold that Messiah would open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, heal the lame, and make the mute sing (Isa_35:5-6). Jesus, by fulfilling all these prophecies, proved that He was Messiah. Israel, by referring to her Scriptures, should have had no difficulty in identifying Him as the Christ. But none are so blind as those who will not see.
The events recorded in these chapters are presented according to a thematic scheme, rather than in strict chronological order. This is not a complete account of the Lord’s ministry, but a presentation of events selected by the Holy Spirit to portray certain motifs in the Savior’s life. Included in this presentation are the following:
1. Christ’s absolute authority over disease, demons, death, and the elements of nature.
2. His claim to absolute lordship in the lives of those who would follow Him.
3. The mounting rejection of Jesus by the nation of Israel, particularly by the religious leaders.
4. The ready reception of the Savior by individual Gentiles.
A. Power Over Leprosy (8:1-4)
8:1 Though the teaching of Jesus was radical and extreme, it had a drawing power—so much so that great multitudes followed Him. Truth is self-verifying and, though people may not like it, they can never forget it.
8:2 A leper knelt before Jesus with a desperate appeal for healing. This leper had faith that the Lord could cure him, and true faith is never disappointed. Leprosy is an appropriate picture of sin because it is loathsome, destructive, infectious, and, in some forms, humanly incurable.
8:3 Lepers were untouchables. Physical contact with them might expose a person to infection. In the case of the Jews, this contact made the person ceremonially unclean, that is, unfit to worship with the congregation of Israel. But when Jesus touched the leper and spoke the healing words, the leprosy vanished immediately. Our Savior has power to cleanse from sin and to qualify the cleansed person to be a worshiper.
8:4 This is the first instance in Matthew’s Gospel where it is recorded that Jesus commanded someone to tell no one of the miracle done for them or of what they had seen (see also Mat_9:30; Mat_12:16; Mat_17:9; Mar_5:43; Mar_7:36; Mar_8:26). This was probably because He was aware that many people, interested only in deliverance from the Roman yoke, wanted to make Him King. But He knew that Israel was still unrepentant, that the nation would reject His spiritual leadership, and that He must first go to the cross.
Under the Law of Moses, the priest also served as physician. When a leper was cleansed, he was obligated to bring an offering and to appear before the priest in order to be pronounced clean (Lev_14:4-6). It was no doubt a rare event for a leper to be healed, so extraordinary, in fact, that it should have alerted this priest to investigate whether the Messiah had appeared at last. But we read of no such reaction. Jesus told the leper to obey the law in this matter.
The spiritual implications of the miracle are clear: The Messiah had come to Israel with power to heal the nation of its illness. He presented this miracle as one of His credentials. But the nation was not yet ready for her Deliverer.
B. Power Over Paralysis (8:5-13)
8:5, 6 The faith of a Gentile centurion is introduced in striking contrast to the unreceptiveness of the Jews. If Israel will not acknowledge her King, the despised pagans will. The centurion was a Roman military officer in charge of about one hundred men, and was stationed in or near Capernaum. He came to Jesus to seek healing for his servant who had suffered a violent and painful paralysis. This was an unusual display of com passion—most officials would not have shown such concern for a servant.
8:7-9 When the Lord Jesus offered to visit the sick servant, the centurion showed the reality and depth of his faith. He said, in effect, “I am not worthy that You should enter my house. Anyway, it isn’t necessary, because You could easily heal him by saying the word. I know about authority. I take orders from my superiors, and give order to those under me. My commands are obeyed implicitly. How much more would Your words have power over my servant’s illness!”
8:10-12 Jesus marveled at the faith of this Gentile. This is one of two times when Jesus is said to have marveled; the other time was at the unbelief of the Jews (Mar_6:6). He had not found such great faith among God’s chosen people, Israel. This led Him to point out that in His coming kingdom, Gentiles would flock from all over the world to enjoy fellowship with the Jewish patriarchs while the sons of the kingdom would be thrown into outer darkness where they would weep and gnash their teeth. Sons of the kingdom are those who were Jews by birth, who professed to acknowledge God as King, but who were never truly converted. But the principle applies today. Many children privileged to be born and raised in Christian families will perish in hell because they reject Christ, while jungle savages will enjoy the eternal glories of heaven because they believed the gospel message.
8:13 Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” Faith is rewarded in proportion to its confidence in the character of God. The servant was healed instantly, even though Jesus was some distance away. We may see in this a picture of Christ’s present ministry; healing the non-privileged Gentiles from the paralysis of sin, though He Himself is not bodily present.
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