Will and Faith
Matthew 8:1-17
A missionary in Africa experienced great difficulty in trying to translate the Gospel of John into a local dialect. He faced the problem of finding a word for ‘believe’. He continued to try, but he always had to leave a blank space when he came to that particular word.
Then one day a runner came panting into the camp, having traveled a great distance with a very important message. He quickly blurted out his message, and then fell completed exhausted into a nearby hammock. Once in the hammock, the runner muttered a brief phrase that seemed to express both his great weariness and his contentment at finding a place to finally rest his weary body.
The missionary had never heard these words before, and so he asked one of his helpers to explain what the runner had said. He was told that the runner had said: “I am at the end of myself. Therefore, I am resting all of my weight here!”
The missionary shouted out; “Praise God! That is the perfect expression I need to explain the word ‘believe!” And so when translated the scriptures whenever he would come upon the word ‘believe’, he would put this phrase in: “I am at the end of myself. Therefore, I am resting all of my weight here!”
Have you come to the end of yourself? Are you resting all of your weight upon the precious Lamb of God? Or are you still trying to do in the flesh what can only be accomplished by the Spirit of God?
George Muller, that great man of prayer who started many orphanages in England during the 19th century wrote this:
“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that whish is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends.”
It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we really find God. Let’s look at a couple examples from the ministry of Jesus: a leper, a centurion, and a worn-out woman!
Show video segment from Matthew 8:1-17
Remember the definition of faith given by the writer of Hebrews.
Hebrews 11:1
What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.
Hebrews 11:6
So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Main Idea:
Jesus is always willing to reward faith.
Let’s take a closer look at the encounters Jesus had with these men and women of faith.
1. Jesus is willing to make us clean!
Matthew 8:1-4
Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached Jesus. He knelt before him, worshiping. "Lord," the man said, "if you want to, you can make me well again."
Jesus touched him. "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, "Go right over to the priest and let him examine you. Don’t talk to anyone along the way. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy, so everyone will have proof of your healing."
I think is it important that we remember who wrote this Gospel. It was written by Matthew, a Jew and also a tax-collector. As a Jew, Matthew would have had very strong feeling about both lepers, and as we shall see in the next story, Roman soldiers. To a Jewish person, a leper was a great sinner. God only punished people because of their sin, and there was no punishment greater than the punishment of leprosy.
But as a tax collector, Matthew would have understood the feelings of being left as an outcast of society. He would have felt the sting of rejection and the looks of disgust given by people who didn’t understand.
Leprosy was an awful disease, and a physical picture of the spiritual disease of sin in our lives. One missionary in Africa described leprosy in this way:
“The word ‘leper’ means ‘to peal’. It appears in the beginning as reddish white sores or spots that begin to pop up all over the body. These sores fester and spread. Especially in the hands and feet the skin begins to wither and crack in many places. The ends of the fingers swell and ulcerate; the discharge is acrid and fetid; the nails drop off, and the bones of the fingers start to separate at the joints. As the disease continues to spread the leper may lose all of their fingers and toes and sometimes even their hands and feet. Much like sin itself, leprosy may be secretly destroying the body for years, hidden away, but eventually the disease becomes visible and its destructive powers known.”
There was no cure for leprosy. It was seen as a divine punishment from God. If a person had leprosy they were cast out of the community of believers and sent to live in colonies outside of the camp or city. They could not approach anyone without first shouting out “Unclean” as a warning for all to stay away. They lived their lives in isolation and without any human affection or contact.
If by some gift of God, a person was healed, then it was believed that their sin had been forgiven as well. The leper was to present themselves to a priest for inspection. If proven to be clean once again, the priest performed a ceremony of washing to indicate that the leper was now clean and forgiven and could be welcomed back into the community.
Even though this was not the first miracle performed by Christ, Matthew chooses to use this miracle as the first miracle he will record in his gospel. It must have had a tremendous impact upon him and the other disciples.
Imagine the scene, as this unclean leper, someone to be feared by the community as contagious and a sinner, is found crying out to Jesus “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean!” What amazing humility is seen in this leper as he kneels at the feet of Jesus, but also what incredible boldness that he would approach the Lord in a crowd of people who can chase him away, or scold him for approaching the Lord.
But it is his faith that demands the most attention. Somewhere, somehow, he had come to believe that Jesus had power where no one else did. Though leprosy was an incurable disease, this leper believed that Jesus was powerful enough to cure him. His only question was: “Is Jesus willing?”
He stands as an example for those of us who have little doubt in the power of God to perform miracles, but who question whether God would want to do so in our lives.
This leper saw Jesus as a man of authority, a man who could make the impossible possible. Not only did he want physical healing from the Lord, he wanted to become completely clean. He wanted to be restored to fellowship with the community. “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Lord, if you are willing, you can forgive all of my sins. Lord, if you are willing you can save me and make me whole again.”
What Jesus does next should forever quiet in our hearts the question of God’s willingness to restore and to forgive and to heal and to save. Jesus reaches out to touch the man. You can almost hear the audible gasp in the crowd. The law says: “If you touch someone who is unclean, you become unclean.” In the spirit of verse 17; ‘Jesus took this man’s illness and bore his disease upon Himself.” He became a leper too! And with a word, He spoke and all uncleanness and disease disappeared forever!
Have you ever found yourself saying these words: “Lord, if you are willing . . .” Is the Lord willing? The scriptures say that the Lord is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Jesus spoke: “I am willing. Be clean!”
What would the Lord say to you today? “I am willing_____” Will you humble yourself before Him? Will you submit your life to Him? Will you ask for what He alone can do? Will you trust Him to bless you with what is best?
Jesus is willing to make us clean. Jesus is always willing to reward faith.
2. Jesus has authority. His word will not be denied.
Matthew 8:5-13
When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, "Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and racked with pain."
Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
Then the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ’Go,’ and they go, or ’Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ’Do this or that,’ they do it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd, he said, "I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all the land of Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go on home. What you have believed has happened." And the young servant was healed that same hour.
This story always held great power over my imagination as a child. I remember each week in the Mass saying the phrase over and over again as part of the ritual of my childhood religion: “Only say the Word, and I will be healed.”
Once again Matthew is speaking of a person hated and feared by his contemporaries. Israel was occupied by the Romans, and these foreigners were not welcome. Then were seen a godless animals, much in the same way many Iraqis’ might view the American soldiers in their country.
But this soldier had done some serious image repair. He had cared for the community by helping to build a synagogue and the locals had grown to trust him and admire him. In the Gospel of Luke we are told that the Jewish officials of the town first come to Jesus on behalf of the Centurion Soldier asking Jesus to listen to his request. Matthew doesn’t bother with that detail, but gets right down to business.
The Centurion is straightforward in his request. He approaches Jesus, much like he would have approached his commanding officer. “Master, my servant is paralyzed and suffering.” Notice that He doesn’t even have a chance to get out the request when Jesus responds:
“I will come and heal him.”
The Lord is ready to answer our prayers. He has an answer prepared even before the words appear on our lips. But in this case, the Centurion soldier demonstrates an amazing heart, and a beautiful picture of an appropriate attitude in prayer:
- We see compassion in his heart for his suffering servant
- We see humility in his heart in the acceptance of his own unworthiness. He doesn’t deserve to have the Lord come into his home.
- We see confidence in his heart that the Lord has power and authority to grant his request
- And finally we see an amazing faith that does not require signs and wonders, but simply the promise or Word of God
Jesus is amazed, and he uses this man’s faith as an opportunity to teach his disciples about the kingdom of God. In the kingdom Gentiles and Jews will eat together by faith. Those who don’t believe God’s Word and who don’t follow Jesus, whether they are Jew or Gentile, will be left out in the cold.
And then Jesus answers the request with a word: “Go, everything will happen just as you have already seen it in your heart.”
Are we more like the Centurion soldier, or like those who have heard the Word, but have failed to believe? Do we have the kind of confidence in Christ that we can approach Him and say: “Just speak the Word, and it will be done!”
Perhaps the problem is that we have not heard! Paul wrote: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.” When was the last time you heard from God? Do you seek to hear from Him? Are you asking Him to speak to your heart, to your situation? Are you seeking Him first?
When God speaks, Faith grows!
Jesus has authority. His Word will not be denied. Jesus is always willing to reward faith.
3. Jesus will bear the burdens of those who believe.
Matthew 8:14-17
When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a high fever. But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.
That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. All the spirits fled when he commanded them to leave; and he healed all the sick. This fulfilled the word of the Lord through Isaiah, who said, "He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases."
It is assumed that Peter informed Jesus of his mother-in-laws illness. In any event, Jesus reaches out and delivers her and she gets us to serve the family. People from the surrounding community wait for the Sabbath to be over and then they bring their loved ones to Jesus. If we love someone, we will want to bring them to Jesus too!
What burdens are you carrying today? Will you bring them to Him? Today we celebrate communion. We remember that it is by His blood and His broken body that we have been accepted. We remember that Jesus is alive and coming again. We remember that Jesus cares and is ready to carry our burdens. Take a moment as we prepare for communion. Talk to the Lord about the burdens in your heart. Tell him: “Lord is you are willing, you can make me whole. Just say the Word, and your servant will be healed.”
Max Lucado once wrote:
“God honors radical, risk-taking faith.
When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jerichos tumble. When staffs are raised, seas still open. When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed. And when a garment is touched – whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh – Jesus stops and responds.”
Pray
