Please send his spirit of anointing and illumination. Holy Dove of God, come upon my mouth, my mind, my ears, and my heart. Take the things of Christ and make them real to our hearts. Give us a glimpse of the beauty, power, condescension, and compassion of Jesus that will cause our hearts to run after him.
In Matthew 8:16-17, we read:
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
We are in the section of Matthew where our Lord, after preaching the glorious Sermon on the Mount, now demonstrates his power by performing miracles. These are signs that attest to who he is, signs that prove the truth of his teaching. Everything he taught in the Sermon on the Mount is true: only the poor in spirit will go to heaven, and every word he said is an eternal truth. His teachings on the eight attitudes, the law of God, prayer, worldly worry, and judging others are all validated by these miracles. These signs should make us believe his words, take them very seriously, and obey them. They prove his claims that he is, indeed, the Christ.
In chapters 8 and 9, he will give us example after example of his power, so that his words and deeds are laid side by side. His works and words are proof of his claim to be the Son of God. This shows that the Lord Jesus does not just make great claims or simply set forth great teachings; he has the power to forgive sins, heal diseases, and cast out demons. He is, indeed, the Great Teacher from God, the Son of God, the Savior of Sinners, the Messiah for whom the people of God had been waiting. He is the hope of the world.
Matthew, writing to Jews, begins his miracle ministry by healing the leper. It is interesting that when God sent Moses, he said the Jews would not believe. One of Moses’s first miracles was to cleanse his own hand of leprosy to show God’s power to Pharaoh.
For us to enter the spirit of the Word of God, especially the Gospels written two thousand years ago, we need to get into a time machine. Let’s use our imagination. In old television shows, there would be a machine that would take people back to the past or forward to the future. If we had a time machine, we would sit in it, put on our seat belts, and go back from 2018 to the first century. We would try to understand the historical, cultural, and political context. Then the meaning of these verses would become very clear. After that, we would get into the time machine again and come back to 2018 to understand the application of that meaning to our world. That is the right way to understand the historical parts of the Bible.
Today’s passage requires us to take this journey. Matthew says that the events happened when the sun set, but Luke says it was “when the sun was setting.” For us, this is just an ordinary evening, but when we go back in our time machine to the first century in the city of Capernaum, this phrase is important. All the events that happened on that day were on the Sabbath. According to Jewish custom and God’s Word, the Sabbath was from Friday evening to Saturday evening, as it says in Leviticus 23:32. These people were not only following the biblical Sabbath but were also influenced by the teachings of the scribes, Pharisees, and rabbis. We know that these leaders had added many traditions and man-made rules to the Sabbath, corrupting it. There were hundreds of small rules, like not lifting heavy things or even a needle. Our Lord opposed that corruption, not the keeping of the Sabbath, and wanted people to see the Sabbath as God instituted it.
But these people, following the Pharisees and scribes, would not dare to come out of their houses to carry a sick brother or sister, even a mother carrying a sick son or daughter, because they wanted to keep the Sabbath. These people had heard of Jesus’s healing power. He had healed a leper and a centurion’s servant. Another Gospel mentions a demon-possessed man he healed. This news would have spread everywhere: that there was someone who preached with authority and illustrated that authority with miracles of healing. We saw last week that when the Lord entered Peter’s house, he miraculously healed Peter’s mother-in-law. She then got up and cooked and served. People saw her, who had been bedridden for days, so active now. The word was spreading everywhere in Capernaum: here is one who is healing people of their diseases by touch and driving out demons. They believed that he had a tremendous reservoir of healing power, and they longed to bring their sick relatives and friends to him to be healed.
They heard that Jesus was at Peter’s house and that they could go and get healing. But it was the Sabbath, so they could not go until the sun had set. They all got ready, and there was a pent-up longing to bring their needy, diseased loved ones to Jesus, who, in his compassion and love, would heal them. Yet, they did not dare to break the regulations of their religious leaders. The scene is like runners in a race waiting for the starting gun. The moment it goes off, they all run with all their might. Here, they were waiting for the sunset. As soon as the sun was setting, they all came out of their houses.
Can you imagine what it would be like? People sitting near doors and windows with their sick loved ones, watching the sun begin to set. Luke says that as the sun was setting, they began to leave their houses. The moment the first edge of the sun went out of sight, they began to move. From a drone’s perspective, it would look as if a magnet were drawing all the people toward Peter’s house. They all came running, like honeybees coming to a flower. By the time they arrived, the sun had set, and the Sabbath was over. Do you see how important it is to understand the context? The whole text comes alive.
Let’s look at the scene now, with two headings.
A Description of the Crowd
Mark tells us the crowd was so large that the whole city was gathered near the door. Mark 1:33-34 says, “And the whole city was gathered together at the door.” Just picture Peter’s house as a funnel hole and this vast crowd of people outside. What kind of crowd was it? In a way, it was a frenzied crowd, but they were all eagerly waiting. This was not a crowd like the one that gathered outside Lot’s house near Sodom, burning with passion and ready to break down the door. This crowd was different. Though they were longing and eager, they were not unruly or out of control. They were gathered and waiting for Dr. Jesus. Can we, with our time machine, go and see that scene? Just go and see that crowd before the doctor comes. What would that scene be like?
Even today, with so many medical facilities, there are places where people believe a certain medicine or treatment can heal them. People might go as early as 3 a.m. and wait in line for hours to get the medicine. But imagine those days, with no medicine and no painkillers. People knew the real pain of disease, with no relief. There was no way to deal with many kinds of diseases. Every house would have sick people. The old world was filled with sick people. They came to someone not for medicine but for his touch, which they heard could heal them. How eagerly they must have been waiting! They controlled themselves until the Sabbath was over. Now that it was over, they were all gathered near Peter’s house.
If you and I were walking in that crowd, what would we see? We would see people of all different sizes: short, tall, fat, and lean. We would see the young and the old. Some would be healthy but would have come with expectancy. Their eyes would be eagerly watching. We would turn and see that each healthy person was leaning on or carrying a sick person. Mark says all who were sick and demon-possessed were there. There were all kinds of diseases. Many diseases that are now controlled by vaccines were rampant back then.
We would see horrific scenes: people with crooked faces, large heads, twisted hands, and big legs. We would see weak faces and bodies, just skin and bones. Their lives were being squeezed out by internal degenerative diseases. There were others with grotesque, twisted limbs that no medicine could correct. Others were born blind and were being led by the arm because they couldn’t find Peter’s door. Some had multiple sensory problems. We can see a modern equivalent by visiting a special needs school. We don’t have to go very far to know this. Within a group of 25 kids, there might be so many problems. So in a crowd of 100 or 200, we could see every form of disease. In this whole city, we can see the terrible consequences of sin in the physical expression of these diseases.
As we get closer, we see the healthy people, the sick people, and then we see another group of people with a strange look in their eyes. Something is not right. As we get closer, we see their eyes, and some of them are biting their teeth and mumbling. Suddenly, their whole facial expression changes. Their faces twist into a different form. Strange sounds come out of their throats, like a dog, an owl, or a fox. They hit and drag the people around them. They have seizures and fall down, rolling and screaming. Some have to be held by three or five people. These are the demon-possessed, the demonized people.
So we have these two categories of people. They are brought to the door of Peter’s house. We have to use our imagination to understand these scenes from the Bible. These various categories of people gathered, coming from all parts of the city with all kinds of diseases and demon possession. They heard about the young preacher who preached differently and could heal diseases. All the healing he had been doing—in the leper, the centurion’s servant, and Peter’s mother-in-law—made him different from all the other leaders. He could heal.
They came with great expectations. A mother was yearning, “Could he help my son, the darling of my heart, who I have seen suffering for years with a terrible disease? Every day is a day of intense agony as I see him coping with that disease and pain.” A husband’s heart was broken as his beautiful wife was wasting away, the disease eating her from the inside out, and all her beauty going. She was becoming a skeleton and dying. A mother suffers as her son watches, and a father cannot bear to see his daughter suffer. I, as a father, cannot bear to see my daughter’s suffering. They were all there with so much emotional and psychological trauma. We don’t have to look far to know this; we see it every day.
Now all their hopes and expectations were focused on the door of Peter’s house. They looked at the door with intense eagerness. They knew that behind that door was one who could heal all these diseases and rebuke and command demons to get out, and they would obey and run away, never to come back. How longingly they looked for him! They must have been asking, “When will the doctor come? When will Dr. Jesus come?” A mother might be thinking, “Oh, my darling daughter, she was like an angel, but now a demon has gone into her. She runs naked in the streets and rolls in the mud. Oh, will he look at my daughter and say, ‘Begone,’ and she gets well and becomes the old angel again?” A father, a son, a husband, a wife—all were looking with yearning.
Behind that door was the one whose touch could heal any disease. Even the leper was completely healed. “Oh, will he touch my son, my daughter, my mother?” These were the hopes and expectations of that crowd gathered at the door.
Jesus’s Actions
What did Jesus do? Matthew’s account of Jesus’s activity highlights two things he did: he “drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” If you look at Mark, he adds one more thing. Mark 1:34 says:
Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
Matthew puts the demon casting first, and Mark puts the diseases first. Let’s look at the diseases first and then go to the demon casting. The end of verse 16 says, “He healed all the sick.” Luke 4:40 beautifully adds, “And laying His hands on every one of them, He was healing them.”
How simple and straightforward! Just one verse says that he healed all those diseases and drove out all the demons. How big would the Bible have been if we had written each instance of how the condition was and how the healing came, along with the emotions of each family member?
How many people do not know this? The entire city came near the door. It was a great crowd. What did he do? As I said last week, after a long day of preaching, healing a leper and a centurion’s servant, and now Peter’s mother-in-law, a person would be drained. Someone might have said, “Oh, I’m so tired.” He could have come out and said, “All demons, attention! Listen to me. Leave. Begone.” All of them would have left. He could have said, “All diseases here, leave,” and all would have been healed in a second. But Luke says he touched his hands on every one of them and healed them.
As the door of Simon Peter’s house slowly opened, the crowd looked on with anticipation. It had been a long, exhausting day for Jesus, filled with teaching and healing. A lesser man would have sought rest, but the compassionate Son of God stepped out and gave himself to the suffering people. He didn’t send them away; in His utter weariness, He gave them His full attention.
A Festival of Miracles
The scene outside the door was a “festival of miracles.” A mother, tears streaming down her face, brought her dying baby. Jesus laid his hand on the child, and instantly, the baby who was expected to die that night was healed and filled with new life. A man with a twisted body was made straight and began to run and dance, shouting praises. A man born blind saw for the first time, and the first face he saw was the glorious face of Jesus. A man who was mute began to sing.
This was no small gathering. The crowds were immense, and Jesus laid His hands on everyone and healed them all. The healed were filled with a chaotic, joyful energy. The Hebrews, a typically reserved people, were jumping and dancing, their quiet demeanor replaced by loud praises. A mother who was on the verge of fainting watched her child, now healed, wiggle and jump in her arms. A father saw his daughter, whose twisted body he had cared for, now whole and able to move her limbs, run, and kick with joy. This was a spectacle of divine power and utter compassion.
Unlike modern-day healers who demand money, make incantations, or rely on psychological manipulation, Jesus made no demands. He did not ask for money or a profession of faith; He simply laid His hands on them. There were no gimmicks, no music, no autosuggestion. Jesus’s power was demonstrated in three undeniable ways: He healed them completely, instantly, and all of them.
Authority Over Sickness and Demons
Jesus didn’t just heal physical ailments; He also cast out demons. He would go through the crowd, healing with a touch, but when He discerned a demon-possessed person, He would stop and cast out the demon with a single word. Mark’s Gospel notes that He wouldn’t permit the demons to speak because they knew who He was—the Son of God. Jesus didn’t want their testimony for three reasons:
- It was contrary to His divine method. Jesus chose to reveal His identity through His words and works, not through the forced confession of demons.
- It was contrary to His divine timetable. He didn’t want to incite the crowds to prematurely make Him king, which would have been contrary to His purpose of going to the cross.
- It was contrary to His chosen instruments. God does not need the devil to advance His purposes. The confession of Jesus’s identity was reserved for His chosen people, who would confess Him out of love and faith, not fear and terror.
This miraculous evening outside Peter’s door showed Jesus’s immense compassion. He poured himself out in service to a suffering humanity. At the end of a long, exhausting day, He could have rested, but He chose to give individual attention to every person.
The Message for Us Today
Matthew, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, tells us that Jesus’s healing ministry fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 53:4: “He himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” While this ultimately refers to the cross where He bore the full weight of our sin, it also speaks to a present reality. When Jesus saw the human consequences of sin—the twisted limbs, the diseases, and the death—His holy and compassionate soul was deeply moved. In His empathy, He truly took on our suffering. When He laid His hands on the sick, healing power flowed out of Him, and the pain and heartache of human tragedy flowed into His own soul.
This narrative holds a powerful message for us:
- The Savior’s Power: Do you see His power over sickness and the demonic? What spiritual diseases are you struggling with today? Jesus has the power to forgive your sin, deliver you from Satan’s bondage, and give you eternal life.
- The Sinner’s Pride: The only people who were not healed that day were those who were too proud to come to Jesus. The only reason you are still sick with sin is your pride and unbelief. You may be busy with worldly things, or you may think you are spiritually well. But your pride, lust, greed, and worldly worries are spiritual diseases that will lead you to eternal ruin.
- The Believer’s Burden: We should thank God that there were people who cared enough to bring the sick to Jesus. As believers, what are we doing for the gospel? We live in a world filled with moral and political turmoil, where persecution is on the rise and many people have not heard the gospel. We need to shed our laziness and apathy and become a people with a burden for souls. We must be willing to carry the “foul and smelling” burden of sinners to Jesus, to persevere in our efforts until we see them healed by His grace.
Let’s not lose sight of the amazing, compassionate Christ who stood at Peter’s door and healed them all. His saving grace and power are just as real today. He is here, waiting for us to call upon Him and trust Him.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 