Now, after spending a significant amount of time on the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7, we’ve arrived at Matthew 8. We’ve focused intently on the sermon, and now it’s time to step back and understand the direction in which Matthew is guiding us.
You should remember that Matthew’s goal from the very beginning of his Gospel has been to show that Jesus Christ is the Messianic King, the Son of God and God Himself.
- Chapter 1, with its genealogy, attested to the legal qualifications of the Messiah.
- Chapter 2, with its unique birth and the fulfillment of prophecy, attested to the prophetic qualifications of the Messiah.
- His baptism attested to the divine approval of his messiahship, with the Father’s own announcement.
- The temptation attested to his spiritual qualifications as the Messiah, as he overcame the prince of this world.
- The sermon demonstrated his theological qualifications.
- The miracles now present the most essential qualification of all: the ultimate proof that he is God. His power, displayed through these miracles, is truly awesome.
In this section, Jesus cleanses a leper, heals a servant, raises a girl, calms the sea, casts out demons, makes the blind see, makes the crippled walk, makes the mute speak, and heals every sickness brought to him. It is an incredible display of power.
Chapters 8 through 12 are critical for understanding the life of Christ and the message of Matthew. In chapters 8 and 9, Matthew records a series of nine miracles that he specifically chose as examples of Jesus Christ’s power. These are his credentials as the Messiah, signs that point with undeniable certainty to his divinity, for only God can do such things.
The sad part is that after witnessing these miracles and hearing the preaching that followed, the Pharisees and Jews concluded in chapters 9 and 12 that Jesus was of the devil. This was their final conclusion. In many ways, this becomes the heart of Matthew’s message: Christ did everything possible to show his divinity, and they concluded the exact opposite. Then, in chapter 13, he turned away from the Jews and began to establish a Gentile church, speaking to the people in parables. This is an important, central section of Matthew’s Gospel.
There are nine miracles in these two chapters, presented in three sections of three. Each set of three miracles is followed by a response, all designed to manifest the deity of Jesus Christ. You see, miracles were God’s way of authenticating the deity of his Son. They are creative, supernatural acts that can only be performed by God.
This approach of providing credentials to the Messiah through miracles is not unique to Matthew; it’s also John’s approach. John says the Word became flesh and “we have seen his glory.” He then lists all the miracles Jesus did so that people would believe. Jesus himself repeatedly says in John’s Gospel, “My works give testimony that I am God.” He challenges them: “If you do not believe my words, the works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. You may deny My sayings, but how can you deny My works?”
The purpose of miracles is to lead people to the conclusion that he is God. This is stated as the purpose of John’s book in chapter 20, verse 30: “And many other signs [or wonders or miracles] truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life through His name.” John explains that he only provides a sampling of the miracles, but they were written so that “you might believe that Jesus is the Christ,” and that “believing, might have life through His name.”
In Matthew 8, this is exactly Matthew’s purpose as well. These are the credentials of the King, the proof that he is divine. This comes at a very strategic point in the Gospel, as Jesus has just delivered a powerful sermon in chapters 5, 6, and 7. He has completely turned their religious world upside down. He has told them that their teaching, their way of life, and their attitudes are all wrong. He never bothered to quote any rabbis or their well-known sources. In fact, he repeatedly said, “You have heard it said, but I say.” He said this over and over, and when he finished, the people were astonished at his teaching because “he taught them as one having authority, not as the scribes.”
He spoke with such authority that he overturned their entire religious system. He unmasked them as the spiritual frauds they were, which, of course, brought up a dramatic question for a first-century Jew: “Who is this saying these things? By what authority does he speak? Why should we hear this? Why should we listen to this? Why should we believe this? What gives him the right to say these things and to affirm that they are true?”
Chapters 8 and 9 are the answer to that question. What gives him the right is that he is God. This is what Matthew is saying in these chapters. He shows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is God. How do we know he’s God? Because only God can perform the amazing, creative miracles he did in these chapters. For two chapters, we see nine examples of Jesus creating new circumstances and even physical body parts, demonstrating God at work. These chapters present the direct answer to the question, “By what authority does he say this?”
The way he performs these miracles is amazing. The first three are the healing of a man with leprosy, a man with palsy, and a woman with a fever (Peter’s mother-in-law). These three miracles show beautiful order and meaning.
First, they begin at the lowest level of human need: the physical. Later, the second set of miracles deals more with the spiritual, and the third set even confronts the ultimate enemy of man, death itself, as he raises the dead. In each of these miracles, he touches someone who, in the eyes of the Pharisees and Jews, was at the lowest level of human existence: first a leper, the “scum of the earth”; second, a Gentile; and third, a woman. This subtle choice devastates the pride of the Jews and the Pharisees, showing where Jesus truly places his emphasis: on the humble, the meek, and the outcast.
From the very start, he makes it clear that he will establish his authority through miraculous power, but he will also show his sympathy for those who are hurting at the lowest level of human need. The sad and heartbreaking thing is that despite all of this, they turned their backs on him and concluded in chapter 12 that what he did was by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. They hated him and had to kill him because he threatened their religious security.
For now, we’re just going to look at the first one, a beautiful story. When you first read it, you might simply think, “Well, isn’t that nice?” It seems like a wonderful little story. Let me try to take you deep enough into it to see what it’s really saying.
“When He came down from the mountain…” Which mountain? The one where he had just delivered the sermon, near the village of Capernaum. “Great multitudes followed Him.” Why? It wasn’t because they loved him, adored him, or believed in him. It was primarily because they were curious. They had never heard anyone speak with such authority, and they had never seen anyone who could go around healing people. He attracted a huge crowd, and they came down the mountain after him, ready to see what would happen next. And it happens in verse 2, when a leper appears.
To understand the tragic condition of lepers in those days, just imagine having an incurable, contagious disease that slowly eats away at your body. As soon as you come home, your job removes you, and your family won’t allow you inside the house. They make you sign all the necessary papers, pack up some clothes and food, and send you away to live in a garbage dump, isolated from everyone you know and love. This was the kind of life a leper faced.
“And behold, there approached a leper.” The Greek word for “approached” is significant because lepers were not supposed to approach anyone. This man did. It was historically believed that leprosy originated in Egypt from mummification and was later transmitted to the Israelites.
Leprosy was a horrible disease, and its horror was immense. To protect the people from this plague, God gave clear laws for dealing with it in Leviticus 13. These detailed ceremonial instructions were as elaborate as the Atonement celebration. The disease was highly communicable, and later, Luke 4:27 states that there were many lepers in Israel, of whom only Naaman was cleansed.
God, wanting to protect his people, gave them a clear direction on how to handle the disease, as you can read in the 13th chapter of Leviticus. When a man had a skin infection that could be leprosy, he was to be brought to the priest. The priest would examine the mark, and if the hair had turned white and the infection seemed to be deeper than the skin, he would pronounce the man unclean. If it was just a surface rash, the priest would isolate him for seven days to observe it. If the rash had not changed or spread after a week, he would be isolated for another seven days. After two weeks, if the infection had faded and not spread, the priest would pronounce him clean. But if it had spread, it was leprosy, and he was pronounced unclean.
There were also obvious cases that didn’t require a two-week test. In verse 9, it says that if there was a white swelling with white hair and raw flesh, it was chronic leprosy, and the priest would immediately pronounce him unclean. However, if the leprosy covered the entire body and turned all the skin white, without open sores, he was pronounced clean. These tests had to be performed very carefully.
If a person had the severe kind of leprosy, the rest of Leviticus 13 dealt with him. Verse 45 is key: “As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mouth and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!'” This was a public announcement. He would be removed from the synagogue and sent to a leper colony. The disease, also known as Hansen’s disease, can be passed through the air and by touching the same object. The leper’s face had to be covered, and he had to make the “unclean” announcement everywhere to keep people away. The Talmud stated that you couldn’t get closer than six feet to a leper, and up to 150 feet if the wind was blowing. A dead body was the number one defilement in Judaism, and a leper was number two. No one would go near or touch him.
Serious leprosy was a truly terrible disease. While it can be controlled today, in those times it was utterly uncontrolled. It first attacks the nervous system, immediately causing numbness in the limbs. People might think that a leper’s nose or fingers just fall off, but the problem is that because they lose all feeling, they literally rub their extremities off. A man with ill-fitting shoes wouldn’t feel the rubbing and could rub his toes off. A woman who works with her hands would rub her fingers off because she has no sensitivity. The disease also attacks the bone marrow and infects the blood supply, causing the bones to shrivel. As the bones shrink, they pull the skin and tissue in, giving the appearance of animal claws on the hands and feet. This also causes open wounds, blood, and pus. It was a horrible thing; they literally lost their limbs.
The disease also attacks the eyes, causing blurred vision and blindness; it attacks the teeth, making them fall out; and it attacks the internal organs, leading to sterility and a loss of the immune system. The face begins with a white or pink patch on the brow, ear, nose, chin, or cheek. It then spreads and becomes spongy and swollen all over the face. The skin, especially around the eyes and ears, bunches up with deep furrows, causing the face to resemble a lion. Eyebrows and eyelashes fall out. A person in this pitiful condition was visibly and audibly a leper. The disease also produces a very unpleasant odor and a grating voice, attacking the larynx and making the throat hoarse. All human senses would be repulsed by a leper.
This disease was horrifying and feared, so people with it had to live outside the camp for public protection. It was also considered a curse from God. In 2 Samuel 3:29, David pronounced a curse on the evil Joab, saying, “May his family never be without a leper.” This was the worst thing one could wish upon someone, and there was no cure.
In Jesus’s day, if you had leprosy, you had to leave everything—your job, family, and home—and go live in a valley, sometimes called the Valley of the Lepers. No one would go there. You could never enter a city or come before people. When you saw someone approaching, you had to cry out “Unclean!” so they would run away.
In Jesus’ day, a person with leprosy had to abandon everything: their job, family, and home. They were forced to live in a secluded valley, like the “valley of lepers,” and were forbidden from entering cities or coming near people. When they saw someone approaching, they had to cover their mouth and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn others to run away. It was a life of isolation and utter rejection.
An Unthinkable Approach
The biblical account begins with the surprising word, “Behold,” because something unthinkable happened: a leper came to Jesus. He didn’t sneak around or hide; he approached with boldness and confidence. This was a man so desperate for healing that he no longer cared about social stigma or personal shame. He was a picture of someone whose need was so deep it overshadowed all fear of public ridicule.
The leper’s actions reveal four remarkable qualities:
- Confidence: He came with confidence, not crawling or whispering, but boldly approaching Jesus. He was so overwhelmed by his need that he was no longer concerned with what others thought.
- Reverence: He came with reverence, bowing down and worshiping Jesus. While the Pharisees, with their fancy robes and trimmed beards, were spiritually rotten on the inside, this outwardly vile man had a beautiful, worshiping soul. He called Jesus “Lord” and humbled himself completely, understanding he was in the presence of God. He sought God’s glory before seeking anything for himself.
- Humility: He came with humility, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” He didn’t make a demand or list reasons why he deserved to be healed. He didn’t speak of his rights or desires. He simply submitted his will to Jesus’s, showing a pure heart that was willing to remain a leper if that was God’s will. This is a powerful contrast to the modern mindset of demanding healing.
- Faith: He came with faith, believing that Jesus had the power to make him clean. Luke, the doctor, notes that the man was “full of leprosy,” making his faith even more profound. He had faith in Jesus’s ability while also submitting to His sovereignty.
The Divine Touch
In response, Jesus did something shocking: He reached out and touched the man. According to Levitical law, touching an unclean person would make Him unclean. But when Jesus touches defilement, the defilement goes away. When He touches disease, the disease is cleansed. His power is so immense that He doesn’t get contaminated; He makes others clean. The leper’s shriveled hands and disfigured face were instantly restored, demonstrating an omnipotent power far beyond anything modern-day healers can claim.
Jesus’s response to the leper’s faith and humility was, “I am willing. Be clean!” Immediately, the leprosy was cleansed. All of Jesus’s miracles were immediate, not progressive. This instantaneous transformation shows the absolute authority of Christ’s power.
Obedience: The First Test
After the healing, Jesus gave the man two commands: “See that you tell no one,” and “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded.” The first command aimed to prevent a large crowd from following Jesus merely for His miracles, which would hinder His ministry of teaching. The second command was a test of obedience, requiring the man to follow the complex and detailed rituals of Leviticus 14 to be ceremonially pronounced clean by the priests. This also served as a testimony to the priests themselves, trapping them into confirming Jesus’s power.
Unfortunately, the man, in his excitement, failed to obey and told everyone, which hindered Jesus’s ministry. This shows that an unwise zeal that disobeys a direct command from Christ, even to spread the good news, ultimately undermines His work.
The Leprosy of Sin
The story of the leper is a powerful analogy for conversion. The biblical descriptions of leprosy, which was considered incurable and unclean, were God’s most vivid illustration of sin. Sin is pervasive, ugly, loathsome, and contagious. It defiles the whole person and makes them an outcast from God.
Just as the leper was desperate for healing, we must become desperate over the loathsome disease of our own sin. The Sermon on the Mount exposes our spiritual leprosy—the lust in our eyes, the anger in our hearts, the lies in our mouths, and the worldly worries in our minds. When we realize this, we will come to Jesus like the leper, pleading, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus has a tender and compassionate heart for those with this kind of leprosy. He is mighty to save, no matter how deep or long-standing our sins are. We don’t have to ask if He is willing, because He has already said, “I am willing.” When we come to Him with desperate humility and faith, we are touched and made clean. The first test of that transformation is a life of obedience. The world should be able to examine our lives and see that Jesus Christ has truly transformed us. Our life speaks louder than any words.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 