Matthew 8:1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came
and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me
clean." 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and
touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his
leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him,
"See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest,
and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came
to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Lord,
my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." 7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal
him." 8 The centurion answered and said,
"Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak
a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I
also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one,
'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do
this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard
it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you,
I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11
And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12
But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Jesus
said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it
be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. 14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw
his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So
He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. 16 When evening had come, they brought
to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word,
and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took
our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."
How is it, exactly, that Jesus may bear our infirmities?
(As prophesied by Isaiah about how we may recognize His ministry – The ministry
of The Messiah.)
In the first case, we recognize God desires above all
else His Messiah BE RECOGNIZED. And so Jesus comes with clearly identifiable
markers that anyone and everyone may see for themselves.
If they choose to look.
It still remains a choice for man. There is no denying
that. Even in the face of astounding teaching and preaching, there would be
some, and perhaps many who would reject Jesus as God-In-Flesh, because Jesus
commands a change of the course of life.
Satan does everything in his power to keep us right where
we are.
But then there is sickness. And affliction. And it
becomes patently obvious man has no answers. Who Alone could bear our
afflictions?
One of the great clues we may receive comes from asking:
Where does sickness and affliction come from in the first place? Why do people
get sick? What is the root cause?
And we see that just as Jesus promises to bear our SIN by
faith, we now see quite literally and physically that He bears our sicknesses
in His Body. Who is this Who even has power over creation?
-Pastor Bill
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