Jesus is willing to heal (Mt 8:1-17)
How do we know that we really need Christ in life? When you swings between feeling too acussed(when we cannot fulfill the standard) or too proud (can fulfil the standard of God)
“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.””
Matthew 8:1-4 NIV
Jesus is willing to heal us
- We need healing from Jesus
- Leprosy = suggestive of sin (give us a lot of pain physically, spiritually, emotionally --> problems in our life)
- Biblical examples:
- Moses - ex 4:6-7. I can give you an impossible task or problem. But I can immediately resolve it, because I am God. So Moses understood that God is powerful, He uses people He wants to use, His power is irresistible (god solved moses's problem of ignorance of God's power, disbelief)
- Miriam - Nu 12. Pre-leper symptoms (jealousy, pride)
- Examine ourselves: do we have this jealousy and pride in our life in certain areas, before God disciplines and rebukes us
- Naaman (2 kings 5). Gentile leper
- Thru his leper, he turned to Yahweh, humbled --> salvation and submit
- Hold ourselves at higher esteem than God, we think we don't need to lower down ourselves to cry out to god --> too proud to admit that we need help
- Like Naaman, God sometimes put us into such situation so that it turn it a channel for salvation (created a need)
- Gehazi (2 kings 5)
- Greed/ sin
- He was inflicted with leprosy all his life
- Jesus is willing!
- turn bondage to freedom
- Curse into blessings
- Dead end -> salvation
“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. 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. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.””
Matthew 8:5-17 NIV
Jesus has the authority to heal (He can)
- Authority = "one word"
- Every word of God carries authority
- Amazing things happened when we hear and believe in the word of god!
- Authority over natural( sickness) and supernatural things (demons, sins) -->Jesus has absolute sovereignty over All things (every single area of our life, not just sickness, supernatural things)
- Authority is with us -- mt 28:18-20; mt 18:18
- Authority is beyond physical healing -> eternal healing <healing of the cross!>
- Heart of the matter is not about healing but is to point us towards Jesus (because of sin), and give us total healing
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- When we set out to fulfill His will, His authority is with us
Are we willing to receive healing?
We like healing for its final outcome, but maybe not the process (withdrawal, bitterness etc)
If we are blessed COG, HS will give us the desire to not be sick anymore, and the process is just transitional
- Faith
- Not a feeling nor a courage. Faith is being sure that god will do what He says.
- Comes from God, first miracle
- Mt 11:22 -24
- A lot of times, we come to God for visible miracles. But before visible miracles, something greater happened, ie faith happened
- Cultivate awareness of God's presence (sensitive to his presence)
- Ultimate end of faith: regardless of situation, we can be assured that God loves us
- Humble (James 4:16)
- Opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble
- Humble = I cannot stand on my own, things are beyond me (genuinely know he cannot help himself)
- What steals our humility? Sense of entitlement? ( I have prayed.. God I deserve sth better..) achievement, success (I am capable of doing this.. Spiritual charm, speaking things that touch people etc)
- Humility is not fear but whole person repentance (turning back to God, to seek back the r/s with Him) not just in weak areas