For the last 3 chapters the words of Jesus went out to the people. Jesus established his guidelines and upgrade of the law at the Sermon on the Mount. He expressed His divine wisdom along with His divine love. The people who heard this said He spoke with authority. This was the kind of authority they had not seen before and they recognized it as different but they didn't truly understand where this authority came from. As we move into chapter 8 we see Jesus come down from the mountain and put these words and authority to work in the world.
Our faith and understanding of our God can't just be for the mountain. If we just meet Jesus, hear his word and go about our business, we've not made Him Lord. If we don't put the love and wisdom of Jesus to work then we become those who are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. The love and wisdom of Jesus was meant for every aspect of every day or our lives.
As we begin chapter 8 we see Jesus put His love and wisdom to work in a needy world.
8 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."
In coming off the mountain the crowd had swollen to a 'great multitude' that followed Him. At first we might wonder how this leper made his way to Jesus in a crowd. But, as this leper approached Jesus its likely the crowd parted and departed. A leper was greatly feared and lepers were despised. It was illegal to great a leper and if you were down wind you were to maintain a distance of 150 feet. The leper that was moving about had to be covered and be constantly yelling, "Unclean, unclean!" When leprosy was first diagnosed the person was banished from the camp or the city. A leper was essentially viewed as being dead. It's been noted that no other disease consumes and ravages the body over such a long time.
When this man approached Jesus, I imagine the crowd scattered and there stood Jesus with a leper before Him. The man worshiped Jesus and he had no doubt that Jesus could make him clean, but only a matter of willingness. Then Jesus did an amazing thing, something no one there would do; He touched the man. You just didn't touch a leper. Beside becoming unclean, you were exposed and may become leprous yourself. But Jesus, in putting His love and authority to work declared this man cleansed. And it happened!! Can you imagine seeing that happen, right before your eyes, this man who was treated as dead was given life and hope and vitality and a future? That's the work of our Lord; life, light, hope, cleansing and much more.
Jesus sent this man on his way. He was to tell no one even though a multitude followed him and saw the miracle. Luke and Mark both tell us that he was so excited that he spoke freely to anyone. Because of that the crowds swarming Jesus were even greater.
The former leper was then to present himself to the priests at the temple. There was a prescribed method of cleansing a leper detailed in Leviticus 14. This was part of the Levitical law that hadn't been used. No one ever got over leprosy or was healed up. The disease ate their body away till they died. When this man showed up and wanted to be declared clean the priest probably had to read the law to remember what he was supposed to do. Once declared clean this man could once again worship at the temple and be among people.
Jesus sent this former leper to the temple to present him self to the priests as a testimony to them. While he wasn't suppose to tell anyone, he was to tell the priests. We can only imagine how that conversation went.
Leprosy was a picture of sin. It was corruption and uncleanness. It affected every aspect of live, destroying the person. When Jesus touches this man its as if he takes the sin and offers righteousness in its place. This is what Christ does for all of us.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
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.
The city of Capernaum was on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was there Jesus encounters this centurion. This man was a Roman solider and a commander of a 100 other men. Everywhere we see a centurion mentioned in the bible they appear to be men of integrity. Yet we know they were also fierce soldiers.
This soldier had a servant that he really cared for who was paralyzed. There was no relief for someone paralyzed. There was no where to take them to get better or care for them. They were solely at the mercy of someone else. This man was blessed in that his friend, the centurion, loved him enough to seek out Jesus.
This centurion is a gentile; he's not looking for a savior and knows little or nothing about the Jewish messiah. But he recognizes an authority in Jesus that he is drawn to. Jesus responded to the pleading with an offer to come to his house and heal the servant. This would have stunned the Jewish crowd because a Jew didn't enter the home of a gentile, ever, for any reason. The centurion knew this but, more importantly, this man knew Jesus could heal him with a word, from where he stood. This gentile knew Jesus didn't need to touch him. Jesus marveled at this man's great faith. His faith was beyond what was found; even in Israel.
The Jews looked forward to a feast in the Kingdom of God. Christians see this verse as the marriage supper of the lamb. Jesus is saying that many gentiles will come from the east and the west to sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that day. This pronouncement that a gentile would also be there would have sent a shock wave through a Jewish crowd. They saw no room for gentiles in God's kingdom at all. Not only would the gentiles be there but the sons of the kingdom would not, they would be cast into outer darkness. This isn't speaking of all Jews, but the Jews in general were rejected their messiah. What did this gentile, and the many others to come, have that the Jews didn't have? He had faith. Jesus is putting forth this understanding that it is by faith alone we find our way to the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus sent the man away. His servant was healed.
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:
Peter's mother in law was the recipient of a miraculous healing. While the first two seemed to be public events, this was in a private home. Not many folks were present. Jesus saw the need and touched her and she was healed.
This woman's response to the healing was to rise up and serve Jesus and his disciples. This is right response to the kindness of Jesus.
This gospel of Mark tells us that this is happening on the Sabbath. Now the Jewish laws said you couldn't heal on the Sabbath. You could take action so someone didn't get worse but you couldn't try to improve someone's illness. Then in the evening they began to bring others to Jesus. For people to pick someone up and carry them on the Sabbath was considered work and a violation of the Sabbath laws.
The demon possessed were brought to Jesus. We don't know how many 'many' is but this was a collection of people that were without hope. These were people who no longer even had control of their mental state. Yet, they were sons and daughters, or brothers and sisters; they were loved by someone who brought them to Jesus in spite of the laws. And it was in Christ they found deliverance. With a word, the spirits were cast away.
Matthew said that this was done in fulfillment of Isaiah and he offers a quote from Isaiah 53:4
4Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
This passage of Isaiah points to the suffering servant. Matthew connects that passage to Jesus saying He's the one.
18 And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."
20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Jesus is attempting to move away from this great multitude that is crushing in on him. In this middle of this crush of people a particular scribe professes his commitment to Jesus. On the surface we might look at this and wonder why this is placed among all these miracles. Yet, in this passage lies a miracle as great as any. This man was a scribe and he was following Jesus; willing and wanting to go wherever Jesus went. When this scribe calls Jesus 'Teacher' he is honoring him as the greatest teacher he'd ever heard or seen.
The response of Jesus to this man seems to be a call to count the cost. Walking with Jesus isn't about listening to great teaching. Walking with Jesus in this fallen world makes you a marked person. You are in fact marked with the Holy Spirit, life and light in a dark and dying world.
Jesus wasn't home when he walked this earth. He was passing through; He came for a specific work, the work of the cross. When we follow Jesus, we won't be at home in this world either. We also will be passing through, serving our Lord until the day comes that He calls us home.
21 Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
This might sound heartless at first, as if Jesus didn't want to let the man bury his father. But what this man is really saying, is he'll follow Jesus later. It was the sacred duty of a son to bury his father when he passed away. It was at that time he also received an inheritance. This may have also come into play with this mans decision to follow Jesus. It's as if he said, 'If I follow you now, I might lose my inheritance.' The man wanted to keep his life as it was. Later, after his father passed, he would follow Jesus. This man was, in essence, looking back, very much like Lot's wife. He saw the importance of following Jesus but was trying to hold onto the world. Jesus calls for the man to follow him; as if to say, "don't look back, let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead."
The decision to follow should not be put off, yet we should understand the cost.
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
The Sea of Galilee is notorious for blowing storms up in a matter of minutes. One minute it is a beautiful day with calm waves, the next you are in a tempest fearing for your life. That's what happens to the disciples. These guys are fisherman and it isn't their first time in a storm. But the waves crashed over the boat and it struck fear in the disciples. All the while Jesus is sleeping. What a picture this is of the sovereignty of God. He's never out of control, never wondering about the outcome. Even in their lack of faith, these men perceived that Jesus could save them. There are no unbelievers in a sinking ship or a foxhole. We seem to have an instinct to cry out to our maker.
Jesus responds by noting their small faith. Did they really believe that they would all drown along with Jesus? They lacked the faith to understand that Jesus, even when sleeping is in control. Even if this may have been an attack by Satan, the plan of God was never thwarted or altered in any way.
Jesus rebuked the storm; with a word Jesus brought calm. And the men marveled, wondering who Jesus was. Sure, they had seen miracles but this was a storm. They had no idea of the extent of His power and authority.
28 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29 And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
30 Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."
32 And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.
33 Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.
While Matthew calls this area the Gergesenes; Mark and Luke call it the Gadarenes. This is on the east shore of the Sea of Galilee and is a place occupied by gentiles (only gentiles would raise pigs.) These demon possessed men recognize Jesus right off. Mark tells us that his name is Legion because there were many. A Roman legion was 600 soldiers. These men were violent and no one went near them for they were harmful to themselves and others. Chains weren't capable of holding them. These demons have no doubt about who Jesus is and the authority He has. They knew there was an appointed time for their judgment but it wasn't then. They also understood Jesus was the tormentor of demon.
They seemed to understand Jesus was going to cast them out. It seems they needed to inhabit a human body and begin to look for another place to go. They had no freedom to choose, they had no authority. They asked Jesus' permission to go to the pigs. With a word, Jesus commanded them to go. The pigs in response commit suey-cide. The hogs perished and we don't know about the demons; some speculate they perished also.
Two men were delivered from possession. They had their life back, their mind restored by the command of Jesus. Those who kept the hogs ran and told everyone in the city. The joy of these two men being freed from demonic possession is overshadowed by the loss of the hogs. They did not marvel or thank him. They may have even asked if he would restore their herds. Instead, they asked Him to depart.
Such is still the case in our time. Jesus calls to all men; men of little faith and men of great faith, Jew and gentile, rich and poor, as well as the sick, oppressed and possessed. Jesus is present in every storm and every foxhole. Every person encountering Jesus must respond.
The faith to respond isn't something wells up in us. It isn't something we conjure up to believe in the unbelievable. Faith is not believing in our ability and power but in the ability and power of Jesus. We are nothing, He is all. It's like a child that looks to his father and knows that dad can fix it, dad can make it all right again. That's the simple and profound faith of a child we can have with Jesus.
© 2015 Doug Ford
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