Matthew 8 - Jesus Cleanses a Leper; The Centurion’s Faith
8 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
- Remember Jesus had been up on the mountain (away from the crowds) to spend time with the Father in prayer.
- His disciples joined Him and He taught them valuable lessons
o Mat Chapter 5 – the beatitudes
§ To be salt & light
§ To love your enemies
§ To live a higher standard (Christian values)
o Mat Chapter 6 – giving to the poor and pray
§ Be careful not give or pray to be seen
§ How to pray
§ Fasting for God in private
§ You cannot serve God and Wealth (you must choose)
o Mat Chapter 7 – Don’t judge others
§ You will be judges by the same measure you judge
§ The golden rule (treat everyone as you would want to be treated)
§ Everyone who asks, seeks, knocks gets a good response by faith
§ The narrow and wide gate (you must choose one)
§ How to tell a good tree from a bad one (measure the fruit)
§ Not everyone who says Lord, Lord will get into heaven
· Only those who do the will of the Father (obedience)
§ Build your life on the rock not on the sand
· Because the storms will come
- These are foundational lessons that disciples must learn and apply in their life
- Now Jesus comes down mountain to start ministering to others
- Large crowds followed Him because He did miracle after miracle in their sight
- A leper came and bowed down before Him
o This is the position of reference and respect (humility)
- He said “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean”
o This was a declaration of the leper’s faith in Jesus the Son of God
o Remember everyone who asks, believing receives!
- Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him saying I am willing; be cleansed
o And immediately his leprosy was cleansed
o No other man would touch leper because its contagious
o Jesus touched him and healed him because of the lepers faith!
4 And Jesus *said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
- Jesus didn’t want too much attention drawn to Himself because it was not time yet
- But Jesus wanted the leper to show himself to the priests
5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7 Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
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