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May turn in your Bibles to Matthew 
chapter 8 as we continue our exposition of the gospel according 
to Matthew. Matthew chapter 8, I'll read 
verses 1 to 17. Our focus this morning will be 
upon verses 14 to 17. Christ, the woman, and the multitude. But I'll pick up reading in chapter 
8 at verse 1. When he had come down from the 
mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, a leper came 
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make 
me clean. Then Jesus put out his hand and 
touched him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed. Immediately his 
leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, See that 
you tell no one, but go your way, show yourself to the priests 
and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them. Now, when Jesus had entered Capernaum, 
A centurion came to him, pleading with him, saying, Lord, my servant 
is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. And Jesus said to 
him, I will come and heal him. 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. 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. 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. 
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. But the sons of the kingdom will 
be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth. 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. Now, when Jesus had come into Peter's house, he saw 
his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So he touched her 
hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served him. 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, that it might be fulfilled 
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, he himself took 
our infirmities and bore our sicknesses. Amen. Well, let us 
pray. Father, we thank You for this, 
Your Word. We pray for the Spirit to guide us now, to instruct 
us, to lead us into truth. We pray that You would forgive 
us for our sin and anything that would cloud our understanding 
and our minds, and may we receive information, truth concerning 
our Lord Jesus, truth that is reasonable, truth that is God-glorifying. And may these things encourage 
our hearts, and may they build us up and shape us and mold us 
into the image of our beloved Savior. We pray for those outside 
of Christ that they would come into contact with the living 
truth today, that they would come to the Lord Jesus, that 
they would believe on Him and know the joy of being found in 
Him. And we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, just a 
reminder in terms of the context, Jesus spoke the truth in chapters 
5 to 7 in the Sermon on the Mount. Chapter 8, beginning in verse 
1 to chapter 9, verse 34 is the next larger section that deals 
with the authority of Christ, the power of Christ, as seen 
in His actions. Go back for just a moment to 
chapter 7, verse 29. Here's Matthew's comment concerning 
the Sermon on the Mount. them as one having authority 
and not as the scribes. So from 8.1 to 9.34 what we are 
meant to see is the authority of Christ, the power of Christ 
as he goes about doing good, as he goes about healing people, 
as he engages in miracles. In that section from 8.1 to 9.34 
there are three subsets. of three miracles each and interspersed 
along the way. There are lessons concerning 
discipleship, instruction, and what it means to follow Jesus. 
Jesus didn't go around and heal people. He didn't go around and 
raise the dead and feed the poor, simply to dazzle. But he always 
did it in conjunction with revelation concerning who he was. And he 
always calls for discipleship. He calls for people to follow 
him. In other words, it's not enough 
to take these three instances in Matthew 8, verses 1 to 15, 
and simply marvel. We must as well believe. We look 
to Christ. We look to Him alone who can 
save us from our sins. And as we look at the immediate 
context, verses 1 to 15, Jesus heals three people. Three people 
that not only have sickness in common, but three people who 
have a status in common. They're each one's outcast. They're 
outcast from larger society. Jesus deals with a leper. Of 
course, a leper, according to Leviticus 13, verse 46, was to 
maintain no intimacy and no society with the people around him. And 
so this leper comes and his plea is, if you are willing, you can 
make me clean. He wants to be clean so that 
he can rejoin society. He wants to be clean so that 
he can go home. He wants to be clean so that 
he can have interaction with people again. And then the next 
account is the centurion who pleads for the healing of his 
servant. Now, the centurion would have 
been a Gentile. And, of course, on the heels of this, Jesus uses 
the occasion to teach something concerning Gentile inclusion 
in the kingdom of God. He says, many will come from 
east and west, and they will sit with Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob. He's speaking about the Gentiles. 
God made a promise to Abraham that in Abraham all the nations 
of the earth would be blessed. And so what Jesus wants us to 
get is that it's through him, it's because of him, it's on 
account of what he will do in his life and death and resurrection, 
that Gentiles will be included in the kingdom of God. He says 
the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. 
Jesus is highlighting, Matthew is highlighting this transfer. 
It'll make very clear in 2143, Jesus says to unbelieving Israel, 
I am taking the kingdom from you and I'm giving it to a nation 
that bears fruits consistent with it. And that, of course, 
is the church. And then, of course, Matthew's 
gospel ends with the commission that the disciples go to all 
the nations to make disciples of all the nations to baptize 
and to teach. So that's what we find in that 
second account. And then, of course, in this 
third one, we have a woman. God isn't anti-woman. I'm not 
anti-woman. But in this context, in this 
scenario, she would have been an outcast in terms of full privilege, 
in terms of full status, in terms of of being reckoned as just 
as good as a man. So Jesus is showing us His redemptive 
grace applies not only in terms of dealing with various persons, 
but in terms of their station, their outcast nature. The Lord 
Christ has come to seek and to save that which was lost. There 
are parallels to Matthew's account in Mark 1 and in Luke 4. As I mentioned last week, Matthew 
condenses material. Matthew's about presenting Jesus 
Christ. Not that Mark and Luke aren't, 
but when you see the absence of some details, it doesn't mean 
there's contradiction. It doesn't mean there's antithesis. 
It doesn't mean there's problems. The authors of the gospel accounts 
are recording historical fact with a theological interpretation. They want us to understand specific 
things about the facts, and that's how Matthew shapes his particular 
narrative. In Mark's account and in Luke's 
account, they highlight the reality that this took place on the Sabbath 
day. This probably helps us to understand 
verse 16, when evening had come, they brought to him many. So 
the evening had come, the Sabbath was officially over, and it's 
at that point that they bring all these people in order to 
be healed by the Lord Jesus. So this morning we're going to 
look at the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, and secondly, 
the healing of a multitude. Verses 16 and 17 are not a miracle 
story per se, but rather a summary statement, again, calculated 
to promote, calculated to teach theology concerning our Lord 
Jesus. But notice the healing of Peter's 
mother-in-law in verses 14 and 15. This is Peter and Andrew's 
house. Remember, Peter and Andrew are 
brothers. Andrew's mentioned in Mark, he's 
mentioned in Luke, but here we only meet with Simon Peter. Again, 
it's not contradictory, but Matthew has a particular goal in sight. Now Peter and Andrew were originally 
from Bethsaida. This wasn't very far from Capernaum. 
So maybe they moved from Bethsaida to go to Capernaum. That's where 
Jesus made his residence according to Matthew 4.13. Or perhaps they 
were simply staying there temporarily at the home of Peter's mother-in-law. Notice that Peter had a mother-in-law. What does that mean? Peter Get 
this, here's some exegesis for you. Peter was married. He was 
a married man. Peter was married according to 
the passage of Scripture. According to the Apostle in 1 
Corinthians 9.5. Do we not have a right to take 
a believing wife like Cephas and the others? Cephas there 
is a reference to Peter. And while Rome, in their literature, 
tries to downplay the necessity for celibacy, it is a doctrine 
among them. You don't see married priests. Why is that? Because they preach 
celibacy as a better way, as a better thing, as a better means 
and norm. Interestingly, as well, the papacy 
reflects on Peter as being the first bishop or the first pope. But he was married. John Gill 
says, hence it may be observed against the papists that ministers 
of the gospel may lawfully marry. Peter, an apostle, and from whom 
they pretend to derive their succession of bishops, was a 
married man, had a wife, and that after he was called to be 
an apostle. Now this is absolutely crucial 
that we emphasize this because it's wicked and barbaric to insist 
that a man has a gift that he doesn't have. It's wrong, it's 
vile, and it issues forth, unfortunately, in a lot of ungodly and wretched 
practice. Let them marry! Let them take 
a wife! If you really subscribe to Peter 
as the Pope, then follow his lead and take a woman and not 
burn in lust and vent that wickedness out upon children! We blame men 
and we hold them culpable and responsible for their infractions 
and for their sins. But at some point we must blame 
a system that heaps that sort of a burden upon a man who doesn't 
possess the gift. You don't make sport of a man 
or you don't force a man to have a gift. No, that is absolutely 
wrong. But something else that we need 
to understand about this reference, I know these are sort of sideline 
points, but they speak to real life issues in the church today. 
Have you ever heard that teaching that when Jesus calls you, you 
leave everything? Peter didn't. Did he? He still had a wife. He still had a mother-in-law, 
he still called Capernaum home, and he still went there for shelter, 
and probably for food, and probably for social interaction and relationship. 
When Jesus calls you, follow him. Don't leave your wife. Don't 
leave your husband. Don't leave your family. Don't 
we almost celebrate such a mindset today? He's so godly. He's so 
awesome. He's so wonderful. God's probably 
saying, get home and tend to your wife, man. Go home and help 
her change some diapers. Go be present in your family's 
life. What did we see last week in 
1 Timothy chapter 3, the qualifications for an elder? He must rule his 
own house well. There are men in the history 
of the church that we almost idolize. They did not manage 
their own households well. Just because a man can preach 
and teach and see great multitudes converted doesn't mean that's 
the pattern. The pattern is 1 Timothy 3. You need to rule your own house 
well. Peter and Andrew left their nets 
for a time, but remember, after Jesus rises from the dead, where 
are the disciples? They're fishing! They didn't conclude fishing 
is somehow ungodly, fishing is somehow bad, fishing is somehow 
devilish or evil. No, when Jesus went to the grave, 
they went back to their boats. Jesus then visits them on their 
boats and he says, cast the net over here and catch a lot of 
fish. Jesus doesn't say, what are you doing fishing again? 
Don't you know you're supposed to be in an airport wearing an 
orange robe and batting a tambourine and asking for money? Don't you 
realize that you can never return to your family, you can never 
return to your home, you can never return to your fishing? 
That's hogwash, brethren. We romanticize Christian ministry. Do you know what Christian ministry 
ought to look like? Faithful men who love their wives, 
who love their children, who rule their own households well, 
and who serve in the church to their capacity. A lot of pressure out there for 
the guy to do all these things. No, the guy's got to do what 
God says in His Word. Peter had a house in Capernaum. He had a wife in Capernaum. Now, 
this is not to suggest that there weren't seasons and times that 
Peter gave her a big fat kiss on the lips and said, honey, 
I'll be back in a few weeks, we're going with the master. 
More than certainly, he did that on occasion. But the idea that 
he left everything, the idea that he abandoned his wife, the 
idea that he abandoned his mother-in-law, the idea that he didn't carry 
on with life is simply not found in the biblical text. R.T. Frantz says it this way, the 
fact that Peter had a home and family in Capernaum places an 
important caveat against a too radical understanding of the 
renunciation involved in following Jesus. Simon and Andrew left 
their nets, but not their home and extended family. That would 
be ungodly. You see, we always have to navigate 
on two extremes. We got deadbeats that don't do 
anything for Jesus. We've got deadbeats who do not 
read the discipleship passages correctly. They do not follow 
the Lord. Well, the answer isn't to misread 
the text in the other direction and to set up as a paradigm or 
as an example this holy man of God who left his wife for three 
years so he could go preach the gospel in the colonies. You see, 
we need to be biblical. We need to be correct. We need 
to be on target. This is a good observation, brethren. You follow Jesus in your vocation. You follow Jesus as a married 
man or woman. You follow Jesus as a janitor, 
as a mechanic, as a teacher. You follow Jesus as a pastor. 
You follow Jesus as a child. We shouldn't be the odd ducks. 
Monkery is wrong. You should not withdraw from 
society and live with a bunch of dudes and wear robes and chant. That's not biblical. That's not 
righteous. The gospel finds us where we 
are. The gospel goes to every tribe, 
every tongue, every people, every nation, and liberates men in 
their station. So that they could be godly mechanics, 
godly doctors, godly housewives, godly children. There's this 
strain or this vein that sort of underrides Christianity. That if you're not Spurgeon as 
a preacher, you're terrible. If you're not Amy Carmichael 
as a woman, you're terrible. If you're not the most successful 
guy in your church and the godliest man, you're terrible. Now the 
Bible says when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're 
saved. That's the best it gets. You don't get better than that. 
Should we achieve? Should we try? Should we labor? 
Yes. Do you see a man who excels in his works? Solomon tells us. 
He shall stand before kings. That's a good thing. Brethren, 
we can't hold out false standards. We can't say, if you've not done 
this, then somehow you're just, you don't measure up. There's 
that vein. And I spend time, because there's 
a younger group of men that are preaching a health, wealth, and 
prosperity gospel. It sounds a little bit more pious. 
It sounds a little bit more holy. It sounds a little bit more accurate, 
because they don't have big hair and big rings and big cars and 
all that sort of a thing. But nevertheless, it is pernicious. It is a searching of the scriptures 
for what we can get or what we can achieve or how better we 
can become. That's not the point of searching 
the scriptures. The point of searching the Scriptures 
is to know Jesus. If you know Jesus, you've got 
everything. Note the situation. The woman 
was sick. Jesus saw his wife's mother-in-law 
lying, or saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. Luke 
4.38 indicates that it was a high fever. Now, in these biblical 
narratives, they treat fever as if it is the disease. We know 
that fevers are a symptom. We don't know what the particular 
disease might be. That's not because they were 
dumb. That's not because they were ignorant. It's just because, 
in general revelation, they hadn't seen these things at this particular 
time. But the bottom line is, is that this woman had a high 
fever. She's in bad shape. Remember, she couldn't walk to 
the medicine cabinet and take out Tylenol. You know, we read 
this, yeah, she had a fever. My kid had a fever yesterday. 
Yeah, what'd you do? I gave him baby Tylenol and I 
submerged him in cold water. What happened? The fever went 
away. Well, imagine if you didn't have baby Tylenol. Imagine if 
you didn't submerge him in cold water. What can happen with a 
fever? You can die from it. Beware the 
mindset that says this leopard needed a good cleansing because 
he was filthy. Beware the mindset that this 
servant was lying sick, paralyzed in great torment near death. 
Peter's mother-in-law, she just had a fever. She was a sick woman. Jesus notices this, Jesus observes 
this, and then notice what Jesus does. He saw his wife's mother 
lying sick with a fever, so he touched her hand and the fever 
left her. Rabbinic literature suggests 
you just don't do this. You don't touch a corpse, you 
certainly don't touch a leper, and you don't touch someone who 
has a fever. Just like Jesus wasn't concerned about the leprosy 
affecting Him, but rather His power cleansing Him, so is the 
case with Peter's mother-in-law. He touches her and the fever 
leaves her. He is not defiled, rather the 
healer heals the defiled. It's beautiful, isn't it? We 
come into contact with Jesus and we don't make Him dirty. We come into contact with Jesus, 
and He makes us clean. We take the same sort of filth 
that Paul explains in Acts 26. I've heard this before. People 
say... I remember we were out passing out tracts one day, and 
I think it was Bill and I. We came to a guy, and he says, 
Oh, I'm just an old sinner. There's no hope for me. There's 
hope for you. You're a sinner. You're still 
breathing. Jesus came sinners to save. There's almost this 
mindset out there that I've done so many bad things. I've done 
so many terrible things. I've done so many horrible things. 
There's no hope for a guy or a gal like me. Look at Paul. Look at this leper. Jesus wasn't 
afraid of transfer this way. He knew of his power to heal. Notice what it then says, she 
arose and served, I think the better reading here is him. She 
arose and served him. Now I think, most assuredly, 
we ought to make the observation that people healed by Christ, 
people saved by Christ, people blessed by Christ, will most 
certainly serve him. Can we make that observation? 
Can we make that observation based on the passage and the 
surrounding context? Spurgeon, I believe, was right 
when he says, no proof of recovery from the fever of sin is more 
sure than the holy earnestness of the healed ones to do works 
meet for thankfulness towards him who has restored them. It is legit. It is fitting. If Jesus lays his holy hand upon 
your fevered self and you get up, you ought to serve him. When 
Jesus saves you from your sins, what ought you to do? You ought 
to serve him. That doesn't mean abandon your 
wife, doesn't mean abandon your children, doesn't mean call in 
sick to work for the next three years so you can go preach the 
gospel. You follow Him and you serve Him in the capacity that 
He has given you. If you're a woman in a home in 
Capernaum, that means get Him some food, get Him some drink, 
get Him something to make His stay there more comfortable. 
You serve the one who saves you. You serve the one who delivers 
you. You serve the one who redeems 
you. That is certainly an application 
that I think we can pull out of this passage. But I think 
Matthew's intention, I think the main point, I think what 
we're supposed to glean is this. His power, his authority, his 
ability to heal is to the uttermost. Notice he doesn't touch her and 
then she needs a week or two weeks to recover. She immediately 
stands up. She immediately goes to the equivalent 
of the refrigerator. She immediately gets buns and 
soup and water and she serves him. Matthew wants us to get 
the power of Jesus Christ is that when he touches or when 
he speaks a word, it's not a process. You're not going to need convalescent 
leave. You're not going to need time 
to repair. When Jesus casts out the fever, 
you get up and you serve. It shows the immediacy and the 
efficacy and the power and the authority and the ability that 
Christ has. If we take the spiritual principle 
and we say, I'm fevered with sin, go to Christ. What does he do? Does he put 
you on a path to recovery? Does he put you on a path to 
healing? Does he say, I'm going to start the process and now 
by your own works I want you to do this, that and the other? 
I'm going to get the ball rolling in the right direction. I'm going 
to give you an investment so that you can now go out and do 
the best with it that you can. No, when a fevered sinner comes 
to the Lord Jesus, and believes his gospel, what happens? It is immediate. It is efficacious. It is powerful to the uttermost. Matthew says to his readers, 
do not tarry. Do not stay away. Do not resist. Come to this one who has absolute 
power and authority to cast out fever. The one who has absolute 
power and authority to cast out sin. It's beautiful. He is setting before us our Lord 
in His glory. So that's the healing of Peter's 
mother-in-law. Notice the healing of the multitude, 
verses 16 and 17. We should observe three things 
here. First, Jesus' mercy. His mercy. How do we know He 
had mercy? Because He didn't stand at the 
porch and say to these demon-possessed, and the ones bringing them, and 
to these sick, get out. Leave me alone. It's been a busy 
Sabbath. He didn't put on voicemail. He 
didn't turn off his cell phone. He didn't put up a sign. Come 
back tomorrow morning at oh-dark-thirty and I'll heal you then. Jesus 
is full of mercy. I think that's something else 
Matthew is weaving in each of these particular narratives. 
Not only the authority and the power of Christ, but the willingness 
of Christ, the mercy of Christ, the kindness of Christ, the goodness 
of Christ. Verse 16 says, When evening had 
come, they brought to him many who were demon-possessed. And 
it says he healed all who were sick. The Lord Jesus did not 
send the demon possessed and the sick away. His mercy is conspicuous. The Lord Jesus didn't whine about 
being too tired. His mercy is conspicuous. The 
Lord Jesus didn't need his downtime when there were sinners to save 
or sick people to heal. The Lord Jesus' mercy is conspicuous. It's on display. Matthew wants 
you to get that. I'm speaking to some of you here 
that have not come to Christ yet. I want you to see this Savior. He's standing in this home. He's 
in Capernaum. He has just healed Peter's mother-in-law. 
He has just healed a centurion servant from a distance. He's 
just cleansed a leper. Certainly no one will fault him 
for wanting to sit down for a while and chill out. Nobody will fault 
the man for saying, you know, you've healed three people today. 
You've done exceedingly and above all that we could ask or think. 
Certainly you need your rest, Jesus. Nobody could fault him. 
But what does he do? They bring the multitudes. They 
bring them on. Demon-possessed people. Sick 
people. This wasn't the adoring crowds. 
These weren't the people that said, Jesus, we've heard of you 
and your dealings with the centurion's servant. We've heard of you and 
how you dealt with that leper, and we just want to come and 
bow and worship. No, they came for stuff. They came to have 
the demons cast out. They came to have their sicknesses 
healed. And what do we find but a willing 
Savior? What do we find but a merciful 
Lord? When evening had come, they brought to Him. He doesn't 
rebuff them. He doesn't resist them. He doesn't 
send them away. He doesn't say, I'll see you 
next Sabbath day. I gotta go golfing. I gotta go 
skeet shooting. I gotta go play basketball. I 
gotta go veg out. No, He says, bring them on. This is something you need to 
understand about the Savior. This is His job. This is what 
He does. This is what He's about. This 
is what He is fit and need for. It is to save the needy. I don't know if Jesus will take 
me. He'll take you. He's Jesus. I don't know if Jesus 
will save me. He'll save you. He's Jesus. I 
don't know if he wants someone as bad as I am. He saves to the 
uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through him. He is full of 
pity. He is able, or he is full of 
pity, he is willing, he is merciful, he is kind. But notice, he is 
powerful, as we have had cause to reflect with the leper and 
with the centurion and his servant. Jesus is not only willing, but 
he's able. He's not only able, but he's 
willing. You see, if all these demon-possessed people came to 
him, and all these sick people came to him, and he was full 
of mercy, but he didn't have omnipotence. He was full of mercy, 
but he couldn't save. He was full of mercy, but he 
couldn't cast out demons, or he couldn't heal their sicknesses. 
They'd get pity. You know, I guess that's a great 
commodity today, is to find someone who will actually sympathize 
with you in your need and in your distress. It's nice, isn't 
it? When somebody will just listen to you. You know, everything's 
going against me. It's bad. It's horrible. Just 
let him vent. Let him speak. Let him talk. 
That's nice. There's something therapeutic 
about that, isn't there? You ever had it where, you know, 
your wife says, how are you, honey? And instead of saying fine, well, 
I'm not fine, baby. Let me just tell you the ways. 
Or that may happen with her to you. There is some therapy to 
be had in that instance. There is some sort of catharsis 
in that instance. But you know what happens after 
they've heard you? You still got your issues, don't 
you? You still gotta get up the next morning and deal with that 
guy at work. Your wife can't save you. Your wife can't heroically 
brave your workplace and defeat all your foes. So if these demon-possessed and 
sick people come to Jesus and they find him to be merciful, 
that is a tonic to be sure. But you know, we don't preach 
a gospel with just a merciful savior. We don't preach a gospel 
of therapy and self-help. We don't preach a gospel wherein 
the leader simply hears all your troubles, all your woes, all 
your difficulties, and all your complaints, and then says, I 
wish I could do something, but since I can't, have a nice week. We preach the gospel of an omnipotent 
Savior. We preach the gospel of one who 
is pity joined with power. We preach the gospel who is able, 
who is able, who is able, and one who is willing as well. What 
we find as a common thread with this leper, with this centurion 
servant, and with this crowd, is that Jesus not only possesses 
the pity necessary for a healer, but He possesses the power necessary 
to effect healing. In other words, He is the complete 
package. Sinners don't need therapy. Sinners 
don't need tonic. Sinners don't need sympathy. 
Sinners need blood. Sinners need atonement. Sinners 
need pardon. Sinners need an imputation. Sinners 
don't need an example of love going to the cross. They need 
the power of that cross to wash them, and to purify them, and 
to fit them to stand before a thrice holy God who demands perfection, 
who demands obedience, who demands exact compliance with His holy 
law. That's what sinners need. They 
need to be hidden in the refuge, which is Christ. We have pity 
joined with power in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus. 
That's what I would think Matthew wants us to get. When Jesus spoke, 
God spoke. To defy Jesus was to defy God. And Jesus' word must therefore 
be vested with God's authority that is able to heal sickness. 
That was Carson. Notice what it says in the passage 
in verse 16. When evening had come, they brought 
to him many who were demon-possessed. We've seen the pity. We've seen 
the mercy. He doesn't rebuff them. He doesn't 
resist them. He doesn't send them away. He 
doesn't hang his out-of-business sign. Notice in verse 16, and 
he cast out the spirits, here it is, with a word. That's how 
he healed the centurion's servant. With a word. He touches the leper. He touches Peter's mother-in-law. 
He touches or he speaks. The end game is the same. He 
has the power to heal. He has the power to make good 
what his word speaks. And it says he healed all who 
were sick. Spurgeon says, the kingly one 
battled with legions of foes and readily overcame them all. 
What were demons or diseases to the omnipotent Lord? His word 
is still almighty. It's a great observation. This wasn't just in Capernaum 
in the first century. This same Jesus with a word heals 
today. And I'm talking about that healing 
that is more important. That healing of sin. You know, in Matthew's allusion 
here, or Matthew's application of Isaiah the prophet to our 
Lord Jesus, some have taken this, usually they're of the Charismatic 
Persuasion, or the Pentecostals, or the Health, Wealth and Prosperity 
group, that says the Atonement secures physical health for all 
of God's people too. In other words, if you have a 
physical problem, if you've got a bad eye, You walk with a limp, 
or you got a tumor in your heart, or you got a tumor in your head, 
you lack faith because you see the atonement, the efficacious 
work of our Redeemer was meant to cleanse us not only from sin, 
but from our physical calamities. Notice the priority there. Not 
only from sin, but from our physical calamities. I hope that we as 
Reformed folks say, He cleanses us from sin! And once in a while, 
He heals our infirmities, our physical distress. In this citation 
of Isaiah 53 verse 4, I do not believe that Matthew wants us 
to get that every physical illness, every physical malady, every 
physical trial, every physical challenge will be healed by the 
Lord Jesus. I do not believe that. I believe 
if that is the interpretation, it brings into conflict many 
other passages of Holy Scripture. Nowhere do we find in the New 
Testament or in the Old Testament that there is a promise of health, 
wealth, and prosperity from your God. In fact, many have found 
after the cross they've had the lack of health, they've had the 
lack of wealth, and they've had the lack of prosperity. I don't 
think anybody would look at Christian and Pilgrim's Progress and say, 
look at him skip his way to the Celestial City. He lost his burden 
at the cross to be sure, and now he's just singing zippity-doo-dah. No. He battled. He struggled. He was tried. There was difficulty. Matthew's point is not to preach. Matthew's point is not to teach 
that if you get a sniffle, or if you get a cold, or if you 
have a hangnail, or if you get cancer, just ask the Lord and 
He will heal you. Matthew's point is to connect 
Jesus Christ with the servant of Yahweh in Isaiah 53. Now one 
aspect of his earthly ministry was to heal people. One aspect 
of his earthly ministry was to give sight to the blind. One 
aspect of his earthly ministry was to give hearing to the deaf 
and food to the poor and to raise the dead. But the emphasis in 
the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53, the stress does not fall 
upon or lay with the physical healing. The stress lays on the 
spiritual healing. All we, like sheep, have gone 
astray. Not all we, like sheep, have 
hangnails, or cancer, or our wool gets matted. All we, like 
sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his 
own way. You got a problem that far exceeds 
cancer. You got a problem that far exceeds 
any physical calamity. If you are outside of Christ, 
your problem is that you have turned to your own way. That's 
what we need to be healed from. They may come up with a cure 
for cancer. No religion, no philosophy, no 
alternate system can find a cure for sin. You see, there's a lack of emphasis 
on the true necessity. If the purpose behind the atonement 
was that you and I wouldn't have to use canes, the Bible's a joke. The purpose 
behind the atonement is that He will save His people from 
their sins. It is to belittle the atonement. 
It is to denigrate the Atonement when we preach health, wealth, 
and prosperity as the blessings of God. The Messiah does engage in physical 
healing. I'm not suggesting don't go home 
and pray, God take this tumor from me. God help me with this 
issue. I am not saying that. If that's 
the interpretation you have gleaned, let me clarify. Please pray. Ask Jesus. Ask the Lord. Paul 
did. The storm was given to him. messenger, buffeting him. What 
does he do? He says, I pleaded with the Lord 
three times. Lord, take this from me, take 
this from me, take this from me. But, what did he finally 
and ultimately conclude? Essentially what Jesus says in 
the garden, not my will, but thine be done. Physical healing, 
as blessed and as wonderful as it is, doesn't come anywhere 
near to spiritual healing. Right? My sin, oh the bliss of 
this glorious thought, my sin not in part, but the whole, is 
nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. 
Praise the Lord. I think that's Horatio Spafford. 
I think he lost his wife and children 
in a shipwreck. You see, the people of God put 
the emphasis where God puts it. Again, I want you to be healthy. 
I want you to be strong. I want you to be everything you 
ought to be. But you know, it's a question 
of priority. What's more important, health, 
wealth, and prosperity for 80 years? or bliss for eternity 
in Emmanuel's land. There is probably a foreshadowing, 
though, in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus, what the New 
Jerusalem's going to look like. Every time he confronts the devilish 
powers, every time he heals someone, every time he exhibits that, 
that is the power of the age to come, broken on this age. It is a foreshadowing, it is 
a foretaste, it is pointing ahead to what every Christian, what 
every believer will most certainly enjoy. Jose went to be there 
on Friday night. I asked my friend, how are you 
doing? He said, I'm missing Jose. This was on a text. I said, I 
bet he's not missing you. He said, I agree with you. What's the emphasis? Where's 
the stress in the scripture? It's being with Christ. Now the 
New Jerusalem we do read in Revelation 21 and 22. God does wipe away 
the tears from our eyes. God does remove all sorrow. God 
does remove all hunger. God does remove all thirst. We 
will be whole. We will be happy. We will be 
healthy. All those things are consistent 
with the age to come. Certainly what we find in these 
gospel accounts with the life and ministry of our Jesus is 
a down payment or a foreshadowing of that age to come. But we're 
not to universalize Isaiah 53.4. We're not to universalize Matthew 
8.17 and tell some poor believer who walks with a cane that he 
doesn't have faith, because after all, Jesus came to take our infirmities 
and to bear our sicknesses. It's unfortunate that we even 
have to deal with this. The Atonement as the physical 
healer. Now, the Atonement speaks to 
man where he needs it most. See, Isaiah, I'm sorry, Matthew 
is a theologian. Matthew wants us to understand 
that the one who just pronounced that Gentiles from east and west 
are going to come and sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That's 
right out of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 49, verse 6. Matthew wants us to understand 
that this Jesus, who cleansed the leper, who spoke the word 
to heal the servant, who touched Peter's mother-in-law, and who's 
cast out all these demons, and who has healed all this sickness, 
Matthew is saying here in verse 17, behold your Messiah. You see, all through Matthew's 
gospel, he takes pains to connect Jesus with Isaiah. It starts 
in chapter 1. He quotes Isaiah 7.14, the promise 
that the virgin would conceive. Jesus is virgin born. I think 
there's an allusion to Isaiah 60. The age of Messiah, the messianic 
reign, kings from the nations will bring their gifts and present 
them to the Lord's Christ. What do we find in Matthew chapter 
2? We see magi come from the east and present their gifts 
to the Lord Christ. That's not a pattern so that 
every December 25th we can give each other iPods. Those magi 
are consistent with what was prophesied concerning God's Messiah. The kings of the earth would 
come and present their gifts before Israel's God. You see, 
when Jesus embarks on his ministry in Matthew 4, Matthew's not so 
concerned about geography to tell us that Jesus began in Galilee 
of the Gentiles. He's concerned with theology. 
He's concerned with Isaiah the prophet, chapter 9, verses 1 
and 2. You see, what Matthew is doing 
is he is giving a theological display and explanation that 
this one, moving about Capernaum, healing people, casting out demons, 
is no other than the servant of Yahweh depicted in Isaiah 
the prophet. In other words, Matthew is saying, 
behold your Messiah, behold the Savior, behold the King. Matthew, 
throughout this letter, throughout this gospel, will weave in the 
prophet Isaiah. He'll do it again in chapter 
12. where he says that this Jesus is the Isaiah 42 servant of the 
Lord. In the passion narrative, you'll 
see allusions to Isaiah, the prophet. You see, what Matthew 
wants us to get is what France says, or what France says is 
what Matthew wants us to get. The essential key to all Matthew's 
theology is that in Jesus, all God's purposes have come to fulfillment. That's why he quotes the prophet 
Isaiah. Not to say that the Charismatics 
and the Pentecostals and the health-wealth-prosperity guys 
are right, that if you walk with a crutch, you're in bad shape. 
No, he's saying, behold! Behold the Messiah! Behold the 
servant of Yahweh! Behold the one Isaiah preached! 
Isaiah spoke of! Isaiah declared! This is who 
you're seeing! An older writer in his biblical 
hermeneutics, Milton Terry, says the great purpose of this gospel 
throughout is to exhibit Jesus as the Messiah of whom the prophets 
had spoken. So Matthew wants us to reflect 
upon the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
doesn't want us to just focus in on these miraculous healings, 
these miraculous castings out of demons. He wants us to focus 
upon Israel's Messiah as the one in whom all the promises 
of God are, yea and amen, and the one who was sent to ultimately 
save his people from their sins. That's the point of Matthew. If you go to Matthew's citation 
of Isaiah as a proof text so that you don't need crutches 
when you walk, you need to go back to Sunday school. You need 
to learn biblical hermeneutics. You need to understand the point 
of Isaiah 53 isn't to teach that you won't have to use crutches. 
The point of Isaiah 53 is that the Lord was pleased to bruise 
him, putting him to grief so that by his stripes we are healed. That's what Matthew wants. That's what Isaiah wants. So 
we've seen in this passage the mercy and the power of Christ. He's got pity joined with power. He's got mercy joined with authority. He's got mercy joined with ability. You see, this Savior today is 
stationed at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Again, 
the world would say, much learning is driving you mad. Well, they 
might not say that to me. They'd say it to Paul. Just a 
little illustration. I don't know if you heard this 
over the week. Some female pastor stiffed a waitress at an Applebee's. They had a big group. And so 
when you had a big group exceeding the amount of people, you're 
supposed to, not tithe, but tip 18%. So Pastor Eloise, which 
nobody ever commented on, why is there a woman pastor? But 
this pastor wrote, I already give God 10%, why should I give 
you 18%? She wrote that on the ticket. 
Great Christian witness, by the way, brethren. Yeah, do that. 
You'll really make a name for Jesus in this world. So the waitress 
then posts it online. Hey, look at what somebody did 
to me. The lady signed it, Pastor, whatever her name was. So they 
fired the waitress. They fired the waitress. My point 
is this, though. Bizarre as that is, I looked 
at this at some news site, and I'm reading all the comments. You know who the big enemy is 
in all this? Jesus. Christianity. It's all lies. 
It's all madness! Of course Pastor Aloise, or whatever 
her name is, does that sort of thing, because Christianity is 
nothing but lies. The antagonism is out there. 
The opposition is out there. The hatred is out there. And 
while it may sound like madness, and it may sound like madness 
to some in this room, the thought that Jesus rose and that He's 
now sitting at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, this 
is what the Scripture declares. But the Scripture also declares 
that everyone who believes in Him, Everyone who looks to Him 
in faith, everyone who believes what the Bible says concerning 
Him, will have everlasting life. I know that sounds like madness 
to some. I know that sounds like the lack 
of truth and reason to some. But the scripture sets it forth 
as truth, as reason, as the foundation for all rationality. And so my 
invitation to you today is to simply tell you that Jesus is 
full of pity, joined with power. Not only able to cast out demons 
and to heal sickness, but to do the greater. to forgive you 
of your sins. It's interesting, in Matthew 
chapter 9, one of the next few healings, it's that paralytic 
who's lowered down through the roof, and Jesus says, take up 
your bed, or Jesus says, your sins are forgiven you. And they 
say, wait a minute, who but God alone could forgive sins? Exactly. 
Jesus says, but that you may know that the Son of Man has 
power Remember, that's the theme of this section. Or has authority 
to forgive sins, I say to you, take up your bed and walk. You 
see, the charismatics, not all, but some, in that group, the 
charismatics of Pentecostals and the health, wealth, prosperity 
guys are dazzled by this guy taking up his mat and walking. Jesus forgave him of his sins. 
What's the miracle in the passage? Jesus forgave him of his sins. Him taking his bed and walking 
is simply a proof, an external one, a visible exhibit that Christ 
has authority to forgive sins. That's far more important, and 
that's what Jesus brings. We read this morning, he was 
stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted, wounded for our transgressions, 
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement for our peace 
is upon him. The fulfillment passage here 
in Matthew 8.17 is Matthew's theological presentation of Isaiah's 
servant of Yahweh. And he wants to set him before 
all of us now. And in Isaiah 53, when the author, 
when Matthew quotes verse 4, what one man and many others 
have recognized following his study is that when there is an 
appeal to a verse in a chapter, the whole chapter, more than 
often, is being alluded to. And the last verse in that prophet, 
Isaiah 53, 12 says, and he bore the sin of many and made intercession 
for the transgressors. The reality of sickness and infirmity 
and demon possession and cancer and turmoil and trial and headaches 
and pains and aches, I don't want to minimize that. But at 
the same time, I don't want to maximize that to the bigger issue 
that all we, like sheep, have gone astray. and that Christ 
is the one who brings forgiveness to sinners. So if you have not 
believed this morning, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
repent from your sin, come to Him, receive Him, and rest upon 
Him by faith alone. That is the way, that is the 
means, that is the instrument by which God justifies sinners. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and we thank you for Jesus. We thank 
you for his power. We thank you for his pity. We 
thank you that he answers to every need man has, and we know 
especially that need for forgiveness from our sin, that need for righteousness 
that avails with you. We pray, God, that your gospel 
would be proclaimed throughout the earth today, and that the 
servant of Jehovah, the servant of the Lord God Most High, would 
save to the uttermost many, many people. We ask this in Jesus' 
name. Amen.