Three Healings Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Jesus (Healings)

• Going forward in Matthew’s gospel, readers will see how Jesus puts his words of the Sermon into action.
• In the next few chapters, Matthew focuses on what it means to be a disciple. He begins Chapters 8 and 9 with accounts of Jesus’ great works of healing.
• Each of these healings is unique and shows what’s important in Jesus’ ministry.
• There are three groups of three. In the first trio, he heals a leper, a centurion, and Peter’s mother-in-law.
• Not only does he heal them instantly, with a touch or from a distance, but these are all people on the margins (the edge or the outside) of society -- a leper, a gentile, and a woman.
• Leprosy was considered to be incurable.
• Even though these people were still alive, they were looked at as if they did not exist.
• Priests said prayers for them as if they were dead and sent them away.
• They were not allowed at the Temple and were kicked out of society.
• They were not allowed to come into contact with anyone or with anyone’s property.
• In fact, as they moved around, they were required to announce, “Unclean, unclean!”
• The idea was that it would give people along their paths time to protect themselves by moving out of their way.
• So it is that “a man with leprosy came and knelt before Jesus…”
• Given this information, it is remarkable that this leper marches right up to Jesus, asking him for help.
• In so doing, he is disobeying every rule in the book.
• He says, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” He doesn’t say, “If you are able…”
• He already knows with confidence that Jesus is very able. The issue is one of willingness.
• Does Jesus think this man is worthy of healing? Is Jesus willing to take the risk?
• Jesus reaches out his hand and touches the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he is cleansed of his leprosy.
• Everything in these verses is amazing.
• First of all, Jesus touches this man. That was never supposed to happen.
• If anyone even accidentally touched a leper, they would have become immediately unclean.
• But Jesus does not acknowledge such boundaries. In fact, his touch overcomes them.
• There is no indication anywhere that Jesus ever went through any ritual purification rites after this touch.
• And just to make sure there is no misunderstanding, he verbally confirms his intention. “I will, be clean.”
• And immediately, the man is free.
• Jesus continues, “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.”
• On the face of it, these two statements seem contradictory. “Don't tell anyone; go to the priest.”
• Maybe Jesus doesn’t want him to talk about the process of healing.
• But since all that Jesus says is, “I will,” it doesn’t seem like there would be that much to talk about.
• So maybe Jesus wanted the man to have time to reflect on what had happened, to try to understand it before he started sharing the story.
• But why did he say, “show yourself to the priest”?
• Scholars agree that even though the man was cured, he could not be officially welcomed back into society until he had completed a ritual cleansing, at which time the priest would declare him “clean.”
• This ritual required him to offer sacrifices in a specific way (Leviticus 13-14).
• In this traditional interpretation, many scholars argue that by doing this, Jesus acknowledged and affirmed the role of the Temple in the religious lives of the community.
• This means Jesus did not want the Law to be disobeyed; rather, he uphold it.
• Well, perhaps this does explain some things, but it doesn’t explain everything.
• In the beginning of the story Jesus blatantly disregards ritual law and touches the leper. Now, at the end of the story, he sternly orders the man to follow the law. Why?
• He basically goes from one extreme to the other in the same situation.
• So how might one explain this?
• The key, scholars say, lies in the preposition “to” as in “to them.”
• Greek prepositions have countless English translations. In other words, one Greek word may have several different English words. And the correct one is determined by the context (what’s going on).
• So the text should not read, “to them,” but rather “against them.”
• Then, Jesus would be sending the man to show himself against the religious leaders. Think about it! What had those leaders done for this man?
• The only thing the religious leaders could do for him was to pronounce him “dead” and send him away, banishing him from everything familiar.
• That pronouncement separated him from the whole system of the Temple.
• The whole purpose of the Temple, through its rituals and sacrificial system, was to help people stay close to God.
• But this man couldn’t go to the Temple. He wasn’t even allowed to get close to it.
• So does it make sense for Jesus to come along, heal him, and send him right back to the people and their rules that had already failed him, abandoned him, and betrayed him?
• Actually yes. But in so doing, the man’s presence before the priests shows the failure of their system, their ways and rules.
• They may have the glorious Temple, all the ceremonies, and all the rules and regulations. But none of those things could heal him.
• The priests could only condemn him and protect others from becoming like him.
• Jesus, on the other hand, heals him with a touch; the priests can only affirm this. Their ways don’t work.
• In the second healing, the authority of Jesus is made very clear.
• “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, asking for help.”
• The title “centurion” was a military term for a commander of one hundred soldiers of a Roman legion, the smallest unit.
• This man is presumed to be a gentile (non-Jew), but not necessarily a Roman.
• The centurion says, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
• “Lord” is a polite address with a bigger meaning.
• “Servant” can also mean “child” or “slave.” The word suggests this is an important individual to the centurion.
• Scholars don’t exactly know the nature of this illness, but Jesus asks, “Shall I come and heal him?”
• Many scholars translate this as an affirmative statement, “I will come and heal him.” In Greek, it could be either.
• As a statement (and not a question), Jesus shows immediate willingness to cross boundaries and go to his house, which is totally consistent with the first healing.
• The centurion answers, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.”
• It’s unlikely that he means he is unworthy.
• It is more likely that the centurion is very aware of the rules against Jews entering the home of a gentile and does not want to cause problems for Jesus.
• So, he provides another option.
• His confidence in Jesus is such that he urges, “just say the word, and my servant will be healed.”
• He continues, “For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, ‘Go, and he goes’ and to another, ‘Come, and he comes,’ and to my servant, ‘Do this, and he does it.’”
• Just as he has been given authority by his superiors to exert (or use) over those in his command, so Jesus has been given authority by God and can exert it over demons and illness.
• Just as this centurion expects soldiers to obey his words, he believes demons and evil powers have to obey Jesus’ words.
• When Jesus hears this, he is amazed and says to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”
• In this first use of the word “faith,” it is important to note that nothing is mentioned about the faith of the sick servant.
• This, then, is the first example of someone asking for healing prayers for someone else.
• The faith of this man has gone beyond anything Jesus has experienced among the Jews.
• And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”
• And with a simple word, Jesus has broken through another barrier and has foreshadowed a ministry to the Gentiles. In the future, it is the Gentiles who are receptive of Jesus’ message.
• The centurion, it is implied, accepts Jesus’ assurance, and returns home to find that “his servant was healed at that moment.”
• The healing occurred at the very hour when Jesus spoke his word of power.
• Just as the leper has faith in Jesus, so does this centurion.
• The third healing in this trio is of Peter’s mother-in-law.
• This is the only healing in Matthew whereby Jesus takes the initiative.
• “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.”
• The healing is told with very few words.
• There isn’t even a request for help.
• Jesus simply, “touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.”
• Some religious men didn’t touch women, in general, to avoid any possibility of becoming unclean.
• “She got up” is evidence of being completely restored. And “she began to wait on him.”
• Lest we think she jumped up to take care of all the people there, Matthew changes Mark’s wording from serving “them” to serving “him” -- the “him” being Jesus.
• Jesus first ministers to Peter’s mother-in-law, and she, in turn, ministers to him.
• This structure exemplifies the model for discipleship: after Jesus transforms a person, the person serves him.
• That Jesus touches her may also indicate the way he values people over traditions or fears about touching people with fevers.
• So, the leper shows us Jesus’ authority and his willingness to touch the unclean. The centurion makes his authority totally clear—he jus spoke the word. The woman follows through with an appropriate response—one of discipleship.
• The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law also serves as a bridge to Jesus healing “all the sick” and reminds us that God’s mercies are not limited to those who are in the middle of society, but to all.