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Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 25 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (1) Bible Verses: Matthew 8:2 And behold, a leper, coming near, worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me. 8:3 And stretching out His hand, He touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 8:5 And when He entered into Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, beseeching Him 8:6 And saying, Lord, my servant is lying in the house paralyzed, terribly tormented. 8:7 And He said to him, I will come and heal him. 8:8 But the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not fit for You to enter under my roof; but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 8:14 And Jesus, coming into Peter’s house, saw his mother-in-law lying down and in a fever. 8:15 And He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served Him. [HEALING OF THE LEPER] In Matthew 8:1-17 three miracles—the cleansing of the leper, the healing of the paralyzed Gentile servant boy, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law—and the healing of many are grouped together to present a meaningful doctrine, that is, they have a dispensational significance. Let us first consider the healing of the leper (vv. 1-4). Verse 1 says, “Now when He had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed Him.” The coming down of the King from the mountain signifies that the heavenly King has come down from the heavens to the earth. He comes firstly to reach the Jews, for undoubtedly the leper here represents the Jewish people. The heavenly King came down from the heavens to bring salvation firstly to the leprous Jews. According to Romans chapter one, salvation is for the Jews first and then for the Gentiles (v. 16). The diseases healed in the cases recorded in Matthew 8 are significant, for every disease signifies a specific spiritual sickness. The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior to be the people of the kingdom is represented by a leper. According to the scriptural examples, leprosy comes from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against Moses, God’s deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). The diseases healed in the cases recorded in Matthew 8 are significant, for every disease signifies a specific spiritual sickness. The first class of people saved by the kingly Savior to be the people of the kingdom is represented by a leper. According to the scriptural examples, leprosy comes from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against Moses, God’s deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). [HEALING OF THE CENTURION’S SERVANT BOY] After the Lord had entered into Capernaum, “A centurion approached Him, beseeching Him and saying, Lord, My servant boy is lying in the house paralyzed, terribly tormented” (vv. 5-6). A centurion was an officer over one hundred soldiers in the Roman army. The leper in verses 2 through 4 represents the Jews, whereas the centurion in verses 5 through 13 represents the Gentiles. Before God, the Jews became leprous, unclean, because of their rebellion and disobedience; whereas the Gentiles became paralyzed, dead in function, because of their sinfulness. The kingly Savior came firstly to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Acts 3:26; 13:46; Rom. 1:16; 11:11). The believing Jews are saved by His direct touch (v. 3), whereas the believing Gentiles are saved through faith in His word (vv. 8, 10, 8:13).
Verse 13 says, “And Jesus said to the centurion, Go; as you have believed let it be done to you. And the servant boy was healed in that hour.” The Jewish leper was healed by the King’s direct touch. The King stretched out His hand and touched him, and the leper was healed. But the centurion’s servant was not healed by the King’s direct touch. Rather, he was healed by the King’s word. The Gentile centurion believed in this word, and his servant was healed. The Jews are always saved through the King’s direct touch, but we Gentiles are saved, not by His direct touch, but by the sending out of His saving word. We believe in this word and we are healed. None of us Gentiles has had a direct touch from the Lord. We have been saved through believing the enlivening, regenerating word of the gospel. Hence, the centurion’s servant represents all the Gentile believers. The Lord did not commend the faith of the leper, because faith was not the outstanding characteristic there. The significant thing was the King’s touch. But with the healing of the centurion’s servant, faith is very outstanding. Hence, the Lord praised the centurion’s faith. Consequently, the servant boy was healed. The boy had been paralyzed. To be paralyzed means that the body is out of function. Before we Gentiles were saved, we were totally out of function. The Jews were leprous, but we were paralyzed, out of function, because of our sinfulness. We need the heavenly King’s healing salvation. He has sent us a word, and we have believed it. Therefore, we have been healed, our function has been recovered, and now we may begin to serve our Master. We are just like the servant boy who was healed and was able to serve again. [HEALING OF PETER’S MOTHER-IN-LAW] Verses 14 and 15 say, “And when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his mother-in-law laid aside and in a fever; and He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and ministered to Him.” Peter’s mother-in-law represents the Jews at the end of this age who will be saved by receiving the kingly Savior. At that time, during the great tribulation, in the eyes of God the Jews will be in a fever (v. 14), hot in things other than God. The kingly Savior, after the fullness of the salvation of the Gentiles, will come back to this remnant of Jews that they might be saved (Rom. 11:25-26; Zech. 12:10). Peter’s mother-in-law was healed in Peter’s house, which represents the house of Israel. At the end of this age all the remnant of the Jews will be saved in the house of Israel. They will also be saved by the kingly Savior’s direct touch (v. 15), as the Jewish leper was (v. 3). At the end of this age salvation will come back from the Gentiles to the Jews. However, it will not come back to the scattered Jews, but to the Jews in the house of Israel. At that time the Jews will be sick of a fever. This is even true of the Jews today. So many of them are fervent in science, in finance, in education, and in all manner of worldly pursuits. But in the eyes of God all this is a fever. The temperature of the Jews today is very high in their fervency for politics, industry, agriculture, and warfare. They are represented by the feverish mother-in-law of Peter. But in their heat and fervency they neither trust in God nor care for morality. Just as the Lord healed Peter’s mother-in-law, so will He come back again at the end of this age to heal the Jews who will be fervent, burning, and sick of a fever. He will not heal them through their faith, but through His direct touch. At the Lord’s second coming, the Jews will be directly touched by His arrival and be saved.
Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
Excerpts from Life-study of Matthew, Message 26 THE CONTINUATION OF THE KING’S MINISTRY (2) Bible Verses: Matthew 8:26 And He said to them, Why are you cowardly, you of little faith? Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 8:27 And the men marveled, saying, What kind of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey Him? 8:31 And the demons entreated Him, saying, If You cast us out, send us into the herd of hogs. 8:32 And He said to them, Go! And they came out and went into the hogs. And behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep slope into the sea, and they died in the waters. 9:6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins — then He said to the paralytic, Rise, take up your bed and go to your house. 9:7 And he rose and went away to his house. [THE AUTHORITY OF THE KING OVER THE WINDS AND THE SEA] In 8:23—9:8 we see the authority of the King. The sequence of Matthew is wonderful. After the King spoke in a way to indicate that He had nothing, not even a home or a place to rest, and after not allowing His followers to perform the dead duties, the record of Matthew reveals the authority of this King. Although He had nothing, He had authority. In 8:23—9:8 this authority is of three aspects: the authority over the winds and the sea (8:23-27); the authority over the demons (8:28-34); and the authority to forgive sins (9:1-8). Verse 26 says, “Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” As the Lord and the disciples were sailing across the sea, on their way to cast out the demons, something in the air and under the sea began to cause them difficulty. In the air there were the fallen angels, and in the water there were the demons. Thus the Lord’s command was not actually spoken to the winds or to the sea, but to the fallen angels in the air and to the demons underneath the water. A rebuke is not given to things without life, but to things with personality. The King rebuked the winds and the sea because in the wind are the fallen angels of Satan (Eph. 6:12), and in the sea are the demons (Matt. 8:32). As soon as the King commanded the fallen angels and evil demons to stop, they immediately obeyed, and there was a great calm. [I]n verses 23 through 27 we see a manifestation of the King’s supernatural authority. He had no hole, no roost, no place to lay His head; however, He had supernatural authority over the natural environment. He is fully qualified to be the heavenly King of the heavenly kingdom. [THE AUTHORITY OF THE KING OVER THE DEMONS] When the Lord Jesus had come to the country of the Gadarenes, He was met by two who were possessed by demons. The demons, not wanting to be tormented before the time, entreated the Lord Jesus, saying, “If You cast us out, send us into the herd of hogs” (v. 31). The fact that the demons entreated Him indicates that they were under the power and authority of the King. Verse 32 says, “And He said to them, Go! And they came out and went into the hogs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the precipice into the sea and died in the waters.” The word “Go!” was the King’s authoritative order, and the demons obeyed it. The King answered the demons’ entreaty to enter into the hogs because hogs are unclean in the eyes of God (Lev. 11:7). Unable to tolerate being possessed by the demons, the hogs rushed into the sea. The demons agreed to this, because the water is their lodging place (12:43-44). The Lord’s intention in permitting the demons to go into the hogs was not to damage the occupation of those who fed them. Because hogs are dirty in the eyes of God, the Lord Jesus destroyed their unclean
occupation with the expectation that those employed in it might be saved and turn to Him. The hogs, unclean and condemned by God, should not have been present. The King’s coming to this district set everything in order. Not only were the demons cast out of the two men, but the hogs were drowned. Hence, the whole region was cleared, and the demons returned to their dwelling place. This was an exhibition of the Lord’s authority. [THE AUTHORITY OF THE KING TO FORGIVE SINS] In 9:1-8 we see the King’s authority to forgive sins. After the Lord had come to His own city, Capernaum, where He now dwelt (4:13), a paralytic was brought to Him. Verse 2 says, “And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Have courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” Verse 3 says, “And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes.” The scribes, assuming that they knew the Scriptures, thought that only God had authority to forgive sins, and that Jesus, who in their eyes was only a man, blasphemed God when He said, “Your sins are forgiven.” According to the scribes, the Lord Jesus was assuming to be God and was blaspheming Him. But the Lord Jesus, of course, did not blaspheme at all, for He is God. As God, He not only has authority over the natural environment and over demons; He also has the full authority to forgive people of their sins. The Lord perceived in His spirit (Mark 2:8) the reasoning of the scribes. Verses 4 and 5 say, “And Jesus, knowing their inward reasonings, said, Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, Your sins are forgiven; or to say, Rise and walk?” The Greek word rendered “inward reasonings” also means cogitations, thoughts, evil surmisings with strong feeling or passion. The scribes did not have to give utterance to their reasonings because the Lord Jesus through the perception of His spirit was able to discern the reasonings within their hearts, and He asked them concerning them. The Lord’s perceiving of the reasonings of the scribes indicates that He is truly God. If He were not God, how could He have known these things? Notice that the Lord did not say, “Which is more difficult?” because to Him nothing is difficult. For Him to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” was easier than to say, “Rise and walk,” because no one knows whether or not one’s sins are forgiven. Hence, it is easy to say this. But everyone can tell if a person rises and walks. The Lord enabled the paralytic not only to walk, but also to pick up his bed and walk. Formerly the bed bore him; now he bears it. This is the power of the Lord’s salvation. This paralytic was brought to the Lord by others, but he went home by himself. This indicates that it is not that the sinner can go to the Lord, but that the sinner can go from the Lord by the Lord’s salvation. The Lord’s salvation not only forgives our sins, but also causes us to rise and walk. It is not to rise and walk first and then be forgiven of our sins; that would be by works. Rather, it is to be forgiven of our sins first and then to rise and walk; this is by grace. If we put together all the cases recorded in 8:1—9:8, we see a clear picture of who this heavenly King is. He is the Savior of the Jews and also of the Gentiles. He will be the Savior of the repentant Jews, and He will also be the One who will restore the entire earth in the millennium. He has authority over the wind, the sea, and the demons. He also has authority to forgive people of their sins, and to cause these people to rise and walk. If we would follow this heavenly King, we must not expect any material enjoyment, and we also need to ignore the dead obligations and duties. This bird’s-eye view of this portion of the Word affords us a vivid portrait of who the heavenly King is. Read the verses and footnotes online: http://online.recoveryversion.bible/ Read the complete message online: http://www.ministrybooks.org/life-studies.cfm
