Faith

When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to 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 this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 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.” Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:1-27 ESV)

Matthew 8:2 Lord, if you will, you can make me clean...There is no question in this man's mind that the Lord can heal him. There is no doubt in his mind that the Lord of all creation is in fact capable of cleansing him of his sins. There is no doubt in his mind that God is not the one who can cure him and can bring him through. No doubt. 

Matthew 8:5-9 And faith is illustrated here again. A faith that is so great in the Lord. The Centurion knows that God himself will take care of him. He knows that God will help him and that Christ has the power to heal his servant. He knows that with the words of Christ, that his servant will be healed. It is through those words and through the faith, a faith that is so strong, that Christ healed the centurion. 

Matthew 8:14-17 Faith. It is the faith that healed these people. It is by faith they are healed. They come to Christ because they know that he can heal them. They know that he can help them and that he can take care of them. They are fulfilled by his power. Their weakness is removed from them and they are stripped of their sickness. They are replenished with the power of Christ and the strength of Christ. They are no longer thirsty and hungry, but have received the bread and water of Christ himself.  

Matthew 8:19-22 Following Christ is not something that is easy to do. It is not something that is always fun or simple. It is something that can be complicated, it can be constantly moving, it is not knowing what will come next. It is trusting in God and seeing how he will move. It is having faith in him to know that he will pull through and bring you to the next step. It is interesting to see where this is plugged in this passage. It is right after Christ shows what faith is. It is right after he shows how faith brings healing. It is right after showing what true faith is. True faith is required to follow Jesus. It cannot be a masked faith.

Matthew 8:23-27 Even in the eye of the storm there is peace. Life may be crazy and there may be a lot of things going on, but in Christ there is peace and in that peace, nothing can get ahold of you. He is the light in the darkness that pierces the darkness.