Matthew 8 -- Grace To The Outcasts And Peace To The Disturbed

This chapter is entitled "Grace to the Outcasts and Peace to the Disturbed" in my commentary.  It couldn't have come at a better time, Father!

"The lepers in that day were forced to live apart from others and to cry, 'Unclean!  Unclean!" when others approached, so they would not be defiled."  This man instead ran up to Jesus, violating that code, because he had great faith that Jesus would heal him, my commentary explained.

"Leprosy is an illustration of sin ... Sin is deeper than the skin, it spreads, it defiles and isolates, and it is fit only for the fire."  I think the world today certainly tries to make us think otherwise.

Get this:  "When Jesus touched the leper, He contracted the leper's defilement, but He also conveyed His health!  Is this not what He did for us on the cross when He was made sin for us?"

The Roman centurion "understood that Jesus, like himself, was under authority.  All Christ had to do was speak the word and the disease would obey Him the way a soldier obeyed his officer ... Twice in the Gospels it is recorded that Jesus marveled:  here, at the great faith of the Gentile centurion, and in Mark 6:6 at the great unbelief of the Jews... This is an early indicator that the Jews would not believe, but the Gentiles would."

"Sickness is a consequence of Adam's sin."  Just as the ground became infested with thorns and also lost much of its God-given fertility because of Adam's sin, so too, human bodies became susceptible to sickness.

Regarding Jesus' disciples' unbelief during the boat ride in the storm, my commentary said, "The storm came because they obeyed the Lord, and not because (like Jonah) they disobeyed Him.  Jesus was asleep because He rested confidently in the will of His Father, and this is what the disciples should have done.  Instead, they became frightened and accused Jesus of not caring."

Father, these stories help me to understand that often we cannot see things from Your perspective, and as a result, we accuse You in error of not caring.  Please clarify my perception, God.  Help me to see what You are doing and to love You all the more for it!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford