WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.919 Now, we're going to go back to the reading that we had today in church from Matthew chapter 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:17.359 8, and we're going to look at this passage, Matthew chapter 8 to verse 17. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:22.280 And it's a follow-on, it's a new section, I'll mention that in a moment, but we've 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:26.000 finished the section that was the sermon on the Mount. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:32.240 And at this point, I'd just also like to welcome the folk from our church plant in 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:36.600 Harrington, Harrington Community Church, I think they're joining us for the sermon 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:37.600 today. 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:46.640 Allie Soll, the minister out in Harrington, as had there's been a family bereavement, 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:52.960 it's actually Julie's aunt and grandad passed away in the last week. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:01:02.439 And so I think they rightly wanted a bit of time to just reflect and not be terribly busy 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:04.879 distracted by sermon preparation. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:09.240 So we're very glad to be able to give Allie that little bit of time, Allie and Julie together. 00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:13.359 And we pray for them and pray for Julie's wider family. 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:17.120 This really sad time for them. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:26.400 Now, we're looking at Jesus and the ongoing story that we have of Him here in Matthew. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.640 Now, reputation is very, very important, isn't it? 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:36.560 And it's tremendously important when you're asked to trust someone. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:41.880 If you're going to trust someone, that person's reputation is important. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:47.920 Now I happen to think that in the political arena over the last maybe 10 or 20 years, 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:53.879 last couple of decades, there's been a move away from linking a politician or a leader's 00:01:53.879 --> 00:02:00.399 private life and private character with their public service and their ability to do the 00:02:00.399 --> 00:02:01.399 job. 00:02:01.399 --> 00:02:11.759 Now, there is a certain reality that is fair enough in that someone can do their job very 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:15.159 well, they may have very good leadership gifts. 00:02:15.159 --> 00:02:20.639 But to divorce someone's character from their ability to lead publicly for a politician, 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:28.639 I think it was a great mistake because politician required to be trusted by their constituents 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:30.560 and by the public. 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:41.359 And I think by and large that trust has gone because character has been marginalized in 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:42.360 these positions. 00:02:42.360 --> 00:02:51.960 You know, I don't know what you would think if you were waiting to receive heart surgery 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:59.560 and the heart surgeon comes to the consultation with you 15 minutes late and he explains that 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:06.440 he's been at a tribunal or a medical council for incompetence allegations. 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:14.439 Now, I'm not sure whether you would feel terribly confident going on into the operating theatre 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:23.079 with that knowledge or would you be someone who trusts your car keys to another person 00:03:23.079 --> 00:03:27.120 who has 12 points on their license? 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:28.120 Maybe not. 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:32.719 Sometimes reputation is very important if we are asked to trust someone. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:41.120 Billy Graham, not our Billy Graham but the American evangelist, once I think I've maybe 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:47.919 mentioned this before in St. Columbus, a great quote who said, a Christian is a person who 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:53.240 can give his pet parrot to the town gossip. 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:56.919 Think about that. 00:03:56.919 --> 00:04:05.359 Because the reputation of that person, what they are in private and what they are in public 00:04:05.359 --> 00:04:10.199 is the same and they are not going to gossip or badmouth or speak about someone in private 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:15.839 which the parrot might hear and then pass on to the town gossip. 00:04:15.839 --> 00:04:22.480 And in Matthew, what Matthew is doing here in the Gospel is building the reputation of 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.519 Jesus. 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:28.279 The reputation of Jesus matters, it matters then and it matters now. 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.799 He's making very big and significant and important claims. 00:04:32.799 --> 00:04:40.399 He asks us to entrust our lives to him, somebody we can't even see. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.399 Huge claims he is making in our lives. 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:50.560 And therefore, his reputation and the character of Jesus is hugely significant and important 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:52.839 and who he claims to be. 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:59.159 So when we come to say like the Gospel of Matthew, it's not a random collection of events. 00:04:59.159 --> 00:05:01.679 It's not just something that's cobbled together. 00:05:01.679 --> 00:05:05.479 It's very ordered and it's divinely inspired. 00:05:05.479 --> 00:05:13.599 Now if you have Bibles with you, you can turn back to Matthew chapter 4 and verse 23. 00:05:13.599 --> 00:05:16.879 Matthew chapter 4 and verse 23. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:22.839 And there we have these words, and he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:27.959 and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction 00:05:27.959 --> 00:05:29.759 among the people. 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:36.439 And that is what he has gone on following that verse, he's gone on to unpack. 00:05:36.439 --> 00:05:42.879 So verse 5 to 7 is the Sermon on the Mount, that is his teaching and his preaching. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:51.120 And now in this chapter, from chapter 8 through to the end of chapter 9, we have the healing 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:54.839 ministry of Jesus being spoken about. 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:57.839 And he's building a reputation. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:05:59.519 Matthew is building Jesus' reputation. 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:07.159 He's saying here are his words, now here are his deeds to back up who he is. 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:12.920 On the Baptist, when he was imprisoned, he had people following him disciples and he asked 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:18.280 them to go and speak to Jesus and Jesus' disciples and ask him, are you the Messiah? 00:06:18.280 --> 00:06:20.200 Are you the one who is to come? 00:06:20.200 --> 00:06:26.320 And we have that recorded in Luke chapter 7 verse 22. 00:06:26.320 --> 00:06:30.360 And Jesus answered them and said, go and tell John what you have seen and heard. 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:35.080 The blind received the sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:40.319 dead are raised up, the poor have the good news preached to them. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:48.839 And so we see that the miracles, the healings that he did, backed up his message and explained 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:50.439 who Jesus was. 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:56.479 We find that again in John's Gospel in chapter 2 at the end of his first miracle, John says, 00:06:56.479 --> 00:07:02.919 this is the first of his signs, it's a sign that Jesus did in Canaan of Galilee and manifested 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.040 his glory and his disciples believed in him. 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:11.080 Or even if we're moving forward and I'm laboring this point because it's important, in Acts 00:07:11.080 --> 00:07:16.680 chapter 2 where we have the first sermon that Peter preaches after the resurrection and 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:24.120 ascension, and he said, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:32.160 and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourself know. 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:41.439 So we have there that great truth that Jesus' character was attested by the great miracles 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:42.439 he did. 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:46.840 So the miracles really point to his character. 00:07:46.840 --> 00:07:54.680 They point to who he is, their public signposts, particularly among a people who were, evidence 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:58.440 to among a people who were cynical, who were unbelieving. 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:03.439 He's setting forth his credentials by these amazing miracles. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:09.839 And there aren't any other miracles like this. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:15.399 The people that he healed had, for the most part, incurable diseases, it wasn't the common 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:16.399 cold he had. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:24.800 It was instantaneous, it was successful, it was unparalleled. 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:31.400 And to the point of just his mere word was powerful enough to heal his touch. 00:08:31.400 --> 00:08:37.320 He healed people, he calmed storms, he raised the dead. 00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:45.600 He is sealing his teaching, not only as having authority, but being divine. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:51.879 He's showing himself to have authority over disease and sickness and creation, and his 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:56.679 words reveal truth. 00:08:56.679 --> 00:09:02.879 So it points, these miracles that we read about in chapter 8 point to his character, but they 00:09:02.879 --> 00:09:05.840 also point to his mission. 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:11.240 So when Jesus did these miracles of healing, it wasn't because he was a magician, he wasn't 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:14.039 a faith healer, he wasn't a guru. 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:22.279 It's because these healing miracles were pointing to a deeper sickness that he came to deal with, 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:25.879 a deeper brokenness, a deeper need. 00:09:25.879 --> 00:09:34.199 He is reminding us, and reminding his people that we are all sinners before a holy God, 00:09:34.199 --> 00:09:37.439 and he has come on a healing mission. 00:09:37.439 --> 00:09:43.759 He has come to deal with our sickness, spiritual sickness, and with our pain, and with our 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.919 guilt, and with our death. 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:55.080 And in his life, and in his death, he is bearing up as our Savior and our Lord. 00:09:55.080 --> 00:10:01.240 If you look at chapter 8 that we've read, and also verse 17, we've got that fantastic 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:04.439 quote from Isaiah chapter 53. 00:10:04.439 --> 00:10:09.879 This was to fulfill, written hundreds of years before, which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:14.240 He took our illnesses and bore our diseases. 00:10:14.240 --> 00:10:16.799 Jesus is our great shepherd. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:22.279 He's the one who loves us, who lays down his life for us. 00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:30.320 And his healing, even though it was hugely significant and a physical point of view for 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:35.600 these people in the stories, is pointing to a much deeper healing. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:39.200 It's not just the healing of a broken leg or a cold. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:47.800 It's that healing of our soul, of our very being, of our whole person, of the whole direction, 00:10:47.800 --> 00:10:55.800 the whole trajectory of where we're going, rather than being away from God towards him. 00:10:55.800 --> 00:11:02.200 So I want to just address a question and then look at briefly the two of the stories here. 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:05.560 But I ask you, what does it mean today? 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:11.679 What's the significance of this passage in Jesus' healing today? 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:21.679 Well, the reason God gives us this record and what we believe is his own inspired word, 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:29.799 that is self-evident and that is one that he claims for himself, is to give us the evidence 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:37.319 of who Jesus is, is to build our understanding of his reputation and of his character. 00:11:37.319 --> 00:11:45.359 It is to enable us to present Jesus as the one and present his healing miracles and all 00:11:45.359 --> 00:11:53.519 his miracles as evidence to begin to persuade cynical unbelievers about Jesus as the Messiah, 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:54.519 as the Savior. 00:11:54.519 --> 00:12:00.360 That this is not just a great hero from the past, not just a wonderful leader, not just 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:05.319 a good thinker and teacher, but God in the flesh. 00:12:05.319 --> 00:12:13.960 We have this recorded for us as history to us, as his story to us with the same aim, the 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.559 same aim. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:23.399 There's no healing ever that has been paralleled to Jesus' healing here. 00:12:23.399 --> 00:12:28.000 And the gospel message that he has spoken in the Sermon on the Mount and he goes on 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:34.959 to speak through his life and particularly by his death and resurrection, it's authenticated 00:12:34.959 --> 00:12:36.919 by what he does. 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:42.199 His words and his deeds go together and that is hugely significant. 00:12:42.199 --> 00:12:48.439 His words, his work and the teaching and preaching of the apostles are the foundation of our 00:12:48.439 --> 00:12:50.319 faith. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:56.560 And it is his truth that brings peace and restoration to us and healing. 00:12:56.560 --> 00:13:03.160 And we know and understand that the gospel, the ultimate reality of what Jesus has done 00:13:03.160 --> 00:13:10.040 will be the healing of the creation, the healing of the universe which groans to be liberated 00:13:10.040 --> 00:13:15.560 from the curse that it's under and for the healing of a redeemed humanity within that 00:13:15.560 --> 00:13:17.280 world. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:24.639 And he alone has the power and the authority to bring that to pass. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.879 So that's what it means for today. 00:13:27.879 --> 00:13:33.240 It's authenticating, it's building the reputation of Jesus for us to consider because he asks 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:36.679 us to put our trust in him. 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:39.199 But do we need these signs and wonders now? 00:13:39.199 --> 00:13:41.720 You know, where is that power today? 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:46.199 You know, the power that was so remarkable in these stories, you know, many, maybe you're 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:49.480 listening in today and saying, well, I would believe in Jesus if I could see these things 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:50.480 now. 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:54.200 You know, why doesn't he do it? 00:13:54.200 --> 00:14:00.759 Well, can I say that I believe that God is sovereign and he is all-powerful and he will 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.720 do what he will do and can do what he will do. 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:13.720 But I just want to say a few things about these signs and wonders in its broader context. 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:17.759 Because the reality is that though some people might say, if I saw these things today, I 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.360 would believe. 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:22.040 The Bible argues differently. 00:14:22.040 --> 00:14:28.759 The Bible says that it's not a question of evidence, it's a question of trust. 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:32.480 It's not needing more evidence of Jesus. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:41.759 It's needing to understand our will and our heart, which is in rebellion against God. 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:48.679 It's dealing with the truth as it's been revealed, which is plenty evidence because 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.319 the issue is not one of evidence, it's one of trust. 00:14:51.319 --> 00:14:57.319 There's a great story that Jesus tells in Luke's Gospel, Luke's Gospel chapter 16, about 00:14:57.319 --> 00:15:03.919 a rich man in Lazarus, so the Lazarus, the poor beggar, dies and he goes to heaven because 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.559 he trusted in God for his salvation. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:14.039 And Lazarus, the rich man, dies and he goes to hell and lots happens in the story, but 00:15:14.039 --> 00:15:18.599 it ends up with the rich man in hell pleading to God and saying, well, Luke, will you send 00:15:18.599 --> 00:15:24.959 Lazarus back from heaven to earth to warn my brothers about the afterlife and about 00:15:24.959 --> 00:15:28.000 the need to repent and come to faith? 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:33.159 And Jesus says, listen, even if someone goes back to them from the dead, who's raised from 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:37.759 the dead and goes back to them, they will not be persuaded because they have the law 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:38.759 and the prophets. 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:45.719 That is, they had the Bible as they had it in the Old Testament then and they won't believe. 00:15:45.719 --> 00:15:52.279 It's not a matter of evidence, it's a matter of our wills being changed and the need to 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:56.639 trust and submit to the living God. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:03.159 So we have the Word of God, you know, and that speaks into our lives, as God breathed. 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:09.080 You know, what more could we want than to have God's living Word that He's given us 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:17.159 where He can, as we read His Word in our lives, we know He talks to us one to one through 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:18.840 His living Word. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.439 It's not a question of evidence. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:28.480 But we realize that the death and the resurrection of Jesus that all the Gospels are pointing 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:31.560 towards is the greatest miracle. 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:34.560 It's the greatest sign in wonder. 00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:36.240 Nothing tops it. 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:44.480 We don't need anything beyond that to explain and express and reveal the rescue plan of 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:49.480 God and the depth of His love. 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:53.879 Everyone who has come to faith in Jesus has been converted to Christ who's put their faith 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.759 in Jesus and become a Christian. 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.440 That is an amazing miracle. 00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:04.240 They've come from spiritual death to life because God has gifted them the hope of salvation 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:11.480 and has forgiven their sins and given them life and His presence with them. 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:16.240 So every Christian in St. Columba, every Christian who calls in the name of Jesus is a walking 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:22.799 miracle to His power and His glory. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:31.039 And also, I think the unappreciated gift or power of grace in our lives as Christians 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:33.240 is an amazing sign in wonder. 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:41.839 You know, Jesus says in John's Gospel chapter 13 verse 35, this, all people will know that 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:46.839 you are my disciples if you have love one for another. 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:52.359 He doesn't say if you're able to do signs and wonders or if I will do signs and wonders 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.279 some way. 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:03.639 If we love one another, if we love God and love one another, that is a powerful testimony 00:18:03.639 --> 00:18:06.519 to be a follower of Jesus Christ. 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:12.519 We have all we need to be changed and to see others changed. 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.799 We are far from ordinary. 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:20.960 And I think probably that the last thing is with respect to signs and wonders today that 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:29.519 I want to say is that there's always a danger of, I think, with signs and wonders of sensationalism. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:36.839 Thomas last week read from Matthew chapter 7 in verse 22, he says, Jesus says, on that 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:41.920 day many, the last day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:46.319 cast out demons in Your name, do many mighty works in Your name? 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.359 And then I will declare to you, I never knew you depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. 00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:59.359 It's an astonishing verse where these amazing, seemingly supernatural works are done, but 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:00.599 they didn't know Jesus. 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:06.279 Their motives for doing these miracles was completely wrong. 00:19:06.279 --> 00:19:13.479 And there is always that danger of sensationalism because it's physical healing is only a sign 00:19:13.479 --> 00:19:17.199 to deeper healing that's needed. 00:19:17.199 --> 00:19:20.119 The sign can't become the end in itself. 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.119 It's not the root problem. 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:30.559 Even if I had the ability, the power, through God to miraculously heal people, presumably 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:36.479 they would still die at the end of their lives, and they wouldn't necessarily submit their 00:19:36.479 --> 00:19:38.719 hearts to Jesus Christ. 00:19:38.719 --> 00:19:46.079 Often such power among people can be sought for the wrong reasons, both the healer and 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:47.719 maybe even the healed. 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:52.920 The healing of the gospel is body, mind and soul. 00:19:52.920 --> 00:20:01.440 And when we come to Jesus, He is doing, has done and is doing and will do a continued 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:03.759 healing of body, mind and soul. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:10.559 And it's a lifelong work that He does in us, requiring patience and grace and perseverance. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.319 Absolutely, we've moved from death to life. 00:20:13.319 --> 00:20:18.599 We've moved from being estranged from God to being friends with God and we are in His 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:26.240 family, but He works in us and it roots out remaining sin. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:36.079 And the paradox often is that suffering is often the means of that deeper healing that 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.519 He's working in our lives. 00:20:38.519 --> 00:20:51.400 Pain, not being healed physically or dealing with a slow, gradual mental healing in our 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:58.879 lives, spiritual healing through often difficult times is how He reveals His love and grace 00:20:58.879 --> 00:21:01.440 in our lives. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:08.000 So can I just briefly look at two of the healings here and take one or two lessons from them? 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:15.640 The first is the healing of the leper in verses one to four where Jesus comes down from the 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:20.880 mountain and the leper runs up to him and says, if you're willing, make me clean. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.359 Jesus does the unthinkable. 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:24.599 We stretched out His hand to touch the leper. 00:21:24.599 --> 00:21:29.599 The lepers in Jesus' society were untouchable. 00:21:29.599 --> 00:21:31.880 They were isolated. 00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:37.680 They were ostracized and left out of company. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:40.560 Jesus touched them and says, I will be clean. 00:21:40.560 --> 00:21:48.160 And immediately the leper was cleansed and Jesus told him to go to the temple, to the 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:55.180 priest and offer the gift of Moses for proof to them that he was healed. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:58.160 So just a couple of things here. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:03.519 We see deep need in the leper and also great faith. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.000 You know, He was really in need. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:12.799 You know, we've glimpsed, we've tasted a little bit about social isolation in these days. 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.680 And it's not a pleasant thing. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:17.119 His was far worse. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:22.960 He was separated absolutely and entirely from his community and from his family and from 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:24.319 all that he knew. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:28.119 And he was pushed out of town completely. 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:34.759 It was dreadful because he was literally dying of this incurable disease called leprosy. 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:38.119 Inside and out, just dying. 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:41.359 Yet, he has great faith. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:43.279 He knows who to trust. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:51.000 He has heard about Jesus and he is putting his trust in this authoritative teacher and 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:56.440 as we will go on to see this divine healer. 00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:00.359 And the great thing about it is that Jesus is willing. 00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:02.079 You know, He is willing to be cleaned. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:06.960 Lord, if you will, and Jesus said, I will, I will be clean. 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:11.000 And He commands him to be clean. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:17.159 But he doesn't want adulation and He, you know, He doesn't want anyone to know about 00:23:17.159 --> 00:23:24.919 it because of that danger of maybe people wanting healing or wanting to witness healing 00:23:24.919 --> 00:23:27.119 for maybe all the wrong reasons. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:34.159 And He wants the leper to fulfil the Mosaic law, the Old Testament law, to go to the priest 00:23:34.159 --> 00:23:39.239 and to be testified to as being made clean. 00:23:39.239 --> 00:23:41.799 And in a sense, what's He doing there? 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:47.639 He's, in a sense, He's saying, look, go to the priests. 00:23:47.639 --> 00:23:50.559 Let them know they're someone greater than Moses here. 00:23:50.559 --> 00:24:00.559 But yet, still, I want you to fulfil that law and I want you to do so as a testimony 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:09.599 that I am willing to fulfil the laws of the Old Testament and also as proof from those 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:14.559 who are opposing Him, because the priests were opposing Him at this time, proof that 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:20.480 whatever they say about Him, there is a healed man in their midst, healed physically and 00:24:20.480 --> 00:24:24.240 as He trusted in God, healed spiritually. 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.519 So any parallels for today with that story? 00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:36.680 Well, we may not be lepers, but we're in deep need. 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:43.319 The isolation that we're going through at the moment can exacerbate some of the feelings 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:48.720 and the experiences or the characteristics that we're battling with. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:55.920 It can be highlighting them and it can be making them worse, sometimes our anxiety or 00:24:55.920 --> 00:25:02.559 our financial problems or our lack of ability to plan for the future. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:07.880 It may be giving us a time to reflect on other needs that we have in our lives. 00:25:07.880 --> 00:25:18.600 In the sense that aloneness, you fear being unwell, you're afraid of dying and you're 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:24.359 aware of difficulties and issues and problems in your life and heart. 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:28.519 You need to think about Jesus' reputation. 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:33.519 You need to think about His words and His deeds which backed up His words, His claims 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:42.879 on your life and His claims to expose your need for deeper healing, spiritual healing 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:50.680 from the disease of sin, which is common to every single person in this universe, that 00:25:50.680 --> 00:26:00.440 sin leaves us dead spiritually, dying physically, under God's wrath and desolate. 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:10.880 Great need, great need, but also the tremendous heart of Jesus, the wonderful heart of Jesus 00:26:10.880 --> 00:26:18.120 who we're told hasn't come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might 00:26:18.120 --> 00:26:20.400 be saved. 00:26:20.400 --> 00:26:29.600 So as you call out to Jesus, He's a rescuing Savior and there's a great immediacy in His 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:30.760 response to us. 00:26:30.760 --> 00:26:40.720 As we come to Him and cry out to Him, there's no lengthy waiting period before He responds. 00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:47.000 He is willing, He is longing for us to come and ask for forgiveness and for healing from 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:52.600 our sins and to know His cleansing, the cleansing that only He can give. 00:26:52.600 --> 00:26:59.839 And as Christians, we are to be people who recognize His constant willingness to hear 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:06.799 us, to hear our prayers, to hear our cries, to be in relationship with Him because that's 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:15.079 the kind of God He is, this magnificent verse, verse 17, which says that Jesus in His willingness 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:19.279 took up our illnesses and bore our diseases. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:26.319 That great sense in which even the physical healing that He did speaks of what He came 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:39.720 to do, came to take up our case, to bear the weight of our burdens, our sickness, and to 00:27:39.720 --> 00:27:40.720 take it Himself. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:46.599 You know, if someone takes up your case and is interested in your life, then especially 00:27:46.599 --> 00:27:48.879 if they're important, that's a great thing. 00:27:48.880 --> 00:27:56.960 But it's as if He takes the weight of all our lives and deals with it. 00:27:56.960 --> 00:27:59.880 An illustration, a little bit helpful, maybe from a great film, one of my favorite films, 00:27:59.880 --> 00:28:08.800 called The Green Mile, which is a fictional story about death row, a character on death 00:28:08.800 --> 00:28:13.000 row in the southern states of America. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:22.559 And his name is John Coffey, and he is a big, big man, and he's been wrongly accused of 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.960 murdering two young girls. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:33.759 But he has this amazing gift of healing, it's fictional. 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:40.039 But when he does heal, it's in the story in the film, he touches or he's involved in the 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:51.359 person, and it's as if the illness, he takes it in himself, and it slowly destroys him because 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:56.000 he takes the pain and he takes the cost and the suffering. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:04.799 And it's just a very minor picture of the fact that Jesus in his life, but particularly 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:12.119 in his death on the cross, he's taking up our sin and our diseases, and he dies, not 00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:22.599 a victim, but dies in all his willingness to take the cost of our sins in order to redeem 00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:24.480 us and heal us and make us well. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:29.559 So you've got the leper, and you've also then got the centurion, the story of the centurion 00:29:29.559 --> 00:29:33.000 in verses 5 to 13. 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:36.240 And it's a slightly different story, isn't it, because he has great faith himself, the 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:43.319 centurion, and that faith enables him to see the need in someone else. 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:47.960 His servant is really sick and is probably going to die. 00:29:47.960 --> 00:29:55.440 And yet he goes to Jesus, for Jesus to be the one to help his servant, he recognizes 00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:00.480 him as Lord, he already, obviously somehow trusts in Jesus, he knows about Jesus, he 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:06.960 has belief in Jesus, he recognizes Jesus' authority, amazing faith given his lack of 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:12.279 knowledge, so much so that he says, look Jesus, just say the word, from here, and he'll be 00:30:12.279 --> 00:30:13.279 healed. 00:30:13.279 --> 00:30:21.440 It's a tremendous picture of faith and a lovely picture of someone's deep concern for another 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:27.240 person and recognizing the only answer for that person was Jesus. 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:33.599 And Jesus, in his response, he sees the moment, but he also sees way beyond the moment. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:41.400 He sees the amazing faith of the centurion, he responds to that faith by saying, yep, 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:44.880 go, your servant's well. 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:49.079 But he also declares the surprising occupants of heaven. 00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:57.559 He looks forward from the story and sees that it's, he, in the centurion is seeing someone 00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:04.720 who is already been cleansed and there's recipient of faith and who will be with him in heaven. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:10.919 And he is basically saying those who had great religious knowledge around him but who rejected 00:31:10.919 --> 00:31:15.859 Jesus, they wouldn't be in heaven. 00:31:15.859 --> 00:31:23.639 Let those who put their trust in Jesus from wherever they come from, they will be in heaven. 00:31:23.639 --> 00:31:27.879 They will come from the east and the west and they will recline at table with Abraham, 00:31:27.879 --> 00:31:29.599 Isaac and Jacob and the kingdom of heaven. 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:33.719 While the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness, in that place they'll 00:31:33.719 --> 00:31:35.439 be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 00:31:35.439 --> 00:31:39.959 What is Jesus saying to us in this healing story? 00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:46.079 Well, I think he's reminding us that true faith is selfless, just as it was in the centurion's 00:31:46.079 --> 00:31:48.039 case. 00:31:48.039 --> 00:31:53.400 As believers, we are to see Jesus as the only answer to our healing, our cleansing, our 00:31:53.400 --> 00:31:58.120 sins being forgiven, but also the only answer to other peoples. 00:31:58.120 --> 00:31:59.799 And we plead for others in prayer. 00:31:59.799 --> 00:32:04.680 And that's what we've been doing in these last few days or seven days of prayer. 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:12.840 We tell our friends about who Jesus is, we understand the awesome authority of Jesus 00:32:12.840 --> 00:32:16.759 that He is the only one that can heal anyone and everyone. 00:32:16.759 --> 00:32:24.440 We take risks and we're not afraid to declare our allegiance to Him at whatever the cost. 00:32:24.440 --> 00:32:29.080 So there's a selfless element that we can learn from this centurion. 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:37.480 But also we learn that Jesus sees the world or sees a world that we only see by faith. 00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:41.839 Jesus here and in many other places in the gospel reaches into another real but unseen 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:49.159 world into the unseen spiritual realm, heaven and hell, into the future. 00:32:49.159 --> 00:32:56.439 And He just declares here the consequences for accepting or rejecting Jesus both now 00:32:56.439 --> 00:32:57.879 and in the future. 00:32:57.880 --> 00:33:01.920 He says there is life after death. 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:06.440 He says He refers to it so often. 00:33:06.440 --> 00:33:10.120 He says there is a heaven and a hell, there is a God and there is a devil. 00:33:10.120 --> 00:33:13.640 He says there will be a feast and there will be a famine. 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:18.920 There is light and there's darkness, there is life and there's physical death and then 00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:24.120 there's spiritual, eternal, second death, there's joy or there's despair. 00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:31.159 And He says that accepting Jesus to heal our sinful hearts and to cleanse us is the only 00:33:31.159 --> 00:33:36.359 way to know Him both now and forever. 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:42.239 That's why His claims are so important and are backed up by these remarkable evidences 00:33:42.239 --> 00:33:49.879 of His miraculous power, not just over sickness and creation but over death and over sin. 00:33:49.880 --> 00:33:54.520 So I think heaven will be full of surprises. 00:33:54.520 --> 00:33:57.600 I'll be there. 00:33:57.600 --> 00:33:59.080 That's a surprise. 00:33:59.080 --> 00:34:05.320 And it's a surprise that grace makes us realize that we are unworthy but we are not worthless 00:34:05.320 --> 00:34:08.400 because of what Jesus has done for us. 00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:15.039 Those who are religiously self-righteous or who are moralists and who reject the message 00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:21.320 and the authority of Jesus and who don't come to Jesus to be cleansed, there is no place 00:34:21.320 --> 00:34:29.840 for them at that great feast, at that great place called heaven. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:32.719 Who doesn't want to be well? 00:34:32.719 --> 00:34:36.679 The title of the sermon is I want to be well. 00:34:36.679 --> 00:34:44.119 Physically we all want to be well but there's a deeper healing, a deeper health, a spiritual 00:34:44.119 --> 00:34:48.440 health that Jesus alone can offer. 00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:54.839 And I would love you if you're not a Christian to seriously consider the authority and the 00:34:54.839 --> 00:34:57.519 claims of Jesus Christ for today. 00:34:57.519 --> 00:35:04.000 He's transformed and changed the lives of every Christian in St. Columbus and beyond. 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:09.239 And as Christians, even in this lockdown and you may be battling and struggling with many 00:35:09.239 --> 00:35:16.599 things, praise him because you are a miracle, you are a sign and a wonder of the great, 00:35:16.599 --> 00:35:20.679 miraculous power and strength of the living God. 00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:23.639 Amen, let's pray. 00:35:23.639 --> 00:35:29.879 Father, we ask and pray that you would help us to understand who you are. 00:35:29.879 --> 00:35:36.959 We pray that you would bless all who have listened to the reading and what we have sought to 00:35:36.959 --> 00:35:38.959 bring out from the reading. 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:42.920 We pray that you would speak into people's hearts and lives in consciences. 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:51.159 All of us preachers, hearers alike, believer or unbeliever and that Lord we would deal 00:35:51.159 --> 00:35:58.360 with you and talk to you and ask for your help, your healing and your grace. 00:35:58.360 --> 00:36:08.920 Amen.