The Lord’s Message:  The Hands of God Who Heals the Sick

The Lord’s Message:  The Hands of God Who Heals the Sick
Date:  March 23, 2025
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Matthew 8:1-4

            We are continuing our sermon series:  The Hands of God.  The first Sunday, we learned that the Hand of God, Jesus, was with God in creating the physical world and saving Peter from drowning.  Jesus could even walk on water.  Nothing is impossible for God.  Last Sunday, we learned the not only does Jesus have authority over physical world, but Jesus has authority over the spiritual world, including the devil and his demons.  This Sunday, we are going to learn that Jesus has the compassion and capability of healing all of our sicknesses. 

            Let us pray.

            Let us open our Bibles to Matthew 8.  “When He came down from the mountainside,” Jesus has been up on the mountain preaching the Sermon on the Mount.  In Matthew 7:28-29, Jesus’ preaching has moved the crowds to the knowledge that Jesus has more knowledge than their teachers of the law.  Some in the crowd started to wonder if Jesus was the Messiah. 

            As the crowds are following Jesus down the mountain, a man with leprosy approaches Jesus.  The first time we hear about someone having leprosy in the Bible is when God tells Moses to reach into his tunic and pull out his hand in Exodus 4:6. In Numbers 12:10-13, God has stricken Miriam, Moses’ sister, with leprosy because she has spoken out against Moses after Moses had married a Cushite woman.  The other report of leprosy in the Old Testament is found in 2 Kings 5, Naaman a commander of the army for the king of Aram, had leprosy.  Aram is an enemy of Israel.  Naaman is convinced to go to Elisha.  Elisha tells him to immerse himself in the Jordan river and he will be healed of leprosy.  At first Naaman needs some convincing by his servants to do this, but once he does, it says in verse 14 that his skin was cleansed.

            Now, during the time of Jesus every kind of skin disease was associated with leprosy.  If you had a sun burn that was leprosy.  If you had a rash that was leprosy.  If you had any kind of skin disease.  You had to leave your family and live far from them.  No one could touch you because it was assumed that by touching the person one would in a short time come down with the disease.  So, if you were the leper, you had to announce to every one stay away, I am unclean.  This is because leprosy was such a debilitating disease.     

Leprosy today is known as Hansen’s disease.  In 1873, a Norwegian physician, Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen discovered that leprosy is caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium leprae.  It starts out as a rash on the skin.  Then moves through the body to the brain.  It causes the limbs to be paralyzed.  The hands turn inward like claws.  The leprosy affects the muscles in the legs, causing a person to not be able to lift up their feet.    Their eye lids cannot close and the eyes roll to the back on their heads. This causes them not to be able see very well, and eventually leads to death.  Even though Hansen found the cause, it was not until 1970’s that a cure was found.  It takes a combination of three antibiotics.  This multi drug therapy kills the germ, but the effects still remain on hands, legs, and eyes.  Leprosy is still a major illness today.  It is found in 120 countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, affecting 200,000 people a year.  It is infectious and is spread by long term exposure to a person with leprosy.  So, the man that Jesus encounters in Matthew 8 has some kind of skin disease that may or may not be leprosy.  

            What is the word that we used to show that we have recovered from an illness? “Heal or healed.”  Look at Matthew 8:2 & 3.  Why does the Bible have the word “clean?”  Maybe it was the way that this Bible translator translated Greek to English. Originally this text was written in Greek.   So, I went through about 2 dozen Biblical translations and only three translations used the word “heal,” the International Children Bible, The Message, and the Living Bible.  The rest of the 21 translations used the word “clean” or “cleanse.”  In other places in the Bible, if Jesus heals a person of an illness, the word “heal” or “healed” is used. 

For example look at Matthew 8:13.   A Centurion, a Roman officer in charge of 100 men, asked Jesus to heal his servant who has an illness.  Jesus heals his servant.   The word used to describe what Jesus does is “healed.”  Look further at Matthew 8:16.   Again the word “healed” is used to describe the recovery of an illness.   I thought the Lord is pointing me to something that I had missed and I was right.

            You see the more that the I read the Bible the more I find things that I have missed or did not understand correctly.  When I am preparing the Lord’s Message, I am learning just like all of you. 

            In the Bible I found out that the disease of leprosy is a picture of our sin condition.  What do I mean?  In the Bible, one is healed of an illness, whereas one is cleansed of sin.  Now, I do not want you to leave this church this morning and think that leprosy is caused by sin.  Leprosy is a disease that is contracted.  Sin is inherited.  You could be living a healthy life and then come into contact with someone who has a disease. Diseases are contracted.  Sin is inherited.  You did not start sinning by telling your first lie or stealing a piece of candy or a cookie.  We are born with sin.  In Psalm 51:5, David says that he was born with sin.  People are born with the propensity to sin.  Sin entered into humanity because of our ancestors, Adam and Eve, falling into sin.  In Romans 5:12, Paul confirms this.  Paul goes on to say in Romans 7:14-17.  Our sin is inherited. 

            Now, that we all have a greater understanding of this passage, let us unlock what God is trying to reveal to all of us.  Look at verse 2.  The man has faith that Jesus can heal him.  In verse 5, the Centurion had faith that Jesus could heal his servant.  In verse 14, Peter’s mother-in-law had faith that Jesus could heal her.   In verse 16, all those that came to Jesus had faith that He could heal them.  “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 

            In all these situations, Jesus had compassion for each person.  Jesus wanted them to be free from their sickness.  Jesus wanted them to be made whole.  In verse 3, Jesus reached out His hands and touched the man with leprosy.  In verse 13, Jesus speaks, and the servant is healed.  In verse 15, Jesus touched Peter’s mother-in-law’s hand.  In verse 16, Jesus drove out the spirits with a word.  There is no limit to Jesus’ ability to heal.  Jesus will use every means at His disposal, including the medical community and us.  I know of many doctors that would tell you that many of times when they are treating a patient, they know that it is God who has performed the healing.  When we are with someone that is going through tough times, God is using us to bring out the healing. 

The cure for both the disease and sin are the same. Jesus is the Hands of God Who Heals the Sick.  In Isaiah 53:4-6, Isaiah speaks about the servant of God who would suffer for humanity.  Our sinful condition is like a disease that alienates us from God forever.  Our sinful condition does not stop God from wanting to love us and have a relationship with us.  So, God came up with a plan to redeem us through the blood of His Son, Jesus.  John 3:16-17.  Jesus confirmed that His purpose coming was to save us, Luke 19:10.  Jesus saved us through His body and His hands and feet. His body would bear our sin, our guilt, and our shame.  His hands and feet would support the body with the nails driven into them on the cross.  By His wounds we are healed. 

What are we required to do to be healed from sin?  First, to have faith to open our hearts to Jesus.  Second, confess our sins to Him.  Third, once we are forgiven of our sin, we do not want that sin to hold us back from having a relationship with God.  So, we try to live in obedience to God.  Now, we are all like Paul, we do the things that we do not want to do and the things that we want to do, we do not do.  That is where God’s grace comes in.  The grace of God washing us clean of our sin.  The Holy Spirit is there to guide us in living for God.  The Trinity is necessary for our salvation.

After the man is healed of leprosy, Jesus tells the man to follow the laws that God gave to Moses for a person cleansed of a skin disease.  This is found in Leviticus 14.   The person who has been cleansed of skin diseases must go to be examine by the priest, so that they can be allow back into the community.  After the examination, a sacrifice is made to God giving thanks for the cleansing.  How joyful this man must have been while running to the priest to make his sacrifice? I suspect the priest was taken back.  We have never had anyone cleansed of the disease of leprosy. 

 For all of us that have had our sins forgiven, I hope that we experienced that same joy.  I hope that we go running to tell others how they can be forgiven of their sins.  Before Jesus there can be no forgiveness of sin.  Only through Jesus death on the cross, can we be forgiven.   By believing in Jesus, we receive God’s grace and know without a shadow of a doubt that our sins are forgiven. 

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the Hands of God Who Heals the Sick.  Let us continue to read the Bible, live the Bible and be the Bible for others.  Amen.