Matthew 8:1-4:
When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean.”
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” And
immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
And Jesus said unto him, “See that you tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to
the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
This is the first recorded case of Jesus healing a specific person of a specific disease. Up until this point, He had healed the masses. In the Word of God, leprosy has always represented a type of sin. In the natural, leprosy could not be healed, much like the disease of AIDS today. Lepers were banished outside the city. But this man must have covered himself up and been part of the multitude, waiting at the bottom of the mountain for Jesus to come down.
If leprosy is a type of sin in the Word of God, how can we say Jesus died for our sins but not for our sickness? In the first recorded case of healing, Jesus healed a leper, which tells us He heals the incurable. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If He can heal the worst of sins, He can heal the worst of sickness and disease. The Bible tells us He forgives all our iniquities and heals all our diseases.
In the natural, it is easier to believe for healing for a cold than it is for AIDS. But the stripes of Jesus took care of all of our diseases. He cured all of it on the cross.
Probably the chief question today among people who believe in divine healing is, “Does He want to?” Can you imagine witnessing to a sinner and having that person ask if God is willing to forgive him? Of course, God is willing to forgive!
This leper came to Jesus with this: “I know You can, but I’m not sure if You are willing to heal me.” Jesus said, “I will,” and healed the man.
Jesus told the leper to offer a sacrifice to the priest as Moses had commanded. In Leviticus 14, if a person was cured of leprosy, they were to bring two sparrows to the priest. One was to be cut open and killed. Running water was to be poured over the first sparrow, and the water and blood mingled together would run over the living bird. The living bird was then allowed to go free. The blood of the sparrow was put on the cleansed leper’s thumbs and on his big toe, and the person was then allowed to go free.
This is symbolic of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The first sparrow represents Jesus, the other sparrow represent us. Since Jesus took our place on the cross, we have been redeemed by His blood and are now allowed to go free.
Jesus had the cleansed leper go to the priest as a symbol and testimony to the priest that the Messiah had come. The priests knew only God could heal leprosy. The only cases we know of anyone being healed of leprosy in the Old Testament are Miriam and Naaman. Both were healed because of the supernatural healing power of God.
Most likely, when Jesus sent the cleansed leper to the priest, the priest had to dig through Old Testament scrolls to find out what to do because he had never been taught what to do when a leper was healed. The priest probably realized the leper’s healing was only the result of God’s supernatural intervention and not human intervention. It should have made the priests and others realize God had come to them through Jesus Christ. Jesus did everything He could to prove Himself as the Messiah, yet they were blinded and refused to see.
Matthew 8:1-2:
When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
Great multitudes means tens of thousands of people. By the time Jesus came
down from the Sermon on the Mount, tens of thousands of people were waiting
for Him.
And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can
make me clean.”
This leper was unique. The crowd was waiting on Jesus to do something, but this man stepped out of the crowd, walked up to Jesus, and demanded something from Him. There is a difference in being in the crowd and stepping out of the crowd and putting a demand on the Lord Jesus Christ.
After being anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus went into the synagogue on the usual day and read as He had often done. But this time, after being anointed by the Spirit of God and being tempted in the wilderness, He stood in front of the people and read out of Isaiah 61:
Luke 4:18-21:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to
the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
The Bible tells us they all looked at Him with great wonder and stared at him. Jesus knew what they were thinking. He told them, “I know what you’re saying is, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’”
The Greek says, “Heal, and do it yourself.” Physician, heal and do it yourself. They wanted Jesus to put on a show for them. They were His hometown people who had heard what He had done and were now wanting a show of their own.
Luke 4:25-27:
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the
heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all
the land;
But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman
that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus, the prophet; and none of them
was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
There were many widows in that day that needed help, but unto none of them was Elijah sent. He was sent to one woman that had faith and trusted in God, and he was moved to leave the country of Israel and go to the area of the Gentiles and heal and minister to one lady.
In the next generation, under Elisha’s ministry, there were many lepers in Israel. However, Elisha wasn’t sent to any of them. Only Naaman traveled a long distance from Syria to receive his healing.
Jesus is telling them that he isn’t moved by crowds, He is moved by faith. He will go past anyone to find one person of faith — one person who trusts and believes in Him.
Elijah was called to go to a woman who was trusting in God. Naaman the leper, found Elisha. The leper Jesus healed left the crowd to meet Jesus. This man, being a leper, may have thought, “I’m going to stand in front of Jesus and I hope He doesn’t shout ‘unclean.’ I hope He doesn’t make a spectacle of me leaving where all the other lepers are, making my way into town to stand in front of Him.” Of course, Jesus did not. This man also knew if Jesus is truly the Messiah, He won’t care what disease he has. Jesus can heal every disease.
Hebrews 11:6:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Coming to God is an act of faith. Although many around this leper may have had faith, he stepped out and acted on his faith. You come because you know God is God, and you know God is a rewarder. God is willing. This verse is simply saying, “God is willing.”
The man knew he was standing in front of the Messiah, but he wasn’t sure if He was really willing to do what His Word says He will do. Jesus answered the man and healed him.
In nearly every individual case of healing in the New Testament, the person sought Jesus out. There were times Jesus was led by the Spirit to go to people, such as the woman at the well. The disciples went out of their way, through Samaria, to find the woman at the well. In all of her confusion, she was still searching for God. Jesus found her, knew she was ripe for the Gospel, and ministered to her.
But in most cases, the person came to Jesus. Hebrews 11:6 tells us without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that comes to God must believe that He exists. If you sit back as part of the crowd and hope God will come your way, it most likely won’t happen. When it comes to salvation, He wants you to step out of the crowd and come and accept Him.
When it comes to healing, too many people are sitting in the crowd, saying, “Jesus knows where I live. He can come by and see me.” Or others think, “I’ll go to that healing meeting and just wait for the flow of the Spirit and perhaps I’ll get ministered to.” These people literally chase Jesus around as part of the crowd. It’s time to get up, get out of the crowd, and come to Jesus. It’s time to step out of the crowd in faith just as this leper man did.
The woman with the issue of blood left the crowd and thought, “If I can just touch the hem of His garment.” I’m sure there were people in faith around Him, but no one was really reaching out in faith to Jesus. They were waiting on Him to have some word of knowledge about them.
How many people go to church, hoping the pastor will have a word of knowledge for them? It’s time to get up, get to the front of the church, and get healed. Sadly, many simply walk out the doors after church and go on as part of the crowd.
Jairus stepped out of the crowd to tell Jesus his daughter was close to death.
The centurion went out of his way to find Jesus and said, “If You’ll but speak the Word from here, my servant will be healed.”
Blind Bartimaeus was part of the crowd, but he cried out to Jesus, “Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” He made a spectacle of himself. The disciples were embarrassed and told Jesus to forget him. They told Blind Bartimaeus to be quiet and stop disturbing Jesus. But when someone cries out in faith, Jesus will stop for that one person.
The father of the lunatic boy went to the disciples and asked them to heal his son. Then he went to Jesus. He kept pressing and pressing and pressing. He wasn’t content to stay part of the crowd.
The crowd of today — Christians, charismatics, and even Word people — are often afraid to step out or don’t want to step out. They would rather be part of the crowd and wait for Jesus to step out to them. However, Hebrews 11:6 says those who come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It’s time to make a spectacle of yourself!
Too many people want to wait until all their questions get answered before they step out of the crowd. The leper man didn’t say, “I’m going to study the Word until I get all my questions answered, then I’ll approach Jesus.” We’ll always have questions. As a pastor, I still have questions about certain passages of Scripture. I wonder why God put some things in the Bible. But despite all my questions, I still preach the Word. Despite all your questions, you still come to church. Despite this leper’s question, he still jumped out from the crowd and said, “Jesus, here’s what I have, but here’s what I don’t have. I believe You exist. I’m not real sure You’re a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” And Jesus said, “I’m glad you stepped out, because there’s many back there in the crowd who know more than you do but still won’t step out.” If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can move mountains. People want to wait until they have a mountain of faith to move a mustard seed. Step out with that mustard seed first and then you can see mountains depart.
If you’ll take what little bit you have and step out on it, you can walk on water. Some of us want to have the whole Bible memorized before we step out in faith, when all Peter did was step out on one word, “Come.” He didn’t walk on water; he walked on a promise. He walked on one word from Jesus. Yes, he sank, but I would rather be a wet disciple in the water than one of the eleven dry ones back in the boat.
There are times when the Holy Spirit puts on a show and heals people who came to scoff, but that is not the norm. The norm is God asking out of a multitude of people, “Who will step out and who will put a demand on the anointing that is on Me?” We are all to come in faith and put a demand on the anointing of God.
Too many people go to church, waiting for the pastor or evangelist to minister to them. God is shaking you, saying, “No, put a demand on My anointing. Quit sitting there waiting for Me to perform.”
Too many people gripe about the pastor or the minister because they don’t minister or preach they way they want them to. If you’ll put a demand on the anointing of God that is upon them, you will be ministered to.
Matthew 8:2:
And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.”
After the man stepped out of the crowd, he fell down and worshipped the Lord Jesus. He didn’t come with a question first; he came with worship first. He had an attitude of worship.
I find many things in life just work out for a worshipper. I think Jesus must have been impressed when this man worshipped Him first, and then asked the question. Problems get solved for a worshipper.
There are certain things we pray for. Then, there are things God just does for us without us asking. He knows the desires of our hearts, and He can do exceedingly, abundantly above all we can ask or think. When your children ask for something, if it is within reason, don’t you get it for them? But how many times do you simply do things for your children just because you want to? Or perhaps you give your children something better than what they asked for. God is that way too. There are certain things you ask for, and then He goes above and beyond what you asked. That is how it is with worshippers. He goes out of His way to minister to those people.
This leper worshipped Jesus. His questions were answered. His problem was solved. His healing came. Jesus doesn’t guarantee answers if we don’t worship Him. He desires to see that same step of faith in worship from us.
Matthew 8:3:
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
In the Greek, it says that Jesus grabbed him, speaking at the same time. He didn’t say, “I will,” and then healed him. He reached out, grabbed him, and healed him as He was saying, “I will.” His leprosy left immediately.
I’m sure the man walked away glad that he had stepped out of the crowd. The Bible doesn’t tell us that more people then decided to step out. The crowd usually doesn’t change. There’s a crowd of people still waiting for Jesus to do something, and Jesus is saying, “I’m waiting for you to do something. Step out.”
Jesus did what He was supposed to do at the cross. The next move is ours. He’s not going to shed His blood again. He’s not going to have stripes placed on Him again. The sin, sickness, and poverty of this world were placed on Him once and for all.
Do you need finances? Step out of the crowd and trust Him. Quit waiting for Him to drop a million dollars on you.
Do you need healing? Quit waiting for some big-name minister to call you on the phone and tell you he got your name in a dream and now you are healed.
Do you need restoration? Quit waiting for a word of knowledge to come telling you your sin has been forgiven. Step out and trust the Lord for your deliverance and it will come.
Matthew 8:4:
And Jesus said unto him, “See that you tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”
When Jesus said, “Tell no man,” He meant, “Don’t go back to the crowd.” When you go back to the crowd, often the crowd will talk you out of what you just received.
This is how you keep your healing: stay in church. Don’t get your healing, leave the church, and a month later say, “The devil stole my healing.” No, you let him steal your healing.
In the parable of the sower and the seed, the birds weren’t blamed for stealing the seed; the ground was blamed for giving it up. God gives; Satan steals. But you’re the one who either lets God give or lets Satan steal. God is waiting on you; Satan is waiting on you. What are you going to do?
Jesus told the cleansed leper to go show the priest. He sent him to where the Word of God was taught. Jesus wanted the priest to confirm his healing with the Word of God.
After receiving your healing, it is important you find a good congregation where you can share your testimony and no one will ridicule you. Go where others will shout and yell “Amen!” and rejoice with you. Now that you have received your healing, don’t turn your back on the Lord and go your own way.
Why do we need the body of Christ? Why go to Sunday and midweek church services? Why attend special conferences? It is important that when we get ministered to, we have someone we can share it with who will encourage us. You can’t necessarily go back to the office and have your co-workers rejoice with you. In essence, “Don’t go back to the crowd.”
The man was instructed to “offer the gift that Moses commanded.” Being a leper, he was probably poor since leprosy kept him from having a job. For him to find a couple of sparrows was probably difficult. Most likely, he had to go to someone who sold them for offerings, and it took all the money he had to buy those two little sparrows. But the gift wasn’t the two sparrows. The gift was an appreciation for the One who died on the cross to provide the healing. The man wasn’t buying a healing; he was thanking God for his healing.
Keep your healing: go to church, be faithful, give your testimony, be a worshipper, be a giver. It’s very simple. It’s hard to steal the healing from a worshipping, grateful, faithful, church-attending giver.
If you like this outline, check out Healing: How Deep are the Stripes? at the BYM Store.
Copyright 2009 by Bob Yandian Ministries.
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