© 05 Colin Melbourne
Part I of II
God came down from Heaven and taught that our faith in Him sets the limit on what He can do for us. The divine principle is:
But without faith it is impossible to please him: According to your faith be it unto you.
Heb. 11:6a, Mtt. 9:29b Holy Bible, KJV
Here’s an example of this in practice:
And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this?
They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith be it unto you.
And their eyes were opened.
Mtt. 9:27-30a KJV
Jesus Christ: The Real Thing
Don’t you adore the three great chapters; Matthew 8, 9, and 10, that follow the Sermon on the Mount?
Crowds came to hear Christ preach on the mountainside, and God spoke with people face to face.
In that address He tore the heart out of their corrupt understanding of His Law, and drew the line that led Him to Calvary, Glory, and Pentecost. It was revolutionary. A stunning message that none of His followers understood at the time.
The Preacher then descended from the mountain and put into practice what He preached.
Chapters 8 and 9 record a torrent of supernatural miracles that teach us far more than words. Blind eyes were opened, demons cast out, paralytics cured, the dumb made to speak, the dead raised, all manner of sickness healed, and a violent storm subdued with a word.
No wonder crowds followed Him. They were tired of religious phonies and hypocrites. This Bloke was the Real Thing.
He looked them in the eye like no one else, and He fixed whatever was wrong.
He wants to do the same for you right now.
They sought Jesus just as they were; weary, helpless, troubled, and sick. Hardly the cream of Israeli society, they were a wild bunch in a mess, unholy and unrighteous.
Just the kind He came from Heaven to redeem.
I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Mtt. 9:13b KJV
Is that you?
Which Ones Did He Heal?
God tells us, Mtt. 8:16 KJV;
When the even was come, they brought unto him that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.
Notice how there were no exceptions. He healed ALL the sick. So often we observe the word ‘all’ applies to ‘healed’ in the New Covenant. Do a personal Bible study and see. That’s because Christ’s healing is for all that believe in Him.
He hasn’t changed. He will heal you now if you dare to take Him at His word. But if you listen to false teachers muttering, ‘the age of miracles has passed, the Lord wants you to suffer this sickness to teach you something’, Satan will use their lies to rob you of God’s Blood-bought blessings.
What God Says on Healing
Instead, listen to God the Holy Spirit, who says, Mtt. 8:17 KJV;
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.
Christ healed all the sick, because on the Cross He bore our infirmities and carried our sicknesses and diseases.
Why? So believers don’t have to bear infirmities or have diseases.
Doubters do: Believers don’t.
Isn’t that obvious?
Everything you get from God comes by grace, through faith in The LORD Jesus Christ: Forgiveness, eternal life, salvation, healing, deliverance, power, and so on. You can’t get them any other way than by grace through faith in Christ as your Saviour.
Jesus and the Leper
Matthew chapter 8 tells us, when The Preacher came down from His hillside ‘pulpit’, the first in line was a man suffering a terrible skin disease: Leprosy.
Have you ever looked into the eyes of a leper?
There are no proud lepers; they are utterly broken in heart. Spurned by relatives and filled with fear; leprosy victims waste away in seclusion and misery. But this leper heard the Good News from Christ and was determined to speak with Him.
Listening to the Beatitudes, something switched on inside his heart: he knew that Jesus could heal him. Wide-eyed onlookers gasped and made way for him as he hobbled forward. No doubt holding their noses, and swatting the fly swarm while he limped by.
God’s Law banned lepers from villages, synagogues, and The Temple. They were outcasts: unclean spiritually and physically. So it is understandable that this valiant leper had a profound question for The Prophet in his midst.
Hardly daring to look at Jesus he put the question millions want answered,
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Is God willing to heal you?
Countless sinners and believers remain in pain and disease because they are unsure of God’s answer to this basic question.
Christ answered it for the leper, for you, and for everyone who comes to Him.
Continue reading Part II here…
© 05 Colin Melbourne
