Acts 10:38 says, “Jesus, the One from Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with Him.” “Doing good” must refer to the miracles, especially healings, the Lord Jesus did for people. Christ, as God incarnated to be a man, did many miracles, as a beneficent work in His earthly ministry to release people from their sufferings of diseases and the possession of demons. This work, which He did in His humanity with the divine power, is to rescue people and set them free from the oppression of the Devil and to express God in His humanity.
In His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus did miracles. He cleansed lepers, healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons.
Matthew 8:2 says, “Behold, a leper approached and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can cleanse me.” A leper portrays a typical sinner. Leprosy is the most contaminating and damaging disease, isolating its victim from both God and from men. According to the law, a leper should be excluded from the people because of His uncleanness. No one could touch him (Lev. 13:45-46). According to the scriptural examples, leprosy comes from rebellion and disobedience. Miriam became leprous because of her rebellion against God’s deputy authority (Num. 12:1-10). Naaman was cleansed because of his obedience (2 Kings 5:1, 9-14). All fallen human beings have become leprous in the sight of God because of their rebellion. Because leprosy isolated its victim from both God and man, to cleanse a leper signifies to recover the sinner to fellowship with God and with men.
Matthew 8:3 continues, “Stretching out His hand, He touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” Although no one was allowed to touch a leper, Christ touched him. What mercy and sympathy! By His one touch, “immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” What wonderful cleansing! Leprosy not only requires healing as do other diseases; it also requires cleansing like sin (1 John 1:7), because of its filthy and contaminating nature.
Luke 17:11-14 tells how the Lord Jesus cleansed ten lepers in Samaria. “As He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten leprous men, who stood at a distance; and they raised their voice, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (vv. 12-13). We know from Luke 10 that while the Lord was on the way through Samaria, He was rejected in Samaria. He must have realized that the majority of the ten lepers were Samaritans. Nevertheless, as soon as the ten appealed to Him for mercy, He healed them all without preference. “Seeing them, He said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And it came about as they were going away, they were cleansed” (v. 14).
Matthew 15:30 says, “Great crowds came to Him, having with them the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they cast them at His feet; and He healed them.” In Matthew 8:14 and 15 we have the specific case of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law: “When Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his mother-in-law laid aside and in a fever; and He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose and ministered to Him.” Sickness is an issue of sin and a sign of man’s abnormal condition before God because of sin. Therefore, in His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus healed people of their sick condition both physically and spiritually and restored them to normal so that they might serve Him. Many cases are recorded in the Gospels to illustrate such healing (Matt. 8:13; Mark 5:25-34).
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