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heavenward TV welcome once again it's so
good to be together as we're continuing
our chronological study through the
entire New Testament and you probably
were wondering whether we're ever going
to get through the Sermon on the Mount
we did we got through Matthew 5 6 and 7
and so today we launch off into Matthew
chapter 8 and verse number one so if you
got your Bible close by it wouldn't hurt
to compare what I'm reading and what
you're reading I'm reading from the new
American Standard Version it's a good
accurate version but there's many other
quality versions and so we're not going
to divide over Bible versions here on
our broadcasts we are here to follow
Jesus Christ and to be his disciples now
in Matthew chapter 8 it's almost an
entire chapter that highlights the
healing ministry of jesus and I don't
know if you realize this I I didn't
realize it until I actually went through
the New Testament the four Gospels and
counted verses and so forth but of all
the verses in Matthew Mark Luke and John
one tenth of them have some correlation
or connection with the healing ministry
of jesus so we could say this way one
tenth of all that the Gospels revealed
to us about Jesus tells us something
about his healing ministry and so this
was you know not something that was just
pushed off on the side this is not
something that Matthew Mark Luke and
John felt was unimportant they felt it
was very important obviously Jesus his
whole ministry was characterized by
teaching and healing and casting out of
demons and so forth and we're going to
read a whole slew
of stories about Jesus healing people
why did Matthew go to the trouble to
record these kind of in consecutive
order in Matthew chapter 8 we've already
discussed the fact that Matthews
audience that his readership is intended
readership were the Jewish people and so
he's doing his very best to convince his
Jewish readership that Jesus is in fact
the Messiah and we're going to read an
initial story here that most people
don't see how significant it is in that
whole conception of valid the validation
of Jesus as the Messiah wait do you hear
this it's going to be a real neat
blessing to you okay so let's start
reading in Matthew chapter 8 and verse
number 1 and when he that's Jesus had
come down from the mountain great
multitudes followed him and behold a
leper came to him and bowed down to him
saying lord if you are willing you can
make me clean and he stretched out his
hand and he touched him saying I am
willing be cleansed and immediately his
leprosy was cleansed and jesus said to
him see that you tell no one but go show
yourself to the priest and present the
offering that Moses commanded for a
testimony to them now this same story is
of course recorded in the other synoptic
Gospels Luke who was a physician tells
us that this man's body was full of
leprosy indicating that he's kind of
like in the final stages of the disease
and yet he was instantaneously
miraculously obviously cleansed from his
leprosy in front of a huge crowd of
onlookers so this was a spectacular
miracle we don't know if the leprosy had
gone to the stage where you know it was
eating away at his fingers and his feet
and so forth the Ministry of heavens
family we actually serve in
leper colonies in different parts around
the world in China and in India where
I've been to those leper colonies and
and and we've watched how the dreaded
disease of leprosy just eats away at
people until you know they don't have
any fingers I don't have any toes and it
can work its way you know up their body
and eventually it kills them leprosy
today is at can be halted by a short
course of antibiotics and it becomes
non-infectious and it no longer eats
away at the person who's infected with
it but so many people don't get the
treatment they need until it's too late
until leprosy has already run its course
and there is some debate whether or not
the leprosy that we read about in the
Bible is the same disease that we call
leprosy today Hansen's disease I don't
really know the answer myself to that in
any case lepers in Christ day you know
were ostracized really from society they
were required if they did go out in the
public to shout out wherever they went
unclean unclean and in some cases like
ring a bell just to warn people that
they were coming you know so that
anybody everybody could get away from
unless they be infected with that
horrible dreaded disease and you can
only imagine you know what a terrible
life that would be to be the life of a
leper particularly you know in this day
did you take note though that when Jesus
said I am willing to cleanse you he
stretched out his hand and no fear
whatsoever of being infected and of
course the guy is going to be
instantaneously healed and so the
infection is going to be gone anyways
when he touches him but this guy hadn't
been touched by anybody for as long as
anybody had known that he had leprosy
just think about that no human touch
nobody patting you on the back nobody's
shaking your hand nobody giving you a
hug year after year and then when anyone
sees you there backing off from you
because there
watching out for themselves I mean you
know horrible horrible existence and so
this was not only a great miracle this
was a very very happy day for a leprous
man wasn't it and you know I hope they
have reruns they're in heaven and we can
watch these miracles of Jesus and see
them for ourselves because it's great
reading in the Bible but oh how I wish
that I had been there to see Jesus you
know touch this man and all of a sudden
whenever you know the symptoms were
whatever the disease that whatever the
you know the ugliness of his body and so
forth instantly it's just gone in a
second and people when people saw it
praise God all right now next time we're
going to talk about the significance of
this miracle it's mind-blowing so I'll
see you next time