A couple of amazing miracles occur in the first half of Matthew Chapter 8:
[Mat 8:1-13 KJV] 1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth [his] hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this [man], Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it]. 10 When Jesus heard [it], he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, [so] be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Notice in the first miracle that occurred, verse 1-4, Christ healed a leper. Yet, he told him that he should not tell anyone but offer the priest the gift that Moses commanded. This requirement of the Law for the healing of leprosy can be found in Leviticus 14.
[Lev 14:1-57 KJV] 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: 3 And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, [if] the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; 4 Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive [and] clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 5 And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: 6 As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird [that was] killed over the running water: 7 And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. 8 And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. 9 But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. 10 And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour [for] a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. 11 And the priest that maketh [him] clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, [at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: 12 And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them [for] a wave offering before the LORD: 13 And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering [is] the priest's, [so is] the trespass offering: it [is] most holy: 14 And the priest shall take [some] of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put [it] upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 15 And the priest shall take [some] of the log of oil, and pour [it] into the palm of his own left hand: 16 And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that [is] in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: 17 And of the rest of the oil that [is] in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: 18 And the remnant of the oil that [is] in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. 19 And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: 20 And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean. 21 And if he [be] poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb [for] a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; 22 And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. 23 And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the LORD. 24 And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them [for] a wave offering before the LORD: 25 And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take [some] of the blood of the trespass offering, and put [it] upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: 26 And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: 27 And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger [some] of the oil that [is] in his left hand seven times before the LORD: 28 And the priest shall put of the oil that [is] in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: 29 And the rest of the oil that [is] in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD. 30 And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; 31 [Even] such as he is able to get, the one [for] a sin offering, and the other [for] a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD. 32 This [is] the law [of him] in whom [is] the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get [that which pertaineth] to his cleansing. 33 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 34 When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; 35 And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me [there is] as it were a plague in the house: 36 Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go [into it] to see the plague, that all that [is] in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: 37 And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, [if] the plague [be] in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight [are] lower than the wall; 38 Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: 39 And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, [if] the plague be spread in the walls of the house; 40 Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague [is], and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: 41 And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: 42 And they shall take other stones, and put [them] in the place of those stones; and he shall take other morter, and shall plaister the house. 43 And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plaistered; 44 Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, [if] the plague be spread in the house, it [is] a fretting leprosy in the house: it [is] unclean. 45 And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he shall carry [them] forth out of the city into an unclean place. 46 Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. 47 And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. 48 And if the priest shall come in, and look [upon it], and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plaistered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. 49 And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: 50 And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: 51 And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: 52 And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: 53 But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. 54 This [is] the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, 55 And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, 56 And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: 57 To teach when [it is] unclean, and when [it is] clean: this [is] the law of leprosy.
And, Christ talked of the importance of the Law in Matthew 5:17-20.
[Mat 5:17-20 KJV] 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Why was this man's healing different from the man in the Gadarenes?
[Mar 5:1-20 KJV] 1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had [his] dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any [man] tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, [thou] Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, [thou] unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What [is] thy name? And he answered, saying, My name [is] Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. 14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told [it] in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw [it] told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and [also] concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. 18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all [men] did marvel.
Leprosy and mental illness are both very undesirable maladies with a negative stigma that result in social isolation and rejection.
The most likely explanation would be that the leper had a Hebrew heritage and would be well-aware of this requirement for his healing. So, this was required of him. Whereas the demon-possessed man from the Gadarenes was likely a gentile and not raised in this tradition. Although, based upon his response in verse 18 this man would have likely done anything which the Lord required. And, as stated in Samuel, the Lord values obedience over sacrifice.
[1Sa 15:22 KJV] 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams.
And, his sacrifice of speaking of his healing among a community who knew of his past problems would require more of him than the lengthy list of sacrifices that he must make based upon Leviticus 14. This man was likely still an outcast for man years after his miraculous healing.
Why? In general everyone wants a miracle in his own life, but truly do not believe that it actually will happen. For most, prayers are wishful thinking and not truly "things hoped for". Most of us are fully "double-minded".
[Heb 11:1 KJV] 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
[Jas 1:2-8 KJV] 2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing [this], that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have [her] perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
So, in short, the Lord was requirement more than a sacrifice of lambs and turtledoves for this man who was mentally ill as we might classify such a malady in the modern era.
Our friend the leper had another similar challenge. His past of carrying a well-known and potentially infectious malady loomed over his head. Both lepers and the demon-possessed were seen as a danger in the community. In fact, in the Old Testament, a leper must announce his condition so no man would dare touch him and possibly become infected.
[Lev 13:45-46 KJV] 45 And the leper in whom the plague [is], his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. 46 All the days wherein the plague [shall be] in him he shall be defiled; he [is] unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp [shall] his habitation [be].
So, when the Lord told the leper that he told no man of his healing yet offer the Lord the sacrifice command by Moses, He was letting him start a new life without carrying the weight of his past malady and the stigma associated with it. This set him free so he could lead a new life.
The man from the Gadarenes would always carry his shackles for the rest of his life as a sign that the Lord set him free. Notice that he would carry them and not wear them.
Both of these men would best glorify the Lord and build His Kingdom as He saw fit, if they were obedient.
Both of these situations required faith.
It is difficult dealing with those who will flaunt our past problems in front of us regularly when we have overcome. It seems that they simply are dreaming of the day in which we enter that same old pattern of behavior and commit that same old sin. When we are set free, it should give them hope, since they know that their liberation is just around the corner. Yet, it seems that it only makes them feel inadequate and imperfect. This was the burden that the man from the Gadarenes likely dealt with for the rest of his days.
The man with leprosy simply could not share his good news. Which is somewhat heart-breaking. He could not tell his loved ones about how a man named Jesus healed him. All, he could say, "I have been healed. I cannot tell you how it happened!" Which is not a lie.
Yet, the one of the greatest examples of faith that Christ said he found while walking this earth in the flesh is in Matthew 4:5-13, in the first passage above.
The centurion simply trusted that if the Lord simply say so, simply decide that something shall be, it will be. This implied that He had supernatural power in the spiritual realm, commanding unclean spirits at a distance.
And, whether your malady is as serious as HIV, cancer, or another serious, life-threatening illness or you simply are struggling with a mild infection or common cold, let the Lord Our Physician handle your situation. He might heal you in ways that you simply do not expect.
May You Be Blest and Set Free From What Ails You!
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