“The Case for Christ: The Principle of His Earthly Ministry”

Our text for this evening is found in two particular Scriptures that deal with Jesus’ healing ministry: the first is in Mt 8:16-17. (The parallels of this passage are found in Mk 
1:32-39 and Luke 4:40-41 and I will mention a few verses  in each briefly.) 

And the second text is in Luke 5:23-24.
 
We start with Mt 8:16-17: “When the even was come, they brought unto Him [that is, unto Jesus] many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word and healed all that were sick: 

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, ‘Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses’.” 

Luke added some details of this account in 4:40. First, the crowds continued to come the next day. And, then, Jesus ‘...laid hands on them’ when He healed them.

Also, in v 43, Luke emphasized the point Jesus stressed when He said: ‘...I must preach the kingdom of God...for therefore am I sent.’

The second text, in Lu 5:23-24, is about the healing of the man with palsy who was brought to Jesus.

Luke 5:23-24: ‘But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.’

In these miracles of healing, there are glimpses of the way of the Kingdom of God. 

We saw the practicality of its operation in daily living in the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida.

In these passages, we see how all of His healing miracles were fleeting glances of God’s heart and plan.

They were little breaks of the transforming light of God - or, we could say, the divine assurances (if one had ‘eyes to see’) that God was in Christ, having come to earth to change men’s condition from the darkness of sin and suffering to one of light. 
 
They showed the then-existing world that God was present in the authority of the word Jesus spoke, in His character, and in His redeeming work yet to take place, all of which I would like to address briefly tonight.

Starting with His ultimate ministry, Jesus said in the Luke 4 passage: ‘I must preach the kingdom of God...therefore, am I sent.’

Jesus is projecting His healing into the Kingdom of God. The core of His mission was right here at this point - the coming of God’s Kingdom in Himself. This was God’s sovereign purpose - Jesus had been sent for this reason. 

Matthew quoted from Isaiah 53:4 when he spoke of it as being a fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. He took Isaiah’s concept by saying: ‘Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.’

When Isaiah wrote about the Messiah taking upon Himself men’s diseases, it was with the thought that these conditions were because of sin’s effects on the world.

And it would be the Messiah Who would bear the punishment of sin in all of its forms, including sickness and disease. 

He would not only enter into the same sufferings of those who were afflicted, but He would also take them upon Himself, bear them Himself, and make provisions to deliver men from them. 

The miracles, then, pointed beyond themselves to what lay ahead for Jesus - namely, His atoning death in which He was bruised and afflicted on account of sin and its deadly and sickly effects. 

And it pointed to the deliverance that would be characteristic of His Kingdom.  

So - according to Matthew, the healing during Jesus’ earthly ministry was a foretaste of the coming Kingdom of God. 

When the people saw Jesus’ power to heal and the authority of His Word, they were being given a preview of God’s everlasting concern for them that was going to be finalized in His coming kingdom. 

Thus Jesus said: ‘I must - I must - preach the kingdom of God...’.
 
Let us look briefly at the scene in Matthew to see how effectively He did it in these healing miracles.

Many, many sick, crippled, diseased people were being carried to Jesus. 

The raging demoniacs were brought to Him. 

Mark’s account describes it as ‘...the whole city was gathered together...’.

A whole stream of suffering, tormented humanity came.

And Mark also spoke of Jesus laying hands on the people.

That loving touch of His symbolized the literal taking on of man’s sickness, the literal fellow-feeling with them. 

He was feeling the weight and helplessness of their disease and was sensitive to each one’s torment and affliction. 

How was He able to do this?

It was not just a tenderness of heart that pressed Him.

Anyone can have a tender heart toward certain situations and circumstances where emotions and compassion are stirred.

We can easily empathize - at least momentarily - about mishaps to others - as, for example, to what our country experienced on 9/11.

These are times that move us intensely - and, we thank God, for those responses.

But - just being compassionate is really no sign of goodness or godliness.

Tenderhearted compassion can be empty, fruitless commiseration or - even worse - sentimental drivel. 

However, the compassion worth anything is the compassion Jesus showed for it had limitless, eternal depth in it. 

It started in the heart of God as Jesus revealed in Jn 10:17-18. 

There, He spoke of the commandment God gave Him.

What did it come from? 

It came from the very core of His heart.

It came ‘from the laying down’ of His own life on His own volition out of a heart of pure love. 

‘Therefore doth My Father love Me’, He said, ‘because I lay down My life...I lay it down of Myself. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.’

It was the two channels of His compassion and His obedience to God’s will for His life to be laid down that were the precise means through which God’s power came forth to change the condition of each sufferer.

Jesus showed it to the people in His miracles of healing. 

He may have been physically tired from the day’s events. 

But when evening came, and the crowds pressed Him, He submitted to His Father’s will.

And the heart of divine compassion overruled any of the hindrances the day may have presented. 

He put that behind Him and His self-sacrificing work bore fruit! It was done with a loving, warm compassion that never failed and with a faithfulness to God’s will that never ended.  

He continued until there was nothing else He could do for men except to die on man’s behalf. In infinite compassion He gave Himself - ‘I lay down My life of Myself’.

He linked that compassion to the Kingdom of God and His authority to forgive sins.  

Luke’s account of the palsied man emphasized this.
 
Jesus healed as He also forgave the man’s sins. 

Why? 

‘...that you may know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins...’, He said.

Who could argue the point?

The ‘Authority’, the King, of the Kingdom of God said it!

And neither His compassion nor His authority to forgive sins were based on excuses. There were none! No apologies nor even extenuating circumstances could affect it!

It was based strictly on the cold fact of sin and on the dire  need it demands for divine compassion to radically change men!

Let me stop to pose a question or two to answer in our own hearts.

Do we, who say we ‘live’ in His Kingdom, think the ‘laying down of our lives for the brethren has a place in the eternal purpose of things?

Does it carry depth in it - depth enough to change men?

Oh, yes, it does!

As I said last week, the laying down of our lives is the denial of ourselves so another can gain.

I ask each of us - and I search my own heart in this - how many times this past week did we step ourselves aside within our own hearts and lives to give honor and deference to the one who so annoys us?

If, and when we did ‘lay down our self-wills - was it not true that the compassion of Christ and God’s will merged in us to change a sick, crippled condition?

Was it not true that it made Christ in His kingly power and authority visible?

If we failed in this, count (if we dare) the number of excuses we devised for ‘not laying down our lives for the sake of another.’

I will leave these thoughts for our personal meditation times.

But the laying down of Christ’s life is the fullest essence of the love of God. Jesus witnessed to it in the miracles.   

Of course, this radical divine witness of the power and authority of the Kingdom of God initiated a challenge by the existing leaders. 

Does that astonish us? Of course it does not! That is typical of spiritual ignorance so it is not surprising.

But the result of what Jesus did is! 

The healed man exercised his faith and obeyed Jesus at once! 

He picked up his bed, minded his own business, paid no attention to the objectors, and took off for home, ‘praising God’ as he went!

We use the expression: ‘There is beauty in simplicity’. 

And this was simplicity of faith by this man! I wonder how many of us are blessed with such great wisdom? 

And - to top that ‘Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said: ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’ (Lk 5:26)  

Yes - that is remarkable indeed! 

Jesus preached the Kingdom of God in His healing ministry!

It changed the condition of many!

It transformed lives to the glory of God! 

Does it happen today?

Oh - yes, it does! Not in the same way, of course!

Today we see how Jesus cuts to the very core of man’s ego and dethrones man to the place of humility. 

We see how Christ changes everything about us thoroughly with His power and under His authority. 

It is a sweeping, total spiritual healing! 

Yes - the Kingdom of God must come! 

Christ must ‘preach’ it to each heart that comes for healing, for ‘the Kingdom of God is within’, He said.

He must restore to a new way. 

He must give a newness that is other than what the natural man can offer in either ethics or morality. 

This was the principle of Jesus’ healing ministry upon the earth. 

This is the principle of the Incarnation itself: He brought God to change man!
 
God, bent on extending Himself to man to be of greatest help to man, had to become Man Himself to do that.

And He did it in the form of Christ. There was no other way!

Thus Jesus said: ‘I must preach the Kingdom of God...therefore am I sent.’

Stop and think for just a moment.

Do we not all need Christ’s word of authority and the word of His power to heal our sick, deceived hearts?

Do we not all need His stirring within to this end?

Or - are we prone to laugh it off? Are we prone to disregard it?

If we are, it will not be long before we soon become unaware that the stirring is even there.

If, however, we do not ignore that stirring that seems so faint at first, then the power and authority of His Word gets clearer and more consistent and constraining. 

And, quietly and steadily, we learn what our self-will and self-suggestions are and what is the authoritative and powerful Word of Christ.

We are transformed to live to the glory of God in His Kingdom.

This is all I will say about the healing miracles of Jesus for now.

Lord willing, next week, we will look at another aspect of His earthly ministry.

In the meantime, let the truth of His Word and the power of His life work a great work within this week. 

Amen. Let us pray.