Cleansing pow'r

Matthew 7:28-29 says, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Jordan explains, “That word ‘scribe’ there means a guy that writes things; he wrote down the scripture, copying it out. Jesus doesn’t teach like the scribes. He teaches with authority. He teaches the truth clearly, plainly, where they can get it.

“He’s saying, ‘Not like the scribes where you can’t understand what’s going on.’ If you want a comparison to that in modern terminology, the scribe would be the commentaries all written out. The Lord teaches different than that. He teaches you out of the Book clearly and plainly.

“You begin to see a series of miracles in 8-10 that Christ does. The Book of Matthew is not laid out in chronological order. Matthew brings together a bunch of different things that happened at different times, and lays them out here on the table for you to now scrutinize.

“Now, that’s a legitimate method of giving evidence. It’s not a method of giving a chronological story, but it is a legitimate method of giving evidence to prove a point, isn’t it? Matthew is more interested in the evidential value.

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“Verse 8:3 says, ‘And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.’

“Brother, He cured him by a touch. A touch that would have defiled any mere man. If you’d have reached out and touched that leper, you would have been unclean. Isn’t that what the Old Testament says? The Lord Jesus touches him and does something no mere man could do. He heals him. Instead of being contaminated, He HEALS him!

“You know who the Old Testament says is the only person who can heal leprosy? Jehovah! Jesus is manifesting Himself for who He is.

“Verse 4 says, ‘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.’ That’s a great verse to use to show people when they say, ‘We just believe in doing what Jesus said.’ They don’t do that because that verse commands the man according to Leviticus 14 to go offer a blood sacrifice for his cleansing.

“How many folks when you want to get clean go out for a blood sacrifice? What’s a matter? Don’t you believe what Jesus said? That’s a great verse to show the dispensational difference there. The explanation of that is Christ lived under the law. Different program.

“Now notice the man is told to go show the priest. When the guy came in to the priest and shows the priest that he’s clean, what should the priest note? Who’s in their midst? Messiah!

“Isaiah 35 and the prophets back over there said the leper’s going to cleansed when the Messiah shows up! That priest ought got excited, don’t you think? Don’t you think he ought to at least went and investigated who did it and who He was and who He said He was? Did he? No evidence of it.

“The priest doesn’t go out and proclaim the good news that Jehovah’s appeared in the midst of the people. You know what? Did the nation Israel, when Christ appeared in their midst, go out and proclaim, ‘He’s here!’ and accept Him? Just like the priest.

“You see the typology involved in the story here? How it speaks to what’s going on? Somebody says, ‘Well, why did He say ‘tell no man’? The reason for that is Christ is pressing the issue of the nation Israel’s responsibility herself to recognize and proclaim Messiah. Go to the priest! Don’t go tell everybody. You go to the priest and let him tell everybody.

“Who’s the priest? Who’s the nation of priests? Israel. You see how that works? Verse 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.

“That centurion is a Gentile, coming to Christ through Israel. Notice the parallel passage in Luke 7. Notice that centurion comes at Him from a distance. That’s a type and a picture of that distant Gentile crying out for help.

“You have to remember, people, the Lord Jesus Christ didn’t come just to cleanse Israel. He came to cleanse Israel, so that through them He might reach the world. Over and over, you’re going to see Christ looking out yonder to the nations and His heart longing to go to them but Israel won’t go. That’s what’s happening here.

“The Gentiles are ready to receive Him, ready to hear. Ready to get it. Israel doesn’t have any faith. Israel won’t get up and go.”