Jews and Gentiles will only be able to live for ever in the kingdom of God if they are cleansed from their iniquities and healed of sin in the flesh, therefore the healing of peoples’ diseases not only benefited the individual cured but also illustrated God’s purpose in Christ of taking away our sins. If we are seriously ill we long for someone to remove our sickness, and we are all desperately afflicted by sin which is taking us to oblivion in the grave. But Jesus can take away our sin, heal us, and enable us to live for ever. We should therefore adopt the attitude of the leper, for Christ is willing to cleanse us from all our iniquities. The record, therefore, after the healing of Peter’s mother, directs us to the prophecy in Isaiah concerning Jesus’ healing work: “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all”. Isaiah 53:6Isaiah 53:6XWaiting for response
Jesus healed a leper by touching him which was unlawful under the law of Moses because of infection. This symbolises Jesus taking the lepers sin upon him. Jesus took our sins on his own body and it may have been that Jesus actually took the leprosy on his own body.
Jesus wanted him to keep the law, showing that Jesus wasn't trying to destroy the law but fulfil it. Matthew 5:17Matthew 5:17XWaiting for response
The reactions of the people to Jesus' miracles are recorded for our learning, and most notable is the case of the centurion, a Gentile, who had perceptive insight into the relationship between Jesus and his Father. The centurion recognised that he himself was a man under authority (of Caesar) so that he could issue a command and be immediately obeyed. He recognised similarly that Jesus was a man under authority (of God) and could therefore command any element in nature and be instantly obeyed. Consequently, he concluded that there was no need for Jesus to travel to his house but could heal his servant from a distance with a simple word of command. This Gentile’s faith, so different from the Jews’ general response, moved Jesus to think of all the faithful Gentiles in later times who would believe and obey the gospel and eventually live with him in the kingdom of God.
In the parallel passage, the Jews said that the centurion favoured the Jews, including building a synagogue for them Luke 7:4,5.Luke 7:4,5XWaiting for response This man may have been Cornelius who was the first Gentile to receive the Holy Spirit Acts 10:44.Acts 10:44XWaiting for response
God gave Jesus such great power that he was even able to control the forces of nature. While people today may find this difficult to accept, soon when Jesus reigns as king in Israel and ruler of the whole world, everyone will know that by God’s authority everything is under his absolute control. The apostles were given a foretaste of this power when he saved them in a storm at sea, and they exclaimed: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”
In the parallel passages, only one person is recorded - named Legion. These aren't contradictory, just as when two people talk about the same story, they mention different elements of the story. We get a fuller picture by combining the records.
People tend to notice differences in the Bible, especially if they are attempting to discredit as the Word of God, but the remarkable fact is that them the supposed contradictions are investigated the reasons for the differences become clear and, often, wonderful features of the Word are discovered. In this case, Matthew writes less about the healing that Mark and Luke even though it is the longest gospel, and is just one of many miracles performed by Jesus in succession to show Jesus had come from God. In fact, in chapters 8 and 9 there are twelve successive miraculous performances in a set pattern, with three groups of four followed by significant declarations:
(1) “He healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. vs.16-17.Matthew 8:16-17XWaiting for response
(2) “That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, Matthew 9:6.Matthew 9:6XWaiting for response
(3) “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”. Matthew 9:37-38.Matthew 9:37-38XWaiting for response
In the other two gospels, the emphasis is different: in Mark, its the petitions made to Jesus and his responses; and in Luke, it the discussions he has with Legion and the people of the region.
Jesus' power will be used in full when God’s kingdom is established to benefit all mankind. This is illustrated in the curing of the two men with mental illness (expressed in the terminology of the Greeks who attributed such illness to “demons”, i.e. messengers of pagan gods). Not only did Jesus restore these two men to their right minds but he also transferred the derangement to a nearby herd of pigs because eating of swine’s flesh by the Jews was forbidden by God.
The response of the citizens of that vicinity was remarkable. When they saw the severely mentally ill man had been cured they urged Jesus to depart from their shores immediately! How blind to their own true interests people can be. Many today reject the evidence of Jesus having power to heal and, as it were, thrust him from them, even though he could deliver them from all their distresses, including death itself. When Jesus then crossed the lake again the people were waiting eagerly for him, seeking the healing benefits of his power and illustrating the attitude of the Jews when Jesus returns to the earth, for they will “be willing in the day of his power” (Luke 9:40,Luke 9:40XWaiting for response Matthew 14:34-36,Matthew 14:34-36XWaiting for response Psalm 110:3)Psalm 110:3XWaiting for response
This chapter describes how Jesus, in the course of his teaching, healed people of sickness (leprosy, palsy, fever), made the disabled whole, cured men of severe mental illness, and even controlled the wind and the sea.