Matthew 8:1

 Matthew 8:1 says When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.  When Jesus came down from where He had withdrawn to the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.  Most still were not following Him for the right reason though.  Verse two states, And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  There was a leper who came to Jesus and stated that he knew Jesus could make him whole if He wanted to.  The leper had faith in Jesus' ability to heal him physically, and people too often still come to Jesus for physical or material reasons instead of coming to be healed spiritually.  Verse three declares, And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  Jesus said that He would make the leper clean, touched him and he was immediately clean.  We are not told that the man had professed faith in Jesus to forgive his sins, so all that we can say for sure from what we are told here is that the leper was physically healed.  Verse four adds, 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.  Jesus told the man to tell no one what Jesus had done but to simply go to the priest and present himself in accordance with the command of Moses.  Verse five says, And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,  When Jesus came to Capernaum, He was approached by a centurion, a Roman solder.  Verse six adds, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  The centurion came not for his own sake but for the sake of his servant who was tormented with palsy.  We should bring our concern for others to Jesus through prayer.  Verse seven says, And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  Jesus was willing to go with the centurion and heal his servant.  Verse eight declares, 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.  The centurion stated his own unworthiness to have Jesus come with him, but he also expressed faith that Jesus could heal his servant simply by declaring him to be healed.  The centurion had a lot of faith in Jesus, at least in His ability to physically heal.  When we pray for someone to be healed today, we must likewise pray with faith that Jesus can heal if it is God's will for healing to occur.  Verse nine adds, 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.  The centurion related his own authority over his soldiers to Jesus' authority over the disease.  The centurion did not have to go everywhere that he ordered those under him to go to ensure that what he told them to do was actually done.  The centurion said that he believed that Jesus had that same authority.  Verse ten declares, 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.  Jesus told the crowds that He had not found so great a faith in all of Israel.  I wonder what Jesus would say of my faith today.  Verse eleven adds, 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.  Jesus said that people from all over the world would come to be a part of the heavenly kingdom of God, and not just those who were born as an Israelite.  Verse twelve continues, But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Jesus said while many Gentiles would be saved, likewise many Jews would not accept Him and would be sent away into everlasting punishment.  Verse thirteen concludes, 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.  Jesus told the centurion that he could go on his way and that his servant would be healed, and that very hour the servant was healed.  When we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are immediately healed spiritually, and that is what really matters.