upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they

repented not'.  The close connection between miracles and the testimony is

also indicated in Matthew 13:58, `He did not many mighty works there because

of their unbelief'.  Matthew 9:35 presents a practical repetition of Matthew

4:23, as the reader can observe, and should be read in connection with the

commission of Matthew 10.

One of the characteristic accompaniments of the preaching of the gospel

of the kingdom was the presence of miracles.  One of the characteristic

features of the preaching of the Mystery is the absence of miracles.  We

might notice the extent of the miraculous healing given in Matthew 4:23,24,

`healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases'; `all sick people

that were taken with divers diseases, and torments, and those which were

possessed with demons, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the

palsy, and He healed them'.

Details are given more fully as the narrative advances, and when we see

the complete list of the mighty works that are recorded in the Gospels we

shall begin to realize what a confirmation is given to His ministry; and when

we

add to that the testimony of John 21:25, `there are also many other things

which Jesus Did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose

that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be

written', the confirmation of Messiahship must have been overwhelming.  Yet

they crucified Him! Yet they repented not.  What a testimony then to the

nature of the human heart.

The three miracles that are recorded in Matthew 8:1 -15 are suggestive

of much teaching.

1 -4  the  leper

The Lord touched him.

5 -13 the  centurion's

Healing at a distance.

Faith compared with

that of Israel.

14,15 peter's

A Woman

The Lord touched her.

The Pharisee in his prayer thanked God that he was not born (1) a

Gentile, (2) a Slave, or (3) a Woman (see the Jewish Prayer Book), which

position of `splendid isolation' is gloriously done away `in Christ' for

Galatians 3:28 shows that there is

Neither Jew nor Greek

The Gentile

Neither bond nor free

The Slave

Neither male nor female

The Woman

Here in these three opening miracles the Lord breaks through

traditional barriers; He touched a Leper!  He healed a Gentile!  He healed a

Woman!  There is a dispensational lesson here which the reader should

observe, as well as a moral one.  Both the leper and the woman were healed by

personal contact; the Gentile, however, was healed at a distance.  The

peculiarity comes out again in Matthew 15:21 -28; in both cases, too,

reference is made to the great faith of the Gentile.  The miracles, like the

parables, are distributed with reference to the purpose before the writer.

Let us observe the way in which they occur in the Gospel of Matthew.