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be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written', the
confirmation of His Messiahship must have been overwhelming. Yet they crucified Him! Yet they repented not!
What a testimony then to the nature of the human heart.
(2)
The Leper, the Centurion's Servant, and Peter's Wife's Mother
Matthew 8:1-15
After the record of Matthew 4:23,24, which we considered on page 161, the Lord ascended a mountain and
taught. Teaching begins the chapter and teaching is the last thing spoken of in Matthew 7:28,29, viz., `sayings',
`doctrine (or teaching)', and `taught as one having authority'. Mighty words on the mountain are immediately
followed by mighty works in the valley, `When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed
Him, and behold there came a leper' . The three miracles that are recorded in Matthew 8:1-15 are suggestive of
much teaching.
The Lord touched Him.
1-4.  THE LEPER.
Israel.
5-13. THE CENTURION'S
Gentile.
Healing at a distance.
SERVANT.
Faith compared with
that of Israel.
The Lord touched her.
14,15. PETER'S WIFE'S
A Woman.
MOTHER.
The Pharisee in his prayer thanked God that he was not born (1) a Gentile, (2) a Slave, or (3) a Woman, which
position of `splendid isolation' is gloriously done away `in Christ' for Galatians 3:28 shows that there is:
(1) Neither Jew nor Greek
.. The Gentile
(2) Neither bond nor free  .. The Slave
(3) Neither male nor female
.. The Woman.
Here in these three opening miracles the Lord breaks through many 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.
Going back again to the first of these miracles, let us see for what the leper prayed. `Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean'. The response equally insists upon the same thought, `immediately his leprosy was cleansed'.
The command that followed still keeps cleansing uppermost, `Show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that
Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them'.
Leviticus 14 contains the intensely instructive `Law of the leper in the day of his cleansing'. Christ dying and
rising again is clearly set forth; the cleansed leper is atoned for by the blood, and re-consecrated by the oil. Here in
the leper may be seen Israel's condition before God, `no soundness, but wounds, bruises and putrifying sores'. The
leper's condition cut him off from worship and service, rendering him quite unfit for any act of ministry in any
shape or form; such was Israel - Israel that was destined to be a kingdom of Priests, Israel of whom the Gentile will
yet say, `They are the ministers unto our God'; Israel - a leper!
The two questions that appear in this miracle are those concerning the Lord's power and will. Of the Lord's
power the leper had no doubt, `If thou wilt, thou canst'. The Lord alone could decide the question of willingness,
and He did so, saying, `I will, be thou clean'. Think for a moment of a mere man, confronted by the awful plague of
leprosy, daring to say, `I will'. The One before whose will leprosy flees away at a word, who can say, `Be thou
clean', is the same One who uttered the words recorded in Genesis 1, `Let there be light, and there was light'. The
miracle is full of prophetic hope for the uncleansed nation. He who was and is their Messiah is both able (`Thou