HOPING FOR HELP

Hoping For Help (Matthew 8:1-13)

Question:
How many of us have been
in what seemed like a hopeless situation?
– It could be a loss of job, financial problems/debts,
   problems with children (or other family members),
   health problems, etc.

Question:
Where to we go for help when things seem hopeless?
Note:
    – The world offers some solutions,
       but are they lasting remedies, or just temporary fixes?

We’ll look at two hopeless situations, and how they were handled.

Matthew 8

VERSES 1-2:

Jesus had just finished His Sermon on the Mount.

Question:
If you had just preached to a great number of people, and
now they were following you, what would you want to do?
    – Get away and be by yourself; rest?
Note:
    You probably wouldn’t want to be bothered either.
    Because of His love, Jesus was (and is) always
    sensitive to those who are desperate and in need.

The man who came up to Jesus had leprosy.

Question:
How hopeless was his situation? How desperate was he?

There were two types of leprosy:
1. One started with little nodules that gradually covered the
    entire body. As they became ulcerated, they gave off a
    foul discharge.
    The eyebrows would come out
    and the eyes would develop a staring condition.
    The vocal chords would also become ulcerated
    causing the voice to become coarse and raspy.
    As it progressed, it caused mental decay
    and ultimately death (in about 9 years).

2. The other began with a loss of sensation at the nerve
     endings.
     The muscles would waste away, and as the tendons
     contracted, the hands became like claws.
     Then came the ulcers.
     Fingers, hands, toes, and sometimes feet would fall off.
     The person would die in phases
     over a period of twenty to thirty years.

In addition to the physical pains, the loss of limbs,
and the discouragement, lepers were declared unclean,
forced to leave family and friends,
and ostracized from society.
(Leviticus 13 & 14 addresses the handling of lepers.
Look at Leviticus 13:1-3, 45-46).
– They were to avoid contact with anyone but other lepers.
– In essence, they were regarded as walking dead people.
– When anyone came near them,
    they had to warn others by yelling, “Unclean”.
– They were never to approach a healthy person.

Question:
What are some feelings and thoughts
you would expect them to have?

Note:
In comparison to the lepers,
our hopeless situations may seem less severe.
Note:
That doesn’t mean our problems are not real,
and that they do not seem hopeless.

We don’t know what type of leprosy he had,
or how long he had been afflicted.

We don’t know if he had been praying for help and healing.

In the previous lesson, we saw a woman
who didn’t care what others thought about
her as she showed her love for Jesus.

Now we see a man who is so desperate
that he doesn’t care about the consequences
of approaching a healthy person – Jesus.

In both instances, each person was focused
on Jesus, regardless of the opinion of others.
Note:
We should be the same way today.

In a world that showed little respect for Jesus,
even with his condition, the leper showed respect
for Him – he knelt before Him and called Him Lord.
Note:
An indication that He believed Jesus
was Who He claimed to be.

The leper’s faith:
– He had no doubt Jesus could heal him.
– He was also confident Jesus
   would do what was best according to His Will.
– He may have had some doubts as to
   whether or not healing was the Will of Jesus.

VERSES 3-4:

Question:
What do you think the leper was thinking
when Jesus reached out and touched him?
    – “I think He is going to heal me”.

Question:
What do you think the onlookers thought?
    – “Is Jesus crazy?”
    – “Doesn’t He know this will make Him
        unclean (ceremonially, if not physically)?”

This man’s situation would continue no longer
as Jesus said, “I am willing, be clean”.

Question:
What thoughts do you think the man had after being healed?
    – “I just knew Jesus could heal me”.
    – “No situation is too hopeless for Jesus”.
    – “I can’t wait to tell others what has happened”.
    – “I can’t wait to rejoin my family and friends”.
    – “I have a new lease on life’.
    – “I was dead, but now I’m alive again’.

Knowing how excited he was,
Jesus gave him some interesting instructions:

“don’t tell anyone”
– This may have been to protect the man from rejection
    by others who knew him as a leper
    and did not know he had been healed.

“show yourself to the priest
…offer the gift Moses commanded”
    – This was all in accordance with
       the instructions given in Leviticus.
    – By doing this, the priest would examine him
       and, after confirming he was healed, announce
       to the others that he was no longer “unclean”.

Note:
If the man tried to tell others first,
they probably would not believe him
(and may not believe the priest later).

“testimony to them”
    – Could have been referring to the religious leaders
       …following the instructions in Leviticus
       would show them that Jesus respected the Law.
    – Could have been referring to the people who would
       believe he was healed (they would no longer avoid him).

Summary:
– A lot of people suffer from severe physical conditions.
– Some people suffer from being excluded by society.
– As long as we believe in Jesus and His ability to help,
    no situation is completely hopeless
    (there are still miracles today).
– When we are going through difficult times,
    if we don’t continue to worship Jesus
    and keep Him as a part of our lives,
    then we are basically saying that
    we don’t need Him, or His help.
– Jesus is able and willing to help us when we
    believe in Him, and come to Him for help.

VERSES 5-9:

Now we see someone going to Jesus
for someone else in a hopeless situation.

“Capernaum”
    – At this time,
       this was the headquarters for the ministry of Jesus.

“centurion”
    – As the name implies, usually there were
       at least 100 soldiers under his command.
    – Most of the centurions were good people.
    – This one shows he has compassion, humility and faith.
    – As valuable as his soldiers were to him,
       he still had compassion for a mere servant.
Note:
   Masters in that day were often brutal to their servants.
   They were indifferent regarding the welfare of their servants.
Note:
   This emphasizes the level of compassion of this centurion.
Note:
   The word used in Matthew for servant is “pais”
   (which normally means “child” or “boy”).
   He could have been a young boy, or someone much older.
    – He was another person who was not too proud
       to come to Jesus for help;
       he also wasn’t concerned about what others might say.
    – He was concerned about his servant
       and had faith that Jesus could help.

Note:
    There is an obvious message here for
    us – we should always bring our needs to Jesus
    (and especially when things seem hopeless).

Let’s say a person is a believer
and is faced with a hopeless situation.
He takes his need to Jesus and asks for help.
Question:
How does he exercise faith while he is waiting?
What should he be doing?

Of course Jesus was in human form and we don’t
know how tired He was, or if He had other plans.
At any rate, Jesus showed His compassion by
agreeing to go with the centurion to heal his servant.

“do not deserve”
    – Even though the centurion was over many
       people, we can see that he was a humble man
       (reference Philippians 2:3).
    – He had great respect for Jesus.

Note:
    No matter what we achieve in this life,
    when we compare ourselves to Jesus,
    we should all be humbled.

“say the word”
    – The centurion also had a great faith
       in Jesus, and His ability to help.
    – Compare his faith with the faith of the
       official whose son was dying (John 4:46-54).
Question:
What was different?
    – One wanted Him to come to his house;
       the other wanted Him to just say the word.
    – One came to Him for his son;
       the other came to Him for his servant.
    – One begged; the other asked.

Note:
We should be willing to go to Jesus
for other family members, or friends
(that’s what intercession is all about).

Note:
Those in need may be so distraught with their
situation that they fail to go to Jesus on their own.

“under authority”
    – Even though he was in command, the
       centurion also took orders from his superiors.
    – He was a man who believed in the chain of command.
    – His subordinates (including his servant)
       obeyed his commands.
      Note:
          This may have been because they knew he was
          a man of good character, and they respected him.

Question:
Why would he discuss authority; what was his point?
    – He could have been saying that even though
       he was in command of many, he still felt Jesus
       was higher in the chain of command.
    – He could have been indicating that he believed
       Jesus had authority over sickness and hopelessness.
      Note:
          Jesus had shown authority over:
              – Nature (Matthew 8:23-27).
              – Evil spirits (Matthew 8:28-34).
              – Sin (Matthew 9:1-8).
              – Death (Matthew 9:18-36).

Summary:
– People are concerned when
   someone they love becomes deathly ill.
– Concerned people do what they can
   to help their loved ones who are sick;
   they also seek help from others.
– People of faith will intercede
   and pray to the Lord for sick loved ones.
– People of faith believe
   Jesus has authority over all things.

VERSES 10-13:

Question:
How could Jesus be astonished at anything?
    – He was human as well as divine (see also Mark 6:6).
    – He was capable of having human emotions and feelings.

“I tell you the truth”
Question:
Isn’t everything Jesus says, the truth?
Why would He say this?
    – It’s kind of like saying,
      “What I am about to tell you is really important”.

“great faith”
Question:
How would you describe great faith?
    – Judging from the centurion, it is focusing on
       the greatness of the Lord and what He can do.
    – He was a humble man of compassion
       who dared to believe that Jesus was able to heal,
       by just speaking the word.

Note:
    – Jesus knew the centurion was a Gentile.
    – He knew that many Jews despised the Gentiles
       and considered them unclean
       (the same as they felt toward lepers).
    – He knew that His ministry and mission
       would be fulfilled in the land of the Jews,
       but His purpose was to offer salvation to all people.
    – He saw the centurion as one of the first
       of many Gentile believers who would
       go to heaven because of their faith in Him.
    – He pictured believers from all nations
       reclining at the feast in heaven.

“many from the east and west”
    – These represent believing Gentiles (like the centurion).

“Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”
(three Jewish patriarchs representing believing Jews).
    – The image He presents is that believing Jews
       and believing Gentiles will all be together
       as one in the coming kingdom.

Unfortunately, not all Jews will be there.
    – This was significant, since many Jews assumed they
       were automatically included (because they were Jews).
    – Jesus warned them that some would be
       “thrown outside into darkness”.

“weeping an gnashing of teeth”
(see also Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50; 22:13; 24:48-51; 25:24-30)
    – This terminology is often used
       to describe eternal separation from God.

Question:
Why would there be weeping?
    – People brokenhearted that they will never be with God?
    – They will never eat at the table with Jesus and other believers?
    – They are sorry for their wrong choices?

Question:
Why would there be gnashing of teeth?
    – People are mad at themselves for making wrong choices?
    – They may be mad at some who are suffering with them,
       for leading them to make wrong choices.
    – They may be angry at some believers (possibly friends)
       for failing to either tell them about Jesus,
       or trying harder to lead them to Jesus.
    – They may be mad that they heard about Jesus,
       and felt the Holy Spirit leading them,
       but they said “no” (or “later”, but later never came).

Jesus assured the centurion that his servant would be healed.

Question:
What thoughts do you think the centurion had at this point?
    – “I knew Jesus would heal him.”
    – “I can’t wait to get home and confirm his healing.”
    – “I am so glad that I interceded for my servant.”
    – “My life will be different from this day forward.”
    – “I was actually instrumental in a miracle that occurred.”
    – “I wonder what the Jews who saw this are thinking?”
    – “Who else can I intercede for?”
    – “Why wouldn’t everyone take their needs to Jesus?”
    – “I can’t wait to share this miracle with my soldiers.”
    – “Wow, Jesus told me I had great faith.”
    – “Jesus is awesome; I am so glad I know Him.”

Summary:
– Jesus commends us when we exercise true faith.
– The kingdom of heaven is open
   to all people who express their faith in Jesus.
– Jesus answers petitions of faith (including intercession).
– The timing of a miracle, is part of the miracle.