Miracles and Mysteries: Matthew 8-13Sample

After performing quite an amazing miracle in healing a man with leprosy, Jesus commands the once-leper not to talk about what just occurred with anyone. You can imagine this would have been quite a challenge for the leper, who would have likely wanted to scream at the top of his lungs about this miracle that he had just received!

But Jesus tells him not to. It is likely because He did not want news to spread that would bring a misunderstanding of who Jesus actually was, as there were rumblings that Jesus was simply a wonder-worker. But Jesus is so much more than that. He is not just a miracle-man, but He is the Messiah, come in the flesh to display the greatest miracle and wonder humanity has ever seen: dying in the place of sinners and rising to life that we may also have life.

Although Jesus urges the healed leper to present himself to the temple that he may be welcomed back into the community — no longer an outcast from his sickness — the man did not heed Jesus’ words but instead spread the news freely and openly (Mark 1:45). And this would happen a few more times in Jesus’ ministry, where people would share of the miracle they had just received even after Jesus told them not to.

The wonderful thing is that it didn’t change how Jesus saw them, nor change what He came to do. Jesus is the Messiah who comes in power, but also in love and grace.

Today, ponder this: How do you see Jesus? Is He merely a miracle-man, thought of or engaged with when something good occurs in your life? Or is He your Messiah, whose life, death and resurrection mean a new life raised and lived with him?