14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
“He took up our infirmities
and bore our diseases.”
Read Matthew 8:14-17 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One thing I can count on Matthew’s gospel sharing is the various ways Jesus fulfilled prophecy. Whether Matthew was simply an informed Jew who knew the scriptures well (even though he was a tax collector by trade), or whether the Holy Spirit helped him collect and validate the Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfilled while writing his gospel, Matthew’s gospel is the one that shares the most about how Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament prophets promised.
In this event, Matthew draws our attention to another fulfilled prophecy. During the evening at Peter’s mother-in-law’s home, we read that “many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” (v. 16)
However, while the other gospels that include this event don’t share anything about the significance of this evening’s activity, Matthew does. Matthew continues by sharing how what happened fulfilled what was spoken about in the prophet Isaiah’s writings, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”
This is something that we can see fulfilled in much of Jesus’ ministry as He moved towards the cross, but perhaps there was something special about this specific event that makes it stand out as a fulfillment of this prophecy. Perhaps this was one of the first times in Jesus’ ministry when there was a steady stream of people coming to be healed, or maybe this is more of a side-note Matthew includes as a summary about how Jesus’ ministry was fulfilling Isaiah’s words.
But the big thing that I can see in this passage and in Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus’ ministry is that Jesus was willing to leave heaven in order to come be with us in person. And Jesus wasn’t willing to just come to be with the popular, famous, or elite in society, but He came specifically for those who were hurting, sick, and in need of a Savior.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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