Listen:  135.1

Let’s read that portion.  Matthew 8:14-17says, “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” 

This portion gives us an insight to a couple of important truths.  First we see that the Lord came to the Apostle Peter’s mother-in-law’s house.  This lets us know that Peter was married.  This is particularly interesting because the Roman Catholics, who claim Peter as their first pope, forbid their leaders from marrying.  Mark and Luke also tell us of this account of the Lord healing Peter’s wife’s mother.  In all three accounts, we learn when the Lord touched her hand, she was healed immediately. An instantaneous healing from the all-powerful God!  After the Lord healed her, we read in the KJV that she ministered unto THEM.  Almost all other translations say that she ministered unto HIM.  The Greek suggests that the proper thought is that she ministered unto HIM.  Perhaps her grateful service to the Lord caused her to minister to all the disciples, but her intent, we see, was on serving the Lord Himself.  What a lesson for us all!  When the Lord heals us from our sin sickness, we are privileged to enter into a life of service to Him.  How can we properly serve our Lord and savior?  We can do that by giving our whole lives to Him so that He can direct us in every part of our lives.  1 Corinthians 10:31tells us, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  Then, we read in Colossians 3:23, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”  The true concept of service, is not that we serve the Lord at times, but we serve Him with our entire lives.

Next, we see from our portion that in the evening, many people were brought to the Lord to be healed of demon possession or sicknesses.  The Lord, in His infinite power and grace, cast out the demons by the sound of His voice, and He healed all those with their varying sicknesses.  What power the Lord Jesus possessed!  We see here that His actions were a fulfillment of a prophecy made by Isaiah the prophet.  Isaiah 53:4says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”  Many of the so-called faith healers use this verse to teach that Christ, in His death, took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses in His body when He died on Calvary’s tree, thus giving us the power to rebuke and heal all sicknesses by faith.  However, notice how that this prophesy is not being applied to the atoning work of Christ on the cross, but it is applied to His earthy ministry before His death on the cross.  While Isaiah 53:4certainly applies to the Lord Jesus on the cross, the Spirit of God uses that verse here to apply it to the Lord’s earthly ministry.

Let’s read Matthew 8:17in the NASB for a little more clarity.  That states, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”  This shows us that the interpretation of Isaiah’s prophesy was fulfilled by Christ’s healing ministry, in which He did take away disabilities and carry away diseases.  However, as noted earlier, Isaiah 53:4is certainly speaking of the Lord’s death to put away our sin.  The Apostle Peter would later quote that same verse, using it to show that Christ did indeed, bear our sins in His own body.  Speaking of the Lord Jesus, Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”  So, which of these applications are more accurate?  To that question, we would without hesitation say that both of these applications, as given by the Holy Spirit, are correct.  We do well to realize that a verse may have but one meaning, but it has many applications.  (135.1)