Sermon for Sunday, July 13th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Isa 53:1-5 ESV] 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
New Testament Reading:
[Act 5:12-16 ESV] 12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Gospel Reading:
[Luk 4:38-41 ESV] 38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
Sermon Text:
[Mat 8:14-17 ESV] 14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Introduction
The main point is that Jesus heals many. He doesn’t play favorites. He heals a leper, a servant of a gentile, and now the mother-in-law of Peter. And then he casts out demons from those possessed by them, and heals ALL who were sick, who came to him.
No doubt Jesus is powerful.
No doubt he is the messiah.
No doubt he fulfills Old Testament prophecy.
In fact, our text is explicit on that point: “This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
These physical healings though, it is clear, are instances of the greater truth, that Jesus takes away “the sin of the world.” We would sing that in the church I grew up in: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. It comes from John 1:29 where John the Baptizer says exactly that when he first sees Jesus: “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”
So Jesus heals many.
And the sins of even more He takes upon himself when He died on the cross.
There is a connection there between PHYSICAL healing and SPIRITUAL healing.
That connection starts with sin.
It was the sin of Adam – a SPIRITUAL choice to go against God – that brought into the world “the consequences of sin.”
Those consequences are both SPIRITUAL and PHYSICAL.
On the spiritual side, sin separated man from God. While God is righteous in his very being, man fell away from righteousness.
On the physical side, sin brought corruption of the flesh. It brought disease, and injury, genetic defects, and ultimate death.
But this is where it is important to note that the infirmity you are suffering from is not necessary directly related to a particular sin.
Some of our troubles we were born with, before we sin.
[Jhn 9:1-3 ESV] 1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
So you are not to blame others for the conditions they are in.
And you are not to blame yourself for most of the conditions you are in.
But there are cases where our sins do lead to suffering. If you go drunk driving and speeding and crash and you’re severely injured, the connection between sin and injury is clear.
When we look at the bigger picture, however, we must realize that all of our physical trouble (and mental trouble) is due to sin in some way; caused by that original sin of Adam and its consequences and exasperated by our own sins.
So the physical healings of Jesus that we read about are closely related to spiritual healing; both are good things of the Lord done in response to the needs of sinners.
The physical healings are visible evidences of the unseen but powerful spiritual healings of Christ.
So let us read about these various physical healings, and then consider the Biblical connections to spiritual healing; the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ.
First we have,
I. Jesus heals Peter’s Mother-in-law (v. 14-15)
Here we have Jesus come to Peter’s house. Though Jesus has “nowhere to lay his head” (he owns no house), Peter does have a house. And he’s using it well; he is taking care of his mother-in-law.
This is a good example for us, that it is a good thing to take in family into your house. It seems most likely that Peter’s mother-in-law is living in Peter’s house; she wouldn’t travel being sick.
She was lying there sick with fever. It must have been a substantial illness. She wasn’t able to get up until after she was healed.
But when Jesus touched her hand the fever left her. And what does she do? “She rose and began to serve him.”
What a great example she is.
Now I want to say something shocking, but don’t worry to much because I will “un-shock” you immediately afterwards.
Here is what is shocking: It is clear from this passage that WOMEN ARE TO SERVE! (shocking?)
Now I will un-shock you: It is clear from other places that MEN ARE TO SERVE.
ALL CHRISTIANS ARE TO SERVE. We are to strive to have a servant heart and servant attitude.
Now, we learn something else from this account. Peter was married! You don’t get a mother-in-law unless you have a spouse.
Not all of Christ’s followers were married. Paul wasn’t. So the teaching that “an elder must be the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2) is clarified to mean “not MORE THAN ONE WIFE.” It is OK for an elder to have ZERO wives. And it is ok to have 1 wife. But 2, 3, 4, etc are ruled out. Peter only has one mother-in-law.
This fact that even church-workers can be married is proven in other places as:
[1Co 9:5 ESV] 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? [Peter]
So it is quite strange that the Roman Catholic Church, which has such great interest in Peter (thought to be the first bishop and pope of Rome), does not allow their priests, bishops, and popes to get married. Peter was married, and he still did great work for the Kingdom.
Well, we ought to get back to Jesus. He is doing more healings!
He has cured a leper, then the servant of the centurion. Then Peter’s mother-in-law. And now he finds “an abundance of patients.” Many are hearing about his miracles and have come to be healed. And he doesn’t turn ONE away.
II. Jesus heals those oppressed by demons and all who were sick (v. 16)
We find next that he heals those oppressed by demons. These poor people can’t even bring themselves to Jesus; other people have to bring them.
16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word
So we again see His power. A single word and he casts out demons.
Then, at the end of the verse:
“and healed all who were sick”
So it is that Jesus healed MANY.
And this is noted as a fulfillment of prophecy. The prophecy comes form Isaiah 53:4, written many centuries before:
“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Jesus’s healing fulfills prophecy.
Jesus’s healings are signs. They are signs that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
We know that Jesus took our sins. But what does it mean on the PHYSICAL side here, the he “took our illness and bore our diseases?”
Well, something John MacArthur says here is illuminating:
“It was not that Jesus carried away our diseases by contracting them, but by experiencing vicariously the pain they bring.”
Then, even more, and connecting the physical and spiritual, he says
“And Jesus took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases in the sense that He saw and felt the destructive power of their root cause, which is sin.”
There is also a connection between Jesus “taking away our sin” and “healing us” in 1 Peter 2:24. Peter writes, “He himself BORE OUR SINS [not “our illnesses”] in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been HEALED.”
The root cause of our problems is sin. And Jesus bore our sins on the cross.
Still, a question arises in our minds:
APPLICATION: But why are my illnesses not healed?
If Jesus “took our diseases and bore our illnesses” why do we still get diseases and illnesses?
And one might also ask the similar question, “If Jesus bore our sin, why do we continue to have sin in the life?”
These are big questions, and perhaps outside the scope of our text. But I want to answer them, nonetheless.
It might be instructive to think of a couple different ways of looking at healing. Two false ways and then the Christian way.
On the false side we have “the Christian Science approach to healing” and “the faith-healer approach” to healing. The, on the true side, the true way I call “the Presbyterian approach” or the “Christian approach.”
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
Christian Science is a religion, started in the 19th century, that is neither Christian nor Scientific. Like all false religions and cults they deny the divinity of Jesus and the doctrine of the Trinity. The founder of that religion, Mary Eddy Baker, had especial interest in healing. Her most well known book was titled “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.” One of the people who greatest influenced Mary Eddy Baker was Franz Mesmer. You’ve perhaps never heard of that name, but you’ve probably hear of “Mesmerism” or to be “Mesmerized.” Anyways, the view of healing she developed for so-called “Christian Science” is that your pains, your problems are all in your mind! There is no physical, she said. You have to realize “the unreality of sin and sickness.” So you just have to stop thinking about your pain and it will go away. Have you ever tried that? Your bad back, your headaches or vision trouble, those are your fault for not thinking rightly! So Christian Science practitioners have long eschewed any medical intervention; no pills, no surgeries, nothing.
So Christian Science denies the very exist of sickness (saying it all in your mind).
FAITH HEALERS
The other false few to consider is that of faith healers. They do believe rightly that sickness exists. But many err in believing that the power to heal is vested in man rather than God.
It is a common practice of faith healers, when they’ve failed to heal you, to then say “you didn’t have enough faith, and so were not healed.”
But in our passage, Jesus heals EVERYONE, regardless of their faith!
When faith healers says “you weren’t healed because you didn’t have enough faith” they are merely covering for their inability to heal you.
How to faith healers continue in their charlatanry? People are desperate. I’ve been there. Pain is … painful.
Are their faith healers? People God has granted the special ability to be conduits of His healing power to others? Well, there were in the early church in the book of Acts. The Apostles were used of God to heal people and to draw attention to truth of the Gospel they were preaching and writing.
However, that was a special manifestation of healing powers for that time.
And not all could heal.
Consider St. Paul. He dealt with a physical issue (2 Corinthians 12:8), for which he prayed to God three times to have it taken away. But God chose not to heal him. Did Paul not have enough faith?
CHRISTIAN VIEW
So what then is the Christian view of healing?
Well, for one we trust God, not man. Ultimately any healing that occurs will occur by the will of God and of his power, even if through the instrument of medicine or surgery or prayer or some other means.
And our trust in God extends to trusting Him whether we are healed or not healed. But this is not to be a fatalism. If you are struggling with some physical ailment, it doesn’t mean you give up or give in, because ultimately even if things are not going so well, you are not in a position to say “it is God’s will that I should die.” It might yet be that God heals you.
Such was the conclusion of a great article on the subject written by an old friend of mine. Well, I never knew the man, but I read a number of his books around the time he passed away. I didn’t realize at the time that he had passed away. Well, he was struggling with cancer, a cancer that finally took his life. And he was not yet elderly; he had only just turned 60.
Well, in his article, he asks “what are we to think about healing?”
And he concludes that people had given him three answers, two of which are false.
False #1: Being sick is outside of God’s will. You brought it on yourself! And need to have faith to be healed. (like the Faith Healers)
False #2: You must submit to God’s will. This is partially true. But the thing is, we don’t know God’s will in each case. We don’t know if he is going to heal you or not.
He writes:
In both these erroneous opinions – (1) God’s will is that no Christian should be sick, and one is not submitting to God’s will if one is sick; and (2) in cases of extended illness, one should submit to the will of God by recognizing it is his will that you remain sick and perhaps die of this sickness – the same serious theological mistake is being made: The mistake is an error – a presumption – of knowledge: It presumes that we can know what the will of God for the future is by reading present circumstances, and therefore know how to “submit ourselves to the will of God.”
True view: “one should pray for the desires of one’s heart, not guessing or presuming what the will of God for the future is.”
The notion that we should “submit to the will of God” when we do not and cannot know the will of God is not a Christian idea at all, but a Muslim idea. Islam means “submission,” and it teaches the same error of presuming that the will of God can be known before God reveals it. In Christian theology, the proper verb is “obedience,” not submission, and it is obedience to his revealed commands, not submission to an unknown (and apart from revelation, unknowable – see Deuteronomy 29:29) will of God. The Bible nowhere commands Christians to “submit to the will of God,” precisely because we do not know that will. The Bible commands us hundreds of times to obey God’s commands. God’s commands we know, because they are revealed to us in Scripture, but apart from revelation, we cannot know his will, and therefore we cannot “submit” to it, nor need we try to do so.
We can’t know God’s will, but it is good for our will to be that of having the desire to be healed, and to heal others. And that we should pursue healing. Maybe that is where I can go. We don’t avoid treatment like the Christian Science practitioners.
If you get a splinter, you don’t just leave it to there saying “I guess it’s God’s will.” No, you seek to get it out. Such is the case then with any ailment, any illness. Pray, pray earnestly for healing.
Ultimately, because we are in a world of sin, disease and death will continue to return, even to those who have been healed. Only in heaven will we know no sin and no illness.
Jesus died for our sins, yet sin will continue until the we are in the world to come.
And Jesus took our infirmities, yet illness will continue until we are in the world come.
Jesus conquered death. But that conquering is not fully shown in us until the general resurrection. But the promise is true. Jesus died and rose again.
Application: Let us remember, whenever we pray for the healing of friends and families, let us pray for their souls as well.
Conclusion:
Let us pray for healing. Let us trust in God. Let us work for healing, for the Lord does work miracles.