Who Did Jesus Die For

“Who Did Jesus Die For?”
Matthew 8:1-4
We meet a lot of different people in our life's travels. In a nation like ours where there is so much diversity there will be those who we can rejoice over and others that we would rather ignore or have banished.

But let me ask you this question-Who did Jesus die for?

We like to believe that Jesus came for all the good people because this makes sense to us. Yet, Jesus demonstrated time and time again that He came not just for those who are well, but for those who were sick, both physically and spiritually. Christ's example is a great challenge to us as Christians because it calls us to reach out to those who make us uncomfortable, to those we would rather not have to deal with, and to those we would dismiss as ever deserving God's love and favor. How easily we forget the price it that Jesus paid for us.

Truly it was often the most abused, the most outcast, the most rejected by society that found the love of Christ so rich and full. It was often the self satisfied, that mocked Christ and His ministry. Some of the greatest spiritual things come from the greatest pains and tragedies of life when Christ is in the picture.

When Handel wrote the "Hallelujah Chorus," his health and his fortunes had reached the lowest possible ebb. His right side had become paralyzed, and all his money was gone. He was heavily in debt and threatened with imprisonment. He was tempted to give up the fight. The odds seemed entirely too great. But it was then he composed his greatest work ever-Messiah. When everything seemed lost an outcast wrote one of the greatest musical works in all of history.

God's ears are always open to the prayers of the afflicted, outcasts, and humble. It is the proud heart that cannot find God or His graces. The Bible teaches us that God looks on the heart and not the external appearances, and that there is no one excluded who would come to Him in humble need and faith.

(1) Finding God-Verse 1 “When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.”

-Jesus had finished doing preaching and ministry to the crowds, which now followed Him as He continued on His journey.
-If someone had hoped to get Jesus' attention as an individual they would have had a difficult time in the press of the large number of people.

-So many people feel today that their relationship to God is nothing more than an institutional reality and that God seems so far away or impersonal. A true believer knows though the closeness of God on a regular basis.

-The world doesn't always understand us as Christians. Although the human family seems to be losing ground they see us rejoicing because we have our hearts and souls tuned into a different frequency. It is tuned to God's heart and purposes.

(2) What does it take to get God's attention?
It takes faith-Verse 2 “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

-A leper found it more difficult than most to get close to Jesus.
a. They were the outcasts of Jesus' day.
b. They were held in great fear because they had a disease that could not be cured, was communicable, and was considered by some religious people as the proper sentence for what was assumed to be hidden sins in people's lives.
c. Lepers could not interact with the rest of society, they were physically removed and all rights stripped from them. They even had to cry out loud "UNCLEAN" if any normal person approached them or they could be stoned or killed.
d. They were never allowed to touch other people, or be touched by "clean" people.
e. It was a horrible lonely way to live, and an even worse way to die.

-One leper however wanted desperately to get Jesus' attention. He knew his only hope was God because there was no hope by man's abilities.

-Those who were humbled by their suffering and pain did not find it hard to come to Christ because He offered them hope, acceptance, love, peace, and real joy even in the midst of their pain and suffering. So often it is the weak and broken that find Christ long before the strong and self satisfied.

-The leper's statement of faith: "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
a. There is no demand in his voice, nor presumption in his petition, only the steadfast acknowledgement that Jesus was God's Messiah.
b. There is also no doubt the hope in his plea that Jesus will touch him and restore him again.

-Jesus could not ignore a single human with faith even in the midst of a huge crowd of people. One cry of faith will be noticed by God even when all the other voices are screaming for their own way.

(3) Favored by God-Verse 3 “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

-While this leper may have hoped for Jesus' attention, he never expected Jesus to actually touch him.
a. No "good Jew" would ever touch a leper. Even if they were moved by some compassion to give them alms to ease their suffering, they still would never physically touch them!
b. Jesus however breaks the code of the law to show the heart of compassion in God.
c. Before Jesus heals him, before Jesus forgives him, Jesus touches him.
d. Sometimes we have to touch a life before the healing comes.

-Christ is not ashamed to make contact with the worst of sinners.
a. There is no one God will ignore that comes to Him in faith.
b. There is no one so disgusting that God would reject.
c. There is a God in heaven that wants more than our soul. He wants to touch our lives as well.

-While the rest of society had their rules to keep at arm’s length these sick and dying people Jesus is not ashamed nor bound by laws except the language of love.
a. This man may have gone years with no one touching him except other lepers.
b. The fact that he had to yell out loud if anyone even came near him "UNCLEAN" made this touch by Jesus an amazing thing.

-Christ is moved by this man's acknowledgement of faith in Him, and the man's humble way of asking for help.
a. Jesus did not see the crowds, but He saw a heart of faith in an individual.
b. Christ will still see this today, how about you?
c. Though repeatedly rejected by others, this man found Christ's acceptance.
d. Rejection causes many to give up too early. However we must remember that just because others have rejected us does not mean God will too.
e. God looks for something in us that the world doesn't see, our faith in Him.
f. Though this leper was feared by man, he was favored by God.

-Jesus is quite willing to meet this man's need, and reward his faith.
a. Christ is more willing to minister to others that we would like to think.
b. Those whom we may think are undeserving may find God's blessings if they come in humble faith believing.

When Christ pronounces the leper "CLEAN" the man is healed immediately.
b. Christ's pronouncement of "BE CLEAN" probably included the spiritual as well as physical.
c. So often when Jesus healed He also forgave their sins, which was and is an even greater healing.

(4) The gift of faith-Verse 4 “And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.”

-Jesus understood that this man needed acceptance by society too, and so He sends him to the priests for an examination.
a. God is not afraid of doctor's exams when He heals.
b. Jesus honored the law in doing this, and also made a way for this man to be accepted by society again.
c. The priests were the doctors when it came to leprosy. Their confirmation of this man's total healing would be his ticket back into society, back into the worshipping community, and back into his family's life again.

-Not only does this man find the greatest reward for his faith, but others will be given a testimony of God's power as well.
a. While Jesus tells the man not to broadcast the healing all over the place, He does want the priests to receive a witness of God's power.
b. These priests could do so much good if they too had faith.
c. No doubt Jesus didn't want the man telling the entire crowd so that the crowds didn't just come to Him for physical needs alone.

-The man's suffering proved to be a great gift in the end, for it led him to Christ.
Faith's gift was not just physical healing because this man was restored to God, to his family, to his society, and to himself.
a. When others saw a hopeless case, Jesus saw possibilities.
b. What about us? Who have you dismissed as hopeless?
c. Are we too good to reach out a hand to touch those who are trying to find God?

The good news is that Jesus died for all and requires that we only come in faith. We can rest assured that even if we are only a small voice in the crowd, a voice with faith in it our God will hear and answer.