Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20130206.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Matthew: Jesus As Israel's Messiah And His Kingdom
Part XIV: Christ As Israel's Messiah By His Authority, Matthew 8:1-11:1
J. Christ As Israel's Messiah And God By His Power Over Blindness, Dumbness And All Diseases
(Matthew 9:27-35; Isaiah 35:4-6)
  1. Introduction
    1. When John's disciples came to Jesus to ask if He was the Messiah or if they should look for another, Jesus pointed them to the prophecies of Isaiah 35:4-6 and 61:1 that foretold how Israel would know God had come to her in offering His Messianic Kingdom; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1007, 1038.
    2. Well, Matthew 9:27-35 provides specific signals of that prophetic fulfillment in the miracles Jesus did, showing Him to be Israel's true Messiah and God via the fulfillment of these Old Testament prophecies:
  2. Christ As Israel's Messiah And God By His Power Over Blindness, Dumbness And All Diseases.
    1. Isaiah 35:4-6 predicted God would arrive to bless Israel with promised Messianic blessings accompanied by several named healing miracles: (1) the eyes of the blind would be opened, (2) the ears of the deaf would be unstopped, (3) the lame would leap as a deer (4) and the tongue of the dumb would sing.
    2. Isaiah 61:1 NIV, ESV also foretold the Messiah would proclaim good tidings unto the poor and afflicted.
    3. Well, Matthew 9:27-35 shows Jesus fulfilled these predictions, and much more, as follows:
      1. First, Jesus healed the blind, Matthew 9:27-29:
        1. He restored sight to two blind men who called upon Him as the "son of David," which is "the specific Messianic title," Matthew 9:27-29; Ibid., ftn. to Matthew 20:30. Jesus did not deny the title, accepting it as the Messiah, and healed both men outright according to their faith in Him as the Hebrew Messiah and Messenger of God, Matthew 9:28-29.
        2. Even more notably, both of these blind men addressed Jesus as "Lord" (kurie) in the context of their believing He was able to heal them, thus a reference to Jesus as God, Matthew 9:28; U. B. S. Greek N. T., 1966, p. 32; Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 459-461. Jesus' acceptance of the term, "Lord" in the context of His ability to heal them showed He condoned their reference to Him as deity! (Matthew 9:28-29)
      2. Second, Jesus healed a man who had been made unable to speak as a dumb man due to an affliction created by an evil spirit, Matthew 9:32-33. The Pharisees explained this miracle as one that had been performed by the prince of the demons, by Satan himself, but that fails to explain how God was letting Jesus fulfill Isaiah 35:6b as a signal of the imminence of the Kingdom Jesus was offering to Israel.
      3. Third, Jesus went about all the cities and villages of Israel, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Messianic Kingdom, Matthew 9:35. The Greek term for "gospel" here is euangelion, "good news," Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 33; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 318. In effect, Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah 61:1 that predicted Messiah would proclaim good news to the people of Israel.
      4. Fourth, Jesus healed "every sickness and every disease among the people" of Israel, Matt. 9:35b KJV:
        1. The word rendered "sickness" here is "illness" (nosos, Ibid., p. 545), and the word rendered "disease" is malakia, "weakness, ailment" such as bodily deformities, Ibid., p. 489. Thus, Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah 35:4-6 regarding the healing of the deaf and the lame along with every kind and form of human deformity, weakness or illness.
        2. The fact that He was going beyond just healing the diseases named in Isaiah 35:4-6 to heal "every" illness and "every" ailment, weakness, deformity, reveals Jesus was working powerfully to indicate that God Himself had indeed come to Israel as predicted in Isaiah 35:4. His work to go far beyond the prophecy there indicates that He was proving Himself to be God in the flesh as Isaiah 9:6-7 had predicted of the Messiah, the son of David, to be born in Israel!
Lesson: The way Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 35:4-6 and Isaiah 61:1 in how God would come to Israel to offer the Messianic Kingdom through specific healing miracles and the proclamation of the good news of the Kingdom, and the way He far exceeded this prediction shows Jesus is the Messiah and God Incarnate.

Application: (1) May we trust in Jesus as Messiah and God Incarnate to have eternal life, John 20:31. (2) May we hope for the arrival of His Kingdom when all illness and weakness for us will be past!