Matthew served as a tax-collector, which meant he paid attention to details. In chapter eight of his gospel, Matthew tracked Jesus as he traveled and healed at a feverish pace (pardon the pun).

Jesus spoke and healed a centurion’s servant. Jesus rebuked a raging storm. With the word Go! Jesus forced legions of demons out of those they terrorized.

Jesus touched a man consumed with leprosy and immediately the disease fled.

Jesus touched the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law and immediately her fever disappeared.

I pause and wonder if anyone in the entourage balked at Jesus holding the hand of Peter’s mother-in-law shortly after he touched a leper? After all, leprosy spread by touch. Lepers lived away from everyone else, banished to their own colonies. Did anyone worry that Jesus might be spreading the dreaded disease?

Not that I can tell. The absolute command Jesus possessed over this fallen world shocked those who followed him. Diseases died at his touch and fevers ran away. In fact, after Jesus held her hand Peter’s mother-in-law hopped up and made dinner.

Jesus didn’t heal like a cup of chicken soup—Jesus transformed. Jesus brought the unexpected and unexplained wherever he went.

The good news? Jesus still transforms (though not in the ways we expect). Perhaps you need his word or his touch. It’s available when we ask, when we come humbly with our need.

Matthew 8 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Stacey Doyle