BEMA Episode Link: 100: Healing at Great Cost
Episode Length: 44:20
Published Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2019 01:00:00 -0800
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings watch as Jesus brings the Kingdom to the brokenness of the world around him, observing the surprising responses of those who encounter it.

Discussion Video for BEMA 100

Transcript for BEMA 100

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 100: Healing at Great Cost - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: Episode 100 - Healing at Great Cost
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings Focus: Matthew 8:1-22 - Jesus’s ministry following the Sermon on the Mount

This episode examines the immediate aftermath of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, where He demonstrates through His actions the radical teachings He just presented. The hosts provide a comprehensive review of the entire biblical narrative before diving into three powerful healing encounters that reveal the inclusive nature of God’s Kingdom and the costly nature of discipleship. The discussion emphasizes Matthew’s “mamzer” (outsider/illegitimate) agenda, showing how Jesus brings the Kingdom to society’s outcasts - lepers, Roman centurions, and others considered unclean or unwelcome.

Key Takeaways

  • Jesus demonstrates His teaching through action immediately after the Sermon on the Mount, showing that rabbinical instruction must be applied, not just heard
  • The Gospel of Matthew consistently emphasizes a “mamzer agenda” - the Kingdom of God is radically inclusive, welcoming those considered outsiders, outcasts, and unclean
  • Being ritually unclean in Torah is not the same as being sinful - uncleanliness is a temporary state everyone experiences, not a moral failing
  • Jesus’s healing ministry fulfills Isaiah 53 not just through His death, but through His life of suffering on behalf of others
  • Following Jesus requires total commitment and comes at great personal cost - it is counterintuitive, difficult, and demands leaving everything behind
  • Jesus never breaks Mosaic law but does challenge oral tradition and religious cultural norms that prioritize personal convenience over loving people
  • The Kingdom flips expectations - those who think they’re “in” may be “out,” while outsiders (Gentiles, lepers, centurions) will feast with Abraham

Main Concepts & Theories

Biblical Narrative Review Structure

The episode opens with a comprehensive 12-minute review of the entire biblical narrative, organized as follows:

  1. Torah (Partnership): Genesis through Deuteronomy - God choosing, defining, and inviting Israel into partnership
    • Preface (Genesis 1-11): Creation is good, invitation to trust
    • Introduction (Genesis 12-50): Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph demonstrate trust
    • Exodus: Rescue, Passover, Sinai wedding, Tabernacle
    • Leviticus: Priesthood and living as “walking priests”
    • Numbers: Desert honeymoon
    • Deuteronomy: Call to remember
  2. History (Redemption Cycle and God’s Patience): Joshua through Chronicles
    • Joshua: Planted at earth’s crossroads
    • Judges: Stuck in redemption cycle
    • Ruth: Love story showing faithfulness amid struggle
    • Samuel, Kings, Chronicles: From Saul to Solomon to divided kingdom
  3. Tools (Wisdom): Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
    • Songs, wise sayings, meaning/purpose, intimacy to sustain through brokenness
  4. Prophets (Warning, Woes, and Hope): Pre-Assyrian through Remnant
    • Multiple prophetic periods addressing Israel and Judah’s unfaithfulness
  5. Remnant (Returning, Yearning, Learning): Post-exilic period
    • Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
  6. Silent Years (Hellenism): Between Testaments
    • Five competing Jewish worldviews: Sadducees, Herodians, Essenes, Zealots, Pharisees
  7. Gospels (Jesus - The Story in Flesh): Four Gospel perspectives
    • Matthew: Gospel of the mamzer (outsider)
    • Mark: Roman Gospel
    • Luke: Ordered Gospel, possibly parashah companion
    • John: Gospel to grafted church (Jew and Gentile)
The Mamzer Agenda in Matthew

“Mamzer” technically means illegitimate child from an illegitimate Torah marriage, but Marty uses it poetically to describe anyone considered an outsider or outcast. Matthew’s Gospel consistently emphasizes:

  • Genealogy includes mamzers (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba)
  • Birth narratives involve outsiders
  • Ministry attracts crowds from everywhere: Judea, across Jordan, Decapolis, Galilee
  • The Sermon on the Mount focuses on transformation, mercy, forgiveness, loving enemies - all necessary for radical inclusivity
  • Healing encounters prioritize society’s outcasts
Clean vs. Unclean - Not the Same as Sinful vs. Righteous

A crucial theological distinction emphasized in the episode:

  • Uncleanliness in Torah is a temporary state, not a moral condition
  • Many normal activities make one unclean: menstruation, touching dead animals, bodily emissions
  • Being unclean simply means certain restrictions apply for a period (often 6-7 days)
  • Everyone takes turns being unclean - it’s a role in the community, not a sin
  • Jesus willingly accepts uncleanliness to touch and heal people
  • This challenges the cultural stigma (not biblical command) of avoiding unclean people
Fulfillment of Isaiah 53 in Life, Not Just Death

Matthew quotes Isaiah 53 (“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases”) in reference to Jesus’s healing ministry, not His crucifixion. This reveals:

  • Isaiah 53 is fulfilled in how Jesus lives, not just how He dies
  • Suffering on behalf of others brings salvation and Kingdom
  • The servant model involves taking on the burdens, pain, and brokenness of others
  • Jesus exhausts Himself healing: touching lepers, confronting demons, healing the sick
  • This reframes how we should read and apply Isaiah 53
The Cost of Following Jesus

Three encounters illustrate the demanding nature of discipleship:

  1. The Teacher of the Law: “I will follow you wherever you go”
    • Jesus warns: “Foxes have dens, birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”
    • Following Jesus means total commitment, no security, no comfort guaranteed
  2. The Would-be Disciple: “Let me first bury my father”
    • Likely refers to Jewish practice of second burial (one year after death, bones placed in ossuary)
    • Connected to superstitions about resurrection and redemption
    • Jesus responds: “Let the dead bury their own dead” - life in the Kingdom takes priority
    • Not harsh rejection, but call to prioritize Kingdom over cultural/superstitious obligations
Jewish Burial Customs

The episode explains second-temple period Jewish burial practices:

  • Body placed in tomb, covered with spices to speed decomposition
  • One year later, family returns to collect bones
  • Tendons and ligaments cut, bones placed in ossuary (bone box)
  • Ossuary placed in family tomb with other family members
  • Superstition developed that presence at this second burial was necessary for resurrection
  • This cultural practice, not biblical command, created the obligation the disciple referenced

Examples & Applications

The Leper (Matthew 8:1-4)

The Encounter:

  • Immediately after Sermon on the Mount, a leper approaches Jesus
  • Lepers were practical outcasts, quarantined outside communities
  • The law said if you touch a leper, you become unclean for six days
  • Jesus reaches out and touches him, saying “I am willing. Be clean.”
  • The man is healed of leprosy immediately

Application:

  • The law tells you what to do WHEN (not IF) you touch a leper
  • Jesus prioritizes the person over His own convenience
  • Following Torah doesn’t mean avoiding people who make us unclean
  • Jesus demonstrates that love requires touching the untouchable
  • After healing, Jesus honors Torah by sending the man to the priest as Leviticus commands

Modern Relevance: Who are the “lepers” in our communities - those we avoid for fear of contamination or inconvenience? How does Jesus’s example challenge us to engage rather than quarantine ourselves from difficult people?

The Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-13)

The Encounter:

  • Roman centurion (pagan oppressor, not Jewish) asks Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant
  • Shows awareness of Jewish purity laws: “I do not deserve to have you come under my roof”
  • Demonstrates faith: “Just say the word and my servant will be healed”
  • Understands authority: “I myself am a man under authority”
  • Jesus is amazed: “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith”

Jesus’s Response:

  • “Many will come from the east and west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”
  • “But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside”
  • The outsider (Gentile centurion) demonstrates greater faith than insiders (religious Jews)

Application:

  • Faith can be found in unexpected places and unexpected people
  • Religious pedigree doesn’t guarantee Kingdom participation
  • Those we assume are “out” may be the ones truly “in”
  • The Kingdom radically inverts our expectations of who belongs

Modern Relevance: How do we judge who is “in” or “out” based on cultural markers rather than actual faith? Who are the modern-day centurions whose faith might surprise us?

Peter’s Mother-in-Law and the Crowds (Matthew 8:14-17)

The Encounter:

  • Jesus enters Peter’s house in Capernaum
  • Heals Peter’s mother-in-law of fever
  • Evening comes, crowds bring demon-possessed and sick
  • Jesus heals all who come
  • Matthew quotes Isaiah 53: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases”

Application:

  • Jesus’s healing ministry is exhausting, continuous work
  • He takes on the suffering of others physically, emotionally, spiritually
  • This is what it means to bear infirmities and diseases
  • Isaiah 53 fulfilled in life of service, not just death on cross
Modern Discipleship Models

Marty shares from his campus ministry experience:

  • Students wanted “discipleship” but only a couple hours a day
  • Biblical discipleship means “come, follow me” - sharing life fully
  • Breakfast together, following throughout the day, dinner together
  • Total immersion, not convenient compartmentalization
  • Like the twelve leaving their nets and following Jesus

Application: Modern Western Christianity often seeks convenient, compartmentalized discipleship. Jesus calls for total life commitment that may cost us security, comfort, and cultural expectations.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. Levitical Purity Laws in Context:
    • Deep dive into Leviticus 13-15 on skin diseases, bodily discharges, and uncleanliness
    • How did these laws function in community health and spiritual formation?
    • What is the relationship between physical cleanliness and spiritual holiness?
  2. The Servant Songs of Isaiah:
    • Comprehensive study of Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52-53
    • How do Jewish and Christian interpretations differ?
    • How should we read these passages in light of Jesus’s entire life, not just His death?
  3. Jewish Burial Customs and Resurrection Beliefs:
    • Second burial practices (ossuary collection)
    • Development of resurrection theology in Second Temple Judaism
    • Sadducees vs. Pharisees on resurrection
    • Archaeological evidence from ossuaries and tombs
  4. The Cost of Discipleship:
    • Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “The Cost of Discipleship” and cheap grace vs. costly grace
    • What does total commitment look like in modern Western contexts?
    • How do we balance family obligations with Kingdom priorities?
  5. Matthew’s Mamzer Agenda Throughout the Gospel:
    • Track every instance of outsiders being welcomed in Matthew
    • Compare with other Gospels’ emphases
    • How does this shape Matthew’s Christology and ecclesiology?
  6. Five Jewish Worldviews in Jesus’s Day:
    • Detailed study of Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots, Herodians
    • Primary sources (Josephus, Dead Sea Scrolls, Mishnah)
    • How did Jesus’s message challenge and engage each group?
  7. Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Interpretation:
    • Traditional Jewish readings (suffering servant as Israel)
    • Christian messianic interpretation
    • How does Matthew’s use here inform the discussion?
  8. Geography of Jesus’s Galilean Ministry:
    • Map study of Capernaum, Bethsaida, Chorazin, eremos topos
    • Walking distances and daily movement patterns
    • Archaeological findings at these sites
  9. Bethany/Beth’ani as Leper Colony:
    • Evidence for and against this theory
    • Lazarus, Mary, and Martha’s situation
    • Social structure around leper communities
  10. Rabbinic Teaching Methods:
    • The pattern of teaching followed by demonstration
    • Talmidim (disciples) and rabbinic training
    • How Jesus both fits and challenges this model

Comprehension Questions

  1. Explain the distinction between being ritually unclean and being sinful according to Torah. Why is this distinction important for understanding Jesus’s interactions with lepers and others considered unclean?

    Expected answer: Ritual uncleanliness is a temporary state that everyone experiences through normal life activities (menstruation, touching dead things, bodily emissions, etc.). It requires certain restrictions and waiting periods but is not a moral failing. Sinfulness is a moral category involving disobedience or rebellion. This distinction is crucial because it shows Jesus wasn’t “breaking the law” by touching lepers - He was willingly accepting temporary uncleanliness (requiring 6 days of waiting) in order to love and heal people. The law told you what to do WHEN you touch a leper, not to never touch them. Cultural stigma, not biblical command, pushed lepers to the fringes.

  2. How does Matthew use the quotation from Isaiah 53 differently than we might expect, and what does this teach us about the fulfillment of prophecy?

    Expected answer: Matthew quotes Isaiah 53 (“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases”) in reference to Jesus’s healing ministry, not His crucifixion. This shows that Isaiah 53 is fulfilled in Jesus’s life of suffering on behalf of others, not just in His death. Jesus exhausts Himself healing the sick, casting out demons, and touching the untouchable. This teaches us that prophecy fulfillment is broader than we often assume - it encompasses Jesus’s entire ministry, not just isolated events. If we’re willing to suffer on behalf of others, we also participate in bringing Kingdom and salvation.

  3. What is the “mamzer agenda” in the Gospel of Matthew, and how do the three healing encounters in this passage demonstrate it?

    Expected answer: The mamzer agenda refers to Matthew’s consistent emphasis on the radical inclusivity of God’s Kingdom, welcoming outsiders and those considered illegitimate or unclean. The three encounters demonstrate this: (1) Jesus touches a leper, someone quarantined from community, making him an insider; (2) Jesus honors a Roman centurion’s faith, declaring that Gentiles from “east and west” will feast with Abraham while some “subjects of the kingdom” will be thrown out; (3) Jesus heals crowds including demon-possessed and sick throughout the evening. Each encounter shows Jesus bringing Kingdom to those religious insiders would exclude, flipping expectations of who is “in” or “out.”

  4. What did the disciple likely mean when he asked to “bury his father,” and why did Jesus respond as He did?

    Expected answer: The disciple was likely referring to the Jewish second burial practice where, one year after death, the family would return to the tomb to collect the deceased’s bones and place them in an ossuary. Jewish superstition held that presence at this ritual was necessary for the person’s resurrection. Jesus’s response “let the dead bury their own dead” was not harsh rejection of family obligations but a call to prioritize Kingdom life over cultural superstitions and death-focused rituals. He was saying there are enough people focused on death and its rituals - come follow life in the Kingdom instead.

  5. According to the episode, what makes following Jesus difficult and costly? Provide at least three specific examples from the passage or the discussion.

    Expected answers should include at least three of the following:

    • No guaranteed security or home (“Son of Man has no place to lay His head”)
    • Total life commitment, not convenient part-time discipleship (disciples left their nets)
    • Willingness to become unclean/inconvenienced for the sake of others (Jesus touching the leper)
    • Prioritizing Kingdom over family obligations and cultural expectations (burial customs)
    • Facing a counterintuitive Kingdom that challenges our assumptions about who’s in/out
    • Potential persecution and difficulty (themes from Sermon on the Mount)
    • Requires transformation of heart toward mercy, forgiveness, and loving enemies
    • Must engage with society’s outcasts rather than maintaining separation/purity

Personalized Summary

BEMA Episode 100 serves as both a comprehensive review of the biblical narrative and a deep dive into the immediate application of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount teaching. The episode powerfully demonstrates that in the Kingdom of God, teaching and action must align - Jesus doesn’t just talk about transformation, mercy, and loving enemies; He immediately models it by touching lepers, honoring the faith of a pagan Roman centurion, and exhausting Himself healing crowds of sick and demon-possessed people.

The theological distinction between ritual uncleanliness and sinfulness fundamentally changes how we read these encounters. Jesus isn’t breaking Torah by touching lepers - He’s fulfilling its deeper purpose by prioritizing people over personal convenience. The law tells us what to do when we touch lepers, not to avoid them entirely. This challenges the cultural stigma (then and now) that keeps us separated from people who might inconvenience or “contaminate” us.

Matthew’s mamzer agenda runs throughout this passage: the Kingdom welcomes outsiders, outcasts, and those religious insiders would exclude. Even more provocatively, Jesus declares that outsiders (Gentiles from east and west) will feast with Abraham while some who think they’re “in” will find themselves “out.” This should disturb us deeply and cause us to examine who we consider beyond the reach of God’s Kingdom.

The episode concludes with a sobering reminder about the cost of discipleship. Following Jesus isn’t a convenient, part-time commitment - it requires leaving behind security, family obligations, cultural expectations, and superstitions to fully embrace Kingdom life. The call is counterintuitive, difficult, and demands everything. Yet this same costly discipleship leads to participating in Isaiah 53’s fulfillment: suffering on behalf of others brings salvation and Kingdom into the world.

This episode challenges comfortable Christianity that seeks Jesus’s teaching without Jesus’s lifestyle, that wants Kingdom benefits without Kingdom costs, and that maintains cultural boundaries Jesus obliterates. The story made flesh calls us to flesh out that same story in our own lives.

Study Notes Generated: 2025-11-01 Transcript Source: /Users/adamaverycole/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/repos/github/bema-transcribe/episodes/100/Transcript for BEMA 100.txt

Original Notes

  • Review (Genesis 1-Gospels)
    • What does everyone think about the following statements?
      • Marty: Rabbi Jesus. I know we might dress it up a little bit. We don’t want to be flippant in our Jesus, but it should just be about Jesus. We should see nothing but Jesus. All the setup was to get us to Jesus. All of our study is to get us to Jesus. Understanding the scriptures is to get us to Jesus. Notice I’m not saying all the scriptures point towards Jesus, because that’s not the point. Jesus is the scriptures. The scriptures don’t point to Jesus. Jesus is the scriptures.
      • Brent: I have in my notes from a past BEMA session, or rather a BEMA cycle.
      • Marty: Call me back.
      • Brent: You said “the story in flesh.
  • Reviewing Mumzer
    • Outcast
    • All of Galilee and Judea come to listen to Jesus
  • Jesus comes off the mountain from teaching the sermon on the Mount
    • A Jewish Rabbi would immediately put his teaching into practice after something like the sermon on the Mount. We should look for clues in what comes next.
  • Touching the leper
    • Leprosy included all kinds of skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, true leprosy, etc.
    • Levitical rules about clean and unclean
    • I’d being unclean sinful? No, it was something to be expected
    • Does Jesus make the leper clean physically or ceremonially?
    • Is Jesus made unclean?
    • The Bible Project: What the idea of holiness means in the Bible
    • Clues that Jesus was made unclean
      • Six days later before Jesus goes into the Temple.
      • Following the laws in Leviticus
      • Does Jesus wait 6 days because he’s unclean or because he’s setting an example, to fulfill the text, and to keep from being offensive?
    • Clues that the Leper was ceremonially unclean even after being touched by Jesus
      • “Go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.”
      • Following the laws in Leviticus.
    • Town of Bethany
      • Could have been a leper colony
      • May mean House of Misery
      • Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived in Bethany.
  • Meeting the Centurion in Capernaum.
    • Eremos Topos to Capernaum is about a 20 min walk
    • The centurion is the second UNCLEAN person in a row that Jesus interacts with.
    • This is what the kingdom should be like. Those you don’t think are in the kingdom are in and those you do think are in the kingdom are not.
    • A heavy mumzer agenda.
      • I have not found anyone in Israel with such greater faith than this.
      • Many will come from the east and the west.
        • East and West is gentile talk.
  • Peter’s house
    • Jesus touches Peter’s mom and she’s immediately healed.
    • Fulfillment of Isaiah 53 in how Jesus lived and not in his death.
    • Capernaum is 30 mins from the Sermon on the Mount.
    • Marty argues that Jesus would have waited in the wilderness for 6 days before
  • Jesus gives orders to cross to the other side of the lake: Another disciple said to Him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father,” but Jesus told him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
    • Discipleship: Marty’s example of true discipleship and the shortcut discipleship that doesn’t really count.
  • Another disciple asking to bury his dead father first.
    • Jesus says let the dead bury their own dead.

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