Having spoken the words of life in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus now demonstrates His power by the performance of miracles, signs which attest to who He is, signs which prove the truth of His teaching, signs which prove the claims that He is, indeed, the Christ.  And so, by words and deeds, He is shown the Messiah.  The passage which we’re going to look at today in Matthew 8:1-17, divides into three parts, and you can see it set apart geographically.  If you look at v. 1, you’ll see these words: “When Jesus came down from the mountain.”  That begins the section which addresses Jesus’ healing of the leper.  Then, if you’ll look down to v. 5, you’ll see the second section of this passage.  It begins with the words, “When Jesus entered Capernaum.”  That…