Matthew 11:1-6 " Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things which you HEAR and SEE: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."
Jesus is declaring again the pattern for ministry. The people were hearing the gospel preached to them, and they were seeing the miracles taking place in front of them. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes from hearing the word of God or the gospel. Remember the two words HEAR and SEE. We shall see them again in the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. Many have taught that the parable of the sower is about the word of God in general; but the parable is about the preaching of the gospel message in particular.
Matthew 13:3-17 "Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some seed fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to HEAR, let him HEAR." And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven (the kingdom of God within you), but to them it has not been given. For whoever has (ears to hear and understand the gospel), to him more (revelation of the kingdom of God) will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever does not have (ears to hear and understand the gospel), even what (understanding) he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because SEEING (the miracles taking place) they do not see (perceive), and HEARING (the gospel) they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says "Hearing (the gospel) you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing (the miracles) you will see and not perceive (how the miracles take place); For the hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes (the miracles taking place) and hear (the gospel) with their ears, lest they should understand (the gospel) with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." But blessed are your eyes for they see (the miracles) and your ears for they hear (the gospel); for assuredly , I say to you that many prophets and righteous men (in the Old Testament) desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."
As we can see, Jesus is describing how the kingdom of God is spread to the hearts of people and how He brings physical healing and miracles to us. The gospel is the seed planted in hearts. As people believe it, He brings healing and does miracles in our lives.
Matthew 13:18-23 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom (the gospel or His gift of righteousness to us apart from our works) and does not understand it, then the wicked one (Satan) comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart (this person is not born again). This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word (the gospel) and immediately receives it with joy (this person is born again in his heart); yet he has not root in himself (he is not rooted in the message of righteousness with God through Jesus apart from our works), but endures (in the gospel) only for a while. For when tribulation (within his heart) or persecution (from other people) arises because of the word (gospel), immediately he stumbles (he falls back to trying to achieve right-standing with God through his own works or self-righteousness; yet he is still born again). Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word (the gospel), and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful (he does not experience the love, joy and peace we are meant to receive; yet he is still born again). But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word (the gospel) and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
I have come to see this parable as more of a progression in the lives of people. We are not stuck as being one type of soil. We might have received the gospel message at one point and received Jesus into our hearts and been born again. But we fall away or drift away from the gospel message of His free gift of righteousness to us in Jesus Christ. We fall back into a mindset of trying to achieve right-standing with God by our good works. It does not mean we have lost our salvation. We might also have received Jesus, but then get caught up in the cares of the world or the deceitfulness of riches. It also does not mean that we have lost our salvation. The seed is still planted in the soil of our hearts. Jesus still lives within us. We need to change our thinking and go back to the gospel message. He bore the sins of our entire lifetime. We have peace and we are reconciled to God. If we hold on to the gospel or word of righteousness, it will cleanse our conscience on the inside. Then it will begin to cleanse our actions on the outside. The fruits of the spirit, love, joy and peace are not choked out by the pain which is caused by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts and desires of other things. We become fruitful. This should make it clear that Jesus is describing a process in the lives of all believers.
The tribulation that Jesus described here is this process within our own hearts. When we fail, our conscience will try to condemn us and cause us to stumble or fall away from the gospel or word of righteousness back into condemnation. We must cleanse our conscience by holding on to the word of righteousness apart from our works. This will help us to cleanse our actions as we learn to walk in love. Peter and James describe this process as the various trials that test our faith in the word of righteousness. Then there is persecution from other people. This is another way that we could stumble or fall away from the word of righteousness. Again, to fall away or stumble does not mean that we lose our salvation. It means we fall away from believing in grace back to an Old Testament mindset of Law and punishment, which breeds fear in us.
2 Corinthians 5:19 "that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation." The gospel or word of reconciliation is that Jesus has suffered the punishment for our sins. Notice this verse says that God is not counting people's sins or trespasses to them. It does not say just their past sins. It says He is not counting their sins to them. That is all sins, the sins of their entire lifetime, past, present and future. We are reconciled to God. Praise His name!
Keith Oliver
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Exercising our Authority: Matthew chapter 8
The book of Matthew is systematically teaching us the things that Jesus wanted us to know for effective ministry. In the previous blog on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7, Jesus gave us His primary teaching on righteousness. This is the foundation of our faith; righteousness by faith in Christ apart from our works. In Matthew chapter 8, Jesus demonstrated His ministry to hurting people by exercising His authority through words. Then in Matthew chapters 11 and 13, Jesus taught about the power of the gospel in producing miracles. In Matthew chapters 16 and 17, Jesus taught us about our identity in Him.
In Matthew chapter 8, we see the ministry of Jesus in Capernaum. This is Jesus' second round of ministry in Capernaum. Jesus had already preached the gospel and healed all kinds of sickness and disease in Capernaum, as recorded in Matthew 4:13-25 and Luke 4. This is important in understanding the context of Matthew 8. The people who received miracles in Matthew 8 had already heard Jesus preaching the gospel and seeing Him do miracles previously. This is vital if we are to follow His example in ministry. Our primary job as believers is to preach the gospel; the people believe it; God does the miracles. Miracles are the result of hearing and believing the gospel.
I used to read the story of the Roman centurion and wondered how he had such great faith. But he previously heard Jesus preaching the gospel in Capernaum and saw how Jesus commanded sickness and disease to leave people.
Matthew 8:1-3 "When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing, be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
This is the first of six miracles recorded in Matthew chapter 8. In each instance, Jesus spoke with authority directly to disease, demons, or a storm. The leper had heard about Jesus healing people. He had faith because of what he heard. He risked his life by approaching Jesus in the presence of the multitude; lepers could be stoned. But he trusted that Jesus would heal him. Notice that Jesus put His hand upon the leper in compassion, but the leprosy was not cleansed until Jesus spoke with authority directly to it. He did not ask God to heal the leper. Jesus spoke to the leprosy. It is interesting to note that Jesus blessed and gave thanks to the Father when receiving good things such as bread to feed the multitudes. He turned His eyes to heaven and gave thanks. When Jesus encountered evil such as disease or demons, He did not speak to God about them. He took authority over them.
Matthew 8:5-17 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum (again), a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only SPEAK A WORD and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go' and he goes; and to another 'Come' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel....... Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits WITH A WORD, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."
I capitalized the words SPEAK A WORD and WITH A WORD to emphasize how Jesus exercised His authority over both sickness and demons. All of this was in the context of Jesus preaching the gospel. It clearly states in Matthew 4:23 that "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people." We can never put God in a box and say that miracles never happen without the preaching of the gospel. But the pattern for successful ministry is primarily to plant the seed of the gospel into the hearts of people and trust God to confirm His word with miracles.
I have never heard anyone say it, but I have wondered if Jesus preached Isaiah 53 to the people when He healed them in Matthew 8:16-17. It states that He cast out spirits and healed all who were sick that the words of Isaiah 53 might be fulfilled. This leads me to believe that He preached this passage to the people before He healed them. In Luke chapter 4, when Jesus preached from the text in Isaiah 61, He said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
If we read the same story of Peter's mother-in-law being healed in Luke 4:39, it states that Jesus rebuked the fever. This is another instance of Jesus exercising His authority through words.
We see this same pattern repeated in Matthew 9:35. "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." Notice the pattern. Teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, then healing, in that order.
Matthew 9:37 - 10:1,8"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest." And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease..... And as you go, preach, saying 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received. Freely give."
Notice the reference to the harvest. What do laborers do to reap a harvest? They begin by planting seed, in this case the seed of the gospel; then comes the harvest. Jesus will refer to the gospel as seed in Matthew 13. Jesus gave them power to heal, but He told them to preach first.
In summary, the gospel of Matthew is laying out systematically the principles for successful ministry. We will continue to look at the gospel of Matthew in the next few teachings.
Keith Oliver
In Matthew chapter 8, we see the ministry of Jesus in Capernaum. This is Jesus' second round of ministry in Capernaum. Jesus had already preached the gospel and healed all kinds of sickness and disease in Capernaum, as recorded in Matthew 4:13-25 and Luke 4. This is important in understanding the context of Matthew 8. The people who received miracles in Matthew 8 had already heard Jesus preaching the gospel and seeing Him do miracles previously. This is vital if we are to follow His example in ministry. Our primary job as believers is to preach the gospel; the people believe it; God does the miracles. Miracles are the result of hearing and believing the gospel.
I used to read the story of the Roman centurion and wondered how he had such great faith. But he previously heard Jesus preaching the gospel in Capernaum and saw how Jesus commanded sickness and disease to leave people.
Matthew 8:1-3 "When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean." Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing, be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed."
This is the first of six miracles recorded in Matthew chapter 8. In each instance, Jesus spoke with authority directly to disease, demons, or a storm. The leper had heard about Jesus healing people. He had faith because of what he heard. He risked his life by approaching Jesus in the presence of the multitude; lepers could be stoned. But he trusted that Jesus would heal him. Notice that Jesus put His hand upon the leper in compassion, but the leprosy was not cleansed until Jesus spoke with authority directly to it. He did not ask God to heal the leper. Jesus spoke to the leprosy. It is interesting to note that Jesus blessed and gave thanks to the Father when receiving good things such as bread to feed the multitudes. He turned His eyes to heaven and gave thanks. When Jesus encountered evil such as disease or demons, He did not speak to God about them. He took authority over them.
Matthew 8:5-17 "Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum (again), a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, "Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented." And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." The centurion answered and said "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only SPEAK A WORD and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go' and he goes; and to another 'Come' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this' and he does it." When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel....... Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour. Now when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits WITH A WORD, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying "He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses."
I capitalized the words SPEAK A WORD and WITH A WORD to emphasize how Jesus exercised His authority over both sickness and demons. All of this was in the context of Jesus preaching the gospel. It clearly states in Matthew 4:23 that "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people." We can never put God in a box and say that miracles never happen without the preaching of the gospel. But the pattern for successful ministry is primarily to plant the seed of the gospel into the hearts of people and trust God to confirm His word with miracles.
I have never heard anyone say it, but I have wondered if Jesus preached Isaiah 53 to the people when He healed them in Matthew 8:16-17. It states that He cast out spirits and healed all who were sick that the words of Isaiah 53 might be fulfilled. This leads me to believe that He preached this passage to the people before He healed them. In Luke chapter 4, when Jesus preached from the text in Isaiah 61, He said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
If we read the same story of Peter's mother-in-law being healed in Luke 4:39, it states that Jesus rebuked the fever. This is another instance of Jesus exercising His authority through words.
We see this same pattern repeated in Matthew 9:35. "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." Notice the pattern. Teaching, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, then healing, in that order.
Matthew 9:37 - 10:1,8"Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest." And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease..... And as you go, preach, saying 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received. Freely give."
Notice the reference to the harvest. What do laborers do to reap a harvest? They begin by planting seed, in this case the seed of the gospel; then comes the harvest. Jesus will refer to the gospel as seed in Matthew 13. Jesus gave them power to heal, but He told them to preach first.
In summary, the gospel of Matthew is laying out systematically the principles for successful ministry. We will continue to look at the gospel of Matthew in the next few teachings.
Keith Oliver
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