Matthew 8:1-26 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] welcome to expound our weekly worship and verse by verse study of the Bible our goal is to expand your knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the Word of God in a way that is interactive enjoyable and congregational we call this a textual community let's rejoice and learn God's Word in an interactive and enjoyable new way turn in your Bibles tonight to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 8 let's pray together Lord we do know that you are a rewarder of those who diligently seek you as we're gathered here tonight Lord you know the condition of our hearts you know why we're here you know what level of interest we hold and you know what we need more than we do we do want to learn we do want to analyze we do want to synthesize the story and the thoughts but Lord we want to apply the truths that that change lives I pray would change our lives thank you that you are committed to our growth and thank you that we can gather as a spiritual family and get into the word verse by verse line upon line from one end to the other so bless this time in Jesus name Amen well you know that Matthew has been presenting Jesus Christ as Messiah that's his thrust and he laid the foundation of that presentation in the first seven chapters of his book he begins by giving us the means by which Jesus holds the legal authority to that title and thus Matthew gives us the genealogy of Christ son of Abraham son of David and follows the genealogical lineage down the line then he gives us his birth showing to us that when Jesus was born he fulfilled Scripture fulfilling the prediction that Isaiah wrote in chapter 7 a virgin will conceive and bring forth a child he will call his name Emmanuel God with us then like any king who would have somebody announcing his coming a forerunner Matthew gives to us John the Baptist fulfilling Isaiah chapter 40 a voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make straight paths for his coming then to give us the moral qualifications he presents Jesus at his baptism followed by Jesus at his temptation and then Matthew in chapter 5 and 6 and 7 uniquely gives to us the information Jesus gave at the Sermon on the Mount now we have the King giving the instructions of the kingdom the kingdom values the kingdom ethics this is what life is like when Jesus reigns as king in the lives of those who follow him in chapter 8 we now have the demonstration of Jesus as the Messiah as dr. Colin said he's going to prove it he's going to do miracle after miracle after miracle so in chapters 8 & 9 we have a listing of 10 miracles now chapter 8 opens up by saying when he had come down from the mountain do you remember how chapter 5 began it said that when Jesus saw the multitude that had gathered he went up to a mountain and when he was seated his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and he taught them saying blessed are the poor in spirit etc and the Sermon on the Mount begins now it's over Jesus comes off the mountain and ten miracles follow now I can't help but want to compare the 10 commandments given by Moses on Mount Sinai with the ten miracles given by Jesus after he leaves this mountain and I wonder if Matthew who wrote for a Jewish audience didn't perhaps also have this in mind can't prove it but it's interesting the law cannot change a person it can give you the standard but now we have Jesus after that great announcement of the kingdom instruction giving life-changing proof of who he is irrefutable evidence Jesus is showing them and in one place people say if you don't believe me for the things that I say at least believe because of the sake of the works that I do themselves they testify of Who I am something else since Matthew is presenting Jesus as the Messiah and one of the themes throughout the book is the kingdom and the king and the kingdom of God and the kingdom ethics in chapters 8 & 9 with these 10 miracles we have a foretaste of the coming kingdom age when Jesus will rule upon the earth in that kingdom age for a thousand years I'll just read a little pericope out of the book of Isaiah chapter 35 then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the Deaf will be unstopped then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb shall sing Isaiah goes on to describe the geological changes that will take place upon the earth that's the kingdom age Christ gives us a foretaste of what life is going to be like when he comes back there's a recreation you might say of the present earth before it's destroyed a thousand years later bringing in a new heaven and a new earth but in that kingdom age what life is going to be like Matthew gives us some insight now it says when he had come down from the mountain great multitudes followed him and behold a leper he's first on the list of those who are healed but if you remember back a few chapters Matthew gives us sort of like a little outline of the life of Jesus in the ministry back in chapter 4 if you go back there verse 23 it says in 4:23 Matthew 4:23 Jesus went about all of 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 that's what Jesus did that sort of summed up his ministry preaching teaching healing in chapter 4 verse 17 we see him preaching repent he said for the kingdom of God is at hand he went preaching he went teaching in the synagogue's but in chapter 5 6 and 7 beyond the synagogue's with the Sermon on the Mount and he went about healing and the healing is seen in the next two chapters now something about Matthew if you compare Matthew's account with the other Gospel accounts you discover that Matthew is not writing chronologically but he's writing thematically he's giving to us the authority of Jesus as the Messianic King this is Jesus proving that he's the Messiah by his miracles and so miraculous works and also miraculous works filled with compassion that's the theme that Matthew was following showing that the King Jesus is who he claimed that he was now back to chapter 8 and we just finished one verse 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 jesus put out his hand and touched him saying I am willing be cleansed immediately his leprosy was cleansed and jesus said to him see that you tell no one but go your way and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them this man had leprosy and he knew that Jesus was able to heal him he just wasn't sure if Jesus was willing so he said Lord if you will leprosy was a loathsome disease and there were two basic types one a general skin disease short of what you and I call full-blown leprosy and then number two that kind full-blown leprosy because there were so many skin diseases and it was unsure where the skin disease was going to lead it was all classified under leprosy so that if a spot showed up on your skin it would have to be examined by a priest you would be isolated for a period of time the spot would be re-examined if it was just a mild skin infection or an aberration he'd be allowed back into the society but if it was the second kind your life would change forever the second kind came from a bacteria known as micro bacteria leprae it's been classified as Hansen's disease named after a dr. Hansen who discovered what it was it's highly treatable today in fact the last known case of this kind of leprosy was seen in the Cook Islands back in 1986 I believe 1996 excuse me so it it still has a modern counterpart but it is for the most part been eradicated it was progressive so that if a spot showed up on your skin eventually the peripheral nerves of your appendages would be affected you'd lose feeling in your fingers in your toes in your skin and so the lesion could spread could eat away parts of your flesh and you would never feel it because you would lack the ability to feel you could be near a fire you could do damage to it cut it you wouldn't feel it if you contracted that kind of leprosy you would be shunned from society severe social implications number one you were kicked out of town you were outside the camp if somebody was approaching you and you were within 300 feet of them and they were coming downwind from you you'd have to shout out to them unclean unclean in other words don't come any closer at your own risk because leprosy was an airborne disease if you were within 150 feet and the wind is blowing against you as the leper you're you're upwind from it 150 feet you have to shout out unclean so you are ostracized you have no human contact you lose all contact with your family if you're married you don't kiss your wife anymore you don't hug your children anymore you're kept outside the camp complete in total isolation now you could go to synagogue if that synagogue had a little room called a method saw a little holding room for those infected with leprosy but again they would kind of peer through the grate they weren't able to really participate this loathsome disease that was so isolating so horrifying it was a living death slow painful eventually painless because you lose feeling but painful socially kind of a death an outcast from society sees Jesus Lord if you're willing you can make me clean Jesus put out his hand and touched it now just think of that for a moment this leper had not felt a clean human hand and who knows how long nobody was allowed to touch him it was unlawful and and some commentators bring this up that in one sense Jesus broke the law because he touched a leper well when Jesus touched a leper they were immediately healed so he didn't break the law said I'm willing and he reached out and touched him and he said I'm willing be cleansed and immediately his leprosy was cleansed something I want you to note the leper knew that Jesus could do it he wasn't sure if Jesus wanted to do it so he said if you're willing I've been rebuked before by people from Sur faith church's faith movement churches that have told me listen when you ask God for something you always ask in faith you never ask him Lord if it's your will you say I know it is your will and because it is your will heal me I'm a child of the king and in all authority almost I demand you to heal me I think that's a wrong approach and I have no problem saying if it's your will because I never presumed to know God's will sometimes the Lord may allow me to suffer physically because he wants to work something deeper inside of me than just I have faith for this healing alone you want proof of that Paul the Apostle he had a thorn in the flesh a better word to be a stake some painful load some disease some people think an eye disease he said for this thing I besought the Lord three times that he would take it away but the Lord finally said my grace is enough it's all you need my grace is sufficient for you so you know what Paul did he said therefore I will glory in my infirmities I thank God for it it's a gift so I have no problem saying Lord if it's your will cos frankly I don't always know God's will I don't pretend to know God's will even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane said Lord father if it's your will let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but yours be done so I take my cues from Jesus and I think it's always safe in good theology and good practice to always entrust your desire into the sovereign care of God and Jesus said to him see that you tell no one now I imagine that when Jesus reached out his hand toward the leper and touched him the whole crowd went they gasp like oh no because though it was an airborne disease and he was awfully close to Jesus Jesus was showing them that the very people that were considered the outcasts were not an outcast to him he would touch and then he says I didn't finish the sentence jesus said to him see that you tell no one but go your way and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them not find this interesting let me explain myself in Leviticus chapter 14 chapter 13 tells the law for the leper when he is a leper you stay away from people you're you're isolated but in chapter 14 it says this is the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing I find it interesting that the law of Moses anticipated the possible miraculous healing of leprosy although though it's there here's the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing there really was no record of anyone historically being cleansed miraculously except in the days of Elijah the Prophet when a man by the name of naman a Syrian was cleansed of his leprosy but it's there in the laws if God is saying I'm anticipating it here's the law of the leper so Jesus says according to the Levitical law in chapter 14 a sacrifice has to be made the leper would take two birds kill one over running water take the live bird and some hyssop and some cedar wood and wood would dump the live bird in the blood the blood with the hyssop would be sprinkled upon the leper and the other bird would be set free that was the law Jesus said go do that why he said don't tell anyone for this reason I believe number one if this guy goes out and broadcasted everywhere that he was healed of leprosy especially those who know him Jesus already has crowds following him it's hard for him to be mobile from place to place he's gonna attract an even larger crowd of people who only want to be healed they're seeking him for the wrong motivation the wrong reason number two he's going to get a lot more flak in opposition there's a whole growing group of people that despise Jesus and are opposed to him if this guy gets that word out that animosity is only going to grow now both of those things happen because this guy did not keep it to himself he went out and broadcast it to everybody can you blame him if you were healed miraculously and you said now somebody said no don't tell anybody it'd be awfully hard to keep it quiet so I don't really fault him for that except Jesus told him not to so I do I do and I don't so jesus said go make the appropriate sacrifice go to the priest now this would alert the priest about something going on here's a here's a leper goes to a priest and say hey I've had leprosy and my friends can attest to it my family can attest to it but I was miraculously cured and according to the law Leviticus 14 here's the sacrifice I am to bring a red flag would go up in the minds and in the hearts of the priests right because Jesus is basically sending to the priests his business card his calling card saying someone with Messianic credentials has arrived it's on the move is on the scene and if you were smart you'd check it out and take note of it so make the sacrifice and go to the priest and when Jesus had entered Capernaum there's now a second miracle he gives a Centurion came to him pleading with him Capernaum if you have a map at the back of your Bible and you can turn to it quickly you'll see that Capernaum is on the north western shore of the Sea of Galilee it's a cool spot first time I saw Capernaum I thought I get it I'd want to make this place my headquarters - it's right on the shore of a beautiful lake it's got for the most part ideal weather in the summer can get a little bit hot but they were used to it it's just gorgeous Jesus headquartered in Capernaum for his three and a half year ministry he was from Nazareth but he headquartered in Capernaum now here's something to keep in mind about Capernaum because you're gonna read about it through the Gospels in Capernaum there were more miracles that Jesus performed than any other place that is why in a few chapters he's gonna pronounce a curse on Capernaum in fact all the cities around Galilee it says then Jesus began to upbraid those cities in which he had done his miraculous works he said woe unto you korat seen which is just a little bit south of Capernaum woe unto you Bethsaida which is just a little bit north of Capernaum and then he said woe unto you Capernaum for you have been exalted to heaven you will be cast down to hell for if the mighty works that had been done in you were done in sodom she would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes and it will be more tolerable in the judgment for Sodom interesting that dr. Collins is digging Sodom then it will be for Capernaum in the day of judgment they had the proof the Messiah lived there spoke there worked there miraculously and they saw but for the most part they did not believe so Jesus entered Capernaum verse five and a Centurion came to him pleading with him saying Lord my servant is lying at home paralyzed dreadfully tormented jesus said to him I will come and heal him the Centurion answered and said Lord I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof but only speak a word and my servant will be healed a Centurion was an officer in the Roman army he he oversaw one hundred men hence the names Centurion a century a Centurion was regarded as the backbone of the Roman Empire now this guy had a servant a slave something just to keep in the back of your mind as a sidenote every time there's a reference in the new testament to a Centurion he's always seen in favorable light positive light as men of great and noble character and most of them were and this guy in particular is very interesting because he exhibits incredible faith incredible insight into the character and nature of Jesus but he has a serpent now what is a Roman soldier especially a Centurion care about a slave the Greek philosopher Aristotle said a slave is simply a tool to work with just as a tool is an inanimate slave so everybody in college goes Oh Aristotle man he was so cool that's what he thought about people a slave is just an item disposed as as you will but here is a Centurion who evidently loves his slave and and the word servant that he uses here is the Greek word Pais which is sometimes translated servants sometimes translated child and could refer to a son no it's not his son but evidently he has the kind of relationship with this servant and he loves him very much and he's compassionate toward him Betty is seeking Jesus and so Jesus says I will come and heal him the Centurion answers it Lord I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof 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 marvelled it's a very interesting word marvel Tomasz oh it's usually a word reserved for the response people have toward Jesus Jesus did some miracle and people who walk they marvel at it Dalmas oh the disciples will marvel when Jesus does a miracle later on in this chapter here is Jesus it says he marveled and he said assuredly I say to you I have not found such great faith not even in Israel what's happening here this Centurion says look I get it I know Authority I'm a Centurion for the Roman government I know how this works and I don't need you to come into my house because I understand your authority now follow carefully the Roman Emperor the guy who sat in Rome the bigwig the Caesar he had total and full authority and he would delegate his authority to different officers including Centurions before 30 BC there was what's called the Roman Republic that ended about 30 BC and after that beginning with Caesar Augustus was the Roman and when the republic changed to the empire beginning with caesar augustus full authority was given to that one single person who delegated the authority to officers so that when a Centurion representing the emperor would speak it was the emperor's words that you would either obey or disobey so if a soldier obeyed the order of a Centurion or the servant obeyed he's really obeying the word of the Emperor that's how they saw it they got the authority the chain of command if somebody disobeys a Centurion he is flatly disobeying Caesar in Rome so here's a guy who says I understand Authority and I also can see that you Jesus operate under a similar system you not only are under the authority of your Father in heaven you wield the authority of your Father in heaven so just as my words are the Emperor's words your words are God's words see how insightful that is and see why it says Jesus Marvel and he said man I haven't seen and anytime you see the words assuredly I say to you that's the translation of the old King Jimmy verily verily I say unto you that little phrase is alerting his disciples he's about to say something really heavy here really important like listen carefully and what he says is I is the Jewish Messiah have not found this kind of insightful faith even among Jewish people but I find it in this Roman centurion this Gentile those that are considered outcasts from the covenant so you have in the first miracle Jesus healing an outcast he's cast out of the camp here you have the slave of a Gentile a Centurion he's an outcast he's outside of the Covenant of Israel and Jesus that I haven't even found faith like this among the Jewish nation and then verse 11 and I say to you the many will come from the east and from the west and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth you know typically when you think of being in heaven you think of seeing Jesus of course and seeing Paul and Peter and John and I think both and be really cool to hang out with Paul like have you no lunch for like a hundred years kind of get filled in on the missionary journeys what a cool guy that'll be or you note especially Jesus but even Peter you know it's a Peter man you got a lot of jokes told about you by a lot of people for a couple thousand years but man it's great to meet you buddy but Jesus describes having a little bit differently for the Jewish audience to the Jewish audience he portrays Abraham Isaac Jacob the patriarchs it's gonna be fun to sit down with Abraham spent two or three thousand years with him find out what life was like for him and the decisions that he made walking with God by faith being an old guy trusting that he's gonna have a baby that whole episode of his life it was believed by the Jews at the time of Jesus that in the coming Kingdom age they the Jews will sit down with the patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Gentiles will be cast out or on the outside of that camp in heaven it was that belief simply because in the book of Isaiah it says there will be a feast if you are taking notes write down these two chapters and look them up later on your own research them under on Isaiah chapter 25 and Isaiah chapter 65 which are predictions of the coming kingdom age it talks about a great feast that God will make and wonderful delicacies that will be eaten and the kind of fellowship that will be enjoyed but in those passage it also talks about the Gentile nations that will be gathered to the Jewish fold unlike what many of the Jews at the time of Jesus were thinking so when Jesus said this I'm sure his disciples now went hmm like this is such a shock because he's speaking about the coming kingdom age and he has a few truths truth number one many Jewish people who thought they would be there won't be there number two many Gentiles that these guys thought wouldn't be there will be there and number three the only way to get there is not through your physical genealogy I'm a son or daughter of Abraham but by trust and faith in Jesus Christ like this Centurion who trusted the authority and nature of Christ it's an incredible truth it's an incredible statement and notice and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in the original language in Greek there's two definite articles one before weeping and one before gnashing it literally reads there will be V weeping and the gnashing of teeth those definite articles are put there for the sake of emphasis to emphasize the kind of horror that hell will be the eternal punishment of Hell will be weeping and gnashing of teeth jesus said to the Centurion go your way as you have believed so let it be done for you and his servant was healed that hour let me caution you when you read that verse and Jesus said as you have believed let it be done for you some people like to make this a blanket statement and say that if you have enough faith you can accomplish anything you can't doubt you must believe and as you believe according to the amount of your faith anything can be done now Jesus is simply saying to this Centurion who demonstrated this kind of deep insight full faith in Christ in proportion to what you have expected you will receive what you have expected to receive that's what you expect to receive that's what you're going to receive but to make faith rather than God the issue that's what the faith movement will do the faith movement churches that are involved in it will say if you have enough faith you can have anything you want so they're making faith the force that unlocks the promise instead of a sovereign God who goes not really not gonna do it but I claim it don't care not gonna have it but I claim it and trace its name I don't care you can talk southern all day long not gonna have it because God is sovereign and if we start thinking we can in our own human shortsightedness presume to know the will of God in situations are claiming it and demanding this it would be stupid it'd be nuts if God would allow us to have that kind of power so it's not a blanket statement we do approach God with faith and the Lord may say yes I am willing like he did to the leper but he might say like he said to Paul nope my grace is enough there's something deeper I want to work in your life I know what I'm doing but to this man his request was granted and his servant was healed in that same hour now when Jesus had come into Peter's house and Peter was living in Capernaum he saw his wife's mother lying sick with the fever I kind of liked the idea that Peter had such a good relationship with his in-laws that his mother-in-law was at his house respect for AIDS was very important in that day and age and some men today think oh my goodness if my mother-in-law moved into my house he turn from an in lot to an outlaw like in a week maybe she had lost her husband Peter brought her to his home and she had a fever now in those days oftentimes a fever was looked at as the disease itself rather than being symptomatic of some disease as they have a fever and so he touched her hand and the fever left her and she arose and she served them the first one that we read that Jesus healed was a leper somebody outside the camp second one was the slave of a Gentile outside the Covenant now we have Jesus healing a woman someone who is outside the common value of a patriarchal society let me explain 2000 years ago in Israel it was extremely patriarchal so much so that pious Jews would sometimes pray this prayer daily god I thank you that I am NOT a slave a Gentile or a woman in some cases at birth if a boy was born there'd be a celebration if a girl was born everybody pack up and go home it was extremely one-sided so that's why I take umbrage with anyone who says well the Bible and is the Jesus and Christianity is so male dominant there's no hey let me tell you something Jesus is the one that liberated women he didn't care what society said was an outcast or you don't touch her you don't hang out with he included everyone and so Paul will write that in Christ there's neither male/female Scythian bond or free we're all one in Christ and so Matthew was showing us thumb attica ly the kind of people that Jesus is reaching out to inherits a woman who has a fever she's healed and as soon as she's healed she gets up I almost see this as a second miracle because it's one thing to have a fever and have the fever gone but typically fever leaves a person very weakened when this fever left her Jesus gave her her strength back immediately and this is what I like with her strength she didn't go Jesus thanks a lot man see I'm going shopping she got up and immediately started what serving the Lord what are the evidences that you've been touched by the Lord is that somewhere in your Christian journey you're gonna say I don't want to just receive anymore I want to give I want to serve I want to find my place I want to find my spot I want to understand my gift and exercise it there was a woman who was saved and changed under the ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and she walked up to Spurgeon one night and said mr. Spurgeon Jesus changed my life and he will never hear the end of it I love that he's never gonna hear the end of it I'm gonna thank him and I'm gonna serve him because he changed my life Peters mother-in-law was changed he immediately got up and served him verse 16 and when evening had come they brought to him those who were demon-possessed snow white why when evening had come we have to read the other Gospel accounts to understand why that's put here this was the Sabbath and you could only walk three-quarters of a mile what is designated as a Sabbath day's journey so the people who were living further away and their people all over the region were waiting for the evening to come when they could look out and see the three stars that marked it as the end of the Sabbath and technically the beginning of a new day and so the evening had come at a hot-diggity-dog let's let's have a Jesus party so they rounded up all of their sick friends and relatives and he cast out evil spirits with a word and healed all those who were sick so imagine after your evening meal in Peter's house you look outside the window outside the door and on all sides all four sides it's like pandemonium it's crowds swarming around or just you know news travels fast when you have somebody who can heal people and cast demons out this kind of power that news travels fast people are just waiting for night to come and so they came and they they found where Jesus was now it's one thing to be Peters mother-in-law it's another thing to be Peter but it's quite another thing to be Peters wife and look outside and see all of the ruckus going on around your house she's going oh my goodness Peter what have we gotten ourselves into following this Jesus guy life was upside down so when evening had come they brought to him all those who were demon-possessed and he cast out the evil spirits with a word or the spirits with the word and healed all those who were sick that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying he himself took our infirmities and he boar our sicknesses he's quoting Isaiah chapter 53 now Isaiah chapter 53 you know the story very well you know the prophecy how Isaiah is predicting the cleansing redemptive ministry of the Messiah surely he has borne our griefs he has carried our sorrows we were bruised for his iniquity we were or he was bruised for our iniquity and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by His stripes we are healed now Peter in his epistle I think its first Peter might be second Peter but in one of his letters toward the end of the New Testament he quotes this section of Isaiah saying that geez has healed us spiritually he's saved us from sin by his Redemption what I find interesting although most commentators will say when Jesus died on the cross and his atonement was only to secure our salvation has nothing to do with our physical healing I do find it interesting that Matthew quotes the same section of Isaiah and uses it to refer to physical healing at the Last Supper when Jesus held up the elements held up the bread held up the wine he said take this and eat it this is my body which is broken for you I've always read that and I thought what do you mean it's broken for us doesn't the Bible specifically say that not a bone of him will be broken that was a prediction and it was fulfilled the other guys had their bones broken Jesus had no bone at all broken he was one of the requirements in bringing a lamb for sacrifice for Passover to not break a bone but jesus said this is my body which is broken for you Jesus died on the cross his death secured salvation the finished work we don't add anything to it but Jesus didn't just go to the cross he was scourge prior to that a Roman whip a cat of nine tails with bits of lead and glass and stone that lacerated and broke through the skin exposing the muscle the subcutaneous tissues a question might be if Jesus death was enough to secure our salvation why would God the Father allow that all of that suffering up into the point of death like the scourging now I know there's many fine commentaries on this kind of stuff and lots of debate but I find that the finest commentary on the Old Testament is the New Testament and though I definitely see this spiritual healing in the atonement of Christ I also see that according to Matthew he quotes the same text referring to physical healing now I will grant many of those commentators who will say well for most of us that physical healing probably won't take place until the resurrection of our body in the future ok I can buy that because not everyone is healed I understand that but I also know that when Paul was speaking about communion with the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 he said because many of you are not discerning the Lord's body when you take communion many of you are sick and many of you have died and so when somebody says would you pray for healing would you lay hands on us for healing would you anoint us with oil I absolutely will do that and I will bring as much faith as the Lord has put in me to that event and I will try to find if I see people around the room those that I know that have great faith leaving it in the hands of God but also knowing that if the Lord wills this person could be healed right here right now I don't want to limit Jesus of Nazareth and say well he healed back then and one day he'll heal our bodies in the future true true but he might want to do it now he might not but you have not because you so let's ask enough said and when Jesus saw verse 18 great multitudes about him he gave a command to depart to the other side and we have a text question I want to throw it up because it's launching us into waters we're going to get into and I probably won't answer this immediately and fully but I do want to bring it up because this is where we're headed toward the end of the chapter it says our demons still permitted to possess people today I just want to pause just cuz it's it's a great question and you're going like wow yes he is I believe I've seen those who were demon-possessed in fact to my own chagrin I will admit that I once asked spirits to possess my body thank God the Lord preserved me from that but I believe that there are some things in this life that you can only attribute to the working of Satan it's tough to explain a Dolf Hitler it's tough to explain certain death spots Paul Pott and others who have done things that's that are just inhuman apart from being open to the notion of demon possession but those are waters that I said we're getting into so we'll kind of save that when Jesus saw great multitudes about him he gave a command to depart to the other side the other side is the eastern side of Capernaum is on the northwestern side the eastern side and if you go there today well I'm getting ahead of myself come with us this coming spring and I'll show it to you firsthand then a certain scribe came and said to him teacher I will follow you wherever you go that's a great thing to say isn't it you know Jesus tells the disciples come on let's get out of here get in the boat and there comes this guy saying well I want to come I'll get in the boat he's probably got one leg in the boat geez wait a minute foxes have holes birds of the air have nests but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head how I might sound a little bit harsh because here's a guy going I want to come he's raising his hand I want to come I want to sign up I want to be on Jesus team this is cool Jesus isn't saying don't follow me don't come along with me he's simply saying before you do understand what it's gonna cost you I'm an itinerant preacher I travel I'm traveling I'm going from place to place I'm not staying in a house anymore I'm staying in different places every night I'm sleeping here I'm sleeping there and besides that there's lots of crowds all around me so the demands on my life are many if you're signing up to follow me like these disciples are it's gonna be a rough life it's gonna be tough there's gonna be lots of demands so he's not saying don't follow me don't come you can't be my disciple but simply count the cost then another of his disciples said to him forget a disciple not an apostle it's a follower he's already following him since it says he is a disciple said to him Lord let me first go and bury my father now before we get to Jesus answer just notice that verbal construction you know sometimes you'll read a sentence and you go wait a minute that's a self cancelling statement verbally that's an oxymoronic statement sometimes it's just a moronic statement but sometimes it's an oxymoronic statement it's self cancelling notice Lord let me first okay now just analyze that you can't say that you can't call him Lord which means master and I submit to you Lord me first right because if you're living life for you first he's not your Lord and if he's our Lord it's not you first Tim first but here is a disciple saying Lord me first it's about me now it's about my needs it's about my wants Lord me first let me first go and bury my father that sounds like a legitimate request guys got to go home right have a funeral for his dad his dad died right look what Jesus said but he said to him follow me and let the dead bury their own dead before you go what a mean Messiah most scholars believe that this is a figurative way of saying let me first go home and take care of my dad until he dies he's sick he has a little bit of time left but basically I want to follow you I just want a little time off from following you I want a little vacation from being a disciple I really want to get on board with you and do that all the whole Jesus disciple thing but but not right now first I've got some family things to do when Jesus said let the dead bury their dead I think the New Living Translation nailed it when it translated it let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead in the words there are some tasks that unbelievers can do as well as believers and the choice isn't between something good and something evil but between something good and something better you as a follower of Jesus can do lots of things that anybody could do but there are certain things that only you as a disciple can do do that and if something that is up a good task a noble task interferes with the calling God has on your life then it can ever be Lord me first has to be your the Lord you first I will forgo that I will give that up I will not do that see so many Christians spent so much time arguing these kind of questions well can I as a Christian do that or are we allowed to do this can we listen to that music or can we good it's like a ridiculous argument because when you put Jesus as the Lord there's lots of things you just don't do because Jesus is Lord and you don't want to stumble Jesus children so a disciple can never say me first Jesus said let the dead bury their dead wasn't the answer he wanted to hear and when Jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him and suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea so that the boat was covered with waves but he was asleep I love this who sleeps in weather like this Jesus then his disciples came to him and awoke him up saying lord save us we were perishing but he said to him why are you so fearful o you of little faith then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm sea of galilee is six hundred feet below sea level it's in a depression a geological formation called the Serio african rift it's fresh water but it's below sea level six to seven hundred feet so this is what happens when you have a body of water below sea level and the warm air on the sea of galilee rises it creates a vacuum the vacuum is filled when cooler air off the coast the mediterranean just several miles to the west will rush in from sea level and go downhill and gain speed and get shot through these narrow little canyons like the horns of Hattin which is a little geographical rock formation you can see if we were tonight on the Sea of Galilee I could point up and show you the funnel where the wind comes from so it sort of acts like a carburetor when you get air and gas flowing through a tiny little tube of venturi and it's shot through there and it accelerates as it goes and then it gets into the the piston of the engine so what what happens with this kind of a formation is the sea of gallilee can be like glass you look at it go man this is like if this were the ocean to be like perfect surf weather just calm just glassy and then almost instantly you can get a storm that will come up on the Sea of Galilee that that would capsize a boat and these guys have been fishing a long time they have seen these kind of squalls but Jesus asleep in the boat and so they wake him up and Jesus rebukes them now why does he rebuked them well again we have to compare maybe with another gospel to get the answer in another gospel Jesus tells them let's go over to the other side they should have listened to him because if Jesus tells you we're going over to the other side there's no way you're going under so he's sleeping he knows they're gonna make it I said we're going over where's your faith you look you of little faith that's where I think the rebuke came in because Jesus made them a promise let's go over to the other side and if Jesus is in your boat and he tells you you're going over don't sweat the storm well we're out of time so more on that next week and the whole demon thing for next time actually we're gonna have to wait a few weeks because next week we have is next week Fernando oh yeah next week you don't want to miss our kids are gonna minister to us next week you're gonna hear you're gonna see the kids have been working on something for a long time we want to come out and encourage them and be a part of that and have a big celebration next Wednesday night let's pray father in heaven we're grateful that we have these Wednesday nights to expound the truths of the word of God to expand our knowledge by explaining the Scriptures Lord truly our Fellowship is around the inspired Word of God and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ we are a textual community we believe the Bible that you have given is inspired and inerrant it's not that we worship it we worship the God who gave it but we pray Lord that through its precepts and principles it would draw us into deeper relationship with you and as we discover these stories some of us afresh some for the first time I pray Lord that we would be those kind of people that are inclusive reaching out to the lepers in our society those that have been relegated to the sidelines and to be the body of Christ the hands the feet the mouthpieces of Jesus Lord I pray for everyone who has gathered here tonight that as they leave filled with your Holy Spirit being ambassadors of you in this community that you would do your work through them that we would leave like Peters mother-in-law and serve you so grateful that you changed us that we're never gonna let you hear the end of it thank you lord in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 7,483

Rating: 4.8383837 out of 5

Keywords: Sea of Galilee, Count the cost, demons, Sabbath, Jesus heals, Messianic, Centurion, Capernaum, leper, Shunned, Messiah, Kingdom Age, Jesus Christ, foundation, Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Sermon, Matthew, Calvary Church

Id: usffSQNn3hI

Length: 61min 14sec (3674 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018