Matthew 9:10-31 - 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 tonight we begin in our text at a meal a meal in Matthews house Matthew was the tax collector who in verse 9 of chapter 9 gives his life to Christ and surrenders himself to follow Jesus Christ the very next verse introduces us to the meal that the other Gospel writers give us added information saying that Matthew threw a big shindig big meal in his house invited all of his buddies and so our text begins with a meal matthew sharing with all of his friends showing his love for jesus christ also tonight we will end our time together with a meal the lord's meal the lord's supper sharing with all of our friends those of us around with each other and also expressing our love for Jesus Christ so before we begin our study and then follow that through toward the end where we take communion together let's pray father we want to thank you that you have invited us into intimacy with you fellowship with you I think of the words of Peter concerning us relating to Christ whom having not seen yet you love with joy unspeakable we love you Lord and we're more grateful that you love us even though you know everything about us and in a few moments toward the end of our time in the word as we consider how the Living Word Jesus sacrifice for us I pray Lord that that reminder during that meal would keep us tethered for the rest of the week tethered to your love as we hold up tonight in expression a symbol of that love in Jesus name Amen I get the idea as I go through the New Testament that Jesus loved meals that he liked to eat we have Jesus showing up here in Matthew 11 in Matthew's house Matthew 9 in Matthew's house having a meal later on we'll discover another scoundrel by the name of Zacchaeus in Jericho a tax gatherer as well and Jesus invites him over to Zacchaeus his home come on down from that tree Zacchaeus we're going to go over to your house inviting himself to lunch I like that maybe that's a good precedent we can set there was the Last Supper where Jesus ate a meal with his disciples then there was the time when Jesus fed the five thousand men plus their wives and their kids around the Sea of Galilee and he multiplied the fish and the bread and sat down in that wonderful place outside and ate then we have revelation chapter three as the Lord would speak of intimacy with his people in the twentieth verse jesus said behold I stand at the door and I knock if anyone will hear my voice and open the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me so Jesus love to eat and that is because in Judaism in that culture to eat with another person was to become essentially one with that person to enjoy an intimacy a camaraderie a fellowship to say behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone will open the door I'll come in and eat with him is tantamount to Jesus saying let's hang out together let's be friends with each other let's enjoy deep fellowship and intimacy of relationship that we haven't known up to this point I long to have that with you and now we have that here in Matthew chapter 9 now concerning that passage in Revelation trade that I quoted years ago there was an English artist named Holman hunt who painted her a pretty famous picture of Jesus knocking at a door I think we actually have a picture that might go up well I thought we did oh it's right behind me yeah so if you look on the screen over my shoulder I by faith believe it's there Holman hunt was depicting that verse that I quoted in Revelation 3:20 after he painted it he invited some of his artist friends to come and take a look at it and offer some helpful criticism they looked at it and one artist said well Holman it's a nice picture but you left out a very important detail on the door there's no door handle and Holman Hunt said well that's because the door represents the human heart Jesus is knocking at the door of the heart and the doorknob is always on the inside of the human heart not the outside Jesus doesn't force his way in you have to open the door that's what he was trying to paint so I said I didn't leave it off accidentally I left it off deliberately the setting that we are in the city that we are in is the city of Capernaum now if you've never been to Israel it's impossible for you to see it in your mind's eye I can picture it it's a cool place it's situated right on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee Capernaum today is a little tiny village of just stones and ruins but back then understand that Capernaum was on the main drag that connected the great population centers of the world the road that ran from Egypt down south up north through Syria and then eastward toward Babylon went up the Seacoast and because it went up the Seacoast it was called the via Maris or the way of the sea situated on the via Maris was Capernaum and situated in Capernaum on the via Maris to take tolls and taxes from travelers was our friend Matthew Matthew had evidently already heard Jesus he was probably listening to the sermon on the mount his heart was stirred as he was no doubt toward the back of the crowd as Jesus was saying blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those that mourn blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness they will be filled and on and on as Jesus preached Matthew's heart was already primed and stirred so the day Jesus in verse 9 walked up to the toll booth and said follow me he was ready he dropped everything and he followed Jesus now we get into Matthew's house in verse 10 for the meal and now it happened as Jesus sat at the table in the house that behold many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples and when the Pharisees saw it they said to his disciples why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners notice how those two are put together it shows you what they thought of tax collectors they always put them together with sinners but that was sort of a buzzword a buzz catchphrase tax collectors and sinners you see them coupled together frequently by the Pharisees - the Pharisee the tax collectors in the sinners were those people who unlike themselves did not highly regard tradition or ceremonial law the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament they were the tax collectors and sinners now we are the Pharisees we are the separated ones we highly regard traditions and ceremonial law so it was always a snub always a put-down he's in a tax collectors home the riffraff is there with Matthew that's who young out with this is a meal a farewell dinner probably to say goodbye to all of his friends and hopefully introduce some of the riffraff to the Savior hey if Jesus can save me the tax collector in Capri I bet these other friends of mine are prime targets I bet if I could have a meal and introduce them to my new friend Jesus they might want to follow him as well I think this is Matthew doing evangelism it's it's the natural result once a heart has been touched by Christ you want to let others you want to let your friends you want to let other tax collectors and sinners know about your Savior it's a stark comparison though to Matthew newly saved and the Pharisees not even saved how did they do evangelism how did the Pharisees win converts they didn't who would want to be one of them their life really wasn't attractive now they thought it was because they acted so pious and they thought by acting that way they would it would attract people but it will he wasn't attractive Matthew had the right idea he invites Jesus he invites his friends and he wants them to hear he wants them to see wants them to hang out with Jesus and evidently Jesus is over at the table with the riffraff I like that he's not with the important people he's not with the Pharisees he's with on purpose the tax collectors in the sinners Vance Hafner once said the gospel is not a secret to be hoarded it's a story to be heralded even Matthew so soon after coming to Jesus evidently believed that so here's the Pharisees sitting like this angry their method of evangelism was finger-pointing tax collector sinner bad person evil person it's set for just pointing fingers there's a great quote that I'm memorized by Henry Drummond who said how many prodigal ZAR kept out of the kingdom of God by those unlovely characters who profess to be inside the Pharisees professed to be inside they weren't tax collectors they weren't sinners they loved the law they were separated to it they were holier than everybody else but their lifestyle and their message was not attractive I read about a billboard in fact they showed a picture of a billboard on a freeway in Canada that somebody obviously had rented out and put their message on it and here's the message as you're driving on the freeway the wicked will go to hell and live there forever now as you drive by that sign is that attractive to you do you so go oh man I really just ministered to me that's awesome thank you lord it doesn't compel me it concerns me the message is true the wicked will go to hell and live there forever an unrepentant sinner will and though that is theologically accurate the way it was done isn't compelling it is concerning but it doesn't compel a person perhaps we could using Matthew as our example be a little more creative in our evangelism there's no there's no rulebook that says it has to be done this way I actually read a book one time that says place right hand on left shoulder this was like an old 1940s book on evangelism now today if you tried to touch somebody's shoulder they'd probably pop you one dude you're in my space but it says put right hand on left shoulder make eye contact and say the first name Ted I wonder and they have a whole spiel that you memorize okay cool it can work but depending on your background like Matthew you could be creative Matthew was creative get the riffraff get the tax collector to get the sinners bring Jesus let's have a party I had a friend back in California and Orange County at a Bible study that I once taught many years ago her name was barb and a barb is a short little crusty gal it's best way I can describe this ruff came from a rough background loved Jesus she was also an expert pool player now in her old BC days she was a pool shark she would challenge people and win a lot of money so she thought I wonder if I could use this for Christ now she her life her background were in the bars she didn't have a drinking problem so I'm not saying you know go to the bars and down a few brewskies and then when you're lose start talking about Jesus so so don't even go there okay but barb did something interesting because she was always bringing other crusty characters to my Bible study and she's - she was from New York and she moved to the west coast she goes let me tell you how I get him here I go into the bar some of these guys they start checking me out they say hey can I buy you a drink and I said tell you what I'll play a game of pool if you beat me in pool you can buy me a drink cuz she knew there's no way they're gonna beat me if I win the game you gotta listen to me for one hour they'd say deal and she would just clean their clock every time and she would sit down and tell them about Christ and invite them to the Bible study and I thought barb that's very creative I don't know that I would advertise that and tell everyone that I know to try that but you come from a very interesting background like Matthew and it worked very creative when Jesus heard that he heard what the religious folks were saying listen to what he says when he heard that he said to them those who are well have no need of a doctor or a physician but those who are sick in other words Pharisee mr. Pharisee mr. religious dude you're actually right you're right these people are sick they are spiritually sick they are sinners you're right about them because they are sick where else would a doctor be I'm the doctor I make house calls those who are well they don't need a doctor but those who are sick they do but go and learn what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance you know you know if you think about it becoming a Christian is very similar to get fixed of a disease getting cured of a malady you'll never get cured of a disease until you first admit I have a disease I'm sick now some people that I have met don't like to admit when they get sick how you doing great well you don't sound great no no I'm fine we have a name for people like that we we call them dead eventually because they never admit and if they never admit the problem they never go seek help for the problem they don't go to a doctor no my dad never liked to go to doctors he'd always say he was fine and I recall on one occasion he was working on the car out in the garage and he had the car running the engine was running and he was tuning it up and he got his fingers too close to the fan belt and the two phalanges on his left hand got too close to the fan belt and it chopped him off just took him off so my dad saw that and he winced and he wrapped it up in a towel and he kept working on the car now we came out we saw that we saw an awful lot of blood we said dad don't you think he should look at that and mom's a nurse so have her like oh I'll be okay finally my mom came out and said Lou you are going to the hospital and you know he's thinking oh it'll stop so she convinced him to go to the hospital but I remember it was an ordeal and he felt he went inside with the handkerchief wrapped around his finger and the blood was filling it up but he had to shave his face before leaving the house I'm you know I'm going out in public I can't go like this your fingers are chopped off dude so that by way of an example those who are well they don't need a doctor but sick people or people with their fingers chopped off they do so what better place for a doctor to be than in a room filled with sick people and then verse 13 he's quoting a prophet they should know about Hosea chapter 6 verse 6 go learn what this means go find your Bibles mr. pharisee and go read your own prophets would say I desire mercy the Lord says and not sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance the gospel is not for good people the gospel is for us bad people who know they're bad and want to get fixed and admit it blessed are the poor in spirit those who admit their own poverty of spirit for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance you notice something about Jesus in comparison to these Pharisees Jesus wants the very people that these people did not want now when Jesus said and so listen carefully how he words it those who are well don't need a doctor only those who are sick I have come not to call the righteous but sinners you ought to read Hosea chapter 6 of what God desires in effect Jesus is not only calling himself a doctor spiritually but he's calling them a bunch of quacks he is indicted them for malpractice he's saying you're good at a diagnosis but you're rotten at a cure you can point out bad people but you don't know how to do anything about it I have come not to call good people the righteous people but sinners to repentance there's a great old story when Oliver Cromwell ruled England during a time of crisis and he was looking for silver and gold mint coins with because it was scarce in those days his army came to him one day and said there is no more gold and silver to be found in all of the land except they said the metal statues in the cathedrals in England and Cromwell smiled and said melt down those saints and put them back into circulation may God put us into circulation may God melt our hearts our lives make us pliable and get us into circulation not as finger pointers like the Pharisees but as fellow partners with God calling people to repentance verse 14 then the disciples of John ah this is John the Baptist this is later after the meal still in Capernaum but a whole different scene now now we have disciples of John the Baptist who are not yet followers of Christ now I find this interesting I tell you why because it seems that John the Baptist exerted an influence with people not just before and during the time of Christ but all the way into the book of Acts when Paul goes through Ephesus in Acts chapter 19 he finds a guy by the name of Apollo's who was very eloquent very persuasive but the only thing Apollo's knows about and he can convince people in his teaching what he says is right he only knows the truth up to the baptism of John the Baptist so that in Ephesus there were disciples effectively of John the Baptist through the preaching of Apollo's and they hadn't heard about Jesus Christ and the atonement they only knew the baptism of John so when he came as his what have you been baptized in thinking they would say the name of Jesus they said John's baptism he said well have you even been baptized with the Holy Spirit they said we've never even heard of the Holy Spirit so John's ministry was very effective and he garnered followers that lasted a long time so here we have followers who come to Jesus they're not disciples of Jesus they're disciples of John and they're a little bit perturbed miffed if you will that Jesus and His disciples seem to have a little more Liberty and aren't as legalistic as they are notice the disciples of John came to him saying why do we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples do not fast get the question we the disciples of John and the Pharisees we fast a lot we're holier than I guess you are or you and your disciples are why do we fast more than you if you're the Messiah that John predicted okay let's understand this according to the law of Moses the Jews were required to fast you know how often once a year maybe I say maybe because the only reference we have of a requirement to fast is the language that comes to us out of Leviticus chapter 16 and Leviticus 23 about the Day of Atonement Yom Kippur in that passage God says in the seventh month on the tenth day you shall afflict your souls that's all it says afflict your souls what does that mean it's a good question another translation is you shall humble yourself it over time began to be believed that to afflict your souls or to humble yourself was to not eat so it became mandatory to fast once a year on Yom Kippur the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month that's it however by the time of Jesus many of the righteous people the Pharisees scribes fasted twice a week nothing wrong with that except the days they chose to fast were Mondays and Thursdays those just happened to be the busiest days in the market and so Jesus chided them when you fast don't be like the hypocrites who paint themselves up that they may be seen by men some of these people would put white makeup on so they look really sick and then go out there and lift their hands up and pray and people would say these people are fasting it's they're fast day it's Monday and Thursday but it would be the day what most people would be out in the streets to see them they did it so that people would see them so the disciples of John the Baptist they fasted a lot not like the Pharisees they probably weren't hypocritical they were sincere but they wonder why is it that we the followers of John the Baptist not the followers of you whom John points to why do we fast more often than you and your disciples now I don't know what your relationship is with fasting but it is a good thing it's commendable I'll tell you what fasting is not it's not a way to twist God's arm it's not a way to say God I'm so sincere and I'll really be a good boy or girl and watch all fast if you'll give me that that's not what it is one of the benefits of fasting is focus I'm focusing on spiritual things and I'm refusing to focus on fiscal you yeah but you know what when you don't eat that's all you're focused on is physical things right because it's saying I'm so hungry all the time it's all I'm thinking about but what it does in that focus is you're saying to your appetites you're saying you're not gonna be my master you're gonna be my servant because we're used to serving our appetites you feel the slightest bit hungry you grab something to eat and you're always serving the desires of the flesh fasting says no my appetites my hunger is going to be my slave I'm gonna tell it what to do I'm going to bring my body under it's a good discipline the second benefit of fasting is it makes you appreciate the benefits that God has given you it makes you thankful for what God has given you our senses become dulled even great foods if you ever leave America and you come back so you're not eating you're effectively fasting some of the things you like to eat when you come back like after a month and you come back to America and you eat a juicy cheeseburger with green chili it's like I've been raptured this is what Heaven's gonna taste like this is the marriage supper kind of a meal I mean it's I remember years ago before I came to New Mexico I was in California praying and fasting about coming here and I hadn't eaten for a few days and to break my fast I I went to a place called Hadleys and they have these incredible shakes it's probably not good to have that kind of sugar breaking your fast but it was a date shake so I figured it's healthy and so and it was large date shake as big as I could get it and I'd had them before but on that day it was like angels were singing the first bite every little bit of date and every ingredient was so loud in my mouth so fasting can heighten that sensitivity and make you very appreciative a third benefit of fasting is it helps you understand a little bit better a concern for the poor those people who don't have an abundance of food and can eat whenever they want to eat and that is an important benefit in Isaiah 58 just think about that or write it down for later God says what is the fast that I will accept it's not just a time when you afflict your souls he says but it's a time when you remember the poor and the downtrodden and the widow and you think about ways to help them out okay so Jesus is now going to answer there concern he's gonna do it with three analogies okay they're saying how come we're like fasting a lot and you guys don't do it he's gonna give them three analogies one from marriage 1 from fashion and one from domestic life here's the marriage one verse 15 can the Friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and then they will fast now I find that an interesting analogy especially because these are the disciples of John the Baptist and this is an analogy that John the Baptist himself used when they asked him who are you and he says I'm a voice of one crying in the wilderness and as John the Baptist speaks about himself now I'm going to quote to you John chapter 3 John the Baptist says you yourselves bear me witness that I said I am NOT the Christ but I have been sent before him he who has the bride is the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom john says that's me John the Baptist I'm the friend of the bridegroom I'm the best man who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled now a friend of the bridegroom was the liaison between the bride and the groom and the guy who arranged the marriage itself he made all the arrangements John the Baptist says I am the friend of Jesus the bridegroom and I'm rejoicing that he is Khamenei is gathering his bride Jesus expands that analogy to include his disciples the Friends of the bridegroom as long as the friends are with the bridegroom it's a time of joy 2,000 years ago a Jewish wedding did not have a honeymoon but rather in lieu of a honeymoon the bride and the groom stayed at home in the groom's house for one week and entertained all of their friends they would come in and have nice feast together every day for seven days now for most people on that culture who were working people and worked by the sweat of their brow every day it was the happiest week of their lives get to eat every day get to hang out every day with your friends is this like awesome that was the wedding week then they would go back to their work so what Jesus is saying is simple this is a time of joy the time will come to fast he's not opposed to fasting okay in fact once Jesus does ascend into heaven and the book of Acts begins we see how they fasted Acts chapter 13 as they prayed and fasted and ministered to the Lord the Holy Spirit said separate unto me Paul and Barnabas for the work that I've called them to do next chapter Acts chapter 14 Paul is in Lystra he gets stoned let me rephrase that they stone him he gets up off the ground goes back into the town preaches again leaves the town goes to Derby and Iconium and Antioch and it says they prayed and they fasted and they appointed elders in every town but here's the point Jesus as the physician has come to bring spiritual health Jesus as the bridegroom has come to bring spiritual joy be plenty of time for fasting but my friends are here is the time for rejoicing so evidently these Friends of John the Baptist or disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus with this concern after probably shortly after they heard about Jesus in the House with Matthew now we have a question in form of a text question and we'll throw that up on the screen thank you for the question is food the only thing to fast from well I suppose not but from a biblical perspective when you hear of fasting what is implied is what you put in your mouth because that's what keeps a person going throughout the day and throughout the week so a fast was understood as something that you keep from yourself in terms of daily sustenance ie food food and water now there's different forms of fasting there's what's called a Daniel fast where Daniel would only eat vegetables and drink water and not eat the delicacies that were uncultured that would come from the king of babylons table so he was eating but he was fasting from the delicacies and the rich foods and being obedient to God keeping a kosher diet and eating only vegetables and some people call that a Daniel fast but I wouldn't impose staying away from certain things as a biblical fast although it's listen not a bad practice any kind of discipline that is used for the glory of God to keep yourself away from any kind of temptation be good listen if you were to go on a one-month television fast that would be so hard for some of us it might even be harder than going without food for a period of time but I guarantee you it could be a wonderful thing imagine it for a month you said every night I'm not gonna watch television or those shows I'll TiVo them all for a month and get back to them but this month I'll pray with my wife my friends I'm gonna read the Bible more I wonder I just wonder what that might be like at the end we got to get back to Matthew 9 he said skip I've been back you're the one that's digressing okay next analogy after marriage fashion verse 16 no one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch pulls away from the garment and the tear is made worse that's easy to figure out you don't take a new piece of cloth and put it on a garment that's an older garment that's already been washed and therefore it is already the fibers have shrunk the cloth hasn't shrunk yet so if you take something that hasn't trunk and put it on old cloth by the time that patch shrinks it's going to tear the clothing that it's been sewn into let's complete the analogy and then we'll we'll put I it all together the next one is from domestic life verse 17 nor did they put new wine into old wineskins or else the wine skins break and the wine is spilled but the wine skins are ruined but they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved wine was stored in animal skins the skin of an animal was sewn up it was often poured in at where the neck is the legs were truncated and sewn up and they were sealed and the reason wine was put into animal skins is because a new animal skin is very elastic it stretches it moves and wine as it sets new wine ferments and as the fermentation process takes place pressure is built up as pressure is built up in the wine skin the wine skin has to stretch once it stretches once it ferments it's stabilized and it can keep like that but once it stretches and loses its elasticity it becomes brittle eventually so if you were to take a wine skin use it for a period of time and then you say you know what I don't want to spend the extra money on a new wineskin I'll just use the old one and pour new wine into it that thing's gonna burst open there's no more elasticity there's no more room for it to give so Jesus is now talking about a system of Judaism here's the scribes and the Pharisees saying tax collector sinners and the Apostles of John saying how come you guys don't fast like we fast evidently there were people not just the Pharisees but disciples of John who their their description of righteousness were externals and what Jesus is saying is look let me just tell you something I have not come to patch up the old system of Judaism or I'll ruin the whole system and I have not come to pour the new wine of this new covenant into the old wineskin of Judaism it can't contain the new wine the wine would be spilled and the system would be ruined so I'm not going to patch the New Covenant on to the Old Covenant I'm not going to pour something that is new and fresh into something that is old he's not primarily referring to the Old Covenant as God wrote it as much as the old testament with all of the added tradition by the scribes and the Pharisees that were biblical rabbinical Judaism had ruined it and so what Jesus is saying is no this really comes from it but it's a whole new thing I'm always mystified by believers who are trying to go back to Judaism at first it's wonderful you discover some of the festivals and activities in scriptures and the reasons Shabbat is kept and it's a wonderful thing it really is but then they almost make it a law it's Sabbath you can't do anything after that after the three stars or they almost try to well they're not almost they've in many cases actually try to compel Christians to become Jewish practicers Judaizers so to speak you don't need to do that if you never keep the Sabbath as a believer the Jewish Shabbat Friday and Saturday and if you never eat kosher as a Gentile person that's okay if you eat a pork sandwich tomorrow you're not any closer or further away from God but there's people who are saying let's go back to the old wineskin and throw the new wine into the skin that it came from Judaism because that's where it functions best no even the prophets predicted that God would call Israel but eventually the promise would be to the entire world to believe it would be a world calling Gentiles would come to know the Messiah as well now when he spoke these things to them behold a ruler came and worshipped him saying my daughter has just died but come and lay her hand on her and she will live now you know what this rulers name is gyrus mark tells us his name is gyrus Luke tells us his daughter was 12 years old that's important fact to know a twelve-year-old girl at this point has died now let me tell you Matthew shortens the version Matthew R mark and Luke kind of tell different elements what they tell us is that the man comes to Jesus first and says my daughter is really sick almost dead and then he gets interrupted and you'll see the interruption and then the second time some comes and says don't even trouble the master she's already dead so he says again my daughter is dead Matthew shortens the version just to give us the salient details instead of all the extra details that they give but listen to the faith of this ruler of the synagogue now do you know the ruler of the synagogue he was the most important religious person in Capernaum he supervised all the worship of the synagogue at Capernaum he is called in greek the are case unit gaga's the chief ruler of the synagogue mister religion who runs it all in Capernaum notice what he says my daughter has just died there's no life in my daughter she's dead but come and lay your hand on her and she will live that's a statement of faith isn't it Jesus I believe that there's resurrection power in you and even though my daughter has already died you can fix that Jesus arose and followed him and so did his disciples and suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for how many years twelve years it's an interesting contrast the girl is twelve years old who died and the woman as the issue of blood is twelve years sick the flow of blood was probably a vaginal hemorrhage which would make her ceremonially unclean so for 12 years and Luke by the way says she spent everything she had on doctors and was none the better it's interesting sidenote because Luke was a doctor it often is the case spent a lot on doctors and after it's all done nothing's better so here you have a girl who's been a blessing to her father for 12 years and here you have a woman who has suffered a curse that makes her ceremonial and clean for 12 years she interrupts Jesus going to the house of this synagogue ruler came behind and touched the hem of his garment for she said to herself if only I may touch His garment I shall be made well but Jesus turned around and when he saw her said be of good cheer daughter your faith has made you well the woman was made well from that very hour some of the other accounts say that Jesus stopped and said who touched me and I'm sure the ruler of the synagogue is thinking who cares I need you now what are you stopping for this woman who's unclean but Jesus perceived that there was a touch of faith now this woman said something see that if I touch the hem of His garment probably meant well the Jewish men wore cloaks and on the four corners they had four tassels which would remind them of God's law probably the tassel of his robe if I can just touch this woman believed evidently that anyone Jesus touches is cured so she thinks I bet it's also true that whoever touches him will also be cured that's her thinking now a lot of people make a big deal out of the touch the issue isn't the touch as much as the release of her faith in Jesus being able to heal her you see touching the garment was simply for her a point of contact to release her faith you understand what a point of contact is some people go I just believe I just really believe that if I make it to church tonight and somebody lays their hand on me I'm gonna be healed I believe that they have set that in their mind as that point of contact as soon as I am at that place and as soon as that hand touches me I'm gonna be healed so when that time comes their faith is released it's a trigger to release their faith her faith was released at that moment when she touched the hem of His garment she said here goes here goes here goes and Jesus said be of good cheer daughter your faith has made you well and the woman was made well from that very hour when Jesus came to the rulers house gyrus his house and saw the flute players and the noisy wailing funerals 2000 years ago were not slumber events where you walk into a mortuary and as soon as you walk can you hear the Oregon going and people coming up to you going hello none of that people were loud it was a noisy affair they were vociferous and and it was customary to hire professional mourners who would make a big cry so if you're in the vicinity you hear loud yelling loud commotion and they would bring musicians in who would play this doleful kind of minor-key music but it but it was loud enough and it set the tone but for everybody to make a huge to do is a very noisy oh so he comes oh and listen to what Jesus says he said to them make room like move over for the girl is not dead but sleeping and they ridiculed him but when the crowd was put outside he went in and took her by the hand and the girl arose and this report went into all that land now when Jesus said she's not dead she's asleep understand it's not like Jesus was not knowledgable this was not a misdiagnosis it's not like Jesus said she's asleep and Peter go oh she's dead I mean she's dead it's not like a mistake he made when Jesus said she was asleep he was saying she is asleep just like Jesus said about Lazarus our friend Lazarus is sleeping I need to go wake him up and the disciple said well if he's sleeping he'll get better and then Jesus said Lazarus is dead I'm speaking metaphorically guys when he says that here he's speaking metaphorically remember in the book of Acts Stephen was pummeled with stones and it says he finally fell asleep that is he died in the old testament when people died it said and they slept with their fathers it's a metaphor for dying why is it used simply because when a person goes to sleep they wake up it's temporary when I was a kid my mom would say it's time for your nap I hated it I hated it I hated naps and my first day of kindergarten I was a crybaby in kindergarten I think I cried more in kindergarten my first day than any girl in my class I was the biggest baby in kindergarten and what I cried mostly over is nap I don't want to know I just cried like it oh I was just a big baby and I got ridiculed for it when you get older and somebody suggests an app to you you see it differently it's not punishment it's a reward it's something you are eager to take you know I'm all about an app man just give you a quick little power nap I'll be set we love them we're not afraid of them I was afraid of them as a child didn't know if I was gonna wake up perhaps what Jesus is saying is simply you don't need to worry about death any more than you need to worry about taking a nap you'll get up again there's a resurrection to say somebody is sleeping is to say there's going to be a resurrection now in this case it was a physical resurrection in your case it's going to be a physical resurrection I was throwing you off on purpose when you die eventually the body that died will be resurrected in glory so it is proper for a Christian when a Christian dies to say he fell asleep the word cemetery means sleeping place it's aptly named but I guarantee you every cemetery in the world will one day be very very noisy as they get up again Daniel said some to everlasting shame and some do everlasting life when Jesus departed from there the two blind men followed him stop right there how [Applause] well hey wait wait wait wait two blind men followed him evidently they were being led or they had a special device or they went by the sound but they were following Jesus probably not for long and they were crying out the whole time so that that helps explain to us hey wait they're crying out and they're saying son of David have mercy on us and when he had come into the house again this is also interesting the blind men came to him so he's not making it really easy for these blind guys he keeps walking they're trying to follow him and ago Jesus son of David now when they said son of David that's a messianic term this is the first time in the Gospel of Matthew that someone else besides Matthew calls him the son of David Matthew called him that in chapter 1 verse 1 Jesus Christ the Son of David the son of Abraham the genealogical records are given but now these blind men somehow believe Jesus is the promised Messiah all the promises God gave to David are fulfilled in this man and one of the predictions of the Messiah according to Isaiah 29 Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 42 is that when the Messiah comes he will open the eyes of the blind it has stated that specifically well if they believe this is the Messiah the son of David then they're expecting a miracle son of David have mercy on us so he had come into the house and the blind men said they came to him and Jesus said to them do you believe that I am able to do this and they said yes Lord and then he touched their eyes saying according to your faith let it be to you and their eyes were opened and Jesus sternly warned them saying see that no one knows it okay quickly blindness was common in those days it was not unusual to see lots of blind people especially who were beggars why high-poverty unsanitary conditions blazing sun no sunglasses 2,000 years ago unfiltered sun bright sun blowing dust all of those added to blindness so it was common there was another form of blindness quite common known in the medical community as ophthalmic jnana tourim opthalmic jnana tourim is congenital blindness really it's it's a gonorrhea of the eyes it's a bacterium carried in the birth canal of the mother so that when the baby is born upon birth some of the mucus in the vaginal canal gets into the eyelids the conjunctiva the mucous membranes of the eye so it's contracted by the baby within three days there's pus running out of the baby's eyes in a couple weeks the baby's blind so the baby is born because of birth because she has carried in her womb that bacteria the baby is blind that was very very common we don't know why but these men were blind it was a very difficult life they were typically reduced to being beggars and now now watch again go back to that word says Jesus goes into the house why why did Jesus outside in the street in public where there are just like bring him to me or walk to them make it easy for the poor blind guy why did Jesus heal inside and not outside a couple of reasons the crowds were already getting difficult just for crowd control Jesus would often tell people don't tell anybody what has happened they've already tried to take Jesus by force and make him a king at one point so he's trying to reduce crowd control number two and this is key I believe the reason here is he is trying to draw out the expression of their faith now you'll notice not just here but in in so many in really in this chapter all of the incidences of physic healing Jesus makes persistence a prerequisite the guy that was paralyzed his four friends had to make a hole in the roof and let their friend down that was not easy to do that took persistence the woman had to pressed through the crowd I'm going to touch the hem of His garment but other Gospel accounts say the crowd was thick but she had to make her way through was difficult she had to persist gyruss had to ask once and then the other gospel records again and Jesus came so persistence is required Jesus always likes to involve a person by drawing out faith isolating them in the house he asked them the question do you believe that I'm able to do this and the affirmation yes Lord according to your faith let it be done to you but when they had departed they spread the news about him and all that country now Jesus said don't tell anybody what's the first thing they did told everybody you can't blame them ok you can preach a sermon on how they were obedient to Christ I think if I was blind to be very difficult for me to not tell everybody first of all they're going to find out when those blind men opened their eyes what's the first thing they saw Jesus yes they were able to see the streets of Capernaum in the lake of Galilee they just heard the waves lapping but now they can see it but the first thing they could see was Jesus what a treat some of you who are musically inclined in church music heard of the hymn writer francis jane crosby also known by the nickname fanny crosby she wrote a lot of hymns including blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a foretaste of glory divine she became blind six weeks after birth she grew up loved the Lord used her gifts to write hymns a friend said to her one day miss Crosby it's a pity that God didn't give you your sight when he gave you so many other wonderful gifts Fanny Crosby smiled and she said if I upon birth could have had one request of the Lord it's that I would have been born blind her friend said why and Fanny smiled and said because the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior I haven't been spoiled by all the other things that could steal my attention the first thing I'm ever going to see is the face of Jesus son of David have mercy on as their eyes were open they were looking at their Messiah the prophesied one who would come and open the eyes of the blind and it just happened we began with the meal in Matthews house Matthieu dining with Jesus tonight we closed the study with a meal you have that with you why don't you grab that now I should say take that now we've made it easy by passing them out in advance they're conveniently packaged so that you have a wafer the bread representing the broken body of Christ underneath the juice the fruit of the vine representing the blood of Christ Matthew dined with Jesus tonight we dine with Jesus but not upon the prototype is given in Matthew's house but the prototype given at the Last Supper where Jesus said do this and eat this often in remembrance of me in remembrance of the sacrifice that he was about to undertake for us his body broken and his blood shed on the cross at the beginning of our study we noted that text in revelation 3:20 behold I stand at the door and knock if anyone will hear my voice and will open up that door I will come in and dine with him and he with me I'll come in and have intimate clothes relational fellowship with that person if you'll invite me in that's a picture of your heart Jesus knocking at the door of your heart quick question before we take the Lord's Supper together is Jesus Christ merely on your lips or see indeed living in your heart have you taken his name to speak it but Jesus himself has not come in as your Savior maybe you've come close like a disciple of John the Baptist you're not following Jesus before we take the Lord's Supper we want to say if that describes you if you're not truly a follower of Christ and you know who you are if it's real if it's in your life if it's in your heart if you've given Christ your life or if you've just gone through the motions and it's not really a reality if that's the case then please don't take this meal with us it simply be speaks condemnation to you not salvation if you know Christ no matter what you've done or how you have fallen or how much you fail you take it like those blind men son of David have mercy on me it speaks salvation not condemnation but we always at communion want to suggest the other possibility if Jesus isn't your Savior yet that he become your Savior now tonight in this place at this moment it can be simple you invite him in you open the door of your heart for some of you he's been knocking since you were a child and when you were a child it was a loud knock you heard it distinctly but as you grew older in the teenage years it was still there but you've gotten pretty good at pushing the voice away then there was a crisis that happened in your life and you heard his voice again but then once the crisis left it's like out whatever I'll do what I want to do but maybe that voice however faint is tonight you can hear him calling and you hear the knocking and you have an opportunity before we take the Lord's Supper would you just bow your heads with me for a moment father we come before you and I pray we pray for those who are in the family room tonight but they're not part of your family yet they've never said yes to Jesus it's never been personalized I pray that at this moment it would be [Music] this is only gonna take a moment but if you're here tonight and you haven't surrendered your life to Christ yet or if you've walked away from Jesus and you want to come back to him it's been a series of steps of disobedience or perhaps simply you have had an understanding or a religious acknowledgement but it's never been a reality of accepting Christ if you're willing to do that tonight as our heads are bowed I just want you to raise your hand up in the air just so I can acknowledge your hand that's it I'm gonna acknowledge you and pray for you as we take the Lord's Supper you're saying tonight I'm gonna give him my heart I'm gonna surrender my life to him or bless you right in the middle see your hand in the middle a couple of you toward the back slip that hand up as a testimony to your faith right now to my right on the edge of the auditorium father for those hands that are around the auditorium for those people for those men and women those hearts those lives we pray just now we pray that Jesus would come in and occupy the throne control central calling the shots from tonight onward if you raised your hand then just say a prayer to the Lord right now say these words to him from your heart say Lord I admit I'm a sinner forgive me I turn from my sin and I turn to you as my Savior I believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead for me and I surrender my life to him as my savior and my lord and now you take these elements with us but after the service identify yourself to one of our pastors so we can spend a moment with you and give you some some material in a Bible Father we thank you for this bread that represents the body of Christ and we take it in obedience and Thanksgiving for us in Jesus name Amen let's take it as we hold the cup Lord we remember that after supper Jesus took the cup and said this is the cup of the New Covenant in my blood which will be shed for many for the remission of sins and this token represents to us the fact that the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses a man a woman a child anyone from all sin banish any guilt that we might be carrying change any behaviors we might be practicing and help us to live a life pleasing to you and for your glory thank you that we're a family that loves one another and loves our Savior thank you for this holy sacred meal in Jesus name Amen you

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 6,019

Rating: 4.8461537 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Sermon, Matthew, Calvary Church, Blindness, Jesus, Son of David, Lazarus, Stephen, dead, sleeping, Woman, daughter, Jairus, Capernaum, Domestic life, Jewish weddings, Marriage, Fasting, John's Disciples, Evangelism, Sermon on the Mount, Sea of Galilee, Last Supper, Zacchaeus, Matthew's house

Id: PHqqu9ZvWSI

Length: 69min 8sec (4148 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 11 2018