Matthew Chapters 8-9.
Last 2 Weeks:
RIGHTEOUSNESS: GET RIGHT WITH GOD:
AND ATTITUDE, DISCIPLESHIP, THE SCRIPTURES, MORALITY.
AND GIVING, PRAYING, FASTING, MONEY, ANXIETY, JUDGING OTHERS, SALVATION.
Now Matthew 8-9:
Outline: MATTHEW BEGINS TO OFFER PROOF OF THE KING'S AUTHORITY:
I. AUTHORITY AND GRACE (8:1-22).
A. Healing And Grace.
B. Cost Of Following.
II. AUTHORITY AND PEACE (8:23-9:17).
A. Calming The Storm.
B. Healing And Peace.
C. Calling And Teaching.
III. AUTHORITY AND THE UNEXPECTED (9:18-38).
A. Three Individual Miracles.
B. Call For Harvesters.
KEY TAKEAWAY: JESUS DEMONSTRATES AUTHORITY THAT PROVES HE IS DEITY.
I. AUTHORITY AND GRACE (8:1-22).
A. Healing And Grace.
We Learn That This Demonstrates His Love In Action.
Authority Over Sickness:
The Leper: Compassion Beyond The Law.
A Leper Was In Effect A Living Dead Man.
Jesus Demonstrated His Love Was Greater Than The Most Banned Disease Of The Rabbis By Jewish Law.
The Paralytic: The Passport Of Faith.
The Centurion Was Being Tested In His Faith.
Jesus Demonstrated His Love To A Gentile Was Greater Than The Most Banned People To the Rabbis By Jewish Tradition.
The Fever: A Miracle In A Cottage On The Sabbath.
Peter's Mother-In-Law Was Sick With Fever.
In Gospel Of Mark There Was No Crowd Around But Jesus Wanted Her Well For Ministry.
Jesus Demonstrated His Love Was Greater Than The Rabbis Interpretation Of The Sabbath Law.
B. Cost Of Following.
We Learn That It Is A Miracle That Any Scribe Should Wish To Follow Him.
Authority Over Men: Count The Cost.
A Scribe Came To Him And Said: I Will Follow You Wherever You May Be Going.
Jesus Said To Him: The Fox And The Birds Have Homes. The Son Of Man Has Nowhere Where He May Lay His Head.
It Is As If Jesus Said To This Man: Before You Follow Me Count The Cost.
Jesus Stood For The Destruction To The Legalism On Which Scribal Religion Was Built.
A Miracle Of The Impact Of The Personality Of Jesus Christ On Men.
II. AUTHORITY AND PEACE (8:23-9:17).
A. Calming The Storm.
We Learn That Only God Has Authority Over Nature.
Authority Over Nature: Calm During The Storm.
Jesus And His Disciples Were On A Boat.
A Storm Arose On The Sea So That The Boat Was Hidden By The Waves.
Jesus Was Sleeping And They Awakened Him.
The Disciples Said: Save Us For We Are Perishing.
Jesus Said: Why Are You Such Cowards, You Whose Faith Is Little?
He Rebuked The Winds And The Sea And There Was A Great Calm.
The Men Were Amazed: What Kind Of Man Is This That The Winds And The Sea Obey Him?
Nature Is Under The Authority Of King Jesus.
Jesus Always Brings Calm To The Storms Of Life.
B. Healing And Peace.
We Learn That Only God Has Authority Over Demonic Activity.
Authority Over Demons: The Demonic World.
The Idea Of Demon-Possession Is Common In The Gospels.
The Territory Of The Gad-arenes: Two Demon-Possessed Men Met Jesus.
The Devils Recognized Jesus As The Son Of God.
The Devils Urged Jesus To Cast Them Into The Nearby Herd Of Pigs.
The Pig Herders Saw, Fled Into Town, Told The Account.
The Ancient World Believed Unquestioningly And Intensely In Evil Spirits.
We Learn That Only God Can Forgive Sin.
Authority To Forgive Sin: Get Right With God.
Which Is Easier To Say: Your Sins Are Forgiven OR To Say: Rise And Walk?
Jesus Said: To Let You Understand That The Son Of Man Has Authority On Earth To Forgive Sins.
Then He Said To The Paralyzed Man: Rise; Lift Your Bed And Go To Your House.
In Palestine During This Time: It Was A Universal Belief That All Sickness Was The Result Of Sin.
And That No Sickness Could Ever Be Cured Until Sin Was Forgiven.
C. Calling And Teaching (9:9-17).
We Learn That Only God Can See The Heart Of A Person.
Authority over men: The Man That All Men Hated.
Matthew The Tax Collector And The Disciple Writing This Text.
He Was Hated By The Jews And Considered A Traitor By Them.
When Jesus Called Matthew He Called A Man Whom All Men Hated.
Jesus Had The Power To See In A Man, Not Only What He Was, But Also What He Could Be.
III. AUTHORITY AND THE UNEXPECTED (9:18-38).
A. Three Individual Miracles: With Unexpected Response:
We Learn That Only God Can Truly Love His Enemies.
Authority over death, Illness, Blindness: Responded With Love Even Though Their Understanding Of Him Was Not Correct.
One: The Jewish Ruler Had A Daughter That Died.
The Ruler Came To Jesus From A Very Inadequate Motive.
He Did Not Come To Jesus As A Result Of An Outflow Of The Love Of His Heart.
This Man Came To Jesus Simply Because Desperation Drove Him There.
Two: The Woman With The Issue Of Blood Crept Up Behind Jesus In The Crowd And Touched The Hem Of His Cloak.
To Touch The Edge Of Jesus' Cloak Is The Same Kind Of Thing As To Look For Healing Power In The Relics And The Handkerchiefs Of Saints.
The Lady That This Woman Came To Jesus With What She Would Call A Very Inadequate Faith.
She Came With What Seems Much More Like Superstition Than Faith.
Three: The Two Blind Men Came To Jesus, Crying Out: Have Pity On Us, You Son Of David.
Son Of David Was Not A Title That Jesus Desired.
Son Of David Was The Kind Of Title That A Jewish Nationalist Might Use.
So Many Of The Jews Were Waiting For A Great Leader Of The Line Of David.
Who Would Be The Conquering General Who Would Lead Them To Military And Political Triumph Over Their Roman Masters.
So These Blind Men Came To Jesus With A Very Inadequate Conception Of Who He Was.
They Saw In Him No More Than The Conquering Hero Of David's Line.
Here Is An Astonishing Thing.
The Ruler Came To Jesus With An Inadequate Motive;
The Woman Came To Jesus With An Inadequate Faith;
The Blind Men Came To Jesus With An Inadequate Conception Of Who He Was,
With An Inadequate Theology Jesus Still Found Love And Power For Their Needs.
Here We See A Tremendous Thing.
It Does Not Matter How We Come To Christ, If Only We Come.
No Matter How Inadequately And How Imperfectly We Come His Love And His Arms Are Open To Receive Us.
B. Call For Harvesters.
We Learn That Only God Can Draw Mankind To Himself.
Authority to command men: Threefold Work.
1. Jesus Was The Herald.
The Herald Is The Man Who Brings A Message From The King.
Jesus Was The One Who Brought A Message From God.
2. Jesus Was Teacher.
It Is Not Enough To Proclaim The Christian Certainties.
We Must Also Be Able To Show The Significance Of These Certainties For Life And For Living.
The Importance And The Problem Of This Lie In The Fact That We Teach Christianity, Not By Talking About It, But By Living It.
3. Jesus Was Healer.
The Gospel Which Jesus Brought Did Not Stop At Words.
It Was Translated Into Deeds.
Jesus Spent Far More Time Healing The Sick, And Feeding The Hungry, And Comforting The Sorrowing Than He Did Merely Talking About God.
He Turned The Words Of Christian Truth Into The Deeds Of Christian Love.
THE KING'S COMPASSION: COMPASSION FROM GOD.
When he saw the crowds, he was moved with compassion to the depths of his being, for they were bewildered and dejected, like sheep who have no shepherd.
(i) He was moved to compassion by the world's pain.
He was moved with compassion for the sick, the blind, the grip of demons.
(ii) He was moved to compassion by the world's sorrow.
He was filled with a great desire to wipe the tear from every eye.
(iii) He was moved to compassion by the world's hunger.
The sight of the tired and hungry crowds was a call upon his power.
(iv) He was moved to compassion by the world's loneliness.
The sight of a leper, banished from the society of his fellow-men, living a life which was a living death of loneliness and universal abandonment, called forth his pity and his power.
(v) He was moved to compassion by the world's bewilderment.
The common people were desperately longing for God.
The pillars of orthodox religion of his day, had nothing to offer them.
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