WHAT KIND OF MAN?

TEXT: MATTHEW 8 http://www.biblica.com/bible/verse/index.php?q=matthew8&niv=yes

PARAPHRASE

“TOUCH”

Coming down from the mountainside where he had been teaching those who believed in him, a man with leprosy, in humility on his knees called Jesus his Lord and said he believed Jesus had the power to heal him if he wanted to. Jesus, doing what others would consider unthinkable, touched the diseased man as he told him he wanted to heal him saying, “Be cured!” at which point the man’s leprosy was gone. After this, Jesus told the man not to tell anyone what had happened but instead to follow the law of Moses by showing himself to the priest and offering a gift so that he could be officially declared cured and restored to society.

“FAITH”

Entering Capernaum, the commander of many Roman soldiers came to Jesus asking him to help his servant who was lying paralyzed and suffering at home. When Jesus said he would go home with him to heal his servant, the commander told Jesus he didn’t deserve to have him come to his home but he believed all Jesus needed to do was speak his words of healing right where they were in order for his servant to be healed. He went on to explain the basis for his belief in Jesus’ authority to heal by describing how as a Roman commander he knows the meaning of authority because being under authority from above, when he speaks to his men, he speaks to them with the authority of the emperor behind him and therefore obey – indicating to Jesus that he believed he spoke with the authority of God behind him such that if Jesus just “said the word” the illness his servant was suffering from would obey Jesus and leave. Jesus was amazed when he heard this and said to his followers he had not seen anyone in the nation of Israel with such great faith as this Roman commander who was a gentile. He told his followers that when the great Messianic feast occurs with the patriarchs there will be many people gathered from across the gentile nations who will come to take their places in the kingdom of God but those from the nation Israel who think they are subjects of the kingdom merely because of their birthright will be thrown out into the darkness where they will suffer eternally.

“FULFILLMENT”

Coming to Peter’s house in Capernaum, seeing Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with fever, Jesus touches her hand at which point her fever left and she got out of bed and welcomed Jesus into her home.

That evening, many people were brought to where Jesus was and he drove evil spirits out of the demon- possessed and healed those who were sick in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy about what the Messiah would do when he came, “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

“COST”

Seeing the crowds around him Jesus gave orders to cross over to the other side of the lake as a teacher of the law told him he would follow him wherever he went. Jesus responded to the teacher by telling him that following the Son of Man involved living homeless unlike even animals of the earth like foxes (who have holes) and birds (who have nests). When another disciple said to Jesus he needed to go and bury his father before he could follow him, Jesus told the man that following him comes above everything else and that those who are spiritually dead can bury their family members who are physically dead.

“WHAT KIND OF MAN?”

After getting into the boat with his disciples, a severe storm develops as they cross the lake, threatening them as Jesus sleeps. Waking Jesus up in a panic, the disciples tell him to save them, fearing they are going to drown. Jesus tells his disciples they have “little faith” as he asks them why they are so afraid – getting up and commanding the wind and waves to calm down – which they do just like the illness the commander’s servant had did when it obeyed Jesus’ words. The disciples were amazed at “what kind of man” Jesus was that not only demons and illness obeyed his word, but the larger forces of nature controlled by God did as well.

“HOLY, HOLY, HOLY”

Arriving on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men, who were so violent no one would travel near the tombs they lived in, came to meet Jesus. When the demons immediately recognized Jesus as the Son of God they feared being prematurely destroyed before the end of times and so asked Jesus to cast them into a large herd of pigs. When he granted this the demons went into the pigs, the pigs went off the steep bank into the lake and died, those tending the pigs reported what all that had happened in town, and the town’s people came to see Jesus, but after seeing him pleaded with him to leave their region because they were frightened by who he was.

PRINCIPLES

1. MATTHEW TOLD HIS FIRST CENTURY READERS THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH), THE SON OF GOD.

2. HOW DID MATTHEW TELL HIS FIRST CENTURY READRS THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH), THE SON OF GOD?


MATTHEW TOLD HIS FIRST CENTURY READERS THAT:

A. Jesus touch had the power to heal a leper.

B. Jesus’ word had the authority to heal a Centurion’s servant from afar.

C. Jesus’ touch had the power to heal Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever.

D. Jesus word had the power and authority to drive out demons.

E. Jesus’ healings fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy about him.

F. Jesus’ words had authority over the winds and waves.

G. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God was immediately recognizable by the demons.

H. Jesus’ word cast demons from two men into a herd of pigs.

I. Jesus’ holiness was frightening to the people of the Gadarenes.


3. MATTHEW TELLS US TODAY THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH), THE SON OF GOD.

4. HOW DOES MATTHEW TELL US TODAY THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH), THE SON OF GOD?

MATTHEW TELLS US THAT:

A. Jesus’ touch has the power to heal us today.

B. Jesus’ word has the authority to heal us where we are.

C. Jesus’ touch has the power to heal us of our fevers.

D. Jesus’ word has the power to drive out our demons.

E. Jesus’ healings continue to fulfill Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy about him.

F. Jesus’ words have authority over the storms in our lives.

G. Jesus’ identity as the Son of God is immediately recognizable by demons today.

H. Jesus’ word will cast the demons in our lives away where they too can be put to death.

I. Jesus’ holiness can be frightening today too when it stands next to sin and the demonic, but ultimately is not to be feared because he has overcome both for us through his death on the cross and through his resurrection from the grave.


PRAYER

Our Father, we praise You that is by Your Son’s will that we are healed by Your power and authority.

Our Father, we thank you and give You praise for Your Son and the power and authority You have given to heal through His Name.

Our Father, forgive us for our lack of faith, for fretting in the midst of the storms in our lives when You are right there beside us, and help us with our unbelief.

Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, through Isaiah the prophet about the Messiah and what he would do when he came, that he would take up our infirmities and diseases and that we would know who the Messiah was by his doing this.

Our Father, we thank You that our biggest infirmity, death, has been overcome, has been healed by Your Son’s death and resurrection, his sacrifice for us, his taking our sins upon himself so that we may live eternally.

Our Father, we thank you that those things in life that we fret over and the demons in our life that plague us that bind our lives and keep us imprisoned in a tomb can be cast away by a mere word that is said in the name of Your Son.

Our Father, today whatever is binding us from the past, whatever has deeply hurt us, whatever issues we struggle to let go of, whatever anger that lingers inside, whatever anxiety or panic there may be, we say in the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ that it “Go” and that it be gone from this point on and that the complete calmness that came over to the lake after Your Son rebuked the storm come into our hearts and minds to replace the fret and the demons that have been holding us hostage.

Our Father, help us to remember that our battles in this world also take place on a spiritual level so that the issues and conflicts we experience in this world have a spiritual connection as well and thus we are in need of Your protection from spiritual demons in addition to those in our lives that are psychological and physical in nature.

Our Father, we raise these petitions in the Name of Your Holy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Amen.


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