In Matthew Chapter 8 we read of Jesus healing many people. Just a point that I want to make. Jesus often told people not to tell others of who had healed them and along with that Jesus never brought attention to healing. Jesus was always healing as he went but his mission in life was to lead people to God. That is a reverse to what we have seen many times throughout history and still today. Many ministries want to focus on healing, for many people their entire ministry focus is on healing and I just don’t see the precedent for such.
#1. Jesus mission for us is to go and make disciples of all people. Baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
#2. Our ultimate healing is in eternity. Yes I believe the gift of healing is still present in the world today, through God’s people. Yes I rejoice when a person is healed in this life. But I also know that ultimately, all of us will die in this life is Jesus tarries. It’s not about the temporary physical healing, that is a blessing when God does so but it is an ultimate blessing when one is healed for eternity.
In Matthew Chapter 9, Jesus shares a message about new wine and new wine skins. this is usually confusing to people as it was to me for many years. Matter of fact I would just skip right over it because I just didn’t understand it. Wine skins or wine bags were what people used to store wine, they didn’t use the glass bottles that are used in our time. When a bag acquired some age it would become set or you might think of brittle and when new wine was poured into a bag it would expand. Well, if you poured new wine into an old bag it would bust and you would lose the goods.
In this passage Jesus is addressing the question of why his disciples did not fast. Jesus says, I, Jesus am still here with them, it is time to feast. They will receive the Holy Spirit when Jesus is killed and that is the new wine that will be poured in, in that time the disciples will be fasting and discerning new things. The spiritual disciplines make us pliable, fasting gets us ready for a new work of God. Maybe you should think about fasting and maybe you will decide to even try it.
In Matthew Chapter 10, Jesus sends out his apostles and he gives them stern truth, fear God and not people. Do not be afraid of people who can kill the body, God has control of the spirit and the spirit is what will live on for eternity. We need to remember this is all circumstances. So many times in life wa want to be people pleasers, we want people to like us. Remember, if people liking you is making you do things that God is not pleased with then you need to focus on pleasing God and not people.
In Matthew Chapter 11, Jesus chastises people who have seen the miracles and heard the truth. He says it will be bad for those who see so much truth and still reject Him. He mentions Sodom and how it will be better for them in the end, even-though they rejected Him too. Sodom had no Bible, what will it be like for those today who have the Bible in multiple translations and more tools than ever before to help us understand what it is we are reading. There really will be no excuse for those who do not believe.
In Matthew Chapter 12, Jesus disciples are questioned because they are picking grain on the Sabbath. Then Jesus heals a mans hand on the Sabbath just to make his point further. What is Jesus point. Throughout the New Testament Jesus and the other Bible writers are trying to get across to the people, the Law will not save anyone. The law was never meant to save anyone. The law is our teacher and the Pharisees in Jesus day were trying to get to heaven by being good enough. Sad fact is, many people are still doing that today. It has never worked and it will never work. If a person could get to heaven by being good enough, how good would that person have to be?
I Love The Book Of Matthew.
Ronnie