Matt 8

Date: 13 January 2009

Bible (NT/OT):

Matt 8

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

8 When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. 2 And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them."

The Faith of a Centurion

5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

14 And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. 16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 Now when Jesus saw a great crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." 20 And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." 21 Another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." 22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead."

Jesus Calms a Storm

23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." 26 And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs." 32 And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Ps 9:13-14

Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:14 That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.

Sun Tzu:

Discipline means organization, chain of command, and logistics. Organization means that the troops must be grouped in a regulated manner. Chain of command means that there must be officers to keep the troops together and lead them. Logistics means overseeing supplies.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Melody (tune) is a succession of pitches arranged in a way that they make coherent sense or seem to belong together. Melodies are usually divided into shorter “phrases”. These musical phrases are usually arranged in a musical question (antecedent) and answer (consequent) format. Harmony on the other hand is several pitches that belong together played at the same time.

Events:

Yesterday, I got up took Sadie for a run, read, wrote then drove up to Fort Hood. While driving I was listening to Glen Beck who echoed something that I have been feeling for some time now. Glen Beck was discussing “global climate change” the new term for the old “global warming” since it is apparent that we actually have not been warming for nearly 10 years now. I have a couple thoughts on global warming:
1. The pollutants of cars and factories pales in comparison to the natural pollutants of a forest fire or volcano. The world has been adapting fine to the above for billions of years so what is another drop in the bucket if, let’s be honest it’s not hurting anything (best guess maybe a degree warmer over the last 100 yrs and who knows what actually caused this).
2. My biggest peeve against global climate change is that we are throwing billions of both public and private money towards fixing a theoretic problem when we have real problems that truly need and deserve that money. The fact that the Global warming people could organize a worldwide campaign and raise millions of dollars is great but where did that money go? What could those millions of dollars have done for the troops fighting our nation’s two wars? What could that money have done for the starving and sick around the world? Places where 10 dollars could save a life, not where we throw millions upon millions of dollars at a fictional problem. I don’t fault the good people who are truly concerned about our future on this planet, I fault the media and Al Gore’s of the world that have sensationalized a theoretical problem that even the scientific community cannot agree upon. The theoretical “global warming” needs to be last page news until we have some causal relationship between manmade pollutants and actual warming. It may, in fact, be real but until we have a verifiable diagnosis how can we justify throwing millions of dollars and crazy solutions at it? You would not think me a very good physician if I saw a patient and without any tests or verification, just my hunch not only told the patient that they had Cancer but started them on expensive and extremely dangerous chemotherapy. The treatment that we have attempted for Global Warming is just that, treating a disease without a diagnosis with expensive therapies that are unproven and potentially more dangerous than the original theoretical disease.
Got to Hood, saw some patients and stayed in Temple last night.

Thoughts:

Bible:


1. "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them." Jesus does not heal or witness with the same dramatization that we see in many churches today. Why is this? I don’t truly know but I have a couple thoughts. Here Christ wants to ensure that the ceremonial law is kept in that a Jew with Leprocy was to be declared “Clean” by the priest before re-entering society. By avoiding this law the man 1) could have been thrown into jail but worse 2) If the Priests had known that Jesus had healed the man, they likely would not have declared him clean. They would have instead made it seem as though Jesus failed at his miracle so to discredit him. But why isn’t Jesus racing from town to town preaching and healing with great impetus? I mean he’s only got like 3 years to “win” as many souls for God as possible right? Jesus ultimately understood, as we should, that it is God who draws and God who saves. It would be shocking for a present day minister to say to his high-school kids leaving for their summer mission, “If San Antonio doesn’t welcome you and receive your message, just keep going, don’t stay there and debate, fight or “win” just leave.” Not very motivating but this amounts to what Jesus says in Matthew 10. Our Job is to Share the Gospel, it is not to fight or convince. And, it is defiantly not to water it down so that it is more tolerant and acceptable.

2. Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." 7 And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. What a leader, to care this much for his servant. So what is it that Jesus Loves? The Soldiers Faith right? But Faith in what? Why does Jesus say he has found no such faith in Israel? We Christians throw around faith all the time. It seems that all you need for salvation is some abstract concept of Jesus. As James says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (James 2:19-20)”
Jesus is impressed with this Gentile’s acknowledgement of his deity and sovergenity. The Centurion is a Gentile not a Jew, he did not have the privilege knowing the old testament and all of it’s prophecies to the Kingship of the Christ . None the less, the Centurion first acknowledges Christ as Lord, then acknowledges Christ’s dominion over man, sickness and distance. The Faith of this gentile is not simply in Christ as healer, but in Christ as Lord. Everyone could see that Jesus could heal but the centurion announces Christ’s Lordship. This profession precedes that of Jesus closest disciples by months to years. This is why the Centurion is so highly praised. There was a recent controversy in the church over what was called “lordship salvation”. The question was, can a person be saved by faithfully acknowledging Christ’s power over death without acknowledging Christ’s Lordship over them? Can a person be saved who cries out for salvation but does not the have any desire to live by the law of God? Interesting discussion, food for thought but in the end the answer is no. In salvation we realize that we have been bought with a very costly price, we have been rescued from sin and death and if we are truly saved we are grateful beyond words and could no longer allow for sin to rule our lives. Do we fall and sin? Yes but as Christians do we want sin and the self to sit on the throne of our lives NO, that is not if we are true believers.

3. V11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fulfillment of the promise that even the Gentiles would be saved through this coming, now come messiah. Despite Jewish tradition, salvation does not and never did depend on lineage.

4. V22 And Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." A difficult saying, but one that tests the heart. Will we choose our worldly relationships and loves over Christ? This verse, of course, does not forbid us from attending funerals. The point is that this scribe is standing with Jesus and with the opportunity to follow Christ looks back and sees a more worthy activity. Jesus will later says “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:37-38)” Christ is our savior and our only king or he is nothing to us and we should sleep in on Sunday mornings.

5. V 27 And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" I wonder what the Centurion’s response would have been.

6. Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Make no mistake, we serve a Victorious King, even the Demons acknowledge this. In due time, the events spoken of in the closing chapters of Revelation will come to pass and the ruler of this current age (the devil) and his demons will be thrown into a lake of fire and brimstone (Rev 20:10) and we will sit down and dine with our fellow saints and triumphant King.

7. V34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
This entire chapter has recorded Jesus dominion first over the Jew (with leprosy), then over the Gentile (Centurion), then over nature (boat incident) and now over the demons. And when faced with such dominion what is fallen man’s response? Run, leave, escape. Everyone wants a savior, no one wants a Lord. No one wants to step off his throne and let Jesus take over.

8. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:14 That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. As we step off our throne and fall in line with Christ, our reward may not be our “best life now” but it will be our best life soon. We will find a Heavenly father far more loving and forgiving than any worldly father could ever be. A Father that knows us intimately and looks forward to spending eternity with us.