October 11: Matthew 8:1-13, Luke 7

October 11, Matthew 8:1-13, Luke 7

Matthew & Luke continued…

Matthew 8:1-13 Jesus jus got done with His sermon on the mount explaining what true discipleship looks like and showing with His wisdom that He was the Messiah. Great crowds followed Him everywhere He went. Side note - Jesus had what we would refer to as celebrity status… We make celebrities out of people we want something from and they typically remain celebrities as long as this is accomplished. Take sports for example, we make gods out of the football players as long as they are performing well. They don’t, and they are soon replaced with another god… Sad. Anyhow, back to Matthew! A leper came to Jesus and knelt before Him (leprocy was a term used for skin disease and it was usually contagious. Jews were not able to touch the leper as then they too would be unclean…). The Leper had faith and Jesus knew it - Jesus stretched out His hand and touched the leper and Jesus healed him immediately. Jesus told him to go to the priests and show that he was healed and to not say anything else. 

Then Jesus entered Capernaum again, and He is met by a Centurion (a Centurion was a Roman officer in charge of about 100 men). The Centurion explained that he had a servant at home that was paralyzed and suffering and Jesus agreed to come to his place and heal the man. The centurion, who was not your typical brute soldier, responded that he was not worthy to have Christ in his home (Jews did not typically go into the homes of Gentiles, as they would have then become unclean) and that all Jesus had to do was to say the word and he knew his servant would be healed. He too was a man of authority like Jesus and people obeyed what he told them to do. “Jesus marveled and said to those who followed him, Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith…” Jesus was pretty impressed by this guy’s faith. Many will not enter heaven because they do not have faith like this centurion. Jesus healed the servant that very hour. 

Luke 7 tells the same story about the Centurion, with a bit more detail like Luke typically does. See above…

Now we read the miracle of the widow of Nain. Her only son died and when Jesus saw it, he had compassion on the woman and raised her son from the dead. Fear seized all who saw it and they glorified God and admitted that they were in the presence of a prophet. This is one of the 3 recorded resurrections that Christ is directly part of in the New Testament. 

John’s disciples told him all that they witnessed Jesus doing and John sent the disciples to Jesus to inquire if Jesus is the one they all were waiting for. When they were with Jesus they saw him healing, blind receive sight, demons kicked out. Jesus told them to go tell John these things and  “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Yes, this was the Messiah and blessed is the one who is not offended by me is for all of us today…

Then Jesus explains that John had come to fulfill Scripture and none was greater than John. Yet, because of Jesus now, the least in the kingdom are greater than John - John was still part of the old covenant proclaiming what was coming. What was coming (Jesus) had come, so those who believe in Jesus are greater than that…

Then we read the story about Jesus having dinner at a Pharisees house and a ‘sinful’ woman comes in and used oil to anoint Jesus’ feet and wipes her tears that are dripping onto his feet with her hair. She kissed Jesus’ feet as well. The Pharisee was thinking to himself, IF this Jesus were a prophet he would not consort with the likes of this woman. Instead of Jesus letting this guy have it, Jesus used this as a teaching opportunity to Peter. Jesus gave the analogy of 2 people owing money. One owed a bunch and the other owed a little, and both debts were forgiven. Who would be more thankful? Peter answered correctly, the one who had more debts forgiven. The point? Jesus walked into the house and nobody cleaned his feet, or anoint his head or give him proper hospitality. The woman did. Her many sins were forgiven. Those at the table were amazed that He had the authority to forgive sins. What does Jesus say to her? “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” 

To sum it all up: 

• We are to love Jesus for what He has done for us (took our sins on the cross), not necessarily what He can do for us. Does that make sense? Jesus isn't just a Healer or Miracle Worker - but He is Savior. 
• If you believe in Jesus, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. What more do you need? Walk in the Truths of Jesus Christ and let it be known your love for Him.