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Welcome to Worship the Lord Bible Study in Matthew Lesson 9. We're in the Book of Matthew.
Jesus is portrayed as king. In Chapters 1 through 5, Matthew establishes his right to
be king. In 5 through 7, Jesus teaches that no one can fulfill the law physically or spiritually,
and they need a savior and that's Him.Now, in Chapters 8 to 10, He will show His power
that He is king and then we go to ten different miracles. Jesus finished teaching the Sermon
on the Mount. Then, a man with leprosy will – leprosy was a terrible disease in those
days. At that time, there was absolutely no cure. Now, there is a medicine that it can
be stopped, named Hansen's disease, and doctors have found the medicine. I often think of
Lou Gehrig's disease as human leprosy. There is no cure. And there are ways to slow it
down but not to stop it. This man would be ostracized from society.
A *** had to cry out, "Unclean! Unclean!" when it goes around other healthy people so
that you would not risk the chance of catching it. It was unknown how it was transferred.
It was mostly believed through the mouth or touch. It was also taught at the time that
if someone has a disease they were being punished by God. The Rabbis even taught they would
throw rocks at the people with leprosy to make them go away. Leprosy starts underneath
the skin and a spot on the outside of your skin and goes unnoticed and spreads.
Sin is the same way. It starts on the inside and then it shows up in people's actions on
the outside. Leprosy in the Bible is a picture or a type of sin. Some people in church today
still believe that if someone is going through affliction they are being punished for something
they did or if they do not have enough faith, and this isn't correct."When He came down
from the mountainside, large crowds followed Him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before
Him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his
hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured
of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, 'See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself
to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.'"You have to give
credit to this ***. He would have to go through multitudes shouting, "Unclean!" covering
his mouth. It was hard because leprosy would attack (damage)your vocal cords. It would
be hard to speak. He approaches Jesus, recognizing the power. He says, "If you will, can you
make me clean?" He does not doubt that Jesus can make him clean, but asked Him if He is
willing. We who have faith in Jesus Christ know he can heal, but we all ask what is good
for us and what He wants. Now, there are some people today who object
to our praying, "Lord, if you will, Thy will be done," assuming that you don't have enough
faith. Well then, I would just point them to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Twice
he prayed that the Lord would take the cup of going to the cross away, but He said, "Your
will be done, not mine." And it's foolish to dictate God's will. And it's not healing
in our case.Jesus touches the ***. Unlike the movies where there are some people around,
they were all backed out, and Jesus telling some to get confirmation that he's healed.
You know, there are people who come straight on the physical, but Jesus wants to focus
on the spiritual. He tells the man to get confirmation of the healing.There were laws
set up in the Book of Leviticus with the healing of lepers and skin diseases. The book had
been written for 1500 years, and this law had never been used. This ceremony would point
to Jesus Christ and the spiritual meaning. It can be found in Leviticus 14, and I'll
summarize the chapter and the ceremony and its meaning.The person with the skin disease,
thinking they were healed, would go to the priest and the priest would come outside the
camp or the city and look at the person. Then the priest would order them to bring two birds
that were probably sparrows, some cedar wood that represented the best wood, hyssop, which
is the most delicate of plants, and bright red yarn that would represent blood.Now the
cedar wood, the hyssop, and the yarn are put into a vessel and clay pot. Just like Jesus
who came down from heaven for us all, represented by the strong cedar wood, made meek like the
hyssop branch, and put into this human vessel, and Jesus would give His blood to save us,
represented by the red yarn. One of the birds would be killed over the vessel under running
water mixed with blood. Jesus said He was living water. Anyone who drinks of Him, they
would never thirst again. When Jesus died on the cross, the soldiers came to confirm
he was dead, and they speared Him in the side, and blood and water gushed out.So they would
take this mixture and seven times the person would be sprinkled with the water, blood,
and hyssop mixture, and on the bird that would be set free. Just like when Naaman was healed.
He had to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. That's in 2 Kings 17.The other bird
will be set free just like Jesus died for us and paid for our sins. Now, the person
with leprosy on the seventh day would shave off all his hair and take a bath. He'd probably
look as white as snow, and on the eighth day, he will bring three lambs, oil, and flour,
and the priest will go through a ceremony, and the person will be pronounced clean. On
the eighth day – the number eight represents NEW beginnings. All the names of Jesus when
you add up their number value of the letters add up to 888. Remember the priests had never
had to use these rules before. This would be a witness to the priests and Pharisees.
And there were others with leprosy that was told to do the same thing.In Luke 17:11 through
19, "Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. He traveled along the border of Samaria and Galilee.
As he was going into the village, ten men met him. They all had skin disease. They were
standing close by and they called out in a loud voice, 'Jesus of Nazareth, pity on us!'
He saw them and said, 'Go, and show yourselves to the priests. While you're on the way you'll
be healed.' When one of them saw he was healed, he came back and praised God in a loud voice.
He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. The man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked,
'Weren't all ten healed? Where are the other nine? Did anyone else return to give praise
to God except this outsider?' Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up and go; your faith has healed
you.'This man knew to go back to praise God, and it was spiritual. The other people FOCUSED
ON that they were physically healed. But they would all go to the priests and the priests
would have to realize, "What is going on here? We haven't used this rule for 1500 years,
and this man, Jesus, is healing the sick and the lepers."The next miracle is with a Gentile,
a Roman commander: "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, asking
for help. 'Lord,' he said, 'my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.'
Jesus said to him, 'I will go and heal him.' The centurion replied, 'Lord, I do not deserve
for you to come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For
I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, "Go," and he goes;
and that one, "Come," and he comes. I tell my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' When
Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following Him, 'I tell you the truth,
and I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will
come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Then Jesus
said to the centurion, 'Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.' And his servant
was healed at that very hour." This man understood authority, and then this
is Jesus – He had a hundred men under Him that would do what He said. If you were in
the military or drafted into the military, you know this type of authority. Jesus was
impressed. Many of His followers may have been confused why Jesus did this. And Jesus
is saying the kingdom is much bigger than this Jewish nation. It's open to everyone,
and He's saying that the Jewish nation would reject Jesus, and the Gentiles are being included
in the kingdom and they're going to sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the men that
they boast about their sons of and relying on their redemption for."When Jesus came into
Peter's house, He saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her
hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on Him." When she's healed
she begins to serve. When Jesus touches your life, you can't wait to help others to see
Him. The first one that Jesus touches is the ***, an outcast of society; the second,
a Gentile, an outcast by his nationality; the third one, by their gender, a woman, who
was looked down upon at that time, only good for bearing children. You know, Jesus never
looked down on anyone, and He doesn't exclude anyone from the kingdom.Verse 16: "When evening
came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Him, and he drove out the spirits with
a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet
Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'
We don't like to think about demons or evil entities being inside people. It's plainly
here that Jesus drove them out and people were healed. Remember this is before the Holy
Spirit came upon the earth. When we accept Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes in us. "Greater
is he who is in us than is in the world." – 1 John 4:4.The scripture in Isaiah 53,
"He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we're healed." The scripture is talking of
spiritual healing. When Jesus died on the cross, he took the thirty-nine lashes and
stripes. Right here, people extend the scripture to physical healing where Jesus was healing
the people that were sick. But it causes a problem today where people are trying to make
it into a theology or doctrine. If you're spiritually healed by Jesus, you should also
be physically healthy. But it can't be true because everyone gets sick and wears out and
everyone dies, and I'll just leave that for that.Now, we go on to a section about what
it really cost following Jesus that He must be first."When Jesus saw the crowd around
Him, He gave orders to cross the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came
to Him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'Foxes have
holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.'This teacher probably does
not follow Jesus. He was used to comfortable life and a certain way of living. Jesus had
no earthly home. He may have stayed at people's houses at that time, but He didn't have a
house and servants or anything. He was totally dependent on God and He was free to be led
by the Holy Spirit. He's saying here, "Count the cost of discipleship. It's not a joyride,
but it's going to be the best thing for you in eternal life." He confirms it with a second
follower in Verse 21."Another disciple said to Him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my
father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'" Now, this
man's father had not just died. He was living and could have lived five, ten, twenty years,
but this man's relationship to his father was more important and possibly knowing that
when his father died, he would get the inheritance. The Lord is speaking against procrastination.
Don't wait to follow Jesus. He's saying the relationship with Him must be first and be
put above all. And your real reward and inheritance it will be in heaven for following Him.Now,
Jesus calms the storm: "Then he got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without
warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But
Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, and ‘Lord, save us! We're
going to drown!' He replied, 'You of little faith, why are you so afraid?' Then He got
up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed
and asked, 'What kind of a man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!'This is
not an uncommon occurrence in the Sea of Galilee. There's a large mountain that produces cold
air, and they come down the Chinnereth Valley. They hit the warm air in the sea, and sudden
storms come up. These are seasoned fishermen and have seen these storms before, and this
one must have been particularly bad.Now, the story tends to lean that Jesus is rebuking
the disciples for not having faith. But it would be a normal reaction to be scared during
a storm just like your child is scared when he hears or she hears thunder and lightning.
They don't know where it comes from or why it's there. It's loud. But we know where it
is, we know we're safe, so we try to comfort them and get them to not be afraid of that.Now,
Jesus was with them in a boat, and in my opinion, Jesus was teaching them, "As long as you remain
with me, you'll be safe from the storm." Well, same thing with your child. As long as you
remain in the house, you're not going to be affected by the storm. It's loud, it's thrashing,
but you are under a safe roof. Jesus said, "Hey, the situation is under control even
though I'm sleeping."When we go through struggles and trials and sickness, it seems like Jesus
is not there, or He's sleeping. We don't see Him, feel Him, or hear Him, and we start to
get worried. I just think that this is a simple step in teaching them to know that God is
with them even though He would not be physically there. He was preparing them for after the
time that Jesus died on the cross. Now, when they get to the other side, Jesus heals two
men controlled by demons."When He arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes,
two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met Him. They were so violent that no one
could pass that way. 'What do you want with us, Son of God?' they shouted. 'Have you come
here to torture us before the appointed time?' Some distance from them a large herd of pigs
was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of
pigs.' He said to them, 'Go!' So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole
herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs
ran off into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed
men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they pleaded
with him to leave their region." Men with demons – now we believe in Christ
to not fear because, "Greater is He that is in us than he who lives in the world." – 1
John 4:4. We are in a spiritual battle. We don't have to be fearful of the enemy because
that the greater power of God's spirit is within us. We can be tempted and affected
but not inside. This is showing that evil angels recognize the authority of Jesus. They
know that their time is limited before they're locked away. People can say they know Jesus,
they believe Jesus, but they don't live or transfer it from their mind into their heart
and soul, and they're going to miss getting into the kingdom of heaven.Now, in that time,
raising pigs was illegal. The Jewish people were not supposed to eat any part of the pig.
What these people were doing was against the law. Archeologists have discovered this city
on the other side, and they could point pretty much to the cliff where these pigs jumped.
I know pigs are good swimmers, but however, the rocky edges damaged their feet, and they
wouldn't survive in the water. Here's the interesting part. They're not happy that the
men got rid of the demons. They were more interested in the pigs that fell off. It's
crazy and amazing that they asked Jesus to leave. You'd think they would cause them to
do the opposite and fall on their knees and beg for forgiveness because what they're doing
was wrong. But they're more interested in business and profit than God. We have to be
careful today not to make decisions based on what's good money-wise, job-wise, because
it's not a good place.In the Old Testament when Abraham and Lot separated, Lot chose
to land that was good for business, but it was next to the city of *** and Gomorrah.
It was not a good place for raising children. We have to keep the spiritual in mind and
God first and what He wants in our life before making decisions. I am as guilty as anyone
else in making quick decisions without asking God, and we have to do better in that area.This
– now as a good side to the story that's recorded in Mark Chapter 5 because we have
the two men that were healed, and these people were worried about – and in Verse 15, "When
they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been controlled by demons, sitting there.
He was now dressed and thinks clearly." You'd think they will be happy. "They just said
it. All of this made the people afraid. They told them what happened. They told about the
pigs, and the people began to beg Jesus to leave."Verse 18 – here's the important part
– "Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been controlled by demons begged
to go with Him. Jesus did not let him. He said, 'Go home to your family. Tell them how
much the Lord has done for you. Tell them how kind He has been to you.' So the man went
away in the area known as Ten Cities, also called the Decapolis, and began to tell how
much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed.Everyone in these Ten Cities knew
about these two men and just to see this man healed and walking and thinking clearly and
praising God. The man didn't know anything of his Bible. He just said, "I met the Savior."
Now, he must have been very saddened that Jesus said, "No." But he knew Jesus' authority
like the centurion, and he did and went and did what Jesus told him to do, and he was
able to affect many more people by saying that knew him the way he was before and how
he was healed. Sometimes, wherever you are it's the same thing.I can remember in the
post office, I became a Christian then became a supervisor. And people said, "What? This
is the same guy?" They can't believe it. So maybe in some way I was able to witness –We're
now moving to Matthew Chapter 9."Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his
own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith,
He said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.' At this, some of
the teachers of the law said to themselves, 'This fellow is blaspheming!' Knowing their
thoughts, Jesus said, 'Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier
to day: "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"? But so that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' Then he said to the paralytic,
'Get up, take your mat and go home.' Then the man got up and went home. When the crowd
saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority
to man."So Jesus forgives a man of his sins, which is the most important. He deals with
the spiritual. This man is in heaven today. Then He gives us physical healing to show
the Pharisies because man goes by sight and what he sees. We also have the power to forgive
sins. When someone offends us, we can forgive them and reconcile. And this gives a healing
of peace. It's a spiritual healing. You can't forget the person's sins against God, but
we can strive to have peace with our brothers and sisters.