OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO FREE US AND HEAL US

From Mathew chapter 8;

14 Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. 15 So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.

16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”

 The Lord visited the house of His disciple Peter and Peter's mother-in-law was laying down with a fever and Jesus, operating in the authority of the kingdom of God, saw her in that condition and He touched her hand and the condition left her.

Later that evening, other people, stricken by demon-possession and sickness, were brought to Jesus  and with a word, He cast out demons and healed the sick in keeping with the prophet Isaiah's  prophecy about Him that he would take our infirmities And bear our sicknesses.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS ONE OF AUTHORITY AND FAITH

5 Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,         6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this 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 it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.        12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

The Lord Jesus, upon entering the northern town of Capernaum, was approached by a Roman soldier of the rank of centurion ( this rank is  a commanding officer in the Roman army over roughly 100 men ).

The centurion, begging Jesus, told Him about a servant who was at home paralysed and in agony. Jesus, hearing this, proposed that they go to the centurion's house to heal the sick servant.

The centurion then counter-proposed with his understanding of what was possible in the situation.

He explained that it would be innappropriate for someone of such great rank as Jesus to enter his humble house but instead, all that Jesus would need to do was say the command of healing and the servant would be healed remotely.

Being in the Roman army made the centurion familar with the mechanics of authority and from what he had heard of Jesus, had inferred that Jesus's power was a function of authority and therefore, in the same way that he could issue a command to his unit and that command would be carried out at a distance, Jesus could issue a command and that command could be fulfilled even without immediate proximity.

Jesus was astonished at the incisive perception of the Roman soldier and informed those who were with Him that the Roman soldier's faith was the greatest deposit of faith He had ever encountered on earth and that included all those who operated in faith in Israel.

The Lord Jesus then opened a glimpse into a reality of the kingdom of God that had just made itself manifest at that moment: The kingdom God was going to include people from every direction, race and tribe who would, by faith, gain seats in the kingdom of God while others who were born into the kingdom would be disqualified from authority in the kingdom (with intense regret) by their lack of faith.

The Lord Jesus then released the Roman soldier to go and said to him that what he had believed would happen, would indeed happen.

The sick servant was healed.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER SENT HIS SON TO RESTORE US FROM EXCLUSION

The Lord Jesus, having completed the teaching series on the hillside, descended into crowds of people who were following Him.

Mathew chapter 8 verse 1 - 4 captures a moment when from among the many people, a man with the skin disease of leprosy approached Jesus and worshipped Him;

1 When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. 2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

4 And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

This passage starts with a man with leprosy worshipping Jesus and in doing so said that if it was Jesus' will, the disease could be removed from him.

Jesus touched the man with His hand saying that He was indeed willing and commanded that the man be cleansed of leprosy and the man was cured immeadiately.

The Lord then commanded the man to maintain secrecy over the how he got healed but to go present himself to the priests in order to be examined and ceremonially cleansed which was part of the elaborate procedure of being restored from quarantine back to regular life as prescribed in the book of Leviticus chapter 14.

The Lord also told him to take a gift to the priests as a sacrifice in accordance with the law of Moses concerning the ceremonial cleansing from leprosy. The sacrifices required are described in Leviticus chapter 14 verses 10 - 11 with a modified prescrition for those who were poor a s could not afford in verses 21 - 22.

10 “On the eighth day they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, and one log of oil. 

11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The man's healing and submission to the ceremonial cleansing rituals along with the gift of his sacrifice was to be a testimony to the priests that the healing power of God was now active in land and that people who were excluded from their lives in the family of Israel were now being restored.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 23

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Reaching the end of His discourse on the hillside, the Lord Jesus advised His listeners to put into practice the things He had taught them because what He had taught them was the solid rock of truth. A person who based his life on these teachings would be like a house built on solid rock that could not be undermined by the erosive forces of weather and would remain standing through rain, floods and winds.

On the other hand, hearing the words of Jesus and rejecting them or failing to put them into practice would result in a great fall because that person, by basing their lives on other foundations, would be like a house built on a sandy foundation that is easily undermined by rain, floods and winds.

Even if a person were to use engineering intelligence and strong materials to build a solid house, if the house was constructed on a sandy foundation, when water flooded or wind blew around the base of the house, the particles of sand would be individually swept away until the house was no longer evenly supported and it would break apart.

The words of the Lord are the definitive explanations of the basis upon which a person can successfully establish their lives in the kingdom of God because they are a unitary whole that cannot be washed away piece by piece.

If a person cobbles together the principles of living in the kingdom of God from sources other than the Lord Himself, that person will find that the bits and pieces of their founding philosophy will be eroded away under the different pressures in his environment and his life in the kingdom of God will collapse.

The people listening to the Lord Jesus were astounded by how authoritatively and powerfully He delivered His words. 

They were used to the uncertain and hedged way the scribes taught them while Jesus, a master of the subject matter, spoke with the conviction of one who established the principles.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 22

Being part of the kingdom of God requires that we do the will of the Father who is in heaven.

Citizens of the kingdom of God are imbued with the power and authority of that kingdom but the Lord Jesus emphatically taught His followers  in Mathew chapter 7 verses 21 - 23 that the requirements for being classified as operating lawfully in the Kingdom of God while using its resources is that all such activities must be those aligned with the will of the Father.

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

It is possible for people to be given access to the kingdom of God and once there, find themselves able to deploy the utensils and powers of the kingdom under their own volition. They discover that they can invoke the powers of the kingdom to prophesy, cast out demons and perform signs and wonders and in doing so, come to believe that they are qualified to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven.

However, admittance to the kingdom of heaven is based on the close knowledge and love that is cultivated with the Lord and this relationship is predicated on adherance to the will of the Father and failing to do so is judged as lawlessness and disqualifies us from being with Jesus in the kingdom of heaven.

Once admitted into the kingdom of God by systematically selecting to go through the narrow gate and difficult path, we now must grow in the kingdom by seeking the will of the Father and doing it in the authority and power of the kingdom of God.

This is the lawful way of the kingdom of God that the Lord Jesus demonstrated as He declared in John chapter 5 verse 19;

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same way.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 21

The Lord Jesus continued His teaching regarding the kingdom of God and in this passage in Mathew chapter 7 verses 15 - 20, He revealed a hazard that exists for those operating in the eco-system of the kingdom of God;

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

The phenomenon of false prophets is a dangerous reality that requires us to shed naivete and be on constant watch for attempts to infiltrate the associations of believers.

Sent by the kingdom of darkness as agents of personal and corporate destruction, these false prophets dress up in attire, language and culture that mimics the servants of God and they bring with them false and toxic doctrines and foster strife and disunity.

Out of their ministrations come sinful conduct, discouragement, introduction of idols, ruined relationships, loss of direction, loss of connection to God, divided and scattered flocks and a myriad of other pathologies that weaken the assemblies of believers.

The Lord cautions us to be alert for such actors trying to inveigle their way into positions of influence among the believers who are ensconced  in the kingdom of God.

Their deceptions and disguises are often sophisticated and we can easily mistake a wolf dressed in a sheep's garment for an actual sheep but the Lord tells His followers that even if the agents of darkness manage to get past the first screen, it will soon become evident whose kingdom they serve because they will involuntarily yield bad fruit that is impossible to disguise and when identified, the infrastructure supporting the ministry of the agents of darkness can be spiritually cut down and consigned to the fire.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 20

Mathew chapter 7 verses 13 - 14 continues with the elucidation of the characteristics of citizenship in the kingdom of God and in this passage,  the Lord Jesus decribes what access to the kingdom of God entails.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 

14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The Lord Jesus provides a key for when we want to migrate into the kingdom of God by letting us know that we will encounter two gates. One gate will be wide and the roadway through it will be broad and easy to traverse. The other gate will be narrow and the roadway through it will be difficult to travel on.

The secret that the Lord is presenting here is that as we navigate our way towards the kingdom of God, there will be options that we will run across along the way and that we should select the difficult and hazardous way rather than the easy and straightforward route.

If, for example, we arrive at a scenario where someone needs our help and to do so would put us into a bind because we would be delayed or our resources would be tapped out while alternatively, we could refer that person to other people and move on unencumbered by the inconvenience, the Lord's counsel is that those who are seeking to enter the kingdom of God should pick the option that is challenging and hazardous over the easier way because the kingdom of God has a screen that selects for those who are inclined to undertake the difficult options rather than gravitate towards shortcuts.

This screening process results in only a few finding the entry point to the kingdom of God and it is the remnant that stumbles into the kingdom of God that discover the abundant life that the salvation of the Lord acquired for them.

As John chapter 10 verse 10 says, 

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Amen.

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