WEBVTT 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.620 Hi, welcome back to the Semi -Seminarian. In 00:00:07.620 --> 00:00:09.820 this week's episode, we're going to continue 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:13.539 looking at the gospel according to Matthew. This 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:17.039 week, we're going to focus on the people's response 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.379 to Jesus' preaching, teaching, and healing through 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:24.739 Galilee. This teaching had intended to also... 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:28.260 include the teaching on the parables, Jesus' 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:30.620 response to the people's response. Unfortunately, 00:00:31.219 --> 00:00:34.079 our time ran a little bit long in our session, 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:37.719 so that's going to have to be for next episode. 00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:40.219 But this is pretty good stuff. This is people's 00:00:40.219 --> 00:00:44.600 response to Jesus right here on the Semi -Seminarium. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.240 There are going to be times in this series where 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.759 we're going to kind of fly at 30 ,000 feet. and 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.539 look at the gospel of Matthew as a whole and 00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:03.520 look at it thematically and the background of 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.879 it and the behind the scenes kind of of it, if 00:01:05.879 --> 00:01:08.200 you will. And then there'll be times when we'll 00:01:08.200 --> 00:01:12.680 zero in on a particular story in the gospel to 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.659 illustrate perhaps that larger theme. OK, so 00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:17.719 we're going to kind of zoom in and out. And that's 00:01:17.719 --> 00:01:21.159 why we are kind of bumping along here to chapter 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:24.760 eight, because tonight we want to look at. People's 00:01:24.760 --> 00:01:29.700 response to Jesus and the reality of the coming 00:01:29.700 --> 00:01:33.459 kingdom of God. So tonight's study is going to 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:38.500 be divided in two parts. Chapter 8 to 10 is going 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:43.040 to be Jesus discussing the kingdom of God and 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:46.280 people into people's lives. And in that, we're 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.980 going to see people's reaction to the reality 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:53.650 of Jesus. And then in chapters 11 to 13, we're 00:01:53.650 --> 00:01:56.750 going to look at the response to Jesus and his 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:59.870 reality. And through the parables that we're 00:01:59.870 --> 00:02:02.549 going to look at at the end of our study tonight, 00:02:02.670 --> 00:02:05.510 we're going to kind of see, if you will, Jesus' 00:02:05.829 --> 00:02:09.449 response to that response. And what Jesus is 00:02:09.449 --> 00:02:12.189 going to begin to do through the parables that 00:02:12.189 --> 00:02:14.030 we'll find at the end of our study tonight is 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:17.830 he's going to, in this story form, in the tradition 00:02:17.830 --> 00:02:20.400 of... Hebrew literature. He's going to begin 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.960 to profess the realities of the kingdom of God 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:27.699 and the implications of that kingdom for us. 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:30.560 Now what's kind of neat about the first part, 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:33.780 the chapters 8 -10 part, is that there is a neat 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:38.120 little pattern that follows in chapter 8 -10. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:42.400 And what it is, is there are nine stories and 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:45.379 they're actually divided into groups of three. 00:02:45.500 --> 00:02:49.659 And then in between, There's going to be a story 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:55.080 where Jesus always basically says, follow, follow 00:02:55.080 --> 00:03:01.939 me. And so the first three of the nine is going 00:03:01.939 --> 00:03:04.120 to be the leper. I'm not going to write all this. 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:08.039 The leper, the centurion, sorry, the centurion 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.340 and Peter's mother -in -law. Group of three stories 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:13.449 there. Then we're going to see a story where 00:03:13.449 --> 00:03:16.189 Jesus is going to say, follow me, or he's going 00:03:16.189 --> 00:03:19.569 to talk about the cost of following him. Then 00:03:19.569 --> 00:03:21.469 there's another group of three, which would be 00:03:21.469 --> 00:03:26.009 the stormy sea story, the two men that are possessed 00:03:26.009 --> 00:03:29.030 by demons. And then the paralyzed man in the 00:03:29.030 --> 00:03:31.069 book of Mark comes down through the ceiling. 00:03:31.870 --> 00:03:35.069 And that's those three. That's that set. And 00:03:35.069 --> 00:03:37.400 then Jesus will have a. Follow me story. And 00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:41.199 then these nine stories conclude with a story 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.500 of a dead woman and a dead girl and a sick woman, 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:47.560 two blind men, and then the mute man. So what 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.340 Paul or what Matthew has done here is he's divided 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:54.460 these stories about Jesus and his encounter with 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:57.479 people as he's healing and teaching and preaching. 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:00.699 And then each of those stories, we're going to 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:04.680 find people's reactions. to Jesus' healing, teaching, 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:07.000 and preaching. And they're kind of divided into 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.539 three little groups here with little breaks in 00:04:09.539 --> 00:04:12.699 between where Jesus talks about the reality, 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:17.759 the cost of following Him. So in each one of 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:20.920 these groupings, I'm going to kind of slow down 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.560 and talk about one a little bit more than the 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.060 others in each of the three groupings. But we'll 00:04:27.060 --> 00:04:30.180 mention all nine stories. And then when we get 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:31.879 to the follow me stories, we'll kind of take 00:04:31.879 --> 00:04:34.579 a second and slow down a little bit and kind 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:37.600 of go through those stories in a little bit more 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:40.279 detail. So let's begin tonight. Chapter eight. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:42.920 I was mentioning earlier that I was looking at 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:46.639 doing this part of the study thematically and 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:48.620 not necessarily in the amount of scripture I 00:04:48.620 --> 00:04:51.139 needed to cover. And as I began to prepare this 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:53.639 study, I realized I may have bitten off more 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.410 than I could chew on this one. We're just going 00:04:56.410 --> 00:04:59.529 to see how this goes. So we're going to begin 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:04.209 with the chapter 8, very first story here, and 00:05:04.209 --> 00:05:06.970 this is Jesus healing a man with leprosy. So 00:05:06.970 --> 00:05:08.910 let's kind of go through the story, and let's 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:11.509 kind of point out a few things that the story 00:05:11.509 --> 00:05:13.689 tells us, what the story tells us about Jesus, 00:05:13.769 --> 00:05:16.389 and what Matthew's trying to show us here about 00:05:16.389 --> 00:05:19.430 the story of Jesus. So verse 1, when Jesus came 00:05:19.430 --> 00:05:21.550 down from the mountainside, now I hate getting 00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:23.529 three or four words into it and having to take 00:05:23.529 --> 00:05:26.779 a break. But this is from the Sermon on the Mount, 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:31.199 okay? So Jesus goes up on the mount. He teaches, 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:35.579 right? He teaches chapters 5 through 7, which 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:39.839 are the, it's basically the new law, right? On 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.139 his way down the mountainside, people are following 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:46.259 him around. This is where we're at in the story. 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.300 Sermon on the Mount's gotten finished, and he 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:52.399 is leaving the mountain, and people are following 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.899 him. Large crowds followed him, a man with leprosy. 00:05:55.899 --> 00:05:59.360 Now your Bible might have a little footnote letter 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:01.600 there, might have an asterisk there. More than 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:03.519 likely that footnote or that asterisk is going 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.959 to say something like, it probably wasn't leprosy 00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.639 that this man had, but it was probably some sort 00:06:09.639 --> 00:06:14.860 of skin disease like leprosy. In essence, the 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.040 reason why that's there is it may not have been 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:19.600 leprosy, but it would have been something that 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.620 would have prevented the man from ever being 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:25.040 considered ceremonially clean. That's the main 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:30.720 point there. So a man who could never be ceremonially 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.839 clean and enter the temple came and knelt before 00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:37.259 him. Now, as we go through these stories, as 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:38.819 we go through each one of these stories, some 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:41.379 in a little bit more detail than others. Often 00:06:41.379 --> 00:06:44.759 what we do is we focus on Jesus and how he interacts 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.800 with the people because we want to focus on Jesus, 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:49.779 right? There's nothing wrong with focusing on 00:06:49.779 --> 00:06:53.100 Jesus, trust me. But for tonight's exercise, 00:06:53.319 --> 00:06:55.899 what I'd like for you to do is as we go through 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:58.860 these stories, I want you to pay particular attention 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:02.100 to the people that are interacting with Jesus. 00:07:02.980 --> 00:07:06.560 So pay attention to the people that are interacting 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:09.750 with Jesus and think to yourself, What's this 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:13.189 person's situation in life? For example, this 00:07:13.189 --> 00:07:15.949 person is a leper. He's going to be an outcast 00:07:15.949 --> 00:07:19.529 from his society. He's never going to be able 00:07:19.529 --> 00:07:22.990 to participate religiously because he's ceremonially 00:07:22.990 --> 00:07:27.170 unclean. He is reduced to doing nothing but begging 00:07:27.170 --> 00:07:31.110 because he can't have a job. He can't more than 00:07:31.110 --> 00:07:33.490 likely have a family because he's an outcast 00:07:33.490 --> 00:07:38.079 from the society. So as we go through, Each of 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.180 these stories, I want you to actually tonight 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:44.459 focus on the people interacting with Jesus. And 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:48.240 then I want you to think about how do they respond 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:51.699 to the reality of Jesus. And what we're going 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:55.660 to find is more times than not that the people 00:07:55.660 --> 00:08:00.019 who are the least likely, if you look at it from 00:08:00.019 --> 00:08:02.860 a traditional sense, to see Jesus for who he 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:06.949 really is are the ones that get it. And the most 00:08:06.949 --> 00:08:10.029 knowledgeable, the ones that should see Jesus 00:08:10.029 --> 00:08:12.990 right off the bat, are the ones that don't. We're 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:14.750 going to see that not always, but we're going 00:08:14.750 --> 00:08:18.250 to see that being most of the time. So a man 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:20.730 with leprosy came and knelt down beside him and 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:23.329 he said this. We're going to kind of take a few 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:25.689 seconds to go through what he says here, because 00:08:25.689 --> 00:08:27.329 I think we read through this and we hear one 00:08:27.329 --> 00:08:28.870 thing, but it actually says something different. 00:08:30.470 --> 00:08:34.149 If you are willing, he says to Jesus, you can 00:08:34.149 --> 00:08:38.129 make me clean. Now, I think we brush through 00:08:38.129 --> 00:08:40.649 that and we recognize a few things about this 00:08:40.649 --> 00:08:42.929 guy and what he believes to be true about Jesus. 00:08:43.590 --> 00:08:48.429 Firstly, if you're willing. Secondly, you can 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:52.929 make me clean. Now, the reason why I think we 00:08:52.929 --> 00:08:55.269 brush through that is because I'm guilty of this 00:08:55.269 --> 00:08:57.610 and I imagine you might be too. And whenever 00:08:57.610 --> 00:09:00.169 I read that, what I actually read in my head 00:09:00.169 --> 00:09:05.149 is, if you are willing, would you or could you? 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:08.700 Make me clean. But that's actually not what he's 00:09:08.700 --> 00:09:12.820 saying. He's saying if you are willing, you can. 00:09:12.940 --> 00:09:15.419 Now your Bible, does anybody have words there 00:09:15.419 --> 00:09:18.240 that are different than can? Because in other 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:22.620 translations we'll say you are able instead of 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.679 can. Right? And so other translations would say 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:30.419 if you are willing, I know that you are able 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:33.460 to make me clean. Now let's stop and just think 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:35.700 about what does this guy think about Jesus then? 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:40.440 He recognizes Jesus has Jesus' power, right? 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:44.299 But what he doesn't know is, is Jesus compassionate 00:09:44.299 --> 00:09:48.879 enough to share that power with me? I know you're 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:53.440 powerful, but do you have compassion to share 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:56.000 that power with me? I'm not sure about that part 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.379 of you. It's a very interesting take on the reality 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:04.929 of who Jesus is. by this leper. Jesus reached 00:10:04.929 --> 00:10:07.190 out his hand, and I feel like when I read this, 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:10.110 it's almost in slow -mo in my mind. Jesus reached 00:10:10.110 --> 00:10:15.750 out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, 00:10:15.929 --> 00:10:19.590 he says. In other words, you see me for the power 00:10:19.590 --> 00:10:23.090 I have. What you didn't see in me is do I love 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:26.690 you? Do I have compassion enough to help you? 00:10:26.769 --> 00:10:32.590 Yes, I do. That's why I'm here. That's interesting. 00:10:32.610 --> 00:10:36.090 Now this guy might have been dirty, right? He 00:10:36.090 --> 00:10:39.690 was an outcast, probably didn't have a lot of 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:42.549 money, probably had to beg for whatever money 00:10:42.549 --> 00:10:45.309 he did get to buy whatever clothes he could get 00:10:45.309 --> 00:10:49.149 or food he could eat, right? He didn't say, if 00:10:49.149 --> 00:10:55.110 you are willing, will you heal me? He doesn't 00:10:55.110 --> 00:11:01.500 say that. He says, will you make me clean? That's 00:11:01.500 --> 00:11:04.480 something completely different, isn't it? And 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:08.480 he's not talking about would you make me more 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:13.759 hygienic? Would you make me clean? Can you put 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:17.059 me in a position where I could have an opportunity 00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:19.700 to have a right relationship with God again? 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.159 Because in the Jewish culture, if you're not 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:26.860 able to be clean and enter the temple and participate 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:30.039 in the temple system, then you're not able to 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:34.820 be clean. You're not able to have a right relationship 00:11:34.820 --> 00:11:40.559 with God. And so his command in the healing is 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:43.500 that you're now healed from leprosy, although 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:47.200 he is. What Jesus has actually given him through 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:51.399 the healing is an opportunity to have an opportunity 00:11:51.399 --> 00:11:55.059 to be made right with God once again. Be clean. 00:11:56.100 --> 00:11:59.399 And immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:02.360 Then Jesus said to him, see that you don't tell 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:06.080 anyone, but go. Now what he's saying here is, 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.480 look, don't worry about what other people think 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:13.220 about you. That's not what you wanted to begin 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:15.850 with, right? What you wanted was to be clean. 00:12:16.129 --> 00:12:19.330 So don't worry about that. Go to the priest. 00:12:19.730 --> 00:12:22.970 Because they're the only ones who can make you 00:12:22.970 --> 00:12:26.029 right with God. Or well, can make you clean so 00:12:26.029 --> 00:12:28.070 that you can be right with God through the temple 00:12:28.070 --> 00:12:32.149 system. Go show yourself to the priest. Offer 00:12:32.149 --> 00:12:35.909 the gift Moses commanded as a testimony to them. 00:12:36.940 --> 00:12:40.659 You want to have an opportunity to be made right 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:43.659 with God. Here's your opportunity. Now go and 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:49.399 do it. The next story is the story of the faith 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:51.460 of the centurion. I want to point out just a 00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:53.740 couple of things. Now, Capernaum, you guys might 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:58.000 notice that I've given you a map of the Galilee 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:02.159 region. As you can see here, the Galilee region 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:05.029 here, this is a lake that... from its northern 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:07.370 tip to its southern tip, which is actually kind 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:09.730 of cut off because I wanted to blow this coin 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:11.889 up as big as I could get it on this half a sheet. 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:15.529 From its northern tip to its southern tip is 00:13:15.529 --> 00:13:19.350 about 13 miles. Okay, so it's a big lake is what 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:22.269 it is. Okay, but you can also see the towns, 00:13:22.370 --> 00:13:26.830 some of the towns around here, Capernaum, Bethsaida, 00:13:27.070 --> 00:13:30.090 right? And then we also have places like Tiberias. 00:13:30.610 --> 00:13:34.649 There would be Gadara. is going to be down on 00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:37.750 that tip that you can't see because I had to 00:13:37.750 --> 00:13:40.149 blow up the coin thing. But Gadara will come 00:13:40.149 --> 00:13:42.210 up here in a minute because we'll run across 00:13:42.210 --> 00:13:45.909 a couple of guys that are called Gadarenes. That's 00:13:45.909 --> 00:13:48.710 where they're from. The Mount of the Beatitudes, 00:13:48.889 --> 00:13:50.769 you guys see that? That's the mount that we're 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:53.529 talking about. In this part of our story, that's 00:13:53.529 --> 00:13:57.629 where Jesus is. And so we see Capernaum here 00:13:57.629 --> 00:14:00.870 really close. There, that's where we're at next. 00:14:01.070 --> 00:14:05.450 When Jesus entered that city, Capernaum, a centurion 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:07.429 came to him. Now, we don't know for sure that 00:14:07.429 --> 00:14:10.429 this guy is a Roman soldier. More than likely 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:14.090 he is. But what we definitely do know about this 00:14:14.090 --> 00:14:17.929 centurion is he is not Jewish. He could have 00:14:17.929 --> 00:14:22.129 been Syrian. He could have been any other nationality 00:14:22.129 --> 00:14:25.200 and served in the Roman army. and Roman army, 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:27.799 he could have also been a Roman. We don't necessarily 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:30.519 know, but we do know that he's not Jewish. And 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.840 that will come up here in a second. So he has 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:36.659 this servant who is at home paralyzed. Now he 00:14:36.659 --> 00:14:40.779 too is going to reveal about what he, this non 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:44.279 -Jewish centurion, believes about who Jesus is. 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:49.559 In verse 8, the centurion says, Lord, I do not 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.659 deserve you. He's asking Jesus to come help him 00:14:52.659 --> 00:14:55.980 save his servant. I don't even deserve you to 00:14:55.980 --> 00:14:59.600 be in my house because I recognize who you are. 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.360 I also believe that your power is so great, it's 00:15:02.360 --> 00:15:04.259 not like you've got to be there and even touch 00:15:04.259 --> 00:15:07.039 him. I believe that your power is such that if 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.159 you just say that my servant could be healed, 00:15:10.340 --> 00:15:14.440 he is healed. That's how much faith I have in 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:20.509 your power, Jesus. Blows Jesus away. Right? He 00:15:20.509 --> 00:15:25.129 says, I have not found anyone in Israel with 00:15:25.129 --> 00:15:27.429 such great faith. That's how we know that this 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:30.509 guy's not an Israelite. Okay? That's how we know 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:33.490 he's not a Jew. I haven't run across anybody 00:15:33.490 --> 00:15:38.909 that is Jewish like I am. That sees it the way 00:15:38.909 --> 00:15:41.269 I see it. And let me tell you something, he says. 00:15:41.909 --> 00:15:44.730 There's going to be problems for a lot of those 00:15:44.730 --> 00:15:47.220 people. Right? Because there are going to be 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:49.200 people that think that they should have a seat 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:52.279 at the feast of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.419 the kingdom of heaven. Right? But they'll be 00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:57.500 thrown outside. There'll be darkness and weeping 00:15:57.500 --> 00:16:01.139 and gnashing of teeth. He says, now go. Let it 00:16:01.139 --> 00:16:03.879 be done just as you believed. And a servant was 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:07.659 healed at that moment. That's the second of our 00:16:07.659 --> 00:16:13.299 first triad of stories. Then Jesus goes to Peter, 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.600 Cephas. Right? Goes to Peter's house, and Peter's 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.840 mother -in -law is there. She's got a fever, 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.940 and he touches her, and the fever leaves, and 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:28.580 she's healed immediately and begins serving the 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:31.679 men in the household. When evening came, many 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:33.539 who were demon -possessed were brought to him, 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:35.639 and he drove out the spirits with a word and 00:16:35.639 --> 00:16:38.000 healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:40.299 was spoken through the prophet Isaiah, like we 00:16:40.299 --> 00:16:42.580 see... Very frequently, we're going to go back 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:45.460 to these Old Testament prophets. He took our 00:16:45.460 --> 00:16:48.779 infirmities and bore our disease. So what we're 00:16:48.779 --> 00:16:52.259 seeing in this first triad of stories is Jesus 00:16:52.259 --> 00:16:56.620 teaching and healing. And what we're going to 00:16:56.620 --> 00:16:59.539 see through this kind of pulling out of demons, 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:02.039 this casting out of demons, we're going to see 00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:05.240 something about the reality of why Jesus is here. 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:08.059 But I don't want to get into that just yet. I 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:12.400 want us to hang on to... The idea of Jesus confronting 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:16.599 the evil in the world and the reality, what that 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:18.400 means for us. And we're going to find out more 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:20.779 about that here in just a second. But now we 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:24.680 get to our first break story, right? In between 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.220 the two groups of three. And this is a follow 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:31.119 story. And this is the cost. Jesus wants to have 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:34.619 a cost, a talk about what it means to follow 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:37.480 him. And that to do that here on earth is going 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:42.289 to cost you something. Now when Jesus saw the 00:17:42.289 --> 00:17:45.450 crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to 00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:49.089 the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of 00:17:49.089 --> 00:17:51.890 the law. Now this is going to be somebody who's 00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:54.769 literate. This is somebody that would have been 00:17:54.769 --> 00:17:57.589 not only someone that would have professed teachings 00:17:57.589 --> 00:18:01.190 about the law, but would have also produced manuscripts. 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:05.950 The word scribe, if you've ever heard that term. 00:18:06.700 --> 00:18:10.299 Like the Pharisees and the scribes, or the scribes 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:13.000 and the Pharisees, right? The scribes are these 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.920 teachers of the law, okay? And that's important. 00:18:17.099 --> 00:18:19.160 It's a function of their job. Now remember, we 00:18:19.160 --> 00:18:24.500 talked last time about the... and the value of 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:27.480 first century of ancient manuscripts and about 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:30.220 how valuable, how weird it is that we have so 00:18:30.220 --> 00:18:32.740 many biblical transcripts because of how expensive, 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.359 how hard they were to produce, and how small 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.740 the audience was that could consume that media. 00:18:38.220 --> 00:18:40.420 There's only a few people that can read. There's 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:42.039 only a few people that can write, and it was 00:18:42.039 --> 00:18:45.480 expensive to do it. What that meant is that if 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:47.799 you were a teacher of the law in Jewish custom, 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:52.299 if you were a scribe, you were rich. Because 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:56.819 your trade, your craft of being able to produce 00:18:56.819 --> 00:19:01.619 manuscripts was very expensive work. If you were 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:06.220 a scribe, you were wealthy. It's important to 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:09.359 this story here because of what Jesus says to 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:11.940 him. So you have to think, a teacher of the law, 00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:13.980 remember we're paying attention to the people, 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:17.059 not necessarily just to Jesus. But this wealthy 00:19:17.059 --> 00:19:20.019 guy comes to Jesus and he says, Jesus, first 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:23.880 of all, he says, You're my teacher. He recognizes 00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:27.220 him as the rabbi. He says, I'll follow you wherever 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:32.220 you go. I am willing, Jesus, I believe in who 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:34.900 you are. I'm willing to go where you go. And 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:38.559 Jesus goes, is that so? Well, before you commit 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:42.619 and get on the bus, let me just tell you that 00:19:42.619 --> 00:19:45.619 foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the 00:19:45.619 --> 00:19:48.880 Son of Man, which is Jesus' favorite term for 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.150 himself, It comes from Daniel chapter 7. But 00:19:52.150 --> 00:19:54.410 the Son of Man has no place to lay His head. 00:19:54.609 --> 00:19:59.589 And what Jesus is saying here is, look, animals 00:19:59.589 --> 00:20:04.769 have places that they can call home. Even animals 00:20:04.769 --> 00:20:07.849 have places that will provide them protection. 00:20:08.490 --> 00:20:11.829 But because of who I am, and because of the way 00:20:11.829 --> 00:20:15.269 I know the world is going to respond to me, I'm 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:17.869 not even afforded the luxury of a place that 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:22.900 I can hide out. in. Are you willing, rich guy, 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.680 are you willing to be homeless with me? Because 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:30.319 that's what it means. That's the cost of following 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:34.019 me. That's what he's saying here. Are you willing 00:20:34.019 --> 00:20:40.680 to accept that cost? Another disciple comes to 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.079 him. Here's another person with their take on 00:20:43.079 --> 00:20:47.319 Jesus. Lord, he says, I want to follow you, right? 00:20:47.829 --> 00:20:51.650 I'm willing to go, but first let me go and bury 00:20:51.650 --> 00:20:55.769 my father. But Jesus told him, follow me and 00:20:55.769 --> 00:21:01.710 let the dead bury their own dead. What's he saying? 00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:10.099 Following me is not on your terms. Following 00:21:10.099 --> 00:21:12.579 me isn't when it's convenient. Because that's 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:14.539 what this guy is saying. Look, I've got some 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:17.039 things to wrap up. I've got some loose ends I've 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.500 got to tie up. I'm waiting for the right time 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:23.380 to do what you want me to do, Jesus. I'm waiting 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:27.559 for the perfect moment to jump and decide that 00:21:27.559 --> 00:21:29.880 I'm going to follow you. And Jesus goes, that's 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:33.079 not how this works. Because if you understand 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:39.140 who I really am, you're out now. Let the dead 00:21:39.140 --> 00:21:45.819 bury the dead. The cost. The cost of following 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:49.359 Jesus means that there are going to be times 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:54.039 where we could put zero faith or zero interest 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.900 into anything that is a material comfort. Here 00:21:57.900 --> 00:22:01.319 on this earth. That following Jesus is more important 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:05.279 to us than any of that stuff. And to follow Jesus 00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:08.880 means to turn control of our lives and our time 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.799 over to him. And that's what Jesus is saying 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:15.900 here. So follow me. Follow me. But it's going 00:22:15.900 --> 00:22:19.480 to cost you. Okay. The second group of three 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:22.819 stories here begins with Jesus calming the storm. 00:22:23.380 --> 00:22:26.829 And this is a story. That most of us, if we've 00:22:26.829 --> 00:22:29.609 been around church much at all, we're already 00:22:29.609 --> 00:22:32.630 kind of familiar with this story. But let's look 00:22:32.630 --> 00:22:34.609 at, let's go through the story rather quickly. 00:22:34.769 --> 00:22:38.410 But let's focus on people's reaction to Jesus 00:22:38.410 --> 00:22:40.809 in the story and what it can tell us. Then he 00:22:40.809 --> 00:22:42.930 got into the boat. His disciples followed him. 00:22:42.950 --> 00:22:45.069 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:48.529 so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus 00:22:48.529 --> 00:22:53.099 was asleep. He was sleeping. The disciples, there's 00:22:53.099 --> 00:22:55.119 going to be our reactionary group, the disciples 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:59.559 went and woke him. Saying, Lord, save us. We're 00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:03.859 going to drown. He says, you of little faith, 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:08.579 why are you so afraid? And then he got up and 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:10.960 rebuked the winds and the waves and it was completely 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.500 calm. And the men, right, their opinions of Jesus 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:19.410 now have changed. Before, Jesus... I don't even 00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:21.769 think you have the power to do anything about 00:23:21.769 --> 00:23:25.430 this. I don't even think you care about whether 00:23:25.430 --> 00:23:28.150 we're drowning or not because you're asleep. 00:23:28.950 --> 00:23:31.670 They are confronted with the reality of the power 00:23:31.670 --> 00:23:35.150 of Jesus and their minds are blown. They have 00:23:35.150 --> 00:23:38.089 seen something that they did not expect. Jesus 00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:41.750 doesn't quite fit into any category of person 00:23:41.750 --> 00:23:45.410 that they've ever encountered. What kind of man 00:23:45.410 --> 00:23:50.150 is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him. 00:23:51.009 --> 00:23:53.750 And Matthew, I think, is super cool literature 00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:56.529 -wise. Matthew doesn't even bother to answer 00:23:56.529 --> 00:23:59.829 the question. He goes, oh, okay, what kind of 00:23:59.829 --> 00:24:03.769 man is this? Let me tell you a story. He doesn't 00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:05.910 say Superman, which is what I think I'd say. 00:24:06.049 --> 00:24:09.950 What kind of man is this? A superman. He doesn't 00:24:09.950 --> 00:24:12.289 say that. Matthew goes, what kind of man is he? 00:24:12.369 --> 00:24:15.460 Let me tell you a story. When he arrived at the 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.539 other side of the region, of the Gadarenes, again, 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:20.880 that's down there on the southern tip of the 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:25.500 lake, two demon -possessed men coming from the 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:30.279 tombs met him. They were so violent that no one 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:35.299 could pass that way. What do you want with us, 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:40.680 son of God? They shouted. Have you come here 00:24:40.680 --> 00:24:44.619 to torture us before the appointed time? It's 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.599 interesting that already in our stories, we're 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:50.779 seeing this mixed bag of results between humans 00:24:50.779 --> 00:24:54.059 and the reality of Jesus. Maybe He's the Messiah. 00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:58.319 He is the Messiah. He's not the Messiah. Remember, 00:24:58.500 --> 00:25:01.359 that's our three categories. And we're already 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:04.500 seeing varying degrees of belief and non -belief 00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:08.799 there. But who do these demons? They know for 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.410 sure who He is. They call Him by His name. the 00:25:13.410 --> 00:25:18.029 Son of God, and they know He has the power to 00:25:18.029 --> 00:25:22.150 do what He wills with them. Have you come here 00:25:22.150 --> 00:25:25.670 to torture us before the appointed time? We already 00:25:25.670 --> 00:25:30.349 know, these demons say, we're licked. We already 00:25:30.349 --> 00:25:34.309 know how the story ends. We already know at the 00:25:34.309 --> 00:25:37.890 appointed time we lose. Are you here just to 00:25:37.890 --> 00:25:42.759 mess with us before our ultimate defeat? Some 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:45.579 distance from them, a large herd of pigs were 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:50.119 feeding. The demons begged Jesus, If you drive 00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:55.059 us out, send us into the herd of pigs. And he 00:25:55.059 --> 00:25:59.359 said, Go. So they came out and went into the 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:01.900 pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:04.079 bank and into the lake and died in the water. 00:26:05.140 --> 00:26:08.799 Those tending the pigs, pig shepherds, I guess, 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:14.569 ran off. And you would too. And they went into 00:26:14.569 --> 00:26:17.269 town and reported all of that they had seen, 00:26:17.490 --> 00:26:20.269 including what had happened to the demon -possessed 00:26:20.269 --> 00:26:25.529 men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. 00:26:26.049 --> 00:26:30.009 And when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him 00:26:30.009 --> 00:26:33.809 to leave their region. Now this particular story 00:26:33.809 --> 00:26:38.990 is weird to me. Because I already know how the 00:26:38.990 --> 00:26:43.359 Bible ends. and I already completely believe 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:47.740 who Jesus is, I'm already aware of the resurrection 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:51.440 and its implications for me, and I'm not face 00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:53.960 -to -face with a guy who could take demons out 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:56.359 of people's bodies and throw them into a herd 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.740 of pigs, and we could say that all you want. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.920 Let me give you a good example. How many of you 00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:03.180 have kids that love Santa Claus, but the first 00:27:03.180 --> 00:27:05.759 time they ever saw Santa Claus, like in real 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.200 life, in the costume, it scared them to death? 00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:13.390 Right? Because Santa Claus on TV is cute and 00:27:13.390 --> 00:27:16.910 cuddly. Santa Claus in real life is a huge fat 00:27:16.910 --> 00:27:20.150 guy and they're little kids. Right? That's scary. 00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:24.150 I've spent my time in a Santa Claus outfit. Trust 00:27:24.150 --> 00:27:28.089 me. I know the varying reactions of people to 00:27:28.089 --> 00:27:32.009 the reality of Santa Claus. Jesus is going to 00:27:32.009 --> 00:27:35.309 be certainly no different. We can read this story 00:27:35.309 --> 00:27:38.539 with 2 ,000 years difference. behind us and think, 00:27:38.619 --> 00:27:41.339 oh, I would have been like, oh my gosh, let me 00:27:41.339 --> 00:27:44.759 follow you around. And I just want to be one 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:47.440 of your disciples. The truth is, the reality 00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:50.599 is, if I would have seen someone exercise, two 00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:53.960 dudes that I, look, I grew up in Gadara. I know 00:27:53.960 --> 00:27:57.680 those guys. I don't even go out by the tombs 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:00.819 because I'm scared to death of those guys. Those 00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:06.299 dudes were crazy. And Jesus pulled demons out 00:28:06.299 --> 00:28:08.839 of them. and put them into pigs and then the 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:11.519 whole heart of pigs went off the cliff? That's 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:16.259 scary. Really. That's scary. The reality of it. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:25.880 Now up to this point, I think the answer is I 00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:28.700 don't think that they knew, but they were scared 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:32.220 to death of the unknown. Up to this point in 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:40.519 the story, we've seen nice Jesus. If He has the 00:28:40.519 --> 00:28:43.079 power to do that to the demon -possessed guys, 00:28:43.420 --> 00:28:47.619 He can lay our whole town to waste. I'm not sure 00:28:47.619 --> 00:28:52.400 that He's on our side. Or they were comfortable 00:28:52.400 --> 00:28:58.299 with their demons. And here's the truth. The 00:28:58.299 --> 00:29:03.279 truth is, in varying degrees, we all... But let 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.160 me say it more like, in varying degrees, we, 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:10.059 the world, are very comfortable with our demons. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:14.779 We're very comfortable with our sin. And this 00:29:14.779 --> 00:29:18.299 is actually, their response is showing us a reality, 00:29:18.420 --> 00:29:21.079 not only of these people, but of our people today 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:24.160 too. Because up to this point, and when we're 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:27.180 kids, right? We're taught compassionate Jesus. 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:30.359 We're taught healing Jesus. We're taught like 00:29:30.359 --> 00:29:33.240 Jesus with a little toddler on one leg and a 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.079 lamb under his arm under the other leg, right? 00:29:36.539 --> 00:29:41.119 Sweet, cuddly Jesus. Calming the winds and the 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:45.160 waves, right? Powerful, but still nice Jesus. 00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:48.859 And what Matthew is telling us through this story 00:29:48.859 --> 00:29:53.500 here is that there's an implication about Jesus 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:56.759 on earth. That is more important than any of 00:29:56.759 --> 00:30:01.119 that other stuff. And the truth is, Jesus has 00:30:01.119 --> 00:30:04.420 come to this world and through his ultimate victory 00:30:04.420 --> 00:30:10.640 is here to confront evil. The human existence 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:17.420 is riddled and rife with sin and evil. And our 00:30:17.420 --> 00:30:23.059 only pathway to salvation comes with someone 00:30:24.170 --> 00:30:29.430 deals with sin. When someone deals with evil. 00:30:29.549 --> 00:30:32.809 And Jesus has come to do that. And what that 00:30:32.809 --> 00:30:36.390 tells us about the human experience is that makes 00:30:36.390 --> 00:30:38.690 us uncomfortable sometimes when we're confronted 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:42.609 with it. Because we're often comfortable with 00:30:42.609 --> 00:30:45.490 our sin. We're more comfortable with the devil 00:30:45.490 --> 00:30:50.900 we know than the power we don't. And it's the 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:54.119 human experience today and was the human experience 00:30:54.119 --> 00:30:59.240 2 ,000 years ago. Jesus then stepped onto a boat. 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:04.240 This is the second of our stories, I think. And 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.220 crossed over and came to his own town. Here's 00:31:07.220 --> 00:31:11.980 another response group. Some men brought him 00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:15.730 a paralyzed man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw 00:31:15.730 --> 00:31:17.849 their faith, he said to the man, Take heart, 00:31:17.990 --> 00:31:20.789 son, your sins are forgiven. And then we're going 00:31:20.789 --> 00:31:23.450 to take a pause here and go, if you think this 00:31:23.450 --> 00:31:25.569 sounds a lot like the story in Mark, whenever 00:31:25.569 --> 00:31:28.369 they cut the hole in the roof and they lower 00:31:28.369 --> 00:31:32.609 the man on the mat down to Jesus because they 00:31:32.609 --> 00:31:35.750 couldn't get in the house, this is that story. 00:31:36.589 --> 00:31:39.730 Matthew's written after Mark, and I think Matthew 00:31:39.730 --> 00:31:42.779 knows. That, hey, you know, if you want more 00:31:42.779 --> 00:31:45.460 detail to that story, go read the gospel according 00:31:45.460 --> 00:31:50.859 to Mark. Because my story isn't about how hard 00:31:50.859 --> 00:31:53.900 it was for them to get to Jesus. I actually want 00:31:53.900 --> 00:31:55.920 to focus on a different part of the story. So 00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:57.920 if you want to hear Mark's version, go read Mark. 00:31:58.180 --> 00:31:59.940 I'm going to tell the same story, but I actually 00:31:59.940 --> 00:32:02.220 want to focus on something else that's going 00:32:02.220 --> 00:32:08.160 on. Now, when Jesus saw their faith, they took 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:13.009 so much effort. They took so much risk to get 00:32:13.009 --> 00:32:15.829 their paralyzed man in the presence of Jesus. 00:32:15.990 --> 00:32:20.549 It is clear they believed that one, Jesus could 00:32:20.549 --> 00:32:24.309 do something about his situation. And two, Jesus 00:32:24.309 --> 00:32:28.950 would do something about his situation. And whenever 00:32:28.950 --> 00:32:33.369 it comes time to encounter with Jesus, what does 00:32:33.369 --> 00:32:41.000 he do first? He forgives their sins. We'll get 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:44.880 to the paralyzed legs here in a second. But first, 00:32:45.140 --> 00:32:49.720 know your sins are forgiven. Now this is the 00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:53.539 kind of thing Jesus did that drove the religious 00:32:53.539 --> 00:32:58.480 leaders nuts. And this is exactly what we find 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:01.480 in this story. The teachers of the law, these 00:33:01.480 --> 00:33:04.440 scribes, these Pharisees that are following Jesus 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.539 around, they're probably on the fringes of the... 00:33:07.740 --> 00:33:10.500 of the crowd they're probably listening certainly 00:33:10.500 --> 00:33:13.819 trying to catch jesus in some sort of torah trap 00:33:13.819 --> 00:33:17.220 right but they're probably also fulfilling their 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:21.140 own curiosity right so they're probably learning 00:33:21.140 --> 00:33:25.000 for themselves maybe compelled because they don't 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.240 know what to make of Jesus, but certainly also 00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:30.279 waiting for that time in which they could declare 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:33.500 him to be that false prophet. And whenever he 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:38.500 says to the man, I have forgiven your sins, their 00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:40.960 little light bulbs above their turbans went off 00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:46.099 and they went, wait, got it. Because in our world, 00:33:46.140 --> 00:33:51.339 only God can forgive sins. You don't have the 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:56.049 authority. To do that. Unless you're saying you're 00:33:56.049 --> 00:34:02.150 God. Right? Right? And Jesus kind of mind reading 00:34:02.150 --> 00:34:07.349 them says. Oh guys. Why do you entertain evil 00:34:07.349 --> 00:34:10.510 thoughts in your hearts? Why are you looking 00:34:10.510 --> 00:34:15.969 for a way? I'm healing. I'm preaching. I'm bringing 00:34:15.969 --> 00:34:18.789 the good news. Why are you looking for a way? 00:34:18.869 --> 00:34:20.889 And then he asks them a question. He says. Let 00:34:20.889 --> 00:34:25.159 me ask you. Which is easier? Is it to say your 00:34:25.159 --> 00:34:31.179 sins are forgiven? Or to get up and walk? That's 00:34:31.179 --> 00:34:34.340 a really, really great question. Right? Because 00:34:34.340 --> 00:34:37.440 I can tell you right now, your sins are forgiven. 00:34:39.079 --> 00:34:42.619 How are you going to fact check me? Right? You 00:34:42.619 --> 00:34:46.079 could say that all you want. But to actually 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:49.659 have the power to do it? More than likely, it's 00:34:49.659 --> 00:34:52.119 more likely you have the chance to make dead 00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:55.400 legs work than actually have the power to take 00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:58.219 away somebody's sins. But as the son of man, 00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:02.079 I have that authority. I have that authority 00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:05.420 on earth to first give sins. So then he says 00:35:05.420 --> 00:35:08.840 to the paralyzed man, take up your mat and walk 00:35:08.840 --> 00:35:12.659 home. The man got up and walked home. When the 00:35:12.659 --> 00:35:16.159 crowd saw this, they were filled with awe. Their 00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:21.300 minds. And they praised God who had given such 00:35:21.300 --> 00:35:26.739 authority to man. A group of people within Jesus' 00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:31.579 following circle at that moment went, Aha! I 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:36.420 see Jesus for who he really is. And now we come 00:35:36.420 --> 00:35:41.480 to our second follow story. And this one is going 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:43.679 to be the story that I'm looking forward to. 00:35:44.059 --> 00:35:45.780 teaching most tonight because i think there's 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:48.380 some really really cool stuff here that you probably 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:50.360 have at least heard part of this story before 00:35:50.360 --> 00:35:52.719 but i bet you there's stuff in this story you 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:55.199 don't know so this is the part i'm really looking 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:59.780 forward to so as jesus went on from there he 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:03.000 saw a man named matthew the star of our book 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:06.199 here that matthew his name before it becomes 00:36:06.199 --> 00:36:11.840 matthew is levi and he's sitting in a tax collector's 00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:17.000 booth And Jesus says to him, follow me. And Matthew 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:21.840 got up and followed him. Now, keep your finger 00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:24.599 right there. I want you to skip to chapter 10 00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:28.719 for me. This is going to be important. Chapter 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:37.739 10. And I want to just read the first four verses. 00:36:37.860 --> 00:36:39.039 And then we're going to go back. We're going 00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:41.320 to go back to that story. But it's important 00:36:41.320 --> 00:36:43.300 that we have in our mind. Who's going to be at 00:36:43.300 --> 00:36:46.920 this meal here in a second? So Jesus called his 00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:50.340 12 disciples to him. They're already there. They're 00:36:50.340 --> 00:36:52.440 a part of our story right now when we go back. 00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:55.880 And gave them authority to drive out impure spirits 00:36:55.880 --> 00:36:58.880 and to heal every disease and sickness. So let's 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.619 figure out who these guys are. First, Simon, 00:37:01.780 --> 00:37:07.679 Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, the son 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.820 of Zebedee, and his brother John. James and John 00:37:10.820 --> 00:37:14.250 are brothers. Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas 00:37:14.250 --> 00:37:17.210 and Matthew, our guy Matthew, the tax collector, 00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:22.349 James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon 00:37:22.349 --> 00:37:26.250 the Zealot, pause, Simon the Zealot, that name's 00:37:26.250 --> 00:37:29.289 going to come back, and Judas Iscariot, whom 00:37:29.289 --> 00:37:34.989 we all know, betrayed him. So these are the dudes 00:37:34.989 --> 00:37:37.949 that are, not only are there groups of people 00:37:37.949 --> 00:37:41.340 following Jesus around, But at this point, when 00:37:41.340 --> 00:37:44.679 Matthew was called, his group of 12, that's his 00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:47.579 inner circle. They're there. They're tied up. 00:37:47.699 --> 00:37:52.239 They're locked and loaded here. Okay? So Matthew 00:37:52.239 --> 00:37:55.719 says, I'm going to have a banquet. So Jesus, 00:37:55.820 --> 00:37:58.219 why don't you and the other dudes come and eat? 00:37:58.320 --> 00:38:01.800 And many tax collectors and sinners came and 00:38:01.800 --> 00:38:06.320 ate with him, Jesus, right? And his disciples. 00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:10.250 See? There they are. When the Pharisees saw this, 00:38:10.469 --> 00:38:13.869 pay attention, they asked his disciples, why 00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:16.909 does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 00:38:16.909 --> 00:38:21.030 sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said, it is not 00:38:21.030 --> 00:38:24.409 the healthy who needs a doctor, but the sick. 00:38:26.230 --> 00:38:30.530 But, he says, go and learn. Now, I know you guys 00:38:30.530 --> 00:38:33.610 call yourselves Pharisees, but if you knew the 00:38:33.610 --> 00:38:36.590 meaning of this, you wouldn't have asked that 00:38:36.590 --> 00:38:40.039 question. So I need you to go back to your scriptures, 00:38:40.139 --> 00:38:43.139 find what I'm talking about, and learn what this 00:38:43.139 --> 00:38:47.260 means. He says, go and learn what this means. 00:38:47.539 --> 00:38:50.099 And then it's in quotes, which means it's a Hebrew 00:38:50.099 --> 00:38:54.000 scripture prophecy. I desire mercy, not sacrifice. 00:38:55.300 --> 00:38:58.420 For I have not come to call the righteous, but 00:38:58.420 --> 00:39:03.559 sinners. Okay, footnote. Anyone? Hosea 6 .6. 00:39:05.789 --> 00:39:07.590 You don't have to turn there. You stay right 00:39:07.590 --> 00:39:09.530 where you're at because I'm going to read four 00:39:09.530 --> 00:39:13.050 verses to you from Hosea 6. Then we'll come back. 00:39:13.150 --> 00:39:15.909 So just stay right where you're at. Hosea 6, 00:39:16.329 --> 00:39:20.590 chapter 6, verses 4 to 8 of his prophecy says 00:39:20.590 --> 00:39:25.309 this. This is God speaking to the people that 00:39:25.309 --> 00:39:29.929 are already exiled in Babylon. This is a psalm 00:39:29.929 --> 00:39:33.849 that is written during the Elixir period whilst 00:39:33.849 --> 00:39:38.289 they were in Babylon. And God says to the people 00:39:38.289 --> 00:39:42.050 through the prophet Hosea, What can I do with 00:39:42.050 --> 00:39:45.690 you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? 00:39:46.469 --> 00:39:49.670 Your love is like the morning mist, like the 00:39:49.670 --> 00:39:55.170 early dew that disappears. Therefore, I cut you 00:39:55.170 --> 00:40:00.170 into pieces with my prophets. I killed you with 00:40:00.170 --> 00:40:05.559 the words of my mouth. Then my judgments go forth 00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:12.440 like the sun. Verse 6. For I desire mercy, not 00:40:12.440 --> 00:40:17.440 sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:23.440 than burnt offerings. As at Adam, the psalmist 00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:28.250 says, from the beginning. They, the people of 00:40:28.250 --> 00:40:32.909 Israel, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful 00:40:32.909 --> 00:40:39.670 to me there. Garden of Eden. Gilead is a city 00:40:39.670 --> 00:40:44.070 of evildoers stained with footprints of blood. 00:40:45.010 --> 00:40:51.190 Crazy prophecy. And the reason why that psalmist 00:40:51.190 --> 00:40:55.730 writes these words I'm sorry, I keep saying psalm, 00:40:55.730 --> 00:40:58.809 and I mean the prophet. Hosea writes these words, 00:40:58.929 --> 00:41:02.610 is that God has showed him something about God's 00:41:02.610 --> 00:41:05.750 desire and what the people were doing. And whenever 00:41:05.750 --> 00:41:11.469 he says, I desire mercy of you, not sacrifice, 00:41:11.670 --> 00:41:17.030 he's saying, I need you to live and love me and 00:41:17.030 --> 00:41:21.409 each other. more than I need you to just go through 00:41:21.409 --> 00:41:25.110 the motions and do the burnt offerings. If your 00:41:25.110 --> 00:41:28.750 heart isn't in the right place, whenever you 00:41:28.750 --> 00:41:32.489 present those offerings at the altar, I don't 00:41:32.489 --> 00:41:36.489 want them. And I tried and I've tried and I've 00:41:36.489 --> 00:41:41.320 tried. I cut. you to pieces he says with the 00:41:41.320 --> 00:41:45.579 words of the prophets I have tried to warn you 00:41:45.579 --> 00:41:49.079 time and time again that I don't want you to 00:41:49.079 --> 00:41:52.639 just go through the motions I want you to love 00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:59.239 me and to love each other I want you to have 00:41:59.239 --> 00:42:05.599 mercy the way I have mercy for you I want you 00:42:05.599 --> 00:42:11.469 to think about loving your neighbors as a worship 00:42:11.469 --> 00:42:18.170 to me. Now, you might say, I can see why Jesus 00:42:18.170 --> 00:42:20.889 would say that to these Pharisees, right? Because 00:42:20.889 --> 00:42:22.769 they were just going through the motions. And 00:42:22.769 --> 00:42:25.429 Jesus, man, that was just a sick burn, right? 00:42:26.070 --> 00:42:29.130 And yeah, I think that's true. But I actually 00:42:29.130 --> 00:42:31.250 think something else is going on here. So I'd 00:42:31.250 --> 00:42:33.369 like to talk about that dinner party a little 00:42:33.369 --> 00:42:37.409 bit more. And I think... Whenever he says, I 00:42:37.409 --> 00:42:40.949 desire mercy and not burnt offerings, he's maybe 00:42:40.949 --> 00:42:44.449 not even talking to the Pharisees directly, but 00:42:44.449 --> 00:42:46.590 I think he's talking to people who are eating. 00:42:47.250 --> 00:42:50.610 So let me explain why. Matthew, what did he do 00:42:50.610 --> 00:42:55.409 for a living? Tax collector. Now, whenever we 00:42:55.409 --> 00:42:58.530 are reading these stories, and I give you this 00:42:58.530 --> 00:43:02.070 handout tonight, it shows you the rim of the 00:43:02.070 --> 00:43:05.579 Lake of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee here. You'll 00:43:05.579 --> 00:43:08.739 notice also that as we've told these stories, 00:43:08.820 --> 00:43:11.440 it seems like a lot of them, if they don't take 00:43:11.440 --> 00:43:15.400 place on boats on the Sea of Galilee, they take 00:43:15.400 --> 00:43:19.400 place really close to the beach, right? It seems 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:22.800 like the water is pretty close. It seems like 00:43:22.800 --> 00:43:25.460 in every one of these stories, right? So Matthew, 00:43:25.579 --> 00:43:29.159 Matthew is a tax collector. Whom do you think 00:43:29.159 --> 00:43:35.320 he taxes? Fishermen. Now, Let's put ourselves 00:43:35.320 --> 00:43:41.420 in the first century Galilean life. And what 00:43:41.420 --> 00:43:45.260 do you guys think? Do we eat a lot of meat like 00:43:45.260 --> 00:43:49.619 cows and goats? No. Are they cheap? No, they're 00:43:49.619 --> 00:43:52.300 expensive. And even if we can't afford them, 00:43:52.320 --> 00:43:55.139 and sometimes we can't even afford them, and 00:43:55.139 --> 00:43:56.920 even if we can't afford them, we don't buy them 00:43:56.920 --> 00:44:00.900 to eat. We buy them to sacrifice. So whenever 00:44:00.900 --> 00:44:05.860 we eat meat, what do we eat? Fish. Fish is a 00:44:05.860 --> 00:44:09.900 huge, huge part of our diet in the first century 00:44:09.900 --> 00:44:16.380 in Galilee. And here's Matthew, who every day 00:44:16.380 --> 00:44:20.559 as I get off the boat to sell my livelihood, 00:44:20.780 --> 00:44:25.139 these fish, to people who are going to eat them 00:44:25.139 --> 00:44:27.239 because it's the only real kind of meat, if you 00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:30.320 will, that they're going to eat. The Roman Empire's 00:44:30.320 --> 00:44:34.780 got to get its cut first. Here's a coin from 00:44:34.780 --> 00:44:39.320 the first century in Galilee. That's a Vespasian 00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:46.840 there, Caesar Vespasian right there. And you 00:44:46.840 --> 00:44:49.920 guys see the backside of the coin? Okay, that's 00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:53.559 a Roman soldier. Who do you think the guy on 00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:57.420 the ground getting stomped on is? The Judean 00:44:57.420 --> 00:45:02.019 guy, right? So here's a coin. that the Roman 00:45:02.019 --> 00:45:06.699 on the back side of it is stomping on the Jewish 00:45:06.699 --> 00:45:12.340 guy. When the fishermen, when Matthew the tax 00:45:12.340 --> 00:45:14.719 collector, when they did their tax business, 00:45:15.019 --> 00:45:19.699 they transacted with these coins. Can you imagine 00:45:19.699 --> 00:45:22.900 as a Judean, every time you've got currency, 00:45:23.079 --> 00:45:26.460 every time you've got to pay a tax? on the fish 00:45:26.460 --> 00:45:29.039 that you need to survive. You're doing it in 00:45:29.039 --> 00:45:32.579 coins that has a Roman guy stomping on your people. 00:45:33.280 --> 00:45:37.079 Does that breed harmony? Or does that breed resentment? 00:45:38.159 --> 00:45:42.460 Resentment like crazy. And Matthew is in this 00:45:42.460 --> 00:45:46.820 business. Right? Now, there was a guy I told 00:45:46.820 --> 00:45:50.119 you to remember there at the 12 that's at this 00:45:50.119 --> 00:45:54.000 dinner party. And his name is Simon. And he's 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:58.599 given a nickname to, I think, one, to differentiate 00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:02.579 from Simon Peter, but also as a descriptive title 00:46:02.579 --> 00:46:05.960 because of who he particularly was. Simon the 00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:09.599 Zealot, that word zealot comes from the Hebrew 00:46:09.599 --> 00:46:16.880 word kanaim. Kanaim. And that means the zealot. 00:46:16.980 --> 00:46:20.079 That means someone that is crazy, fanatical. 00:46:21.240 --> 00:46:26.599 And the Canaanite, these zealots, began to show 00:46:26.599 --> 00:46:31.940 up with the revolt of Judas in Galilee. That 00:46:31.940 --> 00:46:34.639 was a Judean, I'm sorry, a Galilean who led a 00:46:34.639 --> 00:46:37.360 revolt of the Jewish people that was eventually 00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:40.619 quashed. And it was the result of the census 00:46:40.619 --> 00:46:44.599 of Quirinius in 6 AD. Does anybody remember the 00:46:44.599 --> 00:46:47.659 significance of the census of Quirinius in 6 00:46:47.659 --> 00:46:52.349 AD? That's what caused Mary and Joseph to be 00:46:52.349 --> 00:46:54.789 on the road, right? They had to go back to the 00:46:54.789 --> 00:46:58.369 hometown for the census. That's the census. It's 00:46:58.369 --> 00:47:01.809 this one. There was so much resentment by the 00:47:01.809 --> 00:47:04.610 Galilean people and the Judean people against 00:47:04.610 --> 00:47:07.130 the Roman government, they actually led a bit 00:47:07.130 --> 00:47:11.070 of a revolt. And they were quickly stormed under. 00:47:11.150 --> 00:47:14.250 But whenever they were stormed under, a number 00:47:14.250 --> 00:47:18.489 of them kind of hung around as domestic terrorists. 00:47:22.079 --> 00:47:24.380 or insurgents, right? That's the word I'm looking 00:47:24.380 --> 00:47:28.300 for, okay? And these insurgents were known as 00:47:28.300 --> 00:47:33.019 zealots. Now, biblical scholars would say that 00:47:33.019 --> 00:47:38.980 Simon was one of these zealots. And perhaps biblical 00:47:38.980 --> 00:47:41.179 scholars say it. I don't know one way or the 00:47:41.179 --> 00:47:43.559 other. I'm just saying the argument is that there 00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:45.480 might have been a few other of the disciples 00:47:45.480 --> 00:47:48.679 that were zealots too. Simon the zealot, a guy 00:47:48.679 --> 00:47:51.820 who's, who is a part of the French underground, 00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:55.360 if you will, right? Simon the Zealot, whose house 00:47:55.360 --> 00:47:59.699 is he eating in? Right? The guy who handles in 00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:03.699 these coins. And I think an argument could be 00:48:03.699 --> 00:48:06.340 made that Jesus is not only talking to the Pharisees, 00:48:06.340 --> 00:48:10.400 but he's teaching his disciples themselves. For 00:48:10.400 --> 00:48:13.900 the new kingdom to take place, you have to have 00:48:13.900 --> 00:48:17.659 mercy. It's not about fulfilling a law. It's 00:48:17.659 --> 00:48:20.360 not about doing a burnt offering. It's not about 00:48:20.360 --> 00:48:23.079 a checklist anymore. It's about changing your 00:48:23.079 --> 00:48:27.139 heart. And the truth is, the idea that Simon 00:48:27.139 --> 00:48:30.139 the Zealot could sit down at Matthew's house 00:48:30.139 --> 00:48:33.039 and have dinner, much less go around together 00:48:33.039 --> 00:48:37.179 following Jesus, is going to require a lot of 00:48:37.179 --> 00:48:40.980 mercy. I think that's an interesting story about 00:48:40.980 --> 00:48:45.099 Simon the Zealot. Then John, John the Baptist 00:48:45.099 --> 00:48:47.500 is going to show up here again. His disciples, 00:48:47.599 --> 00:48:50.000 they show up and they ask Jesus a question. So 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:51.840 here's another group of people that we want to 00:48:51.840 --> 00:48:55.320 contrast against Jesus and his reality. And they 00:48:55.320 --> 00:48:58.440 ask him, they say, how is it that we in the Pharisees, 00:48:58.440 --> 00:49:02.599 we fast all the time? Every time it's called 00:49:02.599 --> 00:49:04.940 for, we do it. Man, your guys don't ever do it. 00:49:04.960 --> 00:49:06.659 Not only did not do it, they eat with sinners, 00:49:06.840 --> 00:49:10.760 right? And Jesus says, look. And he speaks in 00:49:10.760 --> 00:49:13.539 kind of this parable language. He says, how can 00:49:13.539 --> 00:49:16.219 the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he's 00:49:16.219 --> 00:49:18.619 still with them? The time will come when the 00:49:18.619 --> 00:49:21.960 bridegroom will be taken from them. Then they'll 00:49:21.960 --> 00:49:25.260 fast, right? We're still in a time of celebration 00:49:25.260 --> 00:49:29.900 here. The wedding feast is still ongoing. There's 00:49:29.900 --> 00:49:33.280 no reason to begin to fast when you're at the 00:49:33.280 --> 00:49:37.619 wedding feast. This is a party, right? But then 00:49:37.619 --> 00:49:40.800 he goes on to say something else. Unrelated, 00:49:40.900 --> 00:49:44.420 I think. And I know you've probably heard a lot 00:49:44.420 --> 00:49:46.480 of this language before. You may not know the 00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:50.219 whole part of the scripture. But no one sews 00:49:50.219 --> 00:49:52.820 a patch of unshrinkened cloth on an old garment. 00:49:52.980 --> 00:49:54.980 For the patch will pull away from the garment, 00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:58.239 making the tear worse. Neither do people pour 00:49:58.239 --> 00:50:02.199 new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the 00:50:02.199 --> 00:50:04.699 skins will burst, the wine will run out, and 00:50:04.699 --> 00:50:07.000 the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new 00:50:07.000 --> 00:50:10.699 wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 00:50:11.019 --> 00:50:13.820 And I think what Jesus is trying to teach John's 00:50:13.820 --> 00:50:17.280 disciples and us here is that my showing up, 00:50:17.420 --> 00:50:19.800 this thing I'm talking about, this kingdom of 00:50:19.800 --> 00:50:21.699 God thing that you're going to see over and over 00:50:21.699 --> 00:50:25.380 and over again is upside down. This is not the 00:50:25.380 --> 00:50:28.880 continuation. of an old practice, but this is 00:50:28.880 --> 00:50:33.099 a new thing. And I think he's saying it has to 00:50:33.099 --> 00:50:38.280 be a new thing because it is not possible to 00:50:38.280 --> 00:50:41.760 enter into the kingdom of God trying to do it 00:50:41.760 --> 00:50:47.159 the old way. It's not possible. There has to 00:50:47.159 --> 00:50:53.039 be a new way. And I'm the new way. So then we 00:50:53.039 --> 00:50:55.500 have the story of the dead girl and the sick 00:50:55.500 --> 00:50:59.179 woman. And while he was saying this, a synagogue 00:50:59.179 --> 00:51:03.460 leader, so this is going to be a devout Jew here, 00:51:03.639 --> 00:51:07.940 came and knelt before him. My daughter has just 00:51:07.940 --> 00:51:11.260 died, but come and put your hand on her and she 00:51:11.260 --> 00:51:15.599 will live. Jesus got up, went with him, and so 00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:19.960 did his disciples. Just then, a woman who had 00:51:19.960 --> 00:51:23.820 been subject to bleeding, Okay, so she has some 00:51:23.820 --> 00:51:27.599 sort of infirmity that causes her to bleed, and 00:51:27.599 --> 00:51:30.119 it's been something that's been a problem for 00:51:30.119 --> 00:51:33.320 12 years of her life. So just real quickly, is 00:51:33.320 --> 00:51:37.039 somebody who can't stop bleeding, is that somebody 00:51:37.039 --> 00:51:40.039 that could ever be made ceremonially clean? No 00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:43.079 way. Automatically disqualified. There's no way 00:51:43.079 --> 00:51:48.059 around it. Not only are you ceremonially unclean 00:51:48.059 --> 00:51:51.579 forever, but everybody you come in contact with. 00:51:52.039 --> 00:51:55.519 is ceremonially unclean forever. And there's 00:51:55.519 --> 00:51:57.360 just something going on in this story because 00:51:57.360 --> 00:52:01.239 when she touches Jesus, what happens to her? 00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:05.539 She's healed. Remember I said something new? 00:52:06.039 --> 00:52:09.000 Matthew here is showing us something new in the 00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:12.139 way things work in the Jewish culture. Before, 00:52:12.300 --> 00:52:15.659 if you were clean and touched something dirty, 00:52:15.840 --> 00:52:22.239 you became dirty. New deal. New deal now is if 00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:26.340 you're dirty and you touch Jesus, Jesus doesn't 00:52:26.340 --> 00:52:30.980 become dirty. You become clean. A new method 00:52:30.980 --> 00:52:36.019 of salvation. When Jesus entered the synagogue 00:52:36.019 --> 00:52:39.519 leader's house, saw the noisy crowd and people 00:52:39.519 --> 00:52:43.000 playing pipes, they're mourning. This is a funeral 00:52:43.000 --> 00:52:46.440 celebration, if you will, celebration of this 00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:50.250 young lady's life. And Jesus says, go away. This 00:52:50.250 --> 00:52:53.570 girl's not dead, but asleep. And they respond, 00:52:54.369 --> 00:52:59.309 what, are you crazy? I've seen her. She's dead. 00:52:59.489 --> 00:53:02.789 I mean, cold. After the crowd had been put outside, 00:53:02.989 --> 00:53:05.949 he went in and took the girl by the hand, and 00:53:05.949 --> 00:53:09.710 she got up. And news of this story spread throughout 00:53:09.710 --> 00:53:14.690 the region, as you can imagine it would. And 00:53:14.690 --> 00:53:18.769 then we get to a story about... which are fulfillments 00:53:18.769 --> 00:53:22.409 of prophecy, when we're healing blind and mute, 00:53:22.610 --> 00:53:26.449 right? The mute shall hear, the blind shall see. 00:53:27.070 --> 00:53:29.909 That's a promise made in Hebrew Scripture, the 00:53:29.909 --> 00:53:32.769 Old Testament. And Matthew says, I've got stories 00:53:32.769 --> 00:53:36.610 right here that to a T fit that bill. Okay, but 00:53:36.610 --> 00:53:38.750 there's something else going on here I think 00:53:38.750 --> 00:53:41.090 Matthew wants to show us too. So let's focus 00:53:41.090 --> 00:53:44.230 on the people and how they react to Jesus. As 00:53:44.230 --> 00:53:48.269 Jesus went on from there, two blind men, followed 00:53:48.269 --> 00:53:52.429 Him, calling out, Have mercy on us, Son of David. 00:53:52.710 --> 00:53:56.289 Now, have you guys heard that term before? Have 00:53:56.289 --> 00:53:58.309 you heard it before in the Gospel of Matthew? 00:53:59.630 --> 00:54:04.409 You haven't heard anybody call Jesus the Son 00:54:04.409 --> 00:54:11.719 of David, but you have seen that term used. In 00:54:11.719 --> 00:54:14.300 Matthew chapter 1, does anybody have it where 00:54:14.300 --> 00:54:16.400 they could flip back real quick just to the very 00:54:16.400 --> 00:54:20.559 first verse of the first chapter? It's the genealogy. 00:54:20.739 --> 00:54:23.619 And it says what? This is the genealogy of Jesus 00:54:23.619 --> 00:54:26.059 the Messiah, the Son of David. The Son of David. 00:54:26.440 --> 00:54:30.460 Big deal. Right? Because Matthew's going to make 00:54:30.460 --> 00:54:36.320 three claims. Right? The Son of David. Meaning 00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:41.449 what? The Messiah. Promised Messiah from the 00:54:41.449 --> 00:54:44.849 Hebrew Scripture, right? He's a new Moses figure, 00:54:45.070 --> 00:54:51.650 right? And the reason why? Moses is because new 00:54:51.650 --> 00:54:55.489 law. Moses was the lawgiver. Jesus comes, new 00:54:55.489 --> 00:55:01.849 law, new rules, right? And then Emmanuel. That 00:55:01.849 --> 00:55:06.949 he is indeed God in human form. So throughout 00:55:06.949 --> 00:55:09.730 the entirety of the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew 00:55:09.730 --> 00:55:13.250 is going to continue to reinforce these three 00:55:13.250 --> 00:55:16.369 promises made about who Jesus was and then back 00:55:16.369 --> 00:55:19.409 them up with evidence. So here we go. Here's 00:55:19.409 --> 00:55:22.829 evidence for the son of David. It's the first 00:55:22.829 --> 00:55:25.210 time someone calls out to Jesus using this title. 00:55:27.130 --> 00:55:29.730 Now it's also interesting to me that the first 00:55:29.730 --> 00:55:32.849 time that in the Gospel according to Matthew 00:55:32.849 --> 00:55:36.400 that... That people see Jesus for who he is. 00:55:38.460 --> 00:55:41.659 They're blind. I think it's kind of brilliant 00:55:41.659 --> 00:55:45.179 on Matthew's part. When he had gone indoors, 00:55:45.400 --> 00:55:49.119 the blind men, they followed him. And he says 00:55:49.119 --> 00:55:52.000 to them, do you believe I'm able to do this? 00:55:52.139 --> 00:55:54.780 And they say, yes, Lord. Then he touched their 00:55:54.780 --> 00:55:57.820 eyes and said, according to your faith, let it 00:55:57.820 --> 00:55:59.519 be done to you. And their sight was restored. 00:56:00.159 --> 00:56:02.340 And then Jesus warned them sternly, see that 00:56:02.340 --> 00:56:05.300 no one knows about this. But they didn't pay 00:56:05.300 --> 00:56:07.800 attention. They went out and spread the news 00:56:07.800 --> 00:56:11.300 all over the region. While they were going out, 00:56:11.480 --> 00:56:14.300 a man who was demon -possessed, so this is another 00:56:14.300 --> 00:56:17.300 person to pay attention to how he reacts, a man 00:56:17.300 --> 00:56:19.500 who was demon -possessed and could not talk was 00:56:19.500 --> 00:56:22.019 brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven 00:56:22.019 --> 00:56:25.900 out, the man who had been mute spoke. And the 00:56:25.900 --> 00:56:32.440 crowd was amazed. Nothing like this has ever 00:56:32.440 --> 00:56:38.639 happened in Israel. But the Pharisees, yeah, 00:56:38.800 --> 00:56:43.559 no, this guy is the prince of demons. And that's 00:56:43.559 --> 00:56:51.860 our third triad. Now, the next story... Well, 00:56:51.960 --> 00:56:54.519 there you have it. That's the people's response 00:56:54.519 --> 00:56:58.070 to... Jesus in the Gospel account according to 00:56:58.070 --> 00:57:00.329 Matthew in chapters 8 through 10. I hope you'll 00:57:00.329 --> 00:57:04.570 come back next time as we dive into the parables 00:57:04.570 --> 00:57:07.550 that are taught by Jesus in the Gospel according 00:57:07.550 --> 00:57:10.800 to Matthew. Listen, I hope that you'd do me a 00:57:10.800 --> 00:57:13.440 favor. If you enjoy our podcast, I'd appreciate 00:57:13.440 --> 00:57:15.739 it if you could subscribe. That way you know 00:57:15.739 --> 00:57:19.420 when new episodes are uploaded. Also, wherever 00:57:19.420 --> 00:57:21.599 it is that you get your podcasts, if you could 00:57:21.599 --> 00:57:25.059 rate and review the podcast, that's the way that 00:57:25.059 --> 00:57:28.119 our voice gets amplified and people can find 00:57:28.119 --> 00:57:31.639 us more easily. So if you do that, I'd greatly 00:57:31.639 --> 00:57:35.400 appreciate it. I hope that you have a wonderful 00:57:35.400 --> 00:57:37.340 day. Be blessed, friend.