Words of Jesus Part 6

Matthew 9:1 And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city.
2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.

This is interesting. Jesus took care of the sin first while He was healing the sickness. Perhaps He was stressing the importance of the healing of sin over the healing of the body which He also did at the same time. Still if it were possible to be healed physically and not be saved spiritually, it would only be temporary until that body dies some time in the future. If the sin is forgiven then whether or not the body is healed matters more because when that body dies the soul and spirit enter heaven for eternity.

We sometimes try to gloss over sin and forget to preach repentance. As a result we have many that are trying to live a Christian life with their sins still giving them problems. Jesus' own words remind us that sin must be forgiven and removed for us to enter heaven. Perhaps Jesus saw the inner soul of this man and knew that his sins bothered him and made him feel unworthy for the master to even come near. Jesus said, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven."

Matthew 9:3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

The main reason Jesus said something about sin to them was to show that He was God and He did have power to forgive sins.

We must be careful that we don't become as Pharisees and find fault with good works. I realize that there are many false workers and we must not follow their teachings if they are false, but we must be careful not to find fault just to find fault and look for every little thing to criticize. Its easy to get into a critical spirit. Sin in the church and outside of the church should grieve us. We should not enjoy hearing that someone has sinned. It should grieve our hearts so that we want to restore, not tear down. We must warn against any false doctrine or things that would lead people astray, of course but with the heart of God.

Matthew 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

What he said to Matthew, He says to us. "Follow Me."

Matthew 9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Here we see Jesus correcting the fault finders again. Jesus came to save the very ones He was associating with. The Pharisees assumed religious people should hang around only perfect people and have nothing to do with the scum.

How can we spread the gospel if we never associate with sinners? Let us take this in context with scriptures though. The bible also says not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. So before we try to reach sinners for Christ, we must be equipped. The disciples were commanded not to depart from Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high by the Holy Spirit. Notice also that when Jesus sent out His disciples, He sent them two by two.

One Christian teenager should not necessarily go sit in a bar with his buddies who are there to drink and cause trouble. He would be unequally yoked. However, if someone is strong and full of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit urges Him to go to a certain place and rescue a soul from sin, that may be different, he would be equipped. Yet if possible, it is better to take along a prayer partner that is strong in the Lord.

Jesus' words about having mercy and not sacrifice shows us the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. In the Old Testament they trusted in sacrifices of animals that pointed the the one who was to come and make the supreme sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Jesus was to become that sacrifice. After His death, burial and resurrection, we would then no longer need to make sacrifices or have religious rituals to save us. When we become "Born Again" by the Spirit of God, we are to live the gospel not with religious sacrifices which have been fulfilled in Jesus but to start showing mercy, love and spreading the truth of the gospel.

Outward religious actions cannot save the soul. Whether this is water baptism, sacrificing animals, ceremonies, communion and other rituals. That does not save the soul. Salvation come only through repenting of sin and receiving Jesus Christ as savior from sin. There is no salvation outside of Christ and no salvation if sin is not remitted and we are still living in a sinful condition without repentance. We are not saved by just being a good person apart from Christ and were not saved by accepting Christ and not obeying His word which commands us to repent of sin. Repent means to turn from sin not just confess it.

Matthew 9:14 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?
15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.

When Jesus returns, there will be no longer a need for fasting because the perfect one would have come. We then would not have to exercise the gifts of the Spirit for the perfect one would have come. Now is the time to fast and pray, not when He returns to us.

Matthew 9:16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

These doctrines cannot be given to anyone until their heart is ready to receive them. You don't teach heavy doctrine to new converts. A person has to be born again by God's spirit to be able to be filled with the Spirit. When we are born again, we become new creatures in Christ. It's a new beginning.

Matthew 9:18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Here is an instant when Jesus didn't touch someone and heal them. They were healed when they exercised faith and made a determined effort to touch Jesus for healing. That lady was determined and didn't give up.

Matthew 9:23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

Here is one instance where Jesus brought someone back from the dead. Notice that the crowds were removed before the healing of the maid took place. They laughed at Jesus when He said the maid in not dead. This is the part we miss, God does not see death as we do. He sees the Spirit and soul leaving the old body and going to a place to await the new body which they will receive at the resurrection. Our soul and spirit do not die when our body dies. The soul is the real us. The body is just a temporary house.

Matthew 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.
28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.

Faith is the important ingredient for answered prayer. His words to them were, "According to your faith, be it unto you." This is not limited to church or a place where there is healing going on. It may be that our faith is helped by going where there is other healing taking place but the place is not what heals. We can be healed at home or anywhere when we exercise our faith.

I don't know why Jesus told Him not to tell anyone here. I can only venture a few guesses as to why He instructed them to keep quiet. Perhaps He did not want to be famous for healing and have people see just the healing and miss the message of salvation. That happens in this day and age. I don't recall even once that Jesus forbid any to tell the gospel of salvation. Perhaps also that a person knew in the faith of Jesus might run up against fierce unbelief and start to doubt; losing what healing that had if that were possible. Another reason may be that Jesus did not want people to try to make Him king. He will be king at His second coming, but He had to take care of the sin problem first by being a perfect human without sin to die for the sins of all who would believe.

Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

We still have this same thing today. There are so many lost souls that think they are going to enter heaven but have not come through faith in Jesus Christ. There are others who claim to know Jesus but ignore all His teachings and allow sin to reign in their lives. There is a great need for workers to save the lost and teach the believers. Workers are few in number compared to the souls in need of salvation.

Words of Jesus Part 7

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