Jesus vs. The Army from Hell

Matthew 8:28-34

 

Again, at this point in our study,

You are aware of what Matthew is presently doing.

He is systematically showing us the power of Jesus.

 

We have seen His power over sickness.

He restored a leper

He healed a paralytic

He removed a fever

 

We have seen His power over nature.

He calmed the storm

 

And we know why He did all those things.

It was to show that He had the power to undo the effects of sin.

HE IS THE ONE WHO CAN REVERSE THE CURSE.

 

Well, this morning Matthew gives us yet another area

In which to display the power of Jesus.

 

This time Matthew reveals Jesus’ power over Satan.

WHY SATAN?

Because he is that usurper that we spoke of last week.

 

Last week we spoke of the perfect creation

And how it was cursed because of the sin of Adam.

Let us not forget that Adam had some help in his decision.

 

Genesis 3:1-7 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

 

Obviously we do not hold Adam innocent.

Adam made a bad choice, and one which has consequences upon us all.

 

Yet, in one sense Adam was a victim.

He was a victim of the work of Satan.

 

And so while Christ has proven He can undo the effects of sin,

You and I know that there is still a bigger problem.

For you see, when Satan tempted Adam,

It was he who stole the authority over creation.

Adam once had it, Satan stole it.

 

And now, Adam is not the one who rules this creation, Satan does.

 

2 Corinthians 4:4 calls him “the god of this world”

Ephesians 2:2 calls him “the prince of the power of the air”

Ephesians 6:12 refers to him as “the ruler”, “the power”, and “the force of darkness in this world”

 

He stole the right to rule this creation from Adam,

AND SO OBVIOUSLY SATAN MUST BE DEALT WITH.

 

AND HE WILL BE.

Even Genesis promised that One would come to deal with this usurper.

Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

 

From the day Adam and Eve were punished God promised

That one day One was coming, the seed of Eve,

Who would crush the head of the serpent.

 

And so the world has been looking for that man.

 

Matthew wants you to know that He is Jesus.

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

 

1 John 3:8 “the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

 

And so, again, if Jesus is the Messiah,

Not only must He overcome the effects of sin on this world,

But He must also be the One capable of overcoming the usurper

Who helped introduce sin to us.

 

And that is why Matthew reveals that Jesus routinely cast out demons.

 

Now, while most are a footnote or a single statement,

Matthew chose to expound on this one.

 

And the reason is obvious.

 

You have read this story enough to know,

That while some call this man the Gadarene Demoniac,

Others call him by the name he gave which is “Legion”.

Mark 5:9 “And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

 

And to help you understand better.

A legion was a military term.

 

Matthew 26:53 “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”

 

A legion comprised of 6,000 soldiers.

 

And so it is obvious why Matthew would choose this specific event.

 

This isn’t just Jesus vs. A Demon

This is JESUS VS. THE ARMY FROM HELL

If Jesus wins here, there is no doubt that He can handle Satan.

 

#1 THE REALITY

Matthew 8:28-29

 

“When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him…”

 

So it has been quite a couple of days here.

• Preached in the Synagogue

• Cast out a demon

• Healed Peter’s mother-in-law

• Conversed with two would-be followers

• Fell asleep in a boat

• Woke up and calmed the see

 

Now it is Sunday, and they have reached the other side.

 

And no sooner does Jesus get out of the boat than is He confronted.

 

Mark 5:2 “When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,”

 

While Mark and Luke only record 1 demon possessed man,

Matthew here says that there were two.

 

Mark and Luke obviously focused on the worst of the two,

But nothing they said indicates that there was only one there.

 

And so these two men meet Jesus instantly.

And let’s talk about the REALITY of this situation.

 

“two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.”

1) POSSESSION

“two men who were demon-possessed”

 

That is a little bit of a confusing term.

People seem to liken it as one having a demon inside of them.

 

But it is more than that.

A demon is a spirit and so it is not as though

They are hindered by the skin of a human.

(Satan could get “in” any of us, he certainly gets in our mind at times)

 

The idea here is not that these men have demons in them,

But rather that these men have demons controlling them.

 

• These men are under their authority.

• These men are under their command.

• The demons “possess” them in the sense of ownership

 

These men belong to these demons.

 

HOW DID THEY GET IN THIS PREDICAMENT?

Scripture doesn’t say.

 

We do know that there is a direct correlation between this and sin.

 

Ephesians 4:27 “and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

 

The idea here is that Satan takes ownership,

Much in the same way that he did with Adam and Eve.

He trades for something you want.

 

And frequently we yield control of an area of our life to him

Because we will not part with something in it.

 

That is why the believer’s armor deals with these components:

Truth as a belt

Righteousness as a breastplate

Gospel of Peace as shoes

Faith as a shield

Salvation as a helmet

God’s word as a sword

 

The idea is that we protect ourselves from him

Through righteous and discerning living.

 

Now, we don’t know what these guys did, Scripture doesn’t tell us,

And notice that Jesus doesn’t even address it in their lives.

Jesus merely sees these men as victims of Satan

 

2) POSITION

“met Him as they were coming out of the tombs.”

 

These men were literally living in death.

 

Can you imagine a worse place to live than in the tombs of the dead?

 

This was a spiritual picture of the effects of Satan in a life.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;”

 

He certainly has done that here.

 

And really, Matthew doesn’t even give you the whole picture.

 

Luke 8:27 “And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.”

 

Mark 5:5 “Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.”

 

This guy was in a horrible position.

He was a victim of Satan.

 

And so, in case you were unaware,

Let me just remind you that Satan has no good plans for you.

 

What he offers is sweet to the taste and death to the soul.

He is the type that would give liquor to an alcoholic

Sugar to a diabetic

Keys to a thief

And a gun to an angry man

 

He gives so that you will be destroyed.

And these men are a living illustration of that.

 

Possession, Position

3) POWER

“They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.”

 

Again, Matthew doesn’t tell you everything.

 

Mark 5:3-4 “and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.”

 

These men didn’t just hurt themselves, they wanted to hurt others as well.

And no human agent was able to bring them under control.

They couldn’t even bind him with a chain and subdue him.

 

And just for a moment let me remind you of the power of Satan.

 

We live in a world where Satan is mocked and taunted

And almost treated as a dork.

 

If you will remember Peter and Jude both said the only people

Who would mock and taunt and revile Satan or his demons

Are actually the arrogant false prophets.

 

2 Peter 2:10-11 “Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.”

 

Jude 8-9 “Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties. But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

 

Even mighty angels don’t rebuke and revile the devil.

 

Yet we live in a day where this occurs.

 

And let me tell you why this is foolish.

Because none of those people have a clue who they are dealing with.

 

HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHO SATAN IS?

Ezekiel 28:14-16 “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. “You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. “By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.”

 

Satan is a cherub.

It was cherubs who spread their wings over the mercy seat.

It was cherubs whom God put to guard the garden of eden.

It is cherubs who surround the throne of God.

 

CHERUBS ARE THE ELITE AND POWERFUL ANGELS.

AND SATAN IS A CHERUB.

 

Yes he is fallen, yes he is evil,

But being evil didn’t make him less powerful.

 

And even the holiest men in Scripture had trouble with him.

(He caused Job a considerable amount of trouble)

 

Let me give you some verses of example.

 

1 Thessalonians 2:18 “For we wanted to come to you — I, Paul, more than once — and yet Satan hindered us.”

 

(Or we could talk about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan”

Whom Paul could not deal with.)

 

Matthew 17:14-16 “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.”

 

Daniel 10:12-13 “Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.”

 

Here we have the apostles, even Paul, and even an angel from heaven

Who had legitimate difficulty dealing with Satan and his angels.

 

False prophets certainly did.

Acts 19:13-16 “But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

 

Beyond that, we know that demons are crafty with the power to deceive.

1 Timothy 4:1-3 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”

 

And if all that is not enough, let these men here be an example.

No one could handle them.

 

In Scripture just one demon can wreak havoc on a human.

We see them causing all sorts of problems:

 

Matthew 12:22 – muteness & blindness

Mark 9:25 – Deafness

Luke 13:10-17 – bodily deformity

Mark 1:26 – Uncontrolled Fits

Luke 8:27-35 – Antisocial behavior

And obviously here – Insanity

 

And I don’t tell you that so that you will be in awe of the devil

But so that you will have an accurate understanding.

 

YOU DON’T WANT TO MESS WITH SATAN

AND YOU CERTAINLY DON’T WANT ANYTHING HE OFFERS

 

But there is one more thing here you should see.

4) PERCEPTION

(29) “And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

 

And obviously demons have perception.

 

Jesus has walked all over this area and performed numerous signs.

And yet no one has seemed to be able to tell who He was.

Not even the disciples in the boat who were afraid.

 

But it only took a matter of seconds

Before these demon-possessed men spotted Him.

They knew Him instantly.

 

Furthermore they know what many lost men today don’t recognize

Which is the day of judgment is already appointed.

 

In fact, their concern is not that Jesus is going to destroy them,

But that He might do it early.

 

“Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

 

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

And so here is the reality.

 

Two demon-possessed men who are terribly tormented and out of control,

But the demons victimizing them, recognize that their days are numbered.

 

The Reality

#2 THE REMOVAL

Matthew 8:30-32

 

Notice it is not a matter of “IF” Jesus casts them out,

But rather what He will do with them once they are removed.

 

These demons are so afraid of what He might do,

That they already start pleading for mercy in the sentence.

 

“Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”

 

No one knows why these demons wanted to enter the pigs.

(But it certainly makes them appear desperate to a Jewish audience)

And Jesus allows it.

(32) “And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.”

 

So the demons enter the pigs, and the pigs rush to their death.

He really didn’t even have to tell these demons to go.

After they saw Him, He only had to let them leave.

 

AND DON’T LET THE DEATH OF THE PIGS BOTHER YOU.

THESE PIGS SERVE A GREAT PURPOSE.

They prove that these men were truly demon-possessed.

 

This was not a healing of a disease, this was a removal of demons.

Or else the pigs would have never been affected.

 

MAKE NO MISTAKE, JESUS DEFEATED THE ARMY FROM HELL.

 

DEMONS ARE NO MATCH FOR JESUS

 

Demons almost seem to have their way with humanity,

But we learn here that even an army of them is no match for Jesus.

 

One demon might throw your life into a tailspin,

But an entire army from hell can’t do a thing with Jesus.

 

In fact Jesus’ power over Satan is so strong,

Many assumed He was just their leader.

 

Matthew 12:24-29 “But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”

 

You see, He is the One who can crush the head of the serpent.

He is the One who can not only undo the effects of sin,

But who can also put a stop to the liar who introduced it.

 

JESUS UNDID THE WORKS OF SATAN

Acts 10:38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

 

Jesus’ ministry could be described like this.

Jesus went around undoing the work of Satan!

Satan was no match for him.

 

Isn’t it becoming obvious that this man is the Messiah?

 

You would think all would run to Him.

But not all do.

 

In fact, let’s look at the third point.

#3 THE RESPONSE

Matthew 8:33-34

 

I don’t know about you,

But this seems to be one of the strangest things I have ever seen.

 

“the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.”

 

When I prepare sermons,

I begin with a piece of paper which only contains the text I am preaching.

 

But for verses 33-34 I only have one word written.

“WHY?”

 

Surely everyone in that town knew who He was,

And for the life of me I can’t figure out why they wanted Him to leave.

 

But honestly:

I CAN’T FIGURE OUT WHY PEOPLE REJECT HIM TODAY EITHER.

 

When we see who Jesus is, and what He desires for our lives,

I can’t figure out why instead of pleading with men to come,

We don’t have to tell people to wait their turn.

 

I am blown away with why people don’t just flock to Jesus.

 

THERE IS REALLY ONLY ONE EXPLANATION

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

 

The only conclusion I can come to is that these two men

Were not the only ones Satan was working on.

 

O sure these two men looked the worst.

Sure these two men left no doubt as to their need.

 

But it is obvious to me that the crowd on this day

Was every bit as deceived.

Only the difference is that the two tormented men left delivered,

And the others chose to remain in their sin.

 

What happened to this man with a legion?

 

Mark 5:18-19 “As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

 

The crazy, violent, naked, destructive man was saved.

Yet it was all the normal, sane, social people who remained lost.

 

Satan loves to afflict people like these two men,

But even more than that he likes to deceive people like this town.

 

And now, their only hope is the demoniac

Who will stay as an evangelist in that region.

 

THE POINT IS SIMPLE.

 

There is no doubt who Jesus is.

He is the Messiah.

 

• If you have never given your life to Jesus let me ask you, “Why?”

• If you have never publicly confessed Him, “Why?”

• If you have never obeyed in baptism, “Why?”

 

Because your rejection is just as baffling as the rejection of this town.

 

So this morning let me ask you to do what these would not.

 

Open your eyes to see that Jesus is the One who can save you

And instead of asking Him to leave,

Why don’t you ask to go with Him.

 

Surrender your life to Christ.

He is the Savior of the world.

 

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

 

Jesus vs. Nature

Matthew 8:23-27

 

As you know we are now in the middle of Matthew’s thesis

On the power of Jesus.

 

Matthew has done his research and is bringing a solid argument That Jesus is the Messiah as made evident by His power.

 

And having already tackled sickness and disease

Matthew now moves to chapter 2 in his thesis.

 

We might call this Jesus vs. Nature

 

And before we get into this amazing story,

Let me first of all explain to you why this is such an important event.

 

It is vitally important that Jesus not only reverse the effects of disease,

But that He also reveal the power to reverse the effects of nature.

 

If Jesus can fix disease, but not nature,

Then He cannot be the redeemer,

For mankind is not all that needs redeeming.

 

Let me explain.

 

You know how the story began.

Genesis 1:26-31 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

 

And without getting into a whole different sermon on the creation story,

There are two main things that I want you to recognize in that passage.

 

1) Everything God created was good.

2) Everything God created was placed in subjection to man.

 

So God made it good and He gave it to man.

 

Creation began with perfection and the establishment of authority.

 

No animal dared cross Adam…

No wilderness dared starve him, or cause him to thirst…

No sun dared scorch him…

No dark dared frighten him…

No water dared drown him…

No wind even dared to mess up his hair…

 

Creation was perfect and Adam was in control.

Not because of his own authority but because of the authority

That the Creator of all things had bestowed upon him.

It was good and man was in charge.

 

But you know that it didn’t last for long.

 

Man fell in to sin

By reason of his rebellion against the command of God.

 

And because of this not only was man cursed, but so was creation.

 

Genesis 3:17-19 “Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”

 

Because of the sin of man, not only was he cursed

So was the creation in which he dwelt.

 

Paul explains it this way:

Romans 8:19-22 “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

 

Very simply put: SIN WRECKED THIS EARTH

 

Now environmentalists will tell you that it was Styrofoam

Or Hairspray

Or plastic water bottles

Or CO2 emissions

 

But Scripture is clear about what has caused the wreckage of this earth,

AND IT IS SIN.

 

Isaiah 24:19-20 “The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.”

 

The sin of man wrecked this earth.

And that reveals to us an obvious problem.

It is a problem that is lamented by the writer of Hebrews.

 

Hebrews 2:5-8 “For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, “WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? “YOU HAVE MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU HAVE CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND HAVE APPOINTED HIM OVER THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS; YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.” For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

 

You see the writer of Hebrews is tackling a perplexing issue.

It is this.

 

• God promised in Genesis 1 that man was in charge of creation.

• Furthermore David wrote in Psalm 8 (which he quotes) that God “appointed him over the works of your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.”

 

But the writer of Hebrews read Genesis 1 and Psalm 8

And then he looked out his window and said,

“But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

 

He pointed out a glaring problem with the way things operate,

And that is that they are operating

Opposite of the way God intended them to operate.

 

CREATION ISN’T IN SUBJECTION TO MAN.

 

If you don’t believe me, sometime watch Animal Planet.

 

“I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE”

And watch stories of people who get lost in remote areas, and in a matter of hours are on the brink of death from dehydration, hypothermia, or heat stroke.

 

“FATAL ATTRACTIONS”

About people who try to keep dangerous animals as pets, which eventually harm them. (Venomous snakes, or Tigers, or Lions, or a Buffalo, or Monkeys, one lady fed Bears)

 

And if those shows don’t convince you.

 

Just watch the news.

You may not have heard but in Japan

They are having a little trouble with creation.

They call it the worst devastation since the Atom bomb of WW2

 

The point being is that the creation that at one point

Would not have dared to cross Adam in any way

Now adamantly, ruthlessly, and continually seeks to kill him.

It is like the writer of Hebrews said,

“But we do not yet see all things subjected to him.”

 

But it is at this point that the writer of Hebrews

Interjects a little hope into the situation.

 

Hebrews 2:8-9 “YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET.”

For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

 

We don’t see creation subjected to man, “But we do see Him”

 

WHO?

You know the writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus,

The One who has the power to restore things to its proper order.

 

• The One who has the power to put creation back in subjection to man.

• The One who has the ability to redeem creation from the usurper to which it was sold and put man back in authority.

 

“We do see Him”

 

You see, if Jesus healed every disease, but never dealt with nature,

There would still be a problem.

For creation (like man) also needed to be dealt with.

 

That is what makes a story like this so vitally important.

 

Before we can sign off and Jesus as the redeemer

We need to know if He can reverse all of sins effects, including creation.

And that is what we see here.

 

5 quick points.

#1 THE STORM

Matthew 8:23-24

 

The story picks up where we left off last week.

“When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.”

 

You remember the day.

• That morning in the synagogue He cast out a demon.

• That afternoon He healed Peter’s mother-in-law.

• That evening He healed all that the crowd brought to Him.

• When trying to leave He got cornered by two would be disciples.

• The Scribe who loved comfort

• The Disciple who wanted to collect his inheritance

 

By now it is dark, Jesus is tired, and they finally get in the boat.

It is probably also noteworthy to point out,

That even though Jesus was leaving He still wasn’t alone.

 

Mark 4:36 “Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.”

 

So Jesus only effectively got away from part of the crowd.

The part that had access to a boat went with Him.

 

So here it is late Saturday night or possibly even early Sunday morning

And Jesus and His disciples are in a boat crossing the sea.

 

(24) “And behold”(That word is used to speak of the suddenness of the storm)

 

“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea”

 

John MacArthur writes about this:

“The sea of Galilee lies just over 600 feet below sea level, near the northern end of the Jordan River. Mt. Hermon rises 9,200 feet to the north, and the strong northerly winds often plummet down the upper Jordan valley with great force. When they meet the warmer air over the Galilee basin, the intensity is increased. Hitting the cliffs on the eastern shore, the winds swirl and twist, causing the waters beneath them to churn violently. The fact that they come quickly and with little warning makes the storms all the more dangerous and frightening.” (MacArthur Matthew commentary 8-15, pg. 33)

 

If I was a weather man I would expound on that a little for you.

But the point is due to the terrain surrounding this sea,

The wind was sudden and the wind was violent.

 

This was no small storm.

 

In fact, let me give you a little interesting tidbit.

 

“great storm” translates SEISMOS

It is where we get our word for seismograph.

 

Of the 14 times this word is used in the New Testament,

13 of those times it is translated “earthquake”.

 

Only hear is it called “a great storm”

 

Matthew’s literal words?

“there arose an earthquake on the sea”

 

That paints a visual for you doesn’t it?

Even more so now that we all know about Tsunamis

And the devastating force they bring.

 

This is no small storm.

Matthew called it a Tsunami.

 

We’ve watched the news in recent days about what just hit Japan,

Now imagine having been in a fishing boat just off the coast of Japan

When that thing hit.

And you have an idea what we are up against.

 

But just to help with the imagery.

 

Matthew goes on to say, “so that the boat was being covered with the waves;”

 

Marks says:

Mark 4:37 “And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.”

 

Again, this is a massive storm that these men are caught in.

I cannot imagine what it must have been like.

 

And then we come to the first truly puzzling statement of the text.

“but Jesus Himself was asleep.”

 

Now in one sense I can relate.

I sleep hard on Sunday night after preaching

(sometimes I even snore Carrie out of the bed)

 

SO JESUS IS TIRED

That alone (by the way) is a tremendous picture of His humanity.

Jesus was fully man, and He was tired.

 

However, even the sleepiest among us

Wonder how He could have slept through this.

 

It is not like this was a yacht.

There is no where Jesus could have been sleeping

That He wasn’t getting wet.

 

The boat was rocking…

The wind was howling…

The disciples were screaming…

Water was splashing Him…

And He is asleep.

 

The Storm

#2 THE SOLUTION

Matthew 8:25

 

And this isn’t hard for anyone to figure out.

 

No doubt at this point the disciples have tried all they know to do.

Remember that Peter, Andrew, James, & John were raised on this sea.

 

But as I said, this was no small storm.

 

And to make matters worse, Jesus is asleep.

 

Brings to mind a few Old Testament passages

From a few other saints who felt abandoned.

 

Psalms 44:22-23 “But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever.”

 

Isaiah 51:9 “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon?”

 

I don’t know if those passages came to their minds,

But we know they would have quoted them if they had.

 

For that is exactly what they do.

 

Despite any type of confidence they may have previously had,

They now all see the need for someone greater than themselves.

 

Don’t you love it when you see people come to the end of themselves?

We know that until we come to the end of ourselves

We never come to Jesus the way He desires.

 

So the disciples, having seen Jesus

Handle sickness and demons with no problem whatsoever,

Determine to let Him try His hand at tsunamis.

 

Their solution is to wake Jesus up.

(25) “And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”

 

It was no longer a possibility, it was about to be a reality.

We are dead men.

 

The Storm, The Solution

#3 THE SURPRISE

Matthew 8:26a

 

“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?”

 

Every time I read that, it just blows my mind all over again.

 

That is a puzzling statement!

“Why are you afraid..?”

 

This is one of those moments that I would really have liked

To have seen the expression on the disciples faces.

 

Remember, that they just woke Him up.

They are tired.

They are soaked.

They are terrified.

 

And presently the waves are still crashing.

The boat is still rocking.

They are all clinging to things in the boat to keep from being swept overboard.

 

We are still in the middle of the violence of a tsunami

In this little fishing boat.

 

And Jesus says, “Why are you afraid..?”

 

Does anyone in here not know the answer to that question?

 

I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEEN THE DISCIPLES FACES

 

You see the real question here is not what Jesus asked the disciples,

The real question is what every disciple would have wanted to ask Jesus.

 

Which was, “Why are You not afraid?”

 

Now before we go any farther.

I know we commonly read this story

And focus on the small or little faith of the disciples.

 

But I am going to suggest to you that their faith

Is not the whole point of the story.

 

Can we just for a moment see the enormity of Jesus’ faith?

 

You see what we have here is Jesus’ faith

In comparison to the disciple’s faith.

 

None of us here can for a moment question the size of the disciple’s faith.

They are in the boat.

They left their homes.

They are clinging to Jesus.

 

We know their faith is larger than ours.

Yet compared to Jesus their faith looks almost non-existent.

 

Sort of helps us understand when Jesus says,

“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…”

 

It is obvious that Jesus has a faith

That is far beyond anything we have ever even contemplated.

 

Jesus has faith of such degree that until now

You or I may not have even realized how large faith could be.

 

Could faith indeed be so great that you could be in a fishing boat in the middle of a tsunami and not be the least bit concerned?

 

Can we agree that the faith of Jesus

Is unlike anything we have ever seen before?

 

Sure we can.

He has amazing faith.

 

Now, let me take you one step further.

 

DO YOU KNOW WHY JESUS FAITH IS SO MUCH GREATER THAN THAT OF THE DISCIPLES?

 

Is it because He’s been to heaven and seen it all?

No, faith has never been about sight.

Is it because He knows the future and they don’t?

No, the word of God tells us the future, but we still get afraid.

 

THE REASON HIS FAITH WAS SO MUCH GREATER THAN THE THEIRS:

 

He was the only One in the boat

Who had a proper understanding of who He was.

 

He was the only One there who truly knew who He was.

 

In essence He had the greatest conviction.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

The disciples faith was little

Because they did not yet know Him well enough.

 

Let me give you some more perspective.

 

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we talked about the day Jesus marveled?

 

Matthew 8:9-10 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

 

Jesus was saying, this man knows Me better than anyone in Israel.

The size of your faith is directly proportional to how well you know Jesus.

 

In my mind it sort of magnifies that statement by Paul in Philippians.

Philippians 3:7-11 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

 

I like how the NIV puts it.

“I want to know Christ”

 

Why wouldn’t you?

Knowing Jesus matters.

That is why the disciples were afraid, but Jesus was not.

 

They didn’t know Him very well and as a result they had “little faith”.

 

The Storm, The Solution, The Surprise

#4 THE SILENCE

Matthew 8:26b

 

“Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”

 

When I started talking about a tsunami some immediately wonder

If a tsunami ever hit the shore of Galilee.

And the answer is “No”.

Jesus stopped it before it got there.

 

This is miracle power all the way.

This is Jesus doing what no man has been able to do

Since before the fall.

 

He commanded creation, and it listened.

Psalms 107:23-30 “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters; They have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea. They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery. They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, And were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven.”

 

And don’t miss Matthew’s point.

Here is a man who has the ability to undo the effects of sin on creation.

For a brief moment creation found its Master.

And it is an undeniable proof to us that Jesus is indeed the Redeemer.

Who else could undo sickness?

Who else could cast out a devil?

Who else could command the sea?

 

Which brings us to our final point.

#5 THE SHOCK

Matthew 8:27

 

“The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

 

You see, they didn’t know Him well enough yet.

They were still caught off guard.

 

And they ask, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

 

Do you want me to answer that one for you?

 

A GOD-MAN

 

• He must be the Savior of the world.

• He must be the Messiah of God.

• He must be the Redeemer of fallen creation.

 

And you see that takes us back

To where we started with the writer of Hebrews.

 

He said, “But now we do not yet see all things subjected to [man]. But we do see Him”

 

Right now creation is still in chaos.

Just like right now sickness and disease still run rampant.

 

But that doesn’t change the fact that we know the One

Who will one day put everything back in its proper place.

 

CHECK THE TIME

In fact: TURN TO: REVELATION 5:1-10

 

John saw the One who could redeem the earth back to God.

And if you keep reading that book.

You find that in chapter 6 Jesus starts the process.

 

READ: 6:1

And 7 seals give way to 7 trumpets.

And 7 trumpets give way to 7 bowls.

 

And at the conclusion of those judgments

The Lord returns to take back what is rightfully His.

 

And the usurper is overthrown.

 

Revelation 20:1-2 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;”

 

You and I know what that 1,000 years is.

It is the millennium.

It is the time when things are put back in their proper order.

 

Isaiah actually wrote about it.

Isaiah 65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. “But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people for gladness. “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying. “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed. “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. “They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.”They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the LORD, And their descendants with them. “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the LORD.”

 

And friends, Jesus is the One who will accomplish that.

 

He is the One who can redeem this fallen creation back to God.

And He is the One who can redeem your fallen life back to God.

 

 

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

 

And if you do, is it possible that you could know Him more?

Could it be possible for your faith to be grown?

 

THEN THIS MORNING CRY OUT TO KNOW HIM MORE.

 

Pray.

 

The Truth About Following Jesus

Matthew 8:18-22

 

As you know, we are in a very pointed section of Matthew’s gospel.

 

It is impossible to read chapters 8 & 9 and not see what Matthew is doing.

He is revealing the awesome power of Jesus.

 

8:1-4 Jesus cleans a leper

8:5-13 Jesus heals the centurion’s slave

8:14-17 Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law

8:23-27 Jesus calms the storm

8:28-34 Jesus casts out a legion of demons

9:1-8 Jesus heals the paralytic brought by 4 friends

9:20-22 Jesus heals the hemorrhaging woman

9:23-26 Jesus raises Jairus’ daughter from the dead

9:27-31 Jesus restores the sight of two blind men

9:32-34 Jesus casts out another demon

 

And of course aside from these focal miracles,

There are other verses sprinkled in for added proof.

 

Matthew 8:16 “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.”

 

Matthew 9:35 “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

 

And so, it is blatantly obvious that Matthew is showing you

That Jesus is in fact the Messiah.

 

Matthew even spelled it out in 8:17

Matthew 8:17 “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

 

Jesus is the One Isaiah spoke of who can carry our sin away,

A feat proven by the fact that He carried our infirmities away.

 

Could there be any doubt at all as to who we are dealing with here?

 

No rational human being could come to any other conclusion

Except that Jesus is indeed the Messiah of God.

 

When you witness all that Jesus did,

You must come to a belief that He is indeed the Messiah.

 

However, there is more to the equation than that.

 

There is more to it than just believing that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

YET SADLY THAT IS ALL MANY DO.

Let me ask you if this sounds familiar to anyone in this place.

“If you want to be saved, all you have to do

Is believe that Jesus is the Son of God.”

 

My guess is you have heard that before.

 

And generally following that statement will be the quoting of a few verses.

 

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

 

John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

 

And the preachers would simply tell everyone that all you have to do

In order to be saved is “Believe in Jesus”

 

Some seek to clarify that by saying, “Ask Jesus into your heart”,

(Which is a little bit of a confusing statement since it is found nowhere in Scripture.

And in reality it is actually puzzling as to what that actually means.)

 

But none the less, I think you understand where I am coming from.

 

And the promotion of such a doctrine

Literally pushed the wide gate even wider.

 

All one has to do today is walk the streets of their town and begin asking any number of carnal, pagan, immoral people if they believe in Jesus, and you know as well as I, that many of them will tell you “yes”.

 

They may be people living in blatant immorality…

They may be people with no semblance of righteousness…

They may be people with no love of God or His people…

 

And yet, it is astounding how many of them

Will tell you that they believe in Jesus.

 

SO ARE THEY SAVED?

Now some, wishing to hold their ground, would say, “Yes, if they believed in Jesus, they are saved.”

 

It would probably do good at this point

To ask just exactly what they were saved from.

 

They obviously haven’t been saved from sin.

They obviously haven’t been saved from immorality.

They obviously haven’t been saved from selfishness.

Yet somehow we declare them saved.

 

Or could it be that when Jesus said, to “believe in Him” that perhaps He had more in mind than just some intellectual assent?

Now, obviously, I in no way wish to undermine the truths

Of the passages we just quoted.

 

I simply want to explain them in light of the rest of Scripture.

 

And that is what this passage provides for us this morning.

 

Because while Matthew spends two chapters and 10 specific miracles

In order to prove to you the power of Jesus.

 

Matthew also nestles in between the miracles

The various responses of the people.

 

In fact Matthew will give us three different responses.

 

In Matthew 9:34 we get the response of the Pharisees

Matthew 9:34 “But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

 

In Matthew 9:9 we get the response of Matthew

Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.”

 

And the third is the passage we read this morning.

 

So nestled in the midst of the healings,

Matthew also takes opportunity to show you

How the crowd is responding to the Jesus who worked them.

 

And what we learn here is that the same Jesus who said, “believe in Me”

Obviously meant more than just come to an intellectual belief in Him.

 

Let me put it to you this way.

JESUS NEVER INTENDED FOR JOHN 3:16

TO BE A VERSE WHICH ENABLED PEOPLE TO SIMPLY “BELIEVE”

AND BE SAVED WHILE POSSESSING NO OTHER FRUIT.

 

HOW DO I KNOW THAT?

 

Because the same Jesus who spoke John 3:16

Also spoke the passage we study this morning, and as you will see,

There is much more to it than simple intellectual belief.

 

That is why I tell you that there is more to the equation.

 

You see, only half of the equation is coming to a knowledge of the truth.

What you do with that truth is the other half.

 

And this is what Matthew focuses on here.

 

He not only wants you to know that Jesus is the Messiah,

But he also wants you to know what you must do with that truth.

 

And so we see the first of three moments of response

That Matthew includes in this section of his gospel.

 

That being said, let’s look at our text this morning.

 

And the first thing we have to see is sort of the context.

(18) “Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.”

 

Please don’t just read over that as though it were some sort of insignificant filler.

 

DID YOU CATCH WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

It is truly a bizarre statement.

 

When the crowd came Jesus gave orders to depart.

I thought we were supposed to try and draw a crowd…

I thought the crowd was the goal…

 

Aren’t we trying to draw a crowd

So we can reach as many people as possible?

 

If we are, then someone had better tell Jesus that He is doing it all wrong,

Because the second the crowd shows up, He decides to leave.

 

OR COULD IT BE THAT JESUS KNOWS SOMETHING

ABOUT MAKING DISCIPLES THAT WE DON’T KNOW?

 

And by the way, this isn’t the only time this happened.

 

After the feeding of the 5,000

John 6:15 “So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

 

Other times, when the crowd arose,

It was obvious that He was purposely trying to thin them out.

 

Luke 14:25-27 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Even if getting a crowd was OK,

That certainly wasn’t the type of message designed to keep them.

 

Jesus obviously though that the best way to lead men to salvation WAS NOT by getting as many lost people together as you could,

And then offering them all salvation.

Jesus was much more thorough than that.

 

We have all seen the types of mass-hysteria, and hyper-response

That can be gained during invitations at large evangelical events.

 

I’ve even been a counselor at some of those events,

And have talked to people who have no clue why they are coming,

But just got caught up in the moment.

 

(Dan went for: Church Membership, Salvation, and Rededication)

 

And that is just one of thousands of illustrations

Of the kind of spiritual nonsense that goes on

With the “so called” mass conversions that take place when crowds come

 

Mobs form very easily, and people (like sheep) will get caught up in the moment

And do all sorts of things, most of which do not last beyond the walk to their car.

 

It is obvious that Jesus wanted nothing of those types of decisions.

 

And that is why Jesus either avoided crowds

Or at times even seemed to try and thin them out.

 

And this ministry style indicates something about Jesus.

 

He believed that salvation was the work of the Father,

Not the work of manipulation.

 

Consider what He told the crowd of John 6

John 6:37-4 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘ I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

Jesus knew that it was God who was at work saving men.

He simply longed to be used of the Father.

 

If that is not enough.

Jesus went on from there to preach a very convicting message

About eating His flesh and drinking His blood.

 

It was a message that startled people, and they started leaving.

 

John 6:60-71 “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.”

 

And there Jesus reveals it again.

 

He wasn’t looking to bring in the crowds.

He wasn’t looking for mass conversions.

Jesus was looking for the person that God was drawing.

 

And in order to make sure God was the One drawing them,

Jesus even seemed to periodically put deterrents in people’s way.

 

In short Jesus seemed to make salvation harder for people,

Not because He didn’t want them saved,

But because He wanted them truly saved.

 

And He knew that if He could scare someone away from a decision with the THREAT of hardship, then the devil could certainly

Run them off later with the REALITY of it.

 

So instead Jesus purposely thinned the crowd.

He was looking for the person whom God was drawing,

Because that person would be under such conviction from the Father,

That nothing and no one would be able to deter them.

 

And when Jesus found one of those, He marveled.

 

I tell you that because it is obvious Jesus does that here.

 

• First because He purposely leaves the crowd behind.

• Second because of the conversation He has with two men who approach Him.

 

And so, after setting the stage,

Let me just show you the truth about following Jesus,

So that you will not accept on false pretenses

And be prone to either fall away, or live a life of utter fruitlessness.

So we see here two examples.

Two men who obviously believe in Jesus,

But two men who also happen to be idolaters.

 

Let’s look at the first man.

#1 THE MAN WHO LOVED COMFORT

Matthew 8:19-20

 

So Jesus has just healed Peter’s mother-in-law

And several others who came as soon as the Sabbath was over.

 

But because the crowd is growing Jesus wants to leave,

And He gives orders to get in the boat and cross the sea.

 

But before He can get away, he is caught by someone.

 

First you will notice who we are dealing with.

“Then a scribe came”

 

And this, in and of itself, is a bit peculiar.

After all, you remember that Jesus commonly

Lumped scribes in with Pharisees as hypocrites.

 

And so needless to say there weren’t many scribes

Who were coming to Jesus.

 

But, like the Pharisee Nicodemus, this man comes and greets Jesus

With the same title that Nicodemus used, “Teacher”

 

And while we know Jesus is much more than a teacher,

This is still an astounding statement of respect given by this scribe

 

For the scribes were the teachers of Israel,

And would have never shared their title with someone like Jesus, unless they were convinced that there was more to Him than meets the eye.

 

I’ve heard it said that “A preacher will travel half way around the world to preach a sermon, but won’t walk across the street to hear one preached.”

 

There is some truth to that, and so the fact that this man

Is willing to call Jesus a teacher is astounding in itself.

 

Furthermore, unlike Nicodemus who came at night,

This man makes his claim with a crowd gathering.

 

And the point to that is this.

OBVIOUSLY THIS MAN WAS INTELLECTUALLY CONVINCED

AS TO WHO JESUS WAS.

 

If he hadn’t been absolutely certain as to who Jesus was,

He never would have approached Him, would not have called Him teacher,

And would never have done both in public.

 

Even more astounding when you hear what the man tells Jesus.

“Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”

• A Scribe

• In Public

• Calling Jesus a Teacher

• And declaring to follow Him

THAT IS QUITE A SCENE.

 

SO IS HE SAVED?

Today people would unequivocally say “Yes”.

 

(20) “Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

 

Now let me just state the obvious here and tell you that disclosing such information is NOT A GOOD WAY to inspire people to follow you.

 

Jesus, in effect, was saying, “I’m homeless.”

Do you really want to follow a homeless man?

 

If you get in this boat to follow Me,

You can kiss your comfortable life goodbye.

 

NOW WHY WOULD JESUS SAY THAT?

 

Because Jesus knows what we do not.

John 2:24-25 “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

 

When Jesus looked at this man He saw an idol in his heart.

This man loved his comfort.

This man loved his prestige.

 

Did Jesus not reveal this later in Matthew’s gospel?

Matthew 23:1-7 “Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”

 

Jesus knew that this scribe loved comfort.

He knew this scribe loved honor.

And with the crowd not able to get enough of Jesus,

It is highly possible that this scribe saw Jesus as an opportunity

For even more of the things he loved.

 

And so Jesus burst his bubble.

If you think you are going to find comfort, fame,

And prestige by following Me, you are gravely mistaken.

 

You see, while most would have signed this scribe up as a great asset to the gospel ministry, all Jesus could see was rocky soil.

 

Matthew 13:20-21 “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.”

 

That is what this man was.

 

You see, you can’t follow Jesus with the comfort idol in your heart.

Jesus promises too much difficulty for anyone to assume

That following Him will be a life of comfort.

 

And this is the real tragedy to packing people in padded pews with central heat and air, and allowing them to make a short walk down a carpeted aisle to pray a quick prayer, and then get in a heated baptistery.

 

If you love comfort more than you love Jesus, you’ll never make it.

 

The Man Who Loved Comfort.

#2 THE MAN WHO LOVED MONEY

Matthew 8:21-22

 

Here we have the second man Matthew alludes to.

(Luke gives a third, but since Matthew did not see fit to include him, we won’t either)

 

This man has a money idol, and Jesus spots it,

Not because of who the man is, but because of what the man says.

 

“Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”

 

Now, first let’s do a little clarification work here.

• They buried people the same day, so this man was not at a funeral.

• Jesus wouldn’t have had to wait long, this man could have caught up.

• THIS WAS A FIGURE OF SPEECH.

 

“Let me finish working the family business

To get my share of the inheritance.”

 

You see, this man was worried about his future financial security.

 

And notice Jesus’ response.

(22) “But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”

 

And I hope you caught his insinuation.

Those who are living for money are DEAD

And there are plenty of them around.

 

So why don’t you leave all them behind

And let those dead wait like vultures to bury the dead.

You live for more.

 

You see, by this man’s statement Jesus recognized that

He was dealing with weedy soil.

 

Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

 

And if you remember Jesus already had one weedy hearted disciple (Judas), He didn’t need another one.

 

He didn’t need a man who would follow Jesus

Only after He had amassed a fortune.

He needed people who would love Him more than the riches of this world.

 

And those who cannot deal with that

Make lousy followers of Christ.

 

Just ask the Rich Young Ruler, who prompted Jesus to say:

Matthew 19:23-24 “And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

 

And so you get the point.

 

Here were two men who intellectually believed in Jesus.

They knew who He was.

 

Yet they were not saved because they had idols in their heart.

 

Obviously Jesus wants more than just for you to believe

He is the son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

Jesus desires you to love Him more than anything else.

 

The gospel message never started with the word “believe”.

The gospel message began with the word “repent”

 

It was John the Baptist who preached repentance.

 

And when Jesus did finally preach do you remember His first sermon?

 

Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

 

The first call of the kingdom was to rid your heart of all its idols.

 

You see, you can believe all day long that Jesus is the Christ.

But that belief means little if you love other things more than Him.

 

And this is undoubtedly what Matthew wants you to see.

 

Believe that Jesus is the Christ!

Absolutely! How could you deny it after all the miracles?

 

But believe it so much that

You let go of everything else in order to follow Him.

 

 

Now hopefully you noticed something else

About these two illustrations.

 

Matthew doesn’t tell us what they did.

We don’t know if they followed or not.

 

(Many have asserted that they didn’t, merely because of their absence from future gospel stories, but we don’t know)

 

And Matthew didn’t see the need to tell us.

 

DO YOU KNOW WHY?

 

Because their response doesn’t matter.

Not now, and not to you.

All that matters is your response, and my response.

 

Matthew included enough of the story

So that you and I would know what Jesus required,

And that is really all we needed to know.

 

You must believe in Christ, but you must also

Repent of any idols that keep you from following Him.

 

So what is it that keeps you from following Jesus?

 

Matthew 16:24-25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

 

The Reason Jesus Healed

Matthew 8:14-17

 

Well, as you know, we are now in the section of Matthew’s gospel

Where Matthew is showing off the power of Jesus.

 

We have seen several credentials to His Messiahship

• Lineage

• Forerunner

• Coronation

• Testing

• Theology

 

Now Matthew displays His power.

In Chapters 8 & 9 we see the power of Jesus on full display.

Power over sickness

Power over nature

Power over demons

Power over death

Power over sin

 

Thus far in chapter 8 we have already seen two extraordinary miracles.

 

The first was when Jesus was approached by a leper.

This man was unclean

This man was mutilated

The man was deteriorating

And yet Jesus touched this man and he was cleansed.

 

The second was a servant

This man was paralyzed

This man was near death

This man was terrified

And without even seeing Him Jesus healed this man’s paralysis.

 

They were both extraordinary displays of divine power.

 

And this morning we see a third miracle that Jesus worked.

And it is not only the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law,

But also of the crowd that soon flocked to the house.

 

Matthew closes these first three miracles out with the point of it all.

 

And because Matthew gives the point,

We instantly realize that there was a reason why Jesus did all this.

 

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED, WHAT WAS THE REASON JESUS HEALED?

 

Some are obvious.

 

COMPASSION

Jesus just felt sorry for people when they suffered.

 

Matthew 20:34 “Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.”

 

Even the leper we read of earlier in the chapter.

Mark’s gospel says this:

 

Mark 1:40-41 “And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

 

Another reason is:

HATRED

 

Jesus had a hatred for sin and the crippling effects it has on humanity.

 

Remember Lazarus?

After Jesus groaned, Scripture says:

John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”

 

He wasn’t weeping because Lazarus was gone,

Jesus knew he would be back in a couple of minutes.

 

Jesus wept because of the devastating effects that sin had on humanity. These people were broken by death, and it grieved Jesus.

He hated sin.

 

But in reality, neither of those two reasons

Are the main reason why He healed.

 

The main reason was

TESTIMONY TO WHO HE WAS

 

John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

 

Jesus healed to make it blatantly obvious

That He was indeed the Messiah of God.

 

And that above all else is the point Matthew has been making

Here in this 8th chapter.

 

He wants you to know that Jesus is the Messiah.

And that is a fact that Matthew actually brings to a head

In our text this morning.

 

There are three things I want you to see as we look at this text.

#1 THE POWER

Matthew 8:14-15

 

You are familiar with this miracle.

Peter’s mother-in-law is sick, and Jesus healed her.

 

It is a miracle.

Even though it may not seem like the most dramatic.

 

On the heels of cleansing a leper and restoring a paralytic,

Removing a fever may not seem like that big of a deal.

 

But to look at it like that is to miss the point.

We look at the removal of a fever as a small issue,

Only because it came on the heels of such dramatic healings.

 

Had this been the only miracle Jesus ever worked,

We would still be amazed,

For what man has ever been able to make a fever leave?

 

None the less, allow me to put this miracle in a little bit of context here.

 

First, you are aware that Matthew

Did not record his gospel in chronological order.

Matthew lumped things together that he wanted you to see together.

 

I tell you that, because I don’t want you to think

Jesus just healed the paralytic and then entered Peter’s house.

THAT IS NOT WHAT OCCURRED.

 

Mark and Luke both reveal that it happened differently.

 

They each reveal that on this day

Jesus had been in the synagogue teaching in Capernaum.

 

And while He was there, he cast a demon out of a man.

And it was after this event that Jesus went home to Peter’s house.

 

Luke 4:31-38 “And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district. Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help her.”

Now, I show you that, because I want you to be aware of what day this is.

This is the Sabbath.

And we are all aware of how often Jesus got in trouble

For healing on the Sabbath.

 

And yet when Jesus comes to Peter’s home after church,

“He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.”

 

(If Catholics believe Peter was the first pope,

Then we have a problem, for Peter was married)

 

But none the less, Jesus finds her.

And we find that she was “in bed” and she had “a fever”

 

That is really all we know.

We don’t know the seriousness.

We don’t know if it was life threatening.

 

If the fever was life threatening, then we marvel at His power.

 

If the fever was minor, then we marvel at His compassion to take the time for a non-serious illness.

 

Either way, Jesus is to be worshiped for this.

 

The other gospels indicate that the family asked Jesus

To help this woman, and they all agree that He did.

 

“He touched her hand, and the fever left her;”

 

The fever didn’t break.

The fever didn’t come down.

The fever left.

 

What kind of a man can actually drive a fever away?

Jesus could.

Jesus is obviously no ordinary teacher.

 

And then comes an interesting statement.

“and she got up and waited on Him.”

 

There is obvious gratitude here.

And anyone who has received the touch of Jesus,

Should be moved in exactly the same way.

 

And yet the interesting thing here is that this was the Sabbath.

You weren’t supposed to do any work on the Sabbath,

Yet this woman disregarded all of those notions to wait on Jesus.

 

It is obvious that she recognized who He was.

And so we see the power of Jesus.

“He touched her hand, and the fever left her;”

 

The Power

#2 THE PROBLEM

Matthew 8:16

 

Now, I know we read that verse and wonder what the problem was.

It doesn’t appear that there was any problem there.

 

After all, Jesus healed all they brought to Him,

And Scripture doesn’t say He had any problem at all.

 

But there is a problem, in fact there are two.

1) A RELIGIOUS PROBLEM

 

Did you notice when the crowds arrived to see Jesus?

“When evening came”

 

Let me read it to you in the other two gospels, to paint a better picture.

 

Mark 1:32 “When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed.”

 

Luke 4:40 “While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them.”

 

• So Matthew calls it evening.

• Mark clarifies by saying actually it was after sunset.

• Luke reveals that the people could barely wait that long, for they were coming as “the sun was setting”

 

WHY DOES THAT MATTER?

 

Do you know what occurred at sunset?

-The Sabbath ended

 

Now put all of this together with me for a moment.

Here that morning Jesus was in the synagogue

And He cast a demon out of a man, and as we read earlier

 

Luke 4:36-38 “And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district. Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home…”

 

OK, so the crowd knew about Jesus and His ability

When He was at the synagogue, yet all afternoon they waited.

They wouldn’t come until the Sabbath was over.

 

WHY?

Because they thought themselves to have been guilty

Of “work” had they come then.

 

And we all know who they would have upset.

Remember the synagogue official?

 

Luke 13:14 “But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

 

Remember the blind man Jesus healed on the Sabbath and the ordeal he was put through?

John 9:14-16 “Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.”

 

In short, these people knew that to come to Jesus on the Sabbath

Would get them in trouble.

 

Yet, can’t you see these people chomping at the bit all afternoon

Just waiting for it to get dark so they can run to Jesus?

 

It is people wanting to come to Jesus,

And yet religion was getting in their way.

 

The Sabbath was never meant to keep people away from God.

 

Matthew 12:1-8 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? “Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? “But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. “But if you had known what this means, ‘ I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT A SACRIFICE,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

 

• The Sabbath did not restrict against worship.

• Nor did the Sabbath forbid against deeds of necessity.

• The Sabbath was for drawing near to God.

 

Mark’s gospel adds:

Mark 2:27 “Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

They had a religious problem.

 

They were still trying to be pleasing through their works.

They were still clinging to some sort of legalistic righteousness.

Otherwise they would have followed Him straight to Peter’s home.

 

So they had a religious problem.

 

But that is not all.

2) THEY HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM

 

So we know when they came.

Now let me ask you who came?

 

“they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.”

 

WHO CAME?

The “demon-possessed” and the “ill”

 

Now obviously we have no problem with them coming.

If I had a demon I’d go looking for Jesus too.

 

But it is the fact that they were the only ones who came

That is bothersome.

 

Where the demon-possessed the only people who needed Jesus?

Where the sick the only people who needed Jesus?

 

Of course not!

But that is all who came.

 

We find no record of sinners coming for forgiveness.

THEY HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM.

 

They recognized the power of Jesus,

They just didn’t recognize the problem of man.

 

• After casting out that demon in the synagogue…

• After haling Peter’s mother-in-law…

It should have been blatantly obvious that Jesus is no doctor.

He is much more.

 

And they should have run to Him as their Messiah.

 

Remember when Jesus boarded Peter’s boat and told him to throw the nets down on the other side?

 

Peter caught such a large catch of fish, that the boats nearly sank.

Do you remember Peter’s response to such a miracle?

 

Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

 

Peter didn’t go out and get all his fishing buddies and say,

“Hey, we’ve been doing it all wrong. Throw your nets on the other side.

This Jesus is a fishing expert.”

 

Peter recognized that Jesus was more than just some fishing guide.

Furthermore Peter recognized his own sinfulness.

 

Remember that woman at the well who only wanted water?

And yet Jesus revealed her deepest darkest secrets.

 

Remember what she did?

John 4:28-29 “So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”

 

She knew Jesus was more than some well-witcher.

She knew Jesus was more than some investigating reporter.

 

She had found the Christ.

 

And those are the types of responses we should have seen in Capernaum.

When He cast out those demons…

When He rebuked that fever…

 

They should have spotted Him as the Messiah.

 

But you know they didn’t.

Matthew 11:23-24 “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. “Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

 

THESE PEOPLE HAD A RECOGNITION PROBLEM.

 

They didn’t see what they needed to see,

They saw only what they wanted to see.

 

And people do this with Jesus all the time.

 

But when you and I hear of the miracles of Jesus,

The first thing it should do is reveal to us

That before stands One of whom we are not worthy.

 

It ought to drive us to the ground like Peter.

It ought to send us to the masses like the woman at the well.

And it ought to push us to beg Him for forgiveness.

This crowd didn’t.

The only people who thought they needed Him

Were the sick and possessed.

The rest didn’t see the need.

 

The Power, The Problem

#3 THE POINT

Matthew 8:17

 

And perhaps it was because of their total missing of the point

That Matthew actually spells it out here.

 

He tells us the reason why Jesus healed.

 

It wasn’t so that more sick would come

(even though He would have healed them)

 

He healed to make a point.

“This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

 

Jesus healed to prove to you that He was the Messiah!

And by proving Himself to be the Messiah,

He proved Himself to be the Savior.

 

It is by no mistake that Matthew quotes from Isaiah 53

 

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

 

Matthew quotes that verse because he wants you

To travel in your mind back to where it is found.

 

Furthermore he wants you to put 2 & 2 together.

 

The One who could take our diseases

Is the One who can atone for our sin.

 

That was the point.

• Israel should have delighted when Jesus cast out that demon.

• Israel should have delighted when Jesus removed that fever.

 

And they should have said, “A man with such authority, surely this is the One who can make us right before God.”

 

Instead they just went and got all the other sick they could find.

And again, I don’t blame them for getting healed of their sickness,

I am just grieved that they didn’t seek spiritual healing as well.

 

They should have been aware that

• They each had something worse than fever.

• They each had something worse than leprosy.

• They each had something worse than paralysis.

 

That something was sin.

And while those other things might kill the body,

Sin was going to kill their soul.

 

And they should have run to Jesus for that.

 

Yet, Isaiah 53 rings true.

Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

 

Isaiah said that Messiah would come and

He would do works that proved Him to be God’s anointed Savior.

This proof would be that He would heal the sick with miraculous wonder.

 

But Isaiah also predicted that it would not be enough.

Isaiah said that despite all He did, the crowds still wouldn’t get the point,

And they would reject Him anyway.

 

What a tragedy!

 

And yet, this is the tragedy that I want you to avoid in your life.

Jesus is no novelty. Jesus is no legend.

 

Jesus is the Savior of the world.

 

• And don’t just go to Him to have your leprosy cleansed.

• Don’t just go to Him to have your fever removed.

• Don’t just go to Him to have your finances strengthened.

• Don’t just go to Him to have your marriage fixed.

GO TO HIM TO HAVE YOUR SIN REMOVED!

 

For if He can cleanse a leper…

And if He can rebuke a fever…

And if He can provide your meals…

And if He can fix your marriage…

Then surely He can forgive your sin and make you right before God.

And that is the connection

Matthew is jumping up and down on top of the table

Wanting you to make.

 

And yet sadly it is the connection Israel never did.

 

They just couldn’t see past their immediate hardships and pains

To see how badly they needed Jesus for all eternity.

 

Friend, don’t make that mistake.

 

Don’t just recognize the power of Jesus,

Also recognize the problem of man.

 

And that is that man is sinful before God

And in desperate need of a Savior.

 

 

And as we go looking for that Savior.

 

My money is on the One who could

Cleanse lepers…

Cast out demons…

Heal paralysis…

Rebuke fevers…

Calm storms…

And raise the dead…

 

That is the One I would trust in.

 

This morning if you have never trusted your life to Christ,

I want to ask you to do it.

 

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.”

 

The Day Jesus Marveled

Matthew 8:5-13

 

As you know we have now entered a new section in Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew has shown us systematically all that he wanted us to see

In order to prove to us that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

And this most recent section (8-9)

Indicates very clearly to us the power of the king.

 

By revealing miracle after miracle Matthew shows us

The power of the King in an absolutely unmistakable way.

 

Last week we saw Jesus vs. Leprosy

And saw the victory He held over that extremely debilitating disease.

 

With a touch Jesus instantly restored a leper to perfect health.

It was a miracle!

For only God can reverse the effects of leprosy.

 

This morning we move on to Matthew’s next point.

We might call this Exhibit B

 

It is Jesus with the power and authority to heal a disease,

And one where He never even made contact with the actual afflicted one.

 

As you noticed when we read this passage, Jesus healed this servant,

And never even laid eyes upon him.

 

And that again is an unmistakable proof of Jesus Messiahship.

Matthew 8:17 “This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”

 

Matthew quotes from Isaiah 53, and obvious messianic passage

In order to open the eyes of all who are reading

That the one spoken of in Isaiah is the One who stands before us here.

 

And so the main point of these two chapters is obvious.

Jesus is the Messiah,

For only God’s Messiah could do the things that He does.

 

However, there is more that we can see even from a passage like this.

 

And this morning, I am caught by a single statement

That Matthew makes down in verse 10: “He marveled”

 

Marvel: means “to become full of wonder”.

 

The Greek word here translated “marveled” is THAUMAZO

And it is a word often used

To describe the way the crowd responded to Jesus.

 

It didn’t matter if it was His wisdom, His power, His love, or His patience,

The people around Jesus continually marveled at what they saw.

 

But it is not a word often used in regard to Christ.

And that makes sense.

 

We know that He is omniscient God. He is the all-knowing one.

We have verses that clearly indicate He read the hearts of men.

 

John 2:24-25 “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

 

So we quickly understand that there wasn’t much that could surprise Him.

There wasn’t much that could catch Him off guard.

 

BUT TWICE THE SCRIPTURE REVEALS THAT IT HAPPENED.

 

Once occurred according to Mark 6:6

Mark 6:1-6 “Jesus went out from there and came into His hometown; and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.” And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief.”

Jesus did do miracles.

The miracle He didn’t do was the miracle of salvation.

Because none would believe.

 

And Jesus was astonished.

It was almost as though He was caught off guard

At how deep the rebellion of man could be.

 

Who knew man could be so stubborn and unbelieving.

 

And even because of this unbelief we often find Jesus

Irritated or seemingly put out with humanity.

 

Matthew 17:14-17 “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.”

 

Mark 3:4-5 “And He said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.”

 

Mark 7:33-34 “Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

 

Mark 8:11-13 “The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. Sighing deeply in His spirit, He said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side.”

 

John 11:33 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,”

 

And when you look at passages like that,

It is obvious that humanity continually disappointed Jesus.

 

As Jesus walked this earth, He found humanity to be

Shallow, skeptical, stubborn, self-seeking, , manipulative, & unbelieving.

 

And in His hometown they even took that to a level

That is said to have astonished Him.

 

So Jesus was well acquainted with the weakness and wickedness of man.

 

And that is what makes this passage so intriguing.

 

In Matthew 8:10, we see the only other time in Scripture

That says that Jesus was astonished.

We see the only other time He marveled.

 

What we recognize is that here is a day where Jesus marveled Because on this day He found what He was looking for.

 

And perhaps He had wondered if He would ever find it.

Luke 18:8 “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

 

But on this day He did, and He found it in an unsuspecting place.

 

So while this miracle as a whole is about His tremendous power to heal.

This miracle also opens the door for us to see,

Exactly what Jesus was looking for from humanity.

 

And it allows you and I to examine this man who marveled Jesus,

That perhaps we might marvel Him as well.

 

There are 5 things I want you to see in this text.

#1 A DETERMINED SOLDIER

Matthew 8:5

 

First off, let’s examine who we are dealing with.

And here we find that this man is “a centurion”

 

So we know he was a soldier.

And because he was a centurion, we know he was in charge of 100 men.

 

And that alone is intriguing.

When I say centurion, you just think “tax collector”

 

So it is obvious Matthews picked miracles worked on unlikely people.

First it was the unclean leper.

Now it is the unclean gentile.

 

We also read that “a centurion came to Him, imploring Him”

 

While that is true, it is a little misleading.

For this centurion did not come in person.

 

He sent some Jewish friends to Jesus.

Luke 7:1-3 “When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum. And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.”

 

He sent men to Jesus, and then as Jesus was going,

The centurion apparently came out to meet Him.

 

But regardless of the logistics,

What is clear is that we have yet another person

Who should not have been confident he could approach Jesus,

Yet feeling confident that he could.

 

And of course you and I know that this is only building the point

Matthew will make in a few chapters.

 

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 

Jesus wasn’t looking for the self-righteous and self-sufficient.

Jesus was always in search of the outcast.

 

And so it is no surprise that of all the miracles

Matthew could have included,

The first two deal with miracles done for a leper and a gentile.

 

A Determined Soldier

#2 A DESPERATE SERVANT

Matthew 8:6

 

Here we have another great picture of this man.

 

The leper overcame all adversity to see Jesus

Because he himself was infected with leprosy.

 

But this centurion was making his appeal on behalf of someone else.

This man is tracking down Jesus for the benefit of another.

 

And for no one but a lowly servant.

In Jesus’ day servants were mere property, and especially in Rome.

They were discarded as quickly as old livestock or as broken tools.

 

And yet this Roman is willing to approach Jesus in order to help his.

 

And he is motivated because his servant

“is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”

 

In short, his servant is suffering, and he can’t bear to watch it.

 

Now obviously there has been an accident.

Had the man been paralyzed from birth,

It is doubtful he would have been a servant.

 

Furthermore the grief that it was causing him indicates a recent injury.

(For those who are born with disabilities

Seem to handle them better than those who receive them later in life)

 

Something had happened, and as a result he was paralyzed and was “fearfully tormented”

 

Luke’s gospel says that he was “sick and about to die”

 

And so not only was it the problems of paralysis,

But this man was staring death in the face and he was afraid.

 

And because of compassion this centurion was willing

To find Jesus in order to help out this lowly servant.

We are already refreshed by the compassion of this hardened soldier.

 

A Determined Soldier A Desperate Servant

#3 A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE

Matthew 8:7-10a

 

So it is obvious that as these Jewish elders asked Jesus to come,

He told them, “I will come and heal him.”

Yet, before Jesus could get to the centurion’s home “the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof,”

 

Apparently the centurion saw Jesus coming, and went out and stopped Him.

And the reason he gave is that “I am not worthy”

 

And this by the way is interesting as well.

 

We see the word “worthy” throughout the New Testament.

And we read commonly of this person being worthy or not worthy.

 

And every time that word is used it is the Greek word AXIOS.

And it indicates worth based upon merit or function or action.

 

Commonly saying something like if you do this you are worthy,

If you don’t do this you are not worthy.

 

I’ll give you an example.

Matthew 10:37-38 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

 

It is worth referred to by one’s action.

 

It is used of Jesus as well.

Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

 

And so it is worth based upon action.

You did this so you are worthy.

 

And I tell you that because this man WAS worthy in this sense.

 

In fact listen to Luke’s gospel.

Luke 7:3-5 “When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy (axios) for You to grant this to him; for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

 

There the Jews use the word AXIOS “He is worthy”.

He has done so much for us.

He is God fearing.

He is one of the good guys.

He deserves it.

 

But the centurion comes out and says, “I am not worthy”

 

Only the word he uses is NOT axios.

 

The word he uses is HIKANOS (heek-a-nos)

 

And it is NOT a performance based word.

It means “sufficient” or “competent”

 

Literally this centurion was saying to Jesus “I am not enough”

NOT, “I have not done enough”, but “I am not enough”

 

It is the same word John the Baptist used.

Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

 

It is the same word Paul used.

1 Corinthians 15:9 “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”

 

And that is what this man was saying, “I am not fit to be around Him”

 

And so despite the fact that he was more than worthy in action,

He was convinced that he was less than worthy in person.

 

This is exactly OPPOSITE of the world’s mindset that says,

“I am a good person even though I do bad things.”

 

This man said, “I am a bad person even though I do good things.”

 

And you and I know that this is the very mindset that Christ is looking for.

 

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

And so not only is this man full of compassion,

He is also full of humility.

 

And yet that is not all.

For it is the next fact about this man that astonished Jesus.

 

“Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

This man was also filled with confidence in the power of Jesus.

 

You see while others marveled at the authority of Jesus,

This man understood it.

 

He was saying, “Look, I know what authority is, and I know what it represents. Furthermore I recognize that You have it.”

You see this man understood something

That so many have forgotten today.

And that is that JESUS IS LORD

 

He is the supreme and ultimate boss

And He can do anything He desires to do.

Furthermore everything must do what He tells it to do.

 

(And who better than a soldier to understand authority)

 

And this man believed that the authority of Jesus

Went further than just the 12 who followed Him,

But that it also reached into the world of sickness and disease.

 

Everything must do what You tell it to do,

So if You tell this paralysis to leave my servant, it will.

 

And because He recognized this

He knew that Jesus shouldn’t even come into his home.

Would the general of the Roman army come into his house?

Would the governor of the Roman province come into his house?

Would the emperor of Rome come into his house?

 

Then most certainly this Man should not,

For He has more authority than them all.

 

This man didn’t just have humility,

He had perspective, he had submission, he had FAITH.

 

(10) “Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled”

 

I almost envision tears of joy entering the Savior’s eyes.

I can imagine the many dusty roads He walked.

I can imagine the millions of people in the crowds.

I can imagine the endless lines of people He cured.

And none of them seemed to get it.

 

And then Jesus is confronted by a Roman soldier who did.

Jesus was delightfully surprised.

 

Don’t you want to astonish Him in the same way?

 

A Determined Soldier A Desperate Servant A Delightful Surprise

#4 A DEFINING SERMON

Matthew 8:10-12

 

And so that man’s faith finally gave Jesus the opportunity

To preach a sermon the world needed to hear.

He was surrounded by Jews who thought their only problems

Were Rome, hunger, and the diseases that plagued them.

 

They were certain that they were God’s people,

And that heaven was already a done deal.

 

And even after preaching the Sermon on the Mount and convicting them at every turn, it is obvious they still thought this to be the case.

 

And so Jesus takes the opportunity afforded by this humble, believing, soldier to preach a truly shocking message.

 

“Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.”

 

What a message to the crowd of Jewish faithful behind Him.

Some probably wondered why He would go to the home of a Gentile.

 

And so Jesus turns to this pious crowd and says,

“I can tell you this much, there isn’t a one of you here

That has as much faith as this man has.”

 

Talk about a dose of reality.

 

And all of a sudden this crowd was hit with the reality

That just because they were Jewish they might not be pleasing.

In fact, they might not even be as pleasing as a Gentile.

 

And if that is not enough Jesus continues.

“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

 

You mean to tell me that when the role is called up yonder,

There will be many Gentiles there with Abraham.

 

And if that was not shocking enough, many Jews will not get to go,

But will instead go to hell.

 

BUT THESE ARE JEWS!

Romans 9:4-5 “who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

 

God has worked harder for their salvation

Than for the salvation of any other people on the face of the planet.

And yet you are telling me that many of them will not go to heaven.

 

And at that point everyone in that crowd

Had better be asking one question.

“WHAT DOES THAT GENTILE HAVE THAT WE JEWS DO NOT?”

 

Because what we have is frustrating Jesus, and what he has amazes Him.

 

Well friends you know the answer.

Faith

 

“I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel”

 

AND WHAT DID HIS FAITH LOOK LIKE?

IT WAS COMPASSIONATE – putting a servant before himself.

IT WAS FULL OF GOOD WORKS – building a synagogue for the Jews.

IT WAS HUMBLE – knowing that those works didn’t change who he was.

IT WAS SUBMISSIVE – having a firm grasp on authority

IT WAS CONFIDENT – knowing that Jesus could do whatever He wanted.

 

That was faith.

The centurion had it, the Jews did not.

 

He would go to heaven, they would not.

 

A Determined Soldier -A Desperate Servant -A Delightful Surprise -A Defining Sermon

#5 A DEFINITE SIGN

Matthew 8:13

 

Now we already know that Jesus is working signs

To prove His messiahship.

 

But this sign goes beyond even that.

 

This sign is meant to confirm all that He just said.

It stands as an exclamation point at the end of that great sermon.

 

“And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.”

 

Jesus was for real, and that sermon He just preached was for real.

 

And it is a sermon that still rings true today.

Jesus has never been on a search for the most religious.

Jesus has never been on a search for the most pious.

Jesus walked this earth looking for those who had faith.

 

2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”

And that is what Jesus was doing.

He was looking for those who had faith.

 

• Are there any who are humble?

• Are there any who are compassionate?

• Are there any who are submissive?

• Are there any who are obedient?

• Are there any who will trust Me?

 

Sort of sounds like the beatitudes doesn’t it?

Matthew 5:3-10 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

CAN YOU SEE THOSE QUALITIES IN THIS CENTURION?

You sure can.

 

Now, can you see them in your own life?

 

Friend it is not your religion that will impress Jesus.

It was not the crowd walking around with Him that astonished Him.

Jesus marveled when He saw simple people with great faith.

 

And I want to be one who marvels Him like that.

 

And friend, this morning, I want you to be one like that as well.

 

If you have never approached Jesus as an unworthy sinner,

Desiring to submit to His authority,

Believing He can do what He says,

Then I want to invite you to do so this morning.

 

Not only will Jesus be amazed, but all of heaven will rejoice.

 

Be one this morning who causes Jesus to be amazed.