Miracles of Christ

Miracles of Christ February 16, 2012

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman – Matthew 9: 18-26

¹⁸ While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live." ¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.

²⁰ Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. ²¹ She said to herself, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."

²² Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.

²³ When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, ²⁴ he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of this spread through all that region.

Jesus Heals the Blind and Dumb – Matthew 9:27-34

²⁷ As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

²⁸ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord," they replied.

²⁹ Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you"; ³⁰ and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See that no one knows about this." ³¹ But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

³² While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. ³³ And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel."

³⁴ But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons."

The faith of the ruler to know that Jesus could heal her is one thing. The faith of the ruler knowing that He could heal her by just placing His hand on her is another. The ruler knew that when Jesus placed His hand on his daughter, “she will live.” So where did this ruler hear about Jesus? What was the ruler’s faith like? Was he a Christian? These are all just questions that surround this verse as I read it. Now we know from scholars that the ruler was actually a ruler in the synagogue. He was one of the men that hated Jesus. There is no doubt that Jesus was maybe a last resort. That being said, how many of us go to Jesus only as a “last resort?” Even knowing our motives, Jesus still welcomes us with open arms and heals us. Now imagine if we knew what Jesus was capable of and we didn’t use Him as a last resort, rather our first resort. So from this we know that the ruler came to Jesus with a very inadequate motive.

It says that “Jesus got up and went with him. I am sure that Jesus had plenty of other things going on that day that He didn’t have time to go and be with this dead woman. Yet, at the faith of the man, Jesus gets up and goes. So is this the precedent that Jesus wants us to set with our faith? Is Jesus more apt to respond to our desires if we just know that He will take care of whatever we ask? So as Jesus is walking away a woman who “has been bleeding for 12 years.” This is obviously no small cut. I am assuming it is some sort of menstrual discharge that this woman has been dealing with. But the injury is not what is important in this verse, no, what is important is the woman’s thought to herself. Her large amount of faith with such a simple task. She thinks to herself, “If only I could touch His cloak I know I would be healed.” Now this sounds like not a problem at all right? But think about it. If Jesus Christ was standing right in front of you right at this very moment, you would be terrified to even touch Him. I can imagine that His ambiance that He gives off is amazing and just His Lordship is noticeable. We would look at this woman though and may think that she is being a bit superstitious if anything. You know it’s like those people who think that there is a well somewhere that will make you younger if you go in it. While some may view this woman as being superstitious, others may say that her faith was overflowing with abundance. To be able to know that if you just touched Jesus’ clothes, you would be healed. How amazing is that. She didn’t even want to touch flesh or have Him put His hand on her, no; she just wanted to touch a string from His robe it says, so some may say that this woman came to Jesus with a very inadequate faith.

Now we come to the two blind men who follow Jesus around and yell at Him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Is this some sort of mockery that they are taunting Jesus with? Surely they know that Jesus must have some sort of “supernatural” power, because they wouldn’t be following Him if He didn’t. However, they plead to “have mercy on us, Son of David.” So Jesus in all of His sarcasticness says back to the men, “Do you believe that I can do this?” BOOM! Throws the situation right back into the lap of the harassers! Snooty religious people say that sarcasm is bad, and I agree in large amounts it gets annoying, but Jesus is being very sarcastic here when He says, “Do you believe I can do this?” Imagine if you will, looking at someone who claims to be GOD, and you are mocking Him and at the very moment of your laughter inside sets in, He says, “What, don’t you think if I touch your eyes that I can make you see? I am God you know that right?” So, as they tremble in fear, their response is amazing… “Yes, Lord.” HA! So they begin by mocking Him and just the forcefulness of His voice or how He controlled the situation makes them tremble and admit that Jesus is indeed the Lord of all Lord’s. So then He heals them and leaves them by putting the smack down. Probably knowing full well that they would go and tell all their friends, the NIV bible says that Jesus “warned them sternly.” “See to it that nobody hears about this.” So He sends them off with a warning to kind of scare them I assume, but it says in the next verse that they went and told everyone anyways. So He is Jesus, He must have known they were going to tell, so did He tell them not to just to throw His weight around a little? I mean He just healed their blindness, now He is like “Don’t tell people about this.” Come on, He is God; He knows they are going to tell. Yet He warns them anyways. So it is fair to say that the blind men came to Jesus with an inadequate conception of who He was.

So here’s the kicker, the ruler came to Jesus with an inadequate motive; the woman came to Jesus with an inadequate faith; the blind men came to Jesus with an inadequate conception of who He was. They all came to Jesus broken and inadequate; and He met them all right where they were at and met their needs. You see, it doesn’t matter how we come to Christ, it only matters that we come. No matter how inadequate or how imperfect we come to Him, His arms are always open waiting for us to jump in and be held tight.

So there are two lessons here. 1: Do not wait to ask Christ for help in life until our motives, our faith, and our theology are perfect. Just come to Him exactly as you are! #2: We have no right to criticize others whose motives we suspect, whose faith we question, and whose theology we believe to be wrong. Just as you went to the cross, broken and torn. All your baggage surrounding you and looking like a wet dog in the summer time, Jesus looked down to you and took you in. He opened His arms and held you close. Be sure to do the same to others. You know, you never know how you might impact someone’s life if you just take a moment to stop and listen.

Coffee, rain, and Zeppelin

Sitting in Checker Records trying to make some sense of life lately. Seems that everyone seems to be in some sort of tail spin. I don't know why this stuff happens. Seems almost pointless to ride this roller coaster of emotion day in and day out, but maybe that's what we were designed for? Maybe we are like lab rats running the mill trying to figure out the perfect combination of coffee and politics to make a world run smoothly.

I sit here kinda in a slump, my friends are all at Hillsdale College jogging on the track. I started off the new year with great intentions of working off my winter flub. However when I started to lift weights at the school and walk the track at the college, my foot decided that it had had enough of my piss and vigor and it went on strike. I woke up one morning with a sharp pain in the top of my left foot. My wife and I went to Jackson with some friends and the pain increased and the swelling increased to the point where I looked like I was trying to walk in wet concrete with a snow shoe on. I made an appointment to see the Dr. After he came into the room and made a few off the cuff jokes, he began his process of massaging my foot to further aggravate the pain and cause me the rest of the day's misery. Needless to say, after x-rays and blood work and cat scans there is still no rhyme or reason for my swelling and pain. My wife said that it is an act of God. Sure, maybe He wants me to look as goofy as possible when I go to share His message with people. Then again, I always said that my God has an awesome sense of humor, but I am not finding this very funny at all. Off to pick up my wife from the college and hear about how healthy she is. Such is life.

Something's missing

I don't know who said it, but someone said "Its lonely at the top." Now not that I am at the top of anything, but I understand the concept. Being in ministry can be quite a lonely place. My best friend is my wife. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but she judges my problems on an emotional level. My next best friend happens to be my boss. You know how thrilling that is when you have a problem. And that is about it with my list of friends. Trying to find friends while in ministry has proved to be a difficult task for me. Whenever I meet someone new, they ask what I do...."I am a youth pastor." Instantly either they assume that I am going to make all their problems disappear, or that I am going to be judgmental of every aspect of their lives. It is really not the case. I think there is a huge reason why Jesus left his disciples to go and pray. Day in and day out ministry. People needing, people wanting. Was Jesus really able to have just a friend? I talked to an old friend of mine today and asked for advice and all he could muster up was, "yep, ministry is a lonely place." Thanks 'friend.' I don't ever want anyone to get the wrong impression, I LOVE MY JOB! Really do! But can I have one relationship where the person isn't thinking that I have an agenda for their lives? Can I have one relationship where I can just be me and not get a raised eyebrow for something stupid I might say? Can I have one relationship where someone doesn't need something from me every second of every day? John Mayer said it best, "Down with broken people, this is me I'm workin on."

Truth

"Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." John 18:37 (New American Standard Bible)

I read this verse last night before I went to bed and I woke up with it on my mind. So I hopped on my computer and looked this verse up in various bibles. I don't usually use NASB but I love this version for this verse. Everyone who is of the truth, hears my voice. Now the usual response you will get when reading this verse or quoting it to someone is the very response that Pilate gave in the very next sentence. "What is truth?" Pilate was standing face to face with God Himself and asked the question, "what is truth!" There is another interesting point in this verse, Jesus says "Everyone who is of the truth." This is not a statement concerning those who think that they know the truth, rather those who are led by the Holy Spirit in truth. In other words the truth is not necessarily something from the mind, rather somewhere that the Holy Spirit leads you.

Moving mountains in the community

There is a Chinese proverb that says, "It is possible to move a mountain by carrying away small stones." Now as I read this I realize a few things.

1. We have the possibility everyday to move enormous mountains. Whether it be a pebble at a time or the whole mountain in one fair swoop.

2. We can move these mountains on our own (with the help of God) or we can move mountains as a community.

Matthew 21:21 - Jesus says; "I tell you the truth, if you have the faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I find at times in my life since my conversion, it is easier to move these "mountains" then it is at others. Is it because I lacked faith or is it because I doubted? I do know this much, when God makes that mountain move, it is an overwhelming flood of emotions. Whether this mountain is one of emotional or physical weight, it can certainly bring relief, satisfaction, forgiveness, joy, amazement and even pain. The most wonderful thought though is one that I have thought many times, Jesus says, "You can say to this mountain." See it is certainly God who is moving these mountains, but He is wanting us to want it also. So many times we sit back and just 'wish' God would do it. He wants us to ask, He wants us to desire that mountain to be moved. He wants us to get out of our seats and show some motivation, and make the mountain move. So many times I have EXPECTED God to use me, never really asking Him to. I think that is the difference in this situation for me. I desire to be used in this community. I wholeheartedly desire change and wish to spread hope in this community. Now how do we spread this idea and thought throughout our community to make this change happen? Maybe that will be my next post when God reveals that to me.

So reading through Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book entitled "Meditating on the Word" I came across this great quote that I wanna share.

"What do we mean by love? It is love whereby we exist not for ourselves but for others. It is love whereby we rejoice in contemplating others' perfections as truly as if they were our own. It is love whereby we acknowledge our obligations to others and seek to make return to them for all the good we have received. The heart must confess that there is a sense of unity involving the moral obligation of love which binds us to the whole human race...... They are the totality out of which we have emerged, and we parish in the void if we seek to live as individuals for ourselves alone."

The Psalms of life

1 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

When I read these two versus so much runs through my head....what does it mean to walk in the counsel of the wicked? Have I ever stood in the way of a sinner? I know that I have sat in the seat of a mocker. But really, these questions don't much matter as long as I am meditating on the Word and delighting in Gods law. Frankly if I am following these two examples "day and night" then the change within my heart and mind will be so significant that "walking in the counsel of the wicked or sitting in the seat of mockers" should not even be a question I ask myself. Rather I will ask, "Have I loved today as Christ would have loved and as Christ loves me?" You see if we allow the Holy Spirit to control our every action and our every thought, there will be no question as to where my heart lies. Book 1 of the Psalms continues on to answer this very idea of what happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives,

3 "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

That's quiet a promise from our Lord that our fruit will always yield and our leaves will never wither! That is a tree that is alive forever! Man that makes me excited that God wants to give me that gift. It makes me more happy thought that "Whatever he does prospers." Now this may sound conceited but I want my life and ministry to prosper greatly! And with that its my life's work to delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on it day and night!