Matthew 9- According To Your Faith

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And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Matthew 9:27-31

Again we take a look at another miracle/healing performed by Jesus, what is the common denominator? Well of course Jesus Christ is the common denominator, but what else? Notice the question Jesus asks them “Do you believe I am able to do this”? Jesus is basically asking them, do you truly believe I am the Son of God and have the power and authority to heal you?

Notice the first act of faith by these blind men, says they were following Christ and crying out him “Son of David, have mercy on us” This is an act of faith, they believe and recognize who Jesus is, secondly they respond by seeking Christ. They didn’t just sit idle expecting God to just cure them, no they got up and followed Jesus. Faith is a demonstration not just some idle words

Jesus then says “According to your faith, be it unto You” so according to the actual faith these blind men had, they would be healed. Of course Christ is the cure, and Christ is the source of the cure, however these men needed to demonstrate genuine faith and then the healing would be granted to them. Do you have true faith? Are you demonstrating your faith?

As they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. Matthew 9:32-34

Next a demon possessed man was taken to Jesus and Christ casted out the demon. Notice what the crowd said “They never seen anything like this in all of Israel” Jesus is demonstrating the power of the New Covenant, never before did anyone see a demon be casted out from someone before. Christ has power and authority over the wind and seas, over the demons and angels. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, God in human flesh (John 1:14)

The religious leaders accused Christ of working for Satan which is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. However as Jesus said “ Why would Satan cast out Satan, a kingdom divided will not stand” Jesus Christ, the Living Son of God has now brought the New Covenant here and Satan, sin, death, and Hell are all defeated

Question is, Do you Believe who Jesus is? Do you believe Christ is able to deliver you? According to your faith, it will be done unto you, Amen!

Matthew 9- Salvation By Faith

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

Here we read about a couple of miracles Jesus performed, it’s important when reading these not to get confused as they kind of jump back and forth between stories. The first one we will focus on is the woman who had a medical issue for 12 years and sought after Jesus to heal her. Notice what the woman said “If only I can touch his garment, I will be made whole” The first thing to notice is her faith, she knew Christ is the only cure and she went after him, seeking The Lord

Notice the woman’s statement here in the KJV translation, she says “I shall be made whole” most English translations will say “healed” but when you look at the original Greek word  “sotheseomai” it means not only healed but saved, preserved, rescued, delivered. This was more than just a physical healing, this woman got saved by coming to Christ in faith

Jesus said to her “Daughter, be of good comfort, your faith has made you “sotheseomai” healed, saved, preserved, rescued, delivered. Take comfort, daughter you are now a Child of God through Jesus Christ!

And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. Matthew 9:23-26

Now as we look at the other story, this was more severe as the daughter is already dead. But notice the faith of the father , the scripture says the father came to Jesus worshiping him, ok so he understood who Jesus was and the authority he has, and the father said “ If you place your hand on her she will live” This man has so much faith in who Jesus is, he believes Christ can raise his daughter from the dead. 

When Jesus gets to the daughter, notice what he does. There are people laughing at him, large crowds playing music, making noise, what does Jesus say “Go away” Christ clears out the mockers, the unbelievers, those who have no faith. 

Jesus raised the girl back from the dead and of course his fame spread throughout the region and still spreading even today. But Jesus will not only raise you physically from the dead, he will make you Born Again and give you eternal life Amen!

Matthew 9- New Wineskin

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

Jesus said “Unless you are Born Again, you can’t see the Kingdom of Heaven” (John 3:3) I know I say this over and over again, but I think it’s a point that most people who declare themselves “Christians” forget. Becoming saved is not just repeating a few words and doing a few religious practices, it’s a transformation of your soul, it’s bringing your dead self stuck in sin back to life. When you become saved, there needs to be a change, there needs to be fruit produced to show evidence of your conversion, (Matthew 7) otherwise you’re probably not saved at all

Jesus teaches this point in his parable about the New Wine skin, you can’t put a piece of new cloth on an old shirt, you can’t put new wine in an old wine skin. You can’t pour the Holy Spirit in a wretched sinful body, you have to become reborn. This is what Jesus meant you must be Born Again to enter Heaven. You can’t pour New Wine into Old Wine Skin, what happens? The Wine Skin breaks, it can’t handle the New Wine, same with a wretched sinner, you can’t handle the pouring of the Holy Spirit unless you change

When we look at Paul’s teaching of Baptism in Romans 6, when we are immersed into the water, it’s symbolic of our old self dead and being buried with Christ. As Paul says “Our Old Self was crucified with Him, so that the body of Sin may be rendered powerless” (Romans 6:6) This is exactly what Jesus is teaching about, your old self is dead to sin, and your new self has been raised with Christ (Romans 6:11) Walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4) Paul didn’t say walk as you were , or your fine the way that you are, no your old self died and you have been raised new with Christ

Going back to the New Wine, remember when Jesus changed the water into wine (John 2) This was not a coincidence, this was an illustration of the transformation of Christ by becoming Born Again. You are not going to be Born Again living in a sinful body, an intoxicated body, you need to be set free from sin and that can only happen through Jesus Christ! Amen!

Matthew 9- The Calling

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And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. Matthew 9:9-10

When Jesus called his Apostles, what was he looking for? Christ wasn’t looking for theological knowledge, otherwise he would have called some Pharisees or Sauducees, no Jesus called on regular people, fishermen and tax collectors like Matthew. What qualities are Jesus looking for? Faithfulness, obedience, humble, ect these are qualities you don’t need a Master degree to obtain. To understand the amazement of God’s calling to become Born Again, we need to understand who Christs disciples were and what they accomplished because they followed The Lord

Today we look at Matthew, a tax collector, now that might not seem like a big deal to be a Jewish tax collector but when your understand what Matthew was really a part of , you could say he was the chief of all sinners. Think about it a Jewish man working for the evil oppressive Roman government enslaving his own people in poverty and persecution. Now when you put it that way, yeah it sounds really bad because it was. Matthews conversion to Christianity was just as miraculous as Pauls , I’m sure when most Jews saw Matthew with Christ and his Jewish disciples, they probably cringed or doubted the authenticity of Matthew

Notice it lists the “publicans” or tax collectors with sinners. The tax collectors , like Matthew, were the scum of the Earth. List the tax collectors with the prostitutes and lepers, these are the outcasts, these are the outsiders, however Jesus is going to call them and make them fishers of Men

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

The religious leaders wanted to know “Why does this Holy man eat with sinners”! Jesus said “He didn’t come for the righteous but to bring sinners to repentance” The Great Physician came to fix some souls, Christ didn’t come for the 99 , he came for the lost sheep to bring them home to our Heavenly Father

When Jesus called Matthew, it said “He arose and followed him” Matthew immediately answered the calling, He didn’t say I’ll get back to you or check his options, when Christ said Follow me, Matthew followed him, that was his main qualification, faith and obedience. The rest is history including this gospel which Matthew recorded for our edification and learning

Is Jesus calling you today? Get up and follow him, don’t worry about your past or don’t worry about your qualifications, The Lord will make you Born Again and a Fisher of Men, Amen!