As I read over these two chapters with you my dear brothers and sisters I am amazed as Matthew speaks of the wonder of following our Savior. There are so many precious moments in these two chapters we could reflect on. I love what He says in chapter 10 about our calling. That if we confess Him before men He confesses us before the Father. I am challenged by His statement that He did not come to bring peace but a sword. I want to focus in on Matthew 9:35-38 for a few moments however. In Chapter 9 we have just been to the Decapolis region with Jesus in chapter 8 and observed the deliverance of the demon possessed in the tombs, a dramatic moment. Now upon His return Jesus heals a paralytic, raises a rulers daughter from the dead, a woman with an issue of blood for 12 years has been healed, two blind men receive their sight, and a man mute and demon possessed is delivered. That's pretty dramatic. Now in verse 35 Jesus goes about preaching and healing every disease and sickness in the cities.
In verse 36 Jesus sees the multitudes. Jesus looks out at humanity and scripture says He is moved with compassion. Jesus sees our situation. He is touched by our need and hurt. He is aware of our every thing. What a Savior. So what does He see? The next verses outline for us what He sees.
Jesus view of reality: The multitudes are weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus sees great need in our world. Jesus sees that life is making people weary. If we could look around us today we would see that multitudes are weary with the struggle of managing work and life and relationships. How do I balance family, work, responsibilities, and my own wishes for life. At the same time we are mooring less we have no authoritative direction apart from our God.
Jesus view of opportunities: According to Jesus the harvest is plentiful. Jesus looks at my world and He sees tremendous opportunities at every turn. I look and see a people that are closed to the gospel and don't want to hear what I have to say, but Jesus sees a field white and ready to harvest. I need to see people with the eyes of Jesus and realize that today I am going to be surrounded by opportunities and people that are ready.
Jesus view of our service: Jesus said the laborers are few. Jesus sees many people ready to do and follow on their own terms, but does He find in my heart a willingness to do whatever He desires and an ability to join Him in His great work? May I see my world through the eyes of Jesus today and may He see in my heart a willingness to serve that He can trust. If so He will lead me in fruit bearing today. LETS GO!
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Thanks, Paul! Indeed, at every turn we see Jesus' great heart to restore the lives of the people around Him. And I think He demonstrates our greatest need when He first speaks to the paralytic in Matthew 9:2, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." Only after the crowd doubts His authority to do so does He heal the paralytic. Now, He may well have healed the paralytic anyway, but the priority of his needs is still well displayed.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the very same is true of us today. Having everything else in life "go my way" is pointless if I'm not first in a right relationship with God. And conversely, I can stand a great deal of things going against me if I am rightly walking with the Lord and the power of His forgiveness!
Lots of good stuff there. I'm really challenged to look at the harvest through the eyes of Jesus now. Jesus gave the disciples careful instructions and in verses 9 and 10 of chapter 10 pretty much tells them not to worry about the smallest detail, God will provide. In verses 29 and 30 Jesus tells them that he even plans the death of a sparrow and the number of hairs on our head. What a much more important task it is to bring the message of hope to others! Most certainly He will have those details worked out if He does the same for the hair on my head. Very challenging stuff! Time for me to stop making excuses and just do it.
ReplyDeleteIn my version, Chapter 10 verse 8 says, "you have received free of charge so give free of charge". It's very convicting to read how we should have a witnessing attitude at all times and stop making excuses for why we don't. God didn't say that it would be easy to talk to people about Him but we are most definitely supposed to. This is shown in verse 16 when he says, "I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves."
ReplyDeleteI am amazed when I read verses 9-13 in Chapter 9. Jesus calls Matthew to come follow him, so he drops everything and does. What amazing faith he must have had.