What has heppened

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

WHAT HAS HAPPENED

Matt 4:23-25

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

NIV

What has happened to us? Here we see Jesus doing what Jesus does. Now the question is, why is he doing all this healing? Is it so that people will believe him as the Son of God, with all authority? Is it because he has compassion on the people who are in need of being healed? Certainly we would have to say that he was preaching about the Good News. Why would he preach about anything else? We are told that he was preaching the good news about the kingdom. What is the Good News? That he is the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God who came to be a sacrifice for sin, and through him people can have eternal life. What other good news could they be? But the majority of this narrative is about his healing hundreds upon hundreds of people from all over the area. People not just from the ten cities of Galilee, but people came from Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordon. We could get into a geography lesson here, but that is not germane to the point of a life lesson. The point is either the good news or all the healing by Jesus. Many believers today have come to Jesus not because he healed them, but to find eternal life, or to find some blessings from God. At least that seems to be the general consensus from knowing many believers over the years of our life. Jesus did many things while he was here. Preached the good news about the kingdom. He healed many people. He performed miracles. He died on the cross for our sin. He rose again to ascend to the right hand of the Father, showing us victory over death. Much of this we believe, but why are we all not healed today? Do many of us see miracles? We have accepted the good news about the kingdom and so does that mean we do not need miracles or healings? Yet at times throughout this man’s life (trying to stay in the third person) he has seen both many miracles and quite a few miraculous healings. Were they all to make this man believe more? The point seems to be that need to believe Jesus will still heal us, still do miracles in our lives. He has not stopped being Jesus. We believe God answers prayer. Jesus said that if we ask for anything from Jesus, he will do it.

John 14:12-14

2 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

NIV

So what has happened to us? Why don’t we ask Jesus? Do we really not have the faith? Is not one of the gifts of the Spirit healing? Is not another doing miracles? Do we just dismiss them believing they were just for the Apostles? Then we have to dismiss eternal life as well, for that was just for the Apostles. But that is not the truth for Jesus told us that whosoever believes will have eternal life and not perish. We are the whosoevers. If what he offered to his disciples is also offered to us then should not all the gifts along with the armor of God and the fruit of the Spirit be available to us today? So what has happened to us? It may be time to reassess our faith. Have we allowed the world to infiltrate our thinking? Have we accepted the terms the world has to offer instead of what Jesus has to offer? Do we look to the medical profession instead of Jesus for a healing? Do we look to our own abilities instead of Jesus? Maybe it is time to be more like a child with simple faith. Maybe we have allowed too much sin to crowd out that child-like faith. Maybe we have replace that child-like faith with too much studying of the word, seeing thing intellectually instead with eyes of faith.  Jesus healed them all. Should we not accept the same from him now?