Scripture

“From the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.”

Observation

Jesus continues to teach the crowds.

He says that of all the people who ever lived, John the Baptist is the greatest. But even the least person in God’s kingdom is greater than John.

From the time John began preaching, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing. Violent people are attacking it. This is the time all the prophets looked forward to.

The present generation are like children playing in the village square. They complain because John was too austere and now they complain because Jesus goes to feasts and befriends tax collectors and other so-called sinners.

Application

We often think of God’s work advancing quietly, perhaps going backwards rather than advancing. Yet, all over the world the kingdom of God is growing rapidly.

In many places, violent people attack it and persecute the followers of Christ. In Muslim countries, new converts may be beaten, thrown out of their homes, or killed. In North Korea, mere possession of a Bible may lead a person to be executed. In Central America, Christians refuse to be intimidated by gangsters and are killed for their resistance.

God’s kingdom is advancing, like a flood that cannot be resisted. People may try to attack God’s people, but they will never stop the way of God from prevailing.

Prayer

Thank you Lord that with you, I am on the right side of history. Please help me to stand firm in you when I am faced with opposition for your name’s sake. Amen.

Scripture

“Go and announce that the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Observation

Jesus calls the twelve together, giving them authority to heal every kind of sickness and to cast out demons.

Then He sends them out to go to the lost sheep of Israel. They are to announce that the kingdom of heaven is near.

They are to heal the sick, raise the dead, heal those with leprosy, and to cast out demons. They are not to take any money and nor even spare clothes, but accept hospitality when it is offered.

Application

The message that the apostles were to proclaim was simply that God’s kingdom is near. They were to prove the message by healing the sick and casting out demons.

The message hasn’t changed, except that the kingdom of heaven is already here.

Our commission and our authority is the same as the first apostles. We are to take the message of the kingdom to all who will receive it.

Jesus preached a gospel of repentance that said, “Turn away from your sins and follow me for God’s kingdom is near.” The gospel is still the same as people need to repent, follow Jesus and enter the kingdom.

There are people everywhere who simply need to believe that God loves them enough to pay the penalty for their sins.

Let’s be bold and confident the gospel and in the King.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the simple message that we can come into your kingdom because of Jesus. Please help me to share that message wherever I find myself. Amen.

Scripture

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into the fields.”

Observation

After raising from the dead a synagogue leader’s daughter, Jesus returns to the home where He is staying. Two blind men follow Him right into the house and ask Him to heal them.

Jesus asks them if they believe He can heal them. They respond positively, so Jesus heals them.

Jesus also heals a demon-possessed man who who couldn’t speak. The Pharisees say that Jesus casts of demons because He is empowered by the prince of demons.

As Jesus ministers around that region, He has compassion on the people because they are like sheep without a shepherd. He tells His disciples that the harvest is great, but the workers are few. They must pray for the Lord to send more workers.

Application

Where I live, farmers are reaping a bumper crop of every kind of cereal and legume you can imagine – wheat, barley, faber beans, and much more. The farmers are desperate to get their crops into storage before they can be spoiled by rain, fire, or other disaster. Because of the size of the harvest, there is a shortage of harvesters, truck drivers, silo operators, and so on. Therefore people are working long hours and enduring long delays.

Jesus saw people who needed salvation and a relationship with the Father. He tells the disciples to pray for God to send out more workers into the fields. Of course, after Pentecost, the number of workers multiplied, and the church has continued to grow ever since.

The harvest is still great. People are still lost. We still need to pray for the Lord to send more workers.

Jesus was moved by compassion, not by ego. He saw the needs of the people and urged us to pray. Our prayers and actions must be directed by compassion for people.

Prayer

Lord, there are so many hurting, lost people in my town. Please send out the missionaries, evangelists, and disciples to reach them. Amen.

Scripture

After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up!

Observation

A synagogue leader comes to Jesus and tells him that his daughter has died, but he knows that Jesus can bring her back to life again.

While Jesus and the disciples are on their way, a woman who had suffered for 12 years from constant bleeding comes and touches the fringe of His robe. She is healed instantly

At the official’s home, Jesus removes the mourners. He then takes the girl by the hand, and she stands up.

Application

Who has the greater power – the crowd who celebrates death, or Jesus who brings life?

Jesus had to put all the mourners out of the house because their declarations of the girl’s death amounted to a curse, a prayer of a negative outcome.

With Jesus in the picture, death itself is defeated.

The key factor is faith. Do we believe that God is the same God? Do we bleieve that God is able to heal? Do we believe that God is willing to heal right now?

In this short passage, we have two people – a woman and a father. They both have big problems, but they know that Jesus will bring the breakthrough they need.

We do not see Jesus in the flesh, but he is still the same. It may take more faith to see that He is able to heal, but we should not let that deter us.

Prayer

Lord, I know you are still the Healer. Please help me to believe with solid faith. Amen.

Scripture

“No one puts new wine into old wine skins, for the old skins would burst from the pressure, spoiling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.”

Observation

Disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus and ask him why His disciples do not fast like they and the Pharisees do.

Jesus replies with three analogies:

1. Guests don’t mourn at a wedding, but one day the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

2. You don’t patch old clothing with new cloth, for the new cloth will shrink, tearing a hole in the old garment.

3. You don’t put new wine into old wine skins because the new wine continues to ferment, and the old wine skin will split, spilling the wine.

Application

People often speak of new wine and old wine skins to justify throwing away traditions they disagree with.

Here, Jesus is pointing out he is bringing a New Covenant that goes beyond what was possible in the Old Covenant. Therefore, our practices reflect the new realities of the presence of the Holy Spirit in every believer.

The problem is that we keep wanting to go back to old wine skins – the known ways are easier than the new ways.

Our common church buildings reflect Greek and Roman secular culture, not New Covenant culture. The institution of the pastor as the source of all wisdom is not New Covenant. The cherished three point sermon is based in Greek rhetoric not Holy Spirit direction.

Every part of our corporate worship and individual practice must be a new wine skin, otherwise the new wine of the Holy Spirit cannot be contained in it.

Prayer

Father, forgive me for wanting the comfort of old wine skins. Please help me to allow you to renew my thinking. Amen.

Scripture

Then the entire town came to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

Observation

Jesus and his disciples get into a boat to cross the lake. A storm erupts, and waves threaten to swamp the boat. Jesus is asleep, and the disciples wake Him up and plead with Him to save them.

Jesus quiets the storm and rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith.

On the other side of the lake, two men possessed by many demons meet Jesus. The demons manifest, screaming at Jesus. At their request, Jesus casts them out of the men and into some pigs. The whole herd plunges down the hillside and into the lake.

The entire town comes out to marvel at what has happened, but they ask Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

Application

The reaction of the towns people to the deliverance of these men is astounding

The two most possessed people, the most violently affected people that you can imagine, are freed by a simple command from Jesus. Yet the people beg Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

The disciples responded to the calming of the storm with reverence because the miracle revealed the truth about Jesus. In the case of the men set free, the response to the revelation is to tell Jesus to go away.

Was it the loss of their livelihood that sparked this rejection of Jesus? Or did the people discern that Jesus would want them to change in ways that they weren’t ready to?

There are many people who choose to be atheists or agnostics because they do not want the gospel to be true. They are happy in their ignorance and don’t want to come under the sovereignty of Christ.

Prayer

Lord, I pray for those people who reject you because they don’t want you to be Lord. Please open their eyes to see your glory. Amen.

Scripture

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed.” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Observation

Jesus comes down from the mountainside with a large crowd following Him. A man with leprosy kneels down before Him and asks to be healed.

Jesus reaches out and touches the man. Instantly the leprosy disappears. Jesus tells him to go to the priest to be examined as a testimony that he has been healed.

In Capernaum a Roman officer asks Jesus to heal his servant, Jesus offers to come to the man’s home, but he says this will not be necessary. The officer knows how authority works and Jesus just has to say the word and the servant will be healed.

Jesus marvels at this gentile’s faith. He declares that the servant has been healed.

Application

The man with leprosy knew that Jesus could heal him if Jesus was willing, Jesus said He was willing and instantly, the man was better.

Many of us have been conditioned to believe that Jesus is no longer willing to heal. We believe He can. but it seems that He doesn’t do it.

Some of this is from the heresy of cessationism – the belief that miracles and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are no longer relevant. Part of it is the materialism of western society that insists that only naturally explicable events can occur.

The truth is that, Jesus is willing and able to heal every kind of sickness, just as He was, when He was physically on earth. We must recover the faith necessary to reach out and receive the gift.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please forgive my unbelief and help me to put my trust in you for healing for myself and for others. Amen.

Scripture

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching for he taught with real authority- quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

Observation

Jesus concludes his sermon with a parable about building a house.

A person who listens to his teaching and follows it, is like a person who builds his house on solid rock. When the floods come and the storms the house will stand firm and unmoved.

The person who does not obey Jesus’s word is like a man who builds a house on sand. When the storms come, the house is washed away.

After Jesus, finishes his sermon, the people are amazed at his authority.

Application

The people were amazed at Jesus’ authority because He was unlike any other teacher of religious law. The rabbis of the day did not proclaim their ideas from their own authority. They would cite the other rabbis as the source of their teachings.

Jesus was not like this. He taught with His own authority because He was God in the flesh.

Because Jesus is God as well as being truly human, He has authority over the whole of creation. He commanded storms to be still, bread to multiply, leprosy to be healed, and so on.

He has authority over my life also. One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. In the meantime, we have the honour of serving Him.

Jesus is Lord over all things. He is Lord, even over those who do not recognise His Lordship,

Prayer

Jesus, you are my Lord. Please give me the grace to surrender everything into your hands. Amen.