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.

Scripture

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in Heaven will enter.

Observation

Jesus warns us of the false prophets who come as wolves disguised as sheep. They can be identified by the fruit they produce. A good tree producers, good fruit, but a bad tree can only produce bad fruit.

Only those who do the will of the Father will get into heaven. Many will say, “We cast our demons in the name of Jesus.” But He will say to them, “Go away. I never knew you.”

Application

The kingdom of Heaven is not about what we do for Jesus, but what we do with Jesus,

It is a mystery to me that people may perform miracles and cast out demons in Jesus’ name, but not actually know him.

There are many people who think they are OK with God, but are not saved. They will go to hell.

These are people like the nominal christians who tick a box on the census and maybe turn up at Christmas. These are the atheists who now describe themselves as cultural Christians, that is, they like what the gospel does for society, but don’t want to submit themselves to the Lordship of Christ. These are the ministers and bishops, the pew warmers, and the church goers who love the church, but have no relationship with Jesus.

What is the will of the Father? This actually comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. To find out how to do the will of the Father, we need to go back to the beginning of the sermon and let it challenge us again.

Prayer

Thank you, Jesus, for inviting me into your kingdom. I acknowledge you as my Lord and I ask you to show me how to do the will of the Father. Amen.

Scripture

“Everyone who asks receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks the door will be opened.”

Observation

Jesus tells us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking on the door. Everyone who asks will receive; everyone who seeks will find; and everyone who knocks the door will be opened.

If Earthly parents know how to give good gifts to their children. How much more will our heavenly Father give us what we need.

We can only enter God’s kingdom through the narrow gate. The road to hell is wide, but the road to life is narrow and only a few ever find it.

Application

Jesus is adamant that our Father answers prayer. He iss a good father. He knows how to give good gifts to His children.

Here, the emphasis is on persistence in prayer. We must keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking on the door.

In our instant quick fix culture, we get discouraged when God does not seem to answer our prayers according to our time scale, We get discouraged so easily. The person is not healed after a single prayer. Somebody isn’t saved the instant we pray for them. We then assume that the prayer failed. Maybe we just need more faith.

Jesus tells us to keep on praying. Be persistent and do not give up. This is the kind of prayer, which God answers.

Prayer

Lord, please show me how to pray the kind of prayers you require. Help me to be persistent and to not give up until I see your grace at work. Amen.

Scripture

“Hypocrite! First, get rid of the log in your own eye then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

Observation

We are not to leap to judgement about others because we will reap what we sow. The standard we use in judging others is the standard God will use against us.

We must not worry about the speck in our friend’s eye when we have a log in our own eye. We must get rid of the log in our own eye to help the friend with their speck.

We should not waste holy teaching and wisdom on people who don’t want to receive it. They will trample the teaching and then use it to attack us.

Application

We are under constant temptation to judge other people – our co-workers, family members, celebrities, and politicians.

Jesus tells us to stop doing this. The word judge means to condemn or pass sentence. We find people guilty and condemn them without taking the time to find out why they do things.

We find fault with other people and offer to help them, even when we are guilty of far greater sins or even the same sins.

Jesus doesn’t tell us, we shouldn’t help people become better people or stronger believers. We do have to deal with our own sins first so that we can be genuinely helpful.

This takes a measure of humility in which we acknowledge that we are as guilty as anyone else. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans. 3:23)

To be able to help another person. I must first acknowledge my own weakness. I confess my “logs” to God and ask Him to remove him so that I can be useful to others.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are removing the logs in my eyes. Please keep me free from the sins of self-righteousness and pride. Amen.

Scripture

“No one can serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Observation

We must not store up treasures here on earth where they can be stolen or they can deteriorate in value. Instead, we must store up treasures in heaven, where nothing can take away from their value.

The eyes are lamp that lights up the body. If you have a good eye, the whole body is filled with light.

We cannot serve two masters. One will be dominant in our affections and devotion.

We cannot serve both God and money.

Application

It is difficult to juggle two jobs. It is possible, if you have defined work hours in both jobs. But if both jobs say, “I need you to work this weekend”, then which one gets the priority?

If we have two gods with different priorities and both demand total dedication, then we cannot meet that demand. To follow Jesus means that we give our total allegiance to Him alone.

Money is not necessarily a god in our lives. It is after all just a tool for commerce. When it becomes the source of our security, then it has become a god in our heart.

The test is this: Where do I turn to when I’m feeling under pressure? Is it the Lord or is it money? Do I feel more secure when I have a thousand dollars in the bank or just ten dollars?

God has promised to supply all that we need. He is the true source of our security.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord.,that I can trust you to provide all that I need. Help me to rely solely on you and not on my own resources. Amen.

Scripture

“When you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and dishevelled so that people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.”

Observation

Jesus gives us the words of the Lord’s Prayer.

Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your Kingdom come. Give us the things we really need day by day and forgive us as we forgive others.

If we refuse to forgive other people, our Father will not forgive us.

When we fast, we must not make it obvious. If people praise us for fasting then we will receive nothing from the Father. Our fasting must be to the Lord alone, and He will reward us.

Application

It is hard to imagine a society which values outward piety in the way described by Jesus. If you tell someone you’re fasting, you will have to launch into a long explanation of what fasting is and the spiritual benefits of abstaining from food.

This is an example of what we now call “virtue signalling.” We put Ukraine flags on social media and claim that we stand with some group or other.

Usually virtue signalling carries no cost. It is done to gain the approval of friends and acquaintances.

Real virtue is when we go and volunteer at the homeless people’s shelter or we give sacrificially to a charity. Jesus would warn us not to post about this on Facebook.

We live in a performative society. That is, we are judged by our performance on the social stage. Jesus encourages us to get off the stage and focus on being authentic with Him alone.

Prayer

Lord, you call us to seek approval in you alone. Please rescue me from the trap of people pleasing. Amen.