Sermon On the Net

 

 

 

 

THE OLD AND THE NEW

 

Matthew 9: When Jesus arrived in Capernaum a paralytic was brought to Him and because Jesus told him his sins were forgiven, the teachers of the law accused Him of blasphemy. Verse 2: “…Take heart, son; you sins are forgiven.” Jesus, knowing their hearts asked them if it would be easier to heal him instead. To prove to them that He had the authority to do anything He told the paralytic to get up and walk which he did.

 

As Jesus was walking He saw Matthew, a tax collector, and told him to follow Him and he did, immediately, and without question. When Jesus was seen eating with the tax collector friends of Matthew and sinners, the Pharisees questioned His actions and Jesus explained that He came for the sinners and not for the righteous; verse 12,  “…For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

 

Some of John’s disciples came and questioned Jesus as to why they fasted and His disciples did not.; Jesus used an analogy to explain the reason. Their time would come but not while Jesus was with them. He used another analogy to explain to them that he was brining a new era to replace the old. The two would not be compatible. A great lesson can be learned here as to why religions and God’s ways don’t mesh. Simply put, man’s ways do not conform to God’s ways. One fundamental difference is God’s way is forgiveness through the acceptance of Jesus as Savior, whereas man preaches the necessity of continual sacrifice or following man made rules and regulations. This is exactly why Jesus appeared on the scene and offered Himself as the sacrificial Lamb, because man failed miserably in his attempt to please God.

 

The balance of the chapter deals with the miracle of the little girl, bringing her back to life and the healing of the two blind men. These healings bring out a most important factor when we pray to the Lord. Faith; faith; faith; faith without doubt; faith without the tiniest seed of doubt. Jesus said to the blind man: “According to your faith will it be done to you.” ‘According to your faith’ is the key, it isn’t whether or not God wants to heal, no, it is according to one’s depth of faith. Remember when Jesus said ‘faith could move mountains’, well I believe He meant it. I wouldn’t know how to explain the depth of faith that Jesus was talking about, but I do know it has to be totally without condition or doubt.

 

Jesus continued to preach and heal the afflicted. He felt a great compassion for them and told the disciples to pray for workers to spread the message of salvation. To do the work of the Lord one must be born again and if you are not please pray and ask Jesus to come into your life. Tell Him that you are a sinner and lost and that you believe in what He died for on the cross and that you need Him and you have the utmost faith in His Word, that is, you believe without question that you need Him and only Him once and for all time.