June 20, 2008
Everything was fine for Peter as he walked on the water until he started looking at the waves around him instead of on Jesus. It also underlined Jesus' willingness for us to come to him. When Peter asked Jesus if he could come to him over the waters, Jesus gave him a simple answer, "Come."
I would like to focus more on Christ's willingness today with another simple passage of scripture from Matthew.
"When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of his leprosy." — Matthew 8:1-3
Just as in the case with Peter sinking into the Sea of Galilee, we see Christ's willingness to take action on our behalf. Leprosy was an unclean disease and according to Jewish law and tradition, people with leprosy could not be touched because it would make those who touched them ceremonially unclean.
Unlike so many people and churches which try to portray Jesus as this pacifist peacenik, he very much was a God of action. Christ could have said the words, "Be clean!" and that would have been enough, but out of compassion Jesus touched him and made the man's dreadful disease go away.
The entire eighth chapter of Matthew deals with healings by Jesus. Again, more action.
When reading the passage, of particular interest is the faith of those who are asking Jesus to heal them. I want to give a modern example to contrast what we're seeing being accomplished by Jesus.
Imagine you are sick. You are coughing, short of breath and easily fatigued. You go to your regular doctor, hoping he can heal you. The problem is more severe than he thought and you are sent to a vascular specialist. That doctor may recognize the problem, but doesn't have the means to heal, so you are sent to a surgeon who then can try to fix the problem surrounding the heart.
At each stage you are hoping for relief from the doctor, but truthfully, how many have an abiding faith the doctor can make things right? It's not there, so you are just hoping.
Such was not the case in Matthew 8. The people calling on Jesus were not calling out of hope something could be done, they knew Christ could fix the problem.
The leper knew Christ had the power, his only question was, "If you are willing," to which Jesus emphatically said, "I am willing."
There was no appointment necessary. No consultation and no referral to a specialist. Christ is ready, willing and able to meet our needs.
It seems in this post-modern world, we think it is naive to believe Jesus will be there to meet our needs, to heal us when we are broken. Instead, we look to others for our needs and worse yet, we try to fill the emptiness inside ourselves with things of the world — when Christ is all that's needed.
To think that anything of the world could meet our needs is rubbish. Like I said before, Jesus Christ is all about action. He touches lives in ways none other can. Jesus heals the body and the spirit.
We must come to the full knowledge of this if we are to hope to ever have a better understanding of the fullness of Christ.
Let's look at Jesus dealing with the Roman centurion.
"When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 'Lord,' he said, 'my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.' Jesus said to him, 'I will go and heal him.' The centurion replied, 'Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes, and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, 'I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Then Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.' And his servant was healed at that very hour." — Matthew 8:5-13
Again, when Christ was asked for help, he was ready to spring into action. The centurion, in spite of the rank he had attained in the Roman army, humbled himself before Jesus and acknowledged that what Jesus could offer was sufficient to meet his need.
As humans, we hear it, we read it in the Bible, but it is another thing to abandon all of our preconceptions and turn everything over to Christ.
I have commented on a missionary friend we have in China whose parents live here in Palestine. He's been going through a lot lately. His restaurant/Christian outreach was raided by the Chinese military. His papers, books and Bibles burned. While he was 2,000 miles away from the earthquake that devastated part of China, the entire country has been dealing with the after effects. Now, the region in China where Jeff Dixon is doing his work for God has been hit by severe flooding recently, flooding his home and closing his restaurant. In spite of all this, I get happy when I get an e-mail from Jeff, because it seems the light of God is always shining through him, just read what he had to say.
"This life God has given me is not always easy, in fact, most of the time it is very difficult, but I am filled with the joy to see God in a way that many do not have the opportunity to see."
As we see footage of American homes, food, businesses and livelihoods floating down the Mississippi River, it could be easy to say God has abandoned us. Remember though, Jesus is a God of action.
He is ready to take up the fight on our behalf. So while some may see destruction floating down the river, we can be like Jeff in China, and learn to see God through the devastation.
If we call on him and believe he can solve the problems, he will answer. This is not "name-it-and-claim-it," garbage. This has to deal with spiritual renewal at the hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even for those of us who have been bought and paid for through Jesus’ blood, we still need him to heal the hurts and travails the world can foist upon us.
He is willing, but are we willing to let him do that for us.?
The great 17th century preacher Matthew Henry said, in paraphrase, we must make ourselves willing to accept whatever Christ has for us. Just like the leper petitioning Christ for healing.
Here is what Christ is to us, in the words of the Rev. Henry.
"They who by faith apply themselves to Christ for mercy and grace, may be sure that he is willing, freely willing, to give them the mercy and grace they come to him for. Christ is a Physician, that does not need to be sought for, he is always in the way; does not need to be urged, while we are yet speaking, he hears; does not need to be fed, he heals freely, not for price nor reward. He has given all possible demonstration, that he is as willing and he is able to save sinners."
It is hard to stay in a broken state, but if we can come to the knowledge we are incapable of doing anything without Christ, then we are able to take part in Christ’s work here on earth.
I would like to focus more on Christ's willingness today with another simple passage of scripture from Matthew.
"When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of his leprosy." — Matthew 8:1-3
Just as in the case with Peter sinking into the Sea of Galilee, we see Christ's willingness to take action on our behalf. Leprosy was an unclean disease and according to Jewish law and tradition, people with leprosy could not be touched because it would make those who touched them ceremonially unclean.
Unlike so many people and churches which try to portray Jesus as this pacifist peacenik, he very much was a God of action. Christ could have said the words, "Be clean!" and that would have been enough, but out of compassion Jesus touched him and made the man's dreadful disease go away.
The entire eighth chapter of Matthew deals with healings by Jesus. Again, more action.
When reading the passage, of particular interest is the faith of those who are asking Jesus to heal them. I want to give a modern example to contrast what we're seeing being accomplished by Jesus.
Imagine you are sick. You are coughing, short of breath and easily fatigued. You go to your regular doctor, hoping he can heal you. The problem is more severe than he thought and you are sent to a vascular specialist. That doctor may recognize the problem, but doesn't have the means to heal, so you are sent to a surgeon who then can try to fix the problem surrounding the heart.
At each stage you are hoping for relief from the doctor, but truthfully, how many have an abiding faith the doctor can make things right? It's not there, so you are just hoping.
Such was not the case in Matthew 8. The people calling on Jesus were not calling out of hope something could be done, they knew Christ could fix the problem.
The leper knew Christ had the power, his only question was, "If you are willing," to which Jesus emphatically said, "I am willing."
There was no appointment necessary. No consultation and no referral to a specialist. Christ is ready, willing and able to meet our needs.
It seems in this post-modern world, we think it is naive to believe Jesus will be there to meet our needs, to heal us when we are broken. Instead, we look to others for our needs and worse yet, we try to fill the emptiness inside ourselves with things of the world — when Christ is all that's needed.
To think that anything of the world could meet our needs is rubbish. Like I said before, Jesus Christ is all about action. He touches lives in ways none other can. Jesus heals the body and the spirit.
We must come to the full knowledge of this if we are to hope to ever have a better understanding of the fullness of Christ.
Let's look at Jesus dealing with the Roman centurion.
"When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 'Lord,' he said, 'my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.' Jesus said to him, 'I will go and heal him.' The centurion replied, 'Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes, and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, 'I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Then Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.' And his servant was healed at that very hour." — Matthew 8:5-13
Again, when Christ was asked for help, he was ready to spring into action. The centurion, in spite of the rank he had attained in the Roman army, humbled himself before Jesus and acknowledged that what Jesus could offer was sufficient to meet his need.
As humans, we hear it, we read it in the Bible, but it is another thing to abandon all of our preconceptions and turn everything over to Christ.
I have commented on a missionary friend we have in China whose parents live here in Palestine. He's been going through a lot lately. His restaurant/Christian outreach was raided by the Chinese military. His papers, books and Bibles burned. While he was 2,000 miles away from the earthquake that devastated part of China, the entire country has been dealing with the after effects. Now, the region in China where Jeff Dixon is doing his work for God has been hit by severe flooding recently, flooding his home and closing his restaurant. In spite of all this, I get happy when I get an e-mail from Jeff, because it seems the light of God is always shining through him, just read what he had to say.
"This life God has given me is not always easy, in fact, most of the time it is very difficult, but I am filled with the joy to see God in a way that many do not have the opportunity to see."
As we see footage of American homes, food, businesses and livelihoods floating down the Mississippi River, it could be easy to say God has abandoned us. Remember though, Jesus is a God of action.
He is ready to take up the fight on our behalf. So while some may see destruction floating down the river, we can be like Jeff in China, and learn to see God through the devastation.
If we call on him and believe he can solve the problems, he will answer. This is not "name-it-and-claim-it," garbage. This has to deal with spiritual renewal at the hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even for those of us who have been bought and paid for through Jesus’ blood, we still need him to heal the hurts and travails the world can foist upon us.
He is willing, but are we willing to let him do that for us.?
The great 17th century preacher Matthew Henry said, in paraphrase, we must make ourselves willing to accept whatever Christ has for us. Just like the leper petitioning Christ for healing.
Here is what Christ is to us, in the words of the Rev. Henry.
"They who by faith apply themselves to Christ for mercy and grace, may be sure that he is willing, freely willing, to give them the mercy and grace they come to him for. Christ is a Physician, that does not need to be sought for, he is always in the way; does not need to be urged, while we are yet speaking, he hears; does not need to be fed, he heals freely, not for price nor reward. He has given all possible demonstration, that he is as willing and he is able to save sinners."
It is hard to stay in a broken state, but if we can come to the knowledge we are incapable of doing anything without Christ, then we are able to take part in Christ’s work here on earth.
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