Demons Obey the Command of Jesus

In today’s society it is easy to reject stories of demon possession as ignorant and unscientific descriptions of mental illness.  However, such a dismissive view leaves too many questions unanswered, both in our experience today and in Scripture.  In Luke 8:26-39 we have an encounter that Jesus had with an individual who is described as being possessed with a great number of demons.

So what are these demons?  The basic, biblical answer is that they are evil, spiritual entities that are in league with Satan.  Though they are invisible to the human eye, the effect of their activities can be seen.  Without detail, the Bible describes the reality that demons are able to take varying possession of the faculties and actions of certain vulnerable people.  In the Bible demonic possession involves more than simply “acting crazy.”  There is usually interaction with an intelligence that seems beyond the person, and is repulsed and removed by the power of Jesus.  For a man to go from years of “mental illness” and speaking as if he had demons within him to total transformation within a matter of minutes begs any natural explanation. Such is the case in our story today.  Christians should be careful of seeing all things strange as the result of demons.  However, neither should we fall into the materialistic tendencies of the modern age that sees such things as patently impossible.

Now the title of this sermon is about how demons obey the command of Christ.  How do I mean that?  God’s commands can be prescriptive in the sense of how we ought to live.  Thus His command: love one another as I have loved you.  Yet, God’s commands can also be directive or judicial in the sense of what will happen whether we cooperate or not.  God won’t force us to love one another.  But when he commands demons to leave a man, it is a judicial command that cannot be “disobeyed” any more than a man sentenced to prison can disobey and walk out of court.  They have no choice.

Demons Are Enemies of God and Man

Having crossed the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples come to the shore of the opposite side in the area of Gadara.  Here they are met by a raving man who has been abused by demons for a long time.  We are given the account of an interaction that Jesus had with these demons and in it we recognize two clear facts: Demons do not care for humans and they are not working with God.

Another thing we find is that demons are numerous.  Regardless the number, a great number of demons were working together to keep this man under their control and to work through him.  Any attempt to quantify the population of demons that are preying on mankind would be pure speculation.  Another point of note comes from Luke 11:24-26.  There we see that some demons are more wicked than others and the condition of a man is worse when more than one demon is involved.  Also, that demons have no “rest” until they have taken possession of an individual.  It stands to reason that wicked individuals become more susceptible to demonic possession as they morally degrade.  We would also expect societies that are heavily involved in working with spirits to see higher numbers of these possessions because they would have a higher number of vulnerable individuals.  Thus some places in the world may see very little of this and in other places it may be a common thing.

Another thing we see here is a classic sign of demonic possession.  Demons always abuse those they inhabit.  The abuse begins in the mind.  A demon that possesses a person will force its personality and will upon an individual from time to time.  Though it may be sporadic at first, it can become worse over time.  In this story the intellect of the man who is possessed does not appear until after the demons are cast out.  However, the abuse is obviously more than mental.  Note that the passage describes the man’s life.  Somewhere along the line these demons began to manifest to the point that the city in which he lived tried to restrain him.  However, nothing they tried was able to restrain the man.  He eventually is driven out into the tombs and lives among the dead and wearing no clothes.  He has become an outcast driven into the wilderness.  Thus demons abuse the host and yet also abuse others through the host.

At this point you might be scared of these beings.  Yet, notice that they are very afraid of Jesus.  As spirit beings they are perceptive of spiritual matters.  Thus they direct the man out of the tombs to meet Jesus at the shore with the question, “What have I to do with you?”  This area lies outside of Israel at the time.  Thus Jesus is stepping onto the spiritual turf of these demons.  He is a threat and they want to know why Jesus is there and what he is doing.  Lastly they are afraid that Jesus might be there to torture them by commanding them into the Abyss.  What is the Abyss?  Sometimes translated as “bottomless pit” it is only explained in Revelation chapter 9.  Here we see it is a kind of spiritual prison for wicked spirits.  Why some are in this prison and not all is not explained.  These demons are clearly afraid Jesus has come to put them in it.  Thus demons would rather be free to roam the earth and possess the vulnerable than be locked up in the Abyss awaiting the end of this Age.

Lastly, we see in this passage the manipulative nature of demons.  As evil beings they cannot be trusted.  Even “truthful” things they may say cannot be trusted.  I am not saying that Jesus is duped here.  However, the demons are attempting to control the situation to their benefit.  As long as they do not end up in the Abyss they are "happy."  They are not happy about Jesus being in this area.  Thus, I believe, the petition to be allowed to enter the pigs is more about creating a scene than attempting to stay in the pigs.  When Jesus allows this, the demons drive the pigs into the sea thus killing them.  This would then deprive the demons of their hosts causing them to escape into the area looking for more prey.  Why would they do this?  There seems to be an element of rage in this scene.  The full, destructive rage of demons is generally checked by their desire to retain possession of a host.  However, in this case, they do not care about the pigs and in a fit of rage throw a kind of tantrum as a means of venting against Jesus.  Yet, they also create turmoil in the area that would make the inhabitants fearful of Jesus and angry at their loss of income.  So there may be a kind of defensive maneuver here to protect their territory. 

Jesus Healed the Demon Possessed Man

Now in looking at the demons we do not want to lose sight of what is happening for the man.  Jesus has healed him of his affliction.  Even more serious than a physical sickness is a spiritual sickness in which one’s inner being is invaded by something worse than cancer.  We see here that no number of demons is a match for Jesus.  There is no battle, nor week long exorcism.  Jesus has absolute command over these demons.  Though they try to manipulate it, they had to leave the man they had controlled for so long.  Now for Jesus it is no problem.  However, for us, some spirits are more difficult than others.  Believers who come into contact with a demon possessed person need to be humble and careful.  Through prayer and fasting we can purge our life of anything that might be between us and our Lord.  Jesus is the power that demons fear.  If they fear believers at all, it will only be because of our close relationship with Jesus and dependence upon his power alone.

The owners of the pigs had witnessed this event and ran to town in order to tell everyone what happened.  Thus a large group gathers at the beach and finds the previously possessed man “in his right mind.”  He is no longer a raving lunatic that is destroying himself and anyone who gets in the way.  He is his “old self.”  Even here we see the recognition that a switch in personality and activity has happened, and without years of counseling and psychotropic drugs.  Unless you write off the account as a myth, it is hard to explain this other than the biblical explanation.  Let me take a moment to contrast the way that God’s Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to the way demons operate in their hosts.  God does not want to take away control of our own mind.  He wants us to follow Him out of loving obedience.  However, evil spirits lust to subject the personality of an individual beneath theirs in domination.  They operate in an abusive mode, whereas the Holy Spirit operates in a gentle mode.  They operate in deception and manipulative promises, whereas the Holy Spirit operates out of truth and purity of intent.

Even though the man is in his right mind, the locals want Jesus to leave.  He is a "trouble maker" who threatens the order of things in their district.  Their fear of Jesus and what he is capable of doing causes them to push him away.  Jesus is going to leave.  However, I believe this encounter was exactly what he had come to do.  He had come to confront these demons and set a man free.  In light of this we may now have deeper understanding into why the storm threatened to swamp their boat and kill them all.  Spiritual battles often play out in the material world unknown to man.  Christ was causing enough problems in Israel.  Satan did not want him entering other strongholds.

The man’s response is understandably different.  The man is so thankful that he wants to follow Jesus and become a disciple.  He may also be afraid to leave the side of Jesus in that the demons could come back.  How wonderful it would be to follow such a man of power and compassion.   Imagine the safety and joy that would be his in the presence of Jesus.  Yet it was not to be so.  Following Jesus is not always about going somewhere.  Sometimes it is about staying.  It is not that this man lacks the qualifications to be a disciple that followed Jesus around, but rather, it is that Christ had a different purpose for him.  He would become a witness who would spread the truth throughout the area that Jesus delivered him from a legion of demons.  Later when the apostles spread out from Jerusalem due to persecution, Christians would enter this area and find people who were prepared to receive the gospel because of the faithfulness of this man who had been possessed by demons.

Let me close by warning believers.  We may run into this more and more in the United States of America in the future.  We are clearly casting off the Word of God and at the same time embracing all manner of spiritism.  Beware of playing with things that seek to contact spirits or satan even if it seems benign.  Beware of using spirits to try and foresee the future, whether through seemingly innocent Ouija boards or occult rituals.  These spirits are manipulative and deceptive.  By the time you think to back out, it will be too late.  Also, be careful that you are not hiding secret sin in your life because this will inhibit your ability to be a source of freedom for others.  Guard your heart from the seduction of spirits that promise the heavens but instead deliver hell.

Demons Obey Jesus mp3

The True Jesus: Authority To Heal

We ended Luke chapter 6 with the issue of whether or not Jesus really is our master.  If he is our master then we will live our life as His teachings direct.  Chapter 7 then starts with may at first appear to just be another healing story.  Don’t get me wrong.  Jesus does heal someone.  But, there is more being taught here than that Jesus could heal.

Jesus was not just a so-called “healer” who was somehow operating slightly above the level of a snake-oil salesman.  Neither was he a complete fake who was feeding off of the gullibility of a backward people.  People have always been gullible.  But it is in accounts such as these, that we see aspects that demonstrate that Jesus wasn’t a charlatan.  Here we see that Jesus demonstrating that he is Lord of creation and has the authority to command healing at will.  This may bring up the question of why He doesn’t then do more commanding of miracles.  Let’s look at the passage and establish His authority first.

The Request Of Intercession

In verses 1-7 we see that this is initiated by others coming up to Jesus in a city of northern Israel called Capernaum.  Rome had troops stationed throughout all of Israel and Capernaum was no exception.  A centurion would be an officer in charge of up to 100 men.  So there is no reason to expect some kind of collusion between him and Jesus.  This centurion has demonstrated a love for the Jewish people but we are not told his religious “status” with the rabbis of Israel.  Is he a convert, a proselyte, or just generous?  Whatever his status he paid enough attention to what was going on in Israel that he had heard of Jesus.  When a servant that was very dear to him was about to die, the centurion does what he can to find Jesus and ask him to heal the servant.  Now in this story the centurion asks some Jewish people to talk to Jesus first.  This is a great story illustrating intercession.

Intercession is to ask something for the sake of another out of love.  The word basically involves 3 parties: the one in need, the one who can help, and the one who goes to get the helper.  Intercession at its heart is a person serving as a mediator on behalf of another.  It is the servant who is in need.  However we have several layers of mediators.  The Jews mediate for a gentile centurion.  There are friends who also mediate for the centurion.  Lastly, although it is not clear in this telling, it seems from Matthew’s account of this story that the centurion himself speaks with Jesus in the end.  Each of these layers demonstrate an affinity or love of the other person.  The centurion cares about the servant.  The friends and the Jews probably don’t know the servant, but they do care about the centurion.  Now I point this aspect out because the Bible warns us that in the last days people will be lovers of themselves.  Thus we can use intercession as a type of barometer.  Do I pray?  And, when I do, how much of it is praying for others because I care about them?  If most of my praying is only for myself, then most likely I am being molded by the spirit of this age to love myself.  It is not wrong to pray for yourself, but we need to pay attention to this aspect.  Do I have a love for others that drives me to my knees in order to pray to God for them?

The first layer of mediators is the Jews.  They approach Jesus with some reasoning for why He should heal the man’s servant.  He is a worthy man.  They press it home by pointing out his love for the Jewish people and how he had even given money to build a synagogue.  Now before I diminish the reasoning of these Jews, let’s note that it is not the centurion who thinks he is worthy.  This is an important part of intercession.  Often, people don’t think they are worthy of God’s notice.  Or, they think that God doesn’t care about them.  Intercession is powerful because it uses the worth that they have to us, to propel us into prayer on their behalf.  However, we must be careful and not confuse their value to us with their value to God.  Yes, the centurion has shown love to God’s people and has benefitted them.  It only seems right that they should benefit him back in some way.  Yet, the centurion knows himself.  In verse 6 and 7 he states that he is not worthy.  This beautiful picture would really have been ruined if he had an attitude that he was worthy and Jesus owed Him a miracle.  Intercession can never be about demanding something and making our best case as to why God must do something.  Rather, it is a reenacting of the beauty of God’s heart that gets His attention.

Jesus does not address the worthiness issue.  He could have.  Instead he lets it drop.  However, the teaching of Christ and the apostles is that Jesus is the only one who is worthy to receive anything from God.  No one, but Jesus, is worthy of anything from God, in and of themselves.  Paul talks about his ability to be used powerfully as an apostle in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”  Thus, the Jews did not convince Jesus to come heal the servant by their reasoning.  Rather, they helped convince him by demonstrating that they had a heart like his.  Jesus is the ultimate intercessor and mediator.  God’s heart was so broken over the lostness of mankind that His Son comes to earth in order to intercede and mediate with the Father for man.  This wave after wave of intercessors compels Jesus to give the request, a healing. 

If we are blessed by God it is not because we are worthy, but only because we are believing on the only One who is The Worthy One.  All the money that helped build a synagogue for the Jews would be later destroyed.  It is doing them no good today.  All the love and well-wishing he had for them would do no good to stop the tragedies that lay ahead.  In a material and temporal sense, the centurion’s gifts were wasted and of little value.  But in a spiritual sense they were of great value.  Through them a heart was revealed that believed there was something more to the religion of this people called the Jews.  Through them a heart was revealed that wanted to bless what God was doing.  Through them a heart that believed was revealed, which is of eternal value to God.  God’s heart is about taking those who are far removed from Him and bringing them close.  This centurion was right in thinking that he was a nobody when it came to asking the Messiah of Israel for a healing.  But, good news!  That is exactly who Jesus is looking for.  He is looking for some nobodies.

The Power Of Christ To Heal

If Jesus is famous for anything it is the miracles of healing.  But this passage reveals something deeper about the ability Jesus had to heal.  First, of all it is not by coincidence that the centurion tells Jesus to just “say the words.”  In the Bible the Word of God is everything.  In fact in John 1 it is revealed that Jesus is the ultimate Word of God.  Thus it really is the Word of God that heals.  We must never forget this.  You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.  The Word of God is Truth.  The centurion doesn’t know that Jesus is the eternal Word of God.  But he does understand the power of authority.  When a general gives a command the centurions obey.  When the centurion gives a command the legionnaires obey.  Thus the Father spoke the Son into the world and that Word is not done.  He came first to heal the wound of sin.  But He will come again in order to remove the scourge of sin through judgment.  Yet, even that judgment is a completion of the healing of the creation.  He must remove that sin and those sinners who refuse to be healed.  The primary purpose in all that God says and does is to give life of which healing is a subcategory.  Even when God’s Word speaks judgment it is so that we will see our need of healing.  This truth is everywhere in Scripture.  God’s Word doesn’t just heal physical problems.  It is the answer to every situation and problem, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Does this idea get abused by some religious people?  Sure.  But what does that have to do with the Truth?  You hear the Truth and embrace it.

Next, we see that Jesus has the authority to heal.  Authority is sometimes translated as power because of the close relationship.  The word here specifically means that Jesus not only has the ability to heal, but that he is free to do so.  He has the right to heal.  Thus Jesus is unique in this area.  He alone has the authority to heal on command.  Even those who have the spiritual gift of healing technically do not have such authority as Jesus did.  Rather, we have the authority to point people to Jesus who does have power to save and heal.  When we point people to Jesus the Holy Spirit will quite frequently come and reveal this saving and healing power.  Thus pastors and teachers do not have the Truth in and of themselves.  The best they can do is point you to the One who does and that is Jesus.  When pastors faithfully point people to the True Jesus the Holy Spirit will be there working to open their eyes and encourage belief.  However, We have the right and authority to share the Truth of who Jesus is with everyone.  The world will challenge us on that.  Even some Christians are beginning to dream up reasons why certain people shouldn’t be evangelized.  However, no matter what man says, our authority is from God Himself.  You be the judge should we obey man or God?

Notice here that faith is centered on Jesus, the One who can heal.  Today, in our desire to get Jesus to do something, we can be a lot like the Jews in this story.  We can do all manner of things in order to be worthy enough to get a healing.  But this is not what gets God’s attention.  Such motivations is what has led people to focus more on believing that the healing will happen rather than Jesus can heal on command.  Thus the miracle becomes the object of our faith instead of Jesus.  Another step away from Jesus is when we actually focus our faith on our faith itself.  This happens when we teach people that they didn’t have enough faith to be healed.  It is possible to not have faith.  But we should be talking about faith in Jesus.  People end up trying to work up some mystical powerful faith that will get them healed on demand.  We need to get back to the simplicity of this story.  A man in need, with friends helping him, intercedes with Jesus for healing.  The rest is up to Jesus.  If He says, “my grace is sufficient for you,” then we need to trust Him and leave it at that.  Thus there are two tensions in our day.  Some refuse to believe that miracles can happen today.  Notice even that statement is not focused on Jesus.  Can Jesus still heal today?  Can the Creator of the universe still create?  Of course He can.  Then healing and miracles can still occur.  We need to be using the rights that Christ has given us to point people to Jesus as their answer for sin, and sickness.  Yet, others have abused this area and turned it into a ludicrous show.  Through sleight of hand, crowd manipulation, bad interpretation of Scripture, and other means, some have abused this area of healing.  Put your faith on Jesus not the healing.  Put your faith on Jesus not your own faith.  Walk forward in trust and Jesus will give you all that you need.  Believe that.

Authority to Heal Audio

Lord of the Sabbath II

Last week we saw how Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, which means He is the authority on what it’s purpose was about.  Jesus rejected the “splitting hairs” tradition of the rabbis because they were dead wrong on what Sabbath was all about.  Today we are going to see a second issue that led to complaints to how Jesus kept the Sabbath.  This begins in Luke 6:6.

Often the differing schools of interpretation within Judaism liked it when Jesus contradicted or disproved their opponents.  However, Jesus had an ability to do this to all of them.  That is why they scrutinized him so much.  They needed something they could use to discredit this “dangerous man.”  Let’s see how Jesus responded to this scrutiny.

Jesus is Scrutinized

In verses 6 and 7 we are given a scene at a synagogue, much like a church is today.  In this scene the Scribes and Pharisees are watching Jesus like a hawk.  What would he do?  There is a difference from watching out for a brother and watching someone like a bird of prey.  This scene is similar to the political maneuverings we see in our own day.  In fact, the “smart” politicians take out their opponents before they can get any following.  Yet, this is not the Spirit of the Lord. 

There happens to be a man there who has a paralyzed hand.  It is called “withered” because the paralysis had shriveled and curled the hand up leaving it useless.  Most likely this man heard Jesus would be there and had come hoping to be healed.  It is possible he is there because the religious leaders are creating this trap.  Either way, they are hoping Jesus will heal the man because then they can accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath Law.  It is almost surreal that they could on one hand know that He could heal and yet on the other hand still accuse Him.

Now this leads up to the issue.  There is nothing wrong with testing teachers, prophets, and healers.  The Bible tells believers to “Test all things.”  God’s children are not called to be gullible sheep who are easily duped.  Not everything that purports to be a miracle from God really is.  However, we must learn to test properly.  These religious leaders have created a improper test.  They do not test Jesus against the Scriptures themselves.  But rather, they test Him against their own traditions based off of the Scriptures.  This is a dishonest test.  It is not just that they had a different interpretation.  But at the heart of it, they had added things you couldn’t do on the Sabbath because of their own wisdom.  All things must be “properly” tested against “Scripture alone.”  We shouldn’t test it against one verse pulled out of context.  Nor should we test it against a twisted and tortured understanding of a text.  Often, we might find ourselves coming to the conclusion that we don’t have enough information.  It is not clear.  In those cases it would be better to leave it between that person and God, rather than making a public judgment.

Jesus Responds with Teaching and Healing

Verses 8-11give the response of Jesus.  It is important to notice that, in the Bible, Jesus is not a rebel who was always trying to “stick it to the man.”  Rather, He was interested in Truth and rescuing Israel from the path that their religious leaders were taking them down.

Now we are told that Jesus knew their thoughts.  Whether words had been said, He knew what they were hoping for.  Remember that the same is true today.  Christ knows what is in your mind and heart.  He knows whether you are looking for excuses to walk away from Him or if you are hoping for a miracle.  You most likely aren’t struggling over whether Jesus should heal on the Sabbath or not.  However, you might have things against Jesus and His Word that are unspoken in your mind and heart.  Jesus could have not healed the guy, or did it later when they weren’t around.  Instead he boldly met their challenge.

First Jesus challenged their biblical understanding.  Just like Isaiah 1 has God calling out to Israel, “Come let us reason…” so Jesus takes time to reason with the “wise men” of any age.  He does so to draw us away from lies and towards a love of the Truth.  He asks two questions.  “Is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?”  Now doing evil on the Sabbath is clearly wrong because it is wrong on any day.  The Sabbath law was given, in part, as a check against the “evil” of working 7 days a week trying to increase yourself without acknowledging a need for God’s help.  This law helped to check the evil heart and point man to his greater need and greater supply.  We may not be under the Sabbath law today as Christians, but we still need to listen to the wisdom of God behind this law He gave Israel.  However, on another level this question begs another question.  If it is in your power to help someone in need and you do nothing, isn’t that evil?  Jesus could heal.  How could he walk by a man who wanted healed and do nothing because it is the Sabbath day?  Clearly he should do something.

Now there are many who use this line of reasoning against God Himself.  “How can God sit in heaven and not fix the bad stuff in this world?  If He exists then He must be evil.”  Of course this line of reasoning would be true if God had done nothing.  But the testimony of the Scriptures and of many throughout history is that God has helped us, just not in the way we demand he do it.  A common problem in helping people is that sometimes people don’t want to be “helped.”  God has helped mankind, but most won’t receive it.  What a tragedy.  He asks the same question again but used the word heal.  Which is lawful to heal or destroy?  The word translated as save in some versions would mean to heal in this context.  Jesus did not come to destroy men, but to bring healing and salvation to their lives.  This is the heart of God, especially in the Sabbath law that He gave Israel.

Jesus has the man come and stand by Him.  Apparently no one wants to debate with Jesus.  So Jesus then tells the man to stretch out his hand and it is healed.  They don’t care about the reasoning of Jesus.  They are convinced that they are right and only watch the outward actions of Jesus so that they can condemn Him.  Jesus is not only the justifier of His disciples, but He is also the healer of them too. He courageously steps forth and heals a man even though He will be maligned for it.  In fact this is a hallmark of Jesus and God.  God has the courage to stand by the weak and poor of this world who will embrace Him.  Even though the strong, rich, and wise mock such a band of people.  Whose side are you on?

The last verse of this section says that the Pharisees and Scribes were filled with madness.  Literally they lost their mind and tried to figure out what to do with Him.  When we contrast this with the passage in Acts 2, it begs another question, “What are you filled with?”  Am I filled with a madness or with the pure, Holy Spirit of God?  When God is doing a beautiful and wonderful work of salvation or healing, what am I filled with?  At the Red Sea the children of Israel were filled with joy and praise as a way was made through the waters.  However, Pharaoh’s heart was filled with rage and rushed into the trap bent on destroying Israel.  Today, God is drawing together a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.  He is filling them with His Spirit and faith.  However, others are becoming more and more maddened by such archaic beliefs.  We live in a mad world, but in the midst of that madness we are called to be a bold and courageous healer and savior with Jesus.  Let’s stand with the Lord of the Sabbath and rest in His peace!

Lord Sabbath II audio

Saving Sinners

Today we will pick up in Luke 5:27-32.  Here we see Jesus calling someone to be his disciple who was the opposite of the 4 fishermen we saw him call earlier.  Levi we find out later was also called Matthew and he was a tax collector who, no doubt, had paid a social price to be so.  He was considered a traitor and not welcome in the synagogue.  Yet, he was also well to do because of this profession.

Let’s look at how Jesus came to Matthew and what happened after that.

Sinners Need To Follow Jesus

Verse 27 says that Jesus came to Matthew at the Tax Office and said, “Follow me.”  These words are used elsewhere to call disciples.  But in Luke 5 the similarity is shown in how they responded to the call.  In verse 11, the fishermen “forsook all and followed him.”  Here it says that Levi (Matthew) “left all, rose up, and followed Him.  In both cases an emphasis is placed on the things left behind.

Now, following Jesus is a theme throughout the Gospels and, if you have ears to hear, throughout the whole Bible. He is the Way of the Lord, the Highway of Holiness, and the Narrow Way.  Only by following Him and His path will we find God and salvation.  Yet, to say, “yes” to Jesus and His direction is to also say, “no” to our current path and destination.  Levi was getting rich off the backs of his fellow citizens in a time of occupation.  This destination would only lead to judgment before God.

To follow Jesus is to allow Him to be your teacher.  A teacher should not only download information.  He essentially duplicates himself into the student.  The call to follow is the call to come and learn of Jesus about life; how to live it and for what purpose to live it.  It is important for us to stop and ask, “What is it that I need to learn?”  Am I learning from Jesus and following the path that He has laid out?

Jesus also became the master or Lord to those who followed Him.  He was obviously not a tyrannical despot who wanted to control their every thought and action.  But he did teach them about how to think and act in this world.  He gave them (us) commands and expected them to be followed.  Peter recognizes this lordship of Jesus when he said, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”  This recognition that Peter had much to learn and Jesus was not just a teacher but one who had authority to give him a command is essential for us to recognize.  Do I have such a heart before Jesus?  When Jesus tells us to love our enemies, do we say these same words with Peter?  “Master, this man has sinned against me all day; nevertheless at Your word I will forgive him.”  This is something that we may be resistant to in a day where slavery and being a master are frowned upon.  But let me challenge you.  You are obeying someone, whether it is a boss, government, and even yourself.  You have all kinds of masters.  Why not trade them all in for a master who truly cares for you and whose every command is for your good?

Levi gave up his job and followed Jesus.  Now following Jesus is essential for all who want to be his disciple.  But obviously only a few had the privilege to do so in flesh and blood.  Today, to follow Jesus is to read His word and do what it says; to let the struggle of that experience teach us about life and our purpose. Most Christians, who have ever lived, including the first century, did so within their previous profession and geographical area.  However, the key is that Jesus becomes our greatest Wisdom, Truth, and Leader.  Nothing should come between us and him.

Sinners Need To Be Led To Jesus

In verses 29-30 we see that Matthew throws a feast for Jesus (the Messiah) and invites all his friends, of whom many were tax collectors.  Matthew clearly wants to celebrate the reality of who Jesus is and share that with his friends.  Not think about this for a minute.  I highly doubt that any of these tax collectors and sinners were chasing Jesus around the deserted places of Galilee.  Sinners don’t generally hang out in the right places.  I’m sure that they had many feasts together and celebrated their wealth.  But today Jesus will be there.  These guys had made a choice that had not only excluded them from religious fellowship, but had most likely killed any desire to do seek inclusion.  Those who have embraced sin and its lifestyle become passively and actively insulated from Jesus and the Gospel.  It is imperative for believers to find ways to build bridges into the lives of the lost.  Here Matthew throws a feast.  Who would turn that down?  It doesn’t say whether Jesus preached or healed anyone.  But, if there was any hope for them, they needed to get in the same place where Jesus was.  Finding ways to give Jesus a “hearing” in people’s lives doesn’t have to be complicated.  In simple ways we can connect Jesus to the normal things of life.  Do some people abuse this concept?  It has been said that some cults would use “free sex” in order to get  people to want to be a part of the group.  This extreme example shows that we shouldn’t do just anything.  However, neither should we do precious little.  We could judge Matthew and Jesus just like the Pharisees did because it doesn’t look very spiritual.  However, these people are not spiritual at all.  We can’t sit in a synagogue that doesn’t allow certain types to enter and expect the lost to try to get in.  We must go out into their lives and lead them to Jesus.  They need to hear what He is saying rather than what we are saying.  Today we put all manner of things in the mouth of Jesus that He never said and never would.  Perverting, and twisting the words of Jesus are not what people need.  A re-imagined Jesus with a re-imagined teaching will only bring people to empty imaginations.  We must lead people to the real Jesus, not a Jesus we have fashioned into our own image.

Sinners Need Healed

Jesus answers the false piety of the Pharisees by essentially agreeing with their facts.  Yes, these men are tax collectors and sinners.  To the Pharisees the obvious conclusion was to stay away from them.  But Jesus points out that if they are sinners and spiritually sick, then they need to be healed.  How can a person be healed if a physician does not come to them?  At its heart sin is a sickness in need of healing.  Like a person with a broken bone, we may be able to get along in life.  But if that broken bone isn’t set correctly then we will be affected by it and so will others around us.

Let’s look at this sickness some more.  In Isaiah 1:5-6 it says, “Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more.  The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints.
From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed or bound up, or soothed with ointment.” Isaiah is clearly using the image of a wounded body full of infection for the sins and spiritual condition of Israel.  There are times when we can see this with our own eyes.  Anyone who has struggled with an alcoholic or anyone with an addiction will recognize that there is some kind of sickness at its core.  That is why it is tempting to say, “Alcoholism is a disease.”  It isn’t a physical disease.  There is no alcohol virus that we can make an anti-virus to combat.  But it is a moral sickness.  Sin is not just a choice.  It has effects that hook into our flesh and are not easily removed.  In that sense the sinner chooses the sin, but then becomes a victim to it.  They need healed and even when they get it and wish to be healed they often are impotent.  Jesus is a healer, both in body and mind.  Why would he cut himself off from the very people who need healed?

This was a feast to the sinners.  But to Jesus it was a hospital.  Matthew had invited all his wounded and sick friends to come and meet the only one who could truly heal them.  The only difference is that in this case sinners too often want healed of everything but what they need healed.  Thus Jesus tells us what needs healed and we have a choice to make.  Will I walk away still sick because I don’t want “that” to be healed?

The nature of repentance is that it opens the door to healing.  We must turn from the hideous nature of sin and turn towards the only one that can heal us.  Most sinners are fascinated with their sin.  In hearing the words of Jesus we must choose between that fascination or Him.  Have I truly had a moment in which my fascination with sin has been broken?  Not that you can’t be tempted any more.  But have you fallen out of love with your sin?  This is a critical question.  Repentance involves despising our sin and desiring Jesus.

America has become a nation fascinated with sin.  We are fascinated with sexual immorality.  We are fascinated with death.  We are fascinated with the occult and demonic powers.  We are fascinated with wealth, power, greed, technological progress…  The list of our sins doesn’t end because the lusts of our hearts know no ends.  God help us to see the sickness that has riddled our society to the point that we too are like Israel was in Isaiah’s days.  Simply, it will take a miracle for our country to turn around and be healed again.  However, God is able to do the impossible.  Let us do our part in this country.

Saving Sinners mp3