Month: March 2013

Red Letter Year: 3/27

Matthew 8:1-17

1 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. 15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.

16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick. 17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said, “He took our sicknesses and removed our diseases.”

Comments

Two things really stand out to me in this passage. First, Jesus states his willingness to heal twice at the beginning of this passage, to the leper and then to the centurion. Having given us a compendium of Jesus’ teaching, Matthew turns now to give us a collection of healing accounts. He introduces this section with the essential message: Jesus is willing to heal.

The second thing that always gets me when I read this is the centurion’s  response to Jesus. Jesus highlights the man’s superlative faith. I am also struck by his respect and humility. He was well aware that Jews did not enter into Gentile residences. Like so many cultural barriers, Jesus seems perfectly willing to break through that one as well, but he gives in to the centurion’s deference. That is probably the most significant thing here. Jesus was willing to heal the man’s servant either way. He didn’t push the centurion to let him come and he didn’t withhold healing when the centurion basically said he would only let Jesus in so far.

I think those are good things for us to remember. Jesus is willing to heal us and he is not all that picky about the circumstances. Things (including us) don’t have to be just so for Jesus to heal us.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Red Letter Year: 3/26

Matthew 7:15-29

 

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

 

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.On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

 

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

 

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.

 

Comments

In yesterday’s reading, Jesus warned us about judging other people, looking for specks in other people’s eyes while ignoring the two-by-four in our own. This does not contradict that, it builds on it. You might have a plank in your eye. If so, you should do something about that. Here he puts it another way: your life is producing fruit, is it good fruit or bad? Are people being nourished and refreshed by your fruit, are they enjoying it? Or is your fruit mucking up the drawer in their refrigerator, waiting for trash day so it can go out with the least stench possible? To extend the analogy a bit, maybe your fruit isn’t nourishing or rotten, maybe its tasty but has no nutritional value at all. Maybe your fruit is like a Krispy Kreme donut. So tasty and pleasing in the moment, but not good for you and if eaten regularly, quite bad for you. Our sin nature makes our fruit rotten. Our culture makes our fruit vapid. Only you and the Holy Spirit can figure out what sort of fruit or pastry you’re producing. I encourage you to spend some time praying and reflecting on the fruit you’re producing, on the foundation you are building your life on. Let’s commit to being super fruitful. The Spirit will help us be so.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.