Besides teaching, verse 23 tells us that Jesus cured every disease and every sickness among the people. Jesus healed. We know how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11:1-4. When the woman with the blood issue touches Jesus’ cloak, she is healed in Mark 5:25-29. We could name many more. And healing was a part of the early church. Peter raises Dorcas from the dead in Acts 9:36-41. And healing still occurs today. Bodily healing does occur, and prayers of intercession can make a difference. It’s just that sometimes the answer is no and sometimes it’s not yet. It has to be according to God’s will. We must follow the example of Jesus in saying “not my will but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) God may have a purpose for not healing us…yet. Because God can use whatever situation we’re in—Dr. David Jeremiah, in his book What Are You Afraid Of? cites missionary Isabel Kuhn when he says that “a life filled with problems and setbacks can become a life filled with unique tools for sharing the Gospel.” Healing can also mean restoration to the community. It can be argued that a big par of Jesus’ healing ministry was restoring the people he healed to their communities and allowing them to worship at the temples again, as before they would have been considered unclean. And spiritual healing—knowledge of salvation is far more important than bodily healing. After all, this life is only temporary, we are only here for a while, and we will be whole and healed in the world to come. Philippians 1:21 says that “living is Christ and dying is gain.”  Exodus 15:26 speaks of the Lord God who heals you. Dr. Jeremiah says that God does heal you—“whether with a miracle, with medicine, or in the world to come.”

What are we going to do? If we follow this passage, and the rest of God’s word, we are going to follow Jesus. We are going to answer God’s call on our lives. By doing this, we will be the light to the world. We will be the light in dark places and minister to those on the fringes of society. We will show them God’s love, and we will also teach them God’s word. We will tell the good news, as Jesus did. Finally, we can be a conduit for healing in the world.  Jesus healed in the Bible, and he is still healing today.

What are we going to do? If we follow Jesus and choose to be the light in dark places, if we spread the good news, if we allow for healing to take place…we can change the world.

Towards the end of our passage, in verse 23, it says Jesus taught “in their synagogues” and proclaimed “the good news…”.

When Jesus taught in Nazareth, he read the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and the prophecy applied to him—“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he said “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-21) In Luke 4:43, Jesus tells the people that God sent him to “proclaim the good news of the kingdom.”

The disciples were also to proclaim the good news– The risen Savior himself gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20.  This is a task his followers took on in the early church, and a task we are called to continue today. You can see it going on in Acts when thousands of people were converted. And you can see it in the Pauline Epistles.  Paul tells the Corinthians that Christ sent him to preach the gospel (1 Cor 1:17)

Romans 10:13-17 asks us how someone can believe without having heard:

For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.

We are to share the Good News. The second letter to Timothy tells us to “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.” (2 Tim 4:2)

To Be Continued…

Used under a Creative Commons License courtesy of Art4TheGlryOfGod

The next thing to note about this passage is where it takes place. Not only is Jesus fulfilling prophecy by beginning his ministry here– because in Isaiah 9:1, it says  “In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations”– but it is also because Jesus specifically chose a dark place to begin his ministry. Galilee was a place of darkness. A place troubled for so long that many had written it off. The prophecy in Isaiah goes on to say “9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness on them light has shined.” Psalm 27:1 says “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Jesus is that light. In John 8:12, Jesus even says that he is the light…”I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
We are also called to be a light in the world. Jesus says this himself in Matthew 5:14.

God called us out of the darkness “into his marvelous light” according to 1 Peter 2:9. In Acts, Paul says that the Lord commanded us, saying, “I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the needs of the Earth.” (Acts 13:47). And in his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says that “once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light.” And he tells them, and us, to “live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.” (Eph 5:8-9)
We are called to go to the dark places and minister to the outcasts.

In the book Not a Fan, which I referred to earlier, Idleman also shared the story of Amy Turner, a missionary in India, who saw firsthand the plight of children of sex workers. When she came back to the U.S., she started a nonprofit foundation to help these children. She shares:

John 1:5 says “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Following what Jesus calls us to do means going to places of darkness and being a light even if it’s difficult and uncomfortable.

I recently learned about a ministry in the U.S. called “We are Cherished” that reaches out to workers in the sex industry. Their mission statement is to “reach women in the sex industry and empower them to discover they are loved, valued and cherished.” Because God loves each of us as his own, no matter what we’ve done or what walk of life we come from. How much does God love us? Romans 5:8 tells us that God”shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” John 3:16, as we’re all familiar with, tells us  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Romans 8:35-39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. After all, God “is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” (1 Jn 4:16)

We are called to show this love to everyone—to be a light in the dark places—to minister to sex workers, to those who are homeless, to those who are in the midst of addictions, to those in prison, and on and on.

We are to love people, and we are also to tell them the Good News, as Jesus did.

To Be Continued…

Used under a CC 2.0 License courtesy of Fr. Stephen, MSC

Scripture Reading: Matthew 4:12-23

Today’s passage features Jesus calling the first disciples. He tells Simon Peter and Andrew, “I will make you fishers for people.” In a similar scene in the upcoming movie Son of God, Jesus tells Peter on the boat to “follow me.” Peter asks him “What are we going to do?” And Jesus responds “Change the world.” It may be a bit of artistic license or putting words in his mouth, but that is in fact what the carpenter’s son, who was the Son of God, did. And it’s what we are called to do today as well. How can we change the world? Well, let’s look at what’s going on in this passage.

First, when Jesus calls the disciples, they respond right away. When God calls, we are to answer immediately. In the OT when the Divine Council was wondering who to send, Isaiah did not hesitate to say “Here I am. Send me.”  Hebrews 3:15 tells us “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…” Kyle Idleman, in his book Not a Fan, says “When Jesus calls us to follow, he means right now. He means today.” When Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow him, they immediately left their nets and followed him.  When he called to James and John, sons of Zebedee, they immediately left their nets AND boat AND father and followed him. You have to understand, these men left everything to follow Jesus. They left their livelihoods. They were dependent on the sea for life, because on land there was little to hope for. They left their families. They left everything without hesitation. Not because they were special, but because the message of Jesus was special. It was, and it still remains, something worth dropping everything for.

Contrast today’s passage with Luke 9:59-60. There, Jesus tells the man “Follow me,” but the man says “Let me bury my father first.” In other words, not yet, Jesus, I have to do something first. The man isn’t opposed to following Jesus, but he’s kind of lukewarm about it—he has things he needs to do first. Tomorrow, Jesus. And we don’t get that man’s name, because he doesn’t follow Jesus. If he had, we’d know his name, and there’d be another disciple. As it is, he puts it off and Jesus replies “Let the dead bury the dead,” indicating that the man is spiritually dead.

You can try to resist the call. You can argue with God, you can try to ignore God, but I can tell you from experience that God will not stop calling you, and your soul will not be truly satisfied until you heed the call. And think about what you might miss while you are waiting to follow. Idleman talks about a man who first heard God’s call when he was in high school, but he said “Not yet, Lord, let me finish high school first.” Then the man was in college, and heard the call again, but he said “Not yet, Lord, let me finish college first.” Then it was getting a job, getting married, letting things settle down while he started a family. He kept putting God off. The good news is today he has listened to God’s call, but it took a broken marriage, losing custody of his kids, and becoming an alcoholic before the man listened to God. How might his life have been different if he had just listened in high school? What did he miss out on? But at least he finally listened—Idleman says that the “most dangerous part of following Jesus tomorrow isn’t what you will lose between now and then. That’s not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing that can happen is that tomorrow might never come. The truth is the longer you put him off, the more likely it is that following him will never happen.”

To Be Continued…