What Jesus Did : Matthew 8:1-2 - Back to Earth!
by Phil Ware
Back to Earth! - Matthew 8:1-2
Jesus came down from the hill. Many, many people followed him. Then a man sick with leprosy came to Jesus. The man bowed down before Jesus and said, "Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want." (ERV) Full TextKey Thought
Sooner or later, after our moment in the sun, we all have to come down from the mountain. Jesus has taught his disciples wondrously and authoritatively. But no sooner does he come down from the mountain than he is hit with problems. But rather than resenting the problems, he seizes those problems and displays the compassion and power of God himself. The word that was authoritative with the Sermon on the Mount, now becomes the authoritative in the everyday horrors of broken people. When people come to honestly worship him, they leave feeling incredibly pumped up, because he not only takes care of the physical ailments but their deeper Spiritual ones as well.
Today's Prayer
Father, thank you for Jesus' examples of reaching out to those in need around him. Thank you even more that his word is not just powerful in the message, but also in the practical everyday life struggles of common people. His promise gives me assurance that he will not forget my prayer to grow and mature. In the name of the compassionate carpenter of Nazareth I pray. Amen.
Today's Verses in Context
Jesus came down from the hill. Many, many people followed him. Then a man sick with leprosy came to Jesus. The man bowed down before Jesus and said, "Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want." Jesus touched the man. Jesus said, "I want to heal you. Be healed!" And immediately the man was healed from his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, "Don't tell any person about what happened. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer the gift that Moses commanded {for people that are made well}. This will show people that you are healed." Jesus went to the city of Capernaum. When Jesus entered the city, an army officer came to him and begged for help. The officer said, "Lord, my servant is very sick at home in bed. He can't move his body and has much pain." Jesus said to the officer, "I will go and heal him." The officer answered, "Lord, I am not good enough for you to come into my house. All you need to do is command that my servant be healed, and he will be healed. I myself am a man under the authority (power) of other men. And I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes. I tell another soldier, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and my servant obeys me. {I know that you also have power like this.}" When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Jesus said to those people that were with him, "I tell you the truth. This man has more faith than any person I have found, even in Israel. Many people will come from the east and from the west. Those people will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. And those people (the Jews) that should have the kingdom will be thrown out. They will be thrown outside into the darkness. In that place people will cry and grind their teeth {with pain}." Then Jesus said to the officer, "Go home. Your servant will be healed the way you believed he would." And at that same time his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter's house. There Jesus saw that Peter's mother-in-lawwas in bed with a high fever. Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus. That evening people brought to Jesus many people that had demons inside them. Jesus spoke and the demons left the people. Jesus healed all the people that were sick. Jesus did these things to make happen what Isaiah the prophet said: "He took away our diseases and carried away our sicknesses."-- Matthew 8:1-17 (ERV)
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