Matthew 9 - The Curse is Removed and the Dead are Raised!

And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. Matthew 9:20-22.

After Jesus forgave the paralytic man of his sins, He taught the disciples a bit on righteousness and fasting and then had a break-through with the ruler of the local synagogue, Jarius. While his daughter lay on her deathbed,  this Jewish ruler came to Jesus, asking Him to come and lay His hands on her for healing. As Jesus made His way to Jarius' house a woman who had a bleeding problem for 12 years touched the hem of His garment and was miraculously healed. Jesus announced that she was a daughter of Abraham and that her faith had made her whole.

Unfortunately, by the time Jesus came to Jarius' house, his daughter had died. But to Jesus, this was a non-event, for He announced that she was merely sleeping. Those in the house laughed Him to scorn to the point where He had to put them outside in order to raise her up. Even the Lord knew how debilitating it is to one's faith when surrounded by doubters and mockers. Of course, she was raised up from the deathbed, which only increased Jesus' fame throughout all of Israel.

We should be seeing these miracles in our day, since Jesus is the same, yesterday, and forevermore. Sadly, so many of us are told that God doesn't heal like that anymore, and that He certainly never raises people from the dead. How untrue! My research has revealed that there are believers in other parts of the world uncontaminated by denominationalism who have experienced miraculous, supernatural victories over death! Let's be bold and believe the wonderful things laid out in God's holy Word!

Matthew 9 - Pick Up Your Mat and Walk!

For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men. Matthew 9:5-8

After Jesus was asked to leave the area of Gadera, He went back to His home town of Capernaum and healed all those who came to Him. Because the house where He was ministering was so packed, several men had to go to great lengths to get their paralytic friend before Jesus. We learn from the other Gospels that they actually cut a hole in the roof and lowered their afflicted friend down from the ceiling! When Jesus saw their faith (their extraordinary measures), He declared the man His "son," AND declared him forgiven of his sins!

Why was this so shocking? Because the scribes and teachers of the law knew full well that, under the Law, only God has the authority to forgive sin. Therefore, Jesus was declaring Himself God by making this proclamation--and He did it in a new way, without going to the temple and sacrificing an innocent animal before the priest, shedding its blood. God was issuing in a new order under a new covenant.

To prove this amazing authority to forgive sin, Jesus looked at the man, commanding him to rise, pick up his mat, and return home. While the scribes declared blasphemy in their evil hearts, the multitudes marveled that God had given this kind of power to men.

As born again children of God, IN Christ, we need to accept what the heavenly father has said about us, that our sin has been forgiven once and for all! As new creations in Christ, we likewise need to rise up from the bondage of denominationalism and false teaching, pick up our mats and return home, declaring the good news of ALL Jesus died to give us!

Matthew 8 - Healing is His Will!

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:2-3. 

We started out by looking at the parable of the two houses built on the rock and sand--when the rains and winds came, the house on the rock stood firm, but the house on sand suffered a great fall. This was a prophecy of the coming destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 AD. We know that Jesus represents the firm foundation of a rock and anyone who builds their house on this foundation will always prevail!

The first healing described in the Book of Matthew is the healing of the leprous man. He was desperate to be made whole and knew Jesus could heal but wasn't sure if the Lord was willing to heal him. Does this sound familiar? All of us who have been in denominationalism have heard this theology espoused. And yet the Bible clearly states that Jesus went about healing all; all who came to Him in faith were healed!

We are to look to the Word to learn truth and not to our experiences and circumstances. All of us have known believers who died before their time due to sickness or disease. It was tragic and sad, because we know it is not God's best and it doesn't seem to line up with what we see on the pages of the Bible. But we are to continue to believe the Scriptures, knowing that revelation and knowledge of the truth will come if we press in with faith.

The healing of the leprous man was important because Jesus indicated His willingness to heal AND He took authority over the situation by declaring the man clean. Under the Old Covenant, only the priests had the authority to declare the unclean clean. History shows that no one was ever known to be healed of leprosy through the Temple system--if they had, they would need to complete a laborious system before being declared clean.

Jesus instantly healed the man, and then directed him to go to the temple, show himself to the priest, and go through this legalistic cleansing process. Why? As a sign to the Jewish leadership that Messiah had come.

What the law was incapable of doing, Jesus did in an instant. God's righteousness through grace far exceeds any righteousness know to man through the Mosaic, Levitical system. A new age was dawning!! Praise God it is now here!