"It's Personal"_Matthew 9_Sep 12 2021

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

(Pray...)

Setting the Stage

Whenever I read a passage of Scripture, I like to ask a lot of questions about it -

Who’s the author of the passage?

What is the genre?

What is the overall context and main point? Etc

One of the most basic questions I ask: Why is this passage in the Bible?

I may not ever have the full answer to that question - but it helps me to analyze its purpose - and why the Holy Spirit might have included it

I asked this same question about Matt 8 and Matt 9 because they are both similar

Last week, we examined the “Authority of Jesus” - and we did that through six short stories of Jesus interacting with others in his ministry

Today, we are going to take a look at seven short stories in Chapter 9

Why are these stories in the Bible? I am so happy we have these detailed stories about Jesus ministering to others

But I want us to think critically here for a moment - why are these stories - mostly about healing - why are they in the Bible?

The passage I just read gives us an overall idea of what was happening

It tells us that Jesus went throughout all the cities and proclaimed the Gospel

It says he healed every kind of disease and affliction - and that he had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd

This passage makes some profound statements - but it’s done in a general sense - other than the statement he made to his disciples at the end - there is no specific story

It reminds me of the general passage in Chapter 4 which tells us:

All the sick, and afflicted, and demon-possessed, were brought to Jesus - and he healed them - and great crowds began to follow him

But then we come to Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, and then it struck me:

These are deeply personal stories

These are not just stories about Jesus healing the multitudes all at the same time

These stories tell how Jesus touched, and healed, and forgave each person on an individual level

We all desire personal touch

You can pay hundreds of dollars for a decent guitar - but a custom, handmade guitar: thousands

A suit will cost hundreds - but one, custom-made from scratch, personally tailored for you will be thousands

A Rolls Royce is so expensive because so many of its components are handmade

Steinway piano

I’m so grateful the Holy Spirit shared these personal stories in the gospels - I think it tells us a lot about Jesus - that he loves us individually - and that he desires a personal relationship with us

God has a specific plan for your life

The title of my sermon: “It’s personal” - we’ll focus on how Jesus interacted with others on a personal level - and what that means for us

Imagine if Jesus didn’t heal and minister to the crowds in a personal way like this

He could have just done all of his healing in front of great crowds - like a TV faith healer

He could have had something like Healing Tuesdays - and wave his hand over the people

He could have just been an itinerant preacher and faith healer

But I think Jesus operated on a much deeper level - for their benefit, and ours

Jesus wasn’t even in Jerusalem at this time - near the supposed important religious leaders - he was in Galilee

What did he say in his opening discourse?

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Blessed are those who mourn - and those who are meek - and those who hunger & thirst for righteousness

And here he is healing, and ministering and loving those people

Do you remember the stories in Chapter 8?

The leper who pushed himself through the crowds and knelt before Jesus

The Centurion whose servant was at home, lying paralyzed - but the Centurion knew the authority Jesus had - and showed Jesus tremendous faith

And Peter’s mother-in-law - and all those demon-possessed people and sick people who were brought to Jesus

And the time when he taught those two disciples the meaning of truly following him

And the time when Jesus and his disciples were caught in a storm in the boat, but Jesus calmed the storm

And when Jesus healed those demon-possessed men and sent the demons into the pigs

These were all very personal stories!

And Chapter 9 has even more stories!

Why are these in the Bible? Because Jesus wants to personally redeem you and save you and heal you

All of these stories are personal - and all of them have a lesson of faith - and everyone was changed from their personal experience with Jesus

Here’s the lesson: Place your faith in Jesus! Now!

I know it almost sounds cliche - to have a personal relationship with Jesus - but that is exactly what is going on here

Why does it even matter that we have a personal relationship with the Lord?

Imagine if it wasn’t that way

Imagine if God was an impersonal God - and he didn’t love us

The fact that he loves us, means he’s a personal God

And that he’s a personal God, means he loves us

If he wasn’t personal, it would mean he didn’t love us

Let me put it this way:

God desires us to have faith in him

That means we need to trust him

If I didn’t have a personal relationship with God, there would be no trust

In other words, I obey the Lord because I trust him - because I know he looks after my own best interest - and because he loves me

I want to obey him because of what he did for me - and because of my personal relationship with him

If there was no personal relationship - there would be no love - there would be trusting in God because I wouldn’t know him

And if God wanted me to obey him, but he didn’t love me - I would only obey him because I was scared of what he might do to me

I might even obey him, but I wouldn’t want to - I would only do it because I was scared of him

Do you see why this is so important?

The fact that God loves us, and pursues us, and sent his Son on a mission to rescue us:

This all means that he doesn’t hate us, he loves us

His wrath is aimed at my sin, not me

On the cross, his wrath came against my sin - Jesus became sin - he knew no sin - he never did sin while he was on Earth, but he became sin

The wrath came against Jesus who became sin for me so I could become the righteousness of God 2 Cor 5:21

I gave him my sin - and he gave me his righteousness

Greatest deal in the hx of the universe

The Father wasn’t beating up his Son on the cross because he was so angry at him

The Father’s wrath was against sin - my sin and your sin

He’s giving us the chance to repent of that sin - through his demonstration of love for us

If you’re a sinner, God doesn’t hate you - he’s done all he can to show you how much he loves you

But if you truly reject his love for you - and you hold on to your sin - then his wrath will eventually come against you!

If God’s grace and love for you means nothing - if his own Son dying on the cross means nothing to you - then you bring God’s wrath on yourself

If you’re a sinner and you don’t know God, repent! Turn to the Lord - cry out to him - stop holding on to your sin

Cling to the Lord - because he loves you and he is worthy of your trust in him

These stories really happened - Jesus is really the Son of God - we’re studying what really happened when God condescended himself to come to Earth for us

This is the real story of “God with us”

It’s not just a bunch of interesting short stories - this is the story of Jesus, the Son of God - on a rescue mission to save us

That’s what the Gospel of Matthew is all about

God required redemption of us all, but then he sent his own Son as our Redeemer

Jesus came to Earth to die for us - that was his purpose

We’re studying his life and ministry - but his ultimate work was his redemption for us - his death on the cross and his resurrection three days later

In his humanness, Jesus voluntarily endured the full wrath and punishment only God could dispense.

One person endured God-like punishment so we don’t have to. That was Jesus on his rescue mission for us.

In one sense, he died for mankind - but realize he personally died for you

His death on the cross was a personal thing for you - let that sink in

The Gospel

This is what the Gospel is all about

When I say “the Gospel” - I’m not really talking about Mt, Mk, Luke, and Jn - although the true Gospel is contained in those books

The word, “gospel” means “good news”

In this case, I’m talking about the “good news of Jesus Christ”

Every Christian should be able to articulate what the gospel is - every Christians needs to know this so they can share their faith

Let me explain what the Gospel is - this is a model to articulate what the gospel means so you can explain it yourself

Keep in mind - the Gospel is completely about God’s grace - it’s totally God’s grace and love for you

It’s absolutely nothing about your works

The Gospel is in three parts:

1.) Declaration

2.) Demonstration

3.) Response

I could use a lot of Bible verses - but I’m only sharing a few on purpose - to simplify this

1.) Declaration

The Bible clearly declares the good news about Jesus Christ

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

That’s the Gospel declared

2.) Demonstration

God not only declared the Gospel, but he demonstrated it by sending Jesus to Earth on a rescue mission to save us from our sins

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We were dead in our sins - and our own righteousness can never, in a million years, justify ourselves before a perfectly holy God

But he provided himself on the cross as Sacrifice, Redeemer, and Savior

That’s the declaration and demonstration of the Gospel - but what about the response?

3.) Response

The Gospel is to be obeyed

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

1 John 1:9 ESV

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You need to obey the good news of Jesus Christ in order to take part of it

Believe in his demonstration of love- confess your sins and confess the demonstration of his love- and trust in Jesus as Lord

You also need to repent of your sins

Acts 3:19 ESV

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

To repent means to agree with God - you turn away from your sinful lifestyle and turn to him

1.) Declaration

The Bible declares God’s love for us

2.) Demonstration

God initiated his rescue plan for sinners

He sent his Son to die for us while we were still his enemies

3.) Response

We need to obey the Gospel

We need to agree with God and repent of our sins

We need to confess, believe, and worship Jesus as Lord

That’s the Gospel

Sermon

Look at Matthew 9

There are 7 stories

It’s starts off with Jesus coming into his own city

And notice in verse 2, it says some people brought to Jesus a paralytic

This verb, in this sense, is completely unique to Matthew

People being brought to Jesus is mentioned eight times in Matthew - including the children who were brought to Jesus in Chapter 19

We’ve already seen people being brought to Jesus in Chapter 4 - and in Chapter 8 when all those people were brought to Jesus after he healed Peter’s mother-in-law

Who have you brought to Jesus?

Who do you know that needs Jesus - and you are praying for?

In every case, the people who brought others to Jesus showed great faith

Your faith counts when you bring someone to Jesus

Pray for them and have faith that Jesus will heal them and save them

Mt 9:2 “And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.””

Your faith is key when you are sharing your faith

Some of you lack faith when you show your faith

You just figure you’ll go through the motions and share the Gospel

But in your heart, for some reason, you really don’t think this person will ever become a Christian

Have faith!! - if that person isn’t believing, have faith for him - pray for them and believe Jesus will heal their heart and save them

Pray that they will repent

Bring the people to Jesus!

If they’re too paralyzed to come to Jesus, bring them to him!

We need to be in the business of bringing others to Jesus

Some of you you were brought to Jesus - but you’ve never brought anyone else

Bring ‘em - if they won’t come to Jesus, grab them and bring them to him

Anyhow - Jesus forgives the man’s sins - the Scribes think this is blasphemy - so Jesus proves he has the authority to forgive, he commands the paralytic to stand up, pick up his bed and go home

Incredible story!

And later, Jesus calls Matthew as one of his disciples

Matthew is a tax collector and Jesus has him quit his job right on the spot and follow him

Later, Jesus is reclining at a table in a house with his disciples, and tax collectors, and sinners!

He got personal with them - he spent time with them as friends

And the Pharisees question this! And Jesus heard what they said.

And he told them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.””

God wants us to love others more than show our ability to follow a list of rules

In the next scene, we see the “disciples of John” coming to Jesus and asking him about fasting - and why his disciples don’t fast.

They make it clear that they fast - and the Pharisees fast - why don’t Jesus’ disciples also fast?

Jesus basically relates to himself as the bridegroom and his disciples as the wedding guests - and fasting is the equivalent of mourning.

Jesus is personally relating to his wedding guests - it would be inappropriate for them to fast and act like they’re mourning

Then Jesus says, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.””

Jesus is essentially saying, “I am the Son of God who has come to Earth - God with you. I am relating to my followers in a personal way. There’s no need for the old ways to continue. I am demonstrating how my kingdom now works.”

The next story is probably my favorite of them all - it’s actually two stories in one

Jesus is talking - when all of the sudden, this ruler interrupts him, kneels before him - and tells him that his daughter just died

But if Jesus could just come with him - and lay his hand on her - she will live

So Jesus gets up and follows him - offhand, I can’t think of another example of Jesus following someone else

Anyhow, Jesus eventually gets to the man’s house - there are professional mourners playing music, and a big crowd

And Jesus said, “She aint dead - she’s sleeping.” And they all laughed at him

But Jesus goes in, takes her hand, and she came to life

But what’s really cool - on the way to this man’s house - a woman, who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years - comes up to Jesus and touches the hem of his clothing

Jesus feels this touch in the crowd and even calls her “daughter.” He says, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well”

And she was instantly healed

Just so you know - she wasn’t supposed to touch him

In ancient Jewish times, she would have been considered unclean - and Jesus would have then become unclean after she touched him

But Jesus touched a lot of unclean people - he always made them whole and clean - Jesus never became unclean when approached by a sinner or an unclean person

It’s always a one-way deal - Jesus never gets tainted by our sin - we’re the ones who become restored

I wonder if anyone watching me is like that woman - she was burdened with the problem of bleeding for a long, long time

I wonder if anyone watching me has been carrying around the burden of their sin for a long time

You’re living in shame - and you don’t want to approach the Lord - because you might think that what you’ve done is too much for the Lord

That you’re too unclean to approach the Lord

That someday, eventually - you’ll get yourself all cleaned up - and then come to the Lord

There’s no reason for that - go to the Lord now

He will make you clean - and will forgive you because he loves you

He loves you and wants you to trust him - and have a personal relationship with him

There’s more stories

Jesus heals two blind men - and a demon-possessed man

Jesus healed them in a personal way

The chapter ends with the passage I read earlier

Jesus - going through cities and villages - preaching the Gospel - healing everyone

And Jesus had compassion on the crowds

Do you know why he had compassion on them?

It says because they were “harassed and helpless” - it says they were like “sheep without a shepherd”

We see that phrase over and over in the OT

It means they didn’t have proper leadership - they weren’t receiving proper care from others who loved the Lord

And then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Conclusion

To all the Christians - we have a big job to do - God’s harvest is plentiful

Redemption Church Nashville: Love - Equip - Send

If you are led to be more involved with this church - get in touch with me

We are a small, house church right now - but we know God has given us a plentiful harvest

If you don’t know the Lord - today is the day to change that

(Pray…)