Sunday Sermon Matthew 4:23-25

In fact, the slaying of the Passover lamb and the applying of the blood to doorposts of the houses (Exodus 12:11-13) is a beautiful picture of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. Those for whom He died are covered by His blood, protecting us from the angel of (spiritual) death.

Another important sacrifice involving lambs was the daily sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. Every morning and evening, a lamb was sacrificed in the temple for the sins of the people (Exodus 29:38-42).

These daily sacrifices, like all others, were simply to point people towards the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. In fact, the time of Jesus’ death on the cross corresponds to the time the evening sacrifice was being made in the temple.

And this is why Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Such a beautiful picture and fulfillment!

John 1:29 NKJV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Here at FCC, everyone is welcome to come the table that has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I will pray in and during our time of prayer together, I will pause.

It is during this pause that the scripture teaches us that we should allow the Lord to examine our hearts.

It is in the examination that we take communion in a worthy manner.

So please, confess any sin or anything that is getting in between you and God.

Then after we are finished praying as the Holy Spirit leads, come forward to the table and take the elements back to your seat and we will take communion together as a family.

Prayer

Lord Heavenly Father, we come before You now as humbly as we can and confess that You alone are the living God. You alone are worthy of all honour and praise, for You set aside Your heavenly glory and came into this world as a man, to redeem lost sinners from the curse. We Thank You, that You willingly offered up Your body to be the sacrifice for our sin. Thank You, that Your body was broken for us, and that Your precious blood was shed to pay the full price for all our sins, and not for me only but for all who would trust in Your name.

Lord, we bend our knee before You in humble submission, as we partake of the bread and cup this morning.

In Jesus Name, we love you! Amen.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NKJV

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Prayer

Lord, thank you for your broken body and poured out blood and that you are the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. Lord each time we take communion, help us to know you more deeply and the implications of the Cross. Help us like you to be a living sacrifice pouring our lives out for others. As we open your Word this morning, we ask the you would reveal yourself to us and grant fresh insights that would transform our lives and enable us to share that gospel with others. Help us Lord, to walk it out in such a way that one day you will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Please Father continue to minister hope, peace, comfort, and encouragement to Annie, Jacob, and all who knew Mikey. Father help us all to remember that no man knows not only the day or hour of your return, but we also do not know that day or hour when you will call us home. May we daily be prepared for both of these events! Now as we dive into Matthew, please renew our minds through the washing of the water of your Word!

In Jesus Name, We Love You! Amen and Amen

Read Matthew 4:23-25

Matthew 4:23–25 NKJV

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

This is a short text this morning, but there is much exegete here.

We see right away Jesus’ three-fold public ministry appear that we we talk about this morning:

Teaching

Preaching

Healing

But before we look at this text, I think it is important to take a look back, since it has been a fe weeks since we have been in Matthew.

We had Easter

Then we had Baptismal Sunday, what a glorious time.

Review

Earlier in Matthew, we learned that Jesus was Baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness and then He was affirmed by the Father.

Jesus is then tempted 40 days and 40 nights by Satan through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.

Then his ministry begins and he goes to the people that walked in darkness for so long, that the text says that they were sitting in darkness and said, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”

Then he called Simon Peter, Andrew his brother, and James and John who were brothers as well to be his disciples.

It is important for us to realize that Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. This means that there is not course that we can take to help us with this. Jesus just simply said follow me!!!

All four of these men gave up their careers, their boats, and family to follow Jesus.

However, I do not think that this is the norm for most of us. But God desires that we would let go of those things that are holding us hostage.

When he calls us to follow him, he calls us to give up those things that get in the way of our relationship with him. It could be anything.

Boat

Careers

Money

Real-estate

Relationships that are unhealthy

You fill in the blank

So he calls 4 ordinary men, who did not attend Bible college, seminary, or the Rabbinic Schools of the day, to turn the world upside down and they did.

God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and his ways our not our ways church.

Matthew 4:23 NKJV

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

One of the things I noticed right away in studying this text was all the all’s, and you know what all means in the Greek, yes, it means all...

Jesus went about all of Galilee and we know that the name Galilee means circuit, therefore, Jesus was a circuit preacher of the Good News and he followed a circuit all around Galilee.

Went about (from the Greek word periagō) and it is written in the imperfect tense which indicates repeated and continuous action.

This means the Jesus was constantly moving around the circuit God had called him to.

The whole of Galilee was about 60 miles by 30 miles and there were villages all throughout.

Josephus wrote that there were about 3 million people sprinkled throughout this region that was dark.

Jesus went to dark place church, He was not a Savior that just stayed within the four walls of the synagogue or church, but went to those who knew needed a physician.

So, His strategy was to tour Galilee, teaching in the many synagogues.

The center of the religious life of each Jewish community was the synagogue, the most important institution in their life.

The synagogue not only was the primary place of worship but also of study, community fellowship, but of legal activity.

In fact, to this day, it is recognized that the development of the synagogue pattern through the Babylonian captivity was one of the finest educational systems in history.

Wherever there was a Jewish community there was a synagogue. While the temple existed as the place where ritual sacrifices were made to God, the synagogue was the place of preaching and teaching. Synagogues were the popular religious colleges of the day. If anyone had ideas to share, the synagogue was the place to begin.

And the greatest tragedy for most Jews was to be dis-fellowshiped from the synagogue, to be un-synagogued.

John 12:42 NKJV

Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue;

And church that is what happened to Jews who became Christians.

Could you imagine, what it would be like to be thrown out of the epicenter of fellowship and education? To be thrown out of everything you know?

SO ALL WHO WOULD BELIEVE UPON JESUS WOULD BE PUT OUT OF THE SYNAGOGUE!

SO JESUS focused on the synagogues. WHY?

Because is was at the center of all Jewish life and remember that:

Romans 1:16 NKJV

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

Most synagogues were built on a hill, often on the highest point of a town. Many had a tall pole jetting into the sky, much like a church steeple, making them stand out and be easy to find. Frequently they were built on banks of rivers,

Also church, according to the Talmud there were 480 in Jerusalem before its destruction (T. J. Megillah 73d).

Scholars do not know the exact number of synagogues, but they do know that there was hundreds and this is why Jesus and Paul would go!

Worship was held every Sabbath, which began at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday.

The Jews had special services on the second and fifth days of every week and observed the festivals prescribed in the law as well as numerous others that had developed by tradition.

In the synagogues Jesus proclaimed “the gospel of the kingdom,” the good news that the kingdom age had dawned, and because of this, the people flocked to the services.

How would you have liked to attend one of these services?

Do you think he sounded just like every other preacher?

Do you think he stirred the people and brought them to the place of repentance?

Do you think Jesus was candy-coating things for the Jews that had been intrenched in a fruitless religious system for years?

There were three things that Jesus did:

Teaching- this was one element of his three-fold public ministry

During the Sabbath services, sections of the Torah (law) and the prophets were read. That was followed by various prayers, singing, and responses. Then a text of Scripture would be expounded, possibly following the pattern begun by Ezra after the return from Babylon (see Neh. 8:1–8). Often visiting dignitaries or rabbis would be given the honor of expounding the Scripture, a practice of which both Jesus and Paul took advantage on numerous occasions (see Luke 4:16–17; Acts 13:15–16).

Teaching- didaskō- to instruct, to explain or expound a thing, to instill doctrine, to disciple.

So if Jesus was teaching in their synagogues, then he was explaining and expounding that the Kingdom of God was here.

He was expounding about the Torah and the prophets and I am sure humbly showing that he was the long awaited Messiah and that he had good news.

But wait! Where did this style of teaching originate:

Well, many scholars believe expositional teaching originated back in the OT

Nehemiah 8:1–3 NKJV

Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Deuteronomy 1:5 NASB95

Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,

So Jesus not only taught so that it was caught, but he also preached!

So what does the word preaching here in our text mean?

Matthew 4:23 NKJV

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Preaching-kēryssō (kay-roos'-so)- to herald, to proclaim, to make known.

Jesus was preaching the gospel of the kingdom church.

He was giving them teaching and preaching, he was explaining the gospel to them through solid Biblical teaching and them proclaiming the good news.

Good News -euangelion- the glad tidings of salvation through Christ, good news, the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ.

During Bible times when the men were retuning from battle and war, they would enter into the villages, towns, and homes, loudly saying:

“Euangelion, Euangelion, we have the good news!

What was the good news church? They won the victory!

The King’s first proclamation was of good news, God’s marvelous offer to deliver “us from the domain of darkness, and [to transfer] us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).

The gospel is the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, the good news that God’s kingdom (the sphere of God’s rule by the grace of salvation) is open to anyone who puts his trust in the King.

So Jesus’ three fold ministry was teaching, preaching, and we come to the third part of his ministry which is healing.

Mathew 4:23 teaches us that Jesus was teaching and preaching, and healing all kinds of sicknesses and disease among the people.

Church, some people are sick and unhealthy because of their own foolish habits, whereas others suffer as a direct consequence of their sin.

God sometimes uses physical affliction to discipline His people.

Many of the Corinthian Christians were weak, sick, and had even died because they profaned the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:30).

Ananias and Sapphira lost their lives for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1–10).

Yet Scripture makes it equally clear that all suffering and disease are not caused by sin, ignorance, errors in judgment, or God’s discipline. Job suffered greatly, though he was blameless, upright, feared God, and turned away from evil (Job 1:1).

Matthew 4:24–25 NKJV

Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

The end of Matthew 23 obviously connects here to 24-25.

Many came to be healed, but did not want the giver of Good News.

They wanted the gift and not the giver.

Salvation does not come from miracles, salvation come through grace by faith alone.

Jesus healed all who came to him in the text, but this does not happen throughout his ministry.

Think of Paul, he cried out three time church that the Lord would take away his infirmity away and the Lord responded:

2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Healing is the third part of the three-fold ministry of Jesus.

I think it crucial for us to see the connection between teaching, preaching, and healing.

Jesus taught, he preached, and then he healed here in this text.

Teaching and preaching brings healing and freedom form those who are held captive by their:

Past

Mental Health

Affliction

Emotions

The list goes on and on church, Jesus is the remedy, but we live in a world that wants a quick fix, a world that wants instant gratification, rather than just sitting at the feet of Jesus.

God’s desire is that he wants to save (sozo) us, which means to make us whole, to save us from death and give us eternal life church.

And He desire that he healed in this text to come to ever lasting life.

But guess what:

John 6:66 NKJV

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Many want the gift, but not the Giver.

We must beware of the healing ministries of today that are claiming they are healing people by the droves, so send them money.

We must beware of health and wealth theology.

There are many stories of people that got caught up in false teaching about healing that lost their own children because they refuse to go to a healer who is a doctor and nurse in our day and age.

What do you need healed church?

Prayer

Benediction

Deuteronomy 32:2 NKJV

Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass.

THE LORD BLESS YOU!

YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!

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