Miracles of Jesus, Part 2
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Healing Many
Healing Many
14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.
15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.
16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.
17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
The first purpose of Jesus’ power was to meet the needs of individuals and families. Jesus visited Peter’s home. We find that Peter was married, as his mother-in-law was home sick with a fever. He didn’t ask what was wrong, He didn’t run tests to confirm a diagnosis, no, He simply toucher her hand and she was healed. Remember at this time, women were seen as property, second-class citizens within Judaism, not prospering people of society. Second, the touching of a woman would have been seen as wrong - and was banned by some Jewish traditions. Regardless, Peter’s mother-in-law is healed and responds by getting up and serving the one who healed her. Her action need imply nothing more than proper etiquette as a hostess. But the verb diakoneō regularly came to refer to Christian service, and the distinctive “him” may suggest that the woman was beginning a life of discipleship at this point.
What is significant about Peter’s mother-in-laws response to her healing?
If we look at Mark 1:21, & 29 we find that these healings were done on the Sabbath.
21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.
29 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
Surely this is sacrilegious! How could Jesus dare heal on the holy day? But we now see why others were brought to Him in the evening - the end of the Sabbath when normal activity could continue. From the description of people who came to see Him, he provides not only physical but spiritual healing. Why is this significant? He fulfils Isaiah 53:4
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
This quote comes from one of the “suffering servant” passages of Isaiah, which early Christianity consistently saw as pointing to the Messiah’s atonement for sin. He explains that Jesus’ healing is a fulfillment of the prophecy about the Suffering Servant, who is also the Righteous Lamb and the Righteous Shepherd. This anticipates Jesus’ sufferings on behalf of all sinners, as the guilt offering with which the Lord is pleased; and because he is the guilt offering accepted by God, forgiveness of sins is possible, and freedom from the consequences of sins like sicknesses become a reality.
The Cost of Following Jesus
The Cost of Following Jesus
18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.
19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”
20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Throughout scripture, we find Jesus attracts a crowd. Notice here that the multitude gathered about Jesus because they had desperate needs, and He was meeting their needs out of a heart of deep compassion. The whole countryside and surrounding towns were swarming with people who had heard that He was in Capernaum, and they had flocked to Him. They were attracted to what they were hearing, ever hoping to have their needs met.
People often come to Jesus Christ because of what they can get out of Him.
There are several reasons why the multitude is attracted to Jesus.
Some like what they see: lives are changed for good, people are helped, ministry is carried on for the public good, and good works abound.
Some profess Christ and belong to a church because of the image and social standing it brings.
Some follow Christ and His church because of family and friends
Some feel more comfortable following Christ and attending church. Their consciences would bother them if they did not profess Him and attend church at least occasionally.
Some have a faint understanding of God. They want to be approved and accepted by Him. They know that they must show some interest in Him if they wish Him to show interest in them, looking after and caring for them. So they profess Him and attend church as much as they deem necessary in order to secure His approval and care.
Some have seen God’s power to change lives and deliver through terrible trials. It may have been in the life of a family member, a friend, a fellow employee, a relative, or a distant acquaintance. But the power of Christ was clearly evident. Thus they know that Christ and His church might be able to help them when trouble comes.
Some believe Jesus is the Savior, the promised Messiah, and they want to be identified with Him. So they follow Him and His church.
Why/what must we deny ourself?
But all of this misses the point - which is self-denial, otherwise known as discipleship. We find such a man, a scholar, who was a disciple, a follower of Jesus, and was attracted to the teaching of Jesus. He wanted to follow Him, but truly didn’t know the sacrifice and self-denial it would take. When Jesus lays out the cost, the man backtracks - let me go home and bury my father first. This was the man who had just told Jesus he would follow him anywhere. But following Jesus wasn’t enough. What we find throughout scripture is it requires us to accept Jesus as the Son of Man, that there would be a knowledge of personal poverty, and that he had to abandon everything he had for Jesus and His mission. Many today WANT to follow Jesus, but they stumble at the requirements. Some stumble over confessing Jesus to be the Son of Man. Every belief and doctrine that points to His deity is questioned and doubted or denied. Some stumble over personal poverty. Giving and working ever so diligently in order to give more is foreign to them. Giving to the point that they would have to trust Christ for the necessities of life is unknown. They have allowed the world to influence them. Being willing is not enough. You must give all. Some stumble over total abandonment of themselves and their possessions.
Lord, tell me what it is that you need me to do, but don’t tell me to do anything I don’t want to do. This is the attitude we find many people in. They want to follow Him, but do not want to sacrifice anything in the process. Many are committed, but their commitments are self-commitments not Christ commitments. We must realize that self-commitments involve great willingness, determination, and discipline—so much that a person often follows through in a great way. But self-commitment is not enough for Christ. There has to be a total commitment to the Son of Man, abandoning all of self and all of the world for Him and His cause.
Calming Storms
Calming Storms
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.
24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.
25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
Jesus had the disciples preparing the boat which would carry them away from the chaos around them and take them to a different place. But in the mean time, it would provide some peace and relaxation from all the teaching, learning, and healing that had taken place. It was a breather, a pause, a time to take a deep breath. But what happened once they got into the boat?
What happened to the disciples faith?
As faithful as His disciples were, and regardless of how quickly they followed Him anywhere, human nature took over and fear was experienced when a great storm arose. Now, this had to be an unusual storm as many of His disciples were seasoned fishermen. They knew what a storm at sea looked like. They had experienced these before. But there was something different about this storm in their life. This was a most fearful experience; the apostles’ very lives were threatened. The waves were covering the boat. It was, so to speak, a trial of trials. If Jesus could teach them His care through this experience, they would know He could take care of them through any storm or trial.
We face many storms throughout life, fearful storms that rock our boat the same as this storm did for the disciples. Some storms swoop down on us unexpectedly, with no warning. Some are great storms, that may overwhelm us and threaten to overtake us. Some storms may even be life-threatening, where we see no escape, no way out, no deliverance. But, these disciples went to the one they knew could help.
They sought out the Lord. Danger can drive us to Christ, but we also need to remember we can wait too long. We can die and slip into eternity before we ever call out to Him. We risk it all by waiting. We can also waste a lifetime of living (and having fullness of life) by putting off calling out to God.
Even though the disciples were seasoned fishermen, they were experiencing fear. What they failed to see was completely hidden to them. They were experiencing the root cause of fear: little faith. Their trust in Christ (that their lives were completely in His keeping and under His care) was lacking. Their trust was incomplete and immature. They were not sure that He was aware of their desperate need. Christ was not disturbed with their calling and interrupting His sleep. He was disturbed with their fear and lack of trust. He is never disturbed with our crying out to Him. Christ rebukes fear and unbelief. Fear and unbelief dishonor Him. It says to the world that Christ is not enough. He is not strong enough and does not care enough and does not love enough to look after us in our trouble and sin. Storms and trials can lead to terrible discouragement and fear. BUT GOD. Jesus simply speaks and all is well. Christ is the Sovereign Lord over all nature. He can do what He wills for any of us. He arose and rebuked the storm—then there was an instantaneous calm.
The disciples marveled; they had never seen anything like it—even the winds and seas obeyed Him.
Casting Out Demons
Casting Out Demons
28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them.
31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”
32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Jesus was traveling throughout the region of Galilee. Matthew tells the stories of miracles as part of Jesus’ travel. Upon their arrival “on the other side” of the lake (8:18, 28), they were met by two demoniacs from the Gadarene village. There is no reason to doubt these stories of demon possession and dismiss these accounts as either fabrications or as accounts of people having a psychological disorder. On several occasions, I have witnessed people who were acting abnormally get well through prayer, and not through psychiatric treatment. The only logical conclusion was that these people were not suffering psychologically, but that there were spiritual elements involved in those situations.
The belief that the human world is the arena of spiritual confrontation between God and the demonic forces is common in the ancient Mediterranean. This belief is shared by many Asians and Africans even in the modern era. Many interpreters find these miracle stories difficult to accept as accounts of real events, and stories of exorcism are even more difficult. Hence, focusing on the psychological dimension becomes the easiest way to explain such stories. Some speculated that the so-called demoniac was a potential draftee who was afraid of being summoned to join the Roman Legion or a soldier who was experiencing some post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing a massacre. Others suggest that stories about evil spirits are means for ancient people to explain schizophrenia caused by oppression which in turn result in despising the powers that exploit them. Still others say that terms like “Satan” or “demons” are coded language used to personify evil or to refer to people through whom evil is seen, like the Roman Empire. Thus, even the significance of the pigs in the story understood differently. Some say that the destruction of the swine points to the defeat of the evil powers through Jesus’ resurrection and glorification, while others say that pig is a mascot of the Roman Legion stationed in Syria in A.D. 66–70 and suggests that the demoniac embodied Rome’s “demonic rule,” hence a defeat of the demons is also a defeat of Rome. Matthew’s accounts of healing and his story of the resurrection contain several parallels, but this does not imply that these miracle stories are mere creations of a master writer.
There is a fine line that separates real demonic possession and psychological disorder, and although psychological disorders may be related to demonic activities, the former is insufficient to explain the latter. A worldview that embraces both and does not try to make light the truth about demonic activities allows the readers of Matthew to appreciate not only the literary beauty of the first Gospel, but also the practical implications of Jesus’ ministry especially in regions like Asia where such activities remain evident.
Jesus’ authority over the demonic powers is clear. His authority was recognized even by the demons , even though this was not always met with positive response by people.