Journey Through Matthew: Why Entertain Evil?

And since it has been a couple of weeks since we have been in Matthew, just to bring us up to speed, remember the last time we were here, Jesus and his disciples had been on the other side of the Sea of Galilee and he had encountered a couple of demon possessed men.

And of course Jesus had delivered these men from these demons, and ruined a whole herd of bacon and ham and sausage in the process!

And we are talking about Jesus casting the demons into a herd of pigs that ran over a cliff and drown.

But we also looked that the reaction of the people to what Jesus had done there also.

The men who were delivered were, of course, overjoyed, which we would expect, but the townspeople had a very different reaction.

We would think that if we had witnessed something like this that we would be amazed and a little excited by what Jesus had done.

However, the townspeople’s reaction really indicated to us how the majority of people would react even today.

And that reaction was a reaction of fear.

The people didn’t understand what was going on.

They didn’t understand what Jesus had done exactly or how Jesus even had the power to do what he did.

So instead of trying to understand what Jesus was trying to teach them, they had a knee-jerk reaction out of the fear of the unknown.

In fact, where we ended was this . . .

Matthew 8:34 NIV - Anglicised

34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

These people were more afraid of Jesus and his power to deliver them than they were of the demons who were tormenting them.

And again, part of their fear was that they didn’t understand what was going on.

But part of it was an understanding that if Jesus could deliver these men of the demons they didn’t want to be plagued with, then he also had the power to deliver the townspeople of the demons they didn’t want to get rid of.

And we may think that this is a strange concept, but it’s really not.

People today, maybe even some people here this morning, have demons who torment and tempt them with sin and they do not really want to be delivered.

The demons have them convinced that it is “too hard” or they will fail or that what they are doing is fun or it’s not hurting anyone else.

And typically what we do is we sin, feel bad about it, may even ask forgiveness, but we never repent.

We have remorse but not repentance.

And Jesus did not call us to feel bad or feel sorry for what we’ve done.

Jesus called us all to repent of our sin.

And the difference between remorse and repentance is remorse is feeling bad about what we’ve done and repentance is feeling bad enough to stop doing it.

And instead of dealing with their sin, these people do what we typically do, they tried to ignore the voice calling them to repentance.

They basically shut him out.

Instead of giving in and following Jesus, they asked Jesus to leave.

And that is what he did, which brings us up to where we are this morning.

And that is what h

So, if you have found in your Bible, I’d invite you to stand with me as we ask the question, “Why Entertain Evil?”

Matthew writes . . .

Scripture Focus

Matthew 9:1–8 NIV - Anglicised

1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” 4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.…” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Welcome Home Jesus!

Now, before we get started, I do want to point out that this passage is also outlined in and .

So, again this passage is very important, otherwise it would have not been mentioned in 3 out of the 4 gospels.

It gives us some great insight into the attitudes of the people at the time and also some of their motivation for the evil that they eventually perpetrated against Jesus.

But the first thing we notice here is where Jesus is at.

Again verse one tells us . . .

Matthew 9:1 NIV - Anglicised

1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town.

And Mark adds . . .

Mark 2:1

Mark 2:1 NIV - Anglicised

1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.

So, Jesus is in Capernaum and is going to get the great hometown welcome!

Mark 2:2-

Mark 2:2 NIV - Anglicised

2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.

And what is going on here in initially, the general people were proud of Jesus.

He was kind of like the kid from a small town who had left and become famous and then came home for a visit.

Before any of them had heard what Jesus had to say they all loved him, just because he put their town on the map so to say.

So, they all gathered together to hear what Jesus had to say.

To find out what all the buzz was about.

What it was that made this Jesus so famous.

So, they packed into the house where Jesus was speaking and when it got full they were standing outside the door and at every window, just to hear him speak.

And I’ve got to tell you, they didn’t worry about it being hot or cold or too sunny or raining or anything.

This was their chance to hear Jesus speak and they want to do everything they could to hear him.

And they did....Matthew tells us that he preached the word to them.

And that word was . . .

Matthew 4:17 NIV - Anglicised

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

That was the message of the day and remains the message of today.

You see, deliverance begins at repentance.

We have to be spiritually delivered first and foremost.

What good is it to heal the body if the soul is lost?

We get so wrapped up in the physical aspects of this world that we forget that the spirit is far more important than the body.

The Spirit is what goes on forever, the body will eventually die, regardless of how many times God heals us, eventually, the body is done for.

But the spirit goes on forever.

And whether the Kingdom of Heaven is near for us all as a group of each of us individually, it is near and we need to be examining where we stand with God.

Are we right with God?

That is the message and the word that Jesus was trying to get across to the people then and to all the people for all the centuries since then.

Repent because the Kingdom is near, very near.

The Faith of the Paralytic and His Friends

Now, we have this big huge crowd gathered and Jesus is preaching to them and then something else happens.

Mark gives us much more detail about this situation and he writes . . .

Mark 2:

Mark 2:3–4 NIV - Anglicised

3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralysed man was lying on.

Man, you talk about having some friends and some faith.

I wonder if any of us have 4 friends who would do the same for us.

Think about it, if we were paralyzed and heard that an evangelist was coming to town that had the power to heal us if we could just get there, would we have the people who would help us?

Not only help us but also had enough faith themselves, to believe that it was even possible.

Not only have that faith but care about us enough to fight through a huge crowd and overcome all the obstacles that stood in our way.

And I am not talking about family, because the Scripture tells us that these were friends.

This wasn’t the man’s family, but he had 4 friends that were close enough to do this for him.

And I can just imagine them approaching the house and seeing all the people thinking, “we’re never going to get in there.”

But apparently at least one of them wasn’t willing to give up on their friend and came up with a plan.

Now this guy was being carried by these men on a mat.

Matthew tells us . . .

Matthew 9:2 NIV - Anglicised

2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

So, they take this guy mat and all and climb up on the roof of the house.

Not only did they climb up on the roof, they dug a hole through it and then lowered him down right in front of Jesus.

What kind of faith does that take?

Would we be able to say that our faith is that strong?

Knowing that all we had to do was get to to Jesus.

Because the reality is, for our own deliverance that’s all we have to do.

All we have to do is get to Jesus.

But we have to be willing to dig through the roof if necessary to get there.

We have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get to Jesus.

Are we willing to do that?

Your Sins Are Forgiven

These guys were, and as a result . . .

Mark

Mark 2:5 NIV - Anglicised

5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

And what I want us to notice that Jesus didn’t physically heal him right here.

No doubt this guy had come to be physically healed, but Jesus had to take care of something else first.

Which goes back to what we were talking about earlier.

Jesus had to heal his soul first.

He had come to Jesus with a repentant heart, which Jesus immediately saw and immediately acted on.

You see, we think that there is some magic formula or some magic prayer we have to pray to be forgiven.

No, the only thing we have to do is come to Jesus with a repentant heart.

Because He sees it and He will immediately act on it.

Sometimes we don’t have to say a word.

Sometimes we can’t even say the words.

God looks at our heart and God acts on what He finds in our heart.

And that is what he did for this man.

He acted on exactly what he saw in this man.

And that was repentance.

And I will tell you, God is examining every single heart in here this morning, what does he see?

Does he see a repentant heart?

Or does he see one filled with pride, bitterness, jealousy, self-righteousness?

What does God see in your heart?

We need to think about it.

Because this man’s repentance was not the only thing going on here.

There were other forces at work as well.

Matthew 9:3 NIV - Anglicised

3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

They were jealous and they couldn’t see the truth past their own selfish hearts.

And Jesus responds to them . . .

Matthew 9:4

Matthew 9:4 NIV - Anglicised

4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?

Which is the central question for us as well.

What is it that prevents us from seeing the truth?

Is it because we also are entertaining evil in our own hearts?

Refusing to repent of our own sin?

And at that Jesus asks them . . .

Matthew 9:5-

Matthew 9:5–7 NIV - Anglicised

5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.…” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home.

So, the man came for a physical healing and when he left he was both spiritually and physically healed.

And at that . . .

Matthew 9:8 NIV - Anglicised

8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Altar Call

I wonder if we would be filled with the same awe and wonder.

I wonder if we would praise God as they did.

Or, I wonder would we act like the Jews who were unable to see the truth through their own sin.

I wonder this morning if we would even go through the same trouble as this man to get to Jesus.

Do we have that same faith?

Finally, I wonder this morning what is in all our hearts.

Only two people know, you and God.

What is God calling you to do this morning?

What is Jesus trying to deliver you from today?

Are you willing to let him?

Our altars are open, will you respond?

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