Healing Power of Christ

Peter’s mother

Good morning

Glad to see everyone back!

So by show of hands

how many of us are already planning our next vacation?

I know I am

I’m trying to get it all in before we leave!

I mean is it just me

And maybe it is

But going back to the states

Is a little depressing

I mean can we just take a moment

And recognize the blessing is to be here

I have to be honest

We have truly had a good time over the last few years

You know we had the new comers brief on Friday

And let me just say,

Guys if you've been here for a while

and you know how to do the travel thing

Please grab someone’s hand and show them

It’s good for all of us

Good for you

The soldiers

BH

even the chaplain!

I am a firm believer

That a week or even a weekend

Seeing something new

Experiencing something new

Is the cure for everything

Look at that you come to church

And you get recruited into a travel commercial

Anyways

So today we are going to be continuing

our theme of Christ’s authority

But this time we are hitting on

His authority over disease

And this physical world

Over sickness and death

And I got to be honest

I couldn’t think of a better story to tell you all

Than of a friend of mine at a church

Where I used serve at

And for the sake of confidentiality I won’t use her name

But I remember first off

she was the only believer in her family.

And regardless of how

her husband would mock her for her faith

Or regardless of her son would mock her

Calling her names for following Jesus

She would faithfully come every week

She would come to every Bible study

Every home group

Every chance she got was in the church

And I remember how she would pray

Pleading with God

Begging God to bring her husband to saving faith

To bring her son to saving faith.

And I remember that at every single Bible study that I ever gave

every single sermon that I ever gave

she would always sit in the front row

had her pen and paper

taking notes

trying to gain any type of knowledge

any bit of knowledge that she could

So that she might possibly be able to somehow

convince her family to make Jesus their Lord and Savior

And so as she was aging and getting up in her years

I remember that she became desperate

Almost like she felt she was running out of time

I think all us can agree time catches up with each and everyone of us.

And so you could really feel the urgency within her

To save her family

From an eternity apart from Christ

And this friend of mine

you know she was hitting about 70 years old

and so as she sat in the front row

and every Bible study

at every sermon

she would diligently take notes

I mean she had note books full of notes

because like I said

She had a family of non-believers

And it bothered her day and night

Because she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt

What that meant

But as she would take these notes

unfortunately her nerve endings

in her fingers were starting to deteriorate

and so she was losing all feeling in her hands

And you could see it was becoming desperately hard

For her take these notes,

Notes that almost seemed like her lifeline

like her families eternal destination depended upon it.

In fact I recall one Sunday

I was watching her

and the pen kept falling out of her hand

Because she couldn’t grip the pen anymore

And so she was just sitting there with tears in her eyes

Feeling as though she was losing the battle

Like she was losing her family

And her body wouldn’t let her fight!

Can you imagine

The panic

The fear

The loss of hope

I mean it was absolutely heartbreaking to see a person

with such amazing faith,

To see that person desperately try to save her family,

but then to watch that pen fall out of her hand.

It brought tears to your eyes it really did.

And one day in the middle of service we asked if anybody needed prayer

And she asked that I pray with her,

and I remember not being able to hold it together

Because in all honesty

that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do

is to pray for someone who desperately needed it.

And it wasn’t a normal prayer

It was a prayer of sincerity

It was literal pleading

And begging before God

To help her in any way possible

It was a prayer

At a level I had rarely felt before.

And we’re gonna come back to the story here later on

Because it plays a very important role in the summation of this sermon

But I wanted to open up today with this story

to maybe help us realize that we’re not immortal

That we’re not eternal in this body

and each and everyone of us will go to meet our Lord and Savior.

Because I think looking our aged community

Is a good reminder

That this not our home

But you know what else we’re going to see today

We’re going to see the miraculous power of Jesus Christ to take all the pain

All the suffering

All the hardship

He’s gonna take it away.

We’re going to see his power over sin

we’re going to see his power over the curse that fell upon our world

Due to sin

and we’re going to see the hope

that we have in him

to make it all new

to bring us back to where we were supposed to be

So if you would please open up your Bibles

Mark 1:29–34 NLT

After Jesus left the synagogue with James and John, they went to Simon and Andrew’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them. That evening after sunset, many sick and demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. The whole town gathered at the door to watch. So Jesus healed many people who were sick with various diseases, and he cast out many demons. But because the demons knew who he was, he did not allow them to speak.

Let’s open up in prayer

So first off as we dive into this section of scripture

I want you to notice a couple of things.

And pay close attention

to the details

So first off

they’re in Capernaum

now if you understand the gospels

you’ll see that this is actually the center of where Jesus does his ministry

as a matter of fact

I think one scholar said that 2/3 of Jesus‘s ministry

is done in this region next to the sea of Galilee.

And you might be asking

Why is it important

Why does this even matter

because it plays into understanding of the Bible

when it comes down to the understanding what is going on

Because so much is lost

If you don’t understand the culture and the context

That the story was written in

And I think one of the biggest problems

that we have in modern times

when it comes down to biblical interpretation

Is not understanding the culture to which the Bible was written.

And whether you like it or not

You simply cannot separate the culture from the author,

And so really give some thought

Because as the author of the book you are naturally

going to insert certain cultural themes

Or certain cultural nuances

And so as the reader

If you understand these cultural nuances

It will allow you to understand the book in a way that brings it to life.

And so if you are trying to understand the Bible

in the context to which it was written

you have to understand the people

or the culture of the people that wrote the book

And what this will do is help you get the authors intent

Or help you get your own biased thoughts out of your interpretation.

Make sense?

Its amazing when you do this

Because you begin to take out all controversy in the text

You simply look at the text

Look at the culture,

And immediately you understand what’s going on.

And look with me at verse 30

Mark 1:30 NLT

Now Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. They told Jesus about her right away.

what I want you to recognize here

is a peters mother-in-law is so sick

that she is literally bedridden

And think on this

It is a matter of fact back

in these days

in this culture 2000 years ago

when you got sick like this

it was pretty much over

it was a death sentence

I mean the reality is,

Unless a miracle happened

Usually you were a gonner

And so what we might be looking at here

Is an all reality a pretty sad scene

A pretty desperate scene

Which actually make sense as to why they told Jesus right away.

And you really gotta think,

Peter and his wife would’ve been almost desperate

I like how one commentator put it

When it came down to how sick she was

He says,

The greek in this passage is clear

and is distinguishing between different levels of fever,

so by saying this fever was high meant this may have been an emergency type situation.

And so now take a moment and

Step into the mind of Peter, maybe even his wife

I can’t even imagine what he may have been going through

The mental anguish

The look of concern on his wifes face

I mean how many of us have had family members that have been there

Its hard to watch them go through such pain

To go through such sickness

But here you have Peter with the Messiah

And you really have to wonder

What is going on through his mind at this moment

because as you look at the other books

Peter has already been traveling with Jesus

in fact according to the gospel of Matthew he’s already given the sermon on the mount

And even watched Jesus heal people

And so its not like he just met Jesus yesterday

So Peter has been watching this guy,

this God-man

heal people,

calm the storm in the boat,

Watched this man cast out demons

and you gotta think or try to dive into the mind of Peter,

What about me?

Why hasn’t he helped my mother-in-law yet?

Isn’t that just like us sometimes

Let me ask you a question

How many of us

Have been in that moment when we needed God so bad

That it hurt

But it almost feels like you can’t here his voice

You know I remember when Susan was pregnant with Sydney

We got a call from the doctor

Telling us that Sydney might be down Syndrome

And I have told you this story before

I apologize

But I remember the feeling of helplessness

The feeling of helplessness

The feeling of despair

This is your unborn child,

Everything you had hoped for

Everything you had waited for

And I am not saying there is anything wrong

With special needs kids

But this is not what you dream of

If you get what I’m saying

And I remember finally coming back to the church

Because of this

And just like I prayed for my friend

I remember praying for myself

Begging God to heal my daughter

Begging God to make it all better

You know those some of the hardest times in my life

Because I will be dead honest

I felt so alone

I felt so abandoned

And yet this is one of the main reasons I came back to the faith

God used her sickness to bring me back

God used my love for my unborn child

To bring me back to the cross

And let me tell you when Susan and I were at a special ultrasound

And I heard that nurse tell me your daughter is going to be fine

When she said to me

That what was on previous ultra sounds was no longer there

I can’t tell you if it was a miracle

I can’t tell you if it was just a mistake

All I know is that had it not been for my gift in Sydney

I wouldn’t be up here today

And if you look at this passage right here

You see and you feel

The very power of God in all things

And so as you step into the mind of Peter

You gotta know

He’s thinking here is the one

Who has the authority of life and death

Here is THE MESSIAH

What about me?

But then look at the next verse

Mark 1:31 NLT

So he went to her bedside, took her by the hand, and helped her sit up. Then the fever left her, and she prepared a meal for them.

Can you imagine being there in the moment

Watching a women

Who is literally on her death bed

Being touched by the Messiah

And miraculously being healed.

When I compare this passage with what I felt with Sydney

It’s a moment

That causes your heart to skip a beat

A moment that cements your faith

I think the older you get

The more you appreciate this passage

Immediate and complete healing

I mean look at the contrast

One moment she is dying the next is making dinner

What an amazing God you serve

Which leads me to my final point

The hope that we have in Jesus

Turn with me to verse number 32 in noticed this he doesn’t just heal one person he doesn’t just heal two people he heals nearly everyone that day

Mark 1:32–34 (NKJV)

At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons....

This is the hope that we have in Christ

And I know that I’ve mentioned this to you before

That when you see Jesus healing people

Casting demons out

Forgiving them of their sins

You are witnessing

What it is going to be like in the future

What it was like in the garden before sin

What it was always meant to be

Jesus Christ the son of God holds the power

over disease

Over death

Over decay

Over sin

And when you see him go to work in the gospels,

when you see him fulfill everything that the Old Testament promised

Telling us at the blind man will see

That the deaf man will hear

You are witnessing the power of God

That is promised

That is guaranteed to us in eternity

A guarantee to all those that believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins through the cross

You wanna know what it’s like to live a life free of pain

To live a life free of torment

Just wait until our king comes to take back all creation

This is our hope,

This is our joy

This is everything you look forward to

And I gotta be honest with you

The longer I’m a chaplain

And the more suffering that I see

I cannot wait for that day

When the curse is removed

When sin is no longer an issue

And the only thing we have to worry about

Is how loud we sing when we worship our Lord in King.

You know my friend that I mentioned at the beginning

Since I last saw her

Her husband although not a believer

Is opening up to the church

Has actually been serving at the church

From what I am seeing on Face book

And whats even more miraculous

Her son who was heavily addicted to drugs

Has come clean

Has since been married

And to my knowledge

He has come to the church

Isn’t God amazing!

All of her effort

All of her prayers

All of those years of begging and pleading with God

You’re starting to see the healing power of the Messiah

Break through

And just in time.

One final passage and we will close with this

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 NLT

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

Lets close in prayer

Numbers 6:24–26 NLT

‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’