When Jesus heals the demoniacs, we learn Jesus has God-given authority over the powers of darkness and evil. In the last podcast, we saw that Jesus has God-given authority over the power of nature. Together they build the case that Jesus is the Messiah.
Matthew
45 Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus calms the storm
When he calms the storm, we learn Jesus brings the power of God to rescue His people from the vast destructive forces of nature. The miracles of Jesus have a message: Jesus brings the mercy of God for healing and deliverance.
44 Matthew 8:18-22 Foxes and Funerals
Matthew introduces us to two potential disciples. One says: “I will follow Jesus if it pays off now.” The other says: “Now is paying off, I’ll follow Jesus later.” The opportunity to decide to follow Jesus is now. One day it will be too late.
43 Matthew 8:14-17 Jesus heals, fulfilling Isaiah
Through these miraculous healing, Jesus physically demonstrates that he came to rescue us from our ultimate suffering which is rooted in our sin and our guilt.
42 Matthew 7:28-8:13 Authority of Jesus
Matthew has just quoted Jesus as claiming to have authority from God. Now he turns our attention to how Jesus acts with God’s authority, by performing miracles only God can perform. These miracles confront us with a choice to believe Jesus is who he says he is.
Matthew’s Gospel 8-12: Behold the King! Part 2
After the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew focuses our attention on the miracles of Jesus. Having shown us that Jesus speaks with the authority of God, Matthew now shows us that Jesus also acts with the authority of God, by performing miracles only God can perform. The miracles confront us with the question: will we believe Jesus is who he says he is?
41 Matthew 7:12-29 The Golden Rule & 2 Roads
Matthew 7:12-29 summarizes two great themes we’ve seen in this sermon: 1) You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 2) There is a road that seems right to us, but it leads to destruction.
40 Matthew 7:7-11 Seek and you will find
Ask God for the life He has promised and you will receive it. Seek the good things that He has promised and you will find them. Knock on the door to the kingdom of heaven and it will open to you. These words are powerful because of the difficult battle they represent. Believing and acting on these promises is the central struggle of the Christian life.
39 Matthew 7:6 Throwing pearls to pigs
In Matthew 7:6, many people understand Jesus to be saying something like: you don’t need to share the gospel with hostile, unworthy people. However, I agree with the minority who understand Jesus to be saying: don’t be the kind of fool who throws away what is beautiful and precious.
38 Matthew 7:1-5 The Log in your eye
The log in your own eye versus the speck in your neighbor’s eye is a powerful image of willfully living a lie. Jesus warns that if you condemn other people for their sins, you are ignoring a fundamental truth about yourself in a way that is almost impossible to imagine.
