Four Points Church

As Jesus closes his commission to His disciples, He gives some very shocking statements. Because of the repetition of use, these statements may not have the same appalling meaning as they would have had with the disciples. However, that should not diminish the intention of Jesus as He clearly articulated what the cost would be if His disciples were willing to follow him. Discipleship is not cheap, and it certainly isn’t free. Everyone who desires to follow Jesus must be willing to pay. These words stated by Christ should challenge our hearts and demand a response from everyone who considers themselves a Christian.

As we continue our study of Matthew 10, we see Jesus’ call and commission to his disciples becomes wider and wider. What begins as a commission to the lost sheep of Israel, will soon include the Gentiles, and eventually a commission to whomever is willing. But with this commission will come a price. A price that should challenge everyone who calls themselves a disciple. Discipleship is not a safe and subtle call to live a comfortable life with no worries or troubles. If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you must be willing to be hated for his name sake and truly be willing to lay down your life to follow Jesus.

This is a pivotal moment in the gospel of Matthew where the 12 apostles are first introduced.  Change is coming.  The Son of Man is going to transfer power from the blind guides of the 12 tribes of Israel to His church through His 12 apostles.  Remember that God doesn’t need us to do His work.  He does however, choose to do His work through us.  In the words of Jesus, to reap the harvest will take prayer and people.  During the incarnate ministry of Jesus Christ, He chose to use the 12 apostles to lay the foundation of His new kingdom.  Today, during the session of Christ, He chooses to use His church.  May we continue to pray for more laborers among us to have compassion on the crowds and proclaim to them the good news of what Jesus has done!

This is a pivotal moment in the gospel of Matthew where the 12 apostles are first introduced.  Change is coming.  The Son of Man is going to transfer power from the blind guides of the 12 tribes of Israel to His church through His 12 apostles.  Remember that God doesn’t need us to do His work.  He does however, choose to do His work through us.  In the words of Jesus, to reap the harvest will take prayer and people.  During the incarnate ministry of Jesus Christ, He chose to use the 12 apostles to lay the foundation of His new kingdom.  Today, during the session of Christ, He chooses to use His church.  May we continue to pray for more laborers among us to have compassion on the crowds and proclaim to them the good news of what Jesus has done!

The healing of the paralytic taught us that Jesus was God who has the power to forgive sin (9:1-8). Now we see Jesus going a step further. He is surrounding Himself with sinners. Look carefully as Matthew has not put his calling into this moment of His narrative on accident. Mark 2:13 teaches us that the crowd was all over Jesus. Everyone in Capernaum had heard about Jesus and wanted to see Him.

Matthew has already revealed the power Jesus has over disease and nature. In this text we see He has power over demons as well. As Jesus and His disciples arrive safely at the other side of the sea of Galilee they are met by two men. Mark 5, and Luke 8, give us more information about one of the men. We know he was naked, out of his mind, and living among the tombs. Locals had tried to restrain him, but he would break through chains. When these men saw Jesus their words are very telling. Demons know who Jesus is (James 2:19)! They rightly identify Him as the Son of God.

There is no “then.”  There is only “now.”  Some people have deceived themselves into thinking that there are other things that are more important in life that exempt them from following Christ in the present.  Jesus makes clear that we follow Him first and work everything else out as we stay behind our Savior.

Jesus has just come own off the mountain.  The crowds who heard His teaching were astonished at the authority with which He spoke (7:28-29).  However, Jesus did not come down from heaven to only preach sermons.  He came to prove His words were true by His actions.

Not everyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus actually is. Jesus warns us that false teachers will come. They don’t show up wearing t-shirts that tell us they are untrustworthy. Instead, they come saying “listen to me because I know what you need.”