James Reed's FORGE

Today our attention is turned once again to a demonic confrontation where our Lord Jesus Christ shows yet again His power over evil. This account is also found in Matthew and Luke giving us 3 different witnesses. When taken together we get a full picture of what was going on. In Matthew 17:14-21 we learn that the young boy at the center of this narrative was epileptic and suffered severely. Luke 9:37-43 lets us know that this young boy is his father’s only child. When we put it all together we see a boy who has a mute spirit, foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and suffers from epilepsy or seizers.

The text is from Matthew 21:1-11. May this be an encouragement to all who hear it.

This is late getting posted, but there were many audio issues to work out. The text is from Luke 24:13-34. May this be a blessing to all who hear it. This sermon was preached at Green Meadow Community Church (CRC) by Pastor James.

Last week we celebrated the Lord’s resurrection. Today, we are going to cover some things which happened in the life and ministry of Jesus before His glorious resurrection. Hopefully this will be an encouragement to you as you continue to walk with Christ. You have heard me say this before, but it bears repeating. Not only is the purpose of preaching to proclaim the gospel of Christ, but for those who are Christians we attend and learn so that we will be equipped to go do the work of the ministry. You have a job to do as a Christian, and I do what I can to equip and teach you for whatever God has called you to do. With that said, I’d like for us to consider Christ’s Glory today in terms of His authority and His return.

Last week we learned that from this point forward Jesus was going to be focusing on His death and travel to Jerusalem. So, it comes as no surprise to us today that the very first thing we read in our Gospel passage today is how Jesus told them that the Son of Man must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and in three days rise from the dead. We also talked about how that even the disciples had hard hearts—that even they, like the blind man who recovered his sight gradually, didn’t see clearly at the start. But, oh how their eyes would be opened over time! Oh, how their faith would be tested even more in days to come! James, sometimes called “James the Greater” is the only one who has his death recorded in Scripture. In Acts 12 we read that Agrippa killed James “with the sword”. The others are not recorded in Scripture, so I take it as what it is—tradition, but it is said that Phillip was crucified near Hierapolis. In 60 AD Matthew was killed with a spear. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross in either Greece or what is now the Ukraine. Simon Peter was crucified by Nero. Thaddeus was crucified in Persia. Bartholomew translated the Gospel of Matthew into India’s language and was beaten and crucified. Thomas was killed with a spear by pagan priests in India. Simon (not Peter) is believed to have made it as far as Britain where he also was crucified. James Alphaeus made it to age 94 at which time he was beaten and stoned. And, as we can verify from Scripture, John is the only one who was not executed, but he was banished to the Isle of Patmos. The cost of discipleship is great. The gospel we believe and preach has been brought to us by the blood of martyrs. The gospel we believe and preach is the blood of Christ. Christians, our faith is one of blood.

From this point in our journey through Mark up to 10:52 we are going to find 3 predictions of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The first one is here today in 8:31. The next one will come in 9:31, and the third one comes in 10:33-34. Each of these passages deal with His travel to Jerusalem, and they challenge us in discipleship. Most importantly, they tell us of our Savior.

We have seen two miraculous feedings at this point from our Savior. The first of course was the feeding of the 5,000, and last week we saw the feeding of the 4,000. Don’t forget that there were also women and children in these crowds. This is interesting for us to note as we see the disciples getting into the boat with Jesus and forgetting to bring provisions. They have one loaf of bread between them. I love to read details like this about the disciples because it lets us know that they were human like us, and sometimes they didn’t make the best plans. And it is because of this failure to plan that they misunderstand the teaching of their Master which follows.

[1] Burn, John Henry. The Preacher's Complete Homiletic Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark.

People asked Jesus for a sign. He did not give them one. Have you ever wondered why?