Matthew 9:14-17

The call of Levi or Matthew contains several lessons for us which remind us of our need for humility and consciousness of our own sins as we work to bring others to Christ.

When Jesus returned to his home-town after doing a series of miracles, was he only interested in pushing buttons by declaring a paralytics' sins were forgiven? Or was he asserting his divinity by declaring he has the power to perform a greater miracle than physical healing?

Jesus demonstrates his authority over demons in a wild and somewhat jarring account involving 2,000 pigs. But what does this mean for us? Is this a roadmap to exorcism? Should we look to this Scripture for clues on how to conduct 'spiritual warfare'? Or could this be an example of how we must push past the "uneasy truces" in our lives and trust Jesus supernatural authority. (Matthew 8:28-34)

The OT is not about individuals as much as it is about God. We are not to read ourselves into the text where we try to imagine promises , rather we are to see God’s character through the text.

Often when we are given “two” sayings it is to contrast one against the other. In the world of music, this was shown to me first through the song “Two Princes”. Or, two is often used as a metaphor for “couple” and there are no end of songs with this type of title - “2 Tickets to Paradise” or “Just the Two of Us”

But here we have two equally hard sayings... it is as if Jesus wants to scare us off. It’s like a really bad choose your own adventure, “Behind door one is alligators and behind door two is a hurricane.”

Today we are looking at healing for a third week in a row. That has been a challenge for me to preach on three consecutive weeks. Jesus answered the question “Do you care?” when he healed the leper. Jesus showed the appropriate response to this new-found knowledge in the faith of the Roman Centurion - a trust and submission that was the source of his power. But now we see the final action that should be taken by one whose life has been changed by these realities - service .

What if you were certain that God cared for you? What should you do with that knowledge? In Matthew 8:5-13 we find that answer - we respond with a faith that is transcends social and cultural boundaries, a faith rooted in a healthy humility, a faith secure in the authority that it submits to.

What is the purpose of miracles? Are we supposed to suspend our understanding of the natural world to 'believe' them - or is there more going on? Why doesn't everyone who is sick, get well? What does Jesus mean when he tells the leper "I will: be clean"? These and other questions will be explored as we begin our summer sermon series on Matthew 8 and 9.

Here is where the rubber meets the road - it isn't just enough to talk theoretically about 'putting on the new self'. This week we look at how this applies in our everyday relationships and how the emphasis moves from our rights, to our duties, which is love applied.