Matthew 8
Bible Passage: Matthew 8
Only a touch
but do you believe?
“Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out
and the leper was healed
A simple touch
and the fever left her
Only a word
now, how about this?
“Lord, I am not worthy…
but only say the word.”
The centurion’s faith
and the servant was healed
The disciples’ cry
and the storm died down
The demons’ plea
and were cast out and drowned.
But
All at the word of Jesus.
For He said, “Go.”
And it was done as the centurion believed.
He rebuked
And the winds and sea obeyed.
And He said, “Go.”
And the demons left.
It is the Lord’s doing
It is only by His Word
Our deeds alone can never deliver us
Only the Word can save
But our faith is built upon this Word
as the centurion did
We make our supplications according to His promises
like the disciples had
Are we able to believe in only a word and a touch?
Do we truly believe in an Almighty God?
.
… and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16)
3 Comments
biblereadingcompanion
Sometimes we do forget what the power of a touch and a word can do. As Jesus and treasureinearthenvessel has showed us in this chapter, we all need the touch of Jesus and His word in our lives.
And it was also interesting to see how the different people approached or responded to Jesus and His word and touch.
The first was the man with leprosy.
He came to Jesus and knelt before Him asking, “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean”. Or which Jesus replied, “I am willing.” And he was made clean.
I was just wondering….. there have been some members who have not been coming to church for some time. And one common thing I have been hearing is that they would say they feel unworthy and unclean, and hence, do not feel right in coming to church. Sometimes, we too have committed some sins and feel inadequate to meet the Lord. Instead of praying in repentance, we shy away from even prayers.
But this incident shows me that first we must be willing to come before Jesus and ask for His grace. Then His simple but moving “I am willing” says it all regarding Jesus’ response to everyone who feels unclean and unworthy.
The second was the Centurion. Now, this is a Gentile who should not have known anything about God of the Jews. But here he was … seeking the help of Jesus for his Jewish servant!
And he starts off by expressing something along the lines of what we have just talked about… “Lord, I am not worthy…”
But he follows immediately with the statement “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.”
“Lord, I am not worthy” should be our humble attitude as we approach Christ for His grace and mercy. In humilty when we approach Him, we can “… then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16).
The third was the mother in law of Peter.
When she was healed for her fever by Jesus – she got up and began to serve Jesus!
Do you see that response? What do we do when we have received grace from Jesus? Do we just thank Him and sing His praises? Sure, that is right. But do we complement our words with actions of thanksgiving and service as well?
The last group of people that struck me was the town in which the demon possessed men were healed. As you know, the demons were sent packing into the pigs, who later drowned in the lake.
Instead of rejoicing that the demon possessed men were cured, they were more concerned about the loss of the pigs. The response of the town was a sad commentary of their values. I heard of someone who said this of this incident… “All down the ages the world has been refusing Jesus because it prefers pigs”.
Some people are so fixated on the what they deemed as very important in their lives but fail to see the power and grace of Jesus around them. What is worse, we rather not have the miracles of Jesus then have our ‘values’ compromised.
We prefer the status quo! We would rather things not change if they are going to threaten us or our livelihood, even though that change might mean something better for others. We would rather things not change when the change makes us look at things differently or forces us to treat others differently at our expense. We would rather things not change if we don’t understand the change or the reason for the change.
So when I think about this, I should not be too quick to pass judgment on the town folks who asked Jesus to leave.
Change makes most of us uncomfortable in one way or another.
Jesus’ goal, however, isn’t merely change; He is about deliverance, blessing, and transformation. He wants us to be transformed by the Holy Spirit to become more like Him. That is His goal; and if we seek Him as Lord, His transformation in us will be every bit as dramatic over time as it was with the men who had demons.
So the question is, do we want Him to leave us alone or to leave us changed?
appleofHiseye
That’s a good question that you have pointed out…”do we want Him to leave us alone or to leave us changed?”
Many of us know the Lord’s prayer by heart and it really takes a lot of conscious effort to say it when we pray. It’s easy to recite it, but when we ask ourselves what it means to us in the moment…what does it mean? Just like it takes a lot of conscious effort to be aware of what we are doing in our daily-routinely-things, it’s hard to think whether this or that is the right thing to do. I don’t know if I am making any sense to myself right now, but I know this…change is the way to go.
“Only a touch” and “only a word”…today’s sharing has made me reflect on my faith… because it feels small and insignificant, that sometimes I wonder if I have faith at all. It’s hard to believe that God will do this or He will do that at times. It’s hard to believe that just a prayer will change anything sometimes. But I am reminded that faith as small as a mustard seed is enough to move even mountains, if only we believe all things are possible with Him.
PS
From Matthew 8:14 it seemed that Lord Jesus did not know that Peter’s mother-in-law was down with a fever before he entered the place.
Did Peter know? Did he ask Lord Jesus for healing on her behalf like the centurion for his servant?
Some demons seemed more in fear of Lord Jesus than others. In Matthew 8:16 the evil spirits left at a word of Lord Jesus. In Matthew 8:29 and 31, the evil spirits confessed themselves to Lord Jesus and begged for permission to leave and go into swine.
Which m i like?
One who repents and changes at a word from Lord Jesus in His bible?
Or one who requests for permission to continue to sin?
Is Lord Jesus saying, “Let them be! I will settle the accounts on the judgement day!!”?