Matthew 9 -- God's Healing And Our Faith

Four friends brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing.  "Jesus dealt with the sin problem first for that is always the greatest need," my commentary said.  "More important than the healing of this man's body was the cleansing of his heart.  He went home with both a sound body and a heart at peace with God."

Jairus, a devout Jew, was also the synagogue leader.  Imagine how tough it must have been, going against everything you know and have taught others, in order to save your child!  His daughter was close to death as he spoke with Jesus.  "The delay caused by the healing of the woman gave the last enemy opportunity to do its work.  The ruler's friends came and told him that his daughter had died.  Jesus quickly reassured the man and went with him.  In fact, the delay should have helped to strengthen Jairus's faith, for he saw what the woman's meager faith had accomplished in her own life.  We must learn to trust Christ and His promises no matter how we FEEL, no matter what others SAY, and no matter how the CIRCUMSTANCES MAY LOOK ...  Jesus took command and raised the girl from the dead."

The woman whose healing interrupted Jairus's request surely faced despair and discouragement.  "Because of her hemorrhage, the woman was ceremonially unclean" so her religion would have nothing to do with her!  "Jairus's need was public -- all knew it; the woman's need was private -- only Jesus understood.  Both Jairus and the woman trusted Christ, and he met their needs."

Jairus may have felt that he was having to endure the woman's healing while his own daughter was dying.  Jesus asked for her testimony "both for her sake and for the sake of Jairus.  The fact that God has helped others ought to encourage us to trust Him more.  We ought not to be so selfish in our praying that we cannot wait on the Lord, knowing that He is never late."

One other healing worth discussing was that of the mute man, for it involved a demon.  This wasn't merely superstition, because Jesus would have corrected a wrong belief.  "Demons do have the power to cause physical afflictions," my commentary explained.  So we shouldn't not believe in a potential enemy of our souls.  "Jesus delivered him and the people admitted that this was a new thing in Israel.  But the religious leaders would not admit that Jesus was the Messiah ... saying that His miracles were wrought in the power of the wicked one ... In their unbelief, the Pharisees were playing right into Satan's hands."

Father God, You still have the power to produce physical healing, soul healing, and forgiveness of sins today.  Please don't let our unbelief stop You from showing that You are God!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 8 -- Grace To The Outcasts And Peace To The Disturbed

This chapter is entitled "Grace to the Outcasts and Peace to the Disturbed" in my commentary.  It couldn't have come at a better time, Father!

"The lepers in that day were forced to live apart from others and to cry, 'Unclean!  Unclean!" when others approached, so they would not be defiled."  This man instead ran up to Jesus, violating that code, because he had great faith that Jesus would heal him, my commentary explained.

"Leprosy is an illustration of sin ... Sin is deeper than the skin, it spreads, it defiles and isolates, and it is fit only for the fire."  I think the world today certainly tries to make us think otherwise.

Get this:  "When Jesus touched the leper, He contracted the leper's defilement, but He also conveyed His health!  Is this not what He did for us on the cross when He was made sin for us?"

The Roman centurion "understood that Jesus, like himself, was under authority.  All Christ had to do was speak the word and the disease would obey Him the way a soldier obeyed his officer ... Twice in the Gospels it is recorded that Jesus marveled:  here, at the great faith of the Gentile centurion, and in Mark 6:6 at the great unbelief of the Jews... This is an early indicator that the Jews would not believe, but the Gentiles would."

"Sickness is a consequence of Adam's sin."  Just as the ground became infested with thorns and also lost much of its God-given fertility because of Adam's sin, so too, human bodies became susceptible to sickness.

Regarding Jesus' disciples' unbelief during the boat ride in the storm, my commentary said, "The storm came because they obeyed the Lord, and not because (like Jonah) they disobeyed Him.  Jesus was asleep because He rested confidently in the will of His Father, and this is what the disciples should have done.  Instead, they became frightened and accused Jesus of not caring."

Father, these stories help me to understand that often we cannot see things from Your perspective, and as a result, we accuse You in error of not caring.  Please clarify my perception, God.  Help me to see what You are doing and to love You all the more for it!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 7:6-29 Did Your Profession Of Faith Cost You Anything?

My commentary says not everyone is a sheep, so we must exercise discernment to avoid wolves.  "We are privileged to handle the holy things of the Lord ... the precious truths of the Word of God, and we must regard them carefully ... we must not cheapen the gospel by a ministry that lacks discernment ... The reason for judgment, then, is not that we might condemn others, but that we might be able to minister to them."

First, "we must pray and seek His wisdom and direction ... we must keep on asking God, keep on seeking His will, keep on knocking at the door that leads to greater ministry."

The Golden Rule appears here, and my commentary says it's one of the most misunderstood statements in the Bible.  "It doesn't sum up Christian truth.  It applies only to believers and it must be practiced in every area of life.  The person who practices the Golden Rule refuses to say or do anything that would harm himself or others ... Practicing the Golden Rule means paying a price.  If we want God's best for ourselves and others, but others resist God's will, then they will oppose us."

Jesus mentioned two ways.  "We can walk on the broad way and keep our baggage of sin and worldliness.  But if we enter the narrow way, we must give up those things."  He mentioned two trees.  "True faith in Christ changes the life and produces fruit for God's glory."

My commentary mentions two tests:  "Did your profession of faith in Christ cost you anything?  If not, then it was not a true profession ... Did my decision for Christ change my life?"

Jesus also shows us important things about God's judgment of us.  "The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think.  The final test is:  What will GOD say ... Obedience to His will is the test of true faith in Christ ... Words are not a substitute for obedience, and neither are religious works ... We are to hear God's words and do them ... Our hearing must result in doing ... Profession will ultimately be tested before God.  Those who have trusted Christ, and have proved their faith by their obedience, will have nothing to fear."

Father, thank You for showing me the importance of obedience -- not to religious ritual, but to Your personal commands to me.  Thank You for giving me the courage to obey and the willingness to continue despite the cost.  Thank You for helping me to trust You with a faith You've built to last "not only in the storms of life, but also in the final judgment."

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 7:1-5 Powerful Words About First Judging Ourselves

Talk about packing it in tightly!  Boy, my commentary sure did it with these five verses!  In the first verse, Jesus says, "Don't judge other people, or you will be judged."  My commentary says this was directed primarily at the Pharisees and scribes, who maintained a false righteousness about themselves, using ministry as a device to cover up sin in themselves.  These verses are about our judgment of ourselves.

"Before we judge others, we must judge ourselves.  The tense of the verb judged signifies a once-for-all final judgment.  If we first judge ourselves, then we are preparing for that final judgment when we face God ... Not only will God judge us at the end, but people are also judging us right now, and we receive from people exactly what we give.  The kind of judgment, and the measure of judgment, come right back to us."

"The purpose of self-judgment is to prepare us to serve others.  Christians are obligated to help each other grow in grace.  When we do not judge ourselves, we not only hurt ourselves, but we also hurt those to whom we could minister.  The Pharisees judged and criticized others to make themselves look good.  But Christians should judge themselves so that they can help others look good."

"If we do not honestly face up to our own sins and confess them, we blind ourselves to ourselves, and then we cannot see clearly enough to help others."

"Jesus used the illustration in v. 22-23 to teach us how to have a spiritual outlook on life.  WE MUST NOT PASS JUDGMENT ON OTHERS' MOTIVES. We should examine their actions and attitudes, but we cannot judge their motives -- for only God can see their hearts ... When we stand before Christ at the judgment seat, He will examine the secrets of the heart and reward us accordingly."

"We must exercise love and tenderness when we seek to help others ... we should minister to people we want to help with tender loving care.  We can do more damage than a speck of dirt in the eye if we approach others with impatience and insensitivity."

When examining ourselves, "we must avoid two extremes -- first, the deception of a shallow examination ... The second is a perpetual autopsy ... we should not look only at ourselves, or we will become discouraged and defeated.  We should look by faith to Jesus Christ, an let Him forgive and restore us.  Satan is the accuser, and he enjoys it when we accuse and condemn ourselves."

"After we have judged ourselves honestly before God, and have removed those things that blind us, then we can help others and properly judge their works.  But if we know there are sins in our lives and we try to help others, we are hypocrites.  In fact, it is possible for ministry to be a device to cover up sin.  The Pharisees were guilty of this, and Jesus denounced them for it."

Thank You for such wise words today, Father.  I particularly liked the warning about the perpetual autopsy and Satan being the accuser.  Don't let him try that on me!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Matthew 6:16-34 Loved This Spiritual Golden Nugget!

Wow!  My commentary dug a golden nugget out of the words Jesus said about fasting:

"Remember that hypocrisy robs us of reality in Christian living.  We substitute reputation for character, mere words for true prayer, money for the devotion of the heart ... Hypocrisy not only robs us of character, it also robs us of spiritual rewards ... it also robs us of spiritual influence ... The first step toward overcoming hypocrisy is to be honest with God in our secret life.  We must never pray anything that we do not mean from the heart ... our motive must be to please God alone, no matter what men may say or do.  We must cultivate the heart in the secret place ... The most important part of a Christian's life is the part that only God Sees.  When reputation becomes more important that character, we have become hypocrites," my commentary said.

Father, please remind me daily to focus my living on You, not on what others see.  I want to be working for You and not for the praise of men, for that will invalidate everything I do.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 6:1-15 Kingdom Righteousness In Everyday Activities - Part 1

My commentary says, "The true righteousness of the kingdom must be applied in the everyday activities of life."

Regarding giving, it said, "Jesus cautioned us to make sure that our hearts are right as we practice giving.  The Pharisees used almsgiving to gain favor with God and attention from men, both of which are wrong motives ... Our sinful nature is so subtle that it can defile even a good thing like sharing with the poor ... if our motive is to serve God in love and please Him, then we will give our gifts without calling attention to them."

Regarding our praying, it said, "We must pray in secret before we pray in public ... It is wrong to pray in public if we are not in the habit of praying in private.  Observers may think that we are practicing prayer [regularly] when we are not, and this is hypocrisy."

"We must pray sincerely ... the mere reciting of memorized prayers can be vain repetition ... With some people, praying is like putting the needle on the phonograph record and then forgetting about it.  But God does not answer insincere prayers."

"We must pray in God's will ... Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man's will done in heaven, but for getting God's will done on earth.  We have no right to ask God for anything that will dishonor His name, delay His kingdom, or disturb His will on earth ... If we are praying in the will of God, the answer will be a blessing to all of God's people in one way or another ... Prayer prepares us for the proper use of the answer -- trusting Him, we will make better use of the answer than if God forced it on us without our asking."

"We must pray, having a forgiving spirit toward others ... Since prayer involves glorifying God's name, hastening the coming of God's kingdom, and helping to accomplish God's will on earth, the one praying must not have sin in his heart.  If God answered the prayers of a believer who had an unforgiving spirit, He would dishonor His own name ... The important thing about prayer is not simply getting an answer, but being the kind of person whom God can trust with an answer."

Thank You for the prayer time I enjoyed with You after reading this, Father.  Help me to do it this way more often.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 5 -- Jesus Tells Us How To Be Blessed As God Is Blessed

My commentary blew me away today!  "The main theme is true righteousness.  The religious leaders had an artificial, external righteousness based on law.  But the righteousness Jesus described is a true and vital righteousness that begins internally in the heart.  The Pharisees were concerned about the minute details of conduct, but they neglected the major matters of character.  Conduct flows out of character."

"To be poor in spirit means to be humble, to have a correct estimate of oneself ... It is the opposite of the world's attitude of self-praise and self-assertion."

"In our attitude toward our sins, we mourn over sin and despise it.  We see sin in the way God sees it and seek to treat it the way God does."

"Jesus explained His own attitude toward the law by describing three possible relationships:  1)  We can see to destroy the law; 2)  we can seek to fulfill the law; and 3)  we can seek to do and teach the law...  The Pharisees were destroying the law ... they thought they were conserving God's Word, when in reality they were preserving God's Word, embalming it so that it no longer had life! ... Jesus found the Living Word of God encrusted with man-made traditions and interpretations.  He broke away this thick crust of religion and brought the people back to God's Word.  Then He opened the Word to them in a new and living way."

I loved this next part!  "Jesus did not destroy the law by fighting it; He destroyed it by fulfilling it!  An illustration -- I can destroy an acorn in one of two ways.  I can put it on a rock and smash it to bits with a hammer.  Or, I can plant it in the ground and let it fulfill itself by becoming an oak tree."

"How can we fulfill the law?  By yielding to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to work in our lives ... The only way we can experience the righteousness of the Beatitudes is through the power of Christ."

"Anger is such a foolish thing.  It makes us destroyers instead of builders.  It robs us of freedom and makes us prisoners ... Sinful anger must be faced honestly and must be confessed to God as sin.  We must go to our brother and get the matter settled and we must do it quickly.  The longer we wait, the worse the bondage becomes!  We put ourselves into a terrible prison when we refuse to be reconciled."

Regarding adultery, my commentary said, "God created sex and God protects sex.  He has the authority to regulate it and to punish those who rebel against His laws.  He does not regulate sex because He wants to rob us, but rather, because He wants to bless us.  Whenever God says no, it is that He might say yes."

"Sexual impurity begins in the desires of the heart.  Jesus is not saying that lustful desires are identical to lustful deeds ... they are not identical, but spiritually speaking, they are equivalent.  The look that Jesus mentioned was not a casual glance, but a constant stare with the purpose of lusting ... The man Jesus described looked at the woman for the purpose of feeding his inner sexual appetites as a substitute for the act.  It was not accidental; it was planned.  (It is possible for a man to glance at a beautiful woman and know that she is beautiful, but not lust after her.)"

"Jesus defined our enemies as those who curse us, hate us, and exploit us selfishly.  Since Christian love is an act of the will and not simply an emotion, He has the right to command us to love our enemies... When we pray for our enemies, we find it easier to love them.  It takes the poison out of our attitudes ... Matthew 5:45 suggests that our love creates a climate of blessings that makes it easy to win our enemies and make them our friends ... As Christians, we must return good for evil as an investment of love."

Wow, Father!  So much about what's going on inside of me rather than just against me in the world and also how to handle it better than I often do.  Keep these words forever on my heart and fresh in my mind!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 4 -- His Temptations

Boy, my commentary had a lot of "meat" today!

"It is important to note that Jesus faced the enemy as man, not as the Son of God ... We must not think that Jesus used His divine powers to overcome the enemy, because that is just what the enemy wanted Him to do!  Jesus used the spiritual resources that are available to us today:  the power of the Holy Spirit of God and the power of the Word of God.  Jesus had nothing in His nature that would give Satan a foothold, but His temptations were real, just the same.  Temptation involves the will and Jesus came to do the Father's will."

"The first temptation was a subtle suggestion that our Father does not love us.  But there was another suggestion:  'Use Your divine powers to meet Your own needs.'  When we put our physical needs ahead of our spiritual needs, we sin.  When we allow circumstances to dictate our actions, instead of following God's will, we sin."

"The second temptation was even more subtle.  This time Satan also used the Word of God.  'So You intend to live by the Scriptures,' he implied.  'Then let me quote You a verse of Scripture and see if You will obey it!' ... Satan then quoted from Psalm 91:11-12, where God promised to care for His own.  'If You really believe the Scriptures, then jump!  Let's see if the Father cares for You!' ... Satan had cleverly omitted the phrase 'in all thy ways' when he quoted from Psalm 91.  When the child of God is in the will of God, the Father will protect him.  He watches over those who are in His ways."

"We tempt God when we put ourselves into circumstances that force Him to work miracles on our behalf."

"The devil offered Jesus a shortcut to His kingdom ... If He bowed down and worshiped Satan just once, He could enjoy all the glory without enduring the suffering.  Satan has always wanted worship, because Satan has always wanted to be God ... There are no shortcuts to the will of God.  If we want to share in the glory, we must also share in the suffering."

Satan continued to tempt Jesus during His lifetime on earth.  He does the same with us.  "One victory never guarantees freedom from further temptation.  If anything, each victory we experience only makes Satan try harder."

Wow, Father!  What it must feel like to have nothing in our nature that Satan could use as a foothold!  Help me never to doubt Your love for me.  Help me not to put my physical needs ahead of my spiritual needs.  Don't let me allow circumstances to dictate my actions instead of following Your will.  Keep me in Your ways.  And remind me often how Satan uses "just once" as an enticement to sin, trying to make us believe that just once won't hurt.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 3 -- Validating Jesus

My commentary said roughly 30 years passed between chapters 2 and 3.  They were the hidden years in Nazareth when Jesus grew from a boy to a man.  "Was He still qualified to be King?  Had anything taken place that would disqualify Him?" my commentary asked.  Matthew gives us witnesses who proved that the answers to those questions were "No!".

It's so easy for me to recall their own upbringings and their own failures and wonder how Jesus made it through those turbulent years without sin.  But we have to remember that He had simply changed His location from the throne room of Heaven to earth.  He had already existed since eternity and He carried that knowledge with Him into His human form.

Why was Jesus baptized?  My commentary said John's baptism "was authorized from heaven ... it was a baptism of repentance looking forward to the Messiah's coming ... Jesus was not baptized because He was a repentant sinner.  Even John tried to stop Jesus, but the Lord knew it was His Father's will.  Why was Jesus baptized?  First, His baptism gave approval to John's ministry.  Second, He identified Himself with publicans and sinners, the very people He came to save.  But mainly, His baptism pictured His future baptism on the cross when all the waves and billows of God's judgment would go over Him.  Thus, John the Baptish bore witness to Jesus Christ as the Son of God and also as the Lamb of God."

"The coming of the Holy Spirit like a dove identified Jesus to John, and also assured Jesus as He began His ministry that the Spirit's ministry would always be His."

God the Father also spoke from Heaven and His statement "also relates Jesus Christ to the Suffering Servant prophesied In Isaiah 40-53 ... Finally, the Father's statement approved all that Jesus had done up to that point.  His hidden years in Nazareth were years of pleasing the Father." 

Father, I apologize again that my years growing up do not meet Your same approval.  Thank You for the forgiveness You've given me.  Help me to grow in Christ and strive to be more like Him every day.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Matthew 2 -- A Little Fact-Checking About Christmas Lore

My commentary reminds us that some of our Christmas images are somewhat inaccurate.  There were wise men who sought out Jesus because of the star, but they weren't kings.  We don't know how many there were, either.  People assumed there were three because of the three gifts mentioned.  "But when their caravan arrived in Jerusalem, there were enough of them to trouble the whole city."  They were also Gentiles.

"King Herod was not a full-blooded Jew; he was actually an Idumaean, a descendant of Esau.  This was a picture of the old struggle between Esau and Jacob that began even before the boys were born," it said.

"The magi were seeking the King; Herod was opposing the King; and the Jewish priests were ignoring the King.  These priests knew the Scriptures and pointed others to the Savior, but they would not go to worship Him themselves!  They quoted Micah 5:2 but did not obey it.  They were five miles from the very Son of God, yet they did not go to see Him!  The Gentiles sought and found Him, but the Jews did not."

By the time the wise men arrived, "Joseph had moved Mary and the baby from the temporary dwelling where the Lord Jesus had been born.  The traditional manger scenes that assemble together the shepherds and wise men are not true to Scripture, since the magi arrived much later."

Herod wanted to destroy the newborn King.  God warned Joseph to flee to Egypt with his family.  "Egypt was close.  There were many Jews there, and the treasures received from the magi would more than pay the expenses for traveling and living there."  I'd never even thought of what became of them!  And Joseph's obedience fulfilled another prophecy:  "I called My Son out of Egypt."

The wise men, warned by God, went home a different way, so Herod didn't learn from them where Jesus was living.  To cover his bases, Herod had all boys under two in Bethlehem killed.  My commentary estimated the number to be close to twenty, based on the size of the town.

Herod died in 4 B.C.  His son Archelaus took his place.  "The Jews discovered that, in spite of his promises of kindness, Archelaus was as wicked as his father.  So they sent a delegation to Rome to protest his crowning.  Augustus Caesar agreed with the Jews and made Archelaus an ethnarch over half of his father's kingdom ... Joseph knew that he and his family were no safer under the rule of Archelaus than they had been under Herod the Great ... Common sense told him to be careful; faith told him to wait.  In due time, God spoke to Joseph in a dream, and he took his wife and her Son to Nazareth, which had been their home earlier."

God Himself was sovereign, weaving the prophecies into the life of His Son, proving that He was the Son of God.  Thank You for bringing my Savior to this world, Father, to pay for my sins to assure me of life forever with You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford