Matthew 9:17-38 -- "The Eds" & The Amazing Christ

I wanted to conclude our current Bible chapter by presenting you with

MATTHEW 9 "THE EDS" EDITION
ca. 30 A.D.

This will cover verses 18 through 38 since we already discussed the first half of this chapter.

Ruler BEGGED: Jesus to go to his house and heal his daughter

Jesus RESPONDED: by going with him

Woman TOUCHED: Jesus' garment

Jesus AFFIRMED: her faith had made her whole

Jesus ARRIVED: at Jairus' house

People MOURNED: Jairus' daughter's untimely death

Jesus RESPONDED: that she was asleep, not dead

Crowd LAUGHED: at Jesus' foolish words

Girl RESTORED: to life (take that, Death!)

Blind men CALLED: to Jesus for mercy

Jesus QUESTIONED: their belief in his ability to heal

Men RESPONDED: "Yes, Lord."

Jesus TOUCHED: their eyes

Sight RESTORED: according to their faith

Jesus ADMONISHED: "'See that no one knows about this.'"

Men DISOBEYED: ^31"But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region."

Did you ever wonder why Jesus told some people not to tell what he had done for them? And did you also wonder why the people went out and deliberately did what he asked them not to do? Is it because being able to see or walk or speak after not being able to see or walk or speak was such a huge deal that they couldn't help but share what great things had happened to them?

Demon POSSESSED: mute man brought to Jesus

Jesus AMAZED: the crowd by driving out the demon and making the man able to talk again

Crowd RESPONDED: "'Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.'"

Pharisees COUNTERED: "'It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.'"

This reply by the Pharisees makes me believe that others were doing "miracles" back in the day. And we know this also from the Old Testament when Moses went before Pharoah and Pharoah's magicians were able to copy Moses' miracles to some degree. So it seems demons can do some sort of "miracles" which for some reason makes me want to recommend y'all read this post Amber wrote yesterday on The Art of Lying. If we recall that, biblically, Satan is the father of lies then...I just think you all should take 3 minutes and read Amber's post.

Jesus LOVED: by his words and deeds --

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

NOW BACK TO THE PRESENT AGE - 2010 A.D.

Susanne CHALLENGED:

1. by Jesus' words: "'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"

2. to see the crowds with Jesus' eyes -- ³⁶"When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."

Must say that I absolutely love to ponder verse 36. I think of a crowd of people who are sick and needy - some physically, all spiritually. And Jesus looking at them not with irritation because he really wants to get a falafel sandwich, a cool glass of water and sit down and rest his aching feet or go visit with his mom. Instead of getting frustrated with all these needy people, read how he looked at the crowd and tell me that is not a reason to want to be like this Christ!



To see all of "The Eds," please click here.

A Quote and Excerpt to Consider

I've been reading a novel called American Taliban and the main character enjoyed Richard Burton. So I looked him up and found this quote.

"The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself." -- Sir Richard Francis Burton

What do you think of it?

Also I wanted to share this excerpt from a brief article on "True Love Discerns." Any thoughts on what the author says here?

What is best for Christ, His kingdom and for others in it is what I must choose -- and so what is not best I must also reject. Rejecting elements of my culture and even rejecting what other Christians may approve of in lifestyle and worship style is behavior that is easily misunderstood, even scorned by other believers. ... But a willingness to bear the reproach of choosing what is best, according to the dictates of my Spirit- and Word- instructed conscience, is fundamental to the maintenance of a believer's spiritual integrity. In short, I must be true to the light that I possess, whether others possess that light or not, and whether they approve of my perspective or not. For every believer, love for God is demonstrated by delight in His commandments and the careful application of them to life's daily circumstances and relationships. John the Apostle put it succinctly: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." Determined application of the standard of truth to the obligation of love may actually bring me into righteous disagreement with a fellow believer, and that is not an evil thing. That is an inevitable reality this side of Heaven. As iron sharpens iron, wholesome disagreement in the pursuit of purity in love moves godly believers toward the ideal of Christlikeness, not away from it.

Regardless of the differing conclusions Christians may come to in matters about which they disagree, each believer must struggle to be fully persuaded in his or her own mind about the righteousness of his own thinking and behavior and live his life accordingly, for the glory of Christ alone.

Today's Christian Preacher, Dr. Steve Hankins - Spring 2010 insert

Quote & What I've Been Up To (Ed-style)

"As far back as creation, God declared that 'it is not good for man to be alone' (Gen. 2:18). We were created for relationship with the Lord and each other. Although the rugged individualist has been promoted as an American hero, such self-sufficiency leads to relational poverty."

(pg. 11 - In Touch, May 2010)

Do you think this is why people can be lonely in a crowded room? Or a city of 10 million?

Michael and Susanne on my birthday
April 30, 2010

Overwhelmed: by chocolate from Samer
Celebrated: my birthday at Red Robin's (restaurant) and Smitty's (ice cream place) with my friends
Gifted: with homemade strawberry preserves from my neighbor (tonight - yay!)

Chocolate Samer sent from Germany

Discovered: the North Carolina driver's license agency opens at 9 and not 8 or 8:30
Prepared: for that by wearing something I could walk in
Walked: in parking lot for exercise (how many times can one circle the same grocery store and restaurant in 45 minutes? Without looking suspicious)
Annoyed: at a new NC law which means I need to get my car inspected prior to getting the tag renewed
Enjoyed: a Chick-fil-A biscuit (free with a coupon sent to me by a friend)

Susanne, Denise & Teresa
Birthday 2010

Loved: the postcard from London that Louai sent and I received today
Called: "innocent" because I drink milk and not coffee
Finished: reading all eight books I borrowed from church friend, Cindy
Neglected: watching the lone movie she let me borrow - oops
Decided: to finally read a translation of Al Quran

Wineskins: Out with the Old, In with the New?

So the other day I asked about wineskins. Specifically what do they symbolize in Jesus' example in Matthew 9?

¹⁶"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

We discussed it a bit in the comment section of that post, but I wanted to share a couple of short things I read about wineskins.

First my Quest Bible notes:

"Wineskins were the bottles made of animal skins sewn in the shape of a flexible bag. At first they were soft and pliable, but with age they became brittle. Since wine gives off gases and expands as it undergoes the process of fermentation, a wineskin had to stretch to accommodate the expanding wine. Non-elastic, old skins would burst during fermentation."

And it continues:

"Jesus used this as a metaphor. Old wineskins represented the Jewish system, which was unable to accommodate the new wine of the kingdom of God." (pg. 1397)

I checked a New Testament commentary that we own and read this:

"The image of the wineskins teaches that [Jesus] gives spiritual fullness. Jewish religion was a worn-out wineskin that would burst if filled with the new wine of the Gospel. Jesus did not come to renovate Moses or even mix Law and grace. He came with new life!" (pg. 35)

About the garment mentioned in verse 16, the commentary reads:

"The illustration of the cloth reminds us that He came to bring spiritual wholeness; He did not come to 'patch us up' and then let us fall apart."

My preacher often compares the Holy Spirit to wine. He says the old wineskins represent people or churches who refuse to budge from tradition when the Spirit is leading them to do something different. He's talking about people who are so stuck in their own ways that they will not yield to the Spirit of God trying to work in their lives. People who hold tradition or their preferred methods above God. Let's face it, God doesn't always work in ways that seem sensible to us. His ways are higher than ours.

What do you think?



quotes from Quest Bible & The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume I - Warren Wiersbe

Perspective Fun & Challenges

A few weeks back I was talking to Samer and somehow we got on the topic of kindness working better than force. Perhaps we were discussing how wives would respond more favorably to husbands who treated them well rather than ones who would order them around as if they were inferior beings. Anyway, I thought of the fable I heard years ago and related the story of The North Wind and the Sun. Briefly it goes something like this. From Wikipedia...

The North Wind and the Sun is a fable attributed to Aesop. The story concerns a competition between the North wind and the Sun to decide who was the stronger of the two. The challenge was set to make a passing traveler remove his cloak. However hard the North Wind blew at the traveler, the traveler only wrapped his cloak tighter, but when it was the Sun's turn, and the Sun shone, the traveler was overcome with heat and had to take his cloak off. The moral was stated at the end of the fable as:

Persuasion is better than force. The complete moral of this is "Kindness, gentleness, and persuasion win where force fails. "

Instead of getting the "Aha! Great illustration" response I thought I'd get, Samer questioned: "You think the sun is less harsh than the wind?" then he went on to explain how hot and dry Damascus summers were and how a cooling wind was welcome.

Oh yeah...I totally get that, but it's not the point of my story! Really I can relate. Southern summers aren't exactly cool and I know how soothing a breeze can be in July. But I digress.

It's funny how perspectives color things. Aesop's fable aside, some people actually view the cold north wind as more welcome than the summer sun. Another reminder came when we were discussing this passage in I Timothy 3:2,

"Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife ..."

I'd always heard this taught to mean something in regard to divorce limiting people from certain church positions, but when Samer read it he stated, "Oh, I see this is against polygamy in church leadership." As an American who grew up with little if any thoughts of polygyny this never crossed my mind! But for a young man with a Muslim background and culture where polygyny isn't unheard of, he immediately interpreted this verse differently than I!

Our perspectives affect innocent things such as whether we welcome the rain or sun, wind or snow up to more difficult and potentially life-changing issues such as Hezbollah and Hamas being considered terrorist groups in need of stopping or merely freedom fighters defending the land stolen from them. A woman may find polygyny disagreeable and demoralizing to women whereas a man may find it a wonderful, God-given right and opportunity to have lots of varied sex! Perspective colors whether one reads the Gospels and sees Jesus as God or merely a good moral guide with idealistic teachings.

Our viewpoints, influenced much by our upbringing within our families, communities and peer groups, often define whether or not we view religion as a crutch needed only by weak people, a guide to instruct us through this life and the next or something altogether different. It influences what we believe about Muhammed, Joseph Smith, Buddha, the Pope and the angel Gabriel! Whether or not we see the American Civil War as the "War of Northern Aggression" or a fight to free slaves. Whether we view pork or beef, wine or milk favorably or not. Whether dogs are oh-so-cute-and-much-loved pets or whether they are to be avoided due to dirty saliva. I think you get the point.

Are there examples of how you and a friend or acquaintance have seen the same thing in very different ways? Was it something you could laugh off as inconsequential or did it cause a bit of contention as you decided to discuss why you viewed this subject differently? Did hearing their points of view change your way of viewing something? I'd love to hear your perspective stories!

So share! :)

Matthew 9:1-16 - Forgiving Sins, Challenging Tradition, Wineskins

I plan to talk more about this chapter later, but for now I wanted to post some Matthew 9 quotes and "thinkies" for discussion. This post will cover the first half of the chapter.

¹Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. ²Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

³At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"

⁴Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? ⁵Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? ⁶But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins...." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." ⁷And the man got up and went home. ⁸When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

"Given such authority to men." -- I suppose this refers to the authority to forgive sins. Do you recall others who have this authority on earth? Obviously the teachers of the law thought Jesus was stepping out of bounds and blaspheming God. Do you ever wonder why Jesus would say and do such provocative things? I wonder sometimes if he enjoyed challenging the cultural, traditional norms just to prove they are not the most important things in life!

In fact, this next quote somewhat proves it - at least to me! Note verse 13 which I discussed at length previously.

⁹As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

¹⁰While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. ¹¹When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

¹²On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

What does "following Jesus" look like to you? Does it differ significantly to what Jesus called Matthew to do?

¹⁴Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

¹⁵Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

¹⁶"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Any thoughts on what in the world wineskins have to do with anything? What do they symbolize in Jesus' example?

I'd enjoy hearing your opinions and discussion on these topics.

Jesus: "He is not the Great – He is the only.”

Carnegie Simpson

“Jesus is not one of the group of world’s great. Talk about Alexander the Great and Charles the Great and Napoleon the Great if you will…Jesus is apart. He is not the Great – He is the only.”

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French

"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”

“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”

“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”

H. G. Wells, British writer, 1866-1946

When asked which person left the most permanent impression on history, he replied that judging a person’s greatness by historical standards:

“By this test, Jesus stands first.”

“I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

“Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth.”


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