WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
Our Savior had lived on the earth for thirty years and had worked no miracle. There was the hiding of His power. He had been subject unto His parents and had lived in obscurity. Now He has broken through the obscurity and He begins His public ministry in Judea by working a miracle at;
Then He;
We see that He;
He then tells us how to get saved;
Jesus ends His Ministry in Judea and;
John the Baptist Exalts Christ.
Jesus finished His Ministry in Judea and went up to Galilee but did not take the long road the Jews normally take to avoid going through Samaria but went straight to a place called Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.
Jesus returned via Samaria to Galilee and we see The Rewards Of Service John 4:28-38, The Growth Of Faith John 4:39-45 and lastly The Reward Of Trusting Jesus’ Word John4:46-54.
Back in Galilee after a year in Judea Jesus; Ministers to Great Crowds
Frederick Brotherton Meyer, a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic presents it to us this way;
OPENING WORKS OF MERCY AND POWER Matthew 4:18-25
We must read the first chapter of John into the opening paragraph. Already the Lord had met with these first disciples in the Jordan valley; but they had returned to their homes and nets. Their prompt surrender was the result of the power over their hearts which the Master had already won. Their old craft was to be theirs still-only in a nobler form. The patience, courage, tact which had been elicited by their calling, were now to be enlisted in the service of souls.
The evangelist then groups together the broad features of the early Galilean ministry. It was a triumphal progress. Notice the reiteration of all, Mat_4:23. The words struggle to convey the wide comprehensiveness of Christ’s influence, even across the border. When the love of God came to our world in the person of Jesus, it immediately began to repair the havoc and damage which sin had caused. There was no hesitation or questioning where it was God’s will to heal. Let us always take that for granted for ourselves and others.
We thank William MacDonald (1917-2007) who, for more than forty years, written directly about the key issues of Christianity. Leaving a promising business career as an employed investment analyst with First National Bank of Boston “at the foot of the Cross”, he had travelled worldwide, proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ for the Believer’s Bible Commentary.
JESUS HEALS A GREAT MULTITUDE (Matthew 4:23-25)
The ministry of the Lord Jesus was threefold: He taught God’s Word in the synagogues; He preached the gospel of the kingdom; and He healed the sick. One purpose of the miracles of healing was to authenticate His person and ministry (Heb_2:3-4). Chapters 5-7 are an example of His teaching ministry and chapters 8-9 describe His miracles.
4:23 Verse 23 is the first use of gospel in the NT. The term means “good news of salvation.” In every age of the world’s history there has been only one gospel, only one way of salvation.
EXCURSUS ON THE GOSPEL
The gospel originates in the grace of God (Eph_2:8). That means that God gives eternal life freely to sinful people who don’t deserve it.
The basis of the gospel is the work of Christ on the cross (1Co_15:1-4). Our Savior fulfilled all the claims of divine justice, enabling God to justify believing sinners. Old Testament believers were saved through the work of Christ, even though it was still future. They probably did not know much about the Messiah, but God did—and He imputed the value of Christ’s work to their account. In a sense they were saved “on credit.” We, too, are saved through the work of Christ, but in our case, the work has already been finished.
The gospel is received by faith alone (Eph_2:8). In the OT, people were saved by believing whatever God had told them. In this age, people are saved by believing God’s testimony concerning His Son as the only way of salvation (1Jn_5:11-12). The ultimate goal of the gospel is heaven. We have the hope of eternity in heaven (2Co_5:6-10), just as OT saints did (Heb_11:10, Heb_11:14-16).
While there is only one gospel, there are different features of the gospel in different times. For instance, there is a different emphasis between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel of the kingdom says, “Repent and receive the Messiah; then you will enter His kingdom when it is set up on earth.” The gospel of grace says, “Repent and receive Christ; then you will be taken up to meet Him and to be with Him forever.” Fundamentally, they are the same gospel—salvation by grace through faith.
When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom, He was announcing His coming as King of Israel and explaining the terms of admission into His kingdom. His miracles showed the wholesome nature of the kingdom.
4:24, 25 His fame spread throughout all Syria (the territory north and northeast of Israel). All the sick people, demon-possessed, and disabled felt His healing touch. People thronged to Him from Galilee, the Decapolis (a confederation of ten Gentile cities in north-eastern Palestine), Jerusalem, Judea and the region east of the Jordan River. As. B. B. Warfield wrote: “Disease and death must have been almost eliminated for a brief season from … the region.” No wonder the public was greatly astonished at the reports they were hearing from Galilee!
Amen!
Please pray the Holy Spirit-The Paraclete will use these sermons and studies to bring many to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Tell someone today how much you Love Jesus Christ!
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