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 was rejected in Nazareth see;
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.
Nazareth’s loss was Capernaum’s gain. The people in the latter city recognized that His teaching was authoritative. His words were convicting and impelling.
The Sermon on the Mount.
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
The Beatitudes. Salt and Light.
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
Retaliation and Love Your Enemies
Secret giving and secret praying
What to Seek and Whom to Serve
Ask, and It will Be Given & The Golden Rule.
The Messiah’s Miracles Of Power And Grace, And Varying Reactions To Them
Rewards Of Faith, The Great Physician
The Helper Of The Needy And The Friend Of Sinners
a Sermon Christ in Me by Dr. Sidlow J. Baxter.
THE SON OF MAN EXPLAINS HIS MINISTRY
And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:31-32
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;
HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS
Mark 5:21-43
We turn from the demon-driven man to this woman, weakened by long disease. For the one there was the outward manifestation of evil, but for the other inward wasting and decay. Let those who are conscious of the ravages of evil in their hearts, destroying their strength, establish connection with Christ as slight as the finger’s touch of the garment hem, and forthwith His virtue will enter and stay their inward malady. His power is ever going forth, and faith receives as much as it desires. The reservoir of power is always full, but how few, how very few, have learned the secret of tapping it!
Crowds throng Him, but only one touches. Proximity to Christ does not necessarily imply the appropriation of Christ. But where there is the faintest touch of faith, there is an instantaneous, may we not say, automatic, response. There may be great weakness, the fingers may be too nerveless to grasp, they can only touch; but the slightest degree of faith saves, because it is the channel by which Christ enters, Mar_5:34. Even children are liable to the havoc caused by sin, Mar_5:35-43. Death has passed on all, and from the universal blight even the little ones cannot find immunity. But again we turn to the Master of life, whose touch is as gentle as a woman’s and whose voice can penetrate the recesses of the unseen.
TENDER MINISTRY TO MAID AND WOMAN
Luke 8:40-56
The story of the poor woman has been characterized as that of “Nobody, Somebody and Everybody.” Nobody, for she was sick and poor and fearful. Somebody, for she was worthy of Christ’s notice. He healed her and even stayed His progress to the house of Jairus to elicit her frank confession and pronounce a further word of peace. Everybody, for her story not only helped Jairus, but has been a blessing to mankind; because we also have been the round of physicians but Jesus only has sufficed for our need.
It is a distressing thing to see a child die! Small wonder that Jairus was impatient for Christ’s help. The incident of the woman was permitted for his teaching and encouragement. We lose nothing when we await the Lord’s leisure. On the contrary, we profit.
Christ needed the companionship of the Apostles because their faith counted. Do not mind small numbers; they are often the condition of Christ’s mightiest achievements. He will do what man cannot do, and leave man to do his little part. “Give her to eat.”
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.
Curing the Incurable and Raising the Dead
Mark 5:21-43
5:21-23 Back on the western shore of blue Galilee, the Lord Jesus was soon in the center of a great multitude. A frenzied father came running up to Him. It was Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue. His little daughter was dying. Would Jesus please go and lay His hands on her so that she might be healed?
5:24 The Lord responded and started for the home. A crowd followed, thronging Him. It is interesting that immediately following the statement of the crowd’s thronging Him, we have an account of faith touching Him for healing.
5:25-29 A distracted woman intercepted Jesus on the way to Jairus’ home. Our Lord was neither annoyed nor ruffled by this seeming interruption. How do we react to interruptions?
I think I find most help in trying to look on all interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one’s work. … It is not waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day—the part one can best offer to God. (Choice Gleanings Calendar)
This woman had suffered with chronic bleeding for twelve years. The many physicians she went to had apparently used some drastic forms of treatment, drained her finances, and left her worse rather than better. When hope of recovery was all but gone, someone told her about Jesus. She lost no time in finding Him. Easing her way through the crowd, she touched the border of His garment. Immediately the bleeding stopped and she felt completely well.
5:30 Her plan was to slip away quietly, but the Lord would not let her miss the blessing of publicly acknowledging her Savior. He had been aware of an outflow of divine power when she touched Him; it cost Him something to heal her. So He asked, “Who touched My clothes?” He knew the answer, but asked in order to bring her forward in the crowd.
5:31 His disciples thought the question was silly. Many people were jostling Him continually. Why ask “Who touched Me?” But there is a difference between the touch of physical nearness, and the touch of desperate faith. It is possible to be ever so near Him without trusting Him, but impossible to touch Him by faith without His knowing it and without being healed.
5:32, 33 The woman came forward, fearing and trembling; she fell down before Him and made her first public confession of Jesus.
5:34 Then He spoke words of assurance to her soul. Open confession of Christ is of tremendous importance. Without it there can be little growth in the Christian life. As we take our stand boldly for Him, He floods our souls with full assurance of faith. The words of the Lord Jesus not only confirmed her physical healing, but also no doubt included the great blessing of soul salvation as well.
5:35-38 By this time, messengers had arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter had died. There was no need to bring the Teacher. The Lord graciously reassured Jairus, then took Peter, James, and John to the house. They were met by the unrestrained weeping characteristic of eastern homes in times of sorrow, some of it done by hired mourners.
5:39-42 When Jesus assured them that the child was not dead but sleeping, their tears turned to scorn. Undaunted, He took the immediate family to the motionless child, and taking her by the hand, said in Aramaic, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the twelve-year-old girl got up and walked. The relatives were stunned, and doubtless delirious with joy.
5:43 The Lord forbade their publicizing the miracle. He was not interested in the popular acclaim of the masses. He must resolutely press on to the cross.
If the girl had actually died, then this chapter illustrates the power of Jesus over demons, disease, and death. Not all Bible scholars agree that she was dead. Jesus said she was not dead but sleeping. Perhaps she was in a deep coma. He could just as easily have raised her from the dead, but He would not take credit for doing so if she were only unconscious.
We should not overlook the closing words of the chapter: “He … said that something should be given her to eat.” In spiritual ministry, this would be known as “follow-up work.” Souls that have known the throb of new life need to be fed. One way a disciple can manifest his love for the Savior is by feeding His sheep.
Curing the Incurable and Raising the Dead
Luke 8:40-56
8:40-42 Jesus went back across the Sea of Galilee to its western shore. There another crowd was waiting for Him. Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, was especially anxious to see Him because he had a twelve year old daughter who was dying. He urgently begged Jesus to go with him quickly. But the multitudes thronged Him, hindering His progress.
8:43 In the crowd was a timid, yet desperate woman, who had been afflicted with a flow of blood for twelve years. Luke the physician admits that she had spent all her life-savings and her income on physicians without getting any help. (Mark adds the unprofessional touch that she actually got worse!)
8:44, 45 She sensed that there was power in Jesus to heal her, so she eased her way through the crowd to where He was. Stooping down, she touched the border of His garment, the hem or fringe that formed the lower border of a Jew’s robe (Num_15:38-39; Deu_22:12). Immediately the blood stopped flowing and she was completely cured. She tried to steal away quietly, but her escape was blocked by a question from Jesus, “Who touched Me?” Peter and the other disciples thought that this was a silly question; all kinds of people were shoving, pushing, and touching Him!
8:46 But Jesus recognized a touch that was different. As someone has said, “The flesh throngs, but faith touches.” He knew that faith had touched Him, because He sensed an outflow of power—the power to heal the woman. He perceived that power had gone forth from Him. Not, of course, that He was any less powerful than He had been before, but simply that it cost Him something to heal. There was expenditure.
8:47, 48 The woman … came trembling … before Him and gave an apologetic explanation of why she had touched Him, and a grateful testimony of what had happened. Her public confession was rewarded with a public commendation of her faith by Jesus, and a public pronouncement of His peace upon her. No one ever touches Jesus by faith without His knowing it, and without receiving a blessing. No one ever confesses Him openly without being strengthened in assurance of salvation.
8:49 The healing of the woman with the issue of blood probably did not delay Jesus very long, but it was long enough for a messenger to arrive with the news that Jairus’ daughter was dead, and that therefore the Teacher’s services would no longer be needed. There was faith that He could heal, but none that He could raise the dead.
8:50 Jesus, however, would not be dismissed so easily. He answered with words of comfort, encouragement, and promise. “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.”
8:51-53 As soon as He arrived at the home, He went to the room, taking with Him only Peter, James, and John, along with the parents. Everyone was wailing in despair, but Jesus told them to stop because the girl was not dead, but sleeping. This caused them to ridicule Him, because they were positive that she was dead.
Was she really dead, or was she in a deep sleep, like a coma? Most commentators say she was dead. They point out that Jesus referred to Lazarus as being asleep, meaning that he was dead. Sir Robert Anderson says that the girl was not really dead. His arguments are as follows:
1. Jesus said that the girl would “be made well.” The word He used is the same word used in verse 48 of this chapter, where it refers to healing, not resurrection. The word is never used in the NT of raising the dead.
2. Jesus used a different word for sleeping in the case of Lazarus.
3. The people thought she was dead, but Jesus would not take credit for raising her from the dead when actually He knew she was sleeping.
Anderson says it is simply a matter of whom you want to believe. Jesus said that she was sleeping. The others thought they knew she was dead.
8:54-56 In any case, Jesus said to her, “Little girl, arise.” She arose immediately. After restoring her to her parents, Jesus told them not to publicize the miracle. He was not interested in notoriety, in fickle public enthusiasm, in idle curiosity.
Thus ends the second year of Jesus’ public ministry. Chapter 9 opens the third year with the sending forth of the twelve.
Please pray the Holy Spirit-The Paraclete will use these sermons and studies to bring many to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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