“Then, in chapter 8, the Lord begins in the midst of Israel His patient life of testimony, which closed with His rejection by the people whom God had so long preserved for Him, and for their own blessing.

He had proclaimed the kingdom, displayed His power throughout the land, and declared His character, as well as the spirit of those who should enter the kingdom.

But His miracles, [1] as well as the whole Gospel, are always characterised by His position among the Jews and God’s dealings with them, till He was rejected. Jehovah, yetthe man obedient to the law, foreshewing the entrance of the Gentiles into the kingdom (its establishment in mystery in the world), predicting the building of the church or assembly on the recognition of His being Son of the living God, and the kingdom in glory; and, while detecting as the effect of His presence the perversity of the people, yet bearing on His heart with perfect patience the burden of Israel. [2] It is Jehovah present in goodness, outwardly one of themselves: wondrous truth!

First of all, we find the healing of a leper. Jehovah alone, in His sovereign goodness, could heal the leper; here Jesus does so. “If thou wilt,” says the leper, “thou canst.” “I will,” replies the Lord. But at the same time, while He shews forth in His own Person that which repels all possibility of defilement-that which is above sin-He shews the most perfect condescension towards the defiled one. He touches the leper, saying, “I will, be thou clean.” We see the grace, the power, the undefilable holiness of Jehovah, come down in the Person of Jesus to the closest proximity to the sinner, touching him so to speak. It was indeed “the Lord that healeth thee.” [3] At the same time He conceals Himself, and commands the man, who had been healed, to go to the priest according to the ordinances of the law and offer his gift. He does not go out of the place of the Jew in subjection to the law; but Jehovah was there in goodness.

But in the next case we see a Gentile, who by faith enjoys the full effect of that power which his faith ascribed to Jesus giving the Lord occasion to bring out the solemn truth, that many of these poor Gentiles should come and sit down in the kingdom of heaven with the fathers who were honoured by the Jewish nation as the first parents of the heirs of promise, while the children of the kingdom should be in outer darkness. In fact the faith of this centurion acknowledged a divine power in Jesus, which, by the glory of Him that possessed it, would (not forsake Israel, but) open the door to the Gentiles, and graft into the olive-tree of promise branches of the wild olive-tree in the place of those which should be cut off. The manner in which this should take place in the assembly was not now the question.

He does not however yet forsake Israel. He goes into Peter’s house, and heals his wife’s mother. He does the same to all the sick who crowd around the house at even, when the sabbath was over. They are healed, the devils are cast out, so that the prophecy of Isaiah was being fulfilled: “Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses.” Jesus put Himself in heart under the weight of all the sorrows that oppressed Israel, in order to relieve and heal them. It is still Emmanuel, who feels for their misery and is afflicted in all their affliction, but who has come in with the power that shews Him capable of delivering them.

These three cases shew this character of His ministry in a clear and striking manner. He hides Himself; for, until the moment when He would shew judgment to the Gentiles, He does not lift up His voice in the streets. It is the dove that rests upon Him. These manifestations of power attract men to Him; but this does not deceive Him: He never departs in spirit from the place He has taken. He is the despised and the rejected of men; He has nowhere to lay His head. The earth had more room for the foxes and the birds than for Him, whom we have seen appear a moment before as the Lord, acknowledged at least by the necessities which He never refused to relieve. Therefore, if any man would follow Him, he must forsake all to be the companion of the Lord, who would not have come down to the earth if everything had not been in question; nor without an absolute right, although it was at the same time in a love which could only be occupied by its mission, and by the necessity that brought Him there.

The Lord on earth was everything or nothing. This, it is true, was to be felt morally in its effects, in the grace which, acting by faith, attached the believer to Him by an ineffable bond. Without this, the heart would not have been morally put to the test. But this did not make it the less true. accordingly the proofs of this were present: the winds and waves, to which in the eye of man He seemed to be exposed, obeyed His voice at once-a striking reproof to the unbelief that woke Him from His sleep, and had supposed it possible for the waves to engulf Him, and with Him the counsels and the power of Him who had created the winds and waves. It is evident that this storm was permitted in order to try their faith and manifest the dignity of His Person. If the enemy was the instrument who produced it, he only succeeded in making the Lord display His glory. Such indeed is always the case as to Christ, and for us, where faith is.

Now the reality of this power, and the manner of its operation, are forcibly proved by that which follows.

The Lord disembarks in the country of the Gergesenes. There the power of the enemy shews itself in all its horrors. If man, to whom the Lord was come in grace, did not know Him, the devils knew their Judge in the Person of the Son of God. The man was possessed by them. The fear they had of torme nt at the judgment of the last day is applied in the man’s mind to the immediate presence of the Lord: “Art thou come to torment us before the time?” Wicked spirits act on men by the dread of their power; they have none unless they are feared. But faith only can take this fear from man. I am not speaking of the lusts on which they act, nor of the wiles of the enemy; I speak of the power of the enemy. Resist the devil and he will flee from thee. Here the devils wished to manifest the reality of this power. The Lord permits it in order to make it plain, that in this world it is not merely man that is in question whether good or bad, but that also which is stronger than man. The devils enter into the swine, which perish in the waters. Sorrowful reality plainly demonstrated that it was no question of mere disease or of sinful lusts, but of wicked spirits! However, thanks be to God, it was a question also of One who, although a man on earth, was more powerful than they. They are compelled to acknowledge this power, and they appeal to it. There is no idea of resistance. In the temptation in the wilderness Satan had been overcome. Jesus completely delivers the man whom they had oppressed with their evil power. The power of the devils was nothing before Him. He could have delivered the world from all the power of the enemy, if that only had been in question, and from all the ills of humanity. The strong man was bound, and the Lord spoiled his goods. But the presence of God, of Jehovah, troubles the world even more than the power of the enemy degrades and domineers over mind and body. The control of the enemy over the heart-too peaceful, and alas! too little perceived-is more mighty than his strength. This succumbs before the word of Jesus; but the will of man accepts the world as it is, governed by the influence of Satan. The whole city, who had witnessed the deliverance of the demoniac and the power of Jesus present among them, entreat Him to depart. Sad history of the world! The Lord came down with power to deliver the world-man-from all the power of the enemy; but they would not. Their distance from God was moral, and not merely bondage to the enemy’s power. They submitted to his yoke, they had become used to it, and they would not have the presence of God.

I doubt not that that which happened to the swine is a figure of that which happened to the impious and profane Jews who rejected the Lord Jesus. Nothing can be more striking than the way in which a divine Person, Emmanuel, though a man in grace, is manifested in this chapter.”

It begins with a call to cease in our judgment of others. It turns out that God will judge us as harshly as we judge others. So, if you want God to show you mercy, then be merciful.

From there, the discussion turns to prayer. Rather than be ritualistic with prayer, Jesus wants us to go to God as a child would to a parent. He also talks of praying with diligence, really seeking an answer.

The Golden Rule is found here. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Not bad.

Jesus speaks of being a good tree and bearing good fruit. In fact, He says we will be known by the fruit we bear. This is a good reason to do good deeds.

Finally, He asks that we be wise builders, using His solid rock for the foundation of our lives. When the storms come, we won’t fall…if we are built upon Him.

Chapter 8 is next.

A recurrent theme in this chapter is the God “who sees what is done in secret”. Up to this point, Jews were taught to declare their good works to this around them, in an effort to prove their obedience to the Law.

Jesus introduces a new concept. If you let everyone know of your good deeds, then their approval is your reward. But if you choose to be silent and secret about your act, then God Himself rewards your actions.

Sign me up for that one.

Chapter 7 is next.

Verses 3 through 12 are commonly referred to as the Beatitudes, a series of sayings where Jesus reveals who the blessed in this world are, including the meek, those who mourn, and the merciful.  You will find that Jesus’ teachings are quite the opposite of what we would normally think to be right.  It is often referred to as a “kingdom upside-down” since it involves striving to finish last instead of first and putting the needs of others ahead of our own needs.

Jesus then begins to teach on individual topics, indicating that the nature of His teaching is to be salt to the world and light in the darkness.  He teaches on anger, adultery, and proper treatment of enemies.  Again, His teaching is different from what has been the norm, so the people are amazed to hear these different approaches to common topics.

He often begins His teachings by saying, “You have heard it said”, followed by “but I tell you”, so that the people can see the definite contrast between what they have been taught and what He brings to the table.  In verse 38, Jesus specifically address Hammurabi’s code of “an eye for an eye” with His take on vengeance and forgiveness.

The chapter ends with verse 48, an expression of the Lord’s desire for us to be holy, just as He is.  Up to this point, it was commonly taught that we must live by the Law that the Lord gave, with no concern of whether or not we were measuring up to the Lord Himself as our standard.  Jesus is teaching that our concern should be to imitate God in every way, not just meet the bare minimums of what His Law for us is.

Chapter 6 tomorrow.

Jesus then returns to begin His ministry.  He calls disciples to follow Him, so that He might have help during His ministry and also that there will be someone to continue His work once He is gone.  The Bible says that Jesus began healing the sick and afflicted everywhere.  It did not take long for Him to create quite a stir.  People were looking for a Messiah and early on, they thought they had found Him.

Chapter 5 tomorrow.

John is described as a wild man, wearing wild clothes and living as a virtual caveman.  Multitudes came to him wishing to be baptized and responding to his message of repentance.  Even the Pharisees and Sadducees came to see what he was about, but he chided them, calling them a “brood of vipers” (a name Jesus will call them later in the book).

The time came when Jesus was a man and he came to John for baptism.  John was reluctant, knowing that Jesus was the Messiah and should be doing the baptizing.  But, Jesus insisted.

When He came up from the water after being baptized, a dove descended upon Him and a voice spoke from heaven, claiming Jesus as the Son of God.  Yep, this is getting pretty cool.

Chapter 4 tomorrow.

Herod, who is currently the governing king, listens carefully to their story and even consults his scholars about the prophecies of Messiah.  He tells the kings that the Messiah is said to be born in Bethlehem, a nearby township.   They leave and find this child king and they worship Him, offering gifts of great treasures.

They learn through a dream that Herod has evil intentions and bypass Jerusalem on their way back home.  Joseph and Mary, Jesus’ earthly parents, are also warned to flee to Egypt, because Herod is going to seek and out this Messiah for the purpose of killing Him.  Herod follows up on this by slaughtering every male child under 2 years of age in the region.  But, Jesus is kept safe through His escape to Egypt.

An interesting thing in chapter 2 is the constant reference to prophecies of the Old Testament.  In this chapter alone, prophecies are fulfilled with the star shining in the east, the town that the Messiah is born in, the slaughter of innocents by Herod, the escape and return from Egypt, and the settling of Jesus’ family in Nazereth.  It is apparent that Matthew is highly interested in proving Jesus to be the Messiah through comparison to Old Testament prophecies.

Chapter 3 tomorrow.

Mary conceives, though she is betrothed to Joseph and a virgin. Joseph is not a cruel man and wishes to break off the betrothal in private. But an angel comes to him in a dream and encourages him to make her his wife. He is told that this son is the one that will be called Immanuel, “God with us”.

So, Joseph does as he is instructed and marries Mary. But, he does not sleep with her, so that God may have his glory.

Chapter 2 tomorrow.