A friend asked me the other day what my favourite chapter of the Bible was. We were talking about our favourite memory verses and it flowed from there.
I found this quite hard as I love the Bible so much and I have so many favourites. In the end I had to choose Matthew 8 & 9 as a tie. Matthew 8 comes right after the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had taught some amazing truths and the people were amazed by His teaching and authority.
Jesus comes down the mountain has a number of amazing interactions with people. He heals a number of people, drives out demons, calms a storm, raises a dead girl and finishes with a call to pray for workers to enter the harvest field.
I just love the way Jesus interacts with people as He moves around in these chapters. He meets people where they are at and at their point of need. He listens, responds and then He moves powerfully. Nothing is too great for Him to handle.
A few years ago I did a sermon of these two chapters. It was titled, “Bring your problem to Jesus”. It looked at each of Jesus’ interactions and the results of them. At the end we prayed for people who issues they wanted to bring to Jesus.
I was reading Matthew 9:9-13 just now. It is the call of Matthew and how Jesus goes to eat at his house with “tax collectors and other sinners”.
The Pharisees found out and could not believe Jesus associated with such people. When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor-sick people do” (v12).
As I dwelt upon the idea of spending time with outcastes I prayed and asked God to help me with this. He then reminded me of something we did many years ago fairly as new Christians.
Some friends and I were at the Australia Day fire works in Kings Park Perth. After it ended we decided to hang around as there were lots of people and cars trying to go home.
As we sat and talked we noticed a homeless man lying under the bushes near us. We heard him moaning and groaning. My friends and I looked at each other and without a word went over to see if we could help.
At first the man yelled at us and told us to go away. But we said we were Christians and we were worried about him. He rolled over and began to talk to us. We talked about his life, his troubles and his battle with alcohol.
The sadness of his story made us want to bless him right at that moment. My friends looked at each other again, and without a word, we said can we help you get you home. He had a place in a mens shelter he could stay at, He agreed as he could not get home by himself.
Once the crowd had cleared we got him up and took him to my car. He looked and smelled like he had not showered in months, but we got him in the car and headed towards his temporary home.
As we drove and talked we asked if he had eaten. He said no. So we took him to a local drive through that was still open. We got him whatever he wanted from the menu. And we sat and ate in my car. We talked for more than an hour.
After this we drove around the city some more and we eventually took him home. He was feeling better after haven eaten and was able to walk more by himself. We took him to his room and got him settled in bed.
As we were about to go he got up and looked us in the eye and thanked us for treating him so well. We sensed it had been a while for him. He then stood very upright gave us a military salute. Without thinking we did it back, even though none of us had been in the military.
As we drove away we did not say much to each other. But we knew we had made a real difference to him. And the truth is he made a real difference to us. We got to experience what it is like to see someone through the eyes of Jesus and just helping because he needed us to help.
As I type I have tears in my eyes thinking about this. I have not thought about this homeless man for many years. I do not know what happened to him or even if he is still alive. But I know Jesus does. He was with us that night giving us the love and compassion needed to do that task for Him.
Right now I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40, “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
As I reflect on this night way back. I think this is the night Jesus turned on compassion in me for people who were really struggling. I am so glad we stepped out to help this man and not just walked on by. It turned on a compassion that moved me to action and still moves me today.
Most of us can probably relate to having times when we are too busy. We feel like it all depends on us to get things done.
In these times I have a weariness test that I give myself every now and then. I use the letters of the word weary.
W – Do I feel like I am working day and night? Or am I waiting on the Lord and responding to His promptings?
E – Does it feel like everything depends on me to get done? Or does everything depend on God and I just play my part?
A – Am I always rushing around to get things done? Or am I allowed to relax and have time off to do the things I enjoy?
R – Am I restless and can’t keep still? Or am I resting in Christ?
Y – Am I saying yes to everyone and everything? Or am I yielded to God and saying yes to Him?
If my answers are more on the left, I may be weary and need to rest and take some time out. I might to go and sit on the rock and pray in the photo above.
I may need to hear Jesus’ words afresh to “Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest?” I may need some time to be alone with Him.
I really love this passage of Scripture. It talks about a man coming to Jesus as he is worried about his sick daughter. He is so concerned she might die, that he comes to Jesus and asks Him to pray for her. He wants Jesus to go with him to his house. Sadly while he is with Jesus, some friends come and say your daughter has died. As I dwelt upon it four things came to mind.
1. Bring your problem to Jesus
Jairus had a problem. His young daughter was not well and he feared for her life. He knew Jesus could heal her so he brought his request to Him. Bringing our problem to Jesus should be our first response. Often we try to sort things out ourselves, but Jesus has all power and authority and bringing our problems to Jesus makes sense.
2. Do not be afraid, just have faith
In the passage we see that Jairus’ friends came to tell him his daughter had died. We see that Jesus did not listen to them. He just said, “Do not be afraid, just have faith” in verse 36. Then they set out for his house where the daughter was. I can imagine what the journey would have been like. His mind would have been racing. My daughter is dead, but Jesus said to have faith. In bad situations it is important to trust Jesus and His power, not what we see or hear.
3. Do not listen to the doubters
In this passage we see that Jesus did not listen to the friends who said the daughter had died (v35) and He put out the people who laughed at Him on His arrival (v40). Jesus said she is not dead, just asleep. Jesus only took the Mother and Father in to the room along with the three disciples Peter, James and John – three people of faith. When we are going through things it is important to listen to the words of Jesus in the Bible, not the negative voices around us.
4. Allow Jesus to intervene
We see that Jesus took the girl by the hand and told her to arise in Aramaic. The girl who was dead, rose to life. Jesus then gave the girl back to her parents alive and well. Jesus intervened and performed an amazing miracle. The dead girl was now alive! When facing problems in this world we just have to ask Jesus to intervene in faith and allow Him to do what only He can do. Our part is to bring it to Jesus and trust Him for the outcome.
Closing reflection
For us today it is so easy to get discouraged when bad things come our way. We can become downcast and listen to all the negative people around us. They key, I believe, for the Christian is to look to Jesus. Bring your problem to Jesus, invite Him in to your situation in faith and allow Him to intervene. You can trust Jesus because He is the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He has all power and nothing is impossible to Him. Do not be afraid, just have faith.
In Mark 4:35-41 we see Jesus perform an amazing miracle of calming a storm.
Jesus was in a boat sleeping when a storm came up and threatened to sink the boat. The disciples were terrified and thought they would drown.
One of the things I find interesting about this is they were experienced fishermen. They knew what it was to fish in all types of weather and it would take a lot to scare them.
In verse 38 we see the terrified disciples shouted at Jesus and said, “Teacher, don’t you care we are going to drown?” The next two verses is where the miracle happens…
[39] When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. [40] Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Can you imagine being on a boat in a ferocious storm and thinking you were going to die, then all of a sudden it stops at Jesus’ command?!
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Earlier in the book of Mark we see that Jesus had already caste out an evil spirit from a man, healed a paralytic, and healed a man with a deformed hand on the Sabbath. This miracle was next level. He controlled nature.
I can imagine the disciples having an unfolding sense of awe as they followed Jesus. Healing people, teaching with authority, casting out demons, but telling the wind and waves to be calm. I am not surprised they were terrified!
Looking back from our position we know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. But for the disciples there would have been an unfolding sense of awe and belief in who Jesus was.
I know in my own life I had a sense of unfolding awe in Jesus too. I did not come from a family of faith so in my early twenties I started my search for God.
Slowly over time I purchased a Bible, attended church and began to pray. Over the period of six months I came to faith in Jesus. I knew I was a sinner and Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I knew I needed Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.
If you are in this search for God, I would encourage you to visit my “Find salvation” page above. It explains what Jesus has done and what we need to do in response. I hope and pray that you will find an unfolding awe of Jesus too.
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