9/29/13

From Gary.... The level of Mercury, a gentle breeze and love


Yesterday, I spoke with my Linda, who is recovering from a severe ankle injury.  She mentioned that it was in the 70's in New Jersey and I just smiled and said it about 90 in Florida. I could tell from her voice that she was happy to be out of the heat, and I wish I was there to share the cooler weather with her, but, alas, that doesn't seem to be in the near future.  So, Linda and I talked and though thousands of miles apart, we were close.  She understood how hot Florida can be and I remembered what 70 felt like.  Fellowship; it comes in all temperatures.  Where the heart is- there you will find the commonality that only love can comprehend.  And so we come to this passage from the book of 2 Corinthians...

2 Corinthians, Chapter 1
  3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;  4 who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.  6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. 

Love, it really does change things.  Perhaps not the physicality of reality, but the perception does change.  To me, for awhile yesterday, I WAS IN NEW JERSEY, enjoying the fall temperatures, talking with the love of my life- and happy.  Today, I am reminded by the elevated mercury of my thermometer, that Florida is reality.  But the memory of those few minutes with my sweetie is like a gentle breeze that changes everything.  I wonder if that is how God feels when we spend time with HIM in PRAYER?  I know that prayer is a soothing aroma ascending to heaven, but I am curious as to whether or not God has a fan directing it towards his face?  If so, that must be some whopping electric bill HE has each month!!!

From Ben Fronczek... How They Became Christians



How They Became Christians

Acts 10     Cornelius (part 4)
In the past few lessons I have been talking about someone I feel is a very special, a Bible character that I never really looked at before. In Acts chapter 10 I’ve spent some time looking Cornelius. He is a special individual not only because of who he is, but also because what he does.
Who is he? He is a Roman soldier of high rank, a centurion, probably part of a squadron of men that were in charge of security, guarding the Roman governor  Marcellus in the capitol city of Caesarea.
Being a Roman soldier he had not only pledged his allegiance to Caesar who also claimed to be divine he  also had pledged his allegiance to the Roman many pagan Gods.
As mentioned in an earlier lesson, what made Cornelius unique was the fact that at some point he seemingly turned his back on those pagan Gods and after learning about the God of the Jews, he accepted Him as his new Lord and God. And we read in chapter 10 that he and his family were totally devoted to the Lord, and was on good terms with the Jews helping those who were in need.
In chapter 10 we also read about the angel that came to Cornelius one afternoon as he was praying. The angel instructed him to send for the Apostle Peter to listen to what he had to say. In the meantime the Lord also sent Peter a vision of unclean animals being lowered in a sheet to the earth from above with the command to kill and eat. After Peter responded saying that he couldn’t he was told that he should no longer consider things impure if the Lord has made it clean.  After repeating this three times, the sheet was taken back up to heaven and that’s when Cornelius’ men came searching for Peter to bring him back to Cornelius. And it is at this point that the Spirit tells Peter to go with these men.
Why is this story so important? Because when Peter goes to Cornelius’ house and preaches the good new about Jesus it is the first time we see non-Jews accepted into the kingdom of God. From the time of Abraham, who was literally the first Hebrew or Jew, until that day in Cornelius’ house, no one could be part God’s covenant people unless they were born a Jew or unless they became a proselyte Jew.
This is the first time in Bible history since before the time of Abraham that a non-Jew or gentile could become part of God’s family. This is a pivotal time in all Bible history!
And so that Peter and the other Jews that came with him would recognize this great event, that God was now going to accept gentiles into His kingdom and His Church,  the miraculous gifts and power of the Holy Spirit were poured out on these uncircumcised gentiles by God Himself, showing Peter and the Jews that these people were also accepted.(44)    God tore down the wall that divided the Jews from the gentiles.  Now we all can become God’s chosen people.
Later Paul would write about this in Ephesians 2:11-18 , he wrote,  Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.   For He himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,  by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,  and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.  He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”  (Notice he technically made peace by setting aside or doing away with the old Jewish covenant at the cross so that Jews and Gentiles are now on equal ground cf.. to Colossians 2:14) (Click on highlighted Bibles verses to read)
That’s why this story about what happens here with Cornelius’ is so special.  Because of it, we as gentiles (or non Jews) have the same hope as the chosen people of old. We can become part of God’s family and be saved from our sin without first becoming a Jew.
So why Cornelius? Why this household?
Well, as we already mentioned, he and his family are already devoted to God. It took a lot of courage to turn his back on the pagan Roman gods. He could be seen as a traitor.
They are more than just believers in our Lord, they are devoted and this devotion was reflected in how generous they were to others, and even in how the Jews saw Cornelius. We read that he was respected by all the Jews.
In the last less (part 3) I talked about Cornelius being a spiritual leader, a man who probably influenced people in a good way. Evidence of this is seen by how many people gathered at his home when Peter arrives. Friend s and family obviously liked him and had enough respect for him to show up when he invited them to his house to hear this Jew speak.
But I believe there’s more; it goes deeper. I believe Cornelius is what we would now call a seeker.
What he had, what he already knew and believed about the Lord, probably wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He was still open to hear more truth, more revelation. Maybe he wasn’t satisfied with his present spiritual condition or serve.
I almost wonder if when he prayed, he prayed, “Lord help me understand, I’m not a Jew but I want to be right with you. I want to serve you. Help me Lord.”
And so when the angel appeared to him and told him to send for Peter, I almost sense an excitement, some anticipation in the text.  This is something I fear many of us have forgotten. This desire, the thirst and hunger for wanting to know more about God and how we can fit into His plan.
Jesus Promised us something when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (that is for God) he will be filled.”  (Matt. 5:6)
And this hunger grows into excitement.. Cornelius had to be excited about Peter coming to his home; otherwise he would not tried to pack his house so full of people.
We also see this great man’s humility.  Do you see his reaction when he first meets Peter? Verse 25 says that he fell at Peter’s feet in reverence.  It probably embarrassed the heck out of Peter because he told him, “get up, I’m just a man myself.” 
After Peter enters the house full of people he explains to them that Jews normally don’t associate  with non-Jews but he explain to them that God himself showed him not to call any man impure.
After Cornelius explained why he summoned Peter (because an angel told him to do so) I find what Peter has to says next is interesting. (Please click on Bible verses to read)  Acts 10:34-43
Did you notice what Peter said here. Did you notice how he began vss. 36 and 39? He said,  “YOU KNOW  the message about Jesus. YOU KNOW  what happened throughout Judea from the time of John’s baptism  to when they nailed Him on the cross.”
And then Peter let these people know that he was a witnesses of these facts and not only saw Jesus die on that cross but also witness of the fact that He rose on the third day and was seen by many. And then Jesus commanded them to go out and share this good news, that he will Judge both the living and the dead. Peter goes on and let’s Cornelius’ household know that even the prophets talked about Him and that everyone that believed in Him could receive forgiveness of Sin through His name.
And then ‘BAM’, that’s when the Holy Spirit poured out some miraculous gifts on these people.  Right then and there God was letting Peter and these Jews know that these people were ready, these people were believers; God was willing to accept them into his kingdom.
Were these people Christian yet? No, they only needed one more thing, the same thing that was needed in Acts 2 when the 3000 believed and repented. It was the same thing that the Samaritans needed in Acts 8 after they repented and believed. It was the same thing that the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:34-39 recognized, that he needed after he came to believe in Jesus; and the same thing Paul needed after he came to faith, fasting and repenting in Acts 9 and Acts 22. These people needed that master surgeon to cut away or remove their sin in the waters of Baptism. So in verse 47 Peter says,Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus.” 
So why did I use the terminology that Jesus is the Master surgeon?  In Colossians 2:9-12  Paul clearly tells us that Jesus cuts away our sin in the waters of baptism.     And in Roman 6 tells us that after we come up out of the water we rise to a newness of life.  (Click on the verses to READ)
Without hesitation Cornelius and his household allow themselves to be baptized so that Jesus could remove their sin and so fulfill what God had ordained as a final and necessary step in their redemption;  thus opening the door for us as believing gentiles to follow. So here we see another example like with the Samaritans in Acts 8,  where just belief in God was not enough. Knowledge of Jesus was not enough for they knew of Him. Praying was not enough. Even good works and a good reputation were not good enough.
There comes a point where we have to allow Jesus to purify us, and remove our sin. And based on   Colossians 2 Paul wrote that it is in the waters of baptism that Jesus Himself removes our sin. It is a circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism”.
You can’t pray your sin away.  Doing a bunch of good works is not going to get rid of our sin.  There is nothing we or any man can do to fix our sin problem. Only Jesus can do that. On the cross He died for our sin and based on this text and others, it is in the waters of Baptism, when we are buried with Him He personally removes our sin.
So what I hope you can take from this lesson today:
#1.  I don’t think we should ever stop seeking, and hungering and thirsting for righteousness and what God wants and expects from us. Continue to seek out his will for you. Pray, study the scriptures.
And as Jesus promised, you will be blessed, or happy, because if you seek with all sincerity you will find, and you will be filled.
2nd  Our own pride and stubbornness, and ‘know it all attitude,’ can be our greatest enemy. When it comes to truth and learning the things of God, and understanding your spiritual relationship with God,  don’t ever settle for what someone tells you what you should or should not do.  God has preserved His word in the Bible so that you can know the truth and that truth will set you free. Research it out for yourself!
#3. If you have not done what Cornelius and his family did that day, having consciously put their faith in Jesus and then allowed themselves to be baptized so that Jesus could remove their sin,  Then I suggest that you seriously consider looking  into this matter and doing what Cornelius and family decided to do.
I believe that there is a right way to be baptized, a right time to be baptized, and  and a right and a wrong reason to be baptized. If you this is new to you and you want to learn more about it email me for more information


For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566

From Jim McGuiggan... Matthew 8.16-17 & SUFFERING

Matthew 8.16-17 & SUFFERING

Biblically there’s more than one face of suffering and loss. Over the years one of my failures as a student of scripture and life is that I’ve responded to complex realities with answers and proposals that are too simple. In addition to my sheer ignorance I’m sure one of the reasons I did that was because I was impatient. I’d like to have these matters all squared away so the sooner I can set them aside thinking, “That’s another one taken care of” the better I like it. It’s important that I don’t do that. I need to work patiently through the ins and outs because when I make it too simple somebody suffers, some poor soul falls through the cracks and is left comfortless. Besides, if I leave the job half done I haven’t heard all God is saying to us and that’s always a loss. I recognise the task is unending and in some ways always beyond me but that doesn’t excuse me if I don’t make the attempt.
Take for example the work of Stanley Hauerwas, a brilliant and provocative theological ethicist, and his remarks about suffering in general and the suffering of children in particular. In Naming the Silences (1990) and The Suffering Presence (1986) he thought that suffering that came as a result of one’s devotion to God made sense but that suffering that is part of what we might call “the human condition” is beyond explanation. In particular, the suffering of a child, he thought, is “a blackness before which we can only stand mute.” (NS, page 86) Quoting Brueggemann with approval he rightly wants us to avoid a sort of masochism that’s “too understanding” about suffering so that we won’t take it like whipped dogs. On the other hand he rightly urges us not to trivialize the cross by identifying our own losses with Christ’s cross and so reduce his death to one more example of suffering to be borne. I think Hauerwas’ work here leaves a profound gap that begs to be filled. The bulk of the world’s pain involves disease and loss that is not the immediate result of one’s devotion to God and Hauerwas thinks we have nothing worth saying in the face of it all. I think that’s untrue and maybe we don’t have to stand utterly mute before a little child’s suffering.
Scholars urge us to take suffering seriously and not to gloss over it but perhaps we aren’t taking the general suffering of the world seriously enough when we sever it from the cross. And maybe we’re robbing sufferers of something they can ill do without.
It might be that we aren’t wrong in recognizing secondary and intermediate causes but that we’re wrong to exclude the ultimate Cause of pain and loss—God himself who uses secondary causes as instruments. We’re urged to hold God accountable by having an authentic faith that will protest. It might be that laying the entire world’s suffering at the feet of God is the most serious way to “hold him accountable” and to give our suffering the dignity it deserves. Screaming at him in our pain even while we think “the blame” should be laid at the feet of free will abuse, bad luck or demonic thugs—maybe that’s not really holding God accountable. At least when Job did his raging and insulting, he knew it was God he was mad at (“If it isn’t him, who is it?” he asks). Some say, "Hold God accountable and show authentic faith" and then they go on to "explain" everything in every conceivable way while keeping God out of it. The bold call to authentic faith melts to mush.
To stand mute before Auschwitz makes sense in many ways and to be speechless in the presence of the suffering of little children is a measure of its awful nature. But maybe that is to make too little of it. Maybe its true measure is seen only when we link it to the cross and a cosmic catastrophe. You understand, Christians aren’t interested in making less of these awful realities especially if the biblical witness makes them part of a vast divine/human Story. If the world’s suffering is God’s strange but redemptive work in response to human sin it is taken more seriously and given an aura and dimensions that poor hurting hearts can’t give it and for which they beg.
Suffering’s many faces
The scriptures speak a lot about suffering that results from faithfulness to God. In fact, this is almost exclusively what the New Testament talks about. I say “almost” because there are a few (important) texts that speak more broadly. Then we hear that suffering transforms and enriches us and brings Christians more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Then again there are the sufferings of a particular class of people who have a peculiar place in God’s service (apostles, for example, see this developed in 2 Corinthians). We read of suffering that is punishment for wrong done and we read of suffering that is chosen for the sake of others. There is suffering that is remedial chastisement and there is some that is “terminal” punishment. These are spelled out in various texts but it’s easy to see that there is also a kind of suffering, an inner suffering, that’s experienced because of love for others. Anxiety and sleeplessness, the kind of thing Paul felt because he loved the little congregations that he established and that were undergoing great trials. This is real suffering but it isn’t exactly “inflicted” (though it exists because redemptive love has come into conflict with a dangerous and sinful world).
It’s important that we allow a biblical text to speak its own message rather than generalise it beyond recognition. Not to see that Paul in 2 Corinthians is dealing immediately with his own apostolic sufferings is to miss the edge of Paul’s message and that helps nobody. But maybe there’s a way to view Paul’s suffering that keeps faith with what he had in mind and still allows it to speak to a wider situation. I believe that all the various faces of suffering can be brought together under one head without losing their own particular place in a multifaceted truth.
I think one biblical aspect of suffering that is insufficiently noticed is that it is the redemptive work of God expressing itself in curse in response to humanity’s rebellion (as recorded in Genesis 3:11). If all suffering is connected with the curse then all suffering has a moral and redemptive context to it. And if this is true it should come as no surprise to us that it is embraced in the Christ and his cross. I would like to develop this line by taking a look at a passage in Matthew.
Christ and kingdom authority in Matthew
Scholars are still coming up with new ways to look at Matthew and what he meant to achieve by his gospel narrative. It isn’t really surprising that they can come up with different emphases that usually add to rather than contradict earlier proposals. On anybody’s view, Matthew’s gospel is as rich as cream.
It’s clear that there’s a lot in Matthew about “authority” and power and it’s also clear that that authority and power is related to the kingdom (reign) of God which was showing itself in the person and work of Jesus. It’s just as clear that that kingdom authority and power is intimately related to the love and mercy of God toward a nation that’s under his judgment. Those two truths don’t seem to sit together easily in our minds. If the nation was under judgment and needed to be called to a national repentance we might have expected the wrath of God against sin to show itself in Christ instead of love and mercy which brought forgiveness and healing. (That last sentence is risky speech because it seems to suggest that wrath and mercy are conflicting responses when in truth God’s wrath is a face of his mercy. But there’s biblical precedent for such risky speech as Exodus 20:4-5 illustrates. More on this later.)
The religious leaders thought this a strange “Christ” who in their eyes belittled the law (torah) and was “soft on sin”. While they stressed commandment-keeping (and especially their own commands), which resulted in isolating sinners, Jesus stressed love and mercy which drove him into the fellowship of sinners. It wasn’t that Christ didn’t speak of judgment and wrath because he certainly did but he saw wrath and judgment as servants of love and mercy; more, he saw them as expressions of love and mercy. He also insisted that rightly understood the central call of the law (torah) was that Israel should respond to God and one another out of love and mercy; God-imaging love and mercy.
The teaching of Christ in Matthew
He came as an authoritative teacher of the true understanding of the law. It wasn’t that he was abolishing the law; the reverse was true (see this with special clarity in Matthew 5:17-20). In his own life, and the life to which he called people, the fulfilment of the law was of paramount importance. He hadn’t come to make it easier for men to sin. Nor did he think that he was the only one who was able to see the truth he taught, though clearly, and for many reasons, his grasp of things was far beyond anyone else. He held people responsible for not seeing the true thrust of the law and he makes that clear in places like Matthew 23:23. There he held Pharisees responsible for leaving undone the more important matters of the law as the result of an undue emphasis on the less important (not unimportant) matters. And in Matthew 12:7 he clearly expected his critics to understand passages like Hosea 6:6 and held them responsible for not doing so. So, far from claiming executive privilege to pick and choose what suited him in the law, the Christ lived by the true meaning and nature of the law and expected others to recognize that truth. His grasp of biblical truth gave him authority that made jaws go slack (see, for example, Matthew 7:28-29 and Matthew 13:53-54).
Christ’s teaching about the reality and awfulness of God’s wrath is seen clearly in Matthew (a few examples, 3:7-12; 7:13-19; 8:12; 10:15,28; 11:20-24 and chapter 23 and 25). But for Matthew’s Christ God’s wrath wasn’t vengeful or a divine lashing out, it was set within his character as part of his holy love and faithfulness; a holy love that came to redeem his people. In Matthew Jesus Christ raged most against people and views that estranged children from their Holy Father and shut up the kingdom of heaven against God’s wayward children (23:13). Even his scathing Matthew 23 ends with sadness and not a foaming at the mouth. The single thrust of the whole of Matthew 18 is to say that every single individual is precious and that we’re to go the distance to regain them because this is the heart of the Holy Father (Matthew 18:35).
This kind of teaching underscores the nature of the reign of God and it adds a moral and spiritual dimension to Christ’s miracles even while the miracles give confirmation to the teaching.
The miracles of Christ in Matthew
But his authority wasn’t confined to teaching since Matthew’s record is filled not only with large teaching blocks but also with scores of healing sessions. Chapters 8 and 9 illustrate this point where he heals “all” and casts out demons “with a word”. Because Christ’s miraculous power almost invariably eased suffering and restored great losses we have again the stress on love and mercy. And since he did all this because God was with him (see Acts 10:38) we’re reminded again that the reign of God focussed in on love and mercy and restoration. His life, teaching and miraculous power all served one grand stress: the kingdom of God had finally shown itself and it was loving and merciful even while it acknowledged sin and brought judgement. More, the reign of God showed itself merciful and loving by exposing sin and judging it.
The leadership saw the masses as under condemnation and fit only to be isolated and to experience wrath (Matthew 9:11 illustrates). Then comes the Christ, proclaiming the reign of God and bringing love, mercy and consequent fellowship to the diseased and the sinful. But he doesn’t do this without authority and he makes it clear that the same power that guides and empowers him to heal the sick leads him to fellowship sinners because he regards them as sick also (Matthew 9:11-12). In Matthew 9:1-8 he links his capacity to deal with sins and diseases as though they were two sides of one coin.
The nature of Christ’s teaching/acting authority in Matthew
Yes. But why is he the one to whom this authority is given? It’s because he embodies the heart and mind of God toward his people. It’s because like his Holy Father Jesus announced the call for holy behavior but still desires mercy and not sacrifice, fellowship rather than isolation. Kingdom authority could not have been given to the current leadership precisely because this was not their way of thinking or behaving. They laid burdens on people rather than easing them (see Matthew 11:28-30 with Matthew 23:4). And it was precisely because Jesus knew as his own experience that the will of his Holy Father was mercy (“hesed,” love that expresses itself, for example, in covenants) rather than sacrifice that he could embody the reign of God. Jesus exegetes the meaning and nature of the reign of God precisely because he is God reigning.
In a very real way Christ’s character and devotion to his Father and his people is his authority. He is identified with both. He possessed and shared the holy passion of his Father with its steadfast love and kindness. He shared God’s judgement along with his sinful family and bore with them their sicknesses and diseases that were part of that judgement (see Matthew 8:16-17).
It was this identification with both God and man that made Jesus the agent of the reign of God, which, when it would manifest itself, was to rescue people from their sins that life with God might be restored in its fullness. It was because of sins that the curse was on Israel (and mankind) so that in dealing with sin the Christ would deal with the curse and in undoing the curse he was demonstrating that sin was being dealt with. (The complete removal of the curse would coincide with the complete restoration of all things and the final dealing with sin. See 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 54-56 and Acts 3:21.)
This weaving between sin and sickness, between repentance and health in the book of Matthew is one movement in Christ’s ushering in of the kingdom of God. The life and ministry of Christ undermines isolation or restriction of fellowship as a mark of sin and judgement by drawing near sinners. He touches isolated lepers, answers the prayers of a hated Canaanite woman, visits outsiders like the Gentile centurion and calls to him a hemorrhaging woman who has touched him. He touches the dead, has table-fellowship with the notorious all the while he offers forgiveness and full fellowship with God to those who are astray from God and outside the circle of the self-proclaimed elite.
But, again, why is he the one who embodies kingdom authority to forgive sins and heal the sick and oppressed? Because contrary to the leaders who isolated the sinners and the diseased he made himself one with them and bore their sins and diseases (Matthew 8:16-17; 20:28; 26:28). Kingdom authority, Matthew would teach us, is the authority of identification and bearing.
He comes to save “his” people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). His own life recapitulates the career of his people (Matthew 2:15,17,18; 3:13 4:11; 12:15-21 and elsewhere). He comes to be God “with” them (Matthew 1:23) and this is seen in how he socializes with them and in his “compassion” for them (Matthew 9:36; 14:14) and in the way he views them as “sick” and in need of a doctor though they are sinful (Matthew 9:10-13).
In all this Matthew teaches us that kingdom “authority” and “power” has nothing to do with naked force and that it is only related to divine “muscles” rather than that being the sum total of it. The authority and power is moral through and through and is motivated by love and mercy even when it shows itself in judgement. The miracles are not mere prodigies or wonders; they are God’s faithful, holy and loving response to his commitment to his people (and to humanity at large). Given the God the Old Testament bore witness to, there was an inevitability about the manifestation of his reign and it was inevitable that it would be loving and merciful as well as holy. Therefore it was holy love coming into close contact with sin and God’s grand provision coming into contact with human need. And this faithfulness on God’s part, Matthew teaches us right from the beginning, is not to be shown from the “outside”. In Christ, God had identified himself with his people and was bearing their sin and disease in order to fully heal and restore.
And when Christ shared this authority and power with his followers it is for no other reason than to heal and deliver and proclaim the good news that God’s reign was breaking in (Matthew 10:1-9).
We need not deny that Christ’s miracles had credential value but it’s important that we don’t empty them of their full biblical content. They are a sign of God’s gracious return to a people that had begged for judgement. Deuteronomy 32 is a long declaration of God’s coming judgement against a people that would apostatize. God says he will bring his four sore judgements against the nation. He might have utterly obliterated them he says, had it not been that he feared their enemies might misunderstand. The enemies might think that Israel’s pain and loss was their doing when it fact it was the Lord’s (Deuteronomy 32:26-27). “I said I would scatter them and blot out their memory from mankind, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all this.’” But the Lord that insisted that he is the one who brought them under judgement also assured them that he would return to them through and beyond judgement (Deuteronomy 32:36-43).
And the authority of Christ is not that of a demagogue or rabble-rouser. He didn’t overtly seek public acclamation. He forbids people to tell of his powers and deeds (Matthew 8:4; 9:30) and is described in terms that contradict the description of someone anxious to make a name for himself (12:14-21). In fact he insisted that true power and leadership was the way of the servant and the renouncing of pagan power (Matthew 20:20-28). Like Moses and David before him he took pains to make it clear he wasn’t seizing authority. If he was to be exalted it would be by the hand of God.
Matthew 8:16-17 in particular
Matthew 9:1-8 insists on linking sin and disease. In it Christ insists on linking his authority to dismiss disease with his authority to dismiss sin. In Matthew 9:10-13 he defends his being with sinners on the grounds that they are sick and need a doctor (and he is that doctor).
Chapters 8 and 9 of Matthew are bracketed by the amazement of the crowds in Matthew 7:28-29 and the amazement of Matthew 9:33. In 7:28-29 it’s astonishment about his teaching and in 9:33 it’s amazement about his deeds. In between these we have the disciples amazed at his power over the elements (Matthew 8:27) and the crowds at both his teaching and healing powers in Matthew 9:8. It’s in that kind of a context that we find this in Matthew 8:16-17.
"That evening they brought to him many who were possessed with demons; and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, 'He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.' "
The fact that this section is clearly stressing the authority and power of the Christ and that Matthew connects Christ’s power with his “taking” and “bearing” of their diseases suggests the nature of and grounds for kingdom authority. He has identified with them and taken their sicknesses on his heart, to be his own, and so is empowered to remove them. Kingdom authority and power is “bearing” and “carrying” power.
The text quoted by Matthew (Isaiah 53:4, see Isaiah 52:13-53:12) was an atonement text, received by the early church and used through the New Testament as centering in Christ and his cross work. This would suggest that for Matthew (as for Paul in Philippians 2:7-9) kingdom authority and power is rooted in Christ’s identification with and bearing loss with and for his people.
It could be that the passage isn't connected with the atoning and reconciling cross-work of Christ at all. It might be that Matthew is using those words to underscore Christ's compassion for the people. The purposeful (if often puzzling) way Matthew uses prophetic scriptures makes it unlikely that he just wants to add depth and color to the occasion. He's more than capable of telling us that Christ had compassion on the people without bringing in a word of prophecy (see Matthew 9:36). Besides (and in light of his way of using prophetic texts), it's a bit of a risk to bring in such a theologically freighted passage simply as a rhetorical flourish. His readers (or listeners) are more likely to think he's making a theological point than a verbal exclamation point. I'm taking it that that evening's events had a direct and profound connection with the cross and atoning/reconciling work of Jesus Christ.
We shouldn’t think that Matthew believed that only that evening’s healing work fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. He would have seen the Master’s entire healing ministry as one piece so that any day that saw him healing and delivering would have been another occasion when he was taking and carrying in Isaiah 53 style.
Nor should we think that he was bearing only the diseases and losses of those he healed. Precisely why Jesus healed this one and not that one, or these and not them, may be open for discussion but it would be a mistake to think he was only working for the people he healed and had no concern for the people he left sick. There would be something representative in the people he healed. They would surely speak of his complete care for all the diseased in the same way Hannah saw in her own blessing God’s care for all the oppressed (1 Samuel 1:21, 2:11). This would mean that every time Jesus conducted a healing session Isaiah 53 would be heard.
Again, the events we witness here are deeds of great power but they’re immediately linked with bearing and taking. Matthew hasn’t taken leave of his purpose to stress kingdom authority as showing itself in Christ but he does insist on linking it with carrying and sharing so we shouldn’t ignore this. Evil spirits are dismissed with "a word" and every sick one who came went away freed from disease. The text portrays great power but Matthew says it was a "carrying" session.
In Isaiah 53 the "suffering servant" shares in hurt and loss that is not of his own making (note the “ours” and “theirs” throughout the chapter). In addition, the healing and liberating that comes in and through the servant is immediately connected in Isaiah with his vicarious "bearing" and "carrying". The servant doesn't heal or liberate from the "outside". At the very least he shares their conditions and in Isaiah’s text that is one of the elements essentially linked to his power to liberate and heal (compare Isaiah 53:11).
We need to note that the suffering in texts like Matthew 8 has nothing to do with “persecution for righteousness sake”. It isn’t something these people were bearing for Christ, it is something Christ was bearing for them. It would be a mistake to look at all their (and our) suffering (even the suffering that is directly related to our sinning) and see it as “the cross I have to bear.” But it would be a mistake not to see all their (and our) suffering as focussed and embraced in the cross of Christ (even the suffering that is the direct result of our sinning).
Matthew’s use of an atonement text which, for the early church, is a text about Christ’s cross-work, links Jesus’ work as Savior and kingdom-bringer with his healing their diseases. How does that work?
It’s difficult not to think that Matthew looks back on all this from a post-cross perspective and sees that that healing work was part of the whole Christ-event that came to its critical moment on the cross. But if that’s how we should see it then Matthew makes a connection between cancer or heart disease and the cross-work of the Messiah. These are the very things that we see as merely part of the “human condition”. They’re certainly part of the human condition but if Matthew links them with the atoning work of Christ then the whole human condition can be brought into contact with the cross. Universal suffering is embraced and Christ bears it. Universal suffering is given another dimension; a dimension that can’t be given to it by awed silence and deep human grief.
How does that work?
The Isaiah text focuses on the suffering of the servant. (The Isaiah text is too rich to exclude from it Israel’s suffering that the nations might be blessed. It’s too rich to exclude the suffering of the righteous remnant that Israel might be blessed and it’s too rich not to see it come to its fullness in the world’s Redeemer.) But the text doesn’t suggest that the pain and loss of others fall on him so that no one else suffers. There is no sense of “transference” in the sense that all their hurt and pain vanishes from them and lands on the servant. Those who are in the know are aware that he is suffering not as a result of his own sins but he has (in the immediate Isaiah setting of exile) borne exile with them and for them. The sinners aren’t exempt from exile, he shares it with them. He bears their sins in the same way (Isaiah 53:11-12). There is no transference of sin and guilt to him and away from them. He bears the judgement of God on the nation’s sin and does it for them though he himself does not become a sinner nor does God view him as a sinner (Isaiah 53:11).
The Isaiah passage immediately speaks to Israel’s situation but Israel’s place in the purposes of God reflects his purposes regarding the whole world. I would be taking Matthew’s immediate concerns and expanding them bearing in mind that Jesus healed not only Israelites (Matthew 8:3-13; 15:21-28 and compare 8:28).
What seems clear is this: Matthew makes the healing of diseases a facet of the atoning work of the Christ. Supposing that to be true how might we understand it? How do we make the connection between cancer or heart disease and the cross-work of the Messiah?
Perhaps the simplest and best suggestion is that the biblical record would have us believe that disease and death are in the world in response to our sin. That not only are disease and death never neutral, they are not “natural”. They always have theological significance. Paul, for example, however else he saw death, saw it as the righteous judgement of God against sin (Romans 1:32). The Genesis narrative speaks of God bringing pain and loss to earth and humans in response to their sin (note especially the death sentence in 3:19).
If this is correct, then it was God who introduced the curse at the point of our sinning. This curse which fell on all humans—and not only those guilty of transgression—is part of the judgement of God against sin. The curse isn’t something independent of God. The curse isn’t written into the fabric of reality as if it were in some way autonomous. No, the humans sinned and God acted. The curse was as surely the work of God as was blessing (see Genesis 1—11 which is a single narrative of the Fall).
It would mean that disease in a specific individual is a specific outworking of the universal curse that God brought on humanity as a single family. It would be a specific application of a universal judgement.
What “authorized” Christ to remove the curse in the experience of so many sick people during his earthly ministry is that he had come to bear in himself, with and for them, the judgement of God against sin—the curse. This is what authorized him to forgive sins also.
His healing and nature miracles should be seen in light of the Genesis fall and curse narratives as well as Israel’s wilderness experience. The control of seas, the undoing of death, the multiplying of fishes and bread, the banishing of darkness by calling for light—these all were the prophecies and promises of a complete obliteration of the curse when all sin and all the woes that go with it are removed.
A newly born baby in Amos’ day despite its innocence would suffer the agony of a famine (see Amos 4) which was a divine judgment against Israel’s sin. This baby’s agony would not be punishment for the baby’s guilt (it has none). Nor would it be the case of a “legal transference” of guilt (the baby doesn’t become sinful and the nation innocent). The agony is endured because of the baby’s solidarity with the sinful nation.
Nevertheless, the agony endured is the agony that is part of penal suffering. The child is never regarded as an actual transgressor though it suffers under God’s righteous judgment against sin—the famine is never less than judgment against sin.
But the child's suffering is purposed of God. It would be possible for God to miraculously sustain all the innocents without food while punishing the transgressors with hunger. The punishment on apostasy is redemptive wrath. Its purpose is to work itself out of a job—that is, to obliterate that which provoked the wrath in the first place.
The wrath is no sign of God’s absolute abandonment of Israel. The reverse is true. So earnestly in love with them is the Holy Father that he shows mercy in the form of wrath. And, so earnest is he, that he will not spare his own infants but delivers them up for Israel. So it is when Matthew presents the coming of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. He shares (bears and carries) our sicknesses and by doing it he acknowledges the righteousness of God's wrath against sin. But by sharing and bearing our hurt he is removing it (then in part as prophecy and promise and later in totality and finally). In this he shows that the kingdom of God is not about ceaseless chastisement but mercy and judgment that results in life that is eternal. This is kingdom authority in Matthew. It is because Christ alone acknowledges and bears that he is the one with kingdom authority.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... Paul's Prayer For The Ephesians (1:15-20)


                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS"

                Paul's Prayer For The Ephesians (1:15-20)

INTRODUCTION

1. We have seen Paul describe how richly blessed we are in Christ in the
   "doxology" of verses 3-14 in this first chapter of Ephesians.

2. Paul now proceeds to reveal what sort of things he has been praying 
   for on behalf the Ephesians...
   a. Paul does the same thing in his epistles to the Philippians and 
      Colossians - cf. Php 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12
   b. In noticing such prayers, I find it helpful to remember that Paul
      is writing by inspiration
      1) I.e., the things mentioned were not just Paul's desire for his 
         readers, but the desire of God as well!
      2) And in most cases, what concerns are expressed in these prayers
         are just as applicable to us as they were to the original 
         recipients of these epistles

3. With that thought in mind (i.e., Paul's prayer is God's desire for us
   as well), let's take a close look at this prayer...

[Beginning with a recognition of their faith and love (verse 15) and a
mention of his unceasing thankfulness for them (verse 16), Paul then
states that in his prayers his concern for the Ephesians is...]

I. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW GOD (17)

   A. TO "KNOW" GOD IS OF UTMOST IMPORTANCE...
      1. More important than human wisdom, glory, or might - cf. Jer 9:23-24
      2. It is eternal life itself! - Jn 17:3
      3. Failure to know God will lead to everlasting destruction! -
         2Th 1:7-9
      -- Of course, we are speaking here of knowledge that comes through
         close and personal association, not casual awareness

   B. THIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD COMES BY "A SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND
      REVELATION" (17)
      1. Paul could have reference here to either the Holy Spirit 
         Himself, or a spiritual gift that the Holy Spirit gives
      2. In either case, it likely refers to that process that was still
         going on in the first century, where the Spirit of truth was 
         guiding the apostles and early Christians into all the truth 
         (cf. Jn 16:13; 1Jn 2:20,27)
      3. Today, we have the full and final revelation in the pages of 
         God's Word, where we can go to learn the truth about God (e.g.,
         cf. Ep 3:3-4)

[Do you "know" God?  Many people know "about" God, but it is God's will
that we come to know "Him".  Through the Word of God as we have it
today, you can allow  the "spirit of wisdom and revelation" give you
that "saving knowledge" of God Himself!

We now observe that Paul's concern for the Ephesians included their
"eyes being opened"...]

II. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THE HOPE OF GOD'S CALLING (18a)

   A. IN CHRIST, WE HAVE BEEN "CALLED" BY GOD...
      1. This "calling" occurred through the preaching of the gospel -
         2Th 2:14
      2. God is "calling" us into His own kingdom and glory - 1Th 2:12
      3. We have been "called" out of darkness into God's marvelous
         light - 1Pe 2:9

   B. PAUL'S DESIRE IS THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THE "HOPE" OF THIS CALLING...
      1. The word "hope" means "desire with expectation"
      2. What is the expectant desire of this "calling" by God?
         a. Paul has already revealed some of this hope in verses 4-5
            1) To be holy and without blame
            2) To be adopted as sons
         b. Paul will reveal more about it later in the epistle - cf. 
            Ep 2:19-22
      3. In this way, Paul is helping to fulfill his own prayer by the 
         writing of this epistle

[Do we appreciate the "hope" of God's calling?  Again, it is through the
revealed Word of God (like this epistle to the Ephesians) that we are 
able to have our own eyes enlightened.  There is no reason for us to be 
ignorant of our wonderful "hope"!

In addition to their knowing the "hope of His calling", Paul prays...]

III. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THE RICHES OF GOD'S INHERITANCE (18b)

   A. PAUL HAS ALREADY MADE REFERENCE TO...
      1. The fact that we were predestined to adoption as sons - Ep 1:5
      2. The fact that we have obtained an inheritance - Ep 1:11
      3. The fact that the Holy Spirit was given as a guarantee - Ep 1:14

   B. HE WILL WRITE MORE CONCERNING OUR "INHERITANCE" LATER ON...
      1. Speaking of the exceeding riches of God's grace in the ages to 
         come - Ep 2:7
      2. Speaking of how Gentiles can be "fellow heirs" - Ep 2:12-13;
         3:7

[Again we see how Paul by writing this epistle is attempting to help 
answer his own prayer for the Ephesians.

There is one more thing that Paul wanted the Ephesians, and if the way 
he elaborates is an indication of its importance then Paul more than all
else prayed...]

IV. THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THE POWER OF GOD (19-20)

   A. A "POWER" DESCRIBED AS...
      1. Exceedingly great ("the exceeding greatness")
      2. Shown toward those who believe ("toward us who believe")
      3. In accordance with the same power that...
         a. Raised Jesus from the dead!
         b. Seated Him at the right hand of God in the "heavenly places"
            (cf. Ep 1:3)
      -- How can it be said that such power is available to us who 
         believe?  (The next section suggests how)

   B. CONCERNING THIS GREAT "POWER"...
      1. Paul gives an example in Ep 2:1-6
         a. We who were "dead in trespasses" (2:1-3) were "made alive"
            (4-5) and "raised up" (6)
         b. I.e., in Christ we who were spiritually dead have been made 
            spiritually alive - cf. Col 2:12-13
         c. This may not sound as impressive as being raised from the 
            dead physically (as Jesus was), but it cannot happen without
            the same sort of Divine Power!
         d. As Jesus said when He raised the paralytic, "Which is 
            easier...?" - Mt 9:2-8
            1) To raise the sick (and the dead), or to forgive sins (and
               make the spiritually dead spiritually alive)?
            2) Both require Divine Power!
      2. Paul speaks of its source in Ep 3:16
         a. It is through God's Spirit in the inner man that we can be 
            "strengthened with might"
         b. Just as we were "renewed" by the Spirit upon our baptism - 
            Jn 3:5; Tit 3:5
         c. So we can be strengthened by the Spirit in our daily battles
            against sin - Ro 8:12-13
      3. Paul speaks of its greatness in Ep 3:20
         a. It comes from Him (God) "who is ABLE to do"
         b. With ability that is "exceedingly", "abundantly", "above 
            all" that we ask or think!
         c. Such ability is "according to the power that works IN us" 
            - cf. Ep 3:16 ("through His Spirit in the inner man")
      4. Finally, Paul charges the Ephesians to stand strong in this 
         power in Ep 6:10ff
         a. By putting on the "armor of God" - Ep 6:11a
         b. For we are in a battle against the devil and his forces - 
            Ep 6:11a-13 (dare we fight this battle dependent upon our 
            own strength alone?)
         c. The "armor of God" described - Ep 6:14-18

CONCLUSION

1. It appears that Paul followed that saying "Pray as though it all 
   depends upon God, but work as though it all depends upon you!"
   a. For while he prayed for the Ephesians that they might know...
      1) God
      2) The hope of God's calling
      3) The riches of God's inheritance
      4) The power of God
   b. Paul takes it upon himself (with the aid of inspiration, of 
      course) to write of these things in this epistle

2. How is our knowledge of God, the hope of His calling, His riches, His
   power?
   a. Certainly it is God's will that we increase in our understanding, 
      appreciation, and application of these blessings!
   b. With the help of God's Word, especially a book like Ephesians, we
      can grow in all these things!

But before growth can occur, there must be life.  Have you been "made 
alive together with Christ"? - cf. Ep 2:5-6; Col 2:12-13

xecutable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011