Matthew 8:14-17 Peter’s Mother-in-law healed
¹⁴When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.
¹⁶When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. ¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”
Matthew 8:18-22 Discipleship Tested
¹⁸Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.
¹⁹Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” ²⁰Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
²¹Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ²²But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.”
Illustration
- It is not that you desire the wrong things;
- it is not that you desire to avoid the right things;
But you say:
- Suffer me first to do the inferior, and then I shall be ready for the superior.
- Suffer me first to take care of myself.
- Suffer me first to take care of my household.
- Suffer me first to take care of my business.
- Suffer me first to take care of my party.
- Suffer me first to look after this enterprise,
No!
- this constant habit of humbling the higher, and making it subordinate to the lower;
- this constant preference of the inferior to the superior, works demoralization.
- A man does not need to throw away his Bible,
- nor defy his God,
- nor sell his soul voluntarily.
He only needs to say,
“Suffer me first to do this lesser thing.”
The moment that is done, there will be another “Suffer me first” in its place.
And so we shall put the inferior duties in the place of higher duties, and go through life, and fail at last.
Anecdote
A little boy, between four and five years old, was one day reading to his mother in the New Testament; and when he came to these words, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head,” his eyes filled with tears, his tender breast heaved, and at last he sobbed aloud.
His mother inquired what was the matter; but for some time he could not answer her.
At length, as well as his sobs would let him, he said, “I am sure, mamma, if I had been there, I would give Him my pillow.”
Devotional
The true Son of Man bore our suffering to deliver us from it. He is worth our sacrifice.
Jesus actually shows that God wants to be our Healer (Exodus 15:26).
When he casts out demons, he shows that he is mightier than the devil, who as ruler of this world (John 14:30) establishes his kingdom here on earth. But his empire will not last. Jesus came to end the activities of the devil (1 John 3:8). Only He can handle him and his henchmen.
Diseases must also be combated. No one can do that as effectively as Jesus. He also shows his love and the benefits of healing and that to many!
The Lord in His grace wants to make life whole again here on earth, by freeing it from the destruction that the devil has brought with sin. Jesus not only redeems from sins, but also restores their physical effects!
In the new Jerusalem, the LORD wants to live with the people.
Then He will dry every tear in their eyes (Revelation 21:4) and no one will say: ‘I am sick (cf. Isaiah 33:24).
We can already see signs of that.
When Jesus was on earth, it seemed like assembly line work (Matthew 8:16). But that wasn’t the case.
It didn’t go past Jesus,
▪︎ it impressed Him,
▪︎ He took it to heart.
▪︎ He sympathized with everyone.
▪︎ He took our ills upon Himself (Isaiah 53:4).
▪︎ He bore our sicknesses (Matthew 8:17).
▪︎ He bowed himself under its burden, to which He would finally succumb.
Thus He delivered us, not only from the effects of sin, but also from sin itself, which He atoned for in that way (1 John 2:1,2).
It is precisely in this that He showed Himself the real Son of Man (Daniel 7:13,14), the Messiah (Matthew 26:62-64).
An omen of this was that He was having such a hard time with all those patients and that He was living a restless itinerant existence (Matthew 8:20).
Whoever wants to follow Him as a disciple must know what it means and what it entails (Matthew 8:20).
The moment Jesus calls or needs you, even weighty family or civic duties must give way (Matthew 8:21,22).
Leave it to people who don’t care about Jesus (Matthew 8:22).
Question
- How much should following Jesus cost you? (Compare Matthew 10:37-39.)
Prayer Suggestion
- Ask the Lord to teach you what it means to say that faith can never expect too much.
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