So I rode my bicycle for a year in 2010 from Canada to Columbia. And as part of that journey, I discovered that basically a billion people in the world didn't have access to clean drinking water. So I began this journey and did some higher level education and then on a series of trips with my friends in the last six years. That's all led us to this spot now we've become very interested in small scale decentralized desalinization projects. It's really the future.
Hi everyone and welcome to today's Beach Talk. Now I want to help us all understand every word of God that's in the word of God. God has so many encouraging and amazing things to teach us through his word. If we'll just take a little bit of time each day to read it and to understand it. Now my objective is simple. It's disciples making disciples who plant churches that plant churches. So in this way, we can see a grassroots movement of Jesus going anywhere and everywhere that he wants to go.
Now Matthew 9 verses 18 and 19 say, now my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. So Jesus arose and followed him and so did his disciples. Now a ruler came and worshiped him. Note that this man worshiped him and Jesus received his worship, which would have been blasphemous if Jesus had not himself been God.
So in other instances in the New Testament where such worship is offered to a human like in Acts 10 or to an angel in Revelation 22, it is always immediately refused. Now he says my daughter had just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. This ruler did the right thing in coming to Jesus, but his faith is small in comparison to the centurion of Matthew 8.
The ruler thought it was essential that Jesus personally came to touch the little girl while the centurion understood Jesus had the authority to heal with the word, even at a great distance. Now verses 20 through 22, and suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for 12 years came from behind and touched the hem of his garment. And she said to herself, if only I can touch the man with the garment, I shall be made whole.
But Jesus turned around and said, be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well. And the woman was made well from that hour, and suddenly a woman. Now in Mark 5 and Luke 8 gave a much fuller account of this miracle. But Matthew's account is enough to show the compassion of Jesus and the fact that his power was not magic. We simply see the power of God responding to the faith of somebody who was seeking him. Now Matthew relates this story in a short way as he does many others.
And he was intent, but he was intent upon putting this in there. Now if I only touch his garment, I shall be made well, because this woman's condition was embarrassing. And because she was ceremonially unclean and would have been condemned for touching Jesus. Or even being pressed in a crowd, she wanted to do it secretly. She would not openly ask Jesus to be healed, but she thought, if only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well. Now these fringes, a lot was going on here.
And she was trying to abide by the customs and the traditions and show honor and respect. But she also definitely wanted to be healed by Jesus. So she makes this part of her journey to the story. Now this shows us that Jesus was relating to her and trying to meet her where she was at, just like he always tries to do that with us. Now to the best of our knowledge, there was no promise or pattern that touching the garment of Jesus would bring healing.
It seems that the woman believed this in a somewhat superstitious way. Yet even though her faith had elements that were superstitious, she believed in the power of Jesus and his garment served as a point of contact for that faith. Now there are so many things here that we could find wrong with this woman's faith, yet her faith was in Jesus, not in the object of it or not in the formula of it. It was in her heart to seek him out.
Now she was ignorant enough to think that healing went from him unconsciously or that it came through his clothing. She just knew that he had the power and that he could do it. Now the woman was made well, her faith though imperfect was enough to receive what Jesus wanted to give her. Her 12 year disease was immediately cured. And when he saw her, he said, this woman hoped to receive something from Jesus.
Now without drawing any attention to herself or embarrassing or her embarrassing problem, Jesus insisted on making public notice of her. And he did this for good reasons. Now he did this so that she would know that she was healed, having heard an official declaration ever from Jesus. He did this so others would know that she was healed because her ailment was private.
He did this so that she would know that she was healed, that it was by her faith, and not because of a superstitious touch in and of itself. He did this so that she would not think she had stolen a blessing from Jesus, and so that she would never feel that she would need to hide it from him. He did this so that the ruler of the synagogues would see the power of Jesus at work and therefore have more faith himself for it was his daughter.
He did this so that he could bless her in a special way and bring honor to her. Now verses 23 through 26, when Jesus came to the ruler's house and he saw the flute players and the noisy crowd waiting, he said to them, make room for the girls not dead but sleeping, and they ridiculed him. But when the crowd was put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose, and the report of this went out into all of the land. Jesus raised someone from the dead.
Now the flute players and the noisy crowd, these were probably paid mourners, and it was a custom at that day for everyone to mourn when someone had passed. Now we notice how quickly they moved from wailing to ridiculing Jesus. It showed their lack of sincerity. Now professional mourners were hired by even the poorest families to make it seem like there were more people that had a relationship and cared about the person's life. Mourning like everything else had been reduced into a system.
The flutes and the mourning and the burial, it was something that everyone participated in. Now when the crowd was put outside, he went and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. Jesus endured the scorn from the crowd and raised the girl to life. He certainly would not let the criticism or mocking of a crowd keep him from doing God's will. Jesus didn't raise every dead child he encountered, but Jesus did here in a simple act of mercy and compassion to the grieving father.
In addition, Jesus must have hated death and its cause and enjoyed the opportunity to hand death a small defeat before he would defeat it all together on the cross with an empty tomb. Now, verses 27 to 31, when Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him crying out and saying, son of David, have mercy on us. And when he had come to the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, do you believe that I'm able to do this?
They said to him, yes, Lord, then he touched their eyes saying, according to your faith, let it be to you. And their eyes were open and Jesus warned them saying, see that no one knows it. But when they had departed, they spread the news about him in all that country. Now, two blind men followed him. Now, it was not easy for these blind men to follow Jesus, but they did. They had to ask others where Jesus was going and they had to listen to every sound that might guide them.
They were determined to follow him to the best of their ability. That is what God desires from us. Now, it came partly from a glare or unprotected eyes partly because Jesus knew nothing of the importance of uncleanness and hygiene, in particular the clouds of unclean people and carried infection. So the son of David have mercy on us. The two blind men followed Jesus and shouted his open recognition of Jesus as the Messiah because the son of David was a rich messianic title.
They asked Jesus for the best thing that they could ask for and it was mercy. Their sole appeal was to mercy. This was no talk to men who were pleading about past sufferings or their past behaviors or that they were looking for resolution. They wanted to have mercy, they wanted a blessing, they wanted God to forgive them. Now, this is the first time Jesus is called the son of David and there can be no doubt that the blind men were confessing Jesus as the Messiah.
Now, John 922 tells us that the Messiah is judged that anyone who proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, would be removed from the synagogue. Though on this occasion, John seems to have been after this healing of the blind men, we can still believe there was a price to pay for calling Jesus the son of David. Now, when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus did not deal with the blind men until they were indoors.
This might have been to dampen messianic expectations on a day marked by two dramatic miracles. Now, do you believe that I'm able to do this again? Jesus healed the blind men in response to their faith. Faith does not guarantee healing for every individual, but there are undoubtedly multitudes that are not healed because they lack faith. These men simply proclaim their faith saying, yes, Lord. Now, he touched them with his hand, but they must also touch them with their faith.
Now, according to your faith, let it be done unto you. Now, here again, Matthew emphasized the proper faith which men should have and Jesus and the blessing that come to men through that faith. Now, the leper of Matthew 8 showed faith because he absolutely knew that Jesus was able to heal his leprosy. Now, the centurion of Matthew 8 had such great faith that Jesus openly praised in his great faith that he had not found even among Israel.
Now, the disciples failed in faith in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, in Matthew 8, the woman with the issue of blood was healed by her faith, in Matthew 9. Now, in many ways, God says the same to men and women today. According to your faith, let it be done to you. There is much to say about having faith. Now, we have to grasp our life with faith.
Now, according to your faith does not mean in proportion to your faith, so much faith or so much sight, but rather since you believe your requests will be granted. Now, the word of power in the last sentence is one upon which it acts continually that we may call it, that we may get the blessings of it, that God will measure it unto us, the faith that we have according to our capacity to receive it. Now, the faith of these blind men is worthy of notice. Now, they had the faith to follow Jesus.
This meant forsaking other paths, other directions, and checking to follow and deciding to follow Him. They had the faith to cry out. They were willing to put words to their desire. They had the faith to make some noise and to be unafraid of embarrassment. They had the faith to identify Jesus as the son of David, recognizing Him as the Messiah. They had the faith to ask Jesus for mercy, knowing they didn't deserve it. They had the faith to believe that Jesus was able to do something for them.
They had the faith to just say, yes, Lord. Now, see that no one knows it. Now, despite Jesus's warning, they couldn't resist telling other people. Though we do not admire their well intentioned disobedience, we admire their excitement over what God had done in their life. This was their only area of unbelief. They didn't have the faith to obey Jesus as they should have. Now, verses 32 through 34, as they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, a mute and demon possessed.
And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke and the multitudes marveled, saying, we've never seen this in all of Israel. But the Pharisee says, he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons. A man mute and demon possessed. Now, in the Jewish understanding of demon possession, this man could not be helped. This was because most rabbis of the day thought that the essential first step in exorcism was to compel or trick the demon into telling you its name.
The name was then thought of and handled by that person. Therefore, a demon that made a man mute had clearly prevented the revelation of his name of the demon inhabiting the victim and therefore prevented the exorcism. Well, thing was a trap. Yet Jesus had no problem. The demon was cast out and the mute spoke. It was never seen like this in Israel. For these reasons, this miracle was totally amazing to the multitudes.
It showed not only the complete authority of Jesus over the demons, but also the weakness of the rabbi's traditions. But the Pharisee said he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons in attributing the work of Jesus to the power of Satan. We see in we see this gospel, the Pharisees and other religious leaders continuing the rejection of Jesus and of his work. Nothing was too bad for them to say about Jesus. Surely this was threatening their power.
This verse is a clear indication of how religious people don't like their power taken away from them, so much so that they'll say that it's the devil. Verse 35 to 38, then Jesus went into all the cities and the villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into it. Jesus went about all the cities and villages. Now, as Jesus encountered the depth of human need, he was moved with compassion for them. Jesus was not unfeeling or stoic in the face of people and their problems. Matthew 9.35 shows us what happened.
Though mostly located in Capernaum, this was an example that Jesus did all over Galilee in that region. Now, in the previous verse, Jesus was terribly and unfairly criticized, yet he did not use that as a reason to stop his work in ministry. Pay attention, criticism is part of the process. Now, the word for which he was moved with compassion is a strong word. It almost means like pity. It describes the compassion which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being.
Now, the original word is very remarkable here. It's not even found in classic Greek. It's not found in the Septuagint. The fact is it was a word coined by the gospel writers themselves. They did not find one in the whole Greek language that suited their purpose. And therefore, they made this word up. They created this word to describe the depths of what Jesus felt. And they were weary and scattered, the sheep having no shepherd.
Jesus described what man is apart from God, that we are like sheep not having a shepherd. This means that we're in a lot of trouble until we come under the care of God. Now, this troubled Jesus more than their bodily bondage to the Romans. Sadly, one could say that the Jewish people of that day did indeed have some kind of spiritual guides and shepherds, namely the scribes, the priests, the Levites and the Pharisees. Yet for the most part, they didn't help them at all.
Jesus counts these people and says, I care for them. I want to be their shepherd. I want to be the one that cares for them. I want to be the one that has compassion for them. In the same way, he does exactly the same thing for people today. If you're weary, if you're tired, if you're heavy laden, come to Jesus and you will find rest and you will find a shepherd. Now, the harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Jesus saw the greatness of human need as an opportunity, as a harvest that was plentiful. A harvest is a good thing and this was a plentiful harvest, but it was also a harvest that needed laborers. Now, the good of a harvest can go to waste if there are no laborers to take advantage of the bounty. Now, Jesus warned us that opportunities to meet human need and bring people into his kingdom may be wasted because of a shortage of laborers.
Now, Jesus described the workers in his kingdom as laborers, that is those who do hard work, those who roll up their sleeves and make a commitment. Now, it indicates industriousness, hard work, and the sweat that goes into a full day's effort. That's the DNA that we're to have as we are disciples and as we follow Jesus. Now, pretenders were many, but real laborers in the harvest were few. God-made followers are useless. God-made followers are strong.
Now, the real in-gatherers are few and far between. We need more real followers. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Since the harvest belongs to the Lord of the harvest, we're commanded to pray that we should compel workers to reap his harvest. We're to pray that the Lord would send out laborers. Now, the Greek is much more forcible. It says that he would push them forward, thrust them out.
It was like being completely driven by a calling, completely driven by something. It was the power of God to minister through a person. This is a prayer we must pray, but we can only pray it, honestly, if we pray it with an open ear to hear God say, you're to go into the harvest. Now, in this chapter, Jesus faced many accusations. He was accused of blasphemy. He was also accused of having low morals. He was accused of being ungodly. He was accused of being in league with the devil.
Though Matthew has fully established Jesus's credentials as the Messiah, we can pray together right now. In fact, maybe you'd like to pray with me and just say, dear God, would you give me a fresh start today? Would you help me in my life? Would you give me the hope that I need and help me to follow you? In Jesus' name and as always, have a great day. Thank you for your time. We would love to partner with you. Water is a global problem.
It's going to take as many partners as we can to help solve this problem. We'd love for you to partner with us. If you could go to our website at www.oceanwater.com. That's O-C-N-W-T-R dot com. We'd love that. Thanks.