Matthew 8 - Divine Love In Action

Matt 5 – 7 = the WORDS of Jesus – divine wisdom in speech

Matt 8 = the DEEDS of Jesus; divine love in action

The 7 miraculous happenings in Ch 8:

1.     the healing of the leper: everyone else stays away but Jesus’ compassion envelops and heals him

2.     the healing of the centurion’s servant: The centurion was a Gentile – and he served a foreign government (Rome.) Nationalistic Jews would have thought he should be assassinated.  And this man’s slave was sick – the slave was scum. The love of God extended even to them.

3.     the healing of Peter’s wife’s mother (in my world that’s a mother-in-law). No publicity or show – God’s power even when just a few family members where present

4.     the healing of all the sick who were brought to the doors.  Jesus was On Call and He would help those who came to him

5.     the reaction of the scribe: this miracle seems awkward but it reflects the miracle of personality. That any scribe would be moved to follow Jesus is huge. Scribes hung out with Pharisees, Sadducees etc... They were 'distinguished professionals' who would have specializations such as law, government, judging, finance. Jesus contradicted scribal law, and this scribe was supposedly committed to studying and practicing scribal law for his entire life.  For him to seek out Jesus and ask how to follow him was huge. He must have seen/sensed something in Jesus that was magnetic for him.

6.     the miracle of the calming of the storm: the love of God bringing calm, peace, security

7.     the healing of the two demon possessed men: God’s goodness is in control of evil. Triumphant.

Jesus’ deeds were out of love and blessed people’s lives

The Miracle of Personality

            Jesus was the new law and the old laws – the laws the scribe embraced – we being cast away.  For this scribe to be able to embrace that – to want to follow that was very serious. 

            Jesus made sure that the scribe new that following Him was not necessarily easy.  Stones for pillows.  No time to waste with family with the mission so great.

            As Christians we may often run from oppression and run from others who don’t think like we do.  But maybe we should be ready to maintain our relationship with Christ even when our pillows are stones.  Or even when we must prioritize our relationship with him over anyone else.

The Un-seized Moment

This is not about a man needing a couple of days to go home and take care of a funeral.  It’s about a man that doesn’t want to leave a life-style, a family until it is more convenient.  Or until it is more socially acceptable.  Jesus knew that if the man did not get out of that society then that he would never get out!

While we are not divine and we don't perform miracles like Christ or his disciples, we can and should be Christlike and be like him in extending love and grace to others.  Love is a verb (Thank you, DC Talk), and we can extend love with our actions.  

We are also busy, active and engaged women who are constantly doing things at work, for our children, for our families, for our church, for our community, for our world.  All that we do should be done with an overflowing love for others and with compassion - not in any way routine or regimented but out of a genuine heart of love.  If we try to generate this love by our own human strength, it will often or quickly fail.  We must pray and trust God's love to work through us as we reflect the Love of Christ.

Here is a link to an article about miracles.  After my comments and raised questions, I felt like I owed you all more info on the topic of miracles: http://www.parkwaychurchofchrist.com/pdf/Do-Miracles-Happen-Today.pdf