PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 8:16-22

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/2/2021 10:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matt. 8:5-16”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 8:16-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 When 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. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: "HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES."

    18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." 20 Jesus 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." 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.’”

 

            We begin by looking at the phrase “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our Diseases.”  Now before we look at this phrase in detail I want to quote a verse from Hebrews chapter four which was a part of my reading of the Scriptures earlier this morning.  “14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”  I think that these two verses from Hebrews four can answer to us how Jesus was able to do what is seen in Matthew 8:17, which is a quotation from Isaiah 53.  I have a quotation that I found that will help us better understand this verse: 

“Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) Himself took our infirmities.—The citation is interesting as showing St. Matthew’s way of dealing with Messianic prophecies. We see in Isaiah 53 throughout a picture of our Lord’s spiritual work of redemption, and the words quoted are almost the cardinal text for the special view of the atonement, which sees in the sufferings of Christ the freely accepted penalty that was due for the transgressions of mankind. The Evangelist, with the memory of that evening present to his mind, saw them fulfilled in this removal of the “infirmities” and “sicknesses” that oppressed the bodies of men. It was not merely that He came, as one of boundless wealth, who might scatter alms broadcast, but that He Himself “took” and “bore” the sufferings which He removed. He suffered with those He saw suffer. The power to heal was intimately connected with the intensity of His sympathy, and so was followed (as analogous works of love are followed in those who are most Christ-like in their lives) by weariness and physical exhaustion. What is related by St. Mark and St. Luke of our Lord’s seeking out the refuge of solitude at the earliest dawn of the day that followed, is entirely in harmony with the view thus suggested.”

 

            Now we read the following from John MacArthur’s commentary:  “He participated first of all by sympathizing with man’s pain and sickness.  Jesus knew men’s hearts and all of their inner feelings.  He knew the agony, the bewilderment, the confusion, the despair, and the frustration that disease and sickness bring in addition to physical pain.  Repeatedly the gospel writes tell of Jesus’ having compassion on those who came to hear Him teach and to experience His healing touch (Matt. 9:36; 15:32; Mark 1:41; Luke 10:33).  Just as surely as then, He now knows the agonies of His children, ‘for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness’ (Heb. 4:15).  It was not that Jesus ‘carried away our diseases’ by contracting them but by experiencing vicariously the pain they bring.

 

            “Second, Jesus ‘took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases’ in the sense that He saw and felt the destructive power of their root cause, which is sin.  Jesus did not weep over Lazarus’s tomb in remorse over the death of a dear friend, because He knew His friend would soon be raised from the dead.  He wept because of the evil, sinful power that brought suffering and death to every man.  He could not see the pain of sickness and death without feeling the pain of sin. Sin, sickness, and death are all inextricably tied to the curse.  That is why Jesus asked rhetorically, ‘Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, and walk’?’ (Matt. 9:5). Neither is easier or harder.  The same cause is behind both sin and sickness, and only divine power can remove either.’

 

            “Third, and most supremely, Jesus ‘took our infirmities, and carried away our diseases’ in that victorious redeeming work dealt with sin in such a devastating way that ultimately all sickness and disease will be ‘carried away.’  The King was offering His kingdom and was previewing its marvelous and glorious elements, one of the most wonderful of which will be the removal of all illness and sorrow for all eternity.”

 

            We will continue looking at this subject in our next SD, Lord willing.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I don’t have to go through anything at all on this earth without knowing that Jesus knows about it and according to Hebrews 4:15 has gone through it while walking on earth, for He is a great and sympathetic High Priest.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to work in the hearts of those who are or will attend our prayer meeting on revival the need to not only pray, but too fast and pray, so that the Lord, through His Holy Spirit will grant revival to us, to our church, to our country, and to the world in order to complete the Body of Christ so that the rapture will come to take us all to heaven.

 

4/2/2021 10:58 AM