Matthew 8 Jesus Demonstrates Power and Authority

 SLIDE 1 Matthew 8-Jesus’ Power and Authority is the text of our lesson. Don’t forget to read your commentary. It will cover all verses. In chapter 4 of Matthew Jesus shows His authority over Satan even after 40 days and nights without food or water. In the last three verses of Chapter 4:23-25 Jesus proved his authority over disease by healing the “sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics.” This is an overview of His power.  But the miracles we will see in chapters 8 and 9 are singular events involving specific people we have heard about from our childhood. Please open your bibles to Matthew 8

SLIDE 2 Jesus has Power and Authority

·         Diseases (8:1-17)

·         Dangerous winds and seas(8:23-27)

·         Demons (8:28-34)

The last three chapters were Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount. Except for  verses 1-2 in Chapter 5 and the last two verses in Chapter 7 all of the text is RED meaning they are the words of  Jesus.

SLIDE 3  If you happen to have a red letter edition, it was striking to me that Jesus said one short sentence to the disciplines in the midst of the storm. To the demons he said one word.

In Genesis1: click God spoke the world into being. John’s Gospel begins with these words ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. Jesus has power and authority over disease, demons, and all creation

SLIDE 4 Matthew 8:¹When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.²And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying,
 "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Can you imagine the life of a leper? Leviticus 13:45-46 If found to be infected, “the leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

SLIDE 5 Jesus our LORD and Savior had such a great compassion on this despised and rejected man. Leprosy was considered so revolting that the leper wasn’t permitted to come within 150 feet of anyone when the wind was blowing. Yet Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him.

⁴And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them." 

The priest was the only one who could declare a person “clean.” An offering was required for purification or reparation. Jesus followed the laws of Moses.

Leprosy is still around in 2015. India has the largest number of cases globally.

Do you know anyone who needs a loving touch? Jesus has authority over disease, demons, and nature.

SLIDE 6 ⁵When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,⁶ "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly." Some think this was polio.

⁷And he said to him, "I will come and heal him." Jesus knew He was the Messiah and pronounced He was the source of the healing. It was unprecedented that Jesus, a Jewish teacher, would go into the home of a Gentile which were considered unclean.

⁸But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

 A centurion is a commander over a century or 100 men-the smallest unit in a Roman Legion. The centurion as a man of authority, believed that disease’s had to obey Christ’s bidding just as he had to obey his superior officer’s and those under his authority had to obey him. He recognized Jesus as possessing great spiritual authority and was convinced that he would be able to implement healing by merely speaking the word.

The centurion’s words made a great impression on Jesus.  This was a powerful military man, yet he shows compassion and merciful action toward a mere servant. The centurion showed respect for Jesus by calling him LORD and displayed sensitivity for the Jewish culture by not asking him to visit his home. Jesus would have broken tradition by entering the home of a Gentile.

SLIDE 7 ¹⁰        When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.¹¹              I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (pertains to the great feasts in God’s eternal home. Remember the wedding feast of the Lamb)¹²while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."¹³And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

 Isn’t strange that Jesus spoke more words of praise about this Gentile, a Roman soldier hated by the Jews, than about any other person in this chapter? The leper and the Roman both despised by the Jews were loved by Jesus. They both had tremendous faith:  Faith worth mentioning in God’s Word.

Do you have a faith that is noteworthy? Jesus has power and authority over disease, demons, and creation faraway or nearby.

Later Jesus will tell the scribe he has no place to lay his head. Jesus relied on the hospitality of believers to provide food and shelter for his disciples.

SLIDE 8 ¹⁴And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.¹⁵He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him.

Did you get that ladies this women had a very great fever, a fever that put her in the bed. In our day we may take a Tylenol for a fever, but it was a grave matter in Jesus’ day. Some historians suppose malaria. Yet when He healed her with a mere touch of His hand, she rose and began to serve him and all of his disciples.

This bible story was told at a mission meeting Monday night along with this verse.
SLIDE 9 Isaiah 60: ¹Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

Every day ladies we are to arise and shine sharing the light of Christ blessing. I was reminded “We are not saved because we serve. We serve because we are saved.” Where are you serving the LORD and shining your light?

In Luke’s gospel 4:39   Jesus stood over her and rebuked the fever,

¹⁶That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.

Jesus has power and authority over disease, demons, and creation.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."

Isaiah 53:3-4 Speaks of the Messiah being a suffering servant. “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.⁴Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;”…

SLIDE 10  After a night of healing Jesus needed to get alone to rest so he got into the boat with his disciples ²⁴And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.²⁵And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing."²⁶And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.²⁷And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?"

Ladies do you need calm in the storms of your life.

SLIDE 11 Who but Jesus could sleep in the middle of a storm? He had no fear for His safety. The disciples had seen Jesus heal the leper and scores of others. Was anything too hard for Him? Why were the disciples fearful in the storm? There were at least four seasoned fishermen in the boat. O ye of little faith. Not the faith shown by the  centurion.

Jesus is Creator, LORD of All. But we have to put our Faith in Him knowing He loves us and cares for our safety.

Jesus has authority over disease, demons, and destructive natural forces.

Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews without firing a shot. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. His sinister presence was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.
Today in the Word, August 8, 1992.
Ladies if you are paralyzed tonight by fear, don’t leave tonight until someone prays for you.
 SLIDE 12 As Jesus and his disciples crossed the sea of Galilee to the other side, to the CLICK country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.

Three Gospels have different names that speak of same location all equally hard to pronounce. Click The little known village of Geresa in the country of Gadarenes which was named after the click largest city Gadara. Luke and Mark elaborate on the conditions of one man.

SLIDE 13 Mark 5:3-5 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.
 Can you imagine the torment that would cause you to cut yourself and cry out day and night?

²⁹(The demons cried out) "What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?"

Demons are very cowardly, always anxious about the fire that has been prepared for them.

³¹And the demons begged him, saying, "If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs."³²And he said to them, "Go." So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

SLIDE 14  Why was these men waiting on the shore for Jesus? Had the demons anticipated his coming? Warren Wiersbe says the storm could have been an attempt by the kingdom of darkness to discourage Jesus’ arrival. Jesus rebuked the wind and the waters as if they were disobedient. God, the creator, has control over all of His creations.

Demons originally were angels, created by God.  From the time that Jesus stepped his foot on the country of Gadarenes, the demons knew Jesus had sovereign authority over them. In verse 29 the demons were acknowledging that Christ was the Son of the most high God.
The demons recognized His power.

v. 29 The demons cried out His name

v. 31 They begged to go into pigs

v. 32 He gave them permission.

 The demonic powers were strong, but Jesus has dominion over the demons!

Luke 8:38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,³⁹"Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. This is the first missionary.

Ladies are you willing to spread light to those around you by declaring what the LORD has done for you?

Jesus has authority over disease, demons, and nature. He is LORD of All.  

SLIDE 15  1 John 4:4 Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, has authority in every situation and a conqueror over every enemy. He can bring calm to the storms in your life.

Charles Allen, tells us 5-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn't want to go in alone. "It's dark in there and I'm scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It's OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you're in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"
Victory in the Valleys.

SLIDE 15 Will you choose to recognize the power and authority of Jesus Christ?