Christ the Healer: The Paralytic in Capernaum. Please Read Mark 2:1-12. Capernaum. This flourishing city on the Sea of Galilee was Jesus’ adopted hometown. Because of its thriving businesses, especially in fishing and many different trades, it was densely populated and wealthy. Several major highways intersected in Capernaum, which brought people from as far away as Egypt …
Christ the Healer: The Ear in Gethsemane Please Read Luke 22:47-53. Parallel Passages. Each of the four Gospels has a version of the arrest of Jesus… Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; and John 18:1-11. Only Luke recorded Jesus healing the high priest’s servant’s ear. This was the last recorded physical healing that Jesus accomplished on earth. His healing …
Christ the Healer: The Hopeless Demoniac. Please read Mark 5:1-20. a. Parallel Passages. Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39 offer other glimpses of this story. Matthew’s account has two demoniacs, not one. Either Matthew made an honest mistake, being human and all, and he didn’t get the story quite right. Or Mark and Luke only referred to the prominent demoniac who ended …
Christ the Healer: The Centurion’s Servant. Please read Matthew 8:5-13 or Luke 7:1-10 (or both). PARALLEL PASSAGES. In Matthew, the Roman centurion came to Jesus personally, asking for help. In Luke, the centurion sent a group of Jewish elders to represent him in asking for Jesus’ help. Either, one of these two writers didn’t quite get the story right. Or, maybe …
Christ the Healer: The Young Demoniac. Please read Mark 9:14-29; (compare with Matthew 17:14-20 and Luke 9:37-43). CONTEXT. a. Peter, James, John (and Jesus) were coming down the mountain immediately after the momentous Transfiguration. The hearts of the disciples were on fire after this once in a lifetime experience. They were eyewitnesses to the uncreated light in Jesus, the eternal …
Christ the Healer: A Leper Please read Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45, and Luke 5:12-16. CONTEXT. According to Matthew, right after Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, He was immediately pressed into service. He had no choice but to go right to work. “When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a …
Christ the Healer: One Full Day. Please read Mark 1:29-34 (also Matthew 8:14-17 and Luke 4:38-41). CONTEXT. Jesus seemed tireless on this one full day in Capernaum. He taught with authority in the synagogue, He cast out a demon after His teaching, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law at Peter’s home, then after sunset Jesus continued His powerful healing ministry with sick …
Christ the Healer: The Blind Man at Bethsaida. Please read Mark 8:22-26. (There are no parallel passages in the Gospels). CONTEXT. Sandwiched around this healing of the blind man were significant gospel events. a. Jesus had just fed 4,000 people in the middle of nowhere, multiplying seven little loaves of bread and a handful of fish. (Mark …
The Jealousy of God. “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord Yahweh, whose name is The Jealous One, is a jealous God.” (Ex. 34:14). Isn’t it interesting that we worship a God who is characterized by jealousy? Scripture establishes clearly that jealousy is one of the attributes …
Here I Am: Ananias. “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’” (Acts 9:10; please refer to the whole story in Acts 9:1-19 and Acts 22:1-16). Hineni (Hebrew word, literal meaning, “Behold, I am!” but is generally translated in …
Here I Am: Isaiah. “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8). Hineni (Hebrew word, literal meaning, “Behold, I am!” but is generally translated in Bible as “Here I am.”) In Scripture it is a response …
Here I Am: Samuel. “So Yahweh called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that Yahweh was calling the boy. And Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that …