Sermon

Ep 496 | The Gentle Healer - G.V. Ayers 4/16/23

Church of Christ - Bakersfield, Ca

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  1. Good morning, that works for all of you.

  2. I'll just stand down here. If you want me to get back up

  3. there, start pointing Part. Is it on?

  4. Hello I believe it's on. It sounds on to me and I can

  5. hear a little bit of it there. So anyway, good to see you all.

  6. Good to see you all here and I as Terry said, I'm GV airs.

  7. My wife Sarah's with me and we are he used all kinds of labels

  8. on me traveler preacher, businessman.

  9. I think husband was included in that since I'm here with my wife

  10. one you did not use his. Other and that's one of the my

  11. cherish you know you know how it is, you know, how it is the

  12. cherish labels there on you. But anyway, it's delightful to

  13. see you delightful to see you Frankie and Tina and just all of

  14. your all of your legacy. Hear that you hear that, you

  15. have glad that you are able to be here about your business and

  16. about the Lord's business and here at worship and good to see

  17. everyone here today. In 1985 a man by the name of

  18. Michael Card. Wrote a poem.

  19. Actually, it's a song called The Gentle healer and that has

  20. struck a note. No pun intended there.

  21. The struck a note in my heart, the words of that song, and I

  22. want to read it to you, and it's kind of some thoughts from

  23. today, hear the gentle healer. The gentle healer came into our

  24. town today. He touched blind eyes and the

  25. Darkness left to State more than the blindness.

  26. He took their sins away. The gentle healer came into our

  27. town today. The gentle healer came into our

  28. town today. He spoke one word that was all

  29. he had to say. The one who had died, just rose

  30. up straight away. The gentle healer came into our

  31. town today. Oh, he seemed just like an

  32. ordinary man with dirty feet and rough but gentle hands the word.

  33. He says, the words he says are hard to understand and yet he

  34. seems just like a ordinary man. The gentle healer, he left our

  35. town today. I just looked around and found

  36. he'd gone away. Some folks from town had

  37. followed him. They say that the gentle healer

  38. is the truth, the life, the way. Those words touch my heart

  39. greatly and they introduced or tend to introduce to me a

  40. different side of sometimes. Our Lord, we see him as the

  41. Savior. We see him as our creator.

  42. We see him as our lawgiver, as our example.

  43. But sometimes I think we perhaps Miss some of what the scripture

  44. says about him as a Healer and as the gentle healer.

  45. And so with on this rubric of the gentle healer, we want to

  46. talk about some scenes from our Lord's life primarily in the

  47. Book of Matthew, Matthew, the ninth chapter, most of where

  48. this is going to come from. And we see the work of the

  49. gentle healer and some of the significance and meaning of what

  50. these things, what these events meant.

  51. Matthew, the 9th chapter takes place in a city called,

  52. Capernaum and Whedon are not my understanding, is, we don't know

  53. exactly where that is. It was on the Sea of Galilee and

  54. there, but we don't know the specifics of exactly where which

  55. part of where, where it was along the Sea of Galilee and

  56. that's my understanding there. I'm no expert on geography or

  57. those places and things such as that.

  58. The compendium was a city that Jesus made his home.

  59. Now, we think of Jesus of being from Nazareth, Jesus of

  60. Nazareth. But if you look at Matthew, the

  61. fourth chapter Matthew, the fourth chapter verse 13.

  62. It says, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum

  63. and that's significant that he dwelt there.

  64. Because later, it's called his City, he refers to it.

  65. And it's referred in scripture as his City.

  66. His town that he lived. So he moved his base.

  67. Ace of operation from where he grew up in Nazareth to

  68. Capernaum. So he's in Capernaum now.

  69. Is that in Capernaum, which is upon the Sea Coast and the

  70. borders of zebulun Nephilim that it might be fulfilled, which was

  71. spoken by Isaiah. The prophet saying the land of

  72. zebulun and land of naphthalene. By the way, of the sea Beyond

  73. Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people, which said, in

  74. darkness, saw great light and to them, which said in the region

  75. and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

  76. And from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for

  77. the kingdom of heaven. Is at hand.

  78. And so this is where he began his base of operation.

  79. Basically in his base is preaching, that the kingdom of

  80. heaven was at hand and the gospel that he preached unto the

  81. people round and round about them there.

  82. But something that is very significant about what he did

  83. there in. Capernaum, was that?

  84. Jesus, not only made his home there, but Jesus did many mighty

  85. deeds and mighty works. There here is where Jesus healed

  86. the Centurion sunny. You look at Matthew, the eighth

  87. chapter. Look at what happens here.

  88. He's in, Capernaum, there in the fifth verse, it says, There came

  89. to him a centurion beseeching him now, Centurion was not one

  90. of the is not one of the Hebrews.

  91. He was a gentile, he may have been a Roman, but its interim

  92. was a officer in the Roman army. And so he comes to Jesus.

  93. And look at this man. Look what he says in him.

  94. He says he says, behold in. I'm paraphrasing.

  95. Here is his boat. He says, well, here's what he

  96. says, first of all Lord, he says Lord.

  97. My servant. My servant lies.

  98. Sick of the palsy. He's paralyzed and he's terribly

  99. tormented. And Jesus says, okay, I will

  100. come and heal him. But notice what the Centurion.

  101. The Roman soldier says, he says this Lord, I am not worthy that

  102. you should come under my roof, but speak the word only and my

  103. servant shall be healed for. I am a man under Authority,

  104. having soldiers under me, and I say to this man go, and he goes

  105. into another come, and he comes and my servant do this, and he

  106. does it. So notice what this man says,

  107. first of all, he calls him, Lord, he calls him Lord twice

  108. here and then he says, when Jesus says, I'm going to come to

  109. your house, I'm going to come to your house and heal him.

  110. He says, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof

  111. and so he a gentile refers to Jesus as his Superior.

  112. I am not worthy. I am not worthy.

  113. Now, whether in rank or whether in lordship, I believe it's in

  114. lordship. He's talking about here because

  115. he calls Lord in Lord. Weiss here.

  116. But then, here's what he says, here's what he says to him.

  117. He says, I am a man under Authority.

  118. He says, I know how rank goes and I know the system of rank.

  119. I am under someone and he says, I have soldiers under me and I

  120. tell one, soldier go. He goes and I tell one, come he

  121. comes. I tell my service to do this and

  122. he does it. So, here's a man knowing

  123. Authority and he knows that Jesus.

  124. Greater than him in a spiritual sense there.

  125. And so, here's what he says, he says, just say the word and my

  126. servant will be healed. So he acknowledges Jesus as

  127. Lord, he acknowledges Jesus, as being able to heal but he also

  128. acknowledges Jesus as having Authority, that's all that he

  129. says, he says, I know Rank and he says, I know how to rank

  130. works there. He says, you have Authority, all

  131. you have to do is you have to say the word?

  132. And my servant will be healed. You have that rank, you have

  133. that Authority be able to do that.

  134. Jesus explains there, he says verily, I say unto you have not

  135. found. So great faith.

  136. No, not in Israel. I say that they'll should be

  137. come from the East and the west and shall sit down with Abraham

  138. and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, to the

  139. children of the Kingdom shall be cast out.

  140. So, these were the Hebrews. That would be often cast out

  141. here. Is why Jesus saying here is a

  142. gentile, Who understood rank calls on Jesus, to call it in,

  143. and guess you'd say, call the miracle in and just say the word

  144. and he would be healed. It's also there in Capernaum

  145. where Jesus enters into Peter's house.

  146. Now, that's where Peter lived in Capernaum and, apparently,

  147. Peters mother-in-law must have lived with him there too.

  148. But she was sick with a fever there in the next few verses

  149. there and verse 14, he came to Peter's house, he saw his wife

  150. mother laid sick with a fever. He touched her hand, and the Her

  151. left her and she arose and ministered unto them.

  152. Now someone who's sick with a fever you go to them and if

  153. you're going to do anything with them, you stay your distance.

  154. You keep you. You keep your distance from

  155. Jesus touched her Jesus touched her.

  156. They're showing his, his not only his confidence and what he

  157. was going to do. But his ability to do it, he

  158. touched her. And she arose, her fever left

  159. her. And she arose.

  160. This was there in Capernaum. We go next.

  161. It says, and when evening was come, they brought him verse 16.

  162. Teen, that brought him many that were possessed with Devils or

  163. demons, he cast out the spirits with his word and healed all

  164. that were sick, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by

  165. Isaiah, the prophet. And this is from Isaiah chapter

    Isaiah 53 chapter mention

  166. 53, about the servant of the Lord, in verse 4.

  167. Well, Isaiah said, himself took our infirmities and bore our

  168. sicknesses And so that's what Jesus was doing here.

  169. And that's what he does with his miracles here.

  170. It's his fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, much of what

  171. it is doing here. And so we want to skip on over

  172. here because Jesus go somewhere else.

  173. But then in chapter 9 verse 1 he comes back to Capernaum.

  174. And so, the gentle healer is here, he came to our town.

  175. Our town is Capernaum here in our way of thinking here, he

  176. came to our town today, and he did all kinds of things for

  177. those who, Sick. Here's what happens in in the in

  178. the ninth chapter of the first few verses.

  179. He came to his own City. That's Capernaum there and he's

  180. in a sit in a house. They're preaching is in a house

  181. preaching and there are so many people around them there.

  182. And this is also a mark and Luke's account as well.

  183. And Mark is probably a little more graphic than Matthew, but

  184. it were talking about Matthew here today.

  185. So we'll just stick with that and refer to the other, they're

  186. on there. So if you don't mind there, but

  187. he's in this house preaching and everybody, the house is packed

  188. and I can imagine the windows, there's people looking in the

  189. windows there and you can't get in.

  190. And so there's four men, there's four men who bring their friend

  191. to Jesus to be healed and they can't get in the house because

  192. of all the crowd and so they go up on top of the house, they

  193. take a look. It's the roof tiles and they let

  194. him down in front of Jesus. And there, the Bible says, verse

  195. to a Matthew 9 Jesus said to the palsy to the paralyzed, man, son

  196. be of good. Cheer, your sins are forgiven

  197. you, oh, the Pharisees and the scribes or the scribes that were

  198. sitting nearby. They think this notice notice,

  199. they don't speak it out loud. They just think this.

  200. They think within themselves, this man, blasphemes Mark says,

  201. who can forgive sins, but God only.

  202. And so, here's what they're saying, he's got, he's got to be

  203. a blasphemer because who can forgive sins, but God only and

  204. you know what, they're exactly right there.

  205. Exactly right. That Jesus is blaspheming

  206. because only God forgive his sins, the only way he is not.

  207. Blaspheming is if he is God. So their interpretation is

  208. right. Their application is wrong.

  209. And so that's how that's the truth here in this.

  210. So Jesus, then next it says, he knew their thoughts.

  211. They did not have to say, he knew what they were thinking, he

  212. replies to their thoughts. He says, which do you think?

  213. Is it better? Just what, why do you think evil

  214. in your hearts notice? They had applied it wrong.

  215. Their interpretation was right. That he was a blasphemer, unless

  216. he was God. Only God can forgive sins.

  217. What should their conclusion be? That conclusion should have been

  218. that. He was God, he was the son of

  219. God here but that did not they that but that was not their

  220. conclusion that was not their application.

  221. Their weather, is it easier to say your sins, be forgiven thee,

  222. or to say arise and walk, but so that you may know that the son

  223. of man has power on Earth to forgive sins.

  224. He says the sick of the palsy, take up your rise, take up your

  225. bed and go to your own house. And the people were amazed.

  226. They said they glorify God who had given such power unto men.

  227. The son of man here proved himself at this point through

  228. the Miracles that he did here in this town, that gentle heater

  229. showed that he was not just a Healer.

  230. But that he was God on Earth because he said it's the same.

  231. It's the same healing this man, or forgiving sins.

  232. It's the same so that you may know that I have power on Earth

  233. to forgive sins, that was the same called him to rise.

  234. Take up his bed and walk. Let's skip on down here, a

  235. little ways in Matthew, the 9th chapter, and we turn over here

  236. to the next page of my Bible. Verse 18 and verse 18.

  237. It says here he is still in Ian, it says while he spake these

  238. things unto them. Behold there came a certain

  239. ruler, a certain ruler worshipped him and said my

  240. daughter is even now dead. This is also a mark in Luke's

  241. account and this Jew this ruler as we not understand, his name

  242. is Jarius or Jiraiya. So I'm not sure exactly how to

  243. pronounce that, but Jarius comes to him.

  244. And he is at says, he is a ruler ruler.

  245. We understand that he was a ruler of the synagogue.

  246. He was The chief people, perhaps the chief person in the

  247. synagogue there in Capernaum or in a synagogue in Capernaum, he

  248. was the one who organized, who organized and carried out

  249. carried out their services, there he was the ruler of the

  250. synagogue in that point. So he comes to him, he comes to

  251. the gentle healer and he expressed his faith in him.

  252. He says, my daughter is even now dead.

  253. Mark and Luke's account. Says she Lay Dying.

  254. So he speaking concerning the SS that was happening here and he

  255. says, Jesus came arose and followed him with his disciples.

  256. And so here you see the different ways in which Jesus

  257. works miracles, one. He dialed it in there from the

  258. Centurion son here. He you know, he to Peters

  259. mother-in-law. He goes touches her hand to the

  260. sick of the palsy. He says, your sins are forgiven

  261. you all this here and here, here here Jesus, again says I'm going

  262. to come I'm going to come And heal her.

  263. And so he arose and followed him, his disciples, his

  264. disciples, his they the disciples, some of whom he

  265. called there in Capernaum. They come in with him as well.

  266. And while they're on the way to do this miracle, while they're

  267. on the way to visit this little 12 year, old girl who is in the

  268. process of dying. It's not that she was bad sake.

  269. She was dying and she was dead. But while they're on the way to

  270. do a miracle behold, another miracle breaks out What was it

  271. in? Princess Bride at Duane within a

  272. dream here. We have a miracle within a

  273. miracle. And so, as Jesus is going

  274. through the streets of Capernaum with crowds everywhere all

  275. around him, there, this is Behold a woman, which was

  276. disease with an issue of blood. Twelve years came behind him and

  277. touched the Hem of His Garment. So she comes up behind him.

  278. He does not see her. She comes up behind him touches

  279. the border of His Garment. Now, I'm assuming it's about,

  280. you know, down down by his ankle.

  281. There may have been his coat the The the touch but he touches her

  282. and there's people everywhere touching him.

  283. The other accounts say that what do you hear?

  284. Everybody is touching you. And so Jesus, turns around,

  285. Jesus turns around to first, see her.

  286. And says the other accounts say who touched me is like and the

  287. disciples say, well, there's so many people here.

  288. How can you say, who touched me? And so he turns around to her

  289. and I think it's fascinating because earlier, there in the

  290. chapter he knew the thaw Thoughts of the scribes Hearts

  291. here. He asked who it was a touched

  292. me, who it was at touch me. So here he knows it all here.

  293. Apparently, it seems like he may not know it all here in this

  294. probably he's asking this so that they will confess.

  295. So that there will be a confession there.

  296. And she said, within herself, if I may touch His Garment, I Shall

  297. Behold Jesus turned about when he saw her and said daughter be

  298. of good Comfort. Your faith has made you whole

  299. Now, what's going on here? We understand from the other

  300. accounts, that, as she said, as it says here, she had had this

  301. disease, is probably a hemorrhaging ovary or something

  302. of that sort. 12 years, she had gone to doctors, she had not

  303. just gone to one doctor. She'd gone to many doctors and

  304. she had spent everything that she had all of her money on it.

  305. And the Bible says, they had not helped her, they had made it

  306. worse, they had made it worse and some of the Significance of

  307. this 12 long years of this bleeding disorder and that's,

  308. that's all of your energy is zaps all of your Vitality to do

  309. that. That's one thing that happened.

  310. But another thing that happened was that a woman who had a

  311. bleeding disorder, according to the, according to the old

  312. Covenant law to according the book of numbers of am not

  313. mistaken that she was considered, ceremoniously

  314. unclean. She could not see if you're

  315. ceremoniously unclean, you can't touch anybody or they become

  316. unclean. You can't go into the temple or

  317. they could not go into the synagogue here.

  318. They would be separated from that.

  319. She had been separated for 12 years.

  320. So her spiritual life was great different, great difficulty

  321. there. You know, all those people, you

  322. know, somebody sick and you don't see them at church.

  323. That's wonder you know you're going to see him the next time,

  324. right. Well, you don't see him again

  325. and again and again sometimes you begin to wonder about their

  326. faith and sometimes that's, you know, that's kind of how we are.

  327. Here was a woman who had been absent from the synagogue absent

  328. from the religious gatherings for 12 years.

  329. So one of the people think about her.

  330. Well, you can just surmise you can guess that doesn't say what

  331. they thought about her, but you can guess what?

  332. That was this woman because of her sickness, because of her

  333. illness. She could not have close

  334. contact, even In with her husband, there she could not

  335. have children. And so you see here that she's

  336. isolated socially, she's isolated spiritually, she's

  337. isolated often times from her family here in this and it's

  338. extremely difficult thing. And so has she lost her faith?

  339. No, she hasn't. Because she says, if I can Touch

  340. the Hem of His Garment, I'll be made whole I'll be made whole,

  341. why in the world would she do that?

  342. You know, the Bible says, and one of the other account says

  343. that Us felt some virtue go out of him in that.

  344. And who did this, who touched me?

  345. And she was terrified terrified here.

  346. She was very frightened here and shook here because of this.

  347. Now, I would suggest to you that there is a reason why she

  348. touched the Hem of His Garment. And I believe it has to do with

  349. something. That is a very minor Prophecy in

  350. the old Covenant in the Old Testament.

  351. If you turn in your Bibles to the last prophet, in the Old

  352. Testament, to the last book of the Old Testament, to the last

  353. chapter of the last book of the Old Testament.

  354. You find the Book of Malachi, Malachi, the fourth chapter.

  355. And look at what it says in. Malachi chapter 4 and verse to

    Malachi 4 chapter mention

  356. Malachi 4 and verse 2. It says this, it says, but Unto

  357. you, that fear, my name, shall the sun of righteousness, arise

  358. with healing in his wings and you shall go forth and grow up

  359. as calves of the stall. Now, this is obviously, this is

  360. deemed to be a Prophecy of the Messiah.

  361. But here the gentle healer it speaks of the gentle healer here

  362. in this the son of righteousness shall arise with healing in his

  363. wings and you can almost picture that that healing somehow know

  364. some large bird with healing in his wings there.

  365. But I would suggest to you. That that may not be what we

  366. might think of that may not be exactly what.

  367. It's expressing their healing in his wings.

  368. The Hebrew word that's translated Wings.

  369. There's translated a number of things in scriptures translated

  370. wings wings of a bird. Genesis one talks about the

  371. winged fowl Genesis, where talked about Noah Gathering the

  372. animals. The wing, the wing foul winged

  373. animals were gathered there. It's talks about the wings of

  374. cherubims in the Old Testament, as well as their talks about the

  375. corners of the Earth was a passage there, the wings of

  376. corners of the earth there. R but there are passages are

  377. places in scripture where it talks about the borders of a

  378. garment, if you will, if you will look in numbers, I'm not

  379. mistaken numbers the yes. Number of the 15th chapter In

  380. verse 38 speaking to the children of Israel, God says, to

  381. Moses speaking to the shoulder bid them that they make

  382. themselves, that they make them fringes on the borders of their

  383. garments borders. There's the same one that has

  384. wings in Malachi 4, verse 2. Same word that they make fringes

    Malachi 4:2

  385. on the borders of their garments throughout their Generations,

  386. that they may put the fringes of the borders.

  387. That's the same word again use there.

  388. A ribbon to Blue, and it may be as a fringe that when that you

  389. may look on it, and remember the Commandments of the Lord Jesus,

  390. that they seek, not after your own.

  391. So anyway, so on and so forth. But here was the commander to

  392. the Israelites that they would put borders on their garments.

  393. And that's that word Wings, Malachi 4, verse 2, This is also

    Malachi 4:2

  394. the passage that in. Where's my reference?

  395. Where's my reference in First Kings?

  396. And First Kings, the First Kings, the 15th First, Kings,

  397. the 15th chapter verse 27, when Saul told, our when Samuel told

  398. Saul that you are rejected as king over Israel, Samuel turns

  399. away from him, saw grabs, all, and glazed hold.

  400. It says his mantle and tears, His Garment tears, the border,

  401. the Hem of His Garment off. That's that word there.

  402. That's that word, translated wings and Malachi.

  403. That's also the word that's used later in first Samuel, when

  404. remember when, when Saul is chasing David and Saul goes and

  405. hides, in goes and relaxes takes his, he's in a cave, David is in

  406. that cave. David sneaks up and cuts off a

  407. corner of his robe there. That word is used there at that

  408. place use, not only that, but on just once but three different

  409. times right there, that word that word the wing So, I would

  410. suggest to you, that it might be that this woman who some people

  411. would question, perhaps questioned her faith.

  412. Had great faith, had great faith.

  413. In the words of scripture, and in, what was said, in scripture

  414. healing in his fringes, in the borders of his garments healing

  415. in his wings and she said, if I can just touch the border of His

  416. Garment, I shall be healed. And Jesus said, who touched me?

  417. And then he said, unto her daughter be of good Comfort.

  418. Your faith has made you whole, what was it about her faith?

  419. That made her whole, was it simply the power of I think it

  420. can happen? I think it can happen.

  421. No, I think it was claiming the prophecy.

  422. The Fulfillment of that prophecy there.

  423. Your faith. In the prophecy of God about me

  424. has made you whole and we find another passages there in the

  425. New Testament in that in the gospel accounts that there They

  426. brought their people came to him and they touch the borders of

  427. His Garment, the Hem of His Garment and they were healed.

  428. So I think it's a matter of Faith, a matter of faith, in

  429. what the scripture says, not just the matter of the power of

  430. someone's Faith. The exercise of it as a force

  431. itself, but it's their faith in what scripture says.

  432. And so she was healed. She was healed from that moment

  433. on and now we go back to the miracle.

  434. That first, we started with here, Jesus is on his way to the

  435. rulers house. The ruler of the synagogue's.

  436. When he came into the rulers house, he saw the minstrels and

  437. the people making a noise there. Apparently, the cheapest of

  438. people had to hire a few flute players and had to hire

  439. professional, mourners to come and to, you know, to play music

  440. and to, and to mourn at this. And so, this is what was taking

  441. place here. They were already there, they

  442. informed him that she is dead. They had informed that she is

  443. already dead, and Jesus says, give Place.

  444. Make room for the maid is not dead, but sleeps And they

  445. laughed him to Scorn, the scripture says there.

  446. And so, when they put the people out, Jesus goes in with her

  447. mother and father and I believe about three, Three of his

  448. closest disciples. He goes, he takes her by the

  449. hand and the maid arose in the fame, their of went abroad and

  450. all women. So here, you see, the gentle

  451. healer. Raises people from the dead.

  452. The gentle healer raise people from the dead because as Jesus

  453. said in Matthew orange on the 11th, John the 11th chapter,

  454. when he raised Lazarus from the dead.

  455. He said this, he said because I am the resurrection and the

  456. life. There, John, 8:11, inverse,

  457. where are we John? 11 verse 25.

  458. I am the resurrection and the life and he that believes in me

  459. though, Though he were dead yet, shall he?

  460. Live and whoever lives and Believes In Me and Ami and me

  461. shall never die. Believe us down this.

  462. And so this is Jesus, this is the gentle healer showing that

  463. he has power over death, power over death.

  464. Because he will raise people. He raises people from the dead

  465. notice here in this, that, Jesus touches these people, Jesus

  466. touches. These people, he touches the

  467. woman who had the issue of blood.

  468. What would happen? If someone touch this woman who

  469. had an issue of blood, they would be ceremoniously unclean.

  470. Their be ceremonially unclean until the evening, then they

  471. would wash. And sometimes they would offer a

  472. sacrifice have to offer sacrifice their according to Old

  473. Covenant law, but they would be unbe made in clean by touching

  474. her. Someone who touches a dead body.

  475. They were also ceremoniously unclean.

  476. Jesus makes, no makes no shame about.

  477. It makes no, hesitation, he's not afraid for the woman to

  478. touch him. He is not afraid to touch a dead

  479. body, because here's what Jesus does Jesus by his touch, makes

  480. the unclean clean. He reserved, he reversed the

  481. natural order of how things would be.

  482. He did not become unclean, but he made them clean, he made

  483. them, hold, he made them alive there in that.

  484. And that's what we see here in this.

  485. And so, those G, the gentle healer goes to them, goes to

  486. them. And he is like no other because

  487. this with his touch, he heals you and he makes you whole here

  488. in this Matthew, the ninth chapter their verses 20 and 21

  489. here. Here in Capernaum.

  490. Again, the gentle healer, the Bible says that he leaves and he

  491. goes down the road. A ways two, Blind Men, follow

  492. him, crying verse 27, son of David, have mercy on us.

  493. And so these are not just haphazard words they say, but

  494. they cry out to him as the son of David.

  495. Now, I suppose you could say, If people could trace their

  496. genealogies and they did, they could say, there might be many

  497. people who are ancestors or whose ancestry can trace their

  498. ancestry back to David, But what they're saying about him is that

  499. you are the son of David and the son of David here in this

  500. context is the son of David who would be raised up and sit on

  501. his throne the son of David is the Messiah so these men call to

  502. him as the son of David. You are the king of Israel, you

  503. are the Messiah and what do they ask for?

  504. They ask have mercy on me, have mercy on us.

  505. Us. What's the response to Mercy

  506. response to Mercy is compassion? And that's what we're seeing

  507. here in all of the works that the gentle healer is doing his

  508. compassion, for those who are suffering, who are in straights,

  509. and who are having great difficulties as it said from

  510. Isaiah, he bore our sicknesses and carried our sorrows in this

  511. is the compassion of the lord of the Lord.

  512. Notice over here in verse 36 of Matthew 9, when he saw the

  513. multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they

  514. fainted and were scattered. It abroad as sheep, having no

  515. Shepherd. So, these men cry out, son of

  516. David, great, testimony of Faith, great statement of faith,

  517. have mercy on us. They asked they beg for him to

  518. have mercy. And Jesus walks on, apparently.

  519. Because he doesn't reply to them, he goes back to the house.

  520. He goes inside the house. And they're left behind.

  521. But notice next year, what happens here, and when he was

  522. come into the house, the Blind Men came to him.

  523. Oh, he leaves them outside, but they find their way inside.

  524. They come to him. And Jesus says, then believe

  525. you, that I am able to do this. And they say, yay Lord!

  526. Yes! Lord, you can do this.

  527. He touched their eyes saying according to your faith.

  528. Be it unto you. According to your faith, be it

  529. unto, you does that leave. Like okay, with one man has two

  530. Blind Men there. One has great faith when has a

  531. little faith and so this man gets perfect vision, this one is

  532. only cured in one eye, according to your faith, you know, have a

  533. no, no, that's not it, that's not what they're saying.

  534. Their faith was son of David have mercy on us Messiah, you

  535. can heal us, please heal us, according to your faith.

  536. Be it unto you. And I would like to suggest to,

  537. you hear that, what we see here, the gentle healer doing is G.

  538. The gentle healer is doing a unique Miracle among the sons of

  539. men. That this was a unique Miracle

  540. of the Messiah. Healing, someone who was born

  541. blind if you turn to Matthew or touch or not Matthew to John the

  542. ninth chapter John, the ninth chapter, you have an entire

  543. chapter, we're not going to go through all of that there but

  544. John the ninth chapter, here is a man who was born blind.

  545. And that, the first of the chapter kind of the Preamble of

  546. it, the disciples come to Jesus and says, who sinned?

  547. This, man. Standard did his parents sin

  548. that he was born blind. And Jesus simply says this, he

  549. says neither. Neither has he sent or did they

  550. sinned but he was born blind so that the works of God should be

  551. made manifest in him. You know, the a simple way to

  552. boil that down his. This man was born blind so I can

  553. heal him today. That's what he's basically

  554. saying. And so Jesus, then heals him.

  555. He says he makes he spits on the ground and he takes that spit.

  556. And he mixes it with the dirt, the dust and he makes some clay

  557. out of it and puts it on the Man's eyes.

  558. And he says, Go and wash a said, go and wash in the pool of

  559. Siloam and so he does it. He comes back and he comes

  560. seeing he comes see. Now it's interesting here, the

  561. gentle healer can heal. However, he wants to, he can

  562. heal dial it in as we said, he can heal by speaking forgiveness

  563. of sins, he can heal by touching with the hand.

  564. He can heal by being touched and here he can heal with spit and

  565. mud. They're heal the eyes of one,

  566. born blind, but this causes a big brouhaha there on that

  567. occasion. And John the John, the Night

  568. chapter because this was done on the Sabbath day.

  569. And so the Jews say this, man, is healing on the Sabbath day.

  570. We know that he is not of God because he, he is, he is working

  571. on the Sabbath day. Not only was he healing, but he

  572. makes he's making mud, and he's putting on people's eyes here on

  573. this. And so, they, they make a big

  574. deal out of It's a even implicate, his parents in it

  575. there, and they implicate him, they come to him and they say,

  576. what do you know about this man? What can you say about him?

  577. And the they say they reviled him verse 28 and said, you are

  578. his disciple to the blind man to formally blind, man, you're a

  579. follower of this man who is not from God because he heals on the

  580. Sabbath day. We know that, but we are Moses

  581. disciple. We know that God spoke to Moses

  582. as for this fellow. Though, we don't know where he

  583. came from, we don't know what his source of authority is.

  584. Now, here the blind man. Teaches his teachers.

  585. The blind man teaches his teachers.

  586. In those days it was difficult and I understand it was his very

  587. difficult for a blind man. To get an education, like others

  588. would be most of his education. Obviously, he could not read the

  589. books that were there. He had to have someone else read

  590. into them or he could not hear a, he could not do many, of the

  591. things that the others would do. He would hear and learn at the

  592. synagogue there, where these Pharisees were, these Jews were

  593. probably prominent citizens there in the synagogue.

  594. And so here's what he says, I'm to the Jews and to the Jewish

  595. leaders, then he says we're here in is a marvelous thing.

  596. This is amazing. He says, we know not from which

  597. he is and yet he has opened my eyes.

  598. You don't know where he comes from and yet he's opened my

  599. eyes. Listen to his logical reasoning

  600. here next. He says, now we know number one,

  601. that God hears, not Sinners. But if any man be a worshiper of

  602. God and do it this hill, it is, Will him he heareth.

  603. Now this is the formerly blind man.

  604. Who says this to the Jewish leaders there in his town.

  605. He says What he learned that God doesn't hear sinners.

  606. But if any man be worse with God and do some does his will he

  607. hears that? Where'd you learn that from?

  608. He learned it from them, then the ones who teach you, And then

  609. secondly he says since the world began verse 32 was it not heard

  610. that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind.

  611. That's the second thing he says, it has never been done since the

  612. beginning of the world. Someone opened the eyes of one

  613. that was born blind, And then he says, if this man were not of

  614. God, he could do nothing. Very logical what he is

  615. thinking. If he's a sinner as you say, God

  616. wouldn't hear him, no one opens. The eyes of someone born blind.

  617. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.

  618. But let's talk about that. Just a little bit what it says

  619. they're about the opening of the eyes of the one that was born

  620. blind. If you turn to the Book of Luke,

  621. Luke the fourth chapter please we'll go right there and Luke

  622. the fourth chapter Jesus goes into Nazareth, goes into the

  623. synagogue of and as sorry. I thought I had this Mark but

  624. maybe I did. Goes into the synagogue on the

  625. Sabbath day and the Bible says, what he does.

  626. He goes into the synagogue and he is doing the reading of

  627. scripture that day. My understanding was that most

  628. often that he is reading was not just a random scripture, but it

  629. was, this was their organized. This is an organized system of

  630. reading scripture, and so the Bible says he, Gabrielle right

  631. chapter to read this. Look for in verse 17, there it

  632. was delivered in him. The book, The Scroll from the

  633. book of Isaiah which he had opened the book, he found the

  634. place where it was written. This was the reading for the

  635. day. This is from Isaiah, 61 verses 1

    Isaiah 61:1

  636. and 2. Here's what he reads.

  637. He says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has

  638. anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

  639. He has sent me. Me to heal the brokenhearted to

  640. preach Deliverance to the captives, the recovering of

  641. sight to the blind to set at Liberty, them that are bruised

  642. to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

  643. So that's his text to verses from the Old Testament to

  644. prophecies from the Old Testament and he closes the book

  645. gives it to you know the that synagogues version of Jarius

  646. there, the president, the leader of the synagogue gives it to

  647. him. Gives it to the minister.

  648. It says he sat down and so he would stand to read scripture

  649. and sit down to deliver the message.

  650. There about expound upon the scripture.

  651. He sets down the eyes of all of them were in the congregation

  652. were fastened on him, and he began To teach them this day.

  653. Is this scripture fulfilled in your ears?

  654. I wanted to look at what something I had here.

  655. And that is that one translation says this, I am the Fulfillment

  656. of this scripture. I'm sorry.

  657. My chicken scratching here is not good enough here so I cannot

  658. see this. Oh here's what the is V says.

  659. This day, this scripture is fulfilled as you have heard it

  660. red. This scripture has been

  661. fulfilled as you have. Heard it read The Gentle healer,

  662. here tells the people of his own town.

  663. I am the Fulfillment of that prophecy there.

  664. If you turn over there again, in Luke, the 7th chapter, just a

  665. couple of pages over there. You find a time in which Jesus

  666. is working miracles and doing things.

  667. John has been cast John. The Baptist has been thrown into

  668. prison. He sends a couple of his

  669. disciples to Jesus with a question.

  670. He said, are you he that should come or should we look for

  671. another? Are you the Messiah or should we

  672. look for another? I don't think John had doubts

  673. about who the Messiah was because John was the one who

  674. announced the Messiah Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the

  675. sin of the world. I don't think John John, I don't

  676. think John lost his faith there, but I think John is saying to

  677. him. If you're the Messiah come out

  678. and tell people come out and tell him come out and say it,

  679. and here's what Jesus reply is to his two disciples.

  680. He says Jesus answering said of them verse 22, go your way and

  681. tell John what things you have seen and heard.

  682. So Jesus here during his ministry, he was not about

  683. carrying banners saying, I am the Messiah, he was not about

  684. that, that's not what he was doing.

  685. And that's not what he was going to do.

  686. But rather what he was doing, was he saying?

  687. I'm throwing the evidence out there.

  688. I'm healing the palsy man. He said, I'm telling him, your

  689. sins are forgiven. I'm raising people from the

  690. dead. I am healing people from a

  691. distance. I'm healing those who touch me?

  692. I'm doing all these things. What?

  693. Is that that is evidence of who I am.

  694. And this is what he says here to John's disciples here.

  695. He says go your way. I'll tell John the things you've

  696. seen in her house. That the blind, see the blind,

  697. see the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the

  698. dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them

  699. and blessed he who is not who is not offended in me.

  700. So, the words The Works that Jesus did that was the testimony

  701. about him as the Messiah. That's what it was.

  702. And so the gentle healer here. This was a unique miracle that

  703. the Messiah would do nobody else heals the, the eyes of someone

  704. that was born blind, we have some who were healing.

  705. Some who had been blind later. Remember ananias came in and

  706. touch Saul and the scales fell off his eyes later.

  707. Paul makes a man blind for three days there.

  708. I guess that's a little reverse there, but it's not someone who

  709. was born, blind only Jesus. The Messiah would do that and

  710. I'm going to side I did it. And so back in John the ninth

  711. chapter, when this formally blind, man tells you know, God

  712. doesn't hear sinners. Nobody hears nobody from from

  713. the beginning of the world, nobody heals.

  714. The one that was born, blind. If this man were not from God,

  715. he could do nothing. And the Bible says, and when

  716. they heard this, they answered and said unto him.

  717. You were all together born in sin.

  718. Do you teach us? Were the teachers and you're

  719. trying to teach us. Now, what they learned it, when

  720. he learned that he learned it from them.

  721. Their interpretation was correct, their application was

  722. wrong. Their application was wrong.

  723. Do you teach us and they cast him out?

  724. They cast him out of the synagogue.

  725. So let's go on before, we way, way before we belabor your your

  726. your courtesy here. Let's look then.

  727. After this, after this it says so Jesus healed them according

  728. to your faith, be it unto. You is what he says.

  729. In verse 29 of Matthew 92, these two Blind Men According to your

  730. faith. Your faith in me, is the Son of

  731. God. Your faith in me as the Messiah,

  732. your faith in me as the Fulfillment of scripture, they

  733. may not have thought about Isaiah 62, healing the one

  734. who's, you know, the blind one, healing of the blind, but they

  735. had faith in him as the Messiah, according to your faith, be it

  736. unto you. And this is what the Messiah

  737. doesn't. And so, I will heal the Brian

  738. there and their eyes were open and they Jesus straitly, charged

  739. them saying, don't tell anybody. But they went out and they told

  740. Body basically is what it was and as they went out, behold,

  741. they brought it to him, the dumb, the mute man, possessed

  742. with a demon and when the devil was cast out of him, the mute

  743. man, that dumb man, spake and the multitudes marveled saying

  744. it was never seen in Israel, but the Pharisees says he cast out

  745. Devils through the prince of devils.

  746. And Jesus went about all the cities and Villages teaching in

  747. their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and

  748. healing every sickness. Sickness, and every disease

  749. among the people. And so it talks about the

  750. completeness of what the Messiah did, the completeness of what

  751. the gentle healer did he healed every disease and every sickness

  752. among the people but you know, he did not raise all the people

  753. from the dead along the countryside.

  754. He raised the people from the dead that he came in contact

  755. with, he did not heal, all the people who are disease, because

  756. there were other people that were diseased.

  757. There was a lame man in Acts the syntax of the third chapter

  758. there. Jesus didn't heal him during his

  759. ministry. He was a lane, man.

  760. He didn't heal everybody there. But he'll those that he came in

  761. contact with why, so they can bear their infirmities and carry

  762. their weaknesses as the prophet. Isaiah said, also, here in this,

  763. this is that there will be a time in which Jesus will will

  764. raise all of those from the dead Jesus said.

  765. In Matthew the fifth chapter verses 28 and 29.

  766. He said, Marvel, not at this, for the hour is coming in, which

  767. all who are in the graves, shall hear his voice and shall come

  768. forth. They that have done good to the

  769. resurrection of Life, they that have done evil to the

  770. resurrection of damnation. This is what the gentle healer

  771. says. This is what the gentle healer

  772. was pointing to by his miracles. That he was of God, he was the

  773. son of God and that he could in that he was the one who could

  774. bear their weaknesses, their abilities, and also, and also

  775. would do that someday raised people all of those from the day

  776. and acts the second chapter in Acts.

  777. The second chapter when Peter is preaching on the day of

  778. Pentecost to the Jews. Here's what he says about the

  779. gentle healer at this. He says, you mean of men of

  780. Galilee permit, not that you men of Israel.

  781. Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God

  782. among you a man proven by God among you.

  783. By Miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in

  784. the midst of you as you yourselves.

  785. Also, no, He said these miracles signs and wonders which God did

  786. through Jesus, this was his proof.

  787. This was God's proof that Jesus was the Messiah.

  788. And he makes it so plain to them.

  789. He did them in your midst. That would have been enough.

  790. It seems like God did them in your midst.

  791. As you yourselves in the midst of you.

  792. He says as you yourselves also know he did it and you know he

  793. did it here again. They understood it.

  794. They did not apply it. They did not apply it to their

  795. lives and so they were Wicked people because of that.

  796. He says, then you took him by Wicked hands.

  797. You crucified you slew him and he said in God has raised him up

  798. having loosed. The Pains of death was caused

  799. impossible, that he should be held by there's some moments

  800. more things we could say. About the gentle healer but the

  801. gentle healer has compassion on people.

  802. The gentle healer has compassion on you how wonderful it would be

  803. for the gentle healer to be here today.

  804. And to heal those who are sick, they're those probably who have

  805. sicknesses that we can't see that.

  806. You don't may have not have shared with anyone.

  807. There are those who have loved ones who have sicknesses and

  808. illnesses. Those are though there are those

  809. who have lost loved ones. Wouldn't it be amazing for the

  810. gentle healer to be here and touch those people and raise

  811. them up from to touch those with tumors or those with illnesses

  812. and those sicknesses and and heal them.

  813. I would love to have the general.

  814. He would come and poke his finger in my ear, as he did in

  815. the Book of Mark there. And and, you know, make my ear

  816. to work there, but he's not going to.

  817. He's not going to not here, but honey will do is you will help

  818. me to hear his word. He will help me to see his

  819. truth. He will Me to have life through

  820. him and he will give me life through him.

  821. And so that's what the gentle healer can do.

  822. And that's what the measurement Ministry of the gentle healer is

  823. even today. Giving us hope giving us healing

  824. giving us, he mean in our lives and hope of the resurrection of

  825. the Dead, through our belief and through our obedience to him.

  826. So this morning, if you are here in your need of the gentle

  827. healer, If your life needs healing, if your life needs to

  828. be put back on the right track, if you need to make your life,

  829. right? Won't you come today Believing

  830. on the son of David, the Lord, the Messiah, Jesus.

  831. The gentle healer, make your faith known be immersed in water

  832. for the remission of your sins and and and then you can rise to

  833. walk in a new life, New Life as a scripture teaches there.

  834. If you're here, you need need to obey the gospel.

  835. Won't you come if you hear you need to return to the Lord.

  836. Won't you come as we stand and seen the invitation song?

  837. We thank you for listening to our podcast, put on by the

  838. Church of Christ at 22:15 plans. Road in Bakersfield, if you

  839. would like any additional information or you would like to

  840. receive a free Bible correspondence, course by mail.

  841. Please email us at info at True Church of Christ

  842. Bakersfield.com. Our service times are on Sundays

  843. at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.

  844. Please make plans to join us. We would love for you to be our

  845. honored guest.