Matthew 4:23-5:1, Exodus 19:1-7
Tomorrow we will embark on the significant teachings of Jesus in what is usually called the sermon on the mount. But before we do, we’re reading again the summary of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee. Matthew details the character of this ministry with the healing work of Christ’s efforts. It is clear: Jesus came to deliver people from incapacities of the human body. His ministry was (and is!) 100% spiritual and 100% physical. God cares for the whole human.
A person with such healing capabilities would draw a crowd and Jesus did exactly that. So by the end of the fourth chapter and beginning of the fifth, Jesus has many eyes and ears attentive to what he is about to say. And say some things, he will. He will do it on top of a mountain, much like Moses received and delivered the Law for Israel much earlier. Matthew continues to show us that Jesus enters from a particular story all the while fulfilling it in fresh ways.
Matthew 4:23-5:1
Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues. He announced the good news of the kingdom and healed every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread throughout Syria. People brought to him all those who had various kinds of diseases, those in pain, those possessed by demons, those with epilepsy, and those who were paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the areas beyond the Jordan River. Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up a mountain. He sat down and his disciples came to him.
Exodus 19:1-7
On exactly the third-month anniversary of the Israelites’ leaving the land of Egypt, they came into the Sinai desert. They traveled from Rephidim, came into the Sinai desert, and set up camp there. Israel camped there in front of the mountain while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him from the mountain, “This is what you should say to Jacob’s household and declare to the Israelites: You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I lifted you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to me. So now, if you faithfully obey me and stay true to my covenant, you will be my most precious possession out of all the peoples, since the whole earth belongs to me. You will be a kingdom of priests for me and a holy nation. These are the words you should say to the Israelites.”
So Moses came down, called together the people’s elders, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.
Prayer:
God -
Some pretty smart people say that as of two months ago, there are now over 8 billion people living on this planet. That is a lot. Do you really know each one of us? That’s hard to comprehend. Caring for each one of us seems a daunting task, too. But I choose to believe it - that you care for each one.
In my area, a lot of people are focused on one missing individual, a woman who lives in a well-to-do town nearby. Her story is sad indeed and looks like it could be scandalously tragic, maybe even murderous. Today they are having a vigil for her on the town common. I suppose you know all this. I do hope she is found alive and things can go better for her and her family than they have been.
But God, in all honesty, I struggle with it all. Where are the vigils for the thousands of other missing people? For those addicted? Living on the streets? Children? Jesus said your Kingdom is like a shepherd who leaves a group of 99 sheep to find the one missing one. Or that a party is thrown for the unknown people living in the streets.
I know I can’t change everyone else’s practice to care just as much about the unknown as the socially elite. But I myself want to reflect Jesus’ love for the unknown. Open my eyes and my heart to do so.
And yes, please help them find that woman.
By your Spirit & in Christ, Amen.