I am so very excited to continue our study of Matthew. I love the approach of Matthew in presenting Jesus as King and Savior. Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
- His legal qualifications through His genealogy
- His prophetic qualifications through the prophecy fulfillments at His birth
- His divine qualifications through God’s own approval at His baptism
- His spiritual qualifications through His perfect resistance of sin at Satan’s tempting
- His theological qualifications through His teachings at the Sermon on the Mount
These qualifications present staggering evidences that Jesus is the King and that Jesus is the Christ. But Matthew will not stop here. As we enter into chapters eight and nine, we are now going to hear Matthew’s account of the POWER of Jesus.
The greatest tragedy that I know of, is that despite all that Jesus did, people rejected Him, and, reject Him still. Jesus Himself pled with the people in John 10:37-38
“If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
After everything that Jesus did to prove who He was, the conclusion was not that He was of God, but of the devil! How can this be? The answer will come in many variations but will boil down to the same core every time – SIN – people love it now as they loved it then and will not tolerate anyone who denounces it. Nobody has ever denounced sin so powerfully as did Jesus.
To me, Jesus’ teachings are just as impressive as His miracles. Are you skeptical of His miracles? I would challenge you to observe His teachings! Are you skeptical of His teachings? I would have you read the eye-witness accounts of His miracles. Jesus gave both His teachings and His miracles as evidence that He is the Christ and Son of God.
Through every chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, I can hear his voice ringing out, “Make way for the King!” Have you recognized Jesus as King?
Much Love,
Wes LeFlore – huskerwes1@gmail.com or (918) 607-8489
