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When the imprisoned John the Baptist sends messengers to Jesus Christ with profound and significant questions, Jesus sends these messengers back with answers which we need to hear clearly in these present days.

Look at what I am doing, and go back and give John a full report, and Jesus quotes from Isaiah 35,61, appealing to John's knowledge of the Old Testament. We are studying this passage in Matthew Chapter 11. Do read it carefully and prayerfully because it is highly relevant and apposite.

John had to learn that Jesus was going to carry out His Ministry - His Way…  ( Click for more )

We are in Matthew Chapter 11 and examining that incident where John is in prison because he had preached and had challenged the morality of the leadership and he is wondering if Jesus is really the Christ.

Verse 4 – Jesus gives those messengers, who had come from John, a word for John. Tell John to fix his gaze upon God, and what God is doing, through the One He has sent.

Meditating upon your doubts will not do you one bit of good.

Jesus is really quoting from Isaiah 35,61. Jesus directs John to the Scriptures. What does the Scripture say about the coming…  ( Click for more )

Matthew Chapter 11 could be called reactions to the ministry of Jesus, and this is a characteristic in Matthew’s Gospel. There are three reactions to the ministry of Jesus and these works of power.

In verses 1 to 14 we see a degree of honest doubt.

Verses 16 to 19 reveal a spirit of criticism.

In verses 20 to 24, we come across a spirit or attitude of apathy to the ministry of Jesus.

Doubt grew in the heart and mind of John the Baptist.

Have I been mistaken after all? Have I got it all wrong, and should I be acknowledging that I have made a mistake?…  ( Click for more )

As we read of Jesus sending out these men on this practical mission in Matthew Chapter 10, we learn that Jesus Christ is against sickness and for wholeness. Jesus is against fear, and He wishes people to have saving faith. Jesus is against sin and His desire is to see men and women set free from the grip and hold which sin can have over people.

Jesus does not wish to see people lost and sore and scared and scarred. He wants to see people found and healed and secure and whole.

This command has never been revoked or withdrawn. The kingdom only grows and advances when…  ( Click for more )

We come to Matthew Chapter 10. One day Jesus calls His twelve men together. They have been with Jesus now for about a year, and Jesus gives them a special anointing - specific authority and power - to go and minister.

For a year they have been watching, listening, observing and learning.

For a year they have been under training. Now, they are being sent out on a mission. It was time for the practical. It is not enough just to take it in all the time. There has to be an outlet and the opportunity for service and mission and ministry.

They had seen how…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 9 verses 27 to 42, two blind men are following Jesus, and they ask for mercy. This sounds quite similar to the incident where blind Bartimaeus is healed. There are similarities, and there are differences.

They are following Jesus and they come into the house, and Jesus asks if they believed that He was able to do this – to give them their sight? Their reply is very positive, “Yes, Lord”. They persisted in following Jesus indoors and Jesus appears to be testing these men’s faith to the full. This was not going to be a quick…  ( Click for more )

Have we forgotten where Jesus was going? We are studying Matthew Chapter 9. Jesus had been on his way to the home of Jairus whose twelve year old daughter was seriously ill. His journey had been interrupted by a woman in real need.

As Jesus is speaking with this dear needy woman who had been suffering so much for twelve years, news comes from Jairus' house. "Your daughter is dead. Your 12 year old girl has died. Don't bother the teacher any more. The teacher cannot do anything now, Jairus. It is too late. The delay has been too long. We are sorry. We are…  ( Click for more )

We come to Matthew Chapter 9 and verse 18. We have seen how Jesus Christ has been teaching and ministering and cleansing and healing in such a powerful and effective way and yet, the local people told Jesus to take His ministry elsewhere. When Jesus is not wanted, He will move on and go where He is needed and wanted.

What a pleasant relief it must have been to Jesus, following that incident on the other side of the Lake, where He had been rejected and told to push off, to return to where He is among folk who would welcome Him and receive Him and want His ministry.

They…  ( Click for more )

On Jesus Christ goes, from one exciting challenging scene to another. A leper has been cleansed, a sick woman healed, a storm rebuked and demonized people calmed, and a paralysed man forgiven, and enabled to walk, with restored mobility. Of course, there is conflict too, from those religious leaders, and that is something we also have to contend with today.

The coming of Jesus Christ into this fallen sinful rebellious world gives rise to controversy, conflict, anger, and rage.

As we move on in Matthew Chapter 9, we read of the calling of Levi. This is Matthew, and he…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 9, we read of how four men carried their paralysed friend to the place where Jesus Christ was speaking and teaching. Mark tells us that Jesus was preaching the Word. The other also Gospels explain that the place where Jesus was, was rather crowded, and there was no ordinary or normal way whereby they could bring this paralysed man before Jesus Christ, so they unroofed the roof, and lowered their friend down to where Jesus was. Jesus saw their faith.

Jesus recognises faith, and Jesus also recognises where faith is absent!

Jesus speaks so graciously…  ( Click for more )

When we come to Matthew Chapter 9 verses 1 to 9, we are reading of the healing of the paralysed man. Jesus Christ has just calmed a storm on the Lake of Galilee, and demonic storms in the lives of men. This phase of ministry continues, because the religious leaders were spiritually sick, and Jesus so wanted to heal them, but at this specific point He said and did very little. That was soon to change.

In these passages, Jesus is healing people, or on His Way to heal people or He is coming from healing someone, but as we have seen, Jesus also loved to teach. However,…  ( Click for more )

What a sight greeted Jesus Christ, and His disciples, in Matthew Chapter 8 and at verse 28. No wonder there was a storm on the Lake. When storms arise it can be helpful to ask why. Why is this happening at this time? What is the reason for this? There is usually an answer.

The enemy of Jesus had an agenda and he has been trying to put this agenda into operation since Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, when there was that appalling slaughter.

Two men came to Him, and they are naked and controlled by evil spirits, or demonised. Luke writes about one man, but there…  ( Click for more )

We come to Matthew Chapter 8 and verses 23 to 34, where we read of Jesus and His disciples sailing across the Lake of Galilee, and Jesus, the Son of God falls asleep in the boat.

Jesus is tired. He has been preaching and teaching and answering questions.

He is physically exhausted - worn out - drained - and in need of a rest.

He is human. He is a Man. This is all He needs - rest.

So often a good rest, and a good sleep, is all we may need.

He is such an integrated man – such a whole man – and so balanced.

Did He know what was going…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 8 and at verse 19, as Jesus and His disciples were going on their way, a man comes up to Jesus and says, "I will follow you wherever you go."

That is always a dangerous thing to say to Jesus, especially when we do not know where He is going. That is as dangerous as becoming famous or becoming popular. Very few people indeed can handle and cope with these situations in life. It is like that dangerous prayer, “Use me”. God sometimes answers us and it can shock and surprise us when we see what he has planned for our lives. That…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 8 verses 14 to 22, Jesus walked the 100 yards from the synagogue in Capernaum to the home of Simon Peter, where his mother-in-law has a raging fever. So Peter was married!

They ask for help in Luke. We see that time and time again. People ask for help.

Jesus never went running around healing all the sick, and ministering indiscriminately to every need, but when invited, HE responded.

There is such privacy here. It is so beautifully done?

It is set in Luke 4 almost as contrast to the demoniac. Do read the parallel passage.

Jesus…  ( Click for more )

We come to Mathew Chapter 8 and at verse 5. We know from Luke that following the miraculous healing of the leper, Jesus Christ went to prayer.

Jesus had been teaching and He had said everything He wanted to say on that occasion.

Jesus now enters Capernaum.

Much of the ministry of Jesus has been spontaneous, as those in need met Him, or came to Him, or He would be walking along the road.

Jesus was NOT limited to certain times and places and settings, but He was available all the time, when He was in public.

In Capernaum a Centurion's servant is lying sick,…  ( Click for more )

We move on to study Matthew Chapter 8. Jesus comes from these slopes where he has been teaching The Sermon on the Mount.

A man approaches Jesus and we are told that he is full of leprosy. Think of the pain - isolation - ostracism - lumps - twisted and distorted limbs - lack of physical feelings – which this person would experience.

The man is desperate, and Jesus loves desperation. Does that sound cruel? No, because Jesus can do something with it. Mild interest has its limitations.

He fell at Jesus feet - how undignified! He has been begging, having…  ( Click for more )

We arrive at these concluding verses in what has been called, “The Sermon on the Mount”, and we have read, over these past thirty weeks, of what might be called “The Secret of Holiness”.

This is the secret of being different, and the practical implications are profound and immense, spiritually and physically, and even materially. We come to Matthew Chapter 7 verses 24 to 29. Some of you may recall that I started here for a very specific reason, but let us study this passage one final time.

Just the other day, I was reading that the big word “Sanctification”…  ( Click for more )

In Matthew Chapter 7 and at verses 13,14, Jesus speaks about the two roads which confront and face us in life, and there is that fork in the road and we have to choose which road we are going to take. Which road are you going to take? This is the question Jesus is presenting before the people. Which road – which route – are you going to take?

Many choose the wrong road and make a bad decision.

A decision has to be taken, and acted upon, and a choice has to be made.

This is challenging, and this is as challenging for us too today, as it was for these…  ( Click for more )

We come to Matthew Chapter 7 and verses 13 to 23. This is the final section of what is called The Sermon on the Mount. We have been seeking to understand the text, and how we can apply it to our lives, in these present days, and this takes time.

It is a vital section of teaching from Jesus Christ, for disciples, and it is given near the beginning of His ministry. The scene has changed slightly in nature, in as much as we read of the crowds surrounding Jesus. People have been drawn in, and they are eavesdropping and spellbound and curious, wanting to hear more and learn…  ( Click for more )

We are in Matthew Chapter 7 and we have been dealing with this difficult topic of judgment, and we took time to read what Luke said on the matter in chapter 6 of his Gospel, but is it not interesting that this whole section of teaching the of Jesus is set in the context of Prayer.

Jesus says - Ask - Keep on asking - and it will be given you.

Seek - keep on seeking - shamelessly - with determination - and you will find.

Knock - keep on knocking - boldly and courageously - and the door will be opened.

Persistence and Perseverance are so important when it comes…  ( Click for more )

Before moving on in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, it is good to take a moment to consider what Jesus has to say regarding judgment in the account which Dr Luke gives us, and in Luke Chapter 6 verses 36,37, where we hear Jesus say, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”.

In this whole area of teaching we need what is in Luke as well as Matthew.

Remember how you received His mercy - the quality of that love - the joy which came through knowing that your sins were forgiven - that initial experience of the Holy Spirit.

That was what drove these men…  ( Click for more )

As Christians, we have received that extraordinary mercy and forgiveness of God, and His grace and love through Jesus Christ, and we so need to remember that when we are faced with issues of judgment or areas where we have to exercise discipline, always being reminded that we are seeking to train disciples and many do not want training and discipline! They rise up and demonstrate how they remain rebels.

We are in Matthew Chapter 7, in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gives us this parable of the speck of sawdust and the plank. Did Jesus recall this from His 18 years in the…  ( Click for more )

We read on into Matthew Chapter 7 and verses 1 to 6. Jesus has been mainly speaking to and showing His disciples how there was going to be this new way to live, but there were people overhearing. We never know who is listening to us.

Jesus wants His disciples to be different from others and from the religious norms of the day, and not to be like the Pharisees and Scribes.

Then Jesus speaks about worship – our giving and praying and fasting – and valuables and investing and treasure and vision and light – and what is most important – and then…  ( Click for more )