Seeds for 07/26/2023 - Matthew 9:27-31
Scripture: 27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
28 When He had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they replied.
29 Then He touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the news about Him all over that region.
Observation: Obedience to Jesus isn’t easy. The Sermon on the Mount provides us with life-giving wisdom and a strenuous picture of true discipleship. When Jesus reframes various commandments, talks about the nature of faith, and clarifies our commitments, we are struck by the desirability and difficulty of walking in obedience to His teaching.
In the “Great Commission,” Jesus emphasizes that part of bring people to God includes “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Obedience is vital. “Trust and obey,” goes the hymn, “for there’s other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.” This is surely true.
And yet the recipients of Jesus’ healing grace and power can’t shut up about it. Even when specifically commanded to say nothing, they disregard His instructions and spread the word.
This recurs throughout the “synoptic” gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Jesus performs a miraculous work of healing or the like and tells the recipient to keep it to themselves. Scholars call it the “Messianic secret,” and this is a good example. It seems strange to us that Jesus is constantly trying to keep a lid on His ministry this way, but it’s right there in the text.
We should absolutely trust and obey Jesus. Today, we are encouraged to spread the word. But when, in the Gospels, He commanded people whose lives He changed to keep quiet about it for whatever strategic reason, there are two things I notice. First, none of them obeyed Him. Second, no one seems to have gotten in trouble for disobeying Him.
Application:
When has Jesus made such a difference in your life that you simply had to tell someone?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, grow me in faithful obedience to your word and compel me to share what you have done in my life. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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