Jesus is Lord of the Physical Realm - 9/8/2024 Sunday Sermon

The Tabernacle Today

Jesus is Lord of the Physical Realm

Affirmation:

When the child of God

Looks into the word of God

And sees the Son of God,

They are transformed by the Spirit of God

Into the image of God

For the glory of God.

-Warren Wiersbe

The work of Mechanics and Doctors makes me think of Jesus as the Great Physician. Today’s passage shows 3 instances of Jesus healing people, showing that He is the Lord of the Physical Realm.

Matt. 8:1-17

When you are reading in the Bible, you need to be looking at 2 things at once. One is what God wants to teach you from the passage you are in about living by faith in Him. The other is how this passage advances the “Big Idea” being made in that Book and the Bible’s ‘Meta-narrative.’

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Messiah), the son of David, the son of Abraham. - Matthew 1:1

Recap of Matthew’s gospel so far:

- Jesus’ genealogy proves His legal claim to be the Messiah (1:1-17)

- Jesus’ virgin birth means He was born without a sin nature (1:18-25)

- Jesus’ fulfilled prophecies only the Messiah could fulfill, attested to by wise men who worshipped Him and angels who protected Him (2:1-23)

- John the Baptist’s ministry and testimony about Jesus fulfilled prophecy about the Messiah having a ‘forerunner’ like Elijah (3:1-12)

- Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist showed the Triune God’s plan was unfolding (3:13-17)

- Jesus’ overcoming Satan’s temptations was part of Him living an absolutely sinless life, making Him able to save as a perfect, acceptable sacrifice (4:1-11)

- The beginning of His public ministry showed Him blessing the region of Galilee, just as Isaiah the Prophet had said would happen (4:12-22)

And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every affliction among the people. - Matthew 4:23

- Jesus’ sermon on the mount proved He was the Lord over the moral and doctrinal realm (Chapters 5-7).

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, for He was teaching as one who had AUTHORITY, and not as their scribes. - Matthew 7:28-29

The word for authority is the Greek word exousia (G 1849), which occurs 103 times in the New Testament. It can be translated as power, authority, and right. It is used of God’s liberty to do as He pleases.

But as many as received Him, He gave the right (exousia) to become children of God. - John 1:12

Jesus heals a social outcast of his skin disease - V. 1-4

Ancient Israel did not have a Center for Disease Control; the Book of Leviticus told priests what to do when someone in Israel came to them with a contagious skin disease so an outbreak would not happen.

So here’s a an outcast coming to Jesus, surrounded by crowds, which probably meant he had left his isolation and come as a contagious man to Jesus, desperate for healing so he can get back to his life.

Aren’t you glad Jesus is willing to reach out and touch unclean sinners and heal them?

Jesus heals a Gentile’s servant of paralysis - V. 5-13

Jesus was showing that “The King was in their midst!” – it was now time to repent, it was now time to change their minds from a religious outlook to a “God loves people more than anything” outlook!

Notice in verse 10 Jesus helps us understand that true faith acknowledges and submits to the authority, the LORDSHIP of Jesus Christ.

These verses reinforce the omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence of God. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere-present. He can speak the word in one place, and healing happen in another place. He is not bound by time and space like we are. He is Lord of the physical realm!

Jesus heals a woman of her fever - V. 14-17

What we need to see here is that Jesus healing an outcast, a Gentile’s servant, and a woman, all in GALLILEE was a direct challenge to the indifference and wrong priorities of the JERUSALEM based religious leaders.