Anchor My Faith

The Gathering Crowd

Scripture: Mt 8:16-17; Mk 1:33; Lk 4:40-41

We ended the previous lesson wondering what might happen “Mt 8:16 That evening, Lk 4:40 when the sun was setting.” We will now find out. “Mk 1:33 The whole city was gathered together at the door.” Word travels fast when people are excited and want others to know about what they have found. The same thing happened after the Samaritan woman from the city of Sychar met Jesus at Jacob’s well and then returned to the city to tell the people about him. Everyone from the city came to the well to meet Jesus and here the people from the city of Capernaum come to Simon’s house to see Jesus.

“Lk 4:40 All those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.” It was now evening, when the sun was setting, that many who were sick with various diseases were being brought to Simon’s house where Jesus was. They believed in Jesus that he could heal them as he did Simon’s mother-in-law. Notice that Jesus was in no hurry to meet their needs and send them away. He could have done a group healing, but instead he personally met with each and laid his hand on each and healed them.

Individuals were coming to Jesus and formed a group at the door. Jesus disassembled the group by going to each for some special personal time to meet their need. Each person who is unsaved has a sickness of the soul and unless healed will die and spend an eternity in hell. As each comes to Jesus in belief, he will personally heal their spiritual sickness with the gift of eternal life.

“Mt 8:16 And he cast out the spirits with a word. Lk 4:41 Demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. In addition to healing their sickness, some in the group had demons or unclean spirits and with the spoken word he cast them out, releasing the person from bondage. As we come to salvation, we are also set free; we are set free from the bondage of sin.

These demons, these unclean spirits, knew who Jesus was and as he cast them out they would cry out, identifying him as the Son of God. Here, as in the past, when a demon is cast out, he commands them to be silent and not identify him as the Son of God. It is true that Jesus was the Son of God, but he has not laid enough groundwork for his listeners to understand this yet. Jesus was not ready for the resistance he would encounter, especially from the Jewish authorities, when the time comes for him to make this connection. He needs more time to demonstrate his authority to the point where he truly demonstrates the power of God.

We conclude this lesson and this section with: “Mt 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”’ This refers back to Isaiah 53:5 (ESV): “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” While on earth, Jesus healed people of their sickness and removed those from bondage who were bound by demons, to point to his authority to heal our spiritual sickness and to release us from the bondage of our sin. This ability will be sealed by his death on the cross.

Prayer

Father, how personal Jesus was as he went to each person in the group who was sick or had a demon and by touching or giving a command, he met their needs. Jesus is the same today. As we come to him to seek salvation or some other lesser need, he will personally meet that need. He may not at times meet our need in the way we desire, but we know that he loves us and knows what is best for us at the time. Father, thank you that you love your children and seek our love in return.