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[0:00] Good evening. Welcome back. It's our lucky day. The cordless mic isn't working. So, we'll still keep going, continue regardless.

[0:20] We're on page 10 at the top. G is where we left off. You have a book in your book.

[0:50] All right. Let's open in prayer again. Father, we bow before you again, and we're thankful for your grace.

[1:10] Thank you for the love that you have for us. We thank you for the word that you've given us. And thank you as well for the freedom in this land to be here, to study and to learn, to grow.

[1:30] And so, Lord, again, we invite you to just guide us through this evening. In Jesus' name, amen. So, we'd finished off a section where the ultimate in rejection happened when Jesus healed a blind and mute and demon-possessed man, and they ascribed it to Satan.

[2:04] That's kind of where we left off. And even though Jesus refuted their claims and said, you know, how can I work?

[2:17] If I'm working for Satan, why would I destroy my own army by casting out demons? And he gives three different reasons why that's not possible.

[2:30] But instead of relenting and softening their hearts, they say, show us a sign then that you are the Messiah.

[2:40] And Jesus answered, no other sign will be given than that of Jonah and the whale, speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection.

[2:54] And so, he was giving them an ultimatum. When I die on that cross and come out of the grave, if you cannot accept and believe that, you're done.

[3:10] There's no hope for you. There's nothing more that our God can do for humanity. And so, that was for them, and that's for us as well.

[3:25] That's the bottom line, the love of God. So, in light of that, just that summary, Jesus now kind of shifts in his teaching, and he introduces a kingdom age that they had not anticipated.

[3:51] And today, we call that kingdom age the church. And so, now the next parables in Matthew 13. We're going to focus on Matthew 13.

[4:02] And there's eight parables. Seven of them are in Matthew. I think one is in Mark.

[4:16] And they all pertain to the kingdom age that we're enjoying today. The kingdom, the church age. So, this whole chapter is parables.

[4:33] Why? Or what is... Let's start. What is a parable? A story with a lesson?

[4:46] Okay. Yeah. Okay. So, it's an earthly story, and the lesson is a heavenly or spiritual one.

[4:58] Yeah. So, the earthly story is an analogy that we can understand, because we're physical here on earth.

[5:08] So, we grasp that, and then there's a spiritual meaning that he's portraying out of this. And so, that's parables. And in Matthew 13, the disciples ask him, why do you speak in parables?

[5:27] And I'm going to jump ahead a little bit to Matthew 13, verse 10. And the disciples came, and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables?

[5:42] He answered and said to them, because it's been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have an abundance.

[5:56] But whoever does not have, what he has will be taken from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

[6:10] So, now, the earthly story with a spiritual meaning. He is saying, I speak in parables because of the rejection of the Jews that has just happened.

[6:25] And they will understand the earthly story, but they won't get the spiritual meaning. But for you that are opening your hearts to the fact that I am the Messiah, you will understand the spiritual.

[6:43] And so, it is today as well, that if our hearts are closed, and like it says in 2 Corinthians, that there's a veil before our eyes, we're spiritually blinded, like the Pharisees were.

[7:01] They cannot grasp the spiritual meaning until their hearts soften. And they open their hearts to hear God's Word.

[7:13] So, that's the reasoning of parables in Scripture. All right. So, we have the first one. It's the parable of the sower.

[7:28] And I think I'll do the reading until he gets the mic going. So, just so that's recorded. So, chapter 13, verse 1.

[7:38] On the same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea, and great multitudes were gathered together to him, so that he got into a boat and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

[7:52] Then he spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside, and the birds came and devoured them.

[8:06] Some fell on stony places where they did not have much earth, and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

[8:21] And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. And others fell on good ground and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

[8:32] He who has ears, let him hear. So, it's probably the most popular one of the eight. It gets read the most. The parable of the sower.

[8:45] The explanation is further down. In verse 18. Therefore, hear the parable of the sower.

[8:58] When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart, this is he who received seed by the wayside.

[9:12] But he who receives the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.

[9:24] For when tribulation or persecution arises, because of the word, immediately he stumbles. But he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

[9:42] But he who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

[9:55] This is a parable that illustrates the principle of evangelization.

[10:15] Struggling with that word. Parable of the sower. Principle of evangelization.

[10:32] And it's about going and spreading the word and in the kingdom age or in the church age, and we will have different responses to four types of soil.

[10:48] The first one is a description of the wayside.

[11:01] It doesn't eat the word. The heart with the wayside kind of soil, the word never penetrates. And so Satan snatches it out.

[11:12] There's a hard heart. It never registers. Never responds. That's the first type of soil. So when we go out to spread the word or we share the gospel, there will be some responses like that, is what he is saying.

[11:31] And the second one is by the wayside. Let me double check here. Stony places. And of a very shallow ground.

[11:45] And it says when they receive the word, they respond immediately with joy, but have no root because of the shallow soil illustration.

[11:59] And when persecution or hardship arises, they just fade away. They give up the faith. And so there's no root there to endure.

[12:13] And so looking at these as we evangelize and we meet a person like that and we share the gospel and they respond with joy, we may come home and say, another believer, another person responded to the gospel.

[12:35] And then two months later, where is this person? What happened? They responded with joy. They gave their heart to the Lord. Do we know people like this?

[12:53] So Jesus is saying this is what's going to happen. And then the third type is on the soil that has thorns.

[13:08] Some fell among thorns and thorns sprang up and choked them and they don't come to fruition. So that some that receive the word, the word germinates or it seems to have a start, but the weeds, the cares and riches of this world choke out God's word and it comes to be ineffective and they end up not bearing any fruit.

[13:35] And then the last type of soil is the heart with a good rich soil and it bears lots of fruit. Some, it's interesting, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

[13:47] The illustration is that that the fourth category are those that are genuine, but even there will be different levels of fruit that's produced through them.

[14:00] And not given the explanation of why, but so we are to expect this when we share the gospel. So it's the principle of evangelization.

[14:13] Evangelizing, this is what we will run into. And so, it's sometimes easier for us to understand when we understand this, when we experience this in real life, to understand what's going on.

[14:32] Why did that person drop away? He's no longer interested. All right, any questions there? So varying responses.

[14:45] So that's why in huge, or the bigger evangelistic meetings with powerful speakers, you will have often a lot of number twos in there.

[15:03] and especially when there's an emotional high created in the actual event and people will respond with emotion but not with a heart that's thought this through.

[15:22] And they will go home excited and till they face some persecution. All right, the next one. We have verses, oh, the next one, I'm in Mark, Mark 4.

[15:43] Turn to Mark 4. So this is the first explicit description of the church age in Scripture.

[15:58] Chapter 13. It's the first time it's even alluded to that there would be an intervening time. So when the Jews rejected Christ and said, you know, ascribed it to Satan, they rejected the kingdom for themselves and now there's an intervening kingdom, the church age, and their rejection will last right to their kingdom does come at the end of the tribulation period.

[16:31] And so there's the Jews face or are living in that rejection for 2,000 years now as they said no to Jesus Christ.

[16:44] And they had them right there. All the signs and wonders and teaching and a consequence. So Mark chapter 4 26 to 29 And he said the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day and the seed should sprout and grow.

[17:13] He himself does not know how for the earth yields crops by itself first the blade then the head and after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens immediately he puts in his sickle because the harvest has come.

[17:31] And so the parable of the farmer and what does that teach us? He said it's again the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed and should sleep and then the seed should sprout.

[17:48] it's a principle of automation where we we spread the word and God does all the rest. We can't make that word germinate.

[18:04] We can't make it grow. We can't make it come to fruition in the next person's life. All we can do is spread the seed.

[18:14] and so it's the principle of event of automation where we sow and all the rest is up to God. automatic.

[18:41] Automatic. okay is there anyone here that can do more than sow the seed in the next person's life like as far as the word of God becoming effective God uses us to to encourage maybe but as far as that that the life is in the word right and the Holy Spirit uses that and so we are powerless to bring anybody to life all right the third one parable of the tares and we'll go back to Matthew Matthew 13 24 to 30

[19:54] Matthew 13 and another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way but when the grain had sprouted and produced the crop then the tares also appeared so the servants of the owner came and said to him sir did you not sow good seed in your field how then does it have tares and he said to them an enemy has done this the servant said to him do you want us then to go and gather them up but he said no lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest and at that time at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers first gather together the tares bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn and the the explanation that Christ gives is in 36 to 43

[21:06] I'm going to read that as well then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying explain to us the parable of the tares of the field and he answered and said to him to them he who sows the good seed is the son of man the field is the world the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom but the tares are the sons of the wicked one the enemy who sowed them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the reapers are the angels therefore as the tares are gathered and buried burned in the fire so it will be at the end of this age the son of man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and those who practice lawlessness and will cast them into the furnace of fire there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father he who has ears to hear let him hear so is it possible to have tares that come to church absolutely he just said so right and this parable of the terrors

[22:41] I call it the principle of impersonation and where it's Satan having his people or his individuals come in impersonating or pretending to be believers he's putting them on the scene in pretense and we have scriptures that would back that up 2 Corinthians chapter 11 I think he talks about Satan himself being an angel of light and so on impersonating kind of trying to invade and to destroy from within is the principle here yeah 1 John chapter 2

[24:03] I'm not sure which verses it is talks about those that with time those that went out from us went out because they were not of us and so with time the tares become evident who they are we have some farmers here that have farm backgrounds when the wheat and let's say the oats come up germinate can you tell the difference right away if you know what you're looking for they look quite the same right or let's say oats and wild oats is a better example thistle thistles you know yeah but sometimes when they germinate you can't tell you have to let it grow a little further and then you know oh this isn't the real thing and that's what it's illustrating here and so sometimes we've had somebody in church for for a number of years and all of a sudden poof and it's usually over some issue or something that they can't work through and and it's they leave us it's this this principle of the church age is very very real okay the next one the fourth one the parable of the mustard seed

[25:41] Matthew 13 31 to 33 it's also a common one another parable he put forth to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in the field which indeed is the least of all the seeds but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so the birds of the air come and nest in its branches okay parable of the mustard seed what did I call that I called it the principle of phenomenal expansion on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached how many people converted and gave their hearts to the Lord 3,000 and the principle of expansion has especially been true in the face of persecution when there's been attempts by governments and peoples to extinguish to put out it does the opposite but the illustration is a mustard seed anyone's seen a mustard seed yeah quite small like how tiny can you see it yeah and it becomes a fairly large bushy tree that that provides lots of shade and and it grows very very fast so the the the principle is the the word of God expands and spreads like that big time and so we're told in scripture of every of every tribe people tongue nation there's believers and it started in

[28:18] Jerusalem the gospel started in Jerusalem and there's not one people group in the world or country where where there will not be believers in the end I cannot say today whether all those groups are reached I'm not familiar enough with with where the gospel is all gone but at the end there will be yeah we're promised that all right Matthew 13 33 parable of the leaven another parable he spoke to them the kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened parable of the leaven fifth one okay that's the principle of permeation it's a principle that we guys don't understand maybe but but the leaven permeates throughout the dough it spreads and goes evenly through and the kingdom of God will work like leaven from within it's not it's not an external force that's planted inside and when we're genuine and accepting christ and we receive the holy spirit and and the work of the holy spirit works works its way out just works through us permeation yeah the the description of the holy spirit's work in john three verse eight is compared to the wind right and the mysteriousness of the wind you can't see the wind but you hear it you see the evidence of it and he says so so it is like the person that's born again there you can't see a physical or outward change but but their thinking is not different their actions are not different their outlook different their face is lit up now there's there's hope and but he but he ascribes it it's the holy spirit whom we can't see but we see the evidence of of his work in that person okay so that's five of them already these are all principles of the church age the sixth one the parable of the hidden treasure

[31:43] Matthew 13 verse 44 again the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and and hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field okay again it's a an earthly story with a spiritual meaning and the parable of the hidden treasure is the principle of appropriation taking possession of this treasure of this treasure appropriation I'm going to 다음에 inquis Alright here are

[32:47] SA well our people to appropriate means to take possession for your own use.

[33:05] Okay? And so when we find this treasure, the treasure of the gospel, the treasure of salvation, we are to give up everything else and exchange for that treasure.

[33:21] That's the principle here. That's the principle of the Kingdom Age, that to find this treasure, we trade in our life.

[33:50] Okay, and then the seventh one. The parable of the pearl of great price, verse 45 and 46.

[34:01] Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

[34:15] And we call this the principle of evaluation. It's the parable of the pearl. the pearl of the pearl of shield.

[34:44] ан et doom. and giver. Principle of evaluation.

[35:00] To recognize the value of the pearl and again, selling everything we have and buying it.

[35:15] Now, how does a pearl form? Where does it form?

[35:28] Where does it grow? Where do we find these things? Oysters. They live in the ocean, right? And this may be an indication the Gentiles are sometimes referred to as coming out of the sea in Revelations.

[35:57] And so, oysters coming out of the sea, pearls getting grown there and developed. It might be an indication that the Gentile people will see this great price.

[36:11] That would be, it's not stated that way in Scripture here, but there could be that aspect as well. It's not clear, so take that with a grain of salt. Okay, and then the last one.

[36:31] The parable of the dragnet. 47 to 50. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels but threw the bad away.

[36:51] So it will be at the end of the age the angels will come forth, separate the wicked from them among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[37:05] So the parable of the dragnet, and it's the principle of separation. Oh.

[37:22] That's right. Yeah. You don't even have a backside to add to. Sorry. Yeah. The dragnet.

[37:58] And so it's obviously referring to the end of this kingdom where there will be a judgment.

[38:10] And if we read Matthew 25, it speaks of gathering all the nations and before and dividing the sheep and the goats.

[38:24] And this is saying the same thing. So the kingdom age will continue to run. The church age will go to the end and then there will be judgment.

[38:40] Principle of separation. All right. Okay. So yeah, probably most of those we have already experienced.

[38:55] in our lives or we would we would identify with this and but these are principles that describe the current age that we're in.

[39:10] And so Jesus is introducing this. Any thoughts? Questions? Questions? how are you making out George he just wants me to read okay we'll continue on with number two towards the bottom of page ten power over nature and we'll stick to the Matthew version

[40:15] Matthew chapter eight verse 18 and then 23 to 27 and when Jesus saw great multitudes about him he gave a command to depart to the other side and then down to 23 now when he got into a boat his disciples followed him and suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea so the boat was covered with the waves but he was asleep then his disciples came to him and awoke him saying lord save us we are perishing but he said to them why are you fearful oh you of little faith then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm and so they so the men marveled saying who can this be that even the winds and the sea obey him oh right they're going for a boat ride and after teaching and after teaching i think the mark i think the mark arkans and upon and after teaching close teaching we'll in when in in in in m out in our and in and of course there's a storm that comes up.

[41:57] Now nothing is by chance, right? And so this is all God's divine plan here. But the storms of the sea come up and Jesus is about to teach the disciples a lesson.

[42:18] So notice that more and more he is focusing now on the twelve. He's taking them along and he's now discipling them.

[42:30] He's teaching them. And sometimes it's with the multitudes, but sometimes he takes them apart. But he's kind of moved away from a general teaching to everybody and focusing now on preparing the twelve for the time of his departure back to heaven.

[42:48] And here they have one of their first lessons. And it says that the storm is so severe that the boat is filling with water.

[43:04] And the disciples realize they're in danger. They said we're perishing. And they actually use the words, they wake Jesus, do you not care that we're perishing?

[43:18] And what is Jesus' response? Why are you fearful? And he says, ye of little faith.

[43:31] He rebukes them. He rebukes their faith. So just picture ourselves. We're in this little boat. And it's big enough for twelve, thirteen.

[43:48] I don't know if it's similar to the one we were on, on the Sea of Galilee, but that one's a bit bigger. But the waves are coming over. The boat is filling with water. And here's our master asleep.

[44:00] And these, probably half of these men are fishermen from the past. They know what happens when the boat fills with water. We're going down. And so they are afraid.

[44:13] Even though they have witnessed Jesus do so many miracles. And he's right there. Asleep as if there's no storm.

[44:26] But they panic. They wake him up. And say, Jesus, we're going to die. Do you not care? We're going to go down.

[44:39] And he rebukes their lack of faith. And then he rebukes the waves. And the sea becomes calm. And the Sea of Galilee is known for fierce storms.

[44:53] Where, it's not a big lake. It's, it's, I'm not sure if it's 15 miles across. It's not that big. And yet it's known for a lot of fierce storms.

[45:05] Where people would drown and lose their boats and go down. What's the lesson for us? For the disciples, and then for us? Faith.

[45:23] Yeah. So when we go through a storm in life, is Jesus there, present, as he was in the boat?

[45:41] Yeah. Do we always remember that he is there? I think that's the first illustration, or first lesson here, application.

[45:58] And, and secondly, to Jesus, there was calm. This storm, it was a physical one.

[46:11] To him, it was nothing. And, and, and, and like you said, we, God allows storms in our lives to teach us.

[46:24] But, for Jesus, that storm is peanuts. He's in control of it. But we're not in control. The disciples lost control.

[46:36] Their boat was filling. And so often, when we go through a storm, we feel like we're out of control. And, we would be like the disciples, wanting to panic.

[46:50] And Jesus, do you not care what I'm going through? And yet, he's right there. And so, how often does Jesus rebuke us for our lack of faith?

[47:02] remembering that he is there. He will see us through that storm. And, it's a, it's a very powerful illustration for, for all of mankind.

[47:19] Any thoughts further on that? It's working? Bring it on. Thank you. Okay.

[47:35] So, ultimately, Jesus, our creator, is in control. Let me bring it to Charlie there. He's itching for it. Okay.

[47:50] Power over demons. So, they cross the lake. And, we'll read Matthew 8, 28 to 34. When he had them come to the other side, to the country of Jeugenicis, there, he, there met him two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass that way.

[48:33] And, suddenly, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

[48:46] Now, a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So, the demons begged them, saying, If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.

[48:59] And, he said to them, Go. So, when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine, and suddenly, the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea and perished in the water.

[49:14] Then, those who had, then, those who kept them fled, and they went away from the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

[49:26] men. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And, when they saw him, they begged him to depart from their region.

[49:37] Okay, thank you, Charlie. All right, so they survived the boat ride, the storm, and they, they, this is the Sea of Galilee, and Capernaum is where they departed from, and they went across the lake.

[49:57] and, and so this, this, the Gergesenes area is, I think, in here. And so they would have crossed right over.

[50:09] And, so we're told here in the Matthew account that, that they, when they come into this country, they're met by two demon-possessed men coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.

[50:31] So, so, demon-possessed, vicious, attacking travelers, and so on. This, this area of the, of the Gadarenes is, is largely Gentile.

[50:50] So they're going into a Gentile region. There may have been some Jews there, but that accounts for the herds of swine because the Jews would not have had swine, pigs, at all.

[51:05] And, so that's, that's where that took place. It's interesting, Mark and Luke, their, his, their records only tell us about one demon-possessed man.

[51:17] Mark, or Matthew, tells us about two. two. And so, that's why I chose Matthew. The others haven't mentioned the second one, but Matthew did, so there was two.

[51:32] And for whatever reasons, they decided, they didn't mention that there was two. Okay, so, so these men were living in the tombs, were told that chains and shackles could not hold them.

[51:47] Very fierce. And, in the other accounts, it brings up more details. But, when Jesus comes by, they cried out, saying, what have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?

[52:03] Have you come here to torment us before the time? So, what are they talking about? So, they see Jesus coming, and, have you come to torment us before the time?

[52:20] What have we to do with you? What are these demons saying? Well, it's the men speaking, but it's the demons speaking through the men. They know their ultimate fate, right?

[52:35] And, are you going to send us there already? Right? And, and then they beg Jesus not to send them into the abyss, but, permit us to go into the herd of swine.

[52:57] Now, demons like to live in bodies, and, and so, for Jesus to cast them out means that they would look for other places to, to enter into, and that may have been why he agreed to do the swine, then they're not entering other humans, but, in any case, he allowed them.

[53:27] But, before he does that, he asks them, what is your name? And, it's in, I think it's in the Mark account, and he says legion, and, meaning, probably several thousand, a legion of demons in these men, many, many.

[53:55] And, so, that's, that's the severity of this. And, so, they, they ask to go into the swine, and he allows them to go in, and the whole herd of swine run violently down the steep place into the sea, and perish in the water.

[54:14] And, so, naturally, the demons will now destroy the pigs. And, but the, the, the people's response, so this, these two men are now freed, they're, they're in their right minds now, for the first time, and, they're, they've been, they've been set free.

[54:40] And, those who kept the pigs, says, fled, went to the city, and told everybody, what happened to the, and what happened to the demon possessed men, and the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to go away.

[54:59] Why would they do that? Why would they do that? Fear?

[55:21] Okay. So, they lost, they lost some money there, with the herd of pigs drowning. But how would these two men in their right mind, is it possible that we can get so entrenched in our system, in our culture, that, that, that even that we want to cling to?

[55:50] They would rather have those two men tormenting everybody that traveled, than having something new, that we don't understand.

[56:02] fear of the unknown. And they begged him to leave. Yeah.

[56:22] And that way you know what to expect, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, it's, yeah, it's hard to understand in some ways, and yet, I think perhaps we are like that today as well, that we struggle with new comfort zones, and Jesus is stretching them into the spiritual here, right?

[56:47] That's scary stuff. Leave away. again, I'm not reading all three accounts, but in one of the other accounts, the men begged Jesus to allow them to follow him, to go along with him, and he forbids it and says, go home.

[57:10] Go tell your people what happened. Be a witness at home. And so he did not allow those men to accompany him when they got back in the boat. All right, that's a bit of a tough illustration there, but the disciples saw the power of God here in a huge demonic influence.

[57:37] They saw the violence of the pigs being drowned, and then they also saw the reaction of the crowd, leave, please go away. Leave us alone.

[57:49] Leave us in our misery. That's what we know, so to speak. So the twelve would have thought that through, I think.

[58:00] They would have seen this, witnessed that, and rather choose that. Okay, the fourth, number four, power over disease and death, Matthew 9, 18 to 26.

[58:13] Jesus. Well, he spoke these things to them.

[58:26] Behold, a ruler came and said, My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live. So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples.

[58:38] And suddenly a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind him and touched the hem of his garment. And she said to herself, If only I may touch his garment, I shall be made well.

[58:52] But Jesus turned around and when he saw her, he said, Be of good cheer, daughter. Your faith has made you well. And the woman who made you all from that hour, when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, he said to them, for the girl is not dead but sleeping, and they ridiculed him.

[59:17] But when the crowd was put outside, he went in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose, and the report of this went out into all that land. Okay.

[59:33] We have two miracles here in this story. So they're returning from the Gergesenes to Capernaum, and there they're met by Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, and it says he comes and worships him and saying, My daughter has just died.

[59:59] Come and lay your hand on her and she will live. And so Jesus arises and follows with his disciples, and then while they're traveling, this woman with a flow of blood for, is it 12 years?

[60:17] 12 years thinks to herself, if only I could touch his garment, if only I could touch his clothes, then maybe I'll be healed.

[60:34] And so she worms her way through the crowd and touches Jesus, thinking that nobody will know, I'm just going to do this. And she feels within herself her flow of blood drying up.

[60:49] She's healed just by touching. And oh, to be anonymous, unknown in the crowd, but it was not to be.

[61:00] Jesus knew that power had gone out of him. And he turns around and he says, who touched me? So we have the, when we read all the accounts, we have the fullness of that.

[61:14] The disciples say, what are you talking about? There's so many people, they're all touching you. people. And, but Jesus knew somebody had been healed. He knew her heart. And then this woman, knowing that she could not hide it, opened up and confessed.

[61:31] And just, and Jesus healed her. what does that teach us? He says to her, be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well.

[61:52] To believe if only I could touch his garment, I would be healed. Does that take faith? Absolutely. It does.

[62:04] I was thinking about this. Jesus always knows what we're going through and we can never do things without his knowing.

[62:19] We can't hide. And even though she thought maybe nobody will notice, he is with us. He is our Lord.

[62:30] He's our Savior. And he knows everything that we experience, what we go through. But then as they get close to the ruler's house, they hear the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing.

[62:46] That was their culture. They would have mourners coming, playing the flutes and so on. I, from my culture, from where I come from, and so on, that's the last thing I want is a noisy crowd playing the flutes, right?

[63:06] If that happened to us, but leave us alone kind of thing. But this was Jewish culture. This is what they did. And so the daughter has died.

[63:24] Well, that was the case when he came to him. and Jesus says, make room for the girls not dead but sleeping, and they ridiculed him. The other accounts tell us that he separated Peter, James, and John of the twelve, and he went into the room where the girl was with those three, and with the parents, and then he raised the girl from the dead.

[63:53] Now, why would he do that? Peter, James, and John. The other nine didn't need it?

[64:16] He does that more often. The Mount of Transfiguration, those three were there again. In the garden, when he left the twelve, he took those three further into the garden and asked them to pray with him, and then he went a stone's throw further yet.

[64:39] Those three were again separate. good. Okay.

[64:55] They wanted to sit, one on the right hand, one on the left of his kingdom. They needed more attention. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[65:07] Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. They, I don't fully know their activity later in, after Jesus arose, but all three were substantial leaders.

[65:23] in, in, in the book of Acts, James was the pillar of the, of the Jerusalem church. Um, uh, John was used the most in, in a long life, and the most prophecies, so on.

[65:43] Uh, Peter, Peter was the, the spokesperson everywhere he went. He was kind of the leader always. So I don't know if, uh, if Jesus is by example teaching, but sometimes we identify individuals and we spend more time with them to prepare them, to prepare them for whatever work God has for them.

[66:11] I think, I think that principle may exist here. Anyway, the girl was, uh, raised from the dead, and the report went to all the land.

[66:25] Power over blindness, Matthew 9, 27 to 34. When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, Son of David, have mercy on us.

[66:39] And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, let it be to you.

[66:51] And their eyes were opened, and Jesus sternly warned them, saying, See that no one knows it. But when they had departed, they spread the news about him in all that country. As they went out, behold, they brought to him a man mute and demon-possessed, and when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke, and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never seen like this in Israel.

[67:13] But the Pharisee said, He cast out demons by the ruler of the demons. Okay. So we have two blind men following him.

[67:29] And so Jesus is departing from Jeres' house. Two blind men following him, crying out, Son of David, have mercy on us.

[67:40] So these two blind men are Jewish men, and why do they call Jesus Son of David? Why not call him Jesus?

[68:06] Because it was prophesied, and I helped you out, it was prophesied that the Messiah would come through the lineage of David. And so it was always linked back to the King David era, and by calling him the Son of David, they're acknowledging that this is the Messiah.

[68:31] So these two blind men believed, and they put their faith in this man, even though they couldn't see him, but they had obviously heard what was going on with him, his teaching, and so they call him Son of David, ascribing to him Messiahship.

[68:52] And Jesus says to them, do you believe I'm able to do this? And they said, yes, Lord, and let it be according to your faith. And their eyes were opened. So, again, according to your faith, they very clearly believed.

[69:13] So, we see that in the midst of lots of rejection and hardness, there are individuals everywhere that are believing or following.

[69:27] And so, there will be pockets everywhere, even among the Jews. Percentage-wise, it might be low, or it was low, it still is today, but there was individuals throughout that believed.

[69:50] All right, rejection in Nazareth, 54 to 58. Matthew, we're in Matthew 13 now. So, we had that once before already, where they tried to put him over the cliff, right?

[70:14] Now, he's gone back there for a bit. Matthew 13, 54 to 58. And it came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed then.

[70:25] And when he has come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue insomuch that they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man, this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?

[70:36] Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren James, Joseph, and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

[70:47] And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

[71:03] Okay, thank you. So, going back to Nazareth again, and perhaps the C family, but again he has opportunity to be in the synagogue, and again there's rejection.

[71:19] they're offended at his knowledge, his ability to teach, and because they know where he grew up, they know who mom and dad were, and yet don't know the spiritual aspect to him.

[71:34] They don't realize that. And sometimes I wonder, how much did Mary share with her neighbors on how she became pregnant with Jesus?

[71:49] probably something that wouldn't have been possible. A lot of those cultures it wouldn't have been. It would have been very quiet, right? Some other people, there might have been gossip.

[72:02] Yeah. Yeah. But they fully ascribe that Joseph was the father, and it must have been out of wedlock. In fact, in John 8, I think it is they actually accuse him of that.

[72:21] We're not born out of wedlock like you. Yeah. Okay. Death of John the Baptist.

[72:33] That ends that section. So Matthew 14, 1 to 12. At the time, Herod the Tarchin heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, this is John the Baptist.

[72:52] He is risen from the dead, therefore these powers are at work in him. For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodis, his brother Philip's wife, because John had said to him, it is not lawful for you to have her.

[73:15] And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herod danced before them and pleased Herod, therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

[73:43] So when she had been prompted by her mother, said, give me John the Baptist's head on a platter, and the king was sorry, nevertheless because of the oath that he had with him.

[74:01] He commanded it to be given to her, so he sent and had John beheaded in prison and his head was brought to her on a platter and given to the girl and she brought it to her mother.

[74:15] Then the disciples came and told Jesus. John the disciples to Jesus, asking, are you the one or do we wait for another?

[74:39] And we discussed that and Jesus sent confirmation by the very witness of what he was doing and also instructed John, blessed is he who is not offended because of me.

[74:54] And now sometime later we have John beheaded by King Herod, Antipas, and so this is far away I know, but the green area was ruled by King Herod, Antipas, and Philip ruled this purple area.

[75:23] That was his rule there. And Archelius, he did the yellow. And remember when Jesus, when Joseph and Mary returned from Egypt, and they came back and then Herod the Great had died, but his son, Archelius, was reigning here, that's the yellow.

[75:47] And Jerusalem is right there in the middle of it. And so they went where the brother, Herod Antipas, another brother of Herod the Great, or a son, and Philip was also a son.

[76:03] So they were all three sons, and they all got an area to rule. and so Antipas took Philip, his brother's wife, and John the Baptist told him to his face, it's not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.

[76:27] You're doing wrong. And so John, because of that, Herod had put him in prison. originally, that's why he's in prison.

[76:40] But Herod feared the people, that's why he had not killed him. He wanted to, he didn't like what John faced him with, that he was living in adultery, and yet he had him in prison, but he didn't kill him because of the people.

[77:01] And now he was tricked into it, well, by his own foolishness, by making this promise to his wife when her daughter pleased him with her dancing.

[77:12] And Herodias seems to be an evil woman who left Philip and went with Antipas, his brother. Maybe she had inspirations to become somebody bigger herself as well through this, political maneuvers.

[77:30] others. We're not sure, but regardless, she hated what John said. It was very much in her face, and she wanted nothing more than to have that guy's head, and she got it.

[77:47] And so, where does God fit into this picture? Was it John not the greatest prophet?

[77:58] we read? John must become less.

[78:17] Yeah. Would we call this evil? What happened to John? I think so.

[78:31] He was killed with a sword. Head off. And it was because he spoke truth. He lost his head over that.

[78:43] But why did God allow that? His ministry was done. But could there not have been a better way?

[78:55] An easier way? You know, that's human thinking. Right? And just to go, some of you will know this example.

[79:08] We had Bill and Martha Koehler in Bolivia serving as our mission director team there. And Martha, after quite a few years there, was attacked by dogs and killed.

[79:21] and, you know, to lose a wife there, but by dogs? And you wonder, God, why? Why this way?

[79:36] And it does leave us with questions. But God allows. And death is death. Whether it's a car crash, or a bullet, or dogs, or a sword, or cancer.

[80:07] Perhaps, yeah. The news would have gone out, right? He was killed in prison, so nobody would have seen that except the soldiers. But, no, but it went right away, it would have spread through the land, yeah.

[80:20] John's been beheaded, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, sometimes we're left with deep questions, and yet, God's purposes are fulfilled through that, even at the hands of evil.

[80:45] Yeah. Yeah.

[81:00] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There's more stories like that, right? Yeah. And so, if we are walking with God, nobody can do anything to us until God allows it.

[81:17] that's something that we need to understand. And it would eliminate some fear sometimes.

[81:29] But if my time is up and God wants to call me home, so be it. Or that's what's going to happen then. Yeah. So John is off the scene now, and his prophecy that I must decrease is now finished.

[81:56] Okay. The next section, Instruction of the Twelve by the Messiah. this next section covers about a six-month period of Jesus' life, and it starts basically at year three.

[82:15] And so, we're seeing it leading up to Jerusalem slowly, as he's spending this last year and much of it with the Twelve.

[82:28] So we're going to do one more story. We're going to do the feeding of the five-thousand. And we have Matthew 14, 13 to 21.

[82:45] When Jesus heard of it, he departed tents by ship into a desert place, apart, and when the people had heard thereof, they fell and went forth. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

[83:00] And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time has now passed. And Jesus said unto them, They need not depart, give ye them to eat.

[83:16] And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves and two fishes. And he said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and break and gave the loaves to his disciples.

[83:34] They did all eat and were filled, and they took above the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men beside women and children. they withdraw.

[83:55] After the news of John's death, Jesus withdraws with the twelve, and the multitudes follow, and so he has compassion on them and teaches and again heals and so on, but they're in a deserted place.

[84:17] It says they're in a remote place, and towards the end of the day, the disciples say, you know, send the crowds away so they can go find food and lodging for themselves.

[84:33] We don't know what to do with them. And in the place where they were at, there was nothing for them. And so Jesus turns it back on them and says to them, there's no need to send them away, you give them something to eat.

[85:01] So the twelve have asked Jesus to send them away, Jesus turns back on them and says, hey guys, why don't you feed them? And how many men were there?

[85:14] Five thousand plus women and children? There's lots of people here. Right?

[85:25] Jesus turns on them. What's Jesus doing with this? He's testing them.

[85:39] What are they going to do with this? Jesus knows they don't have the power to feed them, but how are they going to react to this? And we're told that they count over their money.

[85:53] And they say, you know, even 200 denarii or 200 days wage would not be sufficient to buy everybody food here.

[86:06] And so a big crowd, right? 200 days of labor today for a guy is, I don't know, 60 grand today to spend that one meal, right?

[86:18] For this crowd. But, yeah, so they're automatically reacting in the physical again. So how are we going to do this?

[86:29] Okay, we don't have enough money. Even if we did, there's probably not enough stores to buy from. And then they come back and say, well, there's a lad with five barley loaves and two fishes.

[86:44] And by the way, barley loaves represented poverty versus wheat loaves. and so this lad had a lunch with five little loaves and two fishes.

[87:01] So when we think of loaves, we maybe think this big. But he had this in his lunchbox, so they're probably like maybe buns or something size.

[87:12] I don't know. But they were small. He had them in his lunchbox. One lad, little boy. And Jesus says, bring them to me.

[87:24] And he knew what he was going to do. And he commanded them to sit down in fifties. And then he broke the bread and he gave to the disciples and they distributed it to the however many people.

[87:44] So they're sitting in groups of fifty. And if there's five thousand men and let's say there was five thousand women and one child each, that's fifteen thousand.

[87:57] That's how many groups? That's three hundred groups of fifty. There's a lot here. And so these twelve disciples are keeping breaking the bread and it just won't run out.

[88:12] These five little loaves, it just keeps multiplying. And they go around and so I don't imagine this happening in five minutes. It would have taken some time to make the circle, right?

[88:28] And as they were all fed, they take up twelve large baskets from one little lunch kit.

[88:43] They've left, oh, everybody's eaten, fifteen thousand people, let's say, and there's twelve baskets full. What is Jesus teaching here? Okay, he supplies more than we can ask for.

[89:08] Yep. and there's, I think there's a principle here to the disciples and it comes out later in one of his illustrations that they are to feed the multitudes, not physically but spiritually.

[89:29] They are to feed them. and there might be some connection here that the twelve baskets gathered up represent the twelve tribes of Israel, that they're to feed the twelve tribes spiritually.

[89:52] They're supposed to be spiritual leaders. And in the second miracle, which we're going to have next week, there's four thousand men that are fed, and then there's seven baskets left over.

[90:08] And they were surrounded by seven Gentile nations. I don't know if there's a direct correlation, but there seems to be, so Jews and Gentiles, you will go out and feed.

[90:25] It's going to be your work. it's going to be your calling when I go back to heaven. So he's teaching the twelve deeper lessons here of discipleship.

[90:44] Okay, any questions or thoughts? that would be pretty addictive, right, to have Jesus feed you physically.

[90:59] He did it for forty years in the wilderness. No need to go spiritual if he feeds us physically, right? And we'll see that problem arising in the next couple of incidents.

[91:14] so our time is up and yeah, there's no questions. We are dismissed for today and Lord willing, we'll keep going next week.

[91:25]  Thank you.