95. Beginner Bible Course: Jesus heals and delivers many in year 1

EPISODE 95  The simple Bible overview of…JESUS’ HEALING AND DELIVERANCE TOUR – AND FIRST YEAR ‘SLIDESHOW’

My phone has a feature on it in the photo section called memories.  without doing anything, it captures some of the photos and puts them into a slide show. I'm guessing it takes the ones that I've looked at the most. It's pretty cool. It even labels them with the date and the heading in this episode, we're going to finish the things Jesus did in his first year of ministry. And at the end, we're going to do a kind of iPhone memory show highlights of his first year of going around as the Messiah, we pick up the story of Jesus Homebase. Capernum he's now in the synagogue teaching apparently in the middle of his message, a man possessed by a demon, yells out, leave us alone.

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00:00:45

What are you doing to us? I know who you are. The Holy one of God. And you thought you had difficult people in your church. This is the first time the gospel writers have tipped us off to Jesus. Running headlong into demonic oppression, better demonic possession. Jesus stops his sermon and rebukes the demon. Be quiet, come out of him and with shrieks and convulsions, the spirit leaves. And there, the guy stands. I can see bewilderment, then a smile creep onto his face in the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus, read the, I will set the captives free passage from Isaiah and here.

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00:01:25

He's doing it. The reaction from the pews, what's up, what's this? What kind of teaching and authority have we just seen here? The Jewish religion around Jesus acknowledged demonic possession, and they practiced exorcism. But from their reaction, I'm guessing they were really bad at it. We'll find out later in the letters doing it in their own strength with their do chores for God religion, they were way over their heads with demons, Jesus and his disciples left the synagogue and went over to Simon Peter's house. Peter's mother-in-law had a fever to us. That's no big deal. Slam a couple of Advil.

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00:02:05

Jesus was her Advil. He rebukes the fever and not only does she start to improve, we're told she pops up with vigor and serves them a meal. Again, echoes of his sermon in Nazareth. I'll bind up the broken later in the afternoon, their house is surrounded and swamped with people who heard about what happened in the morning in the synagogue. Jesus pours it on or better. Pours it out on the sick and the possessed. Again, the demons he cast out speak. You are the Messiah. The son of God, so many are healed. And so many demons are extracted that the gospel writer is reminded vividly of Isaiah's prophecy.

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00:02:49

The Messiah will take on our infirmities and heal our diseases. As they're cast out demons again, speak to Jesus, just like in the synagogue in the morning, Jesus tells them to zip it. He forbids them to speak. What's up with this demons are giving Jesus free publicity. Look what they're saying. You are the Holy one of God. You're the Messiah. You're the son of God, but Jesus keeps telling them to zip it. Let's take a moment to try to figure this out. The first thing we should note is demons. Hell's bellboys have some pretty amazing theology. Jesus' little brother, James who writes a letter later in the new Testament says this.

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00:03:31

You believe that God is one. The demons also believe that. And they tremble. Notice the good theology in their heads. They have no doubt. God is God and likely. No doubt. Jesus is the promised Messiah. So why not let them yak about it? First demons are not the most credible witnesses to call Satan. The head bellboy is called the father of lies and a deceiver. If he's the concierge, you can just about, imagine his bellboys do the same, calling a liar and deceiver to the stand to testify on your behalf is probably not the best idea, but I think there's a deeper reason still.

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00:04:11

It's where Jesus stopped in his Isaiah passage in the Nazareth synagogue, perhaps just days before there, he reads the short passage from Isaiah, which States Messiah would bind up the broken hearted, free the captives and to proclaim the time of the Lord's favor has come. That's where he stops, puts down the scroll and, and tells the audience. This has been fulfilled today in your hearing, but he stops right in the middle of Isaiah sentence. He included the beginning to proclaim. The time of the Lord's favor has come, but then he stops before concluding the sentence and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies, the most likely interpretation to me is the Lord's favor is that suffering servant here to bear their sins and bring them back to God.

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00:05:00

But it's the coming King of Kings. Who'll deliver them from their enemies. Jesus intentionally left out the second part and focused on the first as if to say I have to do the suffering servant part before I can do the coming King, who will rescue you from your enemies part, it's pretty clear. Jesus felt that people would try and force him to do. The second thing is King that part without doing the first part, the suffering servant will find Jesus telling people to zip it to about healing them. In this first year of ministry, Jesus is trying to lay really low when demons or people start to yak about him being that promised Messiah King deliverer.

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00:05:43

He tells them to keep it on the down low Christian, see this as evidence that Messiah Jesus planned to do his, save the world, rule over it thing in two parts, plan a and plan B as it were. Jesus is here ministering in Galilee and he is executing plan a back to our story. After this exhausting day at Peter's house, pouring it out to heal and deliver people from demons. Jesus gets up early the next morning, probably well before light and goes to a secluded place to pray. We're going to often find him out alone, connecting with God. I'm guessing about sunrise.

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00:06:24

Simon. Peter finds him teacher they're back. The crowds are starting to surround my house and they're asking, where are you? Jesus tells him, go back and get the guys ready to roll. We've got other towns to preach in. That's why I was sent here. The crowds plead with Jesus to start another day of healing and deliverance. But instead Jesus declines. He leaves the pleading crowd for the next stop on his good news tour. In that next stop, we run into the first leper in Jesus' ministry. Lepers were the worst of the outcasts. They were not only seen as scary, contagious and ceremonially unclean, but most viewed them as sinners as they saw sickness was punishment for sin.

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00:07:11

Therefore leper equaled deserving center. They were shunned and forced to call out unclean to anyone who didn't see their skin or limb deterioration were told a leper came up and fell down at Jesus' feet and worshiped him. Stop a minute. Here's an assignment. Go through your Bible and see how God feels about angels or people who receive worship or worship themselves to get you started. I'll point you to King Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel and King Herod in acts chapter 12. Now, when you're done with your assignment, contrast this to Jesus' response. Here are lepers at his feet on his face, worshiping him and Jesus seems to absorb it.

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00:07:57

Then the leper says, Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean. We're told Jesus, moved with compassion said I am willing be clean. But before he said that he did something, he touched the leper. I'm guessing that's the first time that leper had been touched in years. Keep in mind what people thought about, what caused that man's leprosy sin. Now Jesus is touching that center. Guess what? Jesus tells him. Tell no one about this. Keep it a secret. Okay. Just go to the priests. Do what the law says and give God the glory. But you couldn't blame this lucky guy.

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00:08:39

He could not keep his mouth shut. He generated so much excitement over what Jesus had done. The Jesus cannot even enter the towns around there. He has to stay out in the wilderness. Jesus essentially becomes a rock star and the crowds, his fans practically trampling each other to get near the healer days or weeks later, when the frenzy finally settles down, Jesus is able to return to Capernaum. He could have used Peter's house as his home base. So it's quite possible. What happens next is in Peter's house. Religious big shots hearing about the rock star. Jesus come from all over Judea and Galilee.

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00:09:20

They descend on this house like locusts and fill it. Other people wanting to hear Jesus or perhaps need his healing touch or deliverance from demons pack. The house here were introduced to four men who arrive on a mission. They're carrying their friend on a pallet. There's no way one person could elbow his way through that crowd around the house, much less. Get into the house by Jesus. They'd get up on the roof. Then they start to do a little demo. Picture this Jesus in the middle of the house, surrounded by angry, grumpy, old religious men, listening to him, challenging him, suddenly there's noise above.

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00:10:01

Then there's dust falling down. And next thing you know, a skylight. Everybody had to be looking up at this point. As these four men drops this guy like a spider on four webs down in front of Jesus. He looks up at the four guys. I'm sure they were looking a little sheepish up there and had to smile. He acknowledges their faith. Then he looks at the man on the pallet and said, young man, take courage. Your sins are forgiven. That may not be shocking to you. But to the grumpy old religious men, all of them are thinking you can't do that. Only God can save sins. Mark tells us Jesus perceived their thoughts.

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00:10:43

And he posed the question to them, which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or rise. Take up your pallet and go home. I asked my students, which is easier for me to say that in one way or another, each one of you has something that makes you my favorite student or to say to this pencil, levitate, fly over to the pencil sharpener and sharpen yourself. Of course, the first one is easier. They can't prove I did or didn't do it. But what if I said to my students, I'm going to prove that each one of you in some way is my favorite. And I'm going to demonstrate that that's true by making this pencil levitate, fly across the room and sharpen itself.

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00:11:24

If I could actually do that pencil thing, wouldn't it give more credibility that I could do. The thing they couldn't see hold each one as my favorite student in a certain way in my heart, the grumpy old man won't respond. So Jesus does that pencil thing I talked about. He said to the young man, I say to you, get up, take up your pallet and go home. That's exactly what he did. I'm not sure how he got out of that crowded house, but he did. And as he goes, he is praising God. And the crowd who's watching. It are dumbfounded, praising God as well, all, but the grumpy old religious men sitting there, they make a quick exit grossing all the way under their breath saying nobody, but God can save sin.

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00:12:13

Exactly. Jesus is nowhere near done, ticking off the grumpy religious old men. That's for sure. Shortly after this, they see the disciples walking through the grain fields with Jesus, grabbing grain and snacks as they walk that wasn't stealing. By the way, that was commanded in the old Testament law, leave the paths and corners of your field available for snacks. For folks, especially poor folks to the grumpy old religious men. The problem is not what they were doing, but when it was the Sabbath, they run up to the disciples and <inaudible> them. It's the Sabbath you're harvesting. What's the matter with you. Jesus hears this and says that Sabbath thing that was made to serve us, not us to be slaves to the Sabbath.

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00:12:59

David did things like this in the old Testament. And so did Moses don't you guys read your Bible. Jesus continues more than that. I can tweak the Sabbath because I'm master of the Sabbath. Jesus is saying whose idea was the Sabbath who made it special in creation? Who made that honor? The Sabbath is the fourth commandment. The one who made it can tweak it. So if I want, I can tweak it will. You can just about imagine how that went over. Not long after this, Jesus goes directly into a synagogue and violates their Sabbath rules stuffed with scribes and Pharisees.

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00:13:39

Jesus sees a man with a withered right hand. Jesus looks directly at the grumpy old religious men. It's a long, quiet piercing, stare back and forth. Then Jesus says, you'd save one of your sheep. If it fell into a pit on the Sabbath, right? The grumpy old men just stared back. They wouldn't peep Jesus. Seeing their heart basically says whatever Jesus restores his hand completely. The grumpy old religious men were consumed with madness. They were bent on destroying him no matter what it took. And that brings us back to our memories show of Jesus first year.

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00:14:21

So let's take a look at the screenshots or selfies that would come up on this first year of Jesus' ministry slideshow. My first picture shows Jesus dripping wet with a beaming boy, cousin, John, behind him in the water, his head up looking toward the voice in heaven and something like a dove sitting on his shoulder. My second picture sees a sweaty Jesus standing in front of a ransacked temple courtyard with a few shocked faces in the background. My third picture sees him toasting the bride and groom at a wedding and Canaan with vintage wine. And in the background, guests are looking at their wine glasses with bewilderment and delight on their faces.

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00:15:05

My fourth picture sees Jesus walking through a field with four or five young apprentices waddling behind him like little ducks. My next picture shows Jesus looking at his disciples and pointing down a Hill toward a group of villagers dressed in white, coming up the Hill toward them. My next picture is Jesus. Handing the large Isaiah scroll back to the attendant in the synagogue in Nazareth. I have to include the picture of a smiling Jesus looking up at four guys on the roof who had just made a skylight and a man on ropes hanging in front of Jesus in a crowded house. Then there's Jesus touching a disfigured man, a leper with the most compassionate look on the face of a man you've ever seen.

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00:15:53

And the last picture is of Jesus. A man in front of him with a weathered hand, giving a long piercing, frustrated, stare at a bunch of grumpy, indifferent religious men sitting with their arms folded in front of him. That's Jesus. First year launched by God into ministry to bind up the broken and broken hearted, to set free the captives and to proclaim the favorable year of God's gracious favor has arrived. Jesus will start his second year of ministry with his most famous sermon in a word it's mindblowing. And we'll look at that sermon of Jesus in our next word picture.