Jump Start # 1193
Matthew 4:24 “The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.”
What a mixed group of hurting people that surrounded the Lord. This verse is interesting because of all the layers that we find connected to it.
First, news about Jesus spread throughout all Syria. Amazing. This was done without Youtube, Facebook, internet, emails, billboards, mass mailings, super highways or cell phones. Word spread. It spread because one person told another person. Don’t ever give up on that method. It worked then and it still works today. That’s always the best method. It may seem slow, but it’s personal and effective. All Syria knew about Jesus. From village to village, family to family, the news spread. People talked about Jesus. They knew because others couldn’t and wouldn’t keep quiet. Sometimes churches feel compelled to get involved in all kinds of super slick ways to contact people and many of those ways are extremely expensive. Some work. Some don’t. Still, one person telling another can’t be beat.
Second, the audience around Jesus was a mixture of all kinds of hurting people. They came. They came because they wanted to be well. They were looking not for salvation, but for wellness. They wanted to be well again. Jesus could do it. He had been doing it. Nothing seemed impossible. Blindness, deafness, demons, leprosy—Jesus got rid of all of these. He touched. He spoke. Immediately the people were well. The crowd around Jesus must have looked like an emergency waiting room. All kinds of sick, hurting people. Parents with sick and diseased kids trying to push their way up to the front to be seen by Jesus. Some with demons, that would scare those around them. Blind people, needing help to get around. Crippled folks, carried by family and friends. So many. So many hurting people. They all had needs. They all needed Jesus. I expect the patience of some ran thin. I expect some thought that they ought to be seen first. Most were thankful that Jesus could help them. Few truly understood what was happening that day. Each of those miracles was a footnote or proof validating that Jesus was indeed the Chosen One.
Some of those came to Jesus for the wrong reason. They weren’t really interested in lessons, parables, prophecy, fulfillment, promises, change, repentance or even salvation. They wanted to be well. Matthew states, “Various diseases,” and then he identifies some. These weren’t simple things. Epileptics, paralysis—those baffle doctors today. Even today, some of these things are treatable, but not curable. Jesus did it. He healed them. All disease. Nothing was too great for Jesus. They came believing that Jesus could do something. They heard. They heard about other people, people just like them, getting well. They heard that Jesus could do it. They came. They came for Jesus.
Third, we don’t know how many miracles Jesus did. Some books will devote themselves to the thirty some miracles that we know about in the Gospels, but our passage reminds us that there were more. There were many that we don’t know about. How many were healed on the day that Matthew was writing about? We don’t know. The point of the Gospels is not a detailed, day by day look at the calendar of Jesus. The point is to convince us that He is the Son of God. There are enough miracles listed. There are enough parables given. There are enough words recorded that we can know, believe and follow Jesus. We will never know in this world all the good that Jesus did.
Finally, the world is still hurting today. Jesus didn’t cure the world of disease. That was not His purpose, intention, nor desire. The world is broken because of sin. Death is part of that world. Disease, accidents, disasters and crime are the vehicles which bring about death. Doctors do a marvelous job of keeping us alive. Medical research has allowed us to live longer and live better. Certain diseases, especially in this country, such as polio, whopping cough and small pox, once running free and wild, taking hundreds of lives every year, are now held in check. But there are other diseases. Other worries. We will never wipe them all out. Never. Disease leads to death. Death will be a part of this world until Jesus returns. So there are many hurting people today. Not all of them have a physical disease. Some are crippled with attitude problems. Some are hurting because of mental and emotional issues. Some have broken hearts because of family problems. Some are crushed because of financial burdens. The pain is real. They are stressed, worried, fearful and looking for help and hope.
Hurting people are more likely to listen to Jesus. The prodigal came to his senses, not while he was walking away from home with a pocket full of money. He came to his senses, not while he was flying through the money with loose living. But later. When he was broke and a famine came and no one was there to help him. Then, eyeball to eyeball with a pig, he awoke from this spiritual fog that he had been in. He saw for the first time how low, how desperate and how helpless he truly was. It was then, he came home. The hurting are looking. They may not be looking for the right things, but they are certainly looking. It’s hard to convince a guy who is not looking to start looking. The guy with a big house, a big paycheck, a healthy family isn’t looking for much. He thinks he has all that he needs. He has little time or desire for sermons. He thinks he doesn’t need them. He’s doing just fine. Everything’s great. But it’s the other guy, the one who is messy, that is really looking. He’s been through jobs. He’s been through relationships. He’s been in and out of trouble. He may have a record. He may have kids from one than one person. He may have scars, both physically and emotionally, from substance abuse. He may have had a bad experience with churches. He’s looking. He’s not looking for doctrine. He’s not overly concerned about church organization, the type of music in worship, grasping the trinity or when and how Jesus is coming back. We like those subjects. We teach them often. There is a place for them. The hurting is looking for help. The hurting is looking for answers. The hurting needs a friend and some attention. They come with messy lives. It’s not neat and orderly. Most would not make poster images for the church. But they are the most like the people who first came to Jesus. Broken, busted and defeated. They have cried. They have been angry. They have been bullied. They have been told “No.” They are hurting. They are looking.
This is where evangelism begins. Showing someone that what they have tried hasn’t’ worked. They know that. They know that better than anyone. Their way stinks. Now they are ready for Jesus’ way. They need something real. Something personal. Something more than fingers pointing in the air.
Some don’t like to be around these kind of people—hurting people. Like the first ones that came to Jesus, they have problems and issues. They may have misguided expectations about what can and should be done. But here they are. What an opportunity. What an open door to change lives, to introduce Jesus, to make disciples.
The hurting came to Jesus. He allowed that. How about you? Do you come to Jesus when you hurt? Do you allow others to come to you? Do you help where you can?
Roger