Monsterlizard - Born Again

1When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. 
 2Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 
 3and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” 
 4Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 
 5the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. 
 6“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”  (Matthew 11:1-6)

How do we know that Jesus is the Messiah?  John the Baptist had the same question, and it is answered in the book of Isaiah

4Say to those with anxious heart,
         ”Take courage, fear not
         Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
         The recompense of God will come,
         But He will save you.”
    5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
         And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
    6Then the lame will leap like a deer,
         And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy
         For waters will break forth in the wilderness
         And streams in the Arabah. (Isaiah 35:4-6)

1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
         Because the LORD has anointed me
         To bring good news to the afflicted;
         He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
         To proclaim liberty to captives
         And freedom to prisoners;
    2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD
         And the day of vengeance of our God;
         To comfort all who mourn, (Isaiah 61:1-2)

14When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. 
 16When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
   ”He took up our infirmities
      and carried our diseases.” (Matthew 8:14-17)

The first thing that amazed me when reading this was that Peter’s mother-in-law after being healed “got up and began to wait on him.”  I know when I am sick and get better, the last thing I want to do is wait on someone.

Now verse 16 has me wondering what does it mean “daemon-possessed”.  Was it a scene from the Exorcist, or was it healing someone with a sickness?  I don’t think I will ever really know, but that is my new quest.  If anyone has an Old Testament reading they can lead me to, I would really appreciate it.

Finally, I looked up the passage in Isaiah that is referred to in verse 17, it comes from Isaiah 53.  This chapter fortells the coming of Jesus, and too the letter explains his life:

1 Who has believed our message
       and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 
 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
       and like a root out of dry ground.
       He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
       nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
 3 He was despised and rejected by men,
       a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
       Like one from whom men hide their faces
       he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 
 4 Surely he took up our infirmities
       and carried our sorrows,
       yet we considered him stricken by God,
       smitten by him, and afflicted. 
 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
       he was crushed for our iniquities;
       the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
       and by his wounds we are healed. 
 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
       each of us has turned to his own way;
       and the LORD has laid on him
       the iniquity of us all. 
 7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
       yet he did not open his mouth;
       he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
       and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
       so he did not open his mouth. 
 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
       And who can speak of his descendants?
       For he was cut off from the land of the living;
       for the transgression of my people he was stricken.  
 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
       and with the rich in his death,
       though he had done no violence,
       nor was any deceit in his mouth. 
 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
       and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
       he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
       and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 
 11 After the suffering of his soul,
       he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
       by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
       and he will bear their iniquities. 
 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,  
       and he will divide the spoils with the strong,  
       because he poured out his life unto death,
       and was numbered with the transgressors.
       For he bore the sin of many,
       and made intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53) 

Matthew 4 ends with Jesus going back to Galilee when he hears that John the Baptist has been put in prison (see my post on the Herods). This fulfills a prophecy of Isaiah 9:1. He then begins to call on disciples: Simon (called Peter), Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother. Calling on Simon and Andrew is the famous verse, “fishers of men”: Matthew 4:19. Finally Jesus began healing the sick and teaching the gospel (Old English for “Good News”) of heaven. I find it interesting that “So a report about him spread throughout Syria.” Matthew 2:24. The message of Him spread through Syria and not Israel.

Chapter 3 begins talking about John the Baptist.  verse 3 reminds us of Isaiah 40:3 “For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ⁵  his paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3)

John is an eye opener for me, as I think he was ment to be to the Pharisees and Sadducees.  God works through the meger among us.  “Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4).  I think this chapter is to remind us not to take parts of God’s Word and cast out the rest as we see fit.  The Pharisees came to John the Baptist to be baptized, but weren’t interested in changing their ways.  So, John took the oportunity to explain what was in store for them.

Then end of Chapter 3 verses 13-17 are the begining of Christ’s ministry.  He is reborn from water, by a man that is not perfect, but godly.

“Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.”  (Deuteronomy 6:16).  Again what I was saying in Chapter 1, we are not to test God.  However, if we just look, God continues to prove himself.  The wise men in verses 5 and 6 quote Micha 5:2: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

The wise men confuse me some.  What I read about them usually makes them out to be astrologers.  This seems to be contradictory to Old Testament teachings.  After a few hours of meditating on this, I am brought to 2 places in the Bible:

“You are tired out from listening to so much advice. Let them take their stand –the ones who see omens in the sky,who gaze at the stars, who make monthly predictions –let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! Look, they are like straw,which the fire burns up; they cannot rescue themselves from the heat of the flames. There are no coals to warm them, no firelight to enjoy. They will disappoint you, those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. Each strays off in his own direction,  leaving no one to rescue you.” (Isaiah 47:13-15)

This is what happened to King Herod.  He listened to ones who see omens in the sky, “Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared” (Matthew 2:7). 

And each strays off in his own direction, leaving no one to rescue Herod. “And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way” (Matthew 2:12)

The second place I was drawn was: “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not learn the abhorrent practices of those nations. There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, anyone who practices divination, an omen reader, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, one who casts spells, one who conjures up spirits, a practitioner of the occult, or a necromancer.  Whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord and because of these detestable things the Lord your God is about to drive them out from before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.  Those nations that you are about to dispossess listen to omen readers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not given you permission to do such things”  (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). 

Again, Herod is listening to omen readers, but also he sacrificed his son or daughter in the fire. “Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi” (Matthew 2:16)  While mystics are forbidden by God, he has a reason for everyone.

Matthew chapter 2 closes explain two more prophecies that are completed.

“He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.” (Matthew 2:15)

“A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.” (Matthew 2:18)

Matthew begins by proving the lineage of Jesus back to David and Abraham. “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1).

As I have been seaching for study aids, I have found many people concerning themselves with numbers and meanings of numbers.  I will leave this for another time, if at all.  To me beside Matthew tracing the lineage, I find a message of trust.

Joseph had to trust that the Holy Spirt placed Jesus in Mary’s womb, and he did.  We have to trust the lineage and whatever math is or isn’t produced in verses 1 through 17.  We are even remined of the prophecy that is being fulfilled: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, ” GOD WITH US.” (Matthew 1:23) which is a quote from the Old Testement: Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)  If you trace the name Jesus through English back to Hebrew, the name means “God Saves” and the name Immanuel means “God with Us”

Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who intervenes for those who wait for him. Isaiah 64:4

The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? 1 Corinthians 2:14-16

These are 2 verses I was drawn to this morning.  I Googled daily devotionals when I got to work to start my day, and this is what the Holy Spirit let me to. Upper Room - Daily Devotional  I am amazed at how clear the Bible is in explaining what we are here to do.  I am sure I am on the correct path now, but I am still unsure where it will lead me.  I just pray to have the dedication that Abraham in Genesis 12:1 had, and can walk the path before me without question.