In The Word
Read: Matthew 8:23- 9:8
23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” 26 He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
Jesus Casts Out Demons
28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
A Paralytic Healed
9 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.
2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Today, we read about the extremes of faith. Surprisingly, the disciples who were with Yahshua all the time had little faith in this account. So, just because you are in His presence doesn’t mean that you have great faith. We see a whole city with no faith in Yahshua even after they witnessed a miracle. They didn’t know Him and were afraid of what they saw. Finally, we see dedicated friends that have great faith in Yahshua. Their faith is contrasted by the religious people that were more worried about rules than about people.
We all have faith in something. Maybe, like the people of the city, you don’t know Yahshua, and you are afraid to be in His presence. Or maybe, like the religious people that thought they knew God, you believe that just because you attend a church, you really know Him. Their faith was in their religion and not in their Savior. They wanted to tell Jesus how He was supposed to operate and what He was supposed to do. We do not order God around. He is Lord, and we serve Him. It is not enough to only know about Him, to be around Him, or even just go to His house. We must have a real, personal encounter with Yahshua where we surrender and believe that He is Lord of all. We must submit our lives to Him and believe that He alone can forgive our sins, heal us, and save us. Walk by faith in Him today.