Author: Rick Henderson

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 14:14-21 (day seven)

Thousands upon thousands of Israelites are seen wandering in the desert, hungry and asking for food. Have you heard this story before? What happened then? God provided. What happens here? God provided.

Jesus is clearly making a BOLD statement. He is the one they have been waiting for. He is their provider! He even leaves 12 baskets of leftovers; the same amount as the number tribes of Israel. God has provided in abundance once again for Israel.

The people still miss something. Jesus is not just the provider, He is the provision. “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” This provision was so much greater than anything God had ever done before. He provided Himself to us! It was more than physical; it was spiritual!

“What is the deepest root of your joy? What God gives to you? Or what God is to you?” -John Piper

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 12:9-13 (day seven)

“How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep!”

These Pharisees would have definitely provided help to a stranded sheep on the Sabbath. Sheep were property. It would have been a personal loss for them if they had not intervened. This was the problem. They saw their stranded sheep as more valuable investments than their own people that were stranded and hurting right in front of them. Truth is, they probably enjoyed having hurting people around, because it made them feel more holy. They believed God had blessed them with health and prosperity over these others.

Then Jesus (the Good Shepherd) sees this man (one of his sheep) in need and intervenes.  Jesus gave this man more than a hand; He gave him his life back. It would have been more than a personal loss if Jesus would have let this man slip by on a mere nuance. He was able to change this man’s life expectancy and trajectory. This was a much more valuable investment!

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 9:20-22(day seven)

“At once the woman was made well.”

This last phrase “was made well” comes from the Greek word sozo meaning “to save.”

This passage could read, “Immediately the woman was saved.”

The miracle here was just as much spiritual as it was physical. Her faith made her medically healed but it also eternally set her apart. Yesterday, Danny pointed us to the phrase “Daughter.” When Jesus called her His daughter, it gave her belonging. She became a daughter of the King through her faith. She suffered in isolation for 12 years, but now she belongs for eternity. Saved by grace through faith.

Jesus calls us all out of our isolation and suffering and into His family. He calls us into healing. Sometimes it is physical, but always it is spiritual. He calls us to step out in faith and trust Him. He calls us sons and daughters. He saves us by grace through faith.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 9:18-19; 23-26 (day seven) 

“a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him”

Outsiders, gentiles, and the neglected are the type of stories we are used to hearing when Jesus is healing people. This story is different. Here we find an insider, a jew, and a highly respected individual coming to Jesus. He doesn’t lack faith. He doesn’t hide his belief that Jesus can heal his daughter. He bows before Jesus and asks Him to lay hands on his dying daughter knowing that she would be healed. Even this man’s family and friends laughed at Jesus when He told them the girl was sleeping. This man didn’t care what people thought. I imagine the people laughed at him when he left to go get Jesus. I imagine he probably lost some clout in the synagogue. He didn’t care about these things. He knew there was only One who could change this outcome. This man put his faith in Jesus. Where is your faith?

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 8:23-27 and Matthew 1:18-25 (day seven)

In Matthew 1, we see an angel speak to Joseph with the words, “Do not be afraid.” In Matthew 8, we see Jesus speak to his disciples on the boat saying, “Why are you afraid?” The angel and Jesus both understood something that Joseph and the disciples were having trouble seeing in their moments of despair: God is always in control. God always has a plan.

Fear is our inherent response to losing control over a situation. As humans, we like to be the one who holds the reins. That is why faith becomes so difficult for some people. Faith means that you may not see the means to the end, but you must hand the reins over to someone who does. What we need to realize is that God had the reins the whole time. He was in the boat. He was working in Joseph’s life. He had a plan. He was in control. Stepping out in faith may seem to be a blind move, but it is actually the most perceptive decision we can make. What step of faith do you need to take?

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 8:14-17 (day seven)

As we work our way through these miracles, we see that Jesus is healing these people organically. I don’t mean this like He is feeding them healthy organic food, rather that this process is coming very natural to Him. It is in His normal pattern of life. Jesus is not going out of His way to find these individuals. Many of them are coming to Him, but the reason they are even coming to Him is because the rumor of His authentic and organic works are beginning to trickle out into the public. Jesus isn’t putting on a show. It is simple. It is the touch of a hand, the utterance of a word, in His friend’s house, on His road home. Simple, yet profound. The way Jesus approaches this situation begs us to ask a question of ourselves: who are the people in our normal pattern of life that are hurting and in need? Lord Jesus give us Your vision to see those around us who need You!

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 8:1-4 (day seven)

“When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.”

Very shortly before this, Jesus spoke these words on top of the mountain, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

The leper heard these words of Jesus. He was listening intently. He then sought obediently, approached reverently, and asked boldly just as Jesus had said. This man had faith.

For Jesus, here is a grand opportunity for Him to teach a lesson. He was very strategic in who He healed and when He healed. This was a time for Him to show the masses who were following closely behind these things:

1) He is who He says He is.

2) You can trust that His promises are true.

3) Faith in Him is where the miracle begins.

Re:Verse passage – Matthew 4:1-11 (day seven)

How fitting that we begin Advent with the story of Jesus’ temptation? O Come, O Come Emmanuel. God with us. This month we celebrate the arrival of our Savior. We will celebrate His miraculous birth with images of the Christ Child, a sweet little Baby lying in a manger. This is the reason for the season! Our passage this week shows us this Incarnation in a different image. God not only came to be with us but came to be like us. Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” The virgin birth is only the beginning of the story. Jesus was born fully man, fully God with the anticipation that He would overcome sin and death, so that He could become our bridge to the Father. This was the plan of Salvation. This is the reason for the season!