Matthew 4:23-25
The Word and the Power

The ministry of Christ is summarized in this passage.

  1. Christ Comes Preaching, Teaching, and Doing Miracles
    1. This is how Matthew will present the entire ministry of Christ
    2. Episodes of teaching and preaching interspersed with episodes of doing miracles.
    3. So here at the beginning, Matthew lets you know how to understand the alternating sections of the book that follows.
      1. Jesus will teach in the synagogues
        1. This is important
        2. Remember the Gentile focus of earlier
          • Herod and scribes and chief priests in Jerusalem reject Christ
          • But Gentile wise men come from afar to worship him.
          • Jesus begins his ministry in "Galilee of the Gentiles"
        3. Yet has Christ just abandoned his people
        4. No! Where does he preach in Galilee of the Gentiles? The synagogues first.
      2. He preaches "the gospel of the kingdom"
        1. His message continues to be the same.
        2. The king is here, so the kingdom has arrived.
        3. The son of David who will sit on David's throne has come to lead his people.
        4. And how does he do it? By gathering them together for war?
        5. No, by preaching.
        6. What is this gospel of the kingdom?
          • That you who were citizens of darkness, may become inhabitants of God's city.
          • That the kingdom will not be as in the old days of Israel, something you must attain to by rigorous and exact following of God's Law.
          • That program has failed.
          • But now Jesus comes to announce that the kingdom belongs to any who seek it. And so he calls all men, beginning with the Jews, to seek it. That is good new indeed.
          • The gospel of the kingdom says as well that this is a kingdom that comes with power.
      3. So he heals their diseases and casts out demons
        1. More on this in a moment
        2. But right now let's summarize the point.
        3. Jesus does not come with a merely ethical teaching for anyone to follow who may.
        4. Jesus comes with a teaching that is attended by POWER to drive away all that pertains to this cursed world and to usher in a new creation.
  2. The Preaching and Teaching Are Paramount
    1. In presenting Jesus' ministry this way, Matthew emphasizes the centrality and the primacy of preaching and teaching.
    2. He has declined prior to this to record a single miracle of Christ's.
    3. Last week we saw him call Peter and Andrew to be fishers of men
      1. And we know from Luke that this came as the result of a miracle
      2. He brought loads of fish into their nets.
      3. About this, Matthew is silent
      4. Not because he thinks it isn't true, but because he wants the first thing HE hits you with to be a description of Christ as a teacher and a preacher.
    4. So Matthew records Jesus as beginning his ministry by crying out, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
    5. And he continues that description by showing Jesus preaching and teaching in the synagogues.
    6. The preaching and teaching are paramount; they are first.
    7. Mark accomplishes this same point in his gospel in a different way.
      1. He describes Jesus as healing Peter's mother-in-law, healing many sick, and casting out many demons.
      2. Then Jesus says, "Let us go into the neighboring towns that I may preach there also, for that is what I came to do."
    8. This is Matthew's point as well.
      1. As wonderful as the miracles are, they do not ULTIMATELY save a single life
      2. Only the gospel of the kingdom can change these who are spiritually dead into those who are spiritually alive.
      3. Only the gospel of the kingdom can give them eternal life.
      4. And therefore Jesus' primary ministry is to PREACH the gospel of that kingdom.
    9. So it was with him, so it is with his church
  3. The Preaching and Teaching Come with Power
    1. But, then, why do the miracles at all?
      1. After all those he heals will still die
      2. And those from whom he casts demons will still be under the power of the devil unless they are converted by his preaching as well.
      3. And we know that they are, don't we? Because Scripture connects miracles with faith.
      4. The miracles are the confirmation of that faith, the sign that his teaching indeed comes with the power of God
    2. This is teaching, yes, but not teaching like the scribes and the pharisees
      1. this is a teaching that comes with AUTHORITY
      2. Just as Moses did miracles
      3. Just as Elijah did miracles
      4. So Jesus does miracles and the testify that the word of the Lord that is found in his mouth is true
    3. Thus the kingdom comes with great power.
    4. Not merely an ethical teaching to follow if you can
    5. Heb 2:2 - how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
    6. Later, Matthew will tell us of the paralytic
    7. Mt 9:2ff. - Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." 3And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, "This Man blasphemes!" 4But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5"For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'? 6"But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"-then He said to the paralytic, "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house." 7And he arose and departed to his house. 8Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
    8. The miracles are proof he is the Messiah
      1. The Messiah was to come not only preaching, but healing the sick
      2. He pardons all our sins and he heals all our diseases
      3. Mt 11:1ff - Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. 2And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" 4Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5"The blind see 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.
    9. He has authority over the curse, even authority over the devil
  4. The Miracles Outwardly Show What the Preaching and Teaching Inwardly Do
    1. They will take away the curse
    2. This is what the word of Christ does for you
    3. What good to be healed outwardly?
    4. But then why does he no longer heal outwardly?
  5. The Miracles Show the End Result of the Whole Ministry
    1. Rev 21:1ff. - Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 5Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
    2. This is what Jesus came to do. This is what he did!
    3. Do not fear though he does not heal you now.
    4. You have his teaching which comes with power.
    5. At the end, he shall heal you forever.

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