Facing Temptations
 
Matthew 4:1-11
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
 
Temptations. We all have them. We’d like to have that big, beautiful house, that fancy car, the high-paying career, the winning lottery ticket. Those are big temptations. But on a daily basis, we’re faced with things that tempt us in more subtle ways. The foods we eat, the thoughts we have, and also in what we truly believe about ourselves, and about God. It’s these areas in which the devil can start to get a foothold in our lives and draw us away from the things that God would rather have us keep our minds on.
 
Story:
 
One night an Arab had settled in for the night and had just fallen asleep when his camel stuck his head in his tent and explained that it was awful cold and asked permission to just stick his legs inside the tent to keep them warm. Granting him permission the Arab went back to sleep. A little while later the camel woke him up a second time and asked permission to stick his head in. Again permission was granted. This continued on throughout the night until finally the Arab woke up to find the entire camel in the tent with him. When he told the camel that there just was not enough room in the tent for the both of them the camel suggested that the Arab might want to leave.
 
That is exactly what Satan does. He slips into our lives a little at a time and one day we wake up and alarmed we tell him that there just is not enough room for both he and Jesus in our lives. To which he suggests that Jesus might then want to leave....
 
Our lives are full of temptations. We are constantly bombarded by ads telling us that we just aren’t complete unless we have the latest product to fulfill our wants/desires. Sure, they may look harmless on their own, but the fact we give in to these desires, is giving in to temptation, and that can lead to problems, even addictions, or simply put…sin.
 
From our text, Matthew 4:1-11, we’ll read how Jesus Himself was put to the test. Face to face with the devil, He was tempted. Why was Jesus tempted like this? Why would God allow the devil to try to cause Jesus to sin? I believe it was to show US how to overcome sin, and to put the devil into his place! Let’s look at how Jesus overcame these three temptations of the devil.
 
First: realize that Jesus was in a weakened physical state after fasting for 40 days in the desert. He ate nothing, and we don’t know if He even drank anything. This would be an ‘absolute’ fast. But, as we see in the passage, His MENTAL capacities were sharp!
 
How do you feel when you miss even one meal? We are blessed to have, on average, 3 meals a day. We eat when we want to, not when we need to. We snack, we munch, we sip, and drink almost to our heart’s content. Not that it’s GOOD for our HEART to eat some of the foods we tend to crave. Now think of how you would feel after a day of no eating. How about 2 days? A week? Can you even imagine 40 days? I have never fasted that long in my life. And that was hard. I don’t know if there is a word that could describe how HUNGRY Jesus was after 40 days.
 
Now, in this weakened condition, the devil comes to Him. Another name for him here is the ‘tempter’ (Luke 4). And the first thing he tempts Jesus with is food. He asks Jesus to prove He is the Son of God by turning stones to bread. He knows Jesus could do it. He doesn’t ask Jesus to show His miraculous power, but instead tries to appeal to His human craving for food. Really nice of the devil, eh? But Jesus answers with a great scripture, “man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deut. 8:3)
 
Do you remember the movie by C. S. Lewis’ classic The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, Edmund makes his way through the wardrobe and into Narnia where he meets the White Witch. Unaware of the evil of the White Witch, Edmund climbs up into her sleigh. The Witch asks Edmund what he would like, and his request is for some Turkish delight, a sweet blend of sugar and starch, covered in powdered sugar. Later Edmund would forsake his friends and seek out the Witch for more of the Turkish delight. The White Witch did not force Edmund to eat the Turkish delight or to leave his friends. Edmund did so out of his own desires within him.
 
Principle: We should not give into our fleshly desires if the result will be to sin. What we need to desire MORE than food for the body is food for the soul. We need to feed ourselves on God’s word. Read it. Hide it in our heart. Meditate on it. Learn it. Memorize it. Crave it! That is the first evidence of one who has been born again. The desire, the hunger to know and learn more about God. We can never have enough of it.
Psalm 119:10-11
10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
 
Next, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, to the temple. He told Him to stand on the highest point and jump off. Do you have a fear of heights? Does your stomach get a little queasy when you look down from a tall building to the ground below? I remember being in Chicago, at the Sears Tower. The Sears Tower, was completed May 3, 1973, rises to a height of (1,450, 1,729′ to tip) feet and is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the Chicago skyline and in the world. The Sears tower held the record for the world’s tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia were built in 1998. When I moved to Chicago, this is one of the places Tina brought me to see. And whenever we would have visitors, we would take them there as well.
 
We went up to the sky deck, to the same windows that are in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. We put our heads up against the glass and looked down to the street. And I tell you, even knowing the glass was there, and with a handrail to hang on to, I still felt as if I my stomach was going to take a leap! It was an incredible view as you looked across the city, but looking down, that was a different story!
 
Now the temple in Jerusalem was not nearly as high as the Sears Tower. 45.72 meters, (150.0 ft) Depending on which wall, and what foundation is being referred to.  That’s still along way up. Here again the devil tempts Him. This time, he even quotes an Old Testament scripture to Jesus. (The devil knows the scriptures, too!) He tells Jesus to jump. ‘Don’t worry, you won’t get hurt. The angels will catch you! Your foot won’t even hit the ground’ He quotes Psalm 91:11,12.
 
Psalms 91:11-12
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
 
So…the devil did his homework, he remembered his memory verse. Again, the devil knows scriptures too. So, be very careful in how he can use it to tempt you as he did to Jesus. Jesus replies, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Deut. 6:16) Again, Jesus replies with scripture. The devil took that passage a bit out of context. Yes, he has been doing that same trick from the very beginning. The same way he tricked Eve into taking the fruit. God would have protected Jesus. But, it would not have been part of His plan for Christ’s life here on earth.
Jesus was showing us a lesson here on how we too can fight the tempter.
 
 
 
Question…Do we test God? Have you ever said something like, ‘God, if you’ll only allow me this one thing, this one indulgence, then I’ll give my whole life to you.’ That’s testing God. It is not right. It’s actually trying to tempt God. God cannot be tempted by OUR evil desires. Yes…it is an evil desire if it goes against His will!
 
James 1:13-14
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
 
The first chapter of James deals with trials and temptations. Read it sometime and learn how trials and temptations are GOOD for us. That’s when we grow.
 
ILLUSTRATION: “Cocoon” The cocoon of the Emperor moth is a flask like in shape. To develop into a perfect insect, it must force its way through the neck of the cocoon by hours of intense struggle. Entomologists explain that this pressure to which the moth is subjected is nature’s way of forcing a life-giving substance into its wings. Wanting to lessen the seemingly needless trials and struggles of the moth, an observer said, "I’ll lessen the pain and struggles of this helpless creature!" With small scissors he snipped the restraining threads to make the moth’s emergence painless and effortless. The creature never developed wings. For a brief time before its death, it simply crawled instead of flying through the air on rainbow, colored wings!
 
Principle: Don’t let your thoughts get the best of you. Don’t try to out-think God. Don’t try to twist the word of God to justify things that are not part of God’s will for your life. Be sure not to take things out of context. Read an entire passage of scripture, and not just one phrase.
 
Lastly:
 
The devil takes Jesus to a point where He can see all the kingdoms of the world. The devil offers to give all this to Jesus for one simple act. ‘Just bow and worship me,’ says the devil. Just think. Rather than a lowly human, with no wealth of any kind, no real home, no one who likes what you say, no money, no power. I’ll give it ALL to you. You’ll be the KING OF THE WORLD! Just worship me. What was the devil asking here? He was asking for Jesus’ place in the kingdom! He wanted to be restored to the ultimate place in heaven. He wanted out of the destruction he will ultimately face at the end of time. For if Jesus worshipped the devil, then Christ would be lowering Himself below Satan!
 
Again, Jesus rebukes Satan with scripture. “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only!”
Satan leaves, I’m sure in a big disappointment, and angels come and attend to Jesus.
 
Serve Him only. Our first obligation in life is to worship God, then to serve Him. And Him alone. Putting anything else in that first position is wrong! Our God is a jealous God. He does not share His position with anyone or anything. The first few verses of the 10 commandments, found in Exodus 20, tells us this clearly…
 
Exodus 20:1-6
And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
 
A song by Philips Craig & Dean says this well:
 
You are not a god created by human hands You are not a god dependent on any mortal man.
You are not a god in need of anything we can give by Your plan that’s just the way it is.
You are God alone from before time began You were on Your throne You were God alone.
And right now, In the good times and bad You are on Your throne You are God alone.
You’re Unchangeable. You’re unshakable. You’re unstoppable. That’s what You are.
You’re the only God whose power none can contend You’re the only God whose name and
Praise will never end. You’re the only God who’s worthy of everything we can give You are God that’s just the way it is.
 
Principle: Don’t put ANYTHING in your life ahead of God. Nothing. Not your family, or your health, not your job or your house, not your car or your toys, not money or power, not your time or your habits. NOTHING can come before the Lord. Let’s get our priorities straight. Our eternal soul depends on it!
 
Jesus was tempted in three areas, as we are – Lust of the flesh (our body), lust of the eyes (our mind), pride of life (our soul). (1 John 2:16).
 
1 John 2:16
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
 
He/Jesus, faced up to these temptations by knowing the scriptures. If we know our Bible, we can face up to the temptations we face today. Many bibles have references to passages to read in regard to different situations we find ourselves in.
Find these tools in your bible. And the more you read it, the more time you spend learning it. The more you will be able… like Jesus, to rebuke the devil and his temptations through the power of scriptures. Keep in mind, that everything we do, everything that we are has an eternal destination. We are saved by grace that is true, Gods grace. But it does not mean that we are to do whatever we want. “we we’re bought at a price”. Our life/the Christian life is no longer our own. It belongs to God.

​                                                               Jesus Heals
 
Mark 1:29-34
29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them. 32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
 
In our passage today we’ll see the power of Christ displayed over physical diseases in
verses 29-34. Let’s take on these verses in two parts. The first half goes like this, When you bring Jesus to your home… We see this in verses 29-31: “Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.”
 
1.The setting. Look at verse 29: “Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. After the synagogue service everyone headed to a Village Inn, only they didn’t have one. It was common for this service to end at noon and then people would gather in homes for Sabbath lunch. The scene now moves from a public encounter in the synagogue to a very private event in a home.
 
We know from John 1:44, that Simon and Andrew were originally from Bethsaida. It’s likely that Peter had purchased this home in Capernaum because that’s where they had moved their fishing business. Note that Peter still had a house and that he used his home for hospitality. He fully followed Christ and yet as a follower he was to care for his family and use His home for God’s glory and to make Jesus famous.
 
Archaeological excavations have uncovered a home in Capernaum that is near the site where the synagogue stood. Ancient writings have been discovered on the walls with the words “Lord” and “Christ” in Aramaic, Greek, Syriac and Latin. They’ve also found first century fishhooks and graffiti references to “Peter.” Tradition says that this house was only about 100 yards from the synagogue.
 
 
When Peter left everything to follow Christ, that meant that he gave everything to Christ. Too often we categorize the spiritual and the secular. We put worship and prayer and Bible study into the spiritual pile and things like work and hobbies and relationships and family into the secular pile. Listen… When you repent and receive Christ, when you forsake all to follow Christ, it means that everything becomes spiritual – your family, your house, your possessions, your finances, your job, your hobbies, your relationships, your schoolwork, your activities, because everything matters to Jesus.
 
Peter’s priorities had changed when he met Jesus, the people in his life and all of his possessions now belonged to Jesus. He could still enjoy them, but he had transferred ownership of everything to Him. Have you made this same transfer?
 
2. The sickness. We’re told in verse 30 that Peter had a mother-in-law. That probably blows some of your minds because you’ve been taught that Peter was never married. That’s something the Catholic Church advocates and since they believe Peter was the first pope, they restrict popes and priests from marrying. 1 Corinthians 9:5 clearly states that Peter had a wife, “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” Cephas is the Armaic name for Peter. We see this in John 1:42 when Jesus says, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). If you’d like to dive deeper into this, see Galatians 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 15:5.
 
It’s clear that Peter was married and that he cared for his mother-in-law, “Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever…” The idea in Greek is a bit stronger than that she was just lying down with a fever. The sense is that this fever had so affected her that she was thrown into a sickbed without any hope of ever getting better.
 
The phrase “lay ill,” means that she was flat on her back. The word “fever” refers to “a fire in the bones.” Because of the kinds of diseases that were prevalent in that marshy area around the Sea of Galilee at the time, it’s possible that she had malaria or typhoid fever. In the Gospel According to Luke, we read that she had a mega, or “great fever.” This is not surprising that Luke would give us this diagnosis since he was a physician. It was common back then to categorize fevers as “small” or “great”, so this tells us that she was in a life-threatening situation. It’s important to know that in the ancient world “fever” was a disease itself, not just a symptom. Plus, they had no Advil or Tylenol, to comfort the one who was sick.
 
Are you aware that as part of our discipleship we’re called to care for our families? This is clearly stated in 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
 
“and they told Him about her at once.” I love how they told the Lord about the problem. In essence, they were interceding on her behalf. They didn’t know what else to do or who else to go to. A crisis does that, doesn’t it? Even pagans will pray if the problem is big enough.
 
3. The Savior. We see what Jesus does in verse 31, “So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.”
 
• He came. Don’t you love that Christ comes close to us in our time of need? Luke tells us that He/Jesus… came “took her by the hand and lifted her up”, and He didn’t stay at a distance but came near. Our greatest need when we’re hurting is to experience His presence. I love Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and is attentive to their cry.”
 
• He touched. Jesus could have snapped His fingers or just said a word but instead He took her by the hand. Jesus did the same with the blind man in Mark 8:23: “He took the blind man by the hand.” There’s power in touch, isn’t there? It was a big deal for Jesus to touch her because according to the Talmud (a Jewish commentary on the Old Testament), touching anyone with a fever would have rendered one unclean. But with Jesus, the touch did not defile the healer, but healed the defiled! When Jesus touches someone, everything changes!
 
• He lifted. I love that Jesus lifted her up. He came down so He could lift her up. She couldn’t get up on her own. Listen to 1 Samuel 2:8: “He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap.”
 
• Fever left. We have every indication that the fever left immediately, which was amazing in itself. It was common in that culture to use elaborate incantations that would take a long time and then they still wouldn’t work. Some so-called faith healers on TV, urges listeners to send in  seed money for a miracle. Not so with Jesus. Christ came, He took her by the hand, and then He lifted her up and the fever left.
 
This is a big deal because Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would have a healing ministry in Isaiah 35:5-6: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” Matthew 8:17 tells us that Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, “to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’” This shows how caring and compassionate Christ is. He feels every fever. He carries every cancer. He bears our brokenness, and He takes our transgressions.
 
 
 
 
4. The serving. The end of verse 31 implies that she served them immediately: “and she began to serve them.” Have you ever recovered quickly after a fever? It generally takes some recuperation time, doesn’t it? Your bones ache, you feel weak and all you want to do is sleep. Especially for us men. Have you heard about the “Man Flu”? It’s an illness that causes the male to be helpless and sicker than any other family member. I’m told that in females it’s called a cold.
 
But for Peter’s mother-in-law she was completely helpless and sicker than any other family member. And yet, there was no recovery time. She didn’t get better gradually. She was healed and went right into helper mode.
 
Anytime you encounter Jesus the natural response is to serve Him! This word for “serve” is the word we get “deacon” from. It literally means to “wait on tables” and was also used of the angels ministering to Jesus at the end of His terrible temptation in the wilderness.
 
Peter’s mother-in-law made her life immediately available to Jesus and His ministry. We have been saved to serve, healed to help and touched, so that we touch others. By the way, the female followers of Jesus seemed to understand the necessity of serving more quickly than the guys got it. Mark 15:41 says that a number of women “followed Him and ministered to Him.” Luke 8:2-3 tells us that many women provided for Jesus and his disciples out of their financial means.
 
Let’s look now at the second half of our main idea from verses 32-34: “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
 
The reason they waited until sundown was because they were prohibited from carrying anyone on the Sabbath, because that would have been considered work. Sabbath started at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday.
 
I imagine it like a countdown clock before the start of a big event. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the setting of the sun so they could bring battered/sick people to Jesus. This makes me think of Malachi 4:2. When the sun sets “The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”
 
The people who came had all sorts of problems. Some were suffering from sickness and others were sabotaged by evil spirits. Some were diseased and others were demon possessed. Broken legs and broken hearts gathered outside the home. Some couldn’t walk so they were carried. Verse 32 says they were “brought,” which means, “to carry as a burden.”
The people who came had “various diseases,” which means manifold, or a wide variety. Remember this, Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. The older I get the more convinced I am that everyone is suffering – emotionally, mentally, physically or spiritually…or all the above.
 
According to verse 28 the fame of Jesus’ name spread throughout the region when Jesus cast out a demon and now that He has brought physical healing to Peter’s mother-in-law… crowds line up to see Him. In verse 33 we read that the “whole city” was gathered at the door of the house. The tense of the verb suggests that the crowds continued to come. People knew that Jesus was not only at Peter’s home but that He could help those who were hurting.
 
Can you imagine this scene as people pounded on Peter’s door? I wonder what it would look like if people gathered on our front lawns because we brought Jesus home with us from the service today.  Here’s the deal… When Christ shows up, the crowds will be curious.
 
Verse 34 says that He “healed many.” What this means is that He doesn’t heal everyone in this life. In this world there will be woes and challenges and disease and cancer and fevers. And while we should pray for healing, we must realize that sometimes His will is to not heal.
 
Jesus silenced the demons because He didn’t want their testimony, “And He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” It’s interesting that the demons wanted to declare who Jesus was but were not permitted to do so. Jesus wants us to speak about Him, but many of us walk around muzzled.
 
Before we assume that all these people were putting their faith in Jesus, it must be pointed out that many just wanted a miracle. They wanted relief from pain and affliction but weren’t ready to repent and receive salvation. While Jesus healed many who were sick and cast out demons, He came for a different purpose. He extended mercy but He was also on mission. He was merciful.
 
We’re to gather with God’s people to worship and then bring Jesus home with us so that we grow in our faith. We then give to others by serving and finally we go with the gospel to our neighbors and to the nations.
 
In Conclusion:
 
Let’s allow this passage to percolate in our lives. Here are some action steps.
 
1. Take care of your household. Is there anything you need to do to reconcile this relationship?
 
2. Live out your faith wherever you are. Are you helping your children learn about Jesus? Are you taking Jesus to your workplace? Have you invited Him into your hobbies, your sports, and other activities? Do you take Him with you?
 
3. Ask the Healer to bring healing to you and others. Sometimes Jesus heals miraculously. Other times He does it through doctors and medicine and surgeries. And sometimes we won’t receive healing until we’re in heaven. Let’s not be like Asa, who neglected to ask for healing in 2 Chronicles 16:12: “Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.” Remember that God loves to hear from His children. That’s why it’s a relationship.
 
4. Find somewhere to serve. The question should never be whether you will serve. The real question is where and when will you serve? We have not been lifted up only to lie back down. I know that interacting with people are hard to do at this time but be sensitive to Holy Spirit when He does bring someone your way. The possibilities are endless because the needs are unending. If you’re saved, settle this truth, you’re a servant.
 
5. Ask the Savior to save you. We all have a sickness called sin and Satan is out to destroy us. Our fever is fatal and there’s no way we can help ourselves. We’ve fallen and we can’t get up. Ask Jesus to come and He’ll come. And He’ll touch you and then lift you up. Repent and receive Him into your life and then follow Him wholeheartedly. He died in your place, taking your punishment, His blood paying the price for all your sins. And then He rose from the dead on the third day, showing His power over sin, sickness and Satan!
 
Remember that Jesus did not save you just to leave you. He save you because your precious, He did after all died for you. Jesus loves to hear from you when you are, thankful, in need, suffering, when you’re ill, in trouble, you name it. Jesus wants to hear it. So…speak/ talk to your Savior/your Christ.
 
 
 
 
 

​                                                               Jesus Heals
 
Mark 1:29-34
29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them. 32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
 
In our passage today we’ll see the power of Christ displayed over physical diseases in
verses 29-34. Let’s take on these verses in two parts. The first half goes like this, When you bring Jesus to your home… We see this in verses 29-31: “Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.”
 
1.The setting. Look at verse 29: “Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. After the synagogue service everyone headed to a Village Inn, only they didn’t have one. It was common for this service to end at noon and then people would gather in homes for Sabbath lunch. The scene now moves from a public encounter in the synagogue to a very private event in a home.
 
We know from John 1:44, that Simon and Andrew were originally from Bethsaida. It’s likely that Peter had purchased this home in Capernaum because that’s where they had moved their fishing business. Note that Peter still had a house and that he used his home for hospitality. He fully followed Christ and yet as a follower he was to care for his family and use His home for God’s glory and to make Jesus famous.
 
Archaeological excavations have uncovered a home in Capernaum that is near the site where the synagogue stood. Ancient writings have been discovered on the walls with the words “Lord” and “Christ” in Aramaic, Greek, Syriac and Latin. They’ve also found first century fishhooks and graffiti references to “Peter.” Tradition says that this house was only about 100 yards from the synagogue.
 
 
When Peter left everything to follow Christ, that meant that he gave everything to Christ. Too often we categorize the spiritual and the secular. We put worship and prayer and Bible study into the spiritual pile and things like work and hobbies and relationships and family into the secular pile. Listen… When you repent and receive Christ, when you forsake all to follow Christ, it means that everything becomes spiritual – your family, your house, your possessions, your finances, your job, your hobbies, your relationships, your schoolwork, your activities, because everything matters to Jesus.
 
Peter’s priorities had changed when he met Jesus, the people in his life and all of his possessions now belonged to Jesus. He could still enjoy them, but he had transferred ownership of everything to Him. Have you made this same transfer?
 
2. The sickness. We’re told in verse 30 that Peter had a mother-in-law. That probably blows some of your minds because you’ve been taught that Peter was never married. That’s something the Catholic Church advocates and since they believe Peter was the first pope, they restrict popes and priests from marrying. 1 Corinthians 9:5 clearly states that Peter had a wife, “Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” Cephas is the Armaic name for Peter. We see this in John 1:42 when Jesus says, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). If you’d like to dive deeper into this, see Galatians 2:11 and 1 Corinthians 15:5.
 
It’s clear that Peter was married and that he cared for his mother-in-law, “Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever…” The idea in Greek is a bit stronger than that she was just lying down with a fever. The sense is that this fever had so affected her that she was thrown into a sickbed without any hope of ever getting better.
 
The phrase “lay ill,” means that she was flat on her back. The word “fever” refers to “a fire in the bones.” Because of the kinds of diseases that were prevalent in that marshy area around the Sea of Galilee at the time, it’s possible that she had malaria or typhoid fever. In the Gospel According to Luke, we read that she had a mega, or “great fever.” This is not surprising that Luke would give us this diagnosis since he was a physician. It was common back then to categorize fevers as “small” or “great”, so this tells us that she was in a life-threatening situation. It’s important to know that in the ancient world “fever” was a disease itself, not just a symptom. Plus, they had no Advil or Tylenol, to comfort the one who was sick.
 
Are you aware that as part of our discipleship we’re called to care for our families? This is clearly stated in 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
 
“and they told Him about her at once.” I love how they told the Lord about the problem. In essence, they were interceding on her behalf. They didn’t know what else to do or who else to go to. A crisis does that, doesn’t it? Even pagans will pray if the problem is big enough.
 
3. The Savior. We see what Jesus does in verse 31, “So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.”
 
• He came. Don’t you love that Christ comes close to us in our time of need? Luke tells us that He/Jesus… came “took her by the hand and lifted her up”, and He didn’t stay at a distance but came near. Our greatest need when we’re hurting is to experience His presence. I love Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and is attentive to their cry.”
 
• He touched. Jesus could have snapped His fingers or just said a word but instead He took her by the hand. Jesus did the same with the blind man in Mark 8:23: “He took the blind man by the hand.” There’s power in touch, isn’t there? It was a big deal for Jesus to touch her because according to the Talmud (a Jewish commentary on the Old Testament), touching anyone with a fever would have rendered one unclean. But with Jesus, the touch did not defile the healer, but healed the defiled! When Jesus touches someone, everything changes!
 
• He lifted. I love that Jesus lifted her up. He came down so He could lift her up. She couldn’t get up on her own. Listen to 1 Samuel 2:8: “He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap.”
 
• Fever left. We have every indication that the fever left immediately, which was amazing in itself. It was common in that culture to use elaborate incantations that would take a long time and then they still wouldn’t work. Some so-called faith healers on TV, urges listeners to send in  seed money for a miracle. Not so with Jesus. Christ came, He took her by the hand, and then He lifted her up and the fever left.
 
This is a big deal because Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would have a healing ministry in Isaiah 35:5-6: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” Matthew 8:17 tells us that Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, “to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.’” This shows how caring and compassionate Christ is. He feels every fever. He carries every cancer. He bears our brokenness, and He takes our transgressions.
 
 
 
 
4. The serving. The end of verse 31 implies that she served them immediately: “and she began to serve them.” Have you ever recovered quickly after a fever? It generally takes some recuperation time, doesn’t it? Your bones ache, you feel weak and all you want to do is sleep. Especially for us men. Have you heard about the “Man Flu”? It’s an illness that causes the male to be helpless and sicker than any other family member. I’m told that in females it’s called a cold.
 
But for Peter’s mother-in-law she was completely helpless and sicker than any other family member. And yet, there was no recovery time. She didn’t get better gradually. She was healed and went right into helper mode.
 
Anytime you encounter Jesus the natural response is to serve Him! This word for “serve” is the word we get “deacon” from. It literally means to “wait on tables” and was also used of the angels ministering to Jesus at the end of His terrible temptation in the wilderness.
 
Peter’s mother-in-law made her life immediately available to Jesus and His ministry. We have been saved to serve, healed to help and touched, so that we touch others. By the way, the female followers of Jesus seemed to understand the necessity of serving more quickly than the guys got it. Mark 15:41 says that a number of women “followed Him and ministered to Him.” Luke 8:2-3 tells us that many women provided for Jesus and his disciples out of their financial means.
 
Let’s look now at the second half of our main idea from verses 32-34: “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
 
The reason they waited until sundown was because they were prohibited from carrying anyone on the Sabbath, because that would have been considered work. Sabbath started at sundown on Friday and ended at sundown on Saturday.
 
I imagine it like a countdown clock before the start of a big event. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the setting of the sun so they could bring battered/sick people to Jesus. This makes me think of Malachi 4:2. When the sun sets “The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.”
 
The people who came had all sorts of problems. Some were suffering from sickness and others were sabotaged by evil spirits. Some were diseased and others were demon possessed. Broken legs and broken hearts gathered outside the home. Some couldn’t walk so they were carried. Verse 32 says they were “brought,” which means, “to carry as a burden.”
The people who came had “various diseases,” which means manifold, or a wide variety. Remember this, Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. The older I get the more convinced I am that everyone is suffering – emotionally, mentally, physically or spiritually…or all the above.
 
According to verse 28 the fame of Jesus’ name spread throughout the region when Jesus cast out a demon and now that He has brought physical healing to Peter’s mother-in-law… crowds line up to see Him. In verse 33 we read that the “whole city” was gathered at the door of the house. The tense of the verb suggests that the crowds continued to come. People knew that Jesus was not only at Peter’s home but that He could help those who were hurting.
 
Can you imagine this scene as people pounded on Peter’s door? I wonder what it would look like if people gathered on our front lawns because we brought Jesus home with us from the service today.  Here’s the deal… When Christ shows up, the crowds will be curious.
 
Verse 34 says that He “healed many.” What this means is that He doesn’t heal everyone in this life. In this world there will be woes and challenges and disease and cancer and fevers. And while we should pray for healing, we must realize that sometimes His will is to not heal.
 
Jesus silenced the demons because He didn’t want their testimony, “And He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him.” It’s interesting that the demons wanted to declare who Jesus was but were not permitted to do so. Jesus wants us to speak about Him, but many of us walk around muzzled.
 
Before we assume that all these people were putting their faith in Jesus, it must be pointed out that many just wanted a miracle. They wanted relief from pain and affliction but weren’t ready to repent and receive salvation. While Jesus healed many who were sick and cast out demons, He came for a different purpose. He extended mercy but He was also on mission. He was merciful.
 
We’re to gather with God’s people to worship and then bring Jesus home with us so that we grow in our faith. We then give to others by serving and finally we go with the gospel to our neighbors and to the nations.
 
In Conclusion:
 
Let’s allow this passage to percolate in our lives. Here are some action steps.
 
1. Take care of your household. Is there anything you need to do to reconcile this relationship?
 
2. Live out your faith wherever you are. Are you helping your children learn about Jesus? Are you taking Jesus to your workplace? Have you invited Him into your hobbies, your sports, and other activities? Do you take Him with you?
 
3. Ask the Healer to bring healing to you and others. Sometimes Jesus heals miraculously. Other times He does it through doctors and medicine and surgeries. And sometimes we won’t receive healing until we’re in heaven. Let’s not be like Asa, who neglected to ask for healing in 2 Chronicles 16:12: “Yet even in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but sought help from physicians.” Remember that God loves to hear from His children. That’s why it’s a relationship.
 
4. Find somewhere to serve. The question should never be whether you will serve. The real question is where and when will you serve? We have not been lifted up only to lie back down. I know that interacting with people are hard to do at this time but be sensitive to Holy Spirit when He does bring someone your way. The possibilities are endless because the needs are unending. If you’re saved, settle this truth, you’re a servant.
 
5. Ask the Savior to save you. We all have a sickness called sin and Satan is out to destroy us. Our fever is fatal and there’s no way we can help ourselves. We’ve fallen and we can’t get up. Ask Jesus to come and He’ll come. And He’ll touch you and then lift you up. Repent and receive Him into your life and then follow Him wholeheartedly. He died in your place, taking your punishment, His blood paying the price for all your sins. And then He rose from the dead on the third day, showing His power over sin, sickness and Satan!
 
Remember that Jesus did not save you just to leave you. He save you because your precious, He did after all died for you. Jesus loves to hear from you when you are, thankful, in need, suffering, when you’re ill, in trouble, you name it. Jesus wants to hear it. So…speak/ talk to your Savior/your Christ.
 
 
 
 
 

​                                                        Duty And Devotion
 
Luke 10:38-42
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
 
What brought you here today? Was it a sense of duty, you feel a sense of obligation, a responsibility to the Lord for all that He has done for you. Is it possible to serve the Lord out of habit rather than out of love?
 
In Luke chapter ten Jesus has been discussing with a Jewish religious leader the two great commands of the Scripture, that we are to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus has just used the story of “The Good Samaritan” to illustrate how we should love our neighbor and now he uses the story of two sisters, Martha and Mary, to illustrate how we should love God.
 
The story that we are going to read about today (Luke 10:38-42) takes place in the village of Bethany which is located just outside of Jerusalem. From what we can learn from this passage and in John chapters 11 and 12, Martha lived with her sister Mary and their’ later to be famous brother Lazarus. It appears that Martha is a widow for she is the head of the household. Here in the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Jesus and His disciples sit down for some relaxation away from the press of the crowds. Here is a home that Jesus had been many times, a place that He knew He was loved and accepted.
 
Both sisters are delighted to see Jesus, but as you will see they express their enthusiasm in very different ways. In verse thirty-eight we are told, “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. (39) And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.”
 
People have varying temperaments, some are active always needing to be busy, never able to sit still. Others are thoughtful, willing to sit back and think things through. Martha is a very activity-oriented person, her sister appeared to be of the more thoughtful nature.
 
 
I believe that we many times have wrongly contrasted Martha and Mary, as though each Christian should make a choice to either be a worker like Martha or a worshipper like Mary. But in so doing I think we miss the point. The Lord wants each of us to imitate Mary in our worship and Martha in our work, and to achieve balance in both.
 
Mary is content to sit at Jesus’ feet soaking up the Word, and not “do” anything. But her big sister, Martha was looking around at all the guest and sees the need to prepare a meal. Martha was obviously a great hostess, she got up and began to prepare food for Jesus and all those there with Him. Martha looked and said to herself “What privilege to prepare a meal for the Master!” Mary on the other hand would have said, “What a privilege to sit at the feet of the Master.” Is one right and the other wrong? No. Duty and Devotion are both necessary but there must be a balance.
 
Every action, every relationship, every institution has a basic focus, which is its reason for existence if it hopes to succeed, if loses that focus it will fail. When you lose your focus, which why you do what you do, then you are in trouble. This afternoon, I want us to look at this story and what it teaches about the cost of a loss of focus.
 
1. Loss Of Focus Caused Martha To Resort To Self-Pity (v. 40)
 
All of you ladies can know what entertaining unplanned visitor’s is like and why Martha is flustered and feeling more and more frustrated with each passing moment. The first part of verse forty tells us, “But Martha was distracted with much serving” the sense of the word translated “distracted” here is “to be pulled away” or “dragged away.” The implication is that Martha wanted to hear Jesus herself, she wanted to be seated at his feet too, but she was pulled away by her sense of her “duties.” Fretting about the meal has robbed her of the joy of her service to the Lord.
 
We should of course, take our responsibilities seriously, but not ourselves to the point that we overestimate our importance. The problem did not lie in the work that Martha was doing. It was the attitude that she was doing it with that became the problem. Martha’s problem was one of balance, between the going and doing and the sitting and listening.
 
My greatest fear in saying that is… that is that someone out there who is doing nothing will gratefully say “Amen” to what they think I said, and so excuse themselves from doing anything except ‘sitting”. The truth is that there are too many ‘sitters” now. The difference between Martha and Mary is not that one served and the other did not, but one served out of duty and the other out of devotion.
 
 
In our daily lives we can become so busy with the everyday things of life that we neglect the most important. In is interesting to think back, when I was a child there was a cartoon series on television called “The Jetsons” many of you may remember it. This show conveyed the common misconception of the time, that in the future modern conveniences would produce more and more leisure time in people’s lives. Loss Of Focus Caused Martha To Resort To Self-Pity and
 
2. Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Become Angry At Others.
 
Our world is full of distractions. And the more the pressure, the most tempting it is to focus on the urgent rather than the essential. Now, I think through this pandemic, with the way the world is now…have we slowed down at all? Some are now working from home, our children are now studying from home. (online) Can’t really go out and do much. Everywhere you go there are restrictions. Are we still busy? Have we slowed down to the point that we are spending more time with the Lord? Are we actually spending more time with our family? 
 
I truly believe that Martha wanted to honor Jesus. I even believe that she began her work with the right attitude. All of you ladies can identify with what I am about to say. You begin the task of huge festive meal (like Thanksgiving) with the greatest of enthusiasm, but as time passed you came to realize that you are running out of time and you cannot possibly finish everything that you planned to do.
 
When that happens, you get angry – angry at yourself for letting yourself get in this fix and angry with anyone else who might have made a difference in accomplishing your goals. Martha was like that, the harder she worked the more worked up she became. Some people “burn out” in service but Martha was “burned up” in hers. It is bad enough to have to do everything. It is even worse when we can think of someone who we do not feel is pulling their weight and who has let us down. That is what I see happening to Martha.
 
Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Become Angry At Others and…
 
3. Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Find Fault With Others.
 
In second part of verse forty, Martha finally exploded and she comes boiling out of the kitchen, red-faced and furious and says, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me."
 
She doesn’t even call her sister by name. In her defense perhaps she had already done everything she could think of to attract Mary’s attention and signal her that she needed help. We all have ways that we use to get a message across. We clear our throats. We make attention-getting motions.
 
Martha cannot get Mary’s attention. We are even more irritated when the other person ignores us. Mary was willing to face Martha’s anger, because sitting at the feet of Jesus mean everything to her at this point. No one can force us to be devoted, it is a voluntary decision.
 
Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Find Fault With Others
 
4. Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Question God’s Care.
 
Whatever Martha has already done to get Mary’s attention, she is totally exasperated now and speaks directly to Jesus. There is an accusation in her voice when she says, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me."
 
Martha was angry at Mary for being so selfish and she is angry at Jesus for allowing this to go on. Notice that Martha addressed her irritation to Jesus, you have to admit that she is one gutsy woman. Martha is accusing Jesus of not caring for her, because she was sure that if Jesus really cared for her, He would tell Mary to get up and help her. Today she would say something to the effect of “Lord you know what a ding bat my sister is, but you are a part of the problem too. You tell her to get her sweet self in here and help me!” In saying this she not only rebuked her sister but also the one for whom all of these preparations are being made. Whenever our service causes us to criticize others and pity ourselves because we feel overworked, we had better take time to examine our lives! Which fruit of the Spirit are we showing? NONE!
 
It is interesting how Martha links Jesus’ care for her with His willingness to tell Mary to get busy helping her. Martha thought that she knew how Jesus should demonstrate His care for her. I wonder do we do that? Do we ever accuse God of not caring for us, because we have already decided what His care for us looks like?
 
Part of the Martha’s problem was that she worried to much about what others were doing. Martha’s concern over Mary reminds us of Peter in John chapter 21 where Jesus was explaining to Peter what the future held for him (vv. 18-19), he only had one question he looked at John and asked, “But what this man” (v. 21). Jesus reminded Peter that was not really any of his concern. He just needed to follow Jesus (v. 22).” In today’s text Jesus by His refusal to do as Martha had asked demonstrates that, although what she was doing was valuable work, she should worry less about Mary’s choices. It all boiled down to the fact that Martha wanted to force Mary to serve Christ her way.
 
Loss Of Focus Causes Martha To Question God’s Care and
 
5. Loss of Focus Can Be Eliminated by
 
Remembering Why We Are Doing What We Are Doing? (vv. 41-42)
In verse forty-one Jesus responds to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. (42) But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
 
Jesus responds with great tenderness. Notice first that Jesus did not rebuke her for making preparations for Him and the other guest. He is not rejecting Martha’s attempt to serve Him. Martha’s problem was not that she was preparing food for her guest to eat, this was necessary. But she gave too much importance to it. Today we still have to be careful that we do not let the necessary things that must be done get out of balance and distort our lives. Causing tension in our household, our relationships and most importantly, our relationship with our Lord!
 
The core of Martha’s problem is that she tried to impose her value system on Mary. Note that Jesus did not tell Martha to do what Mary was doing. It was Martha’s attitude that needed correction, but Martha’s work was both good and necessary. The reality is that as believers today we need to cultivate both the Martha and the Mary in each of us.
 
Martha came to Jesus because she wanted Him to lighten the load that day. He did what she wanted but not in the way that she had expected. He lightened her load not by having Mary help her but by giving her a new perspective on her work. When we forget why we are doing what we are doing we can get turned upside down, and we may end up feeling overworked and unappreciated.
 
Unless we the take time, to spend time with Jesus personally and privately, we will soon end up like Martha busy but not blessed. Martha was not wrong nor was Mary. It is case of where one did good and the other better.
 
The Christian life is learning to balance duty and devotion. Sitting without serving is powerless.
Serving without sitting is directionless. Serving after sitting produces power and balance.
 
In Conclusion:
 
I don’t want to close our story of these two sister’s without understanding the part they play in Biblical history. One of the two greatest confessions concerning the person of Jesus Christ was given by Martha and recorded in John 11:27, “Yes Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” the other was given by Peter recorded in Matthew 16:16. “Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
 
 
 
The setting for Martha’s confession was that the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus had arrived and was seeking to comfort her and told her, “I am the resurrection and the life and He who believe in me will never die.” In turn He asked Martha if she believed this. Her response is one of the greatest confessions of all time, for Martha replies, “Yes Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is come into the world.”
 
She evidently overcame her propensity to be distracted long enough and sat at the feet of Jesus enough to grow into a woman of profound faith. We also have more recorded about her sister Mary. We meet Mary two more times, in Scripture, and each time she is at the feet of Jesus. In John chapter twelve in what is one of the most moving pictures of sacrificial worship recorded in scripture we are told, “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany… (2) There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. (3) Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil”
 
She was severely criticized by at least one apostle and possibly others for her action. Did she quit because of the criticism? No. She was one of the women at the tomb on the morning of the resurrection. When you sit at the feet of Jesus you learn not to quit because of hard feelings. You learn to turn the other cheek and go on.
 
In Matthew 26:13 we find that Jesus had these words of compliment to say concerning this act of Mary, “… wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” These two passages, concerning Martha’s confession and Mary’s worship, give evidence that both these sisters achieved the balance between duty and devotion.
 
But the question remains, “What about you?” Will you just take a moment to reflect? Where is your focus is? Have you been giving yourself to non-essentials – things that are here today but tossed out tomorrow? Through this pandemic, I think it has given every believer a time to pause…to slow down. It has given us more time with the Lord. More time with our family. Church…these are the things that are eternal.