Matthew 17

I actually read this passage last night, on schedule, but didn't end up having a chance to write about it until now. I just re-read it to be safe, but for some reason I don't have many thoughts about this section.

Matthew 17 covers the account of Jesus' transfiguration - being revealed in His glory to a few of the disciples - as well as the healing of a demon possessed boy and a story about Jesus paying taxes. I'm just not in a place mentally where I am drawing anything interesting from these sections... maybe I need to just go pray for a bit. Its been a long day.

Matthew 10

We've seen some of the disciples mentioned earlier in Matthew, but here in chapter 10 the twelve main followers of Jesus are listed in full and commissioned by Him to be His emissaries to Israel. He sends them out, for I'm not sure how long, but based on later events in the Gospels it must have only been a relatively short period of time.

Despite that, though, Jesus gave them pretty extraordinary authority! He gave them power over demons and sickness (verse 1), even to the point of raising the dead (verse 8), as well as being able to bless and curse the places they visited (verses 12-15). They were also to depend on the generosity of those they visited, to the point of not bringing spare coats or lots of supplies for the journey (verses 9-10). Talk about having to depend on God!

This chapter also contains one of my favorite quotes in the Bible:

"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28, NASB)

Chilling, and a good reminder of the power of the God whom we serve, and who gave Himself for us!

Matthew 9

Chapter 9 is largely composed of Jesus healing various people - blind men, a person muted by demon possession, a paralytic, and even a dead girl. Interestingly, in at least one case Jesus told those healed (the two blind men of verses 27-31) not to tell anyone what had happened... but they did anyway. I'm not sure if that was a case of reverse psychology on Jesus' part, or if He really did want to keep a lower profile; if the later, I don't understand why.

We also get the account here of Matthew, a tax collector, being called as one of Jesus' disciples. He is the author of this book, of course, so up till now the stories told would have been compiled from second-hand sources... but from here on out, he is writing about events he actually witnessed.

Finally, in the middle of the chapter we have Jesus' response to two different questions: why he associated with tax collectors and sinners, and why He and His disciples did not fast. I love his answers, especially to the first question! He points out, quite rightly, that it is the sick (sinners) who need a physician (savior). The reality is also that the Pharisees who asked the question were in fact sinners, they just didn't think of themselves that way because of their religiosity. May we be careful never to fall into the same trap, and to be willing to reach out to those we may see on the outside as dirty or sinful - just like Jesus did.

Matthew 8

Matthew 8 contains several short stories about Jesus' ministry, but very interesting ones. The first shows examples of Jesus healing people, with an account of a Roman Centurion who believed Jesus didn't even need to come to his home to heal someone. Of course he was correct, and Jesus states that he has found more faith in this man than any of the Jews. Pretty sweet!

The third healing reported here is of Peter's mother in law. Let me say that again: mother in law. What does that mean? Peter was married! So the man who the Catholics built the idea of the papacy on was married, but they prohibit their priests (all the way from the lowliest up to the pope) from being married. Yeah, sorry guys: ya got this one wrong.

All of these healings, and the text states there were many more than these three, were fulfilling more prophecy about Jesus. Matthew quotes part of Isaiah 53:4 in the passage here, and it is quite applicable.

Following this we have the fairly famous account of Jesus calming a storm. What I like most here is that He was sleeping through it for a while - its things like this that remind us He was human - and then His perfect control over nature shows that he is also fully God. We also see here that His disciples at this early stage really don't realize who He is, based on their reaction.

Finally, we have the account of Jesus casting demons out of two men and into a herd of pigs. The locals aren't thrilled about the loss of the herd, but the more interesting thing here to me is the reaction of the demons to Jesus' presence. In verse 29 they ask: "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?" This highlights a few things:

- They know Jesus' true identity
- They fear Him
- They are aware that they will be tormented at a future time, and that the time was not yet there

If memory serves there are other places in the Gospels where a demon-possessed person rightly identifies Jesus, and if those following Him didn't fully believe it themselves you'd think that would tip the scales. It also must be terrifying to *know* you are destined for judgement and torment... I wonder if the angels who rebelled and became demons knew that was going to be their punishment, or if it wasn't till after their rebellion failed that they realized it? They must have thought they and Satan had some chance, or why would they have turned on God in the first place? Dear me, though, I am getting off-topic; we'll come back to this in a future passage, I'm sure.