Death By Degrees

  
He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. Mat 3:16.  This statement may well be the key to defining the ministry of Christ. 

And He proclaimed in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out demons. 

And a leper came to Him, begging Him and kneeling down to Him, and saying to Him, If You will, You can make me clean. 

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I will; be clean! 

And He having spoken, the leprosy instantly departed from him and he was cleansed. 

And He strictly charged him and immediately sent him away, 

and He said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone. But go and show yourself to the priest, and offer those things which Moses commanded for your cleansing, for a testimony to them. 

But going out, he began to proclaim it very much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was outside in deserted places. And they came to Him from every quarter. Mark 1:39-45.

And Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest. And offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them. Mat. 8:4.

The Curse of Leprosy

After Christ left Capernaum where He had cast a demon out of the man in the synagogue He went throughout Galilee and preached in various synagogues. Remember preaching, not healing or casting out demons, was Christ's main calling.

However, a certain leper came to Him, begging Him and kneeling down to Him. Mark 1:40.  We well might imagine that he knelt to show his humility.  No doubt, as a leper he was humble.  He was scorned by all in his community.  The Jews believed that a person would get leprosy only as punishment for sins committed. 
  
The story is told of a Jewish rabbi who was walking down the street to buy some eggs but when he saw a leper on the same street he refused to buy eggs from anyone on that street.  Perhaps the rabbi thought he was too holy to deal with anyone who had a leper walking their streets.
     

The account in Matthew indicates that his purpose for kneeling was to worship; a leper came and worshipped him. Mat. 8:2.  However, the word worship, as it is used here, has a variety of meanings.  It can mean as little as to fawn or crouch too. Strong G4352

Leprosy begins as small, red spots on the skin. Before too long the spots get bigger, and start to turn white, with sort of a shiny, or scaly appearance. Pretty soon the spots spread over your whole body and your hair begins to fall out - first from your head, then even from your eyebrows. As things get worse, your finger nails and toenails get sort of loose; they start to rot and eventually fall off. Then the joints of your fingers and toes begin to rot, and they start to fall off, piece by piece. Your gums start shrinking, and they can’t hold your teeth anymore, so you lose each of them. It keeps eating away at your face until literally your nose, your palate, and even your eyes rot - and you waste away until you die. Guzik

And Jesus, moved with compassion, put out His hand and touched him.  No doubt Jesus could have healed him by simply saying the words but He knew how lonely this man must be.  Luke tells us that there was a man full of leprosy.  This statement tells us that he was not recently diagnosed with the disease; he had been sick a long, long time.  Once it was known that he had leprosy no one would touch him anymore. 

A Miraculous Healing 

Lucado writes a very emotional, imaginary story about this man and his contact with the Saviour.  Here are two snippets from that story.  

Five years ago my wife stepped toward me.  She was the last to do so.  Now, he did.  I did not move, I just spoke.  "Lord, you can heal me if you will."  Had he healed me with a word, I would have been thrilled.  Had he cured me with a prayer, I would have rejoiced.  But he wasn't satisfied with speaking to me.  He touched me.  Five years ago my wife had touched me.  No one had touched me since.  Until today. ...
He cupped his hands on my cheeks and drew me so near I could feel the warmth of his breath and see the wetness in his eyes."

Our society has taught us that it is "not proper" to touch?  Would we put our arms around an unkempt homeless man?  Jesus Christ knew the value of the human touch.  

Jesus said to him, See that you tell no one; but go, show yourself to the priest. Mat 8:4.  This was required according to the law of Moses. 

And so that is where I am going.  I will show myself to my priest and embrace him.  I will show myself to my wife and embrace her.  I will pick up my daughter and I will embrace her.  And I will never forget the one who dared to touch me. He could have healed me with a word.  But he wanted to do more than heal me. He wanted to honour me, to validate me, to christen me.  Imagine that ... unworthy of the touch of a man, yet worthy of the touch of God.  

Christ said to the man He had healed, See that you say nothing to anyone.  But the man was so excited, and who wouldn't be, that he disobeyed Christ and he began to proclaim it very much.  Wasn't he speaking well of Christ, was Christ not being glorified?  So often we think we know what is best and so we do not follow instructions; that disobedience can have dire consequences!

Because this healed man disobeyed Christ Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was outside in deserted places.  No doubt everyone in the city would have clamoured to be healed.  Christ's mission was not to heal but to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

__________________________________
   Max Lucado, Just like Jesus, copyright 1998, p.35

Two Boats Full of Fish

He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. Mat 3:16.  This statement may well be the key to defining the ministry of Christ. 

And it happened that the crowd pressed on Him to hear the Word of God, He stood by the lake of Gennesaret.
And He saw two boats standing by the lake. But the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.
And He entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, He asked him to thrust out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the people out of the boat.
And as He stopped speaking, He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep and let your nets down for a haul.
And answering, Simon said to Him, Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing. Yet at Your word I will let down the net.
And doing this, they enclosed a great multitude of fish. And their net was being torn.
And they signaled the partners, those in the other boat, to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they were sinking.
And seeing, Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the haul of fish which they had taken,
and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not fear, from now on you will be taking men alive.
And bringing their boats onto land, forsaking all things, they followed Him. Luke 5:1-11.

The Setting

the lake of Gennesaret is more commonly known as The Sea of Galilee. 

He entered into a boat, and passed over, and came to His own city. Mat 9:1. After Christ moved from His home in Nazareth He made His home in the town of Capernaum which stood on the North-Western shore of The Sea of Galilee.

Christ had been preaching and the crowd got so intense that they pushed against Him, or maybe were pushed against Him.  To avoid the pressure He stepped into Simon's boat as He kept on preaching.  

Many people have found fault with Christ for not healing all the sick or all the demon-possessed which He met but Christ's main mission was to preach the gospel of the Kingdom.  It was not to heal the sick or to cast out demons.  He stayed true to His calling!

When Christ was finished preaching He told Simon to row the boat to the deep part of the Lake and lower the nets.  Simon objected and said, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing.  But because you say so we will do it again.

Well, they caught so many fish that the nets broke from the weight.  They called their partners, James and John and they came to help and both boats were full of fish to the point of sinking.

The term And seeing is easier to understand like this When Simon Peter saw this happen. Contemporary English Version.

The Human Messiah

Simon Peter fell at the knees of Jesus.  I can just imagine that most of us would have said, We sure did well this time, didn't we?  Trying to take as much credit for ourselves as is possible.

Bible teachers who are hung up on the idea that God is a Trinity often find that teaching even in places where the Bible just barely hints at it.  Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord.   

Trinitarian Bible teachers tell us that the word Lord, as it is used here means the second person of the Trinity, or, put in more dramatic words, God of very God.  Why don't they consider this fact?  The word Lord as it is used here is from the Greek kurios. Strong 2962.  One of the meanings of the Greek word Kurios is Mr. - used with respect; another possible meaning is master. 

The Trinity doctrine is a false teaching, a lie, that originates with ancient BABYLON and EGYPT and ASSYRIA where they worshipped triads of deities, trinities, for example, Sin + Shamash + Ishtar; Osiris + Isis + Horus; Anu + Bel + Ea. 
 https://plus.google.com/113319691454674109629/posts/Dy1mjkrQm1v

The Greeks picked up on this idea with their myriads of gods and the Roman Catholic church, in an effort to get more converts to Christianity, allowed the Greek converts to hold on to their belief in multiple gods.  However, the church re-shaped the Greek philosophy to fit into the idea that Jehovah is actually three persons.

That the Roman Universal Church fostered that teaching is perhaps not too surprising because they hold tradition to be superior to the Bible but what is so disgusting is that Protestants, who say they base all their teachings on the Bible, still preach the doctrine of the Trinity.

For he (Simon) and all who were with him were astonished at the haul of fish which they had taken, and so also were James and John ... who were partners with Simon.  That they were astonished that they had two boats full of fish is understandable but it does not prove that Christ is divine as some commentators tell us.

Pope Peter: The Married Pope

He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him. Mat 3:16.  This statement about John may well be the key to defining the ministry of Christ on whom the spirit of God descended.

And rising up from the synagogue, He entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was being seized with a great fever. And they asked Him for her.
And standing over her, He rebuked the fever. And it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
And the sun sinking, all, as many as had sick ones with different kinds of diseases brought them to Him. And laying hands on each of them, He healed them.
And also demons came out of many, crying out and saying, You are the Christ, the Son of God! And rebuking them, He did not allow them to speak; for they knew Him to be the Christ.
And day coming on, going out, He went into a deserted place. And the crowds looked for Him and came to Him, and held Him fast, not to pass away from them.
And He said to them, I must proclaim the gospel, the kingdom of God, to other cities, because I was sent on this mission.
And He proclaimed in the synagogues of Galilee. Luke 4:38-44. 

It should be noted that not all three synoptic gospels record the same events in the same sequence and at places, this can cause some confusion.  However, as far as I can tell these differences do not cause any major changes in the truths that are taught.

The Married Pope

Especial interest attaches to the mention of the mother-in-law of Peter, as proving that Jesus chose a married man to be an apostle, the very apostle from whom the celibate ministry of Rome professes to have received the keys. EBC 

Even if one believes that the church is to have a human leader (pope), which is a teaching the Bible opposes, the teaching that that leader (pope) should not be married is in direct opposition to the teaching of the Bible.  It is totally ironic that the Roman Catholic church chose Peter, a married man, to be the first pope of the church.  

For more on the leadership in the church see: 
https://kristamariia.wordpress.com/

After Christ had spoken in the synagogue He and His four disciples went directly to Simon's and Andrew's house.  

And they asked Him for her.  This could mean that she wanted to ask Christ to heal her but she was not feeling "up to it" so the son-in-law asked Him.  

Some versions have, they asked Him concerning her.  However, if this is the right wording it seems that it should have been asked after Christ had seen the patient, not before, as we have it in the book of Luke.

I wonder if Simon asked Christ to come to his house because his wife's mother was sick.  As soon as they arrived at Simon's home they told Christ about his wife's mother's sickness; probably a local fever for which that lake shore was notorious, and which was bred from the malaria of the marsh. EBC

Simon had never seen Christ heal anyone and maybe he was thinking, Well if this man can cast out demons maybe He can also heal the sick?  I will just find out for myself.

Luke was a medical doctor and it is interesting that of all three writers of the synoptic gospels he is the only one that mentions;

1. Simon's mother-in-law was seized with a great fever.
2. Christ was standing over her bed, as a doctor would.

Not only did Christ heal her but she felt "as good as new".  Immediately after the healing she arose and served them.

as many as had sick ones with different kinds of diseases brought them to Him. And laying hands on each of them, He healed them.  

It is interesting that Christ healed the mother-in-law on the Sabbath but He did not heal the crowds of the sick until after sunset.  On the Jewish calendar, Shabbat ends at nightfall, when three stars are visible, approximately 40 minutes after sunset and the first day of the week begins. Wikipedia, Judaism 101

It is sad that so often religious rules stand in the way of human welfare.  Christ had been in Peter's house ever since "church was out" but no sick people were brought to Christ for healing before sunset.  

This might have been either because the distance was further than "a Sabbath day's walk" or because carrying a sick person was more weight than was allowed to be carried on the Sabbath.  

Cold religion can be so unfeeling, murderous even, as we see in the history of the church.  Fortunately, many Christians have stepped outside the restraining church walls and have become involved in humanitarian agencies instead.

Easy Fame - Not for Christ

also demons came out of many, crying out and saying, You are the Christ, the Son of God! And rebuking them, He did not allow them to speak; for they knew Him to be the Christ.  One thing Christ did not need is some demons going about associating themselves with the Son of God.  It might have spread Christ's fame, with negative consequences, but He was not looking for fame; His mission was to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Christ had been working miracles ever since sunset and now after a little bit of sleep rising up quite early in the night, He went out and went away into a deserted place, and He was praying there. Mark 1:35. 

the crowds ... came to Him, and held Him fast, not to pass away from them.  They tried to hang on to Him but He made it clear to them that His mission was to proclaim the gospel, the kingdom of God, to other cities also. 

Church Leaders with wives

Here are a few ideas about the involvement an apostle's wife might have had in her husband's ministry:

When St. Paul’s apostolic authority was impugned (assailed by words), he insisted that he had the same right to bring with him in his travels a believing wife, which Peter exercised.  Have we not power, (Privilege, Strong G1849) to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? 1 Cor. 9:5.  (Read Cephas as Peter or Simon).

And Clement of Alexandria tells us that Peter’s wife acted as his coadjutor (a co-worker), ministering to women in their own homes, by which means the gospel of Christ penetrated without scandal the privacy of women’s apartments. EBC.