King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 12 notes
1When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
Jesus was a walking mass of authority and power; he comes down from the mountain after such power-packed teachings and men began to worship him.
The leper worships him and prays him for healing. Jesus heals him.
Right after, a centurion, a man amongst men who commanded a 100 strong men, came pleading with him to heal his servant.
Yes, Jesus was and is King of kings, and he demonstrated that here in the earth.
Now we look at his story and many men desire his authority, Power and anointing, and go back empty.
Why should God give such authority to men just because we read it in his book, the holy scriptures?
If men were given the authority of Christ, and to demonstrate it in full measure, men would require to be worshipped.
Yes, Jesus himself promised that this power was for all who believe, but why should he give it to men who were unworthy and who would trample it under foot?
Just look at our world today, the little power we have and make ourselves God.
Sad, but till we as believers subject ourselves truly to God and to his Spirit, we will wait for a real long whiles to see the power of the Christ demonstrated in our world today.
2And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
3And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.
As a testimony to who? To the priests, because according to the law of Moses, the priest examines people who have recovered from their illness and declares them clean.
So the priests and Co kept receiving testimony after testimony, and by their own mouths 👄 💋 declaring and authenticating the miracles of Jesus, yet they did not believe.
No wonder Jesus made this statement...
John 15:23-25 KJV
He that hateth me hateth my Father also. [24] If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. [25] But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
5And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
13And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
As thou has believed.
In other words, what and how you believe is what and how it will happen to you.
It's not just what you believe, but you can actually determine how what you believe should turn out for your good.
The centurion was a man of power and knew how to communicate with men of power — he spoke boldly and truly what he believed, but was not pompous or high-minded about it.
Because scripture says he beseeched Jesus, meaning he started off with pleading and respect and all humility before stating his opinion.
That is a lesson right there about speaking to authority and getting results.
Those with power love men who are bold but know their limits and give utmost respect as due.
14And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.
15And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.
16When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
It seems, on observation, when it comes to healing and answered prayer, that
there are some constants and some prerogatives.
To man belongs the constants, and to God belongs the prerogatives.
It is a constant to pray,
to have faith, and
to continue in belief for God to answer prayers,
and it is the prerogative of God to answer when all these are met, or to not answer despite these constants being met.
It is also God's prerogative, despite the constants, to heal and answer prayers without them being met.
I.e. where people just say they were healed in a meeting though they did not expect nor believe it.
The above is not doctrine but my observation, very much subject to change and truth.
Having said this, some individuals get more results and certainty of answers to prayer than others, and that on the basis of having established a strong relationship with the Lord.
Just like Moses, who could even tell God whose prayer to answer and whose to reject.
Moses knew God, and vice versa. He knew God beyond writings, to the point of a one-on-one personal relationship.
And yet even with him, he was not always guaranteed answers. But he knew how to move the hand of God to secure answers.
18Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
It seems Jesus was just wary. Of men, he did not trust man.
Whenever it seems crowds are gathering, he just smartly moves on.
When they want to keep him at a place, he relocates.
19And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
20And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Jesus, I believe, here was helping the people count the cost of following him.
He wanted the scribe to know that it was not all healing and miracles. There was a price to pay of homelessness 🏡 and danger. In peril of the weather. Etc.
21And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
22But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Another price to pay. Many things you cannot participate in.
Why did Jesus deny one and yet accepted another...
Is that where the call comes in?
One was called and chosen and another was not?
I have often wondered why Jesus would refuse one who wanted to follow him wholeheartedly in one breath, and yet turn in the next and compel another who had a genuine reason to defer commitment to the right time.
I have often wondered about this, and as I read this passage today I wondered the same thing; then a thought 💭 came to mind to read the passage again, but more carefully this time...
As I did, I realized the following...
1. Do you realize that Jesus never denied the scribe or prevented the scribe from following him... No, Jesus did not, just read it carefully.
He did not, but rather he cautioned him that it was not as rosy a journey as it seems on the surface — it was a journey of many sleepless nights, and indeed many nights spent in the open fields because of nowhere to lay one's head 🤕.
He was forewarning him of what the journey to follow him really entailed.
Yes, there were miracles, many great miracles; yes, there were signs and wonders and the foretaste of the kingdom, but there were also many great trials that can cause one to be offended, wounded and to fall off... Jesus was forewarning him.
To the second, he was:
1. Already a disciple of Jesus, so we can assume he knew the cost, especially since Jesus had just raised the challenges of following him, and yet this disciple was willing to follow him.
However, this disciple had an urgent family 👪 responsibility of burying his own father in honour and respect, as commanded by the law.
Here Jesus teaches this disciple the second lesson... We must deny many things and people and pleasures to follow Jesus.
Including family — he was not teaching negligence of family and children, but priorities — the dead should bury the dead, but to them that are alive and have the light of life and the Son of righteousness with them, nothing was worth exchanging time for...
Especially the dead whose time was past.
In both cases Jesus taught lessons and left the decision to them.
Of course we can say one was compelled to follow and the other discouraged... But that in no way makes it easier for the disciple than the scribe...
They both had a hard decision to make... We are not told their choices though...
What do you think they chose?
23And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
Who does that, who cries to another man to save them?
Normally men in such a situation of life and death cry out to God, or their gods, as was the case of Jonah.
No man goes crying to another man for salvation in such matters.
In fact, when you cry out to God in such instances, you are pleading for mercy, knowing very well that he may or may not save you.
But here was a man — God in the flesh — who by all means will save when cried out to.
It was not a matter of he may or may not. It was a matter of he will save them.
Oh, such surety to have God in the flesh — Jesus Christ.
And when he left, he left us a promise that as sure as he was with us, and we could count on him even in such dire times, he was sending us another like himself — even the Holy Spirit.
So why then are we not experiencing the Holy Spirit like the way the disciples experienced Jesus?
One of the reasons is that he is spirit and not flesh — and that is our limitation — relating to spirit.
We fail many times in such respect; many, many times the flesh excels than the spirit.
And even when the Spirit forewarns us or guides us, we are negligent and thus unable to yield.
I think that is the main deal and limitation — for instance, Jesus at every instance could heal any sickness and disease using different techniques; how does he know what to do in each situation?
By the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For some he laid hands, others he asked to go wash in a pool, and yet others he just spoke.
By knowing the mind and will of the Spirit, he is able to produce results.
I will not be presumptuous to think that is the only reason for our failure to walk in constant power and victory, but I believe that is a major reason.
26And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
Funny, but Jesus actually expected his disciples to know better.
He's like, why disturb me over this matter, why are you so frantic... as you of all people should have known better.
27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
33And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
34And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.