Jesus Healing
Contents
Jesus heals
Luke 5:27-39, Galatians 2:20
Today's verse depicts Jesus calling a customs officer named 'Levi'. There were many people who obeyed the Lord's call, but they were all transformed into people who could do amazing things by faith. Rather, these men were loyal and thankful that they had called a poor and sinful person like themselves. It is because the calling itself was moved and thankful.
So it is today. Just as food cannot impress people who are full, faith doesn't really impress people who think they don't have enough. We tend to think of faith as just an accessory. It is because they do not know the soul or value it. Our world today is moving toward such a world, and even those who claim to be Christians often live with almost forgetting their souls. Because we live in a materialistic world. Levi in today's text was one of those people.
1. Jesus Calling Sinners (13-17)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Levi in today's verse speaks of 'Matthew' (Matthew 9:1). Matthew was a publican who was criticized, despised, and hated by society at that time. The tax collectors were treated as sinners who could not be saved at all because they were people who collected the taxes of their own people and gave them to the Gentiles. Moreover, they were hated even more by collecting excessive taxes in order to take care of their own teeth.
But Jesus called this Matthew. Rather, Jesus is the one who calls sinners, heals them, restores them, and makes them a greater missionary. The text depicts the scene where Matthew is called by Jesus.
After that, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs office.
“Follow me.” So he left everything and got up and followed me. 5:27-28
It is written very simply, but there are probably many hidden times and hidden languages in these words. Matthew's deep conflict is included. Although he is sitting at the customs office and counting his money, he has a lot of money behind him, but on the other hand, he can see into the heart of Matthew, who has no way to fill the void in his heart. Matthew was a man who seemed to have no lack physically. He was a healthy man, and he must have been quite good financially while doing a sales job. Later, as a disciple, he wrote the Gospel of Matthew so meticulously.
But his soul was empty, and his soul was sick. No matter how physically healthy and materially rich a person may be, if he does not have spiritual joy and satisfaction, he is a sick soul. You may not even feel good about yourself. To fill the void with worldly things, they keep busy, meeting people diligently, and sometimes indulging in pastimes and hobbies. However, he doesn't even know himself that it is because of a feeling of emptiness that makes him seem so busy and hectic. He just thinks he's busy. In fact, such actions are self-hypnosis and deception to fill the void.
No matter how splendid and great you are physically, if your soul is empty, you are bound to feel empty somewhere. It's like a house with a well-decorated exterior, but when you open the door and enter, it's like an empty, achromatic house. A person who is full of soul can see the interior, which is full of beautiful colors, when you open the door, even if the outside is not very flashy.
Please take good care of the garden of your soul. An empty soul that is not cared for becomes overgrown with weeds and, later, full of garbage. It becomes full of useless thoughts and becomes a dirty soul. Please take good care of the garden of your soul.
Matthew became a completely new person after receiving the Lord. He was not a very noisy disciple, but he was a very meticulous and responsible person. So, in the end, he left behind a great work called the Gospel of Matthew.
2. Forsake, Rise, Follow
Matthew's response to Jesus' call is recorded as follows.
He left everything and got up and followed him.
All of Matthew's life is contained in these words. Forsake, rise, follow (leave, rise, follow). Blessed are those who can express their life beautifully in one sentence. Make your own life in one sentence. What would be the sentence? It shouldn’t be a sentence like ‘a person who always lives in dissatisfaction’. “A person who always pleases God,” “A person who always lives with a grateful heart,” “A person who always lives with a mission to serve.” I know how to say something like this.
This is the expression of Matthew, ‘Forsaken, arose, followed’. This is what it means to ‘clean up your daily life’. This is what it means to 'abandon previous vested interests'. It's like 'throwing away the values you've been holding onto'. It means that we had given up on those things and got up and followed the words of Jesus. He killed the old man, was born again, and started a new life.
I have been crucified with Christ
So it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
Now I live in the flesh, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
To live by faith in the Son of God. Galatians 2:20
I bless this confession to be the confession of all of you.
Finally, Matthew invites the people around him, especially the tax collectors, to his house to have a farewell party. Jesus was also invited there. When they saw Jesus having a meal at the tax collector Matthew's house, they criticized how the Pharisees were eating with sinners. To this the Lord answered.
The healthy have no need of a doctor, but the sick.
I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 5:31-32
Just as doctors are useless to healthy people, Jesus has nothing to do with people who think they are good. In fact, it is a very scary statement. Not having a relationship with Jesus means being judged. Jesus is the Lord of judgment, and Jesus is the savior. Therefore, not having a relationship with Jesus means that you have nothing to do with salvation and will ultimately be judged.
The “righteous” the Lord said did not come to call the righteous does not refer to the true righteous, but to the Pharisees who pretend to be righteous. In fact, the Pharisees who pretended to be righteous were spiritually ill, but they did not know that they were ill. Treatment is impossible for these people because they consider themselves healthy. Rather, those who know that they are not healthy and humbly kneel to Jesus, the Physician of the soul, have hope for healing and restoration. That is why Jesus said, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
3. New wine in new wineskins
The Lord looked at the Pharisees who pretended to be righteous, looked down on others, and did not accept the gospel, and said that they were old skins.
No one pours new wine into old wineskins.
New wine will burst the wineskins, and the wine will spill out, and the wineskins will be ruined.
New wine must be put into new wineskins. 5:37-38
The Pharisees were hardy people who did not know how to open their souls to heaven, to be moved by the words given to me today, and to respond with joy like little children. They were people who found their faith in ‘doing nothing’, like old leatherskins that had hardened. So, the content of faith is always full of lists of things not to do, and we focused our attention on things we shouldn't do in order not to sin. So their beliefs have become “a lump of prohibition.”
But for Jesus, faith is “doing something.” For Jesus, faith is life. Life is empowering, transforming, nourishing, perfecting, and growing. Active, active. It is to love, to save, to shine, and to please God. I hope you all become such vital beliefs.
Faith is that. It's not about 'doing', it's about 'doing'. Believers are people of 'do', not people of 'don't'. The gospel is not about pursuing what you don't do, it's about following what you should do. The gospel does not shrink, flee, or become passive. It is a powerful, always new, world-changing ability.
By any chance, is there something you are proud of not doing? It deserves praise for being more thorough in that respect than others. But a better faith is one that finds joy in what you do and glorifies God in what you do. Be a true Christian by doing something, not by doing something. Don't be thankful for not committing sins, but give thanks for doing God's will. Don't be content with doing no harm to others, but rejoice in living a life of service. Don't be proud of not doing bad things, but take pride in doing good things. That is the true Christian image, and the life that the Lord is pleased with.
Matthew was in good health both physically and materially. But I was going the wrong way. It was to live by focusing only on material things and the body. That soul was like a field overgrown with weeds and neglected, and it was a life without satisfaction, joy, and gratitude. It was an unhappy life, a sick life. But after meeting Jesus, he was healed and restored. Perhaps that life could not have been as comfortable as it was before. The pockets wouldn't have been too thick. However, the life of walking with Jesus was moving, joy, and gratitude every day. That is why the Gospel of Matthew recorded that impression.
Take care of your soul. I hope that by walking with Jesus, you will live a life full of satisfaction, joy, and gratitude for your soul every day. I hope that every day will be a life filled with emotion and emotion. So, in the name of the Lord, I bless you that your body, soul, and faith life will all lead to a healthy life of grace.