Matt 4:23
- There is a certain difference between “teaching” and “preaching”. They are the same message but delivered in different ways. “Teaching” is usually aimed at those who are already believers, while a “sermon” is more about sharing the gospel with those who have not yet heard.
- In Jesus’ day, all men could teach in the synagogue, a system used by both Jesus and Paul (Acts 19:8).
- The word “preach” comes from the Greek word “keryx” which means “herald”. A herald was a person who proclaimed a “message directly from the king”.
- In paradise before the fall, there were no diseases, but because of the fall of mankind, diseases have entered our world. It is not one person’s personal sin that creates disease, but disease has afflicted humanity as a whole because of sin.
- Not only does Jesus forgive us our sins, he also restores us to the way we were before the fall.
- Even today, the church is called to do these three:
- Preach the kingdom of God in society.
- Teaching in the church.
- Pray for the sick.
Matt 4:25
- Jesus did not go only to the Jewish people. Here we see that the Gentiles respond strongly to Jesus’ miracles and teachings.
- Probably they became curious about Jesus because of all the miracles, which in turn gave Jesus an opportunity to teach the people. But many eventually left Jesus.
- Certainly one would wish that more miracles would happen in the Church so that many curious seekers would come. But if you only follow Jesus because he is cool and because you have seen a miracle, you will soon leave him.
- Jesus doesn’t just want to entertain us, he also wants to teach us, and Jesus’ teaching on repentance and the like can be extremely challenging and difficult to digest.
- Probably they became curious about Jesus because of all the miracles, which in turn gave Jesus an opportunity to teach the people. But many eventually left Jesus.