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 fter Jesus was rejected at Nazareth, He started
on a tour of the cities and villages in the region of Galilee. It hadbeen Jesus’ pattern from the beginning of His ministry to teach, preach, and heal, raise the dead,
and cast out demons everywhere He went. His typical pattern had been to enter a synagogue on Sunday, proclaim the good news about the kingdom, and then heal. Sometimes the people
responded; on other occasions they objected to His ministry. We do not read about the people singing or giving money prior to His messages. We do not read about Jesus giving
a prayer prior to speaking or healing. The gospels and the secular records say nothing, except that He healed and preached. Whatever else Jesus may have done as part of His
ministry, it is clear that the Holy Spirit considered it to be of less importance. This is a significant contrast to the typical Christian worship service today. Jesus’ emphasis
was on the teaching of scripture and healing. Everything else was secondary. Touring The Region. Our study (Matt. 9:35-38)
begins with Matthew's summarizing Jesus’ actions,
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. (NASB) Matt. 9:35 As we have already said in addition to preaching, Jesus healed the people
of every kind of disease and sickness. The Greek word for “disease” refers
to the causes of disease: bacteria, viruses, or hereditary abnormalities.
The Greek word for “sickness” refers to the side effects
of the diseases, such as fever, fatigue, or sinus problems. Together
we understand that when Jesus cared for a person, He took care of the
entire person. He healed everything!
Jesus cared for the entire person - the spiritual and physical.
The next verse in Matthew reveals that Jesus had a shepherd’s heart
for the people.
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (NASB) Matt. 9:36 Here we are told that the people were distressed and “dispirited.” The
Greek word for “dispirited” has the idea of “put down.” That
is the people were discouraged, distressed, disheartened, and disappointed.
Yes, the people had religious leaders, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees,
but they were not good shepherds. If we look at the Old Testament, we
discover that God had rejected many of the Jewish priests and so called
prophets who had lived before them. Most of the priests and prophets
were either serving themselves or seeking the approval of the people.
Here is our first statement from God in Jeremiah,
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ and those who handle the law did not know Me . . . (NASB) Jer. 2:8 God declares that the Old Testament priests did not know Him and did
not know the scriptures about which they so confidently spoke. Just imagine
someone “speaking for the Lord” and being uniformed about
the passage they were teaching. Unfortunately, this often occurs today!
Then only three chapters later, God adds this rebuke to
the prophets and the priests,
An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule on their own authority; and My people love it so! (NASB) Jer. 5:30-31 This is an incredible statement. The so-called prophets were lying to
the people and pretending that God had spoken to them. The priests were
acting like benevolent dictators or “lording it over the people,” and
everyone liked it. What a rebuke! What does it reveal about the people?
Both the religious leaders and the people in the congregation were wrong
- all of them!
Then eighteen chapters later God adds another to His charges
against them,
For both prophet and priest are polluted; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD. (NASB) Jer. 23:11 Here we discover that the religious leaders were in sin, and they were
sinning in God’s house. Today we would say that they sinned in
the church.
Later in Malachi, God says that the priests did not teach
the truth,
“For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by the instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of hosts. (NASB) Mal. 2:7-8 They did not attempt to teach God’s truth. They used the scriptures
for their own purposes. They were supposed to warn the people to stop
sinning, but they didn’t. They were to teach about the whole character
of God and not just a one-sided picture of God. Today some only teach
that “God is love” and not much else. The goal as preachers
is not to reform society, to rebuke the people for offensive conduct,
to attempt to transform the leadership team, nor to exclusively encourage
the people. God’s purpose for His priests and shepherds was to
call attention to the people’s sin and to teach what God has said
in the scriptures.
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