Testifying of Jesus' Divinity to the Jews - Matthew's Quest

Matthew is trying to testify of Jesus' divinity to the Jews in his writings.

http://classic.scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/g/52

The most obvious example of this is his inclusion of multiple Old Testament scriptures and then his explanation of how Jesus fulfilled those scriptures. In addition to this he also tells multiple stories that show people watching Jesus do things that no other human being could do.

I believe that's his purpose in sharing a string of stories in Matthew 8 and 9. Jesus was able to control the weather.

24And, behold, there arose a great ^atempest 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.

26And he saith unto them, Why are ye ^afearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and ^brebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the ^asea obey him!

Devils recognized who He is.

28¶And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with ^adevils, 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 ^athe time?

He could forgive sins and cause the lame to walk. Not only that, but many people saw this happen.

2And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the ^apalsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their ^bfaith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good ^ccheer; thy ^dsins be forgiven thee.

3And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, Thisman blasphemeth.

4And Jesus ^aknowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?

5^aFor whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?

6But that ye may know that the ^aSon of man hath ^bpower on earth to ^cforgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

7And he arose, and departed to his house.

8But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

These are tremendous evidences of Jesus' divinity. Experiences in which miracles occurred and many people saw these miracles. I love reading these stories, as I feel that Jesus was indeed our Savior and the Son of God and that He did things no man has ever done because He is greater than us all. Most importantly, despite his great power, He loves us and helps us just like he helped those people.

Have a great day.

Matthew 8 - Showing how much Jesus cares for each individual

I believe that as the writers of the gospel pondered what to include, they likely had certain messages they hoped to get across, and they included the stories they did in order to convey those messages. Matthew 8 appears to be a chapter largely focused on showing us how much Jesus loved the people individually. Consider these verses:

2And, behold, there came a ^aleper 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 ^acleansed.

Jesus cared for the leper and cleansed him.

8The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not ^aworthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be ^bhealed.

9For I am a man under ^aauthority, 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.

10^aWhen Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great ^bfaith, no, not in Israel.

11And I say unto you, That ^amany shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

12But the ^achildren of the kingdom shall be cast out into ^bouterdarkness: there shall be ^cweeping and gnashing of teeth.

I love this story. Jesus didn't care that the Centurion was a Roman. He recognized the man's great faith and not only healed the servant but inferred that the man was going to heaven while many Jews wouldn't make it. He once again cared about the individual, not the customs of the day.

16¶When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with ^adevils: and he cast out the ^bspirits with hisword, and ^chealed all that were sick:

He healed them all. Tremendous love.

Did Jesus Really Walk on the Earth?

I just read the blog of one of our friends who spent 3 months in Jerusalem. As I read, I felt that indeed, Jesus had been in those places and did actually teach and heal the people so long ago. I am convinced he is the Savior of the World and have the hope that we will meet him personally some day.

I am going to read the New Testament and capture my thoughts about Him here. I appreciate the Spirit which can help me know Jesus is a real person who gave his life to save us from sin and help us on a daily basis.

John 15 speaks of the Holy Ghost's role in teaching us about Jesus:

26But when the ^aComforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall ^btestify of me:

He did that for me today.

Jesus' life - Foreshadowing the Atonement

In Matthew 8, Matthew applies a verse we usually use to show what Jesus did in the Atonement to the act of healing someone.

16¶When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with ^adevils: and he cast out the ^bspirits with hisword, and ^chealed all that were sick:

17That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, ^aHimself took our ^binfirmities, and bare our^csicknesses.

In this instance Matthew says Jesus healed people to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah from Isaiah 53. Jesus performed the Atonement to heal people, but it appears that he also showed during his life the things that the Atonement would help him perform for all people. Jesus can heal all of us, just as he healed those in this verse thanks to his Atonement. His life was in many ways a foreshadowing of all the things the Atonement would allow him to do for us, including provide us comfort, heal us, and bring us closer to God.

I love the new Testament which teaches us of Jesus.

Teach your children what they need to know 5 years before they need to know it

I have learned that kids learn so much more quickly than I ever thought they would. It's taught me that helping them learn the important things in life at a very young age is critical.

The president of the children's organization in the church spoke to this topic in October 2010 general conference. Here's her words:

"The world will teach our children if we do not, and children are capable of learning all the world will teach them at a very young age. What we want them to know five years from now needs to be part of our conversation with them today. Teach them in every circumstance; let every dilemma, every consequence, every trial that they may face provide an opportunity to teach them how to hold on to gospel truths."

I agree that 5 years early is probably about the right amount of time to help kids be strong and solid in their thoughts and habits. I appreciate the counsel to plan early what to teach my kids.

Have a great day.

The Most Spiritual Don't Always Lead in Spiritual Things

In life we often think that the smartest, or the strongest or the wisest will be the leaders. Sometimes, however, there's reasons for other people to lead or to perform important acts. In the church an example of this is John the Baptist. Surely no one was worthy to baptize the Savior. However, Jesus came to John to receive this necessary ordinance. If anyone didn't need baptism, it was Jesus who never sinned. However, it's a commandment and we need to be obedient. Also, it's interesting that John performed the baptism. While a great person, surely Jesus was many times more impressive than John, but somebody had to do the baptism, and John was chosen. Here's the account from Matthew 3:

13¶Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.

In serving, sometimes we're the "somebody" and sometimes others are the "somebody". That's just fine. We just need to do our best and serve when we should.