Jesus pushes against the religious leaders who felt they deserved God’s blessing for their righteousness. In reality they were also sinners in need of forgiveness, they just didn’t want to admit it.
Jesus came to rescue all of us. The key is we have to acknowledge we need to be rescued. We need God’s help!
Jesus most often healed people who pursued Him or they had someone pursuing Jesus for healing on their behalf. We also discover that physical healing is amazing and possible through Jesus, but it’s also short lived and not nearly as important as spiritual healing. Jesus came to forgive sins and introduce God’s Kingdom.
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Matthew 10 Video:
Matthew 10 Notes:
Jesus sends out the disciples to do the very thing He had been doing – proclaiming the new kingdom and healing people.
Jesus warns them that some will want to also follow Him and some will try to stop them violently.
This is foreshadowing of what was to come at the end of the Gospel of Matthew when the disciples go out to the nations with the message that Jesus came to save all of humanity – that he died on the cross, rose from the dead, and His Spirit comes to live within those who follow Him.
They aren’t to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans yet. That was to come later.
Their goal is not to convert anyone. Their goal is to find those who are spiritually searching and help them and they are all around!
Once again Jesus uses hyperbole when he mentions hating our family. What He’s saying is our devotion to Him should be at the center of our lives which can lead to persecution from our family. We should fear or respect God more than our family because our family may reject Jesus and reject us when we follow Jesus.
When using the Scripture to interpret Scripture we later see in this passage that followers of Jesus die to themselves. We lose our lives serving others. These are traits of the best family members! They are selfless servants.
They become more like Jesus which is what a disciple or follower is called to become. A Christian is supposed to be a living representation of Christ everywhere she or he goes. We should trust Him first and foremost even if our family or others reject us because of our message.
How can you move Him more to the center of your life today?
How can you represent Jesus today?
