Read Matthew 9: 1 - 17
Jesus has the authority to forgive sin. The people who observed this encounter were "filled with awe" (verse 8). Would you have been? Or do you tend to be more like some of the scribes who resented what Jesus did because it did not fit their pre-determined interpretations of what was possible, what was right, what was legal? They called it blasphemy. Even when Jesus questioned their thoughts, not their words, their THOUGHTS - their prejudices were not shaken.
O, my friends, I want to be one who sees Jesus and is filled with awe! I want that kind of vision. I want that kind of heart. Pray with me ...
O Lord, be my wisdom. Give me eyes to see you as I read and study. Give me a heart that bows in awe over your authority ... your words ... your actions ... your very presence. Guard my heart from cynicism and criticism.
All of these miracles recorded in chapters 8 and 9 were happening around the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. I suspect that no one living and working in that region was oblivious to the splash being made by this Rabbi! The people are watching and listening. I think Matthew was as well. Matthew was a tax collector. The Roman system of tax collecting involved local people. Matthew was a Jew ... but a Jew that was collaborating with the Roman government. A tax amount was required to be sent to Rome. The tax collector was responsible for gathering those monies and getting them to the authorities in Rome. Any monies above the amount required that the tax collector could collect became the possession of the tax collector. It is not hard to see why tax collectors were hated. They were not included in "polite society". They were considered traitors ... collaborating with the enemy. And there is Matthew.
So when Jesus approaches him ... it would not have been without Matthew's prior knowledge about him and his activities. These were small towns. I wonder how long Matthew had been thinking about him. I wonder if his sleep had been disturbed by the things he had seen and heard. We can't know ... but we can know that when Jesus said to this tax collector, "You, follow me", Matthew seized the opportunity and did just that! He left his profession ... he couldn't do it anymore.
What about you? Are you "all in" with the Lord? If you are reading this blog, you are either a "follower" or one thinking about it. If you are in the later category ... what are you waiting for?
Remember, only Jesus has the authority to forgive your sins. And your sins separate you from God. Only Jesus has the authority to make you able to "walk" with God. Only Jesus ...
Jesus said "follow me" to Matthew. He offers the same invitation to you. Do you? Will you? Did you follow once but have gotten off the path? Today is the day you have been given. Just today. Can you hear him calling to you? Let's close our time together today with the words from an old hymn, written in 1880:
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling ... See, on the portals He's waiting and watching
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading ... Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing ... Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Oh! for the wonderful love He has promised ... Tho we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Come home ... Come home.
Ye who are weary, come home.
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