TWO TYPES OF BELIEVERS Matt 8:1-4 & Matt. 9:20-22 Matt 8: 1 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. KJV Matt 9: 20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. KJV The woman and the leper in these Scriptures according to the law were both unclean and therefore are not permitted in the assembly, hence outcasts. They were both afflicted in their bodies. The woman probably had cancer of the cervix or cancer of the endometrium or chronic endometritis or hemorrhaging fibroid etc, the first three have very poor prognosis judging that it has lasted for 12 years, hence there could have been a spread to structures near to the womb as well as metastasis to other parts of the body which the woman is not aware of, and this may be the reason Jesus told her that be whole of her plague because she was already healed of the bleeding (Mk 5:34). The man also has a medically definable disease Leprosy or Hansen’s disease. The point is not to bore you with medical terms but to show the similarity of their cases and also how the woman’s case is much more fatal. Having said this I would move to the object lesson. The Leper knows that Jesus has power to heal him but does not know if Jesus would want to heal him, if the leper had known about Jesus well from Isaiah he would know that Jesus came with healing on His wings; he would know that Jesus came to heal him. The woman on the other hand knows that Jesus has the ability to heal her, but she also knows that she can get her healing from Jesus whether Jesus like it or not if she operates the right button – faith in Jesus. This woman did not come kneeling and begging Jesus, but she violently surged into the kingdom of God that has come to us by force – imagine the racing to meet up with Jesus that has passed for she came from behind; the pushing and meandering plus her audacity of faith. To the glory of God Jesus met all their needs, but the woman received praise and recommendation. It is not all the time one could always get that sort of opportunity the leper had, but one can always bulldoze his way with faith in God’s word and FORCE Jesus to stop, turn and address him favourably. We have these two categories of believers, and we have those who fluctuate between the two in various proportions, but the Lord deals with each of us as we sincerely come to Him. We find ourselves castigating one another on how we are so timid or boastful when we pray or make declarations as though we are unsaved or that we have become God ourselves (respectively). The point I am trying to make is that we should always realize that all believers are not on the same level of understanding and knowledge but God accommodates all of us, therefore we should stop pulling down those who are rising in faith, neither do we deter those who are on lower level of understanding. However, the Lord would love it if we would operate on a higher level of understanding as we improve to be like Him. Lest I forget, I did not hear the Lord or anyone mention sin, sinning, repent or repenting in or on these two afflicted people in the scripture. The very act of submitting to Jesus, believing in Him and what He stands for is the repentance. We may talk about this some other time. Do you think that your sins are too much and Jesus has passed you by, well the word of God says that whoever that calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved; do you think you are irredeemable, well Jesus came not to condemn the world but through Him the world might be saved. Take hold of this Scriptures, tell the Lord that you are sorry for not believing His saving grace, and take Him as Lord and Saviour, then declare yourself righteous to the hearing of the seen and unseen for they would be your witnesses on that day; then continue to walk in righteousness as the Holy Spirit teaches and leads you.
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:14:00 +0000
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