John the Baptist, as you know, was sent into this world by God as the forerunner to the Messiah. He was to prepare the way for the coming of the Anointed One from God. And as he did so, he proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven was imminent. It was about to dawn upon this world. A kingdom that knows no boundaries. It's not isolated to a geographical location. It is a kingdom that knows no limitations of language or culture. It is a kingdom that envelops the whole world. For it is the reign of God's anointed king over all things. And so with the coming of the king, the kingdom came, the power came, the glory came. But were the people ready for the dawning of this kingdom? John's announcement of the kingdom's imminent arrival was accompanied by a command. Repent, he said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Why the need for repentance? Well, the hearts and the lives of the people were not in tune with God. They needed to be prepared to receive the anointed one from God and yet their hearts were full of selfishness and pride. and their lives were full of sin and rebellion and so John's message was the same message essentially that had been preached by the prophets who had gone before him prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah like Ezekiel and Daniel who had called the people to repentance but now, now there's a greater urgency for the people to repent in their hearts and to change their lives for the kingdom of heaven was imminent, it was near, it was about to come. The kingdom then was at the heart of John's message to prepare the people for the kingdom and the coming king. And when that king came, when the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ came and began his public ministry, he echoed John's message. chapter 4 and verse 17, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the kingdom has dawned for the King has come. And yet While the message at first glance seems to be the same as the message of John the Baptist, it's actually a different message. John the Baptist said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. And then he pointed out the reality of the coming king. who would find in the world not hearts prepared to receive him, not lives that were lived to honor him, but people who were running around doing their own thing, seeking their own glory, fulfilling their own dreams, serving their own passions. And so John's message had a focus on judgment. But when Jesus comes and he says repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, there's a different flavor to the message, a different focus in the words that he says. For we're told that he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. The good news of the Kingdom. You see, in a sense, John's message wasn't entirely good news. John's message was intended to shake people to the very core of their being with the reality of their sinfulness and with the reality of God's justice and the impending judgment that was about to fall upon them if the king came and found them unprepared, found them unready to receive him. found them unrepentant and unresponsive to him. Jesus brings good news of the power of the kingdom, of the glory of its king, who was coming, yes, into a world full of sin, into a world full of rebellion, in a world full of selfishness and pride and deceit. Yes, a world that was marked by decay and death. He was coming into this world though to bring life, to bring restoration. He was coming into this world to bring healing, to bring transformation, to bring change. He wasn't coming into this world to seek the lost, to judge and condemn and to punish them. He was coming into this world to seek the lost that he may find them and save them. that He may take hold of them and bind up their wounds and heal their broken hearts and transform their sin-stained lives and make them glorious and presentable to God, that they may stand before Him without shame, that they may come before Him with boldness, not as rebels anymore, but as sons. and heirs. And so Jesus came preaching the gospel, the good news of the kingdom for he was what Malachi described as the son of righteousness and he had arisen with healing in his wings and the darkness of this world, the that kept the glory of God's love and grace and mercy hidden from the eyes of men and women and boys and girls. This darkness was about to dissipate as the light began to spread with the dawning of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. and as it strengthened and as the warmth of its race touched this world that was hard and cold like ice, there would be a melting of hearts, a transforming of lives, a refreshing and a renewal, and life would spring forth where there had been death, and grace would be known. where there had been condemnation. And that's what we're seeing in this paragraph that takes our attention this morning. Here in these words that are so full of the healing power of Jesus of Nazareth. Look at the healings that were performed. Jesus came, we're told, and he taught in their synagogues and he proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom and he healed every disease and every affliction among the people. His fame spread and people came, they brought the sick to him. All kinds of sick people were brought to Jesus. Those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains. Some were significant diseases, incurable diseases like leprosy that that deformed people's figure and ate away at their flesh. They were like the walking dead and no one would go near them for fear that they would catch the disease and that their own lives would be turned upside down and literally destroyed long before death eventually arrived to give them peace. Jesus he would go up to lepers, he would extend his hand to lepers, he would touch lepers and he would remain uncontaminated and the power of healing would come to them so that they were transformed in a moment, their flesh was restored their disease was banished. And then there were those with colds and sniffles and passing fevers that laid people low, perhaps that was the case with Peter's mother-in-law who when, as we read in Mark's Gospel, when Jesus came to their house she was found to be suffering from a fever and he drew her by the hand and she was immediately healed of that fever. All kinds of diseases, all kinds of pains. There were those who were possessed by demons their lives were totally destroyed as they lost all control to the power of demons taking up their residence within them, unable to speak as they wanted to speak, the demons would speak, Unable to act as they wanted to act, the demons would control their limbs and cause them to move and to do according to their will. This power of darkness, so overwhelming a life made in the image of God and marred by sin, but now so fully possessed by evil. Jesus, with a word, would dismiss the unclean spirit. They had no choice. They had no power to resist him. They had no way to question his right over them. For he had the authority, and he had the power, and they knew they could not resist. Others would come. Others would try to cast out demons, even trying to do so in Jesus' name. But the demons would resist. They knew Jesus, and they knew Jesus' servants. and someone just taking the name of Jesus to use it like a magic password that had no authority over them, it had no power over them. But Jesus, he had this authority, he had this power and those possessed by demons were freed from that oppression and their lives were transformed in a moment as the demons fled from the presence of the Son of God. There were others who had seizures, some think they were those suffering from epilepsy, others suggest that The word lunatic best reflects what the Greek seeks to convey. They were mad. Whatever it was, there was something about them that made it impossible for them to control their movements. They're not possessed by demons and that's interesting, isn't it? We perhaps tend to think that people living so long ago in such a dark time would just assume that everything was spiritual. But no, they were able to distinguish. They could see when someone was demon-possessed over against someone who was a lunatic, someone who suffered from seizures. There was something discernible about the difference. But Jesus could cope with all. He could cope even with these situations. He could restore these people to health as well. And then there were the paralytics. There were those who perhaps had once been healthy, but as a result of an accident had become paralysed. There were those who were born paralytics. It didn't matter, it made no difference to Jesus. He had the power to heal them all and so friends brought these paralytics and family members brought these paralytics and at times Jesus went to places where these paralytics were to be found begging or hoping by some miracle that their lives would be changed. Jesus came and with a word and perhaps a touch he would change their lives, he would heal them, those who had never walked would stand up and they would jump and they would dance and they would give thanks to this one who had changed their lives. Jesus was a man moved with compassion for those who were sick and those who were suffering. He never turned anyone away. There's never in any of the Gospels an incident in which someone in need came to Jesus for healing and Jesus turned them away. He was never put off. by the degree of deformity that a leper suffered from. He was never overwhelmed by the significance of a disease from which someone suffered. Jesus never ever failed to heal. All those who came to him for healing went away Healed. He didn't say to anyone, now come back in a week's time and I'll see how you're doing. He never had to say that. He had healed them. There would be no relapse. There would be no continuing symptoms. He was thorough and he was complete in the work that he did. He never failed. And these people, they were coming from all over the place. See where the crowds are drawn from. His fame spread throughout all Syria. Well, that could be the Roman province of Syria which encompassed really all of the other names that are mentioned, Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan as well as the region of Syria. So it may be that Matthew is referring to that. Or it may be that Syria, the region in which Tyre and Sidon were located, just north and east of Galilee, is what Matthew is talking about there. His fame spread beyond Galilee, he's saying. It spread up into Syria. But then we read, the great crowds followed him from Galilee and from Decapolis and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan. They came from all over the place. And what is remarkable is that many of these regions, Syria, Galilee, Decapolis, beyond the Jordan in particular, had a large number of Gentiles. And it's hard to imagine that the crowds who came to hear Jesus and to watch him work his miracles were only Jews. We know of particular incidents where non-Jews specifically came to Jesus and asked for healing and though they were Gentiles Jesus healed There's no hint here. This is a summary of Jesus' early ministry. So it's just encapsulating what Jesus was doing. In a sense, the rest of Matthew's Gospel fleshes out this paragraph with many examples of healings, many accounts of his preaching and of his teaching. This is just a summary of it all. And so elsewhere we find specific instances of Gentiles who were healed but there may have been many more than those specific instances just as there were many, many more than the specific instances of Jews being healed, whether lepers or paralytics or those with seizures or those with other pains and ailments and diseases. It is, it is something of a foretaste of what was to come. That while Jesus restricted his movements to Galilee, people came from afar, they came to him, they came to seek him out, they came to find Jesus and to be touched by Jesus and to hear Jesus. And the crowds followed him. And another interesting thing is that these crowds that followed him, you know, they're distinguished in the Gospels from the disciples who followed him. So there were crowds of people who were observers. Though I think we must say they were more than observers, they participated to some degree. they benefited to some degree, they too brought their sick who needed healing and Jesus didn't say to any one of them, well you're not my disciple, you're not really a loyal follower of me, you're just here for what you can get out of me, he never made those comments, he never made those claims and refused to heal anyone. He healed every disease and every affliction among the people. They brought them to him and he healed them. And so Jesus healed Jews and he healed Gentiles. And he healed those who wanted to know him better, and to walk with him, and to talk with him, and he healed those who were just coming along, wondering, would it be possible? Can he change my life? Will he heal me? And then departed and went away. There must have been hundreds, there must have been thousands of people whose lives were touched by Jesus. whose bodies were made healthy by Jesus, but who never followed him beyond that, never walked with him beyond that. The crowds came, the crowds heard, the crowds saw, the crowds were touched, but they didn't pursue him. And in not pursuing him then, Many of these people, they're being touched by the kingdom of heaven, but they're not entering the kingdom of heaven. They're being changed to some degree by the works of the king from heaven, but they're not embracing him, and they're not bowing down to him, and they're not giving their allegiance to him. And so they're not entering into the fullness of all that he can do for them. But what he is doing here is showing something of his power and something of his grace. For we must see that these healings are performed directly in connection to the Gospel that is proclaimed. In fact, that's where Matthew begins, not with the healings, but with the Gospel. Jesus went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. You see, he was preaching good news to this world shrouded in darkness. He was preaching good news of God's relief to the oppressed, of his healing to those diseased. Of course, Jesus is looking beyond outward oppression by a foreign power. And he's looking beyond the physical diseases with which these people were afflicted. He's looking beyond those things to the reality of the diseased souls of each of these people. And that it was the oppression of evil in the heart of man that God sent his son into the world to destroy. And it was the disease of sin that corrupted all that man does that God sent his son into this world to heal. And so as Jesus taught in their synagogues and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom, he's proclaiming the power of God to transform lives in a way that is hidden largely, in a way that is unseen for the most part, though of course there will be fruits of it that will be seen. But as he begins to proclaim this good news from God of freedom from oppression, and the healing from the disease of sin he demonstrates his power in these physical healings and perhaps most fully and most emphatically in freeing people from the oppression by demons. Jesus taught a message of hope in the synagogues. He taught a message of peace beside the Sea of Galilee. He taught a message of deliverance for the people who crowded around him. And he had the authority and he had the power to accomplish the promises that he was making to these people, that if they repent and believe, they will be saved. Jesus' fame spread through all the region, principally because of the mighty works that he did in healing the people. but not only for that reason and perhaps Mark's gospel and his account makes that clearer to us. As people remarked about his teaching in the synagogues, no one speaks like this man. This man speaks with authority and then he goes and he heals someone. with authority and the two come together you see he speaks with authority and he heals with authority and if we accept the healing that is so manifest before us people that we've known all our lives someone who's been blind for 40 years and suddenly he can see and it's Jesus who has done this work. Well surely the man whose authority has produced sight for this blind man has the power and the authority to produce the other things he claims that he can do, to reconcile people to God, to free people from the oppression of sin, to give them hope of eternal life when they know that within themselves there is only death and the deserving of punishment from God. This is a man who has come from God and he brings with him an authority that is divine. And he is able to overcome all of the diseases and all of the powers of darkness in this world. Surely the kingdom of heaven has dawned. Surely the sun of righteousness arises with healing. Not just to heal the body. For he is the son of righteousness who comes to heal the soul that is full of sin and to flood that soul with the truth of his power and his goodness and his love. The kingdom of heaven had dawned upon this world through the words and the works of Jesus Christ. He is the anointed king. and the works he did, well they demonstrated his power and his authority. Why don't we see the same things today? Well there are many who claim, I suppose that we do see the same things today but do you see them as Jesus saw them, as his disciples saw them, as they witnessed them, everyone coming to him was healed. Not a single failure. No one was sent away and said, oh, I'm so sorry. If only your faith was greater. Why don't we see these things today? Well, Jesus came and he came proclaiming a message and it was a new thing. That's what the people in the synagogue said in Mark chapter 1. What is this new thing? This man speaks with such authority. We've heard nothing like this before. And you know when God does a new work, he often accompanies that. with miraculous signs to confirm it. He did it when he brought his people out of slavery in Egypt. He did it when the first prophets arose up proclaiming a word from God, a word of repentance, a command to turn from their idolatry to serve the living God. It wasn't something that carried on. After Moses, do we hear that Joshua did all kinds of miraculous things, not in the way that Moses did? After Elijah and Elisha, do we hear of ongoing miracles that confirmed the words of the prophets that came after them? No we don't, except on very rare occasions perhaps. But for the most part, their message is confirmed because it is simply the re-echoing of a message that has been spoken before, that has been confirmed by the works. And here's something new in the world. It's more new than an Elijah being raised up as a prophet for God. It's more new than a Moses being raised up as a servant of God. This is the one to whom all the prophets pointed. This is the one of whom Moses was a foreshadowing. This is the point to which creation has been driving under the sovereign hand of God. here is the time and the place when the Messiah has come and the people need to know this is the man and his claims then are authenticated by his power his authority is demonstrated by the things that could be seen And we don't need that anymore, do we? It is all here in His Word. We know the truth because God has revealed His truth to us. He has given His Word to us. And it is His Word that we are to believe. It is His Word that we are to follow. It is His Word that we are to build our lives upon. Here we come face to face with the greatness and the glory of God. His power is working against the forces of darkness that hold his people in bondage. He comes to set them free from captivity to Satan's lies. to the disease of sin that is corrupting and defiling and destroying them. And in his life and in his death, Jesus subdues Satan and he suffers the judgment of God for his people, giving them life. And this is what the world needs to hear. It needs to hear that Jesus can transform their lives. He may not make the paralytic walk again. He may not cause the epileptic to be free from seizures again. He may not caused the one with a chronic disease to be free from its pain and torment in this life, but he is able to free them from the death grip that is on their souls, from the judgment that they deserve from God, to reconcile them to the Father. The world needs to hear We are to spread his fame through all the world. This is what was going on, isn't it here? Well how did the crowds come? The crowds came because people were talking. They were saying, have you heard about Jesus of Nazareth? Have you heard what he's doing down there in Galilee? From town to town, from city to city, he goes and he teaches in the synagogues and he preaches on the hillsides and he heals people. Such power and such authority is evident there in Galilee. Have you heard? Have you heard? Have you heard? And people hear and they say, I want to see this for myself. I want to know this for myself. I want this power in my life. They came because they heard. And what a message we have to proclaim. The message that will reconcile a sinner to God forever and ever. that will heal the disease of sin that grips and defiles their souls and separates them from God, so that they may have life and peace with God. We have a message that enables sinners who grope in the darkness to find God in the light of his word. and this is our commission, this is what Jesus has told us that we are to do so that people from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth may come to Jesus and have their souls healed by Jesus through the power and the authority of his words. May God help us to fulfil our commission. And you here this morning who have heard, have you come? Have you come to this Jesus who has power and authority to transform your life, to heal you of the disease of sin that is so defiling? destroying in you. What will you say? Oh I heard about Jesus, but I didn't come to him. I heard about Jesus, in fact I was blessed through being among the people who follow Jesus. but I never followed him. Is there any comfort in that? Is there any hope in that? Do you think God, on the day when you will have to give an account of your life, will say, oh, well, yes, I suppose that's good enough? Of course it's not good enough, because it is a rejection of Jesus. If you will not come to him, if you will not cry out to him and say, have mercy on me, a sinner, Change me, heal me, transform me, make me new. And then to live for Him. To follow Him. To walk with Him and talk with Him every day of your life. There were crowds around Jesus. They saw something of the Kingdom of God. They saw its power, they saw its effect, but they didn't enter in. Don't be one of those who refuses to enter in. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, have mercy this day, that the power of Jesus Christ may enter into each heart and each life and transform and change and renew, bringing that new life, that regeneration that banishes the old, that heals the diseased soul, Lord have mercy this day and save. We ask in Jesus' name and for his glory. Amen.