Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Shepherd-King’s Pattern of Ministry: Word, Kingdom, and Mercy (Matthew 9:35)

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The Shepherd-King’s Pattern of Ministry: Word, Kingdom, and Mercy (Matthew 9:35) · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome back to Reformed thinking.
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This is the deep dive where we set aside the noise, open the
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Scriptures, and let God's Word provide the blueprint for our
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understanding. Today we are analyzing a single,
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dense passage of Scripture, Matthew 9.35.
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It is frequently glossed over as a simple travel summary, maybe a
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description of a busy day in Galilee.
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But our sources reveal that Matthew structured this sentence
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to be far more than a travelogue.
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It is a compact, theologically charged manifesto, the King's
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statement of purpose. That's absolutely right.
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When we study this first, we see it functions as a well a
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comprehensive curriculum. Our mission today is to uncover
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why Matthew placed this verse precisely where he did, how its
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linguistic structure is grammatical gears function, and
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what covenantal guardrails we must adopt to interpret it
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rightly. This verse is designed to
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prevent us from falling into common modern ministry errors,
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showing us that true Kingdom work advances by God's sovereign
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initiative, not through marketing or soft
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humanitarianism alone. I think we have to start with
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its positioning. It comes right after a series
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of, well, just extraordinary demonstrations of Christ's
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authority. Chapters 8 and 9 detail the
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calming of the storm, the cleansing of lepers, and the
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raising of the dead girl. So why put this programmatic
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summary here? It feels like a moment of pause
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right before the narrative shifts so dramatically.
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The placement is strategic, almost architectural.
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When you study Matthew structure, you realize 9.35 acts
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as a deliberate bookend. It mirrors 4.23 almost word for
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word. Think about that for a moment.
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Matthew 4.23 introduced the ministry, and now Matthew 9.35
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concludes this section of it. This repetition frames the
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entire section of deeds, all the stunning miracles detailed in
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chapters 8 and 9. As a unified demonstration of
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who Jesus is. It provides structure for the
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whole work. So if 4.23 open the curtain on
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the King's credentials, 9.35 closes that chapter, forcing the
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reader to absorb the magnitude of what they just witnessed.
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Correct. And the timing couldn't be more
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critical because the story is pivoting immediately.
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In chapter 10, Jesus delegates his ministry to the 12 apostles.
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Matthew forces the reader to pause and reflect on the source
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of that delegated authority before it is given away.
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If we rush straight to the sending, we misunderstand the
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core theological claim the structure establishes that all
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ministry demands, all the imperatives, are wholly
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dependent on the indicatives of the King's own authority.
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The reign of God is revealed here as an act of conquest over
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the curse, not just a moral invitation.
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That distinction between indicative and imperative is
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vital. The king does the work first,
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then he sends his workers. But to truly appreciate the
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relentless nature of that work, we need to go past the surface
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English translation and look at the action itself.
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Let's get into the grammatical machinery that gives this
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passage its particular feel. Yes.
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The syntax is arranged to express not just action, but
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sustained, tireless action. The verse is defined by movement
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and the persistent mode of that movement.
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The core action verb is periogan.
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The text says Jesus was going about or traversing all the
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cities and villages. What does that particular Greek
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verb form communicate to the listener?
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Periogan is the key here. It is in the imperfect active
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indicative tense. This isn't the Aoras tense,
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which were described as simple completed actions.
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Say he went once. The imperfect tense describes an
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action occurring repeatedly, continuously, or in progress in
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the past. It's an indefatigable motion.
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Jesus was continually going around.
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Or, you know, itinerating without cessation.
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So it's a non-stop sustained ministry tour.
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It paints a picture of Christ's unrelenting pursuit of his
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people. Absolutely.
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The theological lesson embedded in the grammar is the relentless
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initiative of sovereign grace. This choice of verb refutes any
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image of a static Messiah passively waiting for subjects
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to approach his throne room. Instead, we see the federal head
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of the new humanity actively, persistently, and
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compassionately invading the territories held by darkness and
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disease. This is God's seeking man, and
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he does so comprehensively. He traversed all the cities and
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all the villages, which tells us he didn't just target the
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capital cities or the places where it was most comfortable.
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He went everywhere. The lost sheep of the House of
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Israel were scattered. The imperfect tent speaks
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volumes about the divine human king, but this continuous action
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is defined by three specific ways he acted, which are
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detailed by three coordinate present active participles.
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These define the mode of the labor he went about by teaching,
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by proclaiming, and by healing. Those participles did Asken
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teaching, creation, proclaiming, and the therapeutant healing are
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the theological engine governing the King's movement.
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They function as a unified triad, presenting a Christology
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of absolute dominion over the human condition in its totality,
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the darkened mind, the rebellious will and the broken
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body. They are not random tasks added
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onto his journey. They are the structured essence
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of His ministry. That grammatical machinery gives
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us the intensity in the structure.
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But before we break down those 3 modes, we need to apply the
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theological brakes. Because of the content of the
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message, the gospel of the Kingdom and the specific nature
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of the signs, we have to establish crucial biblical
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theological guardrails. Otherwise, we fall into serious
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errors regarding what is normative for the Church today.
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The synthesis of this passage requires us to apply redemptive
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history principles rigorously. We cannot flatten the Bible.
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We have to recognize that Jesus operated strictly within the
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covenantal bounds of the Mosaic law.
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As we were reminded in Galatians 4.4, His ministry was primarily
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to the circumcision to Israel, as Romans 15.8 states, in order
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to confirm the promises made to the fathers.
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This means we must make a necessary and careful
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distinction between the administration of God's promises
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to ethnic Israel and the current administration to the Church.
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Correct. Precisely.
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This is not about espousing replacement theology.
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It is about proper recognition of the historical and covenantal
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flow of God's plan. Jesus's actions here confirm his
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messianic identity to the nation that had been promised a king.
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Misunderstanding this context leads people to believe that
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promises specific to the earthly Davidic Kingdom offered to
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Israel must be imported wholesale into the Church Age.
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That leads directly to the core message he was delivering, the
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gospel of the Kingdom. That phrase is often confused
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with the gospel of grace we preach today.
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What is the distinction and why is that confusion so dangerous?
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The Gospel of the Kingdom in Matthew was a bonafide time
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specific announcement. The King is physically here to
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institute the promised Davidic Messianic Kingdom.
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It was contingent upon national repentance.
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Its content was the nearness of the earthly glorious reign
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prophesied in the Old Covenant. Now we must be clear, the
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soteriological basis for salvation.
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How a person gets right with God is always the same faith in
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Christ's person and work. So the way you are saved is
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always through Christ, but the content being announced at that
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specific time was different. Yes, the content was repent for
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the Kingdom is at hand. The immediate focus was the
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King's arrival and the inauguration of that millennial
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hope. The danger comes when people
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confuse this with a gospel of grace, the gospel for the Church
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age that focuses on justification by faith, the new
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covenant, and the future return of Christ.
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You confuse them. What happens?
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The massive implication is the risk of importing Kingdom
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specific, often material promises into our current
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reality. For instance, the Old Testament
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promises of total physical health, prosperity and peace
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were tied to the glorious earthly Kingdom that Israel
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rejected. When modern preachers confuse
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the 2, they stand up and claim you should experience 100%
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healing now. You should have financial
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abundance now. Our sources clearly show that
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this is the theological fuel for the heresies of the prosperity
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gospel. They demand a foretaste now that
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was reserved for a different administration of God's plan or
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for the final state in eternity. That makes the distinction
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crystal clear, and that provides the framework for interpreting
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the most striking of the three prongs, the healing, every
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disease and every affliction. If we maintain a cessationist
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understanding that these sign gifts ceased, how do we properly
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account for these spectacular acts without dismissing them?
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We interpret them as signs of attestation or credentials.
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The miracles here were not random acts of simple
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humanitarian kindness. They were evidence
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demonstrations of powers of the age to come, as Hebrew 6.5 calls
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them. They served as a tangible
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foretaste, a preview of the millennial Kingdom when the
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curse of the fall will be visibly and comprehensively
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rolled back, exactly as Isaiah 35.5 prophesied.
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The blind see, the deaf hear. So the ability to heal every
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disease was the credential that proved Jesus was the promised
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king. Precisely.
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It was the sign of an apostle mentioned in 2nd Corinthians
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12.12. This authority was intended to
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authenticate the Messenger Jesus and the new revelation he
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brought. The miracles confirm the
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authority of the prophetic teaching and the heralding
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proclamation. And what does that mean for
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today? We know that God is still
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sovereign and can heal, but what about the claim of systematic on
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demand healing authority? The source material instructs us
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to reject claims that any person possesses this Apostolic healing
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authority today because that's the civic foundation of the
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Church, where new revelation needed authentication has been
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laid and the Canon of Scripture is closed.
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To claim such an ability is to claim Apostolic office.
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While we celebrate God's providential healing and prayer
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for the sick, we must reject the notion that any individual holds
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the comprehensive pasan palsan every disease authority that
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Christ demonstrated that authority was tied to the time
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of divine visitation and revelation.
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This gives us the necessary theological clarity.
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Let's look at this pattern through the Law Gospel lens,
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which gives this text its application force in our lives
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today. How does the reality of disease
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function as the law here? Disease and affliction, the
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reality that Jesus had to confront everywhere he went,
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functions as the law. It is the inescapable terminal
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reality of sin and the curse. It shows us that humanity since
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Genesis 3 is broken, suffering and utterly unable to repair its
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own brokenness. It preaches the bad news.
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You are dying and you are culpable.
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So the sickness diagnosis of the souls mortal condition.
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Exactly And the healing ministry then functions as the gospel in
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action. The healing is the remedy that
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comes solely from outside humanity.
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Extra knows it demonstrates that salvation is a monarchistic act
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to the King. He doesn't need our help.
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He acts alone to reverse the condition of the helpless.
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By establishing this, Matthew corrects the error of moralism,
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the idea that our ministry is about human effort or ingenuity.
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We are not called to be the healers, but to point to the
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healer. The authority belongs only to
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the King. The ministry pattern teaches us
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to preach You are the leper and Jesus is the King who cleanses.
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Rather than the social gospel error of go and try to heal the
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world in your own strength, it centers the work where it
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belongs, on Christ's sovereign active power.
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That sets the table perfectly for Section 3, where we analyze
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the three prongs of ministry, teaching, proclaiming, and
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healing. This pattern is not just a
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description of busy work. Our sources suggest it
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foreshadows the Munis triplex, Christ's threefold office as
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prophet, king and priest, and addresses the whole of human
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ruin indeed. The three elements constitute A
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robust theology of Christ's Kingdom ministry, ensuring that
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the work is holistic, hitting the mind, the will and the body.
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Let's start with a teaching the Daskum.
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Matthew lists this first, establishing the priority of the
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prophetic office. The placement matters.
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It indicates the priority of the intellect in God's economy.
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The Kingdom begins with understanding.
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Jesus went into their synagogues, established centers
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of reading and instruction, showing his preference for
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systematic instruction, elucidating doctrine, and
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correcting theological error. He didn't avoid the established
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structures of learning, He infiltrated them to correct
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them. This suggests that doctrine is
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the fuel that runs the engine of the Kingdom.
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It absolutely does. The Kingdom is not founded on
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sentiment or enthusiasm. It is founded on revealed truth.
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The greatest human need is the accurate knowledge of God,
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knowing what is true about Him, ourselves, and His plan.
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This is where the modern church often loses its way, focusing on
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quick, emotionally resonant talks rather than systematic,
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heavy doctrinal instruction. It's the constant battle against
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superficiality. If you neglect teaching, you
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create a generation whose affections may be warm but whose
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theology is thin. The source material reminds us
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that true affections are ignited by the steady fuel of sound
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doctrine, Dita Scalia. When the preaching minimizes
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deep theological instruction, it becomes ineffective.
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A church built on pragmatism that asks what works rather than
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what is true will find its foundations dissolving when
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testing comes. Jesus made the place of reading
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and learning his primary venue. We dare not build our churches
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on anything less than the careful exposition of the
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Scriptures. OK, if teaching handles the
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mind, let's move to be proclaiming Karissen.
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This speaks to the authority of the kingly office and addresses
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the rebellious will. How do we draw a clear
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distinction between the mode of teaching and the mode of
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proclaiming? Teaching explains the text.
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It forms a rational understanding proclaiming
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cursion, announces the event and summons the will to action.
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Think of the term itself. It evokes the image of an
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official herald dispatched by a monarch to declare a new
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reality, a royal decree, a non negotiable command or a victory
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bulletin. Jesus was not merely A
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philosopher suggesting a better life.
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He was the King announcing the arrival of his reign.
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The tone, then, is radically different from the classroom.
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It is authoritative. It demands submission.
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The tone is authoritative, demanding immediate allegiance
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and repentance. It is not a negotiation with
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sinners. It was a confrontation by the
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sovereign. The gospel of the Kingdom is not
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something we gently suggest. It is the Sovereign Lord to whom
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every knee must bow. Our mission is to recover this
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tone of unashamed authority. In our own heralding.
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We do not apologize for the claims of Christ.
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We announce them as reality. And this emphasis on the kingly
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proclamation directly confronts modern trends that reduce the
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Herald to a soft spoken life coach.
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Precisely. If we teach without proclaiming,
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we have academic papers, not eternal life.
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If we proclaim without authority, we have suggestions,
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not saving truth. The proclamation must carry the
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weight of the monarch who sent it, demanding a decision from
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the listener. This mode protects the ministry
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from dissolving into moralism or therapeutic deism.
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Finally, we come to see Healing Therapune.
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This represents the display of priestly compassion, addressing
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the broken body and the curse itself.
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The text employs powerful language here, healing every
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disease and every affliction. The repetition paisan Paisan is
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a theological quantifier proving Christ's absolute, comprehensive
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dominance over the physical curse of the Fall.
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When Matthew records these acts, he is showing that Jesus is the
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reversal of Genesis 3IN flesh and blood sickness was a sign
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that the world was off kilter, separated from God's life.
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When Jesus heals, he is acting as the great High Priest,
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applying mercy and making the invisible reality of redemption
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visible. The visibility of mercy is
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essential, but this is the component that often gets
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weaponized or distorted by the social gospel.
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And that is the crucial warning from our analysis.
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We must guard against the error of the social Gospel, which
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attempts to separate the fruit of healing, humanitarian aid,
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social reform from the root of redemption, the teaching and
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proclamation. This liberal theological
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approach rejects the exclusive claims of the King while
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embracing temporal relief. So offering temporal relief is
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good, but if it is disconnected from the proclamation of the
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eternal remedy, it becomes spiritual malpractice.
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Absolutely. Compassion validates the
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message. It shows that our King cares
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about the whole person, body and soul, but compassion can never
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substitute for the proclamation that demands repentance and
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faith in the King. If we only alleviate physical
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need, offering water, shelter, medicine, but fail to offer the
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water of life and the warning of eternal judgement, we are not
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fulfilling Christ's blueprint. We are worshipping human
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flourishing rather than God's glory.
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The three prongs, prophetic teaching, kingly proclamation,
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and priestly mercy, must operate as a united front.
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That brings us to the application, which is where this
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blueprint gets sharp. If Matthew 9.35 provides the
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holistic template, when the church fragments this pattern,
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we inevitably create idols. We need to use this text to
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dismantle those idols that have crept into modern ministry.
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That's necessary self examination.
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Our human tendency is to gravitate toward the one aspect
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of ministry we enjoy or that we feel we are good at, and treat
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the others as optional extras. Matthew 9.35 vines together what
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our sinful instincts want to pull apart.
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Let's start with IDOL 1 intellectualism.
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Our analysis identify this as a common pitfall within the
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reformed world. This is the temptation to
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elevate teaching, to just ask him to the exclusion of healing
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there human the demonstration of practical mercy and compassion.
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We can become functionally obsessed with doctrinal
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precision, winning theological arguments, defending the
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minutiae of the Westminster Standards, but simultaneously
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lacking any genuine, messy, sacrificial love for suffering
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people. The dreaded cage stage
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phenomenon. A passion for doctrine without
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practical application. Exactly.
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We know the definitions of grace, but we struggle to be
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graceful. Our theology remains an academic
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exercise, a sterile, Gnostic counterfeit.
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Jesus did not just debate the Sadducees in Jerusalem, He
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walked into The Dirty, disease ridden villages of Galilee.
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His ministry was not just cerebral, it was physical,
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compassionate and present. We must ask ourselves pointedly,
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do we love the defense, the five points, more than the dying
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recipient of God saving grace? If theology does not lead to
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genuine mercy and doxology, it is just high level information
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management. How does the blueprint convict
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us here? It convicts us because the
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pattern shows the King always putting the work where the need
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was most acute. When he sees the crowds, he has
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compassion. The prophetic office teaching
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must always fuel the priestly office mercy.
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A truly healthy, Reformed thinking church should be the
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most doctrinally precise and the most practically merciful
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community in its city. If we fail in that visible
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mercy, we discredit the very truth we teach.
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Let's move to Idol 2, activism without proclamation.
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This is the inverse error, the Social Gospel reduction.
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This error fragments the triad by hyper focusing on therapy on
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the alleviation of temporal need while minimizing or denying the
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necessity of curricion, the authoritative proclamation of
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the gospel, and the need for repentance.
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This approach often seeks humanitarian aid and social
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justice as an end in itself. So the goal is simply human
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flourishing in this life, rather than salvation in the life to
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come. It's a subtle form of idolatry.
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It worships the temporal betterment of humanity rather
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than the eternal glory of God. It attempts to deal with the
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symptoms of the curse, poverty, disease, inequality, without
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addressing the root, which is the soul's enmity with God.
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The result is a church that might be politically relevant or
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culturally applauded, but it leaves souls under the wrath of
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God, offering them temporal comfort while failing to warn
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them of eternal judgement. The King's blueprint shows mercy
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validates the message, but it cannot substitute for it.
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If Jesus had simply healed all the sick and fed all the poor,
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humanity would have enjoyed a few more comfortable decades
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before dying and facing God's judgement unprepared.
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True biblical justice begins and ends with the just one who died
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for the unjust. Our compassion, our aid, and our
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social critique must always be tethered to the heralding of the
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King, who alone can grant forgiveness and reconcile the
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Sinner. Next, let's confront Idol 3,
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pragmatism and Seeker sensitivity.
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This is the idolatry of results that drives much of modern
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evangelical methodology. Pragmatism asks the utterly
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wrong question, what works to attract a crowd, rather than the
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correct question, what is the truth revealed in Scripture?
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This leads churches to abandon the authoritative, heralding the
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confrontation by the king in favor of soft therapeutic talks
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that avoid any claim that might offend or demand a radical life
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change. The Herald is replaced by the
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life coach, the King's decree by a self help suggestion.
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It's reducing the scope of the message to fit what the
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perceived market wants. And Matthew 9.35 serves as a
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scathing rebuke to this. Jesus was indefatigably visiting
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all the cities, not to ask them what they preferred, but to
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herald the Kingdom they needed, whether they were interested or
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not. He announced confrontation and
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repentance. Watering down the message to
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increase attendance fundamentally robs the gospel of
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its ability to save. The power lies in the content,
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the King's decree, not the presentation.
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The fear of man seems to be the central sin driving this
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pragmatism, doesn't it? It is if we are more concerned
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with keeping people comfortable than with facially delivering
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the King's authoritative message.
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We have fallen into the idolatry of acceptance.
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We don't need trendier strategies or softer language.
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We need the unadulterated proclamation of the King who
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commands all men everywhere to repent.
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When you study the curfews of Christ, you realize it was a
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serious, dramatic life or death announcement.
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It was never a casual suggestion.
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Finally, let's look at IDOL 41 that causes significant harm to
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the workers themselves. self-sufficiency in ministry.
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This often leads to severe burnout and functional atheism
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among office bearers. The sheer scope of the work
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described, a 9.35 Jesus going about all the cities and healing
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every disease, is overwhelming. When we look at the brokenness
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of our own cities, the temptation is to internalize the
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burden and try to meet this infinite need in our own finite
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strength. That functional atheism acts as
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if the success of the Kingdom, the health of the church, and
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the eternal destiny of the crowds depend primarily on our
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energy or ingenuity and our sleepless nights.
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We take on the Messiah complex. We do, and that is spiritually
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devastating. Matthew 9.35 shows Jesus doing
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the work, not the disciples. Yet our labor is a derivation of
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participation in His existing ceaseless labor.
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We are not called to be the Messiah.
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We are called to point to Him. We must guard against this
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complex and our pastors, elders and deacons.
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So the key take away is that the imperative of our ministry, the
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command to go, rests entirely on the indicative of his power, the
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fact that he already went and accomplished the work.
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It grounds us in reality, crushing the idol of
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self-sufficiency liberates us. We can serve with humble
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confidence, knowing the King is the one who builds his church,
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gathers his harvest, and provides the laborers.
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Our efficacy is not measured by our visible success or
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exhaustion, but by our fidelity to the King's prescribed
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blueprint, teaching his truth and proclaiming his reign, all
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while extending compassion. If the King is the one going
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about, we can rest in him. And this leads us to the
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narrative hinge. Matthew 9.35 is not just a
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conclusion, it's the setup for the next act.
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It transfers the ministry pattern from Christ's personal
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work to the Church's mission. We see an immediate, profound
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progression in the narrative sequence.
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The transition from 9.35 to the subsequent verses is masterful
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storytelling by Matthew. The summary of Christ's work
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leads directly to the motive for mission.
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The narrative progression is vital.
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Summary 9.35. Compassion 9.3.
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Strategy 9.38. That commissioning.
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Chapter 10. Let's focus on 9.36.
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Why is compassion the necessary bridge?
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What does it mean that he saw the crowds harassed and
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helpless, like sheep without a shepherd?
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The King's compassion is the motive.
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Not just a feeling, but a deep, shepherdly pity.
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Flank knees am I? He saw their brokenness.
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They were harassed, vexed, beaten down and helpless, thrown
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down, weak. Crucially, he identified the
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problem as a leadership crisis. They were sheep without a
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shepherd. This is Old Testament Covenant,
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a language from Ezekiel 34 from Numbers 27.17.
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They weren't just physically sick, they were spiritually
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leaderless and wandering. So Christ's pity for their
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physical and political condition is subsumed by his pity for
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their spiritual and covenantal destitution.
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Yes, his compassion does not end in detached emotion.
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It becomes a concrete strategy rooted independence.
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This leads immediately to 9.38. Therefore, pray earnestly to
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Lord of the Harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
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The mission strategy begins with prayer to the Lord of the
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harvest. This is the corrective to
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ministerial self-reliance. We don't pray for the harvest,
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we pray for the laborers, acknowledging that the harvest
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belongs to God. The harvest is his and he must
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send the workers. We are simply the beneficiaries
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of His sovereign scheduling. When the disciples are
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commissioned in chapter 10, they don't invent a new mission or a
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new gospel. They participate in the King's
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existing mission, maintaining the Word centered work,
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teaching, proclaiming, and for that brief specific period,
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healing. As a sign of attestation.
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The blueprint is transferred, ensuring the mission remains
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tethered to the King's authority.
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We've established the theological flow, the grammar,
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and the application. Let's bring this pattern home
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now. How does this threefold
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ministry, prophet, king, priest provide a blueprint for our
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gathered worship service, specifically within a Reformed
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framework that adheres to the regulative principle of worship?
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The faithful Reformed worship service ought to be a spiritual
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reenactment of Christ's presence and ministry among His people
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through the means of grace. If Matthew 9.35 gives us the
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priority of the King's work, our liturgy must reflect that
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priority. Start with the prophetic office,
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the teaching aspect. How does the liturgy center
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around Didasco? It means elevating the public
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reading of Scripture and, most critically, the preaching of the
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Word. If Jesus made the synagogue the
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center of instruction, his primary venue, our gathering
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must revolve around the careful exposition of the Bible.
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The sermon is not an appendix to the music.
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It is the authoritative address of the King to his people.
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We honor the seriousness of teaching by sitting under the
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Word with reverence and attentive listening.
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The pulpit becomes the symbolic throne from which Christ governs
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His Church by His Spirit. The content must be doctrinal,
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systematic, and geared toward instruction, not just emotional
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connection. Absolutely.
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The teaching must clarify the mind.
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The authority of the prophetic word demands that we prioritize
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systematic theology and biblical exposition over topical,
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psychologically driven sermons. This ensures that the foundation
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of our faith is truth, not experience.
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Next, the kingly office. The proclamation Aspect
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Christian. Where does the authoritative
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announcement manifest in our worship?
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This manifests in the very tone and content of the entire
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service, but most acutely in the assurance of pardon and the
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benediction. The preaching itself is the
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primary heralding, but the authoritative declaration that
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accompanies the Gospel and the liturgy.
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The minister acting as Christ's herald, announcing forgiveness
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based solely on Christ's finished work is pure coercion.
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It is the non negotiable decree of mercy.
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The service must confront us with the reality of the King's
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reign and command. It must.
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The King's proclamation demands faith, repentance and obedience.
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The minister's job is to deliver that decree with authority, not
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with apologetic softness. The benediction at the close is
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another key moment of heralding a declaration of God's promised
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blessing upon his people. Finally, the priestly
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compassion, the healing aspect, therapy.
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And how does the Church's gathering incorporate this
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mercy? This deeply informs the
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corporate confession of sin and the ensuing assurance of pardon.
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We must frame the confession not just as a ritual, but as a
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spiritual hospital visit. The call to confession is the
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law doing its diagnosis. You are the sick.
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You are the lepers suffering under the disease of sin.
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This applies the pervasive reality of the curse to our
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lives. And the remedy is immediate and
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visible. Yes, the assurance of pardon is
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the remedy, the declaration of the healing virtue of Christ's
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blood. This crucial sequence prevents
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the service from becoming a crushing weight of law.
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The law diagnosis the sickness, but the Gospel announces the
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cure, linking back to Christ's power over the curse.
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We apply the monarchistic act of the king to our ongoing need for
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cleansing and sanctification. And the Lord's Supper at the
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table unites all three, doesn't it?
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It does. The table connects the visible
27:59
word to the audible word. It is where the healing is made
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most tangible in our common life.
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As we take of the bread and cup, we are nourished by the body
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that was broken so that ours could be made whole.
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It is a foretaste, a literal tasting of the powers of the age
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to come. We anticipate the final
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consummation where sickness and sin will cease entirely.
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The Lord's Supper is the liturgical expression of the
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shepherd King's act of mercy and is an act of communion with the
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Healer himself. This has been a complete picture
28:29
of Matthew 9.35 moving from its grammar to its theology and its
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application in our corporate worship.
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We have seen the prophet, the king and the priest in
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unrelenting action, but as we conclude, we must re center on
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the question of the ultimate intention behind the healing
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ministry. That is the essential closing
28:46
thought. We must remember that the
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physical healing Jesus brought in Galilee was temporary.
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Every person he raised from the dead or healed of a terminal
28:53
illness eventually died again. The ultimate healing was never
28:57
the temporary restoration of the body.
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It was the reconciliation of the soul to God, secured by
29:02
substitution. The miracles were simply sparks
29:05
flying from the anvil where redemption was forged.
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Exactly the ultimate healing was purchased when the healer
29:10
himself willingly became the patient.
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He was wounded for our transgressions.
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He was bruised for our iniquities.
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As Isaiah 53.5 declares, the one who possessed the sovereign
29:20
ability to heal every disease allowed himself to be ravaged by
29:24
the consequence of sin, death, so that we might be cured of the
29:27
second death and eternal separation.
29:29
He drank the cup of God's wrath so we could drink the cup of
29:31
blessing. This substitution is the essence
29:34
of the Gospel, and the shadow of the cross interprets every
29:37
miracle he performed. So what does this all mean for
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us today? For the believer still afflicted
29:41
by the curse in this present age, here is a final provocative
29:45
thought for you to consider. To the one who belongs to
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Christ, your current suffering, whether physical, emotional, or
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spiritual, is temporary. The King who began this
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relentless work of reversing the curse in Galilee, whose power
29:57
knows no bounds, will return to finish it.
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He did not come to give us perfect health.
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Now. He came to secure perfect
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redemption later. Until that day of consummation,
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let us continue teaching His truth and heralding His name
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with courage and deep, visible compassion, knowing that when He
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finally returns to rule, the ancient promise will be
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complete. No inhabitant will say I am
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sick.