Read: Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7; Matthew 11
It is interesting to me that Mark didn’t record the healing of the Roman officer since he wrote his book to the Romans, but he didn’t. Maybe he was trying to protect the man from persecution. Only Matthew and Luke recorded the miracles we read about today. Jesus was impressed with the Roman officer because he understood authority. This man didn’t need Jesus to come and lay hands on his son in person, he just needed a command and he knew it would be done. Jesus marveled at his faith.
Jesus rose the widow’s son from the dead at his own funeral. This got the attention of the crowd!
John had been thrown in prison and was wondering why Jesus hadn’t set him free since he was a prisoner and one of the promises prophesied about the Messiah was that he would set captives free. Surely Jesus had forgotten about him. When his disciples asked him if he was the Messiah, Jesus pointed to all the things he had done that was prophesied then he said, “Blessed are those who are not offended in me.” In other words, he was telling John to look at the things he had done instead of the things that he hadn’t done. Jesus only did what he saw his father doing and God was not setting John free. John’s mission was nearing an end and he was about to be promoted to heaven.
Jesus went on to honor John the Baptist to the crowd. He was giving John’s eulogy.
Then Jesus rebuked their generation. They refused to be satisfied. They criticized John’s fasted lifestyle, nor were they satisfied with Jesus’ joy. I pray that we are not like that. John told them to repent and get serious and Jesus told them to become like a little child. They were both right.
Lord, help us to gain a healthy balance of grace and holiness.
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