An excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton:
2:13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
Slowly but surely the synagogue door was shutting on Jesus He could have smoothed things over but He is forcing the guardians of Jewish orthodoxy to make some personal decisions and take sides. He is going to keep stirring things up and He is the one who is actually in control, not they. Now He is teaching by the lakeside and letting the Synagogue simmer.
As He was walking by the lakeside He was teaching. This was a common way for the Jewish Rabbis to teach. As they walked the roads from one place to another their disciples grouped around them and walked with them and listened as they talked. Therefore Jesus was doing what any Rabbi might have done.
The tax collector’s booth where Jesus found Levi was on the major international road that went from Damascus through Capernaum to the Mediterranean coast on to Egypt.
It was a saying that “Judea is on the way to nowhere; Galilee is on the way to everywhere.” The great Road of the Sea led from Damascus, by way of Galilee, through Capernaum, down past Carmel, along the Plain of Sharon, through Gaza and on to Egypt. Another road led from Acre on the coast across the Jordan out to Arabia (Petra not Mecca) and the frontiers of the empire, a road that was travelled by the regiments and caravans.
Capernaum was by its very nature a frontier town; because of that it was a customs center and the import and export taxes were collected there. That is where Levi worked. While it is true that he was not like Zacchaeus, working directly in the service of the Romans; he was working for Herod Antipas, and therefore he was a hated tax-collector, also referred to as a publican.
Levi was not a good person or he would not have been a tax-gatherer. Still Isa choose to call this person to be part of His core group. This does serve to demonstrate to us that Isa can change the character of anyone if they will only commit themselves to Him. The Scripture tells us about another person who was also chosen by Jesus but who offered excuses for waiting until a more convenient time and therefore he lost out on his unique opportunity. Levi did not risk the chance of having the offer pass him by to become a disciple of Jesus but responded immediately, wholeheartedly, and without reservation.
2:15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.
In 1st Kings 19:21 Elisha gave a farewell feast for his friends when he went to follow Elijah.
Of all the disciples Matthew is the one who gave up the most at the very outset in his making the commitment to follow Jesus. Matthew in giving a farewell feast for all his friends shows thereby that with cheerfulness and thankfulness to God he has committed himself completely, and without reservation, to Christ.
Andrew and Simon and James and John could easily go back to their boats but Matthew had burned his bridges behind him as far as his livelihood was concerned and could never go back. He left everything but his pen. He did try to invite his friends to join him in the journey and maybe some of them did later on but probably not at that particular point in time. Some of Matthew’s friends may have been among those converted at Pentecost; we won’t know until after our own arrival in heaven. His friends were no doubt curious and some of them would have tried to talk him out of this move even as they may have themselves wondered whether there were any hope for them and Jesus’ presence and demeanor at the feast no doubt gave them a glimmer of hope that they also were eligible to be included in God’s forever family.
Do not be a disbeliever in Messiah Jesus
–Pastor Ward Clinton
There, that should solve the problem. –Pastor Ward Clinton
For my Non-American friends; An American Liberal is part of the Lunatic Left.
–Pastor Ward Clinton
Brother Rashid a former Muslim speaks to Obama about what ISIL really is.
Unfortunately I believe BHO already knows the leader of ISIS has a Phd in Islamic Studies and that the members of ISIL are the true, not radical, Muslims following in the footsteps of Mohammad. If one does not want to call them Moslems, then perhaps you should call them “Mohammedans” because, as Brother Rachid states, they are imitating Mohammad in every way that they possibly can.
–Pastor Ward Clinton
–Pastor Ward Clinton
An excerpt from “The Holy One Called Isa,” by Pastor Ward Clinton:
2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?
In Jewish theology even the Messiah could not forgive sins and they were sure that Jesus was committing shirk. However if He really is who He claimed to be then disbelieving is the worst type of shirk of all. Al-Masihu-Isa (Jesus) is kalimat Allah and wadjih (worthy of esteem in this world and the next) according to the Quran.
2:8 And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
2:9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
Since they believed that a person’s sins needed to be forgiven before they could be healed He has chosen to force them to engage their brains. One purpose of the miracles was to testify to the people precisely who Jesus truly is.
2:10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)
2:11 I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
2:12 And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
Jesus saw their faith, He may have smiled as he looked at a faith strong enough to overcome the obstacles and then He looked at the Scribes – the ones who should have had faith. Now, in part, these fellows were doing their job; they were scrutinizing this itinerant Rabbi to make sure his teaching was okay. But these were sitting there watching for what they considered to be the slightest mistake so they could blow it all out of proportion rather than allowing themselves to be moved by the working of God which was happening right before their very eyes.
The religious leadership made a connection between sin and disease, not entirely unfounded, but they were a bit misguided. To them a sick man was a man who had sinned. They had already heard Jesus preach; they had already seen Jesus heal. Still they seemed quite unmoved. Now Jesus won’t allow anyone to remain neutral towards Him. He has decided to up the ante, therefore he said, “Child your sins are forgiven.” He has just challenged them head on with that phrase. They were of the belief that the sin had to be forgiven before one could be healed. But anyone is capable of saying “your sins are forgiven” and how can it be proved whether the statement was effective or not? Now on the other hand, to tell the man to get up and walk would demonstrate then and there the authority, effectiveness, and reliability of His word. Therefore in the tenth verse Jesus lets them know they have to make a choice to either believe in Him or disbelieve. He has hoisted these experts in the law on their own petard. It is on their own traditions and stated beliefs this man could not be cured unless he was forgiven. In effect Jesus has said, “you say I have no right to forgive sins? You believe that if this man is sick, he is a sinner and cannot be cured until he is forgiven? Okay, watch this!” Jesus spoke the word and the man was cured, therefore he must be forgiven and Jesus’ claim to be able to forgive sin must be true.
Jesus probably left them in a baffled rage. Here was something that had to be dealt with; if this were allowed to continue all their rules and regulations would be turned on their head; maybe even worse, proven to be completely out of step with their Holy Scripture. So, with this incident, Jesus has signed His own death warrant and He is fully aware of it. However He is also trying to correct their understanding of God.
They had the Torah (the uncorrupted holy word from the one true God), they knew that God will not let sinners remain unpunished, but they had forgotten that the Torah also showed them a God who desired to exercise mercy and forgiveness. Remember the pouting prophet in the Old Testament who whined, “I didn’t want to warn those people because I knew You are a merciful God”?
Today, most seem to know that God forgives but they forget there are conditions that must be met… God is holy and just, as well as merciful and forgiving. He calls us into a holy, loving relationship with Himself which requires that sin be shunned, not embraced with a “Oh well, I’m only human” shrug of the shoulders.
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