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Showing posts with label Matthew 9. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matthew 9. Show all posts

Sunday, August 07, 2011

Prayers in the Bible: Jesus told us to pray for workers

Matthew 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest indeed is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest.” (World English Bible, public domain)

These are the words of Jesus. Make it so, Lord!

This is one in a series of posts on prayers in the Bible. See here for the previous post. Thanks for praying.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Sunspots 143b

Matthew 9:1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. (ESV)

Three remarks:
First, Jesus responded to the faith of the people who brought this paralytic to Him, not to the faith of the paralytic.
Second, His first response was to forgive the person's sins, indicating that that was more important. Note that this was, again, in response to the faith of other people.
Third, He did heal the man, but as a sign of His sin-forgiving power, not as an end in itself.

Thanks for reading.