King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2025
Chapters: Matthew 9, Luke 7
Message: Matthew/Luke: Jesus Responds to Their Faith
Hello My Friend,
As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, we learn that our faith in Christ is a big deal to Him, and while He may be merciful to the just and unjust, He has much compassion on those who truly believe in Him, [Lamentations 3:22-26 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.]
Do you realize that every believer of God from Adam, who had faith in Him sending someone to save them from their sins waited, even in their graves, for the salvation of the LORD? You see, even though they had no idea that His name would be Jesus, they still held on to the hope of permanent redemption to their soul, which came the day that Jesus died on the cross, then arose three days later, [Hebrews 11:37-40 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.]
Much of what we are reading today is a repeat of what we have been reading. Jesus, heads home for a while and when he arrived of course, He had many people around Him. Matthew, also gives his account of the four men who brought the crippled man to Jesus.
[Matthew 9:2–7 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? 5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? 6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. 7 And he arose, and departed to his house. 8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.]
Notice it says that when Jesus saw their faith that was when He healed the man. Do you think that Jesus does not see our faith? Stop worrying about everything, your sins are forgiven, if you believe in Jesus, and have accepted Him. And here is the thing, we do not always need a lot of faith, sometimes it is only the size of that mustard seed, [Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.]
Why did Jesus feel the need to say that his sins were forgiven? He was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and show them that He was not some mere mortal man. However, they failed to even bring that thought to their minds. Now, there were some there that were in awe over what they had saw, and while they did praise God, they kind of missed the mark as they believed that Jesus is just a man. Now, Matthew, goes on to give his testimony on how he met Jesus. What was perhaps the biggest shocker to the people of Jesus choosing Matthew to be one of His disciples was the fact that he was a tax collector.
[Matthew 9:9-13 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. 10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.]
Just in case they needed a reminder, there is none without sin, which is why Jesus responded the way He did. Anyone who is too proud to admit that they have sinned is actually committing sin because they are lying to themselves, [1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.]
To make matters worse, some of the disciples of John, the Baptist were there and started questioning Him. Remember, John, spoke the same message, so when his disciples questioned Jesus they were not the believers they appeared to be who followed John.
[Matthew 9:14-17 Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? 15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. 16 No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.]
We are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Christ alone, and therefore, we are no longer living in our own flesh, but through the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God inside every saved soul that preserves that life, but if we keep on living in sin after we are saved we might as well be sending our flesh to an early grave, [James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]
You see, this is what they do not want, they do not want everyone praising and worshiping Jesus for what He has done for them, they want the glory of being the one who did the healing. Let me tell you, we can all lead someone to Christ, but only God can save them, and He does that according to their faith. We learn of this once again as Jesus is called to heal a mans daughter and as He heads that way someone touched Him.
[Matthew 9:18-22 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. 19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: 21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. 22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.]
Jesus, did not think about her past, about all the years that she had used every means to seek healing from her pain to no avail, but God. However, when He finally felt her faith that was when she was healed. Jesus, will always respond to our faith, sometimes it may not be in the way that we would like, but that is what grace is for, [1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.]
Now, once Jesus arrived at the rulers house, she had already passed away, but as they were mourning their loss, Jesus stopped them with one simple phrase, [Matthew 9:23-29 And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, 24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. 25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land. 27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.]
Here were these people mourning the death of this young lady when Jesus shows up and tells them that she is not dead. Of course, they not only laughed at Him, but mocked Him. Well, Jesus, could have just brought her back to life in front of them, but He does not need to prove Himself to anyone, the ruler’s faith was enough for Him to perform this incredible miracle. There is no fear of death to the saved, born again believer because to be absent in the body is to be present with the LORD, [2 Corinthians 5:6-8 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.]
Do you see how Jesus responds to the blind men? Jesus, knows what He can do, but it is all dependent on whether or not we believe that He can do it. I guarantee you that there were more who discredited Jesus than believed in Him, nevertheless, that never stopped Him from helping those who did come to Him by faith. Matthew, also records how Jesus visited not only the great and wealthy cities, but the poor and needy villages as well, and He preached the same Gospel message to all. The souls of the poorest in the world are just as precious to Christ as the souls of the wealthiest, therefore Christ had compassion on all of them.
[Matthew 9:35-38 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.]
These people were lost, scattered all over the world, just like sheep who have gone astray with no way to know what would come of them. You see, when we come to God we must come to Him by faith, and there are many ways that God uses to get us increase that faith. Sometimes He does use death, sometimes a miracle, sometimes a tragedy. Why? People do respond differently to Christ. The wicked do not want to believe that life does go beyond death because quite honestly, no one wants to end up in hell. So, if they talk themselves into believing that it does not apply to them, then they think that they are off the hook, but will learn the hard way that they are not, [Matthew 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.]
Now, Luke, tells us of the faith of the nobleman who sent for Jesus to cure one of his servants, [Luke 7:3,6-7,9-10 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: 7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. 9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.]
Here are these men telling Jesus that He needs to heal this man because of all the good that he has done when the centurion himself sends word to Jesus not to come because he is not worthy for Him to even be standing in his doorway. That is when Jesus saw the faith that He had not seen in the children of Israel. Now, as they were headed toward a town called Nain, Jesus spots a group of people who were about to bury a dead man.
[Luke 7:12-16 Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. 15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. 16 And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.]
[Bier; A carriage or frame of wood for conveying dead human bodies to the grave.] I find it interesting that Jesus only touched the carriage, He just spoke to the man, and he sat right up. When Jesus speaks to you, let me tell you, His voice is like no other, strong and powerful, and truly like a two edged sword. You do not need the Bible for Him to speak to you, but when you do get in His Word and it speaks to you, it speaks loud and clear, [Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.]
You will notice that when the people witnessed this great miracle that they went from believing that Jesus is just a man to a great prophet. These people were so blind that they could not see that Jesus was not some mere man or prophet, rather Messiah they had been waiting for. Now, the fame of Jesus was all around Judea, word got around to John the Baptist, who was still in prison, of all the miracles that were taking place, he sent some of his own disciples to see if the stories were true.
[Luke 7:19-23 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.]
Do you see the comment that Jesus made? He points out that no one who believes in Him will be offended by anything that He does and they will be blessed as well. Now, after John’s disciples left to tell him what Jesus said, Jesus over looks the crown and begins to speak, [Luke 7:24-28 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 25 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. 26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.]
I always love reading this because what Jesus is asking them is, “What exactly did you come here for? Some miracle that would make you finally accept the I am the Christ?” In fact, He knew their faith, and which was rejected Him right there, and Jesus calls them out on it too.
[Luke 7:29-32,35 And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 31 And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32 They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.]
Did you notice that Jesus is addressing all religions here? Jews, refuse to accept that Jesus is the Messiah. Muslims, refuse to accept that Jesus is much more than a prophet. Catholics, refuse to accept that all you need to do is ask Him to save you to be saved. Mormons, believe that you must ask Christ to save you and obey their rules in order to keep your salvation. Religion rejects the counsel of God, Christ, who is the wisdom of God, treats everyone in the same manner, we all have souls who need Him, but will save those who come to Him, [Revelation 3:20-21 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.]
Now, to prove that it is the ones who know they are not worthy for Jesus to come to them that get saved, Jesus accepted an invitation to one of the Pharisees house for dinner. As they are sitting there a woman, will known by these people went up to him, and it was not what she did that caused a great stir, it was what Jesus did.
[Luke 7:37-40 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.]
This woman was a prostitute, it is interesting that this man who thought himself without sin would even let her in his house. I imagine that there were several people around who just showed up. Well, Jesus, once again, puts them in their place, although it actually made them even more angry.
[Luke 7:41-44,47,50 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.]
The least worthy person, the most wretched worst sinner of all who receives Christ as their Saviour is greater in the Kingdom of God than the most righteous person on earth. Why? Because the are the ones who received Christ and were saved, [Romans 3:23-24 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:] Praise God!
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, You know my heart, my thoughts, and even my actions before I do them. I know that I am who I am today because of my faith in You. I am definitely not the same person I was before You came into my life, and You are not done with me yet, I know You are doing a great work in me even though I mess up time and time again. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me the strength that only You can give me to not only live by faith, but walk every single day by faith in You. Let me be a witness and a testimony for those who are searching for You in a time when they need You. Give me Your mercy, grace, and strength to suffice my infirmities and be a pattern that would lead souls to You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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