Fourth Sunday in Advent Perfectly Whole
Don't let another season of life slip away. Start something no
“To those who have not yet learned the secret of true happiness, begin now to study the little things in your own door yard.”
George Washington Carver
Passage
34When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
35And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick;
36and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.
Matthew 14:34–36 (NASB95)
"Wet flowering spring yard of 705, gray house, red door, University District, pink flowering magnolia tree, Seattle, Washington, USA" by Wonderlane is marked with CC0 1.0.
Background
Quote-First George Washington Carver (c. 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century.
While a professor at Tuskegee Institute, Carver developed techniques to improve soils depleted by repeated plantings of cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow other crops, such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, as a source of their own food and to improve their quality of life. The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. Although he spent years developing and promoting numerous products made from peanuts, none became commercially successful.
Passage-The book of Matthew is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Genealogy, Parables, Sermons, and some Prophetic Oracles. It was written by Matthew (Levi), the Disciple of Christ around 48-50 A.D. The key word in Matthew is "Kingdom" and is used 28 times.
The personalities of this book include the Messiah Jesus Christ, His parents Mary and Joseph, the Twelve Disciples, the prophet John the Baptist, and other kinds of leaders. These leaders include those in government like Pilate and religious leaders such as the Pharisees (who attempt to hinder the work of Jesus).
The book of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels and it was written to reveal the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the line of David. It also was written to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long-awaited Messiah.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
The time is now. The season is upon us. The place to begin is with ourselves in our own backyard. Failing to start now means in a year, we will have let another year slip by. What are the things we should begin in this season of life?
Ask: What did Jesus heal when He walked the earth?
Point: Anything and everything from boils and blindness to the lame and dead.
Ask: Is there anything Jesus could not heal?
Point: No.
Ask: Is Jesus done healing now just because He sits in Heaven at the right hand of God?
Point: No.
Ask: How do we know that?
Point: The Jews of Jesus’ day thought He would establish an earthly kingdom, but they missed the point.
17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
19“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:17–19 (NASB95)
Ask: If Christ healed through physical contact before, how can he heal now that we can’t touch Him, see Him, or hear Him?
Point: Faith
5And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him,
6and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.”
7Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”
8But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9“For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
11“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;
12but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed that very moment.
Matthew 8:5–13 (NASB95)
Ask: How do we hear Jesus speak today?
Point: The Holy Spirit.
23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.
25“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.
26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 14:23–26 (NASB95)
Ask: What is George Washington Carver famous for?
Point: Crop rotation mostly, and peanuts. Lots of peanuts.
Re-read today’s passage.
Ask: What does crop rotation have to do with healing?
Point: The soil gets depleted of the nutrients to grow something when all that is planted in that ground is the same crop season after season.
Ask: That still doesn’t answer the question. What does crop rotation for farming have to do with spiritual healing from Jesus?
Point: Maybe we get it wrong when we think the healing of Christ is just physical healing of the body both then and now because the Kingdom of Heaven is not an earthly, physical kingdom but a spiritual one.
Ask: Okay, but still, how is that crop rotation and the renewing of the land and the renewing or healing of the spirit?
Point: Crop rotation for the soul.
1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Romans 12:1–3 (NASB95)
Ask: How do I “present my body as a living and holy sacrifice?” does that mean exercise and eating right?
Point: Maybe, certainly, to some degree, to gain longevity for the vessel, but it also means more. Remember, the Jews thought the Kingdom of Heaven was a physical kingdom instead of a spiritual kingdom. We are talking about the healing being not just physical healing, as in today’s passage but also spiritual healing. We aren’t just talking about our individual, physical bodies.
4For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
6Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
7if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
8or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Romans 12:4–13 (NASB95)
Closing Statement
15Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV 1900) Study, learn, grow, change. Discover that Jesus is how we learn through praying for His guidance to lead us to a faith that makes us perfectly whole. That sums up the titles of this four-week Advent study. Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy are woven into these four lessons but with a theme. The story of Christ walking on water in the book of John shows us a Savior at peace in the midst of a storm that terrifies His disciples. They misunderstand Him, His instructions, and how to execute them by themselves, but when He joins them when He is in the boat with them, the storm subsides. This coming year there will be changes. A storm is coming. It might be in a personal form or a collective one, but the turmoil is on the horizon if for no other reason than we are alive and life is filled with difficulties. Do you want to face them alone or with someone whom the winds and the waves obey? He who has ears, let him hear.
Questions for the Week
Question 1 What “crop rotation for the soul” do you need?
Question 2 Do you have anything you want Jesus to heal?
Question 3 What steps are you taking to facilitate that healing?
Question 4 Between now and January 1st, think, pray, and plan for the year ahead to include actively moving closer to Jesus, preparing for the personal storms you see coming, and considering those storms you do not see coming.
Definitions
healing
hee-ling
adjective
Curing or curative; prescribed or helping to heal.
Growing sound; getting well; mending.
noun
The act or process of regaining health: a new drug to accelerate healing.
Greek Strong’s Number: 1295
Greek Word: διασῴζω
Transliteration: diasōzō
Phonetic Pronunciation: dee-as-odze’-o
Root: from <G1223> and <G4982>
Cross Reference:
Part of Speech: v
Vine’s Words: Escape, Heal, Healing, Safe, Safely, Safety, Save, Saving, Whole, Wholly, Wholesome
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
escape 2
save 2
make perfectly whole 1
escape safe 1
bring safe 1
heal 1
[Total Count: 8]
from <G1223> (dia) and <G4982> (sozo); to save thoroughly, i.e. (by implication or analogy) to cure, preserve, rescue, etc.:- bring safe, escape (safe), heal, make perfectly whole, save.
James Strong, “Διασῴζω,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
If you found value in this or anything else Mark writes please consider joining on Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Your contribution is a tremendous encouragement.