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June 2005 Week 1 Matthew 8:1-4
Dear friends, may our Lord’s blessings
sustain you this day. Our devotional for today is he healing of a man who had
leprosy. Jesus had just finished his preaching and teaching on the mountain.
He comes down and the crowd surrounds him. In the crowd, the man with leprosy
came and knelt before him. Speaking to Jesus, the man said, "Lord, if
you are willing, you can make me clean". After Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew records to great faith stories, this passage and the one that
follows. They are examples and inspirational stories for us. They are here to
show how we can express our needs to Jesus in confidence, and to know that he
willingly provides his healing Spirit. May these words in this passage give
us assurance this day. Matthew 8:5-17 Dear friends, may the gift of grace from our Lord be with you this day.
Our devotional for today is the story of the faith of a Centurion. The
setting in which Matthew records this story finds Jesus entering the city of Upon hearing this, the Centurion desires that Jesus should not come under his roof, but simply to say the word and his servant would be healed. There are two possibilities for the Centurion’s response. First, that he himself was unworthy, for he was a Gentile. Second, he was concerned because he knew Jewish law that forbids members of the community to enter a Gentile house and become unclean. In understanding this custom, he honored Jesus. At the same time, he knew the authority Jesus possessed. He cites his example of sending his word out amongst his company of soldiers and they obey his word. He knows that surely then, the same would take place with Jesus’ proclamation. At this Jesus acknowledges the Centurion’s faith and his servant was healed and restored. How do we acknowledge who Jesus is in our lives? What power of his Word, do we recognize for our healing? Through his Word, Jesus proclaims healing to us and those around us. We certainly are healed of our illnesses. But, what about the great healing of the soul? The Word of Jesus proclaims the promise of newness of life. Through our Lord, we are brought into a new and lasting relationship. Through our Lord, there is no distinction, no separation, but oneness in Spirit. The Centurion believed that Jesus would hear his petition. May we also believe that our Lord hears our petitions as we come to him in faith and in prayer. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “B”. Matthew 8:18-22 Dear friends, may God’s gift of
love be with you this day. Our devotional for today calls us to consider the
cost of discipleship. Throughout history, thousands have given up everything for a particular cause. Thousands have given their lives in war for their country. Thousands have given of themselves for freedom from persecution. They knew the price that may take their life. Thousands have given of themselves for the sake of the gospel. Still today, there are brothers and sisters throughout the world, who give of themselves even in the face of death. All have left behind the comfort of their beds and their families. The early Christian disciples left behind everything. That was the price. Matthew shares this story, because many in his time, were called into a discipleship that meant exactly what he described. We may not be placed with such demands in our calling to be a disciple. Yet the one remaining factor comes to us. Jesus still calls us to faith and full allegiance to God. In our allegiance to him, we are still asked to make choices. Is our Lord Jesus Christ, first in our lives? What sacrifices are we willing to make for the sake of the proclamation of the gospel? Are we prepared to make those sacrifices? Or are we willing to be his disciple as long as he doesn’t ask this of us? These are important questions. May the Spirit guide us in our relationship with him and in our service to him and to one another. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana's family, whose last name begin with the letter “C”. Matthew 8:23-27 Dear friends, may the peace of our
Lord be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the miracle story of
the calming of the storm. This is a familiar story for us. In Matthew, Jesus had finished his Sermon
on the Mount and then spent some time in the city of In this story, there is some evidence of faith and recognition of who Jesus is. Yet there are also signs of a lack of faith and a question of Jesus’ true identity. In the time sequence, Jesus is in the beginning of his second year of ministry. His disciples had been with him for about a year. During this time, they saw Jesus perform miracles and taught through his use of parables. They knew how powerful a man he was, even now in a terrible storm, they cried out to him to save them. Yet, something was missing. Enough, that after he calmed the storm and the seas, they asked among themselves, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Who is this Jesus? That too, is a question we will ask as we read through the gospels. This question is a faith question for us. In our faith journey, we have seen the powerful narratives of Jesus’ ministry. Each story tells us about whom Jesus is. They are what the church describes as faith stories or faith narratives. In this story, we see the divine power of our Lord Jesus. This divine power calms the winds and the waves. For us, Jesus tells us, "Do not be afraid". Storms, some of them arrive suddenly and catch us totally unprepared. It is during those storms, we cry out in fear, "Lord, save us". My friends may you be assured of his holy presence. Remember, he journeys with us and he offers to us his peace, his hope and his comfort. May we take comfort in this thought. God’s blessings. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “D”. Matthew 8:28-34 Dear friends, may the assurance of
our Lord’s hope be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the story
of Jesus’ miracle of exorcism of two men possessed by a demon. After crossing
the What Matthew intends in this passage is that the demons know who Jesus is. The phrase, "torture us before the appointed time." is Matthew’s attempt to disclose to his readers what will happen to Satan, evil, demons and the followers of Satan, at the ‘appointed time’. The appointed time is the final destruction of evil in this world. In Revelation 20, John shares how Satan and evil will be destroyed. In Revelation 21, John shares that after the old has disappeared; the new heaven and the new earth will come. As we see in Revelation 20, all that is associated with Satan will be forever destroyed. The new order of creation will not possess the old world (evil/sin). Everything is created new and perfect. This passage shows us that even the demonic know the power of God in his Son, Jesus of Nazareth. They know as he encounters them, that they will be destroyed, even now before the ‘appointed time’. Here in an unexplainable event, they enter the pigs that are nearby and they plunge themselves into the depths of the lake. Destroyed, no longer a part of the life of the men they possessed. In Christ, we have this promise, that in the end of time, his creation will be whole, pure, without evil/sin. In faith, we are a part of that promise. It is God’s triumphant victory. It is for us. Thanks be to God for that victory. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “E & F”. Week 2 Matthew 9:1-8 Dear friends, may the blessings,
which is given to you through our Lord, be with you this day. Our devotional
for today is the healing of the paralyzed man. This story is another
well-known healing story of Jesus, who not only heals the man of his
disability, but also crosses over into the spiritual healing, through the
offering of forgiveness of his sins. What is unique in this story is that Jesus
offers to the man the spiritual healing first. In the setting of the story,
Jesus returns to his hometown of What is fascinating in this story is the strength of the faith of the men who brought this man to Jesus. Jesus acknowledged this, even to the disgruntle comments of blasphemy by the teachers of the law. In their midst, he openly declared the offering of forgiveness and that he had the authority and the power to forgive. This is a faith story. Through faith, the men recognized that if they could reach him, Jesus would heal their friend and essentially restore him. By faith, they recognized in Jesus, the healing power of God. Then, Jesus’ offering and the physical healing become the focal point of the story. But look at verse 2 and the whole issue of faith that is described by Matthew. This passage also shares with us, the power of faith in which we bring before God our sick, our hurting and those who suffer loss. In our petitions, we seek God’s healing power. In our requests, we come by faith, knowing that not only is his power to restore to health, but also to bring wholeness of life, both physically and spiritually. Let us pray that God uses us as instruments in this healing and that we come in faith to him, bringing those amongst us in need to him in our prayers. May the power of faith and prayer, bring newness and wholeness to ourselves and those around us. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “G”. Matthew 9:9-13 Dear friends, may God’s gift of grace be with you this day. Our devotional for today is Matthew’s account of his calling into discipleship. Maybe to do justice to this passage, it would be helpful to look at his calling through his eyes. Maybe then, we can begin to understand the tremendous impact upon the readers and the Jewish/Christian community that Matthew was writing to. In Matthew’s eyes, he was an outcast, not by his own choice, but by the choice of his association through his vocation. Now it would be easy to say Matthew could have chosen a different vocation, knowing very well that tax collectors were despised because they ‘worked’ for the despised Roman government in the collection of taxes. But perhaps he could not. But ‘labeled’ he was and included with him were other ‘sinners’, who also were ‘labeled’ as outcasts by the Pharisees who considered them ritually unclean. The power of the story for Matthew is Jesus seeing through all of this, calling him to follow him in discipleship. The power is Jesus accepting Matthew’s invitation to come into his house, sit down and eat with him and ‘his people’, (other tax collectors and sinners). In Matthew’s own hand, he writes and shares this story with members of the Jewish/Christian community. To his readers, he declares, this is Jesus. This Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Son, the Messiah. This is Jesus, who if he has accepted my friends, and me and calls us to be his disciples and followers, also calls you. Here, Matthew shows us, that Jesus’ ministry is a ministry of acceptance, forgiveness and restoration. This is shown repeatedly through the stories, not only here in Matthew, but the other gospels as well. That is the same ‘good news’ for us. We, members of the community of faith, the Christian Church, are forgiven and restored people of God. We are accepted and loved by our Lord Jesus Christ, who ministers to his people this message of hope and promise. Thanks be to God and know in the depths of your hearts, you are loved. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “H & I”. Matthew 9:14-17 Dear friends, may the love that comes to us through our Lord Jesus be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the parable of the Old and New Wineskins. In the setting, we see that disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus and ask him why his disciples do not fast as they do. What Jesus offers to them is a new teaching. It is far different than what they have experienced before with John and even far different than the disciples of the Pharisees, who reside by the law and teaching of the Jewish faith. What is new here in this story that Jesus wishes to convey? Jesus uses the example of old goatskins, which are used to store wine. Once the wine is fermented, the skins conform to its content. After it is used, they are thrown away. If used again for new unfermented wine, the process of fermentation will break the skins because they cannot stretch. John’s disciples and the Pharisee’s disciples adapted to the tradition of fasting to prepare themselves in the practice of their faith. They held on to their traditions. They shaped them. Jesus’ message of salvation was entirely new. So new, so radical, that there had to be a complete change within their hearts and their faith structure. Holding on to the old traditions, they would not be able to adapt to the significant change in their faith, in their thinking and in their practice. If these disciples of John and the Pharisees tried to place Jesus’ teachings into the old, they surely would break. He tells them, you have to discard the old and put on the new. It is saying goodbye to the law and the traditions, which bind faith. Welcome into the new message of the gospel, which is the good news of salvation through Jesus. While taking in the new, their lives will be shaped entirely different. So it is with us. The same message comes to us. We are also called to discard the old which binds us and embrace the new message of salvation of salvation. This is our Lord’s gift. Embrace it with faith and hope. God’s blessings. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “J & K”.
Matthew 9:18-26 Dear friends, may the gift of peace from our Lord be with you today. Our devotional for today is the healing of a ruler’s (Jairus) daughter and a woman who was bleeding for twelve years. In Matthew’s story, the young girl had just died. Yet in the midst of faith Jairus seeks Jesus’ healing and restoration of his daughter declaring, "But come and put you hand on her and she will live". Jesus leaves immediately and as he journeys to Jairus’ house, he encounters the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. Here, we see the essential theme of the woman’s faith, "If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed," she thought. At that moment, Jesus recognized her and declares, "Take heart daughter, your faith has healed you". Then he went to Jairus’ house and raised his daughter from death for him. This passage shares with the magnitude of faith in our Lord Jesus. Here, Matthew records the bold faith and trust of Jairus. What had Jairus, a synagogue ruler, seen in Jesus? In Jesus, he saw the power of God. Surely, if he could cast out demons, heal the lame and restore health to many, could he not bring restoration to his daughter? Jairus’ hope was in the strength of Jesus to restore life to his daughter and give her back to him. The same intent was for the woman. Surely she thought, if he could heal others, he could heal me. All I have to do is touch his cloak and I will be healed. Because of her bleeding, she was considered ritually unclean. She did not approach Jesus, seeking him to touch her making him unclean, but rather to simply reach out and touch his cloak. "That would be enough", she thought. The power of faith in Jesus healed the woman and raised Jairus’ daughter. Faith stories are given to us, not only to show the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, but to encourage and strengthen us in our faith relationship with him. Through these two stories, we not only know the healing power of our Lord, but that he also overcomes the suffering that comes with illness. Through the story, we know that he also overcomes suffering and grief that comes in the death of loved ones. To each and to us, Jesus brings restoration with the healing and the raising. This is God’s healing and a message of hope for us. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “L”. Matthew 9:27-34 Dear friends, may the assuring message of hope through Jesus be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the healing of two blind men and a man who was possessed by a demon and mute. Once again in Matthew, there is recognition of faith and healing. As Jesus left Jairus’ house, two blind men who were following him, acknowledged Jesus and his royalty. They called out to him, "Have mercy on us, Son of David". To them, he asked a question of faith, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied. Then he recognized their faith in him and he touched them and healed them. Later, Jesus encounters a mute man
who is possessed by a demon. The mute, because he could not speak, was cut
off from his fellow community. His disability was viewed as the work of a
demon. In the exorcism, Jesus enabled the man to speak. Seeing this, the
crowds were amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in What is the question raised in the story? In verse 28, Jesus asks, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" The blind men recognized Jesus as the Son of David, the promised Messiah. In this recognition, they called out to him for mercy. To his question, they echoed a resounding yes, we believe. In the story of the mute possessed by a demon, many were amazed at the power and authority Jesus possessed. Yet, there were some who questioned that power. Once again Matthew calls us to look deep within ourselves. The question is also asked of us, "Do you believe in his power?" The faith stories we have read thus far consist in recognizing in Jesus, the One sent from God. He is the source and the power of healing in our lives. He is the source and power of the restoration that comes from the healings. He is the one who offers a restored life and relationship to family, to community and God. For both parties in this passage, Jesus has given to them this gift. He also offers it to us. Thanks be to God. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "M". Matthew 9:35-38 Dear friends, may the blessings which comes to us from our Lord Jesus, be with you this day. Our devotional for today is a short passage in Matthew where Jesus first issues a call to discipleship in proclaiming the message of the gospel to the entire world. In this passage, Matthew summarizes Jesus’ journey through the villages. He encounters many who are sick and he provides healing for them. He teaches in their synagogues and declares the message of the good news of salvation. He observes the masses of people, among them the poor, the outcast. He shows his compassion upon them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he declares to his disciples, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field". In this passage, Jesus recognizes the needs of his people. In his compassion, he is offering himself in the power of his Word, as the Light and the Hope and the Savior of the world. He recognizes the appointed time is now. The harvest is plentiful and workers are needed to proclaim and to bring souls into God’s kingdom. Now, he gives the command to go and seek and tell the good news. To his disciples he says, "Ask the Lord of the harvest....." In the commissioning, Jesus asks for our prayer. It is an invitation to participate in the commissioning act. Many times the question is asked, "What can we do?" That question is often asked of organizations whose ministries are abroad in foreign countries. But that is also a question asked here in our community. Jesus gives us an insight in discipleship. He asks us to pray for those who go directly into the harvest field. God uses each of us as called disciples. For some, their specific duty is to "go". For the remaining members of the church, we are called to pray to the Lord of the harvest. We are to pray that the workers, who go into the fields, may be faithful workers. And we are to pray, that those who are waiting, may be receptive to the good news of salvation. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "N". Week 3 Matthew 10:1-16 Dear friends, may the message of grace in the Lord be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the story of Jesus sending his twelve disciples on their first missionary journey. In yesterday’s devotions, Jesus proclaimed, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few". Jesus recognizes the very need amongst his people and he sent out his twelve disciples to begin that ministry. In the opening verses, he gives to them the authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal. Essentially, what we see is the ministry of his disciples is a parallel to his. Jesus bestows upon his disciples the very power he possessed. As Matthew named the twelve that were sent out, notice he addresses them as apostles. In these opening verses, we see Jesus setting the tone for the ministry of his disciples. He gave to them his authority to use his name and by his name heal the sick, cast out the evil spirits and proclaims the good news of salvation. Receiving this authority and power from Jesus, they went to the villages and the people recognized their authority. Secondly, the disciples were called apostles. By this name, Jesus openly declared their purpose, that is, to go out with a mandate to speak and to act in the name of the one who sent them. They could do nothing by themselves; they could give only that which they had received from the Lord. So these opening verses begin Jesus’ commissioning of his disciples and sending them out into the surrounding villages. What follows throughout the remaining verses in chapter 10, are explicit instructions on how to carry out the ministry of the gospel. Along with the instructions, are specific warnings about circumstances that the disciples will encounter as they entered each village. Notice the directions Jesus offers. He recognizes the human need and response. The offering of peace is granted. Yet he also knows that in some places there will be rejection. He prepares his disciples for both. These instructions are also for us. There will be the times when our witness will be received and some times not. May these words give us encouragement and hope in our witnessing. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "O". Matthew 10:17-31 Dear friends, may the gift of God’s love be with you this day. Our devotional for today are predictions of Jesus to his disciples which include warnings about circumstances they will encounter in their ministry. Here, Matthew inserts the warnings, with the commissioning and sending of his disciples on their first missionary journey. After the commissioning, Jesus shares these words with his disciples that are recorded in these verses. These words are words of preparation for them. Now he sends them out into the villages to heal and to preach the gospel of good news. Along the way, Jesus tells them, they will encounter those who are receptive to the message. Jesus tells them to stay and offer to them the message of peace. Jesus also tells them, they will encounter those who reject the message and even persecute them. To them, Jesus says; shake the dust off your sandals in their presence, for it too is a sign of warning against those who refuse to accept the message that is offered. As we look at the verses that are included in our reflection for today, we see the specifics of that which Jesus instructs his disciples. In the midst of these warnings also come words of encouragement and hope for his disciples. Jesus tells them, that should they be placed before the courts, not to worry about what to say, "At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you". I believe these words can be encouraging for us today as well. While we may not be facing persecution in our community, in the same manner the disciples faced it, we are still subject to the same type of responses. There will be those within the community and within the family structure who will speak against us. They will also speak against the gospel. Here remember the words of Jesus, "The Spirit of your Father will speak through you". May this help us to bear witness to the good news to those around us in our community and family. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "P". Matthew 10:32-42 Dear friends, may the peace of our Lord Jesus be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the latter verses of chapter 10. In these verses, Matthew records the words of Jesus giving final instructions to his disciples before they journey out into the villages. The opening verses describe the acknowledgment of Jesus concerning the relationship that is established. These are very simple words. Those who acknowledge Jesus in a confession of faith before men, he will acknowledge before the Father in heaven. The opposite is also given. Those who reject (disown) Jesus before others, he will disown before the Father in heaven. What does it mean for us to make confession of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ? The confession is an open declaration of our faith, which is shown by our words and by our deeds. It is a public confession. It is a declaration that Jesus is Lord and Savior of not only the world, but also of our own life. It is a declaration to the community that live within our world, that Jesus offers to all people the gift of forgiveness of sins and that where there is the assurance of that forgiveness, our Lord declares there is also life and salvation given to all who believe. Jesus declares, that those make confession of faith, he will acknowledge before the Father in heaven. At the same time, we should take seriously the warning that he gives here as well. Jesus states, that if we fail to confess his name before others, he will not acknowledge us before the Father. How can we be assured of the gospel message and secure our confession of him? As we hear the message of our Lord, we must acknowledge it as the eternal Word of God and follow it. This Word shows us that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It knows that Jesus has fully redeemed the whole world and us. God as the payment for our sin accepted this gift. No greater act of love has ever been shown to the world. Now in proclamation to the world, our Lord asks us to make that confession of faith before others. Let us pray this day that we may boldly confess Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "R". Week 4 Matthew 11:1-15 Dear friends, may the hope, which comes from our Lord, be with you this day. Our devotional for today is the testimony of Jesus to John the Baptist. The passage is the thoughts of Jesus’ response to John’s disciples. They came to him on his behalf and ask, “Are you the One who was to come or should we expect someone else?” Jesus’ response was, “Go and tell John all that you have heard and have seen”. To the crowd, Jesus began his
testimony of John. Jesus’ testimony was that there is no one greater than
John. John is called great because he proved himself victorious in pointing
the way to the Messiah. He spoke to the crowds and declared, “Repent, the We have also heard the words of
Jesus through these passages in the gospels. They tell of his teachings of
the Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter “S”. Matthew 11:16-24 Dear friends, may the blessings which comes through our Lord Jesus, be with you this day. Our devotional for today follows Jesus words of testimony of John the Baptist. There were many who believed John’s testimony of Jesus as the coming Messiah. Yet, there were many who did not, doubting his proclamation of repentance and preparation for the coming kingdom and for receiving the Messiah. These same people doubted Jesus’ words of proclamation. They questioned his motives and his claim as the Messiah, even though John had so declared to them. To these people who doubted, who refused to repent, Jesus utters these words of coming judgment. Three magnificent cities, Korazin,
My friends, just as we readily accept the gracious words of love and grace from our Lord Jesus, we also must readily accept these words of warning. We have before us the gospel message of Jesus Christ. These words are offered for us and they are the same gospel message that he offered to his people. Before us, we have heard the stories proclaimed. We have read them. The same question he asked of his people during his earthly ministry, he asks of us. Do you believe in him? Do you accept him as your Lord and Savior, the Messiah who gave of himself on the cross for the forgiveness of sins? Do you accept him, who rose from the dead and offers that same resurrection for you? Jesus proclaims, salvation is for all who believe in him. Yet he also proclaims judgment on those who do not believe his words of promise. Let us pray for ourselves, for our community, our neighbors, that all may believe and have life in his name. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "T". Matthew 11:25-30 Dear friends, God’s message of
grace be with you this day. Our devotional for today is one of the most
comforting passages in the gospels. Yesterday’s devotional saw Jesus place
heavy judgment upon the citizens of Korazin, In this passage, Jesus recognizes the yoke of the burdens of the law. The burdens and heaviness of that ‘yoke’ became the obstacle, which blocked their faith in him. Jesus takes that burden, that yoke, upon himself. He keeps its demands in the fullest extent for our sake. As the Son of the living God, Jesus did this in full obedience, something we are unable to do. In it, he recognized the burden and the weariness that the law places upon human shoulders. Now, he lifts it off our shoulders and places it upon himself and carries it. Released from the burdens of the law, man can find rest and peace. What are the burdens placed in your life? Do they present hardships? Doubt? Do they prevent a night of rest? When do they come upon you and are the heaviest? Perhaps at night when the day is complete, when one should find rest and peace. Sometimes, I have restless nights. There are those times when I fall asleep naturally. Other times, I toss and turn and then fall into an exhausted sleep, only to wake, tired and listless. Does that sound familiar? I think that is why I believe this passage is one of the comforting passages in the gospels. Praying to place the day upon the shoulders of the Lord, releases the yoke of the burdens of the day. Jesus says, "Come to me all....." He reminds everyone, believers and non-believers, to come to him and release those burdens and then find rest and peace in him. Prayer Concern: Members of Augustana’s family, whose last name begin with the letter "W". |
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