Southern Christian University

Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John

Class Session 06

James A. Turner

 

Hello, students.  In our last class, I believe we finished up with the Sermon on the Mount.  We are now ready to begin with Matthew chapter eight beginning with verse one.  We will take time to read some of the parallels to know how that the writers compliment each other.  And when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.  And, behold, there came to him a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean.  And straightway his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 

 

Let us turn next to Mark chapter one beginning with verse thirty-nine and read Mark's parallel.  Mark 1:39, And he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.  And there cometh unto him a leper, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And being moved with compassion.  Matthew did not make that statement.  Mark says being moved with compassion.  We have a number of references where the writer states that Jesus was moved with compassion.  Think how kind‑hearted Jesus was.  Anyone who follows him closely will be moved with compassion to see people in such need.  And being moved with compassion, he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou made clean.  And straightway the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean.  And he strictly charged him, and straightway sent him out; and saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man:  But go show thyself to the priest, and offer for the cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.  But he went out, and began to publish it much, and spread abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city.  That is evidently the reason why Jesus told him not to tell anybody, see.  The crowds were following him in such a way, and now there are so many that he cannot openly enter into a city.  But was without in desert places:  And they came to  him from every quarter. 

 

Turn to Luke chapter five, and I want you to notice that Luke says something that is a little different.  Luke 5:12, And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, behold a man full of leprosy.  Do you notice that? You might want to underscore that.  Full of leprosy.  Remember in Colossians 3:14, Paul's salutation, Luke the beloved physician and Demas saluteth you.  So Luke was a physician, and he sees health problems with a physician's understanding.  And while we are here ‑‑ I do not know how your Bible is arranged, but if you will look at chapter four and verse thirty‑eight, telling about his healing Peter's wife's mother, Luke there has a little different statement.  And he rose up from the synagogue, and entered into the house of Simon.  And Simon's wife's mother was holden with a great fever; and they besought him for her.  And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her:  And immediately she rose up and ministered unto them.  Now, the other two writers just mention that she had a fever.  But Luke says she had a great fever, and he had that understanding as a great physician.  So here the leper is full of leprosy.  And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And he stretched forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou made clean and straightway.  I believe all three of them say straightway.  They want us to understand that he was healed of his leprosy immediately.  And straightway the leprosy departed from him.  And he charged him to tell no man, to go thy way, and show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.  But so much the more went abroad the report concerning him and great multitudes came together to hear and be healed of their infirmities.  But he withdrew himself into the deserts and prayed.  So I believe the primary difference in the three readings is that statement made by Luke that he was full of leprosy.  There is a little difference in the way it is recorded.  Matthew said that he went and published it abroad.  He went out and began to publish it much and spread it abroad the matter insomuch that Jesus could not no more openly enter into the city, but was without in the desert. 

 

In regard to Jesus telling them to go and show himself to the priest and offer for his cleansing, of course, it was still under the Old Testament law, and that is what the law required, that when a leper was cleansed, he was to show himself to the priest.  And if he was pronounced cleansed, then the law specified what he was to offer for his cleansing.  In chapter thirteen of Leviticus, if man had any signs in the skin, a spot or a rupture, or swelling that might be leprosy, he was to go and show himself to the priest, for the priest to determine, and if he was a leper, he was to live outside the camp.  Note the reading of Leviticus chapter 13:45‑46.  The leper who has the disease shall wear torn clothes, and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip, and cry, Unclean, unclean.  He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease.  He is unclean:  He shall dwell alone; within a habitation outside the camp.  I think we might rightly refer to that as a prescientific statement.  They did not have that knowledge of disease back there, but for protection, to keep one leper from maybe giving the disease to hundreds of people, he was to wear torn clothes, live outside the camp, and wear a cover over his upper lip, and if anyone came near him, he was to cry, unclean, unclean.  And, of course, that would help to keep the disease from spreading.  And then if he was cleansed, then some evidently, like cancer today, sometimes cancer becomes dormant in a person or maybe even a body is cured of it completely.  Sometimes it looks like the body cures itself, and so there must have been a few that would be cleansed.  If a man thought he was cleansed, then chapter fourteen tells what he was supposed to do.  He was to be brought to the priest, and the priest was to go out of camp, to make an examination, and there was a process in regard to that. 

 

On the eighth day, he was to take ‑‑ Verse ten, On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without a blemish and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish --- And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they killed the sin offering and the burnt offering.  That would be at the altar of burnt offering.  Verse 14, And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.  So you see there was a cleansing process that the priests went through.  Notice that the law also provided for the poor man.  Verse twenty‑one, But if he is poor, and cannot afford so much; then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of a ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, and a log of oil; also two turtledoves, or two pigeons, such as he can afford; and one shall be for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.  So on the eighth day after the priest had properly  examined him and gone through that process ‑‑ verses four to ten, on the eighth day then sacrifices were made, and he was cleansed.  You can see from that, why Jesus said go and show yourself to the priest.  Neither one of them say whether or not he went to the priest.  So we are left to wonder did he get so involved in telling people how he was cleansed and did not go to the priest?  At least he disobeyed what the Lord told him to do! 

Back now to Matthew chapter eight beginning with verse five.  We will take time to read the parallels on this.  And when he was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth in the house sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  And if you give careful attention, there looks like there is somewhat of a contradiction between Matthew's account and Luke's account here about the centurion wanting his servant healed.  And he saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  And the centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof.  In the gospel accounts and also in the book of Acts, we read about several centurions, and each one of them is spoken of in a favorable light.  Of course, they were Gentile people.  Centurion comes from the word centum. In other words, very near to that word century.  When we say century, we are talking about a hundred years.  So a centurion was over a hundred soldiers, and that is what he is talking about here.  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof:  But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.  For I also am a man under authority.  Of course, there were higher officials over the centurion like the chief captain that we read about in Acts 21:30-33 who sent down soldiers and centurions and rescued Paul from the Jews when they were about to kill him in the temple.  They had carried him outside of the temple and were in the process of trying to kill him. 

 

Verse 9, For I also am a man under authority, and having unto myself soldiers:  And I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  And when Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said unto them that followed, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.  But remember this man is a Gentile, and so he had manifested more faith in the Lord's ability to heal than any Jewish person had, at least to this point.  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.  Verse eleven is one of several references which show that there will be identity in heaven, right?

STUDENT:  That's it.

BROTHER TURNER:  Many shall come from the east and the west and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,  and remember the Jewish people came of that lineage.  God made a choice that the Jewish people should be called through Isaac and not through Ishmael or one of those six sons of Keturah.  And Jacob and Esau were twins, but God made a choice before they were born that the Jewish people would be called through Jacob(Genesis 25:21-26; Romans 9: 6-12).  Don't you think it would be talking about here that the Gentile people are coming in, and they are going to sit in the eternal kingdom with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those beginners back there of the Jewish race.  They will sit down with them in the kingdom of heaven.  Surely, it would be talking about the eternal kingdom.  But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness:  There shall be the weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

 

The sons of the kingdom would be what people?  STUDENT:  It would be the ‑‑ not the church, would it?

BROTHER TURNER:  It would be the Jewish people.  The Jewish people, according to the flesh as a whole, were rejecting Christ, and so the kingdom would be taken from them and given to the Gentiles.  But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast forth into outer darkness.  There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.  And, of course, that outer darkness is one of the descriptions of that place called hell, and the gnashing of teeth is a description of the terrible pain of hell. During the Civil War Dr. Johnson, ‑‑ one of the doctors for the Southern Armies said that they   sometimes had to set up in a house and make amputations, and that sometimes the arms and other limbs amputated from the wounded would be up to the top of the windowsill in the house.  Sometimes they had to do that without anything to relieve pain other than maybe some strong alcohol.  And do you know what they did?  They put a big lead bullet in their mouth so they would not break their teeth.  I am reminded of that every time I read the description of hell as a place where there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.  It surely is describing a terrible thing. 

 

We are ready to turn to Luke 7:1 to read Luke's parallel account.  After he ended all his sayings in the ears of the people, he entered into Capernaum.  Now, later on we are going to be reading about Jesus upbraiding Capernaum.  Why? Just think of all of the miracles and signs that he had wrought in that city!  And Jesus himself lived in Capernaum for a period of time.  And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and at the point of death.  Do you see how Luke's is different from Matthew's?  Again, he being that beloved physician, he sees everything with a physician's eyes.  So inspiration did not take from a person those natural abilities of the inspired writers.  And the more you read, the easier it is for you to tell when you hear a reading of what writer of the Bible it is from.  And a centurion’s servant who was dear unto him was sick, and at the point of death.  And when he heard concerning Jesus. 

 

Now, Matthew's account reads as though he just went to Jesus himself.  Well, how can you reconcile the two?  Here Luke tells that he sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus and  requested that Jesus heal his servant.  And when he heard concerning Jesus, he sent unto him  elders of the Jews, asking him that he would come and save his servant.  And he is at the point of death as Luke states.  And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, He is worthy that thou shouldest do this for him:  For he loveth our nation, and himself built us our synagogue.  That shows that he is not a Jew.  He loves our nation and he built our synagogue.  And 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 to shouldest come under my roof:  Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee:  But say the word, and my servant shall be healed.  For I also am a man under authority, having under myself soldiers, and I say to this one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  We just talked about how that a centurion was over a hundred soldiers, and, evidently, that is the reason he was called a centurion.  Like when we use the word century or some other like word, it is talking about a hundred years.  So he is over a hundred soldiers.  And when Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned, and said unto the multitude that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.  And they that were sent, returning to the house found the servant whole.  And now how are you going to reconcile Matthew's account with Luke's account?  They read different.

STUDENT:  It seemed like Luke gave more detail.

BROTHER TURNER:  Okay, Luke gives more of the details,  but how can Matthew speak truthfully if Luke's reading is correct?  Matthew says,  there came unto him a centurion beseeching him.

STUDENT:  They represent him.

BROTHER TURNER:  That is right.  He had sent the elders.  So what a man does by another can often be spoken of him doing it, right?  We use that kind of language in our speech today.  If you were having a house built, and you ride by and  say, “there is our house we are building, and you have not done a lick of work on it.

STUDENT:  That is true.

BROTHER TURNER:  But the fact that you are paying for it and you are having it done, you can rightfully speak of it as you doing it.

STUDENT:  Okay.  That makes sense.

BROTHER TURNER:  There are a lot of little things like that in the gospel accounts, and you need to be on guard because somebody is going to say here is a contradiction.  But when you look at it carefully, they do not amount to anything. 

 

I would like to stay here with chapter seven of Luke and read the next paragraph about Jesus raising from the dead the widow's son.  Luke is the only one that records this resurrection.  There are three recorded resurrections, that Jesus raised from the dead.  Now, it is my judgment that he raised a lot more than that from the dead, but three are recorded.  And we will be reading next about him raising Jairus's daughter from the dead.  Here he raises the widow's only son from the dead.  And in John the eleventh chapter, he raised that decaying, stinking Lazarus from the dead.  Verse eleven, And it came to pass and afterward, that he went into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him in a great multitude.  Now when he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, there was carried out one that was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow:  And much people of the city was with her.  Now, an only son makes a difference, but regardless if a man has got forty sons, he does not want to lose one.  But there is a difference if he has just  one son or one daughter and loses that one son or that one daughter. STUDENT:  And no husband. BROTHER TURNER: Yes, she was a widow woman.  And that son probably was part of her livelihood,

STUDENT: I would say so.

BROTHER TURNER:  And she was a widow:  And much people of the city was with her.  And when the Lord saw  her, he had compassion on her.  There is another occasion that the Lord had compassion.  And said unto her, Weep not.  And he came nigh and touched the bier:  And the bearers stood still.  See, they are carrying him to the cemetery to bury him.  And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.  And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak.  And he gave him to his mother.  Don't you think that was a happy mother?  And fear took hold on all:  And they glorified God, saying, A great prophet is risen among us; and, that God hath visited his people.  And this report went forth concerning him and the whole of Judaea, and all the regions round about.  And that would be something in those slow days of communication to spread that fast, as we might say from one vineyard to another, very rapidly. 

 

We were down to verse fourteen of Matthew eight, And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother lying sick of a fever.  And he touched her, and the fever left her:  And she arose, and ministered unto him.  And, again, remember Luke's account that she had a high fever.  And Matthew and Mark's account are very similar.  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her:  And she arose, and ministered unto him. So she had such a high fever that she is in the bed, cannot stay up because of the fever, and Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her completely, and she arose and ministered unto him.  I imagine she prepared a meal for them, don't you guess?

STUDENT:  I would say so.

BROTHER TURNER:  And when evening was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with demons:  and he cast out the spirits with the word, and healed all that were sick. Have you ever heard of a so‑called healing service of this day in time when multitudes of people were sick people and all were healed, and especially in respect to those that were blind and lame and maimed and with leprosy or some other incurable disease?

STUDENT:  Only certain ones are healed now.  BROTHER TURNER:  And time soon tells that some of them were not actually healed.

 

Verse 17, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bear our diseases.  Notice that that is from Isaiah 53:4, that great chapter of the Old Testament about the death of Christ.  More than seven hundred and fifty years before Christ was born of the virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah detailed  many things concerning his death.  Verse eighteen, Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.  The other side of the lake, the sea of Galilee.  And there came a scribe, and said unto him, Teacher, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.  What kind of a person was a scribe?

STUDENT:  He was a person who recorded the law.

BROTHER TURNER:  All right, a person who copied the law.  Remember they did not have all these copying machines that we have today, and the only copying they could do was by hand.  Think what a tedious process that would be to copy one book, and how many years do you think it would take you to copy all of the Bible?  If you have never tried copying a little, I do not think you can begin to imagine what kind of job that would be, just to copy a few books, even of the New Testament.  And they were called not only scribes, but what?

STUDENT:  Lawyers.  BROTHER TURNER:  Lawyers.  And they were supposed to be very familiar with the law, the law of the Old Testament.  There came a scribe, and said unto him, Teacher, I  will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.  And Jesus said unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  He did not have evidently at this time an earthly home, and so many people thronging him. It looks that sometimes, they are going day and night in respect to so many people and there are thousands of people around to be healed.  And so what is the meaning of verse twenty, then?  The scribes said, I am ready to follow you wherever you go.  But Jesus said, The foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

STUDENT:  It seems to me that he did not have an earthly abode. BROTHER TURNER:  And that to follow him would be very difficult, right?  That there would be some sacrifices to make if the scribe followed him.  And remember as recorded in Matthew 16:24, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  Whether Jesus understood that the man was not ready or just wants him to know it is difficult, I do not know, and I do not believe anybody else knows very definitely, but at least the Lord is setting before him, if you follow me there will be a cost.

STUDENT:  So this was not discouragement, it was just letting him know what would be required?

BROTHER TURNER:  I believe so.  And, of course, it could be that Jesus knew that he was not ready, but it does not read that way.  But at least it put him on notice that it would be difficult.  And another of the disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  But Jesus saith unto him, Follow me; and leave the dead to bury their own dead.  How in the world are the dead going to bury the dead?  If a man says I will follow you, but suffer me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said, Leave the dead to bury their own dead.

STUDENT:  I believe he was talking about the spiritually dead.

BROTHER TURNER:  All right, he is talking about the spiritual dead.  And this man, in substance, is saying wait until my father dies and then I will follow you.  I have got to take care of my father first.  But Jesus said, leave the dead to bury their own dead.  What state is every accountable person in before he obeys Christ?

STUDENT:  The state of spiritual death.

STUDENT:  That is so true.

BROTHER TURNER:  And those who are spiritually dead can bury the dead just as well as righteous people can bury the dead.  I am not saying that righteous people are not to bury and maybe have a great lamentation like they did over Stephen.  But some of those who are spiritually dead can bury the physically dead in a very good way. 

 

Verse 23, And when he was entered into a boat, his disciples followed him.  And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the boat was covered with the waves:  but he was asleep.  And they came to him, and awoke him saying, Lord we perish.  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!  Now, why did Jesus rebuke the disciples?  There was a great tempest in the sea.  And Jesus was asleep, and they woke him up, save us Lord or we perish.  And he said to them, why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?

STUDENT:  He was right there with them, if the boat capsized.

BROTHER TURNER:  They had reason to have been afraid if the Lord had not been with them,  but surely as many miracles as they had seen Jesus perform, they should have known that he was not going to let them perish. 

 

We have a good song based on this, page 532, Peace Be Still.  (Brother Turner and students begin to sing this hymn.)  "Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high!  The sky is o’er shadowed with blackness, No shelter or help is nigh.  Carest Thou not that we perish?  How canst thou lie asleep, When each moment so madly is threat’ning A grave in the angry deep?  (chorus) The winds and the waves shall obey thy will.  Peace be still.  Whether the wrath of the storm‑tossed sea, Or demons or men, or whatever it be, No waters can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;  They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace be still!  Peace be still!  They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace, peace be still. 

2nd stanza

Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today; The depths of my sad heart are troubled-O, waken and save, I pray; Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o’er my sinking soul; And I perish! I perish! Dear Master, O, hasten, and take control.

3rd stanza

Master, the terror is over, The elements sweetly rest; Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored, And heaven’s with in my breast; Linger, O, blessed Redeemer! Leave me a lone no more; And with joy I shall make the blest harbor, And rest on the blissful shore.

Don't you think that is a good song based on this reading?  Let us read it again, verse twenty‑three, And when he was entered into the boat, his disciples followed him, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch  that the boat was covered with the waves."  The sea of Galilee is not but about six miles wide, and about twelve miles in length, but high mountains on each side, and  the wind can come down and  just cause a terrible storm in a matter of a few minutes.  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, we perish.  And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?  Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! 

 

I am trying to think if that was the occasion when Mark said that he was asleep on a pillow.

STUDENT:  Mark 4:38.

BROTHER TURNER:  Okay.  Yeah, that is it.

STUDENT:  We have about two minutes before break.

Mark four beginning with verse thirty‑five, And on that day, when even was come, he saith unto them, Let us go unto the other side.  And leaving the multitude, they take him with them, even as he was in the boat.  And other boats were with him.  And there ariseth a great storm of wind, and the waves beat upon the boat, insomuch that the boat was now filling.  And so you have an interesting statement there, that the boat was filling, and they would have had a reason to have been afraid if the Lord had not been with them.  Now, even though Mark's account is the shortest account, sometimes he will give a little detail, human interest detail, that the others do not give, and he gives one here.  Verse 38,  And he himself was asleep on a cushion.  So we will just plan on picking up there and then go back to Matthew.  (A brief recess was taken.) 

 

It is time for us to pick up again with Mark 4:38.  And he himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion:  And they awake him, and say unto him, Teacher, carest thou not that we perish?  And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful?  Have ye not yet faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him.  So it looks like the disciples had not really come to believe nearly as much as they needed to believe about Christ at this time.

STUDENT:  It seemed like he expected them to have more.

BROTHER TURNER:  Even though they had seen him perform so many miracles and do so many wonderful things, but yet they are slow to have that faith that he is going to let us perish! And, again, we can afford to think of this in a spiritual sense.  As long as a child of God is hearing and following Christ, he does not have to be afraid spiritually.  He ought not to be afraid.  The Lord is not going to let him perish!  Remember from the sixth chapter of the book of John, he that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.  The man who gets himself out of the saving power of God and Christ, he does it of his own accord and not because Christ cast him out. 

 

Back to Matthew 8:28, And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way.  And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God?  Art thou come hitherto torment us before time?  Now, it looks like that demons could possess a person maybe even without the will of the person.  But the demons knew Jesus.  And we have more than one account to the effect of art thou come hither to torment us before time.  They know that he is the Lord and the day is coming when they are going to be tormented.  They are the devil servants.  What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God?  Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?  Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding.  And the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herds of swine. Think of how the devil is always causing trouble.  And so they want to get in the swine and have a part in killing the swine.  And just think of the tragedy that has taken place in our land in regard to, the World Trade  Towers and also the Pentagon, and I think they had also planned to knock the capital down.  Have you listened about how that some of them were making inquiries about the crop‑dusting business?  Were they not planning to get a crop‑dusting  airplane?  There is no telling what they would have had in it, and they may do it yet!  And he said unto them, Go.  And they came out, and went into the swine:  And, behold, the whole herd of swine rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters.  And they that fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen unto them that were possessed with the demons.  Now, notice that they told them about what  happened to those that were possessed with the demons,  but we will have to get that from one of the other accounts.  And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus:  And when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart from their borders.  Did they count the two hundred swine more valuable than  the two men possessed with demons be healed? STUDENT:  I think so.

BROTHER TURNER:  And think what a terrible choice that they made.  Of all the sick and diseased in their community that could have been healed and would have been healed by Jesus, plus he could have given them spiritual life leading to eternal life, but they requested him to leave their borders, and he did. 

 

Let us turn to Mark's account.  Beginning with Mark 5:1, And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.  And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met him out of the tombs a man.  And Matthew, did not he say two?  STUDENT:  He said two.

BROTHER TURNER:  Okay.  Do we have another contradiction?  You better take account of these.  And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling in the tombs; and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain:  Because that he been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rend asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces.   He was like Samson when he had his full strength, right?  And no man had strength to tame him.  There was no such thing as them fastening him up in any way.  And always, night and day, in the tombs, and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.  And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him.  And crying out with a loud voice, he saith, What have I to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of most high God?  I adjure thee by God, torment me not.  For he said unto him, Come forth thy unclean spirit out of the man.  And he asked him, What is thy name?  And he saith unto him, My name is Legion:  For we are many.  So many unclean spirits in this man.  And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.  Now there was on the mountain side a great herd of swine feeding.  And they besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.  And he gave them leave.  And the unclean spirits came out, and entered into the swine:  And the herd rushed down the steep into the sea, (in number about two thousand;) and they were drowned in the sea.  And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the country.  And they came to see what it was that had come to pass.  And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with demons, sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.  How was he before?  He was naked and surely not in his right mind.  And when a person is in his right mind today, if he's anywhere about in public, he ought to be clothed, right?

STUDENT:  Right.

BROTHER TURNER:  And in his right mind, even him that hath the legion, and they were afraid.  So the man was clothed and in his right mind.  And think how that the people should have appreciated what Jesus had done, but it looks like they had more regard for the loss of the swine, the material property, than for the man being made whole. 

 

Mark 5:16, And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with demons, and concerning the swine.  And they began to beseech him to depart from their borders.  And as he was entering into the boat.  So Jesus did as they instructed him to do, he left.  And as he was entering into the boat, he that had been possessed with the demons besought him that he might be with him.  And he suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go to thy house and to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and how he had mercy on thee.  And so Jesus gives some room for some good to be done at that place where they told him to leave, but we do not read of Jesus going back there.  And he went his way and began to publish in the Decapolis.  See, that is where he was when he was told to leave.  How great things Jesus had done for him:  And all men marveled. 

 

Now turn to Luke.  Luke chapter eight and verse twenty‑six, And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.  And when he was come upon the land, there met him a certain man out of the city, who had demons.  There met him a certain man and that certain is somewhat characteristic with Luke as a writer too.  He does not say like Matthew two passed with demons but still it leaves room for there being more than one. Luke chooses to describe the condition of one of them.  And for a long time had worn no clothes, and abode not in any house, but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of the most high God?  I beseech thee, torment me not.  For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man.  For oftentimes it had ceased him:  And he was kept under guard and bound with chains and fetters; and braking the bands asunder, he was driven of the demon unto the deserts.  And Jesus asked him, What is thy name?  And he said, Legion:  For many demons were entered into him.  And they entreated him that he would not command them to depart in the abyss.  Now there was there a herd of many swine feeding in the mountain:  And they entreated him that he should give them leave to enter into them.  And he gave them leave, and the demons came out from the man, and entered into the swine: And the herd rushed down the steep into the lake, and were drowned.  And when they that fed them saw what had come to pass, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what had come to pass; and they came to Jesus, and found the man, whom the demons were gone out, sitting, clothed, and in his right mind:  At the feet of Jesus, and they were afraid.  And they saw it and told them how that he was possessed with demons was made whole. So again, consider how they should have rejoiced that the demons no longer possessed this man. And all the people of the country of the Gadarenes round about asked him to depart from them; for they were holden with great fear:  And he entered into a boat, and returned.  Were they afraid that he would cause them to run into the sea and be drowned, if he cast the evil spirits out of them?  It was the demons that drowned. But, anyway, a great mistake on their part, that they told Jesus to depart.  But the man from whom the demons were gone out, prayed him that he might be with them, but he sent him away saying, return to thine house, and declare how great things God hath done for thee.  So many times Jesus told them when they were healed, do not tell anybody.  Here he tells this certain man to go and tell.  And it looks like to me the reason would be that he wants the people to have another opportunity, even though we don't have any record of him going back, the man was to go and tell the people the great things Jesus had done for him.  And he went his way, publishing throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done for him.  So back now to –

STUDENT:  Brother Turner, before you leave that here.

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes.

STUDENT:  Verse forty, is that a reference to him going away, or is he going back across the sea of Galilee?

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes, I believe so.  STUDENT:  When he was returned, does that mean he had gone back across the sea?

BROTHER TURNER:  As Jesus returned.  I think that would be the case that he went to the other side of the sea.  STUDENT:  So it definitely wouldn't be the people that he had just spoken to.

BROTHER TURNER:  No, it would not be them. 

 

Back to Matthew nine, and we will read that parallel account.  And he entered into a boat, and crossed over, and came into his own city.  And that would be Capernaum.  And so Matthew’s account makes it very clear that he goes to the other side.  And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on the bed:  And Jesus seeing their faith.  Now, Matthew does not give us as many details as Mark and Luke do on this.  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 are forgiven.  So this man has palsy to the point that he cannot walk, he has to be carried.  And as we will learn from the other accounts, four men carry him to Jesus.  And, behold, certain of the scribes said to themselves, This man blasphemes.  And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?  Their thinking was evil.  And where does all evil come from?

STUDENT:  From the heart.

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes, from the heart, from the mind of man.  And no wonder that the Old Testament writer said in Proverbs 4:23, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. 

 

Verse 5, For which is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk?  That ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins, (then he saith to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.  And he arose, and departed to his house.  But when the multitudes saw him, they were afraid, and glorified God, who had given such authority unto men.  Let us go ahead and read about the calling of Matthew, because I believe the other accounts have that next.  By the way, we need to stop here at verse six.  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins.  (Then he saith to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.  So the Lord could heal the man physically and spiritually.  And he did, right?  So he healed the man and forgave him.  And you will do well to highlight the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins. 

 

That is a reference you need to remember, when people say, “I want to be saved like the thief on the cross”, there are some people that still say that in substance today. I think the first thing we ought to say to them is, “We need to get some timbers here and make a cross, get some spikes and nail you to the cross, and set it up and let you hang there awhile, and so you can be saved like the thief on the cross.  STUDENT:  I agree.

BROTHER TURNER:  And in order to be saved exactly like the thief on the cross, that is what it would have to be! Is that not the case? STUDENT:  Yes, sir.

BROTHER TURNER:  That would be a hanging on the cross.  And so write down beside of verse six there, Luke 23:43.  You know Jesus was hanged between two criminals, and while he was on the cross, one of them railed on him and said if you are the Son of God, why don't you come down from the cross and save us?  And the other rebuked him and said, this man has done nothing unjustly, but we are guilty.  I am not quoting, but that is the meaning.  We are guilty.  And then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  And Jesus said, today thou shall be with me in paradise.  I believe that is verse forty‑three.  And that is what they are talking about.  They may say, “That is not what I am talking about.”  When they say I want to be saved like a thief on the cross, what do they really mean?  STUDENT:  Without being baptized.

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes,  They  do not believe that baptism is essential to salvation! So what would be the next answer that you would give?

STUDENT:  Well, Christ had the authority to save like that while he was here on earth. 

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes,  that is part of the answer, but what else? STUDENT:  A man would have to be now for his law has gone  into effect.  BROTHER TURNER: And if a man is saved, he has got to be saved according to the law of Christ, and Christ commands baptism. STUDENT:  Absolutely.

BROTHER TURNER:  Mark 16:15‑16, Go ye into all the world, preaching the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.  He that believeth not shall be condemned. And so one must obey the law of Christ to be saved today.  His law has gone into effect.  And baptism is surely essential to salvation, according to many references.  How can a person sit down and read all the references about baptism, that baptism doth also now save us, and honestly say, “That one is saved the moment he believes and then he is baptized to show that he is and to become a member of the church?” Every time a case of conversion is detailed in the book of Acts it ends in baptism (Acts 2:36-40, 8:34-40, 9:3-6, 22:10-16, 16:29-34), and they rejoiced after baptism and not before! Saul surely believed when he saw the Lord, but for three days he fasted and prayed until Ananias was sent to tell him what he needed to do (Acts 9:8-11, 22:10-16).  Baptism is to be preceded by faith (John 8:24; Hebrews 11:6), repentance (Acts 2:38; 17:30-31), and confession (Matthew 10:32; I Timothy 6:12), and then baptism puts one into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-7), and into His church (I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:4). It is at the point of baptism that the alien sinner applies the blood of Christ necessary for salvation ( Exodus 12:7, 12:13; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7).

 

Now, there are a lot of people that have not studied the Bible for themselves, and they have just been listening to what the preachers have been telling them, and I can say how that they in a sense can be so sincere about that.  They have been taught that false doctrine from little fellows on up.  But we will be reading that Jesus said, If the blind lead the blind, they both shall fall into the ditch.  We have responsibility for studying the word of God  for ourselves and to determine what the teaching is!  And another question, how do you know that the thief was saved without baptism? What reference do you learn that from?  What reference are you referring to when you say that the thief was saved without baptism?

STUDENT:  That is another good question.

BROTHER TURNER:  In Matthew chapter three, John came preaching in the wilderness of Judaea saying, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and there went out unto him all of Jerusalem, Judaea, and regions round about, and they were baptized in the river Jordan confessing their sins.  From that, the thief on the cross could have well been a person who had been baptized, right?

STUDENT:  Well, he knew something about Christ.

BROTHER TURNER:  He knew something about Christ.  Are not there many Christians today that commit crimes and end up being punished for their crimes?

STUDENT:  That's true.

BROTHER TURNER:  So the thief could have well been a person that was baptized by John during that period when John's baptism was that baptism from heaven. ( Matthew 21:23‑32), And it was for remission of sins.  (Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3), John's baptism was for remission of sins,  and those who rejected it remained in a lost condition.  Luke 7:30 reads that, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of John. When you think of that verse, it is no wonder that Jesus ‑‑ When Nicodemus went to him by night, that Jesus first talked to him about the new birth. It looks like Nicodemus like the other Pharisees had rejected the baptism of John.  He is in a lost condition.  So Jesus first talked to him about the new birth.  A man must be born again in order to enter into the kingdom of God.  So there is no comfort whatever when a person looks at all the instruction for a person to say, “I want to be saved like the thief on the cross.”  And no person actually wants to be saved like the thief on the cross.

STUDENT:  Nobody in his right mind.

BROTHER TURNER:  No, sir.  He would be in as bad shape as that man that was possessed with many demons in his thinking. 

 

The calling of Matthew.  And as Jesus passed by from thence, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the place of toll.  And he saith unto him, Follow me, and he arose, and followed him.  Now, we know that Jesus had some association with some of the other apostles before he called them to full‑time apostleship.  And I think that this statement implies that Matthew had already had some association with Jesus prior to this, don't you think?  He is sitting at the place of toll, collecting the tax monies of the people evidently when Jesus called him, and he leaves that business of collecting the tax money and follows Jesus.  Now, the Jewish people had great hate for tax collectors.  It maybe that some of us are not much better.  We do not have much liking for our IRS people, do we?  But think of the situation then for them paying taxes to the Roman government. They wanted the Lord to be, an earthly king, and deliver them. Please remember that they were ready to make him an earthly king by force (John 6:14-15). And they considered a man that would collect taxes for the Roman Government as a wicked person, and some of them were.  If I understand things correctly, the Roman government would set an amount for certain areas.  And then they would farm that out to a tax collector to collect that money, and some of them would collect more than they were supposed to collect and put the difference in their pockets.  And you can see why if they were like that, why the people would especially hate them.  But the fact that they were collecting money for the Roman government would be enough to make, most of them hate the tax collectors.  Then the Pharisees were ready to judge all such men as sinners.  And when we get to Luke 19:3-10 where Zacchaeus went ahead and climbed up the sycamore tree so he could see Jesus.  You can pick up commentary after commentary, and they will say Zacchaeus was talking about what he was going to do in the future, rather than what kind of person he already was, and some of the newer versions read that way.  But here Matthew was an honest tax collector, and there were other honest tax collectors.  But we are pretty well prone to judge men according to certain things.  For instance, when we think of a painter what do we think of?

STUDENT:  You said painter?

BROTHER TURNER:  Yes, a painter.  You know, a lot of them either drink strong drink or use drugs.  Those fumes from the paint have an effect on them.

STUDENT:  Right.  I've heard that.

BROTHER TURNER:  It would be a little unusual if you find a man who has worked many years doing nothing but painting, if he does not have some of those bad habits.  And we are prone to judge people according to what they do.  And so the Pharisees, were surely, down on tax collectors, as we will notice in the reading.  And so Jesus calls Matthew.  He is sitting at the place of toll and he saith unto him verse 9, Follow me.  And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your teacher with the publicans and sinners?

 

Talk about a people that thought that they were so high and holy, the Pharisees did.  There were no group of people that were rebuked more by Jesus than the Pharisees and the scribes.  They had that holier than thou attitude, and they had an answer they thought to every question.  They thought they knew everything, and they were about as blind as they could be, and there are some   self‑righteous people like that today.  And remember that it is absolutely condemned not only by the instruction given here by Jesus himself, but it is also condemned by many other references, like in Galatians 6:1-3 where Paul said, If a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.  For if a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.  What kind of person is he talking about there?  I think that is verse three, a man thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing.

STUDENT:  A self‑righteous person.

BROTHER TURNER:  Sometimes we have brethren   in the church that show a wrong spirit toward some brethren who have sinned. That spirit of going to a brother and saying, “I told you so” is the wrong spirit. You have a man that is an alcoholic, and what is going to happen if he drinks one beer?  In most cases that one beer will call for more until he finally gets on a big drunk.  And when he gets on a big drunk, he brings shame to himself, and shame to his family, and shame to the church and even  shame to the whole community.  And if somebody does not help him, he is liable to be swallowed up with so much sorrow that he may never return back to the right way.  But if there are those who will work with him and try to help guard him and encourage him, he may get up and turn from that strong drink.

STUDENT:  Many of them are like the Pharisees, if a person is like that, they do not see any good in them.

BROTHER TURNER:  If they have such an attitude that, “I am too good to associate with that old drunk or that old pot” they are deceiving themselves. 

 

Matthew 9:11, And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Teacher with the publicans and sinners?  It looks like that they counted every publican a sinner.  But when he heard it he said, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.  And of all fellows that were sick spiritually, the Pharisees were sick, but they did not realize it.  But go ye and learn what this meaneth.  I desire mercy and not sacrifice.  It was one thing to just sacrifice and another thing for a man to love justice and mercy.  And not sacrifice:  For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.  If men had been righteous, there would have been no need for Christ to come.  Then come to him the disciples of John.  Well, I guess we better turn and read the parallels on this.  Let us skip for now at least about the disciples.  Have we read about the man sick with the palsy?  We have not read about the parallels on that yet, have we? STUDENT:  Not yet, no.

BROTHER TURNER:  Okay.  We need to back up and do that next.  So chapter two of Mark.  Matthew's account is pretty brief on the man being healed who was sick with the palsy. Mark chapter two beginning with verse one, And he entered again into Capernaum, after some days; it was noised that he was in the house.  And then many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, no, not even about the door:  And he spake the word unto them.  And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, born of four.  Now, think of the situation here, the man is just so afflicted with palsy that he cannot walk.  And those four men that go and carry him on his palette, I guess carrying him  somewhat like carrying a fellow on a stretcher. These four men knew that Jesus could heal him, and they get to the house where he is, and they cannot get in at the door.  There were too many standing in the way.  And some times, there are those who are standing in the way of somebody else being healed of their spiritual diseases, right?

STUDENT:  Right.

BROTHER TURNER:  Or conduct themselves in such a way that would have a bad influence on those who need to be healed. 

 

But these men are determined.  They did not take no for an answer!  And they come bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, born of four.  And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd. It looks like somebody would have said, “let us step aside and let this man in this terrible condition get to the Lord so he can heal him”, doesn't it?  But they did not.  And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was:  And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed, whereon the sick of the palsy lay.  And Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven. There were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak.  He blasphemes.  Who can forgive sins but one even God?  They were not willing to confess that Jesus is the Messiah, that he is God!  Straightway Jesus perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?  Which is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.  So the miracle and the forgiveness of sin went together.  So if a man can really perform miracles like the Lord did, shouldn't he also be able to forgive sins? STUDENT:  Absolutely.  BROTHER TURNER:  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, go into thy house.  And he arose, and straightway 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.  Now, we have read about the calling of Matthew, so let us continue to read more from Mark 2:13, And he went forth again by the seaside; and all the multitudes resorted unto him, and he taught them.  And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the place of toll, and he saith unto him, Follow me.  And he arose and followed him.  Levi and Matthew are the same person. And it came to pass, that he was sitting at meat in his house.  That makes a difference, doesn't it?

STUDENT:  Yeah, it does.

BROTHER TURNER:  In Matthew’s or Levi's house.  And many publicans and sinners sat down with Jesus and his disciples:  For there were many, and they followed him.  And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and publicans said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?  And when Jesus heard it, he said unto them, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick:  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

STUDENT:  I wonder where they were when they made this great discovery that he was in there with the sinners.  How far away were they?

BROTHER TURNER:  Well, evidently they were pretty well all the way. Some of them were trying to ensnare him and to prove that he was the wrong kind of person, at least they put forth every effort to do so.  .  Is  Luke 5 where we want to go to next?

STUDENT:  Luke 5:18?

BROTHER TURNER:  Luke five beginning with verse seventeen.  This is Luke's account.  We will start there for our next class period.  Brief break.

 

 Luke 5:17,  And it came to pass on one of those days, that he was teaching and there were Pharisees and doctors.  You see, the scribes are also called doctors or lawyers.  doctors of the law sitting by, who were come out of every village of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem:  And the power was with him to heal. So they have come from every direction. And, behold, men bring on a bed a man that was palsy:  And they sought to bring him in, and to lay him before him.  And not finding by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went up to the housetop, and let him down through the tiles with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And seeing their faith, he said, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this that speaketh blasphemes?  Who can forgive sins, but God alone, but Jesus was God.  I believe that still is the case, don't you think? But Jesus perceiving their reasoning, answered and said unto them, Why reason ye in your hearts?  Which is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?  But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth.  So all three say, authority on earth. To forgive sins, (he saith unto him that was palsy, (I saith unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go unto thy house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that where on he lay, and departed to his house, glorifying God.  And amazement took hold on all.  And they glorified God, and they were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.  I think verse twenty‑six is speaking that amazement  took hold on all.  I believe he is using all in a relative sense.  Those holier than thou Pharisees were not glad to see Jesus heal the man of his palsy!

 

Luke 5:27, And after these things, he went forth and beheld a publican named Levi, sitting at the place of toll.  And saith unto him, Follow me.  And he forsook all, and rose up, and followed him.  And Levi made him a great feast in his house.  Notice that Luke says a great feast.  Not just a small feast but a great feast. Matthew had to have financial ability to give a feast like that.  And that is one good method of evangelism today.  Matthew probably at this time could not do a very good job of teaching the people, but he knew that Jesus could!  There was great multitude of publicans and of others that were sitting at meat with them.  And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with the publicans and sinners?  And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician; but they that are sick.  I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

 

Let us go ahead and read Luke's account about the disciples of John fasting, and we will turn back and read from Matthew.  And they said unto him, the disciples of John fast often and make supplications.  Likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink?  So they tried to accuse Jesus and his disciples every way they could.  Our disciples fast and pray, and the disciples of John fasted often and made supplications and your disciples eat and drink.  On another occasion they accused him of being a wine bibber.  And Jesus said unto them, can ye make the sons of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them?  And we read from John, where John the Baptist said of Christ, what?  Did not John say that he is the bridegroom and I am just a friend of the bridegroom.  A friend of the bridegroom is glad to hear the voice of the bridegroom coming. 

 

Reading from John the third chapter verse twenty‑four beginning, about Christ being the bridegroom, For John was not yet cast into prison.  And, again, we learn from that statement in John that Jesus was teaching before John was cast into prison.  If we were limited to Matthew, Mark and Luke,  I think we would decide that Jesus did not teach until after John was cast into prison.  There arose therefore questioning on the part of John's disciples with the Jews about purifying.  And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou hast born witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.  It looks like these disciples of John were jealous of Jesus, and that they expected to stir John to a point of jealousy.  But notice what John said.  John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it hath been given him from heaven.  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ.  And that would refer back to John the first chapter when the priest and the Levites sent from Jerusalem men to inquire of John as to who he was, John chapter one beginning with verse nineteen.  John gave an answer.  But anyway, he said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.  And so John had already said that Christ is the bridegroom.  And the church is his bride, Ephesians 5:23 through the rest of the chapter.  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom:  But the friend of the bridegroom that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice:  This my joy therefore is made full.  So John is saying, I am just a friend of the bridegroom.  But I rejoice over the bridegroom coming.  He must increase, but I must decrease.  He that cometh from above is above all:  He that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh:  He that cometh from heaven is above all.  And what he hath seen and heard, of that beareth witness; and no man receiveth his witness.  He that receiveth his witness hath set his seal on this that God is true.  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:  For he giveth not the Spirit by measure.  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.  He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life:  But he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.  Unbelief is disobedience.  Going back to 3:18, he that believeth not on him hath been judged already because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And we read also from John, that this is the work of God, that ye believe on him that sent him (John 6:29).  So even faith is a work of God. 

 

Back to Matthew 9:14, Then come to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not?  And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them?  But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then will they fast.  So verse fifteen is talking about when Christ is crucified, then they will fast.  And no man putteth a piece of undressed cloth upon an old garment, for that which should fill it uptaketh from the garment, and worse rent is made.  You fellows do not have much knowledge of that firsthand, but I lived back there during the days of that big depression, when about everybody wore some patched pants.

STUDENT:  I wore some patched pants a long time.

BROTHER TURNER:  They did not bother me.  My mother knew how to do it.  She could patch them where they would look good.  Some of our teenagers would pay a lot of money to buy some of those old‑patched pants.  They would really go for them.  But a person doing it has got to have that understanding.  You take a piece of cloth that has not been worn any or very little and patch a pair of pants and wash it and it will just tear more.  But, those who were experienced knew to patch a garment with other material that was equal strength.  And then you could probably wear that garment a long, long time.  Is the Lord teaching a sewing lesson here?  No man putteth a piece of undressed cloth into an old garment, for that which should fill it up taketh from the garment, and worse rent is made.  I do not believe his object is to teach a lesson on sewing and patching, but he is teaching a spiritual lesson. Well, what is it?  The Christian religion will be a new religion.  It is not to be patched on to the Old Testament religion, but it is a new religion.  Neither do men put new wine into old wine skins:  Else the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins perish:  But they put new wine into fresh wine skins and both are preserved.  Now, does not the King James ‑‑ Does it say skins or bottles?

STUDENT:  It says bottles.

BROTHER TURNER:  Well, skins is really better.  Skins were their bottles, and they worked very well for that day.  They would take the skin of a goat, and tie up certain places, and they had a bottle.  They would tie two of them together and throw them over a donkey's back, and they worked very well for a long time. If they put new wine into new wine skins, you know, it goes through a process of fermentation, but while the skins were fresh skins, the fermentation would just cause the skins to stretch.  But let those skins get old, and that fermentation wouldn't break the bottle, it would break the skins open.  They would be brittle, and it would break open.  So, again, don't you think the lesson is that we are not to mix the two laws (Galatians 2:14)?

STUDENT:  I wouldn't do that.

BROTHER TURNER:  Neither do men put new wine into old wine skins, else the skins burst and the wine is spilled, and the skins perish:  But they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved. 

 

Matthew 9:18, 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.  Matthew does not tell us whether he was a member of the Sanhedrin court or not. But he comes to Jesus begging him to give his daughter life again.  My daughter is even now dead, but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.  And Jesus arose and followed him, and so did his disciples.  And, behold, a woman, who had an issue of blood, twelve years, came behind him, and touched the border of his garment:  For she said within herself, If I do but touch his garment, I shall be made whole.  But Jesus turning and seeing her said, Daughter, be of good cheer:  Thy faith hath made thee whole.  And the woman was made whole from that hour.  Now, I want you to notice how that Mark and Luke give us some details that make it even more interesting.  And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd making a tumult.  He said, Give place:  For the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.  And they laughed him to scorn.  When the crowd was put forth, he entered in, and took her by the hand, and the damsel arose.  And the fame thereof went forth into all that land.  And so Jesus raises the ruler's daughter from the dead.  Verse twenty‑three, When Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a tumult.  The flute players were the professional funeral mourners.  Doesn't about every family today have some professional people to have a part in the funerals of family members?

STUDENT:  Plenty of it.

BROTHER TURNER:  They were the flute players, that led in the mourning process.  The ruler was regarded as an important man, and his daughter has died, and so there is a big crowd there.  And the fame thereof went forth into all the land. 

 

Turn next to Mark chapter five beginning with verse twenty‑one.  Please note that Mark gives another human interest feature.  And when Jesus had crossed over in the boat unto the other side, a great multitude was gathered unto him:  And he was by the sea.  And there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue.  So Mark tells us that he was one of the rulers of the synagogue. It looks like it was the pattern for there to be a plurality of rulers like there is to be a plurality of elders in the church (Acts 13:15).