Be Jesus

"There, on the mountain, He consecrated Himself as the name of God to deliver men from evil, to be their daily bread, and bring to them God's forgiveness."

JESUS WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN and sat down. Moses went up the mountain and communed with God. Jesus opened His mouth and spoke about the Father. Blessed are the poor in spirit, they that mourn, the meek, they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the persecuted. Moses received the commandments. Thou shalt not have other gods, make any graven image or any likeness of any thing, bow down thyself to them, take the Lord’s name in vain, kill, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness.

• “And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain,” (Exodus 19:3)
• "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:” (Matthew 5:1)

Jesus came to fulfil the law, every “jot and tittle.” He condemned anger and hate as much as murder. He preached forgiveness before sacrifice. Better to be maimed, He said, than to be cast into hell. And stay faithful to your wife, to your husband, and don’t make oaths by more than your “yes” and “no.” Moses spoke of mercy, of holiness, of honor. Don’t covet, he said, and remember the Sabbath day. Then the mountain shook and trembled, covered in lightnings and thunderings, and the people feared at the sight of it. Fear not, he said.

• "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.” (Exodus 19:16)
• “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;” (Matthew 27:51)

Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven which had come to earth and bid men to pray a prayer which was in every part the actions He’d come to take. There, on the mountain, He consecrated Himself as the name of God to deliver men from evil, to be their daily bread, and bring to them God’s forgiveness. What one congregation feared, another, generations later, did not understand. But the same God who’d written the Law given to Moses, spoke the truth of the Scriptures to those gathered around Him. Not to worry, not to be afraid, not to seek money nor be filled with pride. Do not judge. Do no evil nor think evil of the Father whose desire was to give and to build and to bless.

Then, having finished His words, having turned their ears toward the God of their fathers, Jesus descended the mountain and healed all who came to Him. Matthew 8 paints us a picture of the cross. In it, we see Jesus as the leper of Isaiah 53, as mocked by the Romans who cast lots for His vesture, as condemned by the children of His nation. We have two men possessed by demons, which stood on either side of Him. There is a tempest, a storm which darkens the sky and rents the veil until He who stood on the sea bid it to calm.

“But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27)

We have the people shouting, Crucify, crucify. Please leave.

Matthew 9 gives us a picture of His sufferings. A father pleads for the life of his child, a woman is healed who continues to bleed, two men who cannot see are given their sight and one who cannot speak receives his voice. Here, Jesus is the physician to the sin-sick, and the Healer to those broken and in pain. Here, He is the power of forgiveness, and both the new garment of the spirit man and the new wine of the Spirit which would be poured out.

What is my point? See Matthew 9:37-38. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” We are the laborers. We are those commissioned to go and tell of His goodness, of His sacrifice, of His victory. Because here in Matthew 9, He is the great shepherd, who came to not only give His life for the sheep, but to buy back the sheep, and heal the sheep, and feed the sheep, and send out others to care for His fold.

Many voices are greater than just one. Many voices consecrated, hallowed, to the task, filled with the new wine, can do more in a minute than one Man who is God could when living on earth in the flesh. And for this reason we are sent. He was one Man who spoke to the storm around Him and caused it to cease. We are now many with His voice, His strength, His power, bid to do the same, for there are others in the boat who can’t see things as we do.

We are to show them. Not faith. We are given faith; we do not seek faith. But we show God who is faithful, who in the very next chapter, Matthew 10:8, spoke these words: “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” Be Jesus.

Photo by Mahrshi Bisani on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com