Digging In His Word

As most people know, the Bible is made up of two parts… the Old Testament and the New Testament.  In most people’s understanding, the Old Testament covers when man was under the Law.  It was the time before Christ arrived on earth, and the New Testament covers the time beginning with Christ’s arrival.  Also, many people believe that the New Testament replaces the Old Testament… and that the Law no longer applies to us.  This understanding is not quite right.  We are going to look, today, at how these two parts fit together.

Today’s lesson is the beginning of our studies concerning the Sermon on the Mount.  The Sermon of the Mount is contained in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 and portions of it are also recorded in Luke 6:20-49.  This sermon was delivered following the choosing of the twelve apostles and the Bible does not really tell us on which mountain it was delivered.  It is believed to be representative of the material Jesus taught often in many sermons He delivered as He traveled from place to place.

In today’s lesson we will be using some words that are often thought of as synonymous, but which, in fact, are not.  These two words are ‘disciple’ and ‘apostle’.  It will be important today to understand the difference.  A ‘disciple’ is a follower.  A disciple believes in a teacher’s teaching and makes the effort to apply that teaching to their life.  As believers, we are disciples of Christ.  Both John the Baptist and Jesus had many disciples.  In fact, Luke 6:17 tells us that Jesus had a large crowd of disciples.  An ‘apostle’, however, is someone who has been called by that teacher to a particular role.  We know that, out of His crowd of disciples, Jesus called twelve Apostles to fill a particular role in His ministry.  Twelve was a symbolic number, representative of the twelve tribes who founded the nation of Israel.  While Jesus had many disciples who followed Him, the twelve were called to a full-time role of serving in His ministry.

In our previous lesson, we began talking about the Sabbath day and how God created it as a day a rest and worship, knowing that as mortals, we would need to take time for such things.  God directed His people, in the Ten Commandments, to observe this day every week for their own good (Ex 20:8-11, 23:12).  I would like to suggest to you, also, that observing the Sabbath is a way of putting our trust in God.  We know that He can meet our needs, and we must trust Him to do so, even when we take time away from our work responsibilities to worship Him and to care for ourselves.   And we make this time, each week, out of obedience to God.

The Sabbath day was a very important day in Jewish culture.  It was an observance first practiced by God Himself at creation.  Read Gen 2:1-3.  We are told that on the seventh day, creation was finished.  What does verse 2 tell us happened on the seventh day?  Verse 3 tells us that God commemorated the seventh day by making it holy… it was a day not only to rest but also dedicated to worshipping Him.  Do you think God needed a day to rest?  I believe He was setting a precedent for us, knowing that we would need a day each week to rest and to have time to focus on Him. The Jewish people have always celebrated this seventh day of the week as a day of rest and worship.  God made this day official as a part of the Ten Commandments when He gave the Law (Ex 20:8-11).

Read today’s text in John 5.  Jesus had gone to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the Jewish religious festivals, though the Bible does not tell us which festival.  Our story takes place near the Sheep Gate at a pool called Bethesda.  The Sheep Gate is an entrance in the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem. Located in the northeastern wall, it got its name from ancient times when sheep and lambs were brought through it to be sacrificed at the Temple. The gate's location is closely tied to the Pool of Bethesda.   It was believed at that time that occasionally, an angel would descend and stir the waters of the pool, and the first person touching the water after the angel had stirred it would be healed of their diseases.  Many disabled people would lie near the pool hoping for the opportunity to be healed. 

Today’s text focuses on a man named Levi.  He was also known as Matthew.  Matthew was a publican, or tax collector, for the Roman government.  Publicans were fiercely hated by their fellow Jews and were thought of as traitors since they were working for the occupying force, collecting the heavy taxes laid upon the population, and were usually guilty of collecting more than required in order to fill their own pockets.  Publicans were not the sort of people that ‘good’ Jews associated with.

As we have noted in previous lessons, Capernaum was Jesus’ home base.  In our text today, Jesus has returned home to Capernaum and is teaching in a private home.  In order to see all the details of what happened, we must study the text in both Mark and Luke concurrently.  Read these two accounts.

Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a curable bacterial infection which affects the skin, peripheral nerves, and upper respiratory tract. It is not highly contagious and is easily treated.  We don’t hear much about this disease these days, but in Jesus’ time, it was a much- feared disease for which there was no cure.  A person with leprosy had to be separated from the population.  To make things worse, it was viewed not only as a medical condition, but as a mark of spiritual impurity or a punishment for sin.  (Just a side note – in the Bible, the term leprosy was used loosely and was often used for other skin diseases).

Jesus had been ministering throughout the region of Galilee.  In our most recent lessons, He has come to the town of Capernaum.  This was His home base (Mark 2:1).  It was now the Sabbath day, and Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue (Luke 4:31).