Luke Chapter 9 - ACC NT Study

(Verse 28-31)
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
30 Two men, Moses and Elijah,
31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.



In a few words:
Perhaps our prayers will result in a mountaintop revelation.

Mark Chapter 9 - ACC NT Study

(Verses 17-18)
17 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."

(Verses 25-29)
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead."
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."

I have to admit I have never felt I have the gift to do anything miraculous. However I do believe in the power of prayer. I believe anyone who prays from their heart on the behalf of others, in the name of Jesus Christ, performs a humble deed.

In a few words:
God does much with our humble prayers for others.

Matthew Chapter 9 - ACC NT Study

Chapter nine starts out with Jesus preparing to heal a paralytic. He begins by saying, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

My initial reaction is that this man's paralysis is a result of past sins he has committed.
(Isn't that incredibly unfair of me? - Just being honest - I really don't know why I would assume this man had sinned enough to deserve paralysis.)
However it does make me wonder if through frustration of his situation, this man had sinned after he became paralyzed.
(Many of us may have been so frustrated with situations in our lives that we may have temporarily thrown in the towel and quit trying to avoid sin, and in fact purposely chose to do whatever we wanted.)

The paralytic in this passage might have thought, "Surely Jesus will not heal me because of sins I have committed." I believe Jesus knew this man's heart and wanted to set his mind at ease by letting him know he is forgiven, before he is healed.

I am confident it is the same for us. We tend to carry an attitude that our recent sin or shortcomings will prevent us from being healed where needed. This scripture speaks to me as if Jesus were saying to me, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
(By the way, Jesus heals the paralytic even while being accused of blaspheming by "Teachers of the Law")

He continues His healing ways in this chapter by healing bind & mute, a sick woman, and a girl who seemed to be pronounced dead. And while doing so He still finds time to eat with tax collectors and sinners.

In a few words:
Be confident Christ's healing power will follow the forgiveness He freely gives.