Now while Jesus traveled around the region where he lived, he healed every sickness and said, “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
One evening, Jesus was with his disciples in a boat crossing the sea. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was sinking. Jesus was sleeping, but his disciples woke him up saying, “Teacher, we are dying!” Jesus got up and said to the sea, “Silence! Be Still!” And there was a great calm. Jesus’s disciples asked each other, “Who is this that wind and sea obey him?”
Later, some people brought to him a paralytic. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, said, “So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were awestruck, and they glorified God who had given such authority to men.
Meaning: Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes and expectations:
- First, Jesus is announcing and initiating God’s Kingdom – this is in direct fulfillment of the promise to David. Jesus is the conquering-king who is restoring the kingdom; however, it is a spiritual kingdom made up of all who believe in and submit to Jesus as King, not a physical kingdom with geographical boundaries.
- Second, Jesus is restoring the original perfection of creation, or, put another way, he is initiating the new creation. This is in direct fulfillment of the promise to Adam and Eve. Jesus is undoing the curses. He shows us what life in God’s presence is like, where there is no pain or death, mourning or crying!
- Finally, Jesus, as the conquering-king, is conquering the true enemy – sin. From Adam to Noah to David to Solomon to Israel, God’s plan in the Old Testament was constantly thwarted by Israel’s inability to faithfully obey. Jesus has come as the faithful and obedient one, who also announces the beginning of something new that starts with the forgiveness of sin and the freedom from sin.
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