Gary Gleans

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Sermon_on_the_Mount.htm The appointment of the apostles was followed very closely by a time of instruction about the kingdom and what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  The message that we will be looking at over the next several days gives us keen insight into the will of God as well as God’s view of the way the people who claimed to follow Him believed.  These people thought they knew God and were living a life in way that was pleasing to Him.  Jesus reveals the truth about God to His disciples and the throng of people who gathered around Him.  We all have been influenced by the traditions of our families and churches to understand God and His will in a certain way.  It is easy for us to become comfortable in these traditions and not really live according to the Word of God.  It is important for us to be reminded about how God looks at the world and then adjust all our traditions accordingly. A VARIETY OF PEOPLE CAME TO HEAR JESUS: M

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Choice_of_the_Twelve_Apostles.htm Appointing staff and cabinet members is one of the first tasks of any president.  It is usually a long and drawn out process that takes several months to accomplish but those decisions usually determine the success or failure of a presidency.  Jesus was not an elected official and He didn’t have cabinet members; but He did appoint a group of men to be apostles.  These men would occupy a key role in history and contribute much to the growth of the church.  Jesus has called these men to be His disciples and to follow Him, now He is appointing them as apostles.  How He went about doing this task is instructive to us as well as what he called them to do.  All ministers must make choices about whom they will disciple and the people in whom they will invest their lives.  The example of Jesus in this passage provides key insights as to what is important in the process of selecting leaders. THE IMPORTANCE OF PRA

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Teaching_the_Crowds_by_the_Sea_of_Galilee.htm Jesus came to the earth to fulfill the will of the Father.  God’s will is always accomplished through His power, in accordance with His means and for His purposes.  Matthew recognizes that the ministry of Jesus by the sea of Galilee was a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah so he quotes it in this passage.  There are several things we notice about this passage as they relate to Jesus.  It gives us a clearer understanding of who Jesus is, how He works and what He came to accomplish.  There were a lot of expectations concerning the identity of Jesus.  Unfortunately, most of those expectations were not based on the Scriptures; instead they were based on human traditions and wishful thinking.  As believes, we too can find ourselves expecting certain things to be true about our lives.  We need to be very careful to make sure our hope is based on the Word of God.  As we consider how Jesus served is

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Teaching_the_Crowds_by_the_Sea_of_Galilee.htm Jesus attracted the afflicted.  It is interesting to observe the type of people who followed Jesus.  His disciples followed Him because that is what they were called to do and they accompanied Him from place to place.  It seems like there was always a group of religious leaders that surrounded Him in hopes of finding more reasons to condemn Him and turn the crowds against Him.  However, the largest group of people who were attracted to Him were those who were afflicted with some kind of suffering.  The people who were healthy had a much greater tendency to be indifferent towards Jesus.  The same thing continues to happen today.  The people who recognize their needs are to ones who are most open to the Gospel.  Those who are healthy and wealthy tend to see themselves as being self-sufficient.  God often uses the afflictions of this life in order to attract people to Himself. THE ATTRACTION O

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Heals_a_Man_with_a_Withered_Hand.htm Reactions are very hard to anticipate and even harder to control.  Usually, when we set out on a certain course of action; we have in our minds the way that we think people will react.  Most of the time, we end being surprised by people’s responses.  As we read through the Scriptures, it is clear in the Old Testament that Messiah would come.  His arrival is the most anticipated event in the history of the world.  Our expectation is that He will be well received, but that simply did not happen.  Clearly, the reason for this cold reception was the fact that the religious leaders of the day rejected Jesus as Messiah.  He did not meet their expectations of what they thought Messiah would be like.  When we trust Christ to rescue us from sin; we usually anticipate certain things will happen in our lives.  Most of the time we imagine good things taking place in our homes and hearts.  In reality, the path throu

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Disciples_Pluck_Ears_of_Grain_on_the_Sabbath.htm Criticism is always a difficult challenge for us to handle correctly.  It seems some people are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to criticize others.  Usually they do this in order to detract attention from themselves.  However, it seems that there are some people who just seem to be “out to get” a certain person and look for any opportunity they can find to tear that person or group of persons down.  This seems to be the case with the Pharisees.  They made it perfectly clear that they did not like Jesus and tried to do all they could to discredit Him.  It almost seems like they were a group of “busy bodies” that had nothing better to do with their time than follow Jesus around and try to find excuses to criticize Him.  One of their areas of primary concern was with the observance of the Sabbath.  The Law prohibited work on the Sabbath as it was to be a day of rest, reflection and r

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Heals_a_Lame_Man_on_the_Sabbath.htm Truth is an elusive commodity in today’s culture.  Relativity seems to rule the day in the hearts and minds of so many in our society.  Apparently, the search for truth is not a new thing.  Jesus is being confronted for His claim of being the Son of God with the authority to do the will of the Father and the power to accomplish all the Father has sent Him to do.  He is striving to demonstrate to His audience that He is speaking the truth.  He knows that they will not accept His testimony about Himself even though He has just healed a man that had been lame for almost forty years.  In order to prove His identity as the Son of God; Jesus calls three witnesses to testify as to who He truly is.  Unfortunately, no matter how convincing these testimonies might be; Jesus knows that the hearts of most of the people to whom He is speaking will be closed to the truth of who He is.  The same continues to be true to

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Heals_a_Lame_Man_on_the_Sabbath.htm Unity is a quality after which every believer is encouraged to strive.  The body of Christ is most effective when it functions in unity.  Unfortunately, division is much more common than unity.  The problem that most of us have is that we expect others to unite with us because from our perspective we are right.  As long as our standard for right and wrong remains ourselves; we will experience disunity.  The secret to attaining unity with one another is for all of us to seek unity with Christ.  We must take our eyes off ourselves and plant them firmly on the Lord Jesus Christ.  The reason that Jesus was so effective in His ministry on earth was that He was perfectly united with the Father.  Jesus has just healed a man who had been lame for almost four decades.  The Jews were complaining that He had done this miracle on the Sabbath and told the man to carry his bed.  Jesus responded by claiming to be worki

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Heals_a_Lame_Man_on_the_Sabbath.htm Legalism is a very dangerous tendency to which all our hearts are attracted.  Grace and mercy sound wonderful to us be they don’t flow naturally from us so they are not as attractive to us.  Keeping rules and regulations allow us to feel some sort of merit that stimulates our pride.  Thankfully, God does not deal with believers based on their merits; He extend grace and mercy to those who trust Him.  Jesus has just healed a man who spent almost forty years without being able to walk.  Normally this would have been cause for great celebration; but Jesus happened to have performed this miracle on the Sabbath.  When the Jews saw the man carrying his bed; they confronted him with doing work on the Sabbath.  This is a classic example of the blindness legalism can cause.  Instead of rejoicing with this man in his healing, they were criticizing him for “working” on the Sabbath.  What follows is a series of even

“What if?”  That question can often lead to unhealthy speculation and wishful thinking; but it can also lead to helpful reflection.  This morning I decided to take a break from my tour through the Gospels (I write the blog so I get to do whatever I want with it}.  In honor of Ester weekend, I decided to share some thoughts with all of you that I will be sharing in my message Sunday morning at a church in Vitoria, Espirito Santo where we are traveling this weekend.  The question “what if there were no resurrection?” was what Paul answered in today’s text.  It is kind of like the movie It’s a Wonderful Life where Clarence the Angel helps the suicidal George Baily by showing him what life in his hometown would have been like if he had not been there.  Paul gives us a look at what life would be like if there were no resurrection. WE WOULD HAVE NO MESSAGE: The entire message of the Gospel rests on the resurrection from the dead.  If there is no resurrection than Christ is not risen.  T

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Heals_a_Lame_Man_on_the_Sabbath.htm Disappointment has to be one of the most difficult emotions with which we have to deal in our lives.  It is hard when we get our hopes up only to have them come crashing down around us.  Desperation is often a sentiment that precedes disappointment.  Today’s text tells the story of a man whose life was full of desperation and disappointment.  Jesus returns to Jerusalem for one of the religious festivals, most likely Passover.  While He is in the city He comes upon a place with a multitude of sick people that were in hopes of being healed.  Jesus reaches out to one of these men and his life was changed forever. WAITING: There was a place in Jerusalem where an angel would come and stir the waters of a pool on certain occasions.  The first person to get into the water after they were stirred; would be healed.  It is impossible for us to know if this is what actually happened or if this was a belief that

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_First_Blasphemous_Accusation_by_the_Pharisees.htm Actions are something that we control but we do not control the reactions to our actions.  When we determine a certain course of action we may anticipate a certain reaction but most of the time these expectations are not what we imagine.  Different people respond in different ways.  In today’s text a man who is daemon possessed and mute is brought to Jesus.  Apparently, the daemon was the reason that this man could not talk.  Jesus cures the man’s muteness by casting out the daemon.  This action on the part of Jesus brings about several different reactions from the people surrounding this event.  Certainly, Jesus was not taken by surprise by these different responses but it is certainly interesting to see how some people respond in a way that is expected and others in ways that are completely unexpected.  We should not be surprised or discouraged when people respond to our actions in ways tha

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Two_Blind_Men_Healed.htm Needs come in all different shapes and sizes and at many different stages in our lives.  We have seen Jesus performing many kinds of healings in many different circumstances.  There was no formula that was followed in every circumstance.  In today’s text, we find two blind men who follow Jesus to a home where the miracle takes place.  Some of His miracles were performed in private while others were performed in public.  Every person and every circumstance in unique.  We tend to try to find patterns and then expect for the work of God to always follow that pattern.  This is not a very wise way to relate with God.  God is not only aware of all our circumstances but He is in control of them.  Our job is not to try to “figure God out” but to trust Him.  We make requests to Him according to our needs and then trust Him to do what is best.  A REQUEST FOR MERCY: Two blind men follow Jesus on the streets calling for Him to h

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Raising_of_Jairus_Daughter.htm Jesus has the power to conquer death.  The promise of the Gospel is eternal life which means that death must be conquered.  Today’s text gives us the first glimpse of the power of Jesus over death when he raises a twelve-year-old girl from the dead.  This will not be the last time we see Jesus doing this but it is the first time that Jesus demonstrates His power over death.  Eventually He will rise from the dead in a glorified body in what was truly a resurrection.  This and the others who have or will be risen from the dead would be more accurately described as resuscitations because they would eventually die again.  Jesus was resurrected just as all who have trusted in Him for salvation from sin will be resurrected to live for all of eternity in the presence of God.  Death is a tragedy brought on by sin but for all who have place their faith in Christ it is only a temporary condition because Christ has conque

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Healing_of_the_Woman_with_an_Issue_of_Blood.htm Hope is vital to our lives and ability to function properly.  When we lose hope despair begins to take over our lives which can lead to all kinds of terrible things.  When the flames of hope begin to flicker in our hearts we can climb out of the most difficult of circumstances.  Today’s text tells the story of a woman who had lost all hope until she heard about the power of Jesus to heal the sick.  She had faith in the power of the Lord and her faith brought her hope.  Faith and hope always walk hand in hand.  When we have no faith; our hope will fade.  When our faith is strong; our hope will grow too.  This narrative is a beautiful demonstrations of faith, hope, power, compassion and restoration.  There are many parallels to our own spiritual lives and how we can find hope and reconciliation through faith in the Lord Jesus.  THE WOMAN’S DESPERATION: This woman had been sick for twelve year

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Christs_Defense_of_His_Disciples_for_Feasting_Instead_of_Fasting.htm The three illustrations in today’s texts must be understood in the context of what Jesus said about fasting in the previous verses.  The Pharisees required their disciples to fast as a religious ritual but the disciples of Jesus did not fast because He was still with them.  However, when He was no longer with them Jesus said they would fast in humility.  The Pharisees were all about rules while Jesus was promoting a relationship.  There are really only two religions in the world: the religion of man’s works and the religion of God’s grace.  Jesus wants to show us that these two views of how man can be reconciled to God cannot be mixed.  There are two dangers associated with these two views that Jesus wants to warn us to avoid. THE DANGER OF SYNCRETISM: Syncretism is the attempt to sync or mesh multiple beliefs into one.  Jesus wants to make it very clear that it is not poss

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Christs_Defense_of_His_Disciples_for_Feasting_Instead_of_Fasting.htm Comparison and the fear of man usually walk hand in hand.  We have a tendency to like to compare ourselves with others because we usually look for those who we deem to be doing worse than we are which allows us to feel proud of ourselves.  When we long for the approval of others we try to call attention to those things that we feel we are doing better at and then expect to be praised for those things.  Jesus created a lot of controversy with His teachings and actions.  The things that He did and said were direct contradictions to the traditions that had spread throughout Judaism.  The religious leaders constantly voiced their displeasure to Him because He made them feel bad about themselves and worse yet, He did not seem to care about their approval.  They were constantly comparing themselves to the sinners because it made them seem better and their hearts were filled with prid