29/10/2026
When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.
Matthew 8:16
When Jesus came, many people didn’t recognize Him as the long-awaited Messiah. He simply didn’t fit the image Jewish people had long since created in our minds of who their Savior would be. They thought they needed a revolution against the Romans, waited for a king who would overthrow the Emperor and establish his own kingdom in Jerusalem, victorious and strong.
No one expected Jesus from Nazareth, the Son of a humble carpenter, surrounded by ordinary men and women.
Just like God has done from the beginning, He defied all logic and turn the society upside down with His grace.
Instead of setting an example of perfect religiosity, rigid rule-following and spending time rubbing elbows with the spiritual authorities, Jesus came down to us and lowered Himself into our dirt and sins. He was willing to associate with the outcasts, the hopeless, the sick and the sinners. He didn’t demand reverence and recognition but spent His time with those others had turned their backs on. Jesus showed us God’s heart by loving the weak, defending women and children, and preaching mercy and compassion. The teachings of Moses and the prophets came to life in Him, proof that God doesn’t ask us to do anything He isn’t willing to do Himself first.
The Lord brought salvation by casting aside His glory and giving all of Himself in our place. We did nothing to honor Him, nothing to deserve the gift He freely gave us.
If we want to be followers of Jesus, we can’t keep ourselves clean, safely hidden away behind church walls or occupy our time only with studying the Bible. Serving God needs to be done by being His hands and feet in a world full of people in need. Our testimony needs to reach the ends of the earth before the Lord returns. He will ask us how we have loved Him by loving others. Not those who are able to do something for us in return, but those with empty hands. His light is needed most in the darkest places, His message of hope needs to reach the ears of the hopeless and the lost, so they too might come to know the God who heals.
