The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 260: Carrying the Cross (2023)

Episode Date: September 17, 2023

Fr. Mike reinforces Jesus' divinity as we read about how Jesus heals people physically, mentally, and spiritually and frees them from the enemy's kingdom of darkness. Fr. Mike also encourages us to not be afraid when we experience persecution and division for the sake of Christ, but to rather courageously carry the Cross. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 260, and we are, gosh, that means 105 days left. Holy smokes. We are deep, not deep yet. Chapter 8, 9, and 10 of Matthew's gospel, but we are in the messianic checkpoint,

our third messianic checkpoint so far. So we're reading Matthew 8, 9, and 10. Also Proverbs chapter 19 verses 1 through 4. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast and receive daily episodes and daily updates every single day. Today is day 260.

We're reading Matthew 8, 9, and 10 and Proverbs chapter 19, verses 1 through 4. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8. Jesus cleanses a leper. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And he stretched out his hand and touched him saying, I will be clean. And immediately his leprosy was

cleansed. And Jesus said to him, see that you say nothing to anyone, but go show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to the people. Jesus heals a centurion's servant. As he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, begging him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home in terrible distress. And came forward to him, begging him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home in terrible distress. And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion answered him, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed. For I am a man under authority with soldiers under me. And I say to one, go. And he goes into another, come and he comes into my slave, do this. And I say to one, go, and he goes. And to another, come, and he comes.

And to my slave, do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard him, he marveled and said to those who followed him, truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. There men will weep and gnash their teeth. Into the centurion, Jesus said, go, let it be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. Jesus heals many at Peter's house. And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her and she rose and served him. That evening, they brought to him many who were possessed with demons and he cast out the spirits with a word

and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He took our infirmities and bore our diseases. Would-be followers of Jesus. Now, when Jesus saw the great crowds around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him,

foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. Jesus calms the storm at sea. And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him and behold, there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was being swamped into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep.

And they went and woke him, saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you afraid, O men of little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. And the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him? Jesus heals the Gadarene demoniacs. And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, What have you to do with us, O son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them,

and the demons begged him, If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine. And he said to them, Go. So they came out and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled and going into the city, they told everything and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. Chapter nine, Jesus heals a paralytic and getting into a boat, he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic. And getting into a boat, he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on his bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, take heart, my son, your sins are forgiven. And behold, some of the scribes said

to themselves, this man is blaspheming. But Jesus, knowing their thoughts said, why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say your sins are forgiven, or to say, Rise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. He then said to the paralytic, Rise, take up your bed, and go home. And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorifiedified God who had given such authority to men. The call of Matthew. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew

sitting at the tax office. And he said to him, follow me. And he rose and followed him. And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? But when he heard it, he said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. The question about fasting. Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?

The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. And no one puts a piece of untrunken cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wine skins, and so both are preserved. A girl restored to life and a woman healed. While he was thus speaking to them, behold, a ruler came in and knelt before him saying, My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. And Jesus rose and followed him with his disciples.

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment. For she said to herself, if I only touch his garment, I shall be made well. Jesus turned and seeing her, he said, take heart daughter, your faith has made you well. And instantly the woman was made well. And when Jesus came to the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a tumult, he said, depart, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping. And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand and the girl arose.

And the report of this went through all that district. Jesus heals two blind men. And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him crying aloud, have mercy on us, son of David. When he entered the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to him, yes, Lord. Then he touched their eyes saying, according to your faith, let it be done to you. Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, let it be done to you. And their eyes were opened, and Jesus sternly charged them,

See that no one knows it. But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. Jesus heals a man who was mute. As they were going away, behold, a mute demoniac was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke and the crowds marveled saying, never was anything like this seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, he casts out demons by the prince of demons. The harvest is plentiful. The laborers are few. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues and Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom

and healing every disease and every infirmity. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Chapter 10, The Twelve Disciples And he called to him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits,

to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these, First Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. The mission of the twelve. cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without pay, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff. For the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter,

find out who is worthy in it and stay with him until you depart. As you enter the house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah

than for that town. Coming persecutions. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver up brother to death and father, his child and children will rise against

parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household? Whom to fear?

So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body that cannot kill the soul, rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?

And not one of them will fall to the ground without your father's will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore. You are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Ticking up one's cross. Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes will be those

of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He who loses his life for my sake will find it. Rewards. He who receives you receives me. And he who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.

And he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward. The book of Proverbs chapter 19 verses 1 through 4. Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a man who is perverse in speech and is a fool. It is not good for a man to be without knowledge, and he who makes haste with his feet misses his way. When a man's folly

brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend. Father in heaven, we give you praise. Thank you, God. Thank you so much for your word and thank you for revealing your will. Thank you for revealing Jesus Christ to us through the gospels and through the gospel of Matthew. Thank you for calling Matthew to be one of your disciples, to be one of your apostles. And we thank you for inspiring him and moving him to write these words that we are reading this very day. And thank you for the fact that what you did and what you did in his life 2,000 years ago impacts our lives today in this moment.

We give you praise and we thank you. Please, Lord, never be far from us. Help us to never wander away from you, but help us to always choose you and to choose your will, to pick up our cross daily and to follow after you with our whole heart. Help us to love you with everything we are and everything we have. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So gosh, you guys, okay, here's Matthew's gospel. There's a couple of notable things here in chapters 8, 9, and 10. And basically what we have is a bunch of miracles. And you caught that because Jesus is just healing all over the place. Actually, sorry, let me clarify. He's not healing all over the place. In fact, he spends roughly 80% of his public ministry in a five mile radius, which is remarkable to think, yeah, around the Sea of Galilee, right? Capernaum as the home base.

In fact, Matthew even says he came to his own city, came to a city. That's the base, obviously Jesus from Nazareth. But he makes Capernaum kind of home base and he goes and does ministry from there. What we saw today is all of these healings. Not only is Jesus healing, and this is really important. Why would Jesus be healing so much? We recognize that in the very first messianic checkpoint, John's gospel, John referred to those healings as signs and wonders. Just as a reminder, he referred to those healings as signs and wonders, meaning they pointed to Jesus's identity. In fact, we even have the story where there's the paralytic, right? Who's brought by

his friends to Jesus. And Jesus says, your sins are forgiven. And then to prove that he has the ability, the authority to forgive sins on earth, he says, Brian, speak up your mat and walk. And in that he's revealing that he's not just another healer. He's not just another prophet, but Jesus actually is the incarnation of God himself. And that's so powerful that we see this fulfillment that again, we we've gone through the old Testament, most of the old Testament. We've, I don't know if you guys realize this. We've covered most of the books of the old Testament already. We've gotten a lot of the story. We've also heard all of almost all of the prophets. And we realized Jesus is more than a prophet. In fact, here in chapter eight, Matthew writes about Jesus, that he's fulfilling what was written and spoken by the prophet Isaiah.

He took our infirmities and he bore our diseases, that he is the fulfillment of this promise of God that God says in through Isaiah. He says, listen, I will come and heal you. In fact, the Messiah will come with healing in his wings. As Jeff mentioned a couple of days ago, when we had our introduction to the gospel of Matthew, and what do we have? We have the story of this woman with a hemorrhage for 12 years, and he wants, she wants to just touch the hem of his garment because the Messiah would come with healing in his wings, which is just incredible. Now, I might have mentioned this before in one of the other Messianic checkpoints, but it's important to note that Jesus doesn't just heal people from natural or physical ailments. Also, scripture does point out that Jesus not only heals

physical ailments, he also heals mental illness, which is remarkable to note. And I note that not only because Jesus can do that, but also because of the fact that sometimes when we talk about healing, setting someone free from oppression or possession by a demon, I think as modern people, we think, well, maybe that was just mental illness. The scripture makes a very distinct point of noting that Jesus healed physical illness, he healed mental illness, and he also set people free from demonic oppression. There are three different categories of healing, at least three, that Jesus offers. And one of the things that is revealed in that is that, remember, Jesus is here to establish the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God is not simply uniting people under one

banner of faith. It's not simply uniting people in the church. It involves first defeating the kingdom of darkness. So when Jesus encounters someone who is in possession of the evil one, in possession of the devil, I mean, we call it possession for a reason because he possesses them. Jesus is fighting for them against the evil one and saying, you no longer belong to the kingdom of darkness. I am transferring you to my kingdom. And that is so important for us to understand because I think a lot of us, we think, well, you know, it's really good that I've been baptized. I'm made now a son or daughter of God. True. A hundred percent true. So incredible. But it also means that we were transferred from the kingdom of darkness. In fact, we recognize, and we're going to hear this later on as we go deeper

and deeper into the new Testament, that when we were we were born we were born someone else had a claim on us i'll say it like that someone else had a claim on us and that someone else is the ruler of the world the evil one satan himself that when you and i were born we were born under his possession which is one of the reasons why the right of baptism often has a right of exorcism to say like, no, you, that Satan is once again going to be defeated by God's grace, by Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, and will be transferred from his possession, from the claim he has on us to the kingdom of the father, the kingdom of God himself. And God now has a claim on us and is so powerful. You know, one of those claims exercised here by the call of Matthew in chapter nine, which

is just, it's remarkable when you realize that here is Matthew just inserting this moment in his own life where he was, you know, an enemy of the Jewish people. He's, he was Jewish, but he was an enemy of the Jewish people because he was working for the Romans as a tax collector. And Jesus walks up to the tax office and just says, follow me, noting that whatever our past is, Lord Jesus comes into our present and wants to offer us a new future. And that's what he does for Matthew. And here it's the author of this gospel.

It just gives us a couple verses, you know, nine through 13 about the story of how he was himself called to be gone, to go on mission. And then they're sent on mission in chapter 12, the 12 disciples are, are sent on mission and their mission is to basically do what Jesus did. And this is so important. For those of us who are Christians, those of us who are followers of Christ, we don't just follow Christ because we believe in him,

although we do, but we're called to do what he did on this earth. We're gonna see that even more as we go forward here in Matthew's gospel and in the gospel of Luke later on. But the disciples of Jesus aren't just simply called to believe in Jesus and even just to follow, not just to follow him,

but to do what he did in this world, which is just incredible. But doing what he did and following him, Jesus points out in chapter 10, I know I'm racing through this, but he points out that I didn't come to bring peace, but the sword. Now, what does he mean by that? Here's father against son, son against father. Here's daughter against mother, mother

against daughter, brother against brother, that families will, will turn each other over. They'll hand each other over. Um, and you realize, ah, gosh, this is the price. We might even see this. I mean, we've seen it throughout history where families become split because someone is trying to choose Jesus and others in the family don't like the trying to choose Jesus. In the first centuries of the church, it was very clear when there were persecutions by the Romans, but all around the world, all around the world, you had fathers handing over their children and children handing over their parents because they believed in Christ and following him. You have this not only in the early church, you have this in Japan, you have this in China,

you have this. I mean, in some ways, I don't know, I don't want to say too much, but is there a threat of that happening now? Because to follow Jesus means we live a certain way. We believe a certain thing about human nature. We believe a certain thing about how to live. Could there be divisions that are becoming more and more pronounced in families now? Because it seems like those divisions are growing between Christians and the culture.

Because of that, you know, obviously we just have to pray for each other and lift each other up. Because it's so hard. It is so hard when families become divided over these issues and families become divided over like certain ways of life or certain ways of doing things, certain ways of believing. And yet we can't abandon our faith. We can't abandon the Lord Jesus because he has called us to be faithful. He's called us to be witnesses. And he's also this last section of chapter 10. He has called us to take up our cross. In fact, he, I did, this is one of the things that even I read this in high school and

it just made such an impression on me. When, when Jesus says he who does not take up his cross and follow me, he's not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake will find it. And so we know we live in a difficult world and a dangerous world. We live in a world that will kill us ultimately. But we don't have fear. As Jesus said, have no fear of them. This is so important. Have no fear of them. Even if everything seems so confusing and parents are against children and children against parents and families are divided and friends who were people who are friends are now enemies. Jesus says, so have, but have no fear of them, but have no fear because you matter to God. He says that are not two sparrows sold for a penny and not one of them will fall to the

ground without your father's will. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not. Therefore you are of more value than many sparrows. I love that. Like I appreciate the fact that I'm more valuable than some birds, but Jesus is saying you matter to the father. So have no fear. Pick up your cross and follow me and have no fear. He who finds his life will lose it. And he who loses his life for my sake, will find it. Have no fear. So praise the Lord. Thank you so much. My friends, my journeying, we have 105 days left and it just, it almost seems too short. I don't

want this to end, but I do want it to end for today. So I'll let you know I'm praying for you. Please, please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.