Matthew: Healing in His PresenceSample

Let's Meet Matthew

"On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

Matthew 9:12

Those simple yet powerful words from Jesus pack a punch! Would you consider yourself healthy or sick? You may be physically sick, dealing with a devastating diagnosis of cancer - feeling the pain and anxiety that it brings. Or are you emotionally sick? Someone who looks healthy from the outside, but is burdened with depression and hopelessness. Or are you spiritually sick? Do you feel lost in this world, wondering if there is a God and whether He cares about you?

However you feel today, you can experience healing in the presence of Jesus. That's where wholeness and peace come! Just ask Matthew, the author of this book in the Bible. He started out as a tax collector named Levi. For those of you that don't know, Jewish tax collectors were considered the scum of the earth. They had "sold out" to their Roman oppressors. He was despised for padding his own purse while serving the enemy.

One day, Jesus sees Matthew at his tax-collecting booth and tells him, “Follow me,” and Matthew did exactly that. Just a verse later, we see Matthew has invited Jesus to his home and brought all his "scum of the earth" tax-collecting friends with him.

Thanks to Matthew having written down what he personally experienced, the heart-and-soul healing power of Jesus, we can all be encouraged. This Gospel is full of his personal eye-witness accounts of the life and health restoring power of Jesus for every kind of disease and sickness. If Jesus can do it for them, He can do it for you!

Every day when you read this devotion, please don't miss out on the video clip at the top of the page. You'll hear HealingStrong friends discussing the Bible story you are reading for that day. It's like having friends to study with!

Questions:

1. Which kind of sickness do you most relate to right now—physical, emotional, or spiritual—and why?

2. What would it look like for you to invite Jesus into that exact place of hurt today, like Matthew did?

3. If Jesus showed up in your life with the same two words, “Follow me,” what would you have to leave behind to go with Him?