June 23, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – From Crying to Feasting

From Crying to Feasting

Psalm 107:17-22 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Some became fools through their rebellious ways
    and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
¹⁸ They loathed all food
    and drew near the gates of death.
¹⁹ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave.
²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
²² Let them sacrifice thank offerings
    and tell of his works with songs of joy.

How did “some” become fools (verse 17)?

Why did they suffer affliction (verse 17)?

What did they draw near to (verse 18)?

Who did they cry to (verse 19)?

What (who) did the Lord send to heal them (verse 20)?

What did He rescue them from (verse 20)?

Why should they “give thanks to the Lord” (verse 21)?

What should they “sacrifice” (verse 22)?

How should they “tell of his works” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about crying out to the Lord?

Matthew 8:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Who followed Jesus from the mountainside (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did the man with leprosy ask to be made clean instead of healed (verse 2)?

What was Jesus’s physical response to the man (verse 3)?

Why was the man to go to the priest and “offer the gift Moses commanded” (verse 4)?

Who came to Jesus in Capernaum (verse 5)?

What was wrong with the servant (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask “shall I come and heal him” (verse 7)?

What was the centurion’s response (verse 8)?

What did the centurion say he was “under” (verse 9)?

Why was Jesus “amazed” (verse 10)?

Where will many come from to “take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (verse 11)?

What will happen to “the subjects of the kingdom” (verse 12)?

When was the servant healed (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about crying out to the Lord?

In your opinion, what is demonstrated in Jesus’s interaction with both the leper and the centurion in Matthew 8:1-13 that Psalm 107:17-22 foretells?

1 John 1:5-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

What is the message “we have heard from him and declare to you” (verse 5)?

When do “we lie and do not live out the truth” (verse 6)?

When do we “have fellowship with one another” (verse 7)?

What “purifies us from all sin” (verse 7)?

When do we “deceive ourselves” (verse 8)?

What happens when we “confess our sins” (verse 9)?

How do we make him out to be a liar” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about crying out to the Lord?

In your opinion, what do the people that Psalm 107:17-22 is written about have in common with those reading 1 John 1:5-10?

In your opinion, how is Jesus healing the unclean in Matthew 8:1-13 similar to and different from the purification in 1 John 1:5-10?

Revelation 15:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. ² And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God ³ and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
⁴ Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

⁵ After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. ⁶ Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. ⁷ Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. ⁸ And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

Why were these the “seven last plagues” (verse 1)?

Who was “standing beside the sea” (verse 2)?

What song were they singing (verse 3)?

Why will all nations “come and worship” (verse 4)?

What was opened in heaven (verse 5)?

Where did the “seven angels with the seven plagues” come from (verse 6)?

What filled the “seven golden bowls” (verse 7)?

Why could no one enter the temple (verse 8)?

When would people be able to enter the temple (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about crying out to the Lord?

In your opinion, how do those rescued from the grave in Psalm 107:17-22 anticipate those who are victorious in Revelation 15:1-8?

In your opinion, what does Revelation 15:1-8 help us understand about the feast that Jesus says will take place in heaven in Matthew 8:1-13?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 1:5-10 help us understand about how those proclaimed as victorious in Revelation 15:1-8 achieved their victories over “the beast and its image and over the number of its name”?

In your opinion, what is the role of faith in all who receive healing or victory in the Scriptures from Psalms, Matthew, 1 John, and Revelation?

In your opinion, how can we take our “places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)