Looking Ahead: The King Who Heals and Welcomes
Month 5: Kingdom Living (Part 2) · Family Worship
Today's Scripture
Read together: Matthew 8:1-3 & Matthew 9:35-36
1 When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 Suddenly a leper came and knelt before Him, saying, “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!” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. — Matthew 8:1-3
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. — Matthew 9:35-36
Memory Verse
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”— Matthew 7:24 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Psalms 9-11
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Around Day 150 of 365 — songs of a God who is a refuge for the oppressed and a help to the helpless.)The Heart of It
For two whole months we've sat on the hillside listening to the greatest sermon ever preached. Tonight Jesus stands up, and Matthew tells us, "When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him" (). And the very first thing that happens is breathtaking. A man with leprosy comes and kneels before Jesus. His disease was so feared that he had been forced to live outside town. No one had touched him for years. "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean," he says. And Jesus does the unthinkable. "Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him" (). No one touched lepers. But the King who taught the kingdom now brings the kingdom. He reaches out His hand to the very person everyone else pushed away. The Sermon on the Mount wasn't just lovely words. It came wrapped in a Person who heals and welcomes.
This is where our story turns. Matthew gives us a window into the heart behind it all. "Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching... and healing every sickness... But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd" (). That word compassion describes something stirring deep in Jesus when He looked at tired, lost, hurting people. And it still stirs in Him when He looks at our world, and at you. The King who taught us to build our house on the Rock is the same King who kneels down to touch the untouchable and gather the wandering. In the days ahead we'll watch Him heal, welcome, and call ordinary people to follow Him. And we'll discover that the kingdom isn't only something we live. It's Someone who came to find us.
Around the Table
A man was very, very sick, and nobody would touch him. But Jesus reached out His hand, touched him, and made him all better! Jesus loves the people everyone else stays away from.
Let's do it: Reach out and gently touch someone's hand at the table. That's what Jesus did. He's never afraid to come close to us!
Jesus didn't just teach about love on the mountain. He came down and showed it by touching a man no one else would go near. His heart was "moved with compassion."
Let's talk: Who is someone that gets left out or pushed away? And what would Jesus' kind of compassion look like toward them?
Matthew places this healing right after the sermon on purpose. The King who spoke about the kingdom now shows it. Compassion means His heart was wrenched at the sight of weary, shepherdless people.
Let's go deeper: If Jesus' authority and His compassion always go together, what does that tell us about the kind of King — and the kind of God — we follow?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's something you'd love to see Jesus do as we read more of His story next month? Maybe a miracle, a healing, or a moment you can't wait to learn about?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Skeptics sometimes say Jesus was only a wise teacher. But the same Gospels that record His teaching also record Him touching lepers and healing the sick. His words and His works come as one package. It is eyewitness history, and we can't neatly split it apart ().
For Dad · Go Deeper
A "looking ahead" night is a gift, because it lets you tend the appetite for Scripture in your home rather than letting it grow stale. Notice Matthew's craftsmanship. He ends the sermon with authority. "He taught them as one having authority" (). Then he immediately shows that same authority bending low in compassion over a leper. For your children, this guards against two errors. The first is a Jesus who is all gentle hugs and no kingship. The second is a King who is all authority and no tenderness. He is both, perfectly. As you prepare to walk through the miracles of Matthew 8–9 in the weeks ahead, let your own affections be stirred first by that word splanchnizomai. It means "moved with compassion," literally moved in the gut. A father who has felt Jesus' compassion toward his own weariness will lead his family toward the King far more warmly than one merely passing along facts. Whet their hunger tonight. Tell them the best of the story is still coming.
Draws on: D.A. Carson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Matthew.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that Jesus is not only a great Teacher. He is a King full of compassion, who reaches out to touch the hurting. Give our family that same compassion for people who are weary and lost. Help us follow Jesus closely. In Jesus' name, amen."
The King who taught the kingdom kneels down to touch and welcome the ones everyone else walked past.