Truly the Son of God   Mt.14:22-36
(Mk.6:45-56, Jn.6:14-33)
    
We left off last week with Jesus having just fed 5000 families an all-you-can-eat meal from one, little lunch.
    22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
    This is something new.  Usually Jesus always wants the disciples to follow Him.  But now, all of a sudden, He’s in a hurry to get them out of there.
    It says He did it immediately, and that He made the disciples get into the boat.  The word made is a strong word.  It means “to compel by force or persuasion.”   
    Jesus says to the disciples, “I want you out of here, now!”
    We get an idea about why when we read John’s account.
    Jn.6:14-15
After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
    They want to crown Him King.
    At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Satan tried to tempt Jesus by offering Him kingship without the cross.
    Of all the temptations Jesus faced, that one seems to be the most difficult and the most relentless.  Satan just never gives up on it.
    Keep in mind that ruling over His people is the greatest desire of Jesus’ heart.  He is the rightful King, and He longed for the day His kingdom would be fully ushered in.
    Remember the compassion He had for the people?  They were sheep without a Shepherd, and He longed to shepherd them.
    And whenever Jesus faced a particularly difficult temptation, He always did the same thing – He rushed into prayer.
    But first He wants to dismiss His disciples.  The last thing He wants is for them to get caught up in what’s going on with this crowd.
    When it says that He had to compel them, the implication is that they were resisting somewhat.  But He makes them go.
    So first He removes His disciples from the temptation, then He removes Himself.
    This is quite a picture.  Israel is offering Jesus the crown, and He’s refusing it.
    It’s not time yet.  The full glory of Christ’s reign and rule will come only through the cross, and there is no bypassing that.
    But Matthew wants us to know that just because he’s turning down this crown doesn’t mean He’s not king.
    And so he proceeds to show us the sovereign rule of Christ, and His absolute control over all things.
    And this passage becomes one of the great portraits in Scripture of the royalty of Christ.
    You’re going to enjoy this this morning.  You probably aren’t going to learn much that you didn’t already know – 
    Sometimes we dig in and do serious, complex study, but today is a day to just sit back and drink in the majestic wonder of the Son of God.
    Jesus’ popularity has been building, and here it surges to a climactic peak.  This is as popular as Jesus ever gets.
    They actually attempt to kidnap Him.  It turns into an unruly mob.  
    They start to get out of control, but as always Jesus remains the Master of the moment.
    CROWD CONTROL
    23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.
    I love that little statement.  He dismissed the crowd.
    What do you do in a kidnapping situation?  What do you do when an army of 5000 men is seizing you and talking you away by force against your will?
    Easy, you just dismiss them. 
    If you find yourself being kidnapped, just dismiss the kidnappers.
    Such authority!  Such masterful control!
    The hardest thing to control is people – especially when they get into a mob mentality.  
    On the news you see crowds much smaller than this who get unruly, and they have to use water canons, rubber bullets, night sticks, and tear gas to try to hold them back.
    But Jesus just says, “You’re dismissed.”  And they all leave!
    Jesus has complete control over the crowds.
    KNOWLEDGE CONTROL
    So Jesus goes off by Himself to pray.  And He prays through the night.
    When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 
    Mark says they were in the middle of the lake, and John says they were between 3 and 3.5 miles from shore.
    Put all that together and you know you have?
    It’s only a two-mile trip across the tip of the sea of Galilee, and normally they would never be more than one mile from the shore.  
    So if they have gone 3 ½ miles, and there’s still only in the middle of the sea, they are way off course.
    Evidently, the wind was blowing not only East but South, and they were being blown down towards the center of the lake.
    Mark tells us about the next miracle.  
Mk.6:48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars
    Jesus is inland – up on a mountain.  They were in the middle of the sea.  It’s the fourth watch of the night (between 3 and 6 a.m.).
    And He could see that they were straining.  That would be like standing here and seeing the facial expression of someone in his car on Highway 36 – in the middle of the night.
    “Maybe Jesus ate a lot of carrots.”  
    Maybe it’s possible to see a boat 3.5 miles away in the moonlight, but to not only see the boat but to be able to see the fact that they were straining at the oars?  
    Vitamin D won’t do that for you.  This must be a supernatural vision.  
    One thing we have learned is that Jesus has omniscient access to information.  He knew what people are thinking, where they have been, what their past is – anything He chooses to know. 
    His eyes range to and fro on the earth.  David said, You perceive my thoughts from afar…If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me.
(Ps.139:2,9,10)
    Jesus was capable of not only crowd control but also knowledge control. 
    There are some human leaders that are good at crowd control and who have command of a tremendous amount of knowledge, but this next one is a tricky one.
    GRAVITY CONTROL
    25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 
    Gravity control.
    Some commentators have all kinds of trouble at this point – even commentators who accept the other miracles choke on this one.  
    Barcley has Him walking along the shore, others have him stepping on the rocks just under the surface, but the Greek is very clear: He was walking upon the water – on it.
    I don’t know how He did this.  I don’t know if He caused the water to congeal under hIs feet, or if He just suspended the law of gravity…
    But somehow He walked on the water – for 3.5 miles.  
    When Jesus was finished with His prayer time, He decided to catch up to the disciples.
    So He gathered up His stuff, walked down to the shore, stepped onto the water, stepped over the small waves, walked up and down the bigger waves, and started heading toward the boat.
    If Jesus walked the whole way it would have taken over an hour to get to the boat.  We don’t know if He jogged part of the way, or just transported Himself all the way out there to begin with…
    26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
    This is the time of the full moon, so they can see Him at quite a distance.  He’s too far to make out who He is, but close enough to where they knew it was someone.  
    And they were so terrified, they screamed in fear.
    Most men are pretty self-conscious about screaming out loud in fear.  Men just don’t do that unless they are really panicked – especially when they are around a bunch of other men.
    If you are standing around with 11 other guys and see something funny, you don’t just start screaming, “It’s a ghost!”
    But this was so frightening – what they saw was so real, that they all cried out. 
    27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."  
    The phrase It is I is ego eimi, which is the exact phrase God uses so often in the OT when He says “I AM.”  
    28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come," he said. 
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"  
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 
    I don’t know if Jesus carried Peter back, or if He dragged him through the water, or if He enabled him to walk on the water again, but somehow they make it back to the boat.
    I think the reason so many people have trouble with this particular miracle is that our culture is so influenced by naturalism that they think the laws of motion and gravity supersede even God.
    They think God is subject to natural laws.
    God is not subject to them: they are dependent on Him.  
    You know what gravity is?  It’s God pulling masses together.  If you drop something, and it goes down, that is God pulling it down.  
    So it’s no problem for Him to stop pulling for a moment.
    What to us are laws, to Him are chores.
    I this is one of the most majestic pictures of Christ we have. There He is – treading on the sea. 
    Job 9:8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
    Prophets don’t do that, priests don’t do that, Moses didn’t – no human being has this ability.  God alone treads on the waves of the sea. 
    So not only did He have crowd control and knowledge control, but he also had gravity control.
    And we can add to that wind and wave control.
    WIND AND WAVE CONTROL
    Mt.14:32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
    That is a terrible translation.  It didn’t die down – it stopped.
    If this were in the imperfect tense, we could translate it, “was dying down.”  But it is in the aorist tense – punctiliar action.
    It didn’t die down – it stopped.
    The air was moving because of some pressure difference.
    The atmosphere is heavy and presses down with tremendous force all the time.  So if the air is being tightly compressed in one area, and right next to it is an area with very little pressure, the weight of the atmosphere will squish the air into the low-pressure area.
    That’s what caused this wind.  Air was being pressed over into a low pressure area.  And Jesus stopped it.
    I don’t know if He equalized the pressure or just suspended gravity’s pull on the atmosphere…
    And I don’t know how He stopped all those thousands of waves – if He suspended the laws of motion, or flattened them by exerting pressure…
    But I do know this is a display of power unequaled by anyone ever.
    Jesus doesn’t command the storm to stop this time – it just stops.  It stopped, because it had served its purpose.
    Ps 148:7-8  Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, 8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
    The purpose of a storm is to do His bidding.  And so when it has done His bidding, it stops.
    The wind stopped because this One, who has just gotten into the boat – this is the very one spoken of in Pr.30:4 who has gathered the wind in His fists.
    He is the One who has ascended into heaven and descended.  He is the One Who has wrapped the waters in His garment. Who has established all the ends of the earth.  He is the One who has gathered the wind in His fists.
    TT Jn.6
    He has crowd control, He has knowledge control, He has gravity control and wind and wave control, and not only that, He has space and time control.
    SPACE AND TIME CONTROL
    Jn.6:21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading
    John had kept track of the distance.  They had traveled 3.5 mi. (Just because it’s windy doesn’t mean it’s also cloudy.)  
    They are in the center of the sea.  
    Imagine this:
-	they are in the middle of the sea
-	they have been rowing for hours
-	through the chaos of the wind in the ways they see Jesus were walking toward them
-	they panic
-	Jesus speaks
-	They’re relieved
-	Peter walks out, sinks
-	Jesus pulls him up,
-	They walk back to the boat,
-	They climb in
-	The storm stops, the disciples are amazed
-	They are gliding along…
    And all of the sudden…“bonk” – they ran into the shore.
    I don’t know how Jesus did this either.
    I don’t know if He beamed them there like Star Trek, or altered time, or changed the nature of space and distence…but one thing is clear – this man is demonstrating absolute, sovereign control over the creation.  
    We are not dealing with a mere human being here.
    No one but the world’s Creator could multiply the loaves and fishes like Jesus did, and no one but the world’s King could 
•	command the elements of the creation, 
•	tread on the waters of the sea, 
•	enable Peter to walk on water,
•	command the wind and the waves, and 
•	manipulate gravity, space and time.
    You can believe this is Almighty God, or you can stick your fingers in your ears and decide to just not think about it, but there is no denying the obvious.  Jesus Christ was and is Almighty, Creator God.
    And He has revealed that to us in the clearest terms imaginable, and it’s reported by reliable eye-witness accounts. 
    Want to see something interesting?  
    Jn.6:30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
    Jesus refuses to keep doing miracles to the crowd who demands them, yet He does a flurry of them for the disciples, who don’t ask.
    This crowd is the same group that just saw Him divide the loaves on the other side of the lake.
    Some people keep crying for proof, but when it is supplied they reject it.  
    You had better not keep on rejecting the truth, because a time will come when it will no longer be offered.
    So Jesus has crowd control, knowledge control, gravity control, wind and wave control, space and time control, and one more…
    All three gospel writers throw this in at the end.
    DISEASE CONTROL
    Mt.14:35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word (Mk - They ran) to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.    
    Disease control.  During His ministry Jesus was the center for disease control in Israel.
    What does that have to do with the story?  Nothing, but it’s there, because it’s always there.  
    Whatever else Christ is doing, He is always healing.  It never stops.  
    If you put the miracles in categories, all of them have “/and healing” after it.
    There’s the gift/healing miracles, creation/healing miracles, exorcism/healing miracles, knowledge/healing miracles… 
    Whenever He preaches, He ends up healing – whenever He does anything He ends up healing – constantly demonstrating the compassion of God.
    Such power it even rubs off on His clothes.
    Look at Him in His majesty – standing there in total mastery of the creation.  
    At that moment, standing there on the water, and a moment later when He stilled the wind and waves and transported the boat – at that moment He is exerting more power than all of the power of all of humanity combined.  
    We can take every bit of technology, hydraulic power, nuclear power, mechanical advantage, etc. we have, and we can’t so much as stop a gentle breeze.  
    Here Jesus effortlessly controls the elements, demonstrates mastery over the storm, even reverses gravity – something unthinkable for a human being.
    You may be troubled at the beginning of the account when you see Jesus pass up the “opportunity” to be king.  
    In one sense, it is an act of humility (His humiliation is not yet completed – it’s not time yet for His exalted coronation).  
    But in another sense, it is an act of regal majesty.  
    The Kingdom of God is the greatest, grandest most awesome reality there is, and He is King over that.  
    Jesus Christ is King over all of creation – it’s no wonder He is not interested in taking a position as king over a little anthill outside the gates of His massive Kingdom – especially when the ants insist on giving the orders.
    Jesus refused their measly little throne, but then turns right around and He shows Himself to be enthroned already upon the very waves of the sea.
    He sits enthroned upon the creation itself.
    Ps.29:9  The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
    Isa.40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings kings to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
    Ps.113:4  The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
    The vast, unfathomable infinite reaches of space and the incalculable immensity of the universe – the Lord Jesus Christ is so great and so high and so lofty that He has to crouch down just to see the universe – so high is His throne in comparison.
    Ps.9:11  Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion
    Ps.99:1  The LORD reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 2  Great is the LORD in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name-- he is holy. 4 The King is mighty…5 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.
    That’s exactly what the disciples do.  They see Him enthroned on the waves, and they worship.
WORSHIP
    v.33 is the climax.  The climax is not the walking on the water or the stilling of the storm.  The climactic verse is v.33.
33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him,
    When He manifests His glory to us, we return it to Him. 
    We call out to Him, He responds by revealing His glory, and we respond by glorifying Him.
    Ps.50:15 call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
    I want to read to you from Psalm 107.  Listen as I read this, and you’re going to think that I’m reading from Matthew 14 or Mark 6.  You’re not going to believe that this is in the book of Psalms.
    Ps.107:23  Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. 24 They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. 25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. 26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. 27 They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end. 28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. 29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. 31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
    Isn’t it amazing how close that is to the event we just studied?  
    I wonder if Jesus, while He was up on that mountain, spent some time in the Word, and said, “I think now pick out some grand, figurative language describing the greatness of God in the OT, and then carry it out literally right before the disciples’ eyes.”
    So He walks out onto the sea, and acts out Psalm 107.
    And verse 31 of that Psalm says Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
    Let them respond in warship.  And that’s exactly what the disciples do.
    And there is an important thing that is revealed in Ps.107, that a lot of people are confused about.
    In that Psalm, who is it that stirs up the storm?  Did you catch that, in verse 25?  For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
    The storm itself is from God.  
    Some object to that and say, “No, no, no.  The LORD allows the storm.  He allows trials; He doesn’t send them.”  
    But Scripture is clear that He controls everything, and yes, He does send the storm.  
    But that ought not distress us.  That should comfort us.  Because if He sends the storms that hit our lives, 
#1 we know they are not random, meaningless things.  There is a good purpose, and 
#2 we know if He is the one who sends the storm, then He is the one who has power to do what?  Still it to a whisper and a quiet hush.
     …worshipped Him saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." 
And Jesus said, “Oh, no, you misunderstand.  I’m just a good man.  I never claimed to be God.  I’m nothing but a better than average prophet – like Mohammed or Moses or someone.”
    No.  He did what no good man, who was a mere man, has ever done – He did something that no true prophet or man of God has ever done – He accepted the worship.
    That’s important, because godly men never do that.  
    He accepted it, because it was fitting.  It was appropriate. 
    But it’s not appropriate for a mere human being – no matter how holy.
    Acts 10:25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. 26 But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."
    Acts 14:8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. 11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" (They had a legend that the gods had come once before to their town, and they missed them.  And so they were going to let that happen again.) 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you…
18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
    Godly men do not accept worship.  And neither do exalted angels.
    Rev.19:9 Then the angel said to me, …"These are the true words of God." 10 At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers…Worship God! 
    But John didn’t learn the lesson.
Rev.22:8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"
    We are to worship God alone.
    Jesus did something no good angel, and no good man has ever done.  He accepted worship.
    Now, I said no good man.  There have been men who have accepted worship.  But they are anything but good.
    Herod got all excited about himself one day, and he decided it was Herod Day.
    Acts 12:21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. (He must have been quite a speaker.  He really got them going.) 22 They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. 24 But the word of God continued to increase and spread.
    The Word of God continued on just fine, but Herod was done, because he accepted worship for one moment – and God struck him dead.  
    God will not tolerate that.
    So evil man will accept worship.  Demons will accept it.  Satan craves it.
    Remember Matthew 4?
    Mt.4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."  10  Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! 
    “Get out of here!”  Jesus didn’t say that after the other temptations, but this was the last straw.
    For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
    Evil men will accept worship, but good men won’t.  
    False prophets will accept it, but true prophets won’t.  
    Demons will accept it, the Devil himself will accept it, but the holy angels won’t.
    And the more righteous a man is, the more horrified and appalled he is at the thought of accepting worship.  
    People want to say Jesus was a great prophet but not God?  A good man?  Only 3 categories of people accept worship: 
-    evil, satanic, vile false prophets and egomaniacs,
-	people who have lost their sanity
-	God Himself
    Those are your only three options with Jesus.  Jesus was and is God Almighty.
    There are many, many references to people worshiping Jesus, and He NEVER refuses it.  He never objects.   
    Some people think Jesus gave up His deity while He was on earth.  But again and again He accepted worship on earth.
    And it’s not just people who worship Him.  God has commanded that all the angels worship Him.  
    The next time a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon comes your door and wants to talk about some obtuse topic, just ask, “Do you believe that it is appropriate to worship Jesus?”
    They will say no, and then you can show them Hebrews 1:6.
    They are trained to argue with you and about the Greek behind whatever verse you show them that says Jesus is God.  But they never have any idea what to do with Hebrews 1:6.
    Heb.1:6  And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."
    God commands all his angels to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
    When John falls at the feet of the angel at the end of Rev. he is rebuked by the angel, but in ch.1 he falls before Christ, and he is not rebuked.  Christ accepts the worship.
    Throughout Revelation, it is Christ who is worshipped.
    If you want to prove the deity of Jesus Christ – if you want to prove that He is Almighty God, you don’t even need the Gospel of John.
    You don’t need the Gospels, you don’t need the epistles – you can demonstrate beyond any argument that Jesus is God from the book of Revelation alone.
•	    It is before Christ that that the 24 elders and the 4 living creatures fall down in worship in ch.5  
•	It is to Christ that all those worship songs in ch.5 are directed.  
•	It is before Christ that the thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000 angels encircled the throne, joined the 24 elders and 4 living creatures in worship and shouted, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.”
•	It is before Christ that every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them sing this: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for  ever and ever!”
(and that’s just ch.5!)
    We’ve seen the majesty of Christ.  We’ve seen Him walk on the water.  We’ve seen Him enthroned above the creation.
    How are we going to respond?
    Are we going to be like the disciples, who fell down and worshiped?
    Or are we going to be like the rest of Jesus’ disciples, who, the very next day after this, walked away?  The greatest defection of Jesus’ followers happened at the very next day.
    The glory of God is too awesome to ignore.  When you see it, you have to either turn away, or fall on your face in worship.
    So which is it going to be for you?
    Let me close by reading you the lyrics to a wonderful song about the mind-boggling mystery of the incarnation – the wonder of the glory of God in human flesh.
    Mary, did you know That your baby boy Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know That your baby boy Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know That your baby boy Has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered Will soon deliver you.
    Mary, did you know That your baby boy Will give sight to the blind man?
Mary, did you know That your baby boy Would calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know That your baby boy Has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby You've kissed the face of God?
    Oh, Mary, did you know That your baby boy Is the Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know That your baby boy Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know That your baby boy Was heaven's perfect Lamb?
And the sleeping Child you're holdin' Is the Great I Am!
    The blind will see The deaf will hear; The dead will live again!
The lame will leap The dumb will speak The praises of the Lamb!
BENEDICTION: 1 Ti.6:15,16  God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. 
Benediction   

    

Review Question:
1.	Why did Jesus refuse the chance to be crowned king in this account?