‘Good News for the Needy’

ICEL, Leuven

February 8, 2015

Pieter Boersema

ICEL

1. Introduction1. Introduction• New format for preaching at ICEL: New format for preaching at ICEL: • Four scripture references: two O.T. incl. one Psalm, two Four scripture references: two O.T. incl. one Psalm, two

N.T. incl. one from the Gospels.N.T. incl. one from the Gospels.• Isaiah 40: 21-31 Comfort for God’s People.Isaiah 40: 21-31 Comfort for God’s People.• Psalm 147: 1-11 How good it is to sing praises to our Psalm 147: 1-11 How good it is to sing praises to our

Lord.Lord.• 1 Cor. 9:16-23: Paul has to preach the gospel.1 Cor. 9:16-23: Paul has to preach the gospel.• Mark 1:34: Jesus healed many who has various Mark 1:34: Jesus healed many who has various

diseases.diseases.• For today the theme of the sermon is:For today the theme of the sermon is:

‘ ‘Good news for the needy’.Good news for the needy’.

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2. Preaching the Gospel• What is the Good News?

• Jesus Christ, who is risen from the death, is the Saviour of the world.

• Who are the needy? • The preaching of the Gospel is for ‘insiders’ and

‘outsiders’.

• Paul his urge to preach the Gospel of Jesus• The summary in John 3:16

• ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’.

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3. Jesus preaching and healing• Jesus is the example in preaching the Gospel,

the Kingdom of God, an overall message: • Matthew 9:1-7: Some people brought to Jesus a

paralytic man, lying on a mat…….• When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the

paralytic, “Take heart , son; your sins are forgiven”…Get up, take your mat and go home”.

• Matthew 9: 12-13. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

• Jesus said vs 13: ‘I desire mercy not sacrifice’.

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4. ‘Christ preaching4. ‘Christ preaching’ ’

• We all are sinners, we all are the needy.• A picture can bring many different aspects

(many stories) together.• ‘Christ preaching’ (1643).• The ‘honderdgulden print’, an etching

(engraving) of Rembrandt van Rijn.• Referring to the painting of Raphael: The school

of Athens (1509): ‘Wisdom and Justice’. • What do we see in this picture of Rembrandt?

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5. The connection between the Gospel stories

• Matthew 9:1-7: Some people brought to Jesus a paralytic man, lying on a mat.

• Matthew 9: 27-34 Jesus heals the Blind and the Mute.

• Matthew 19: 13-15. The little children brought to Jesus.

• Matthew 19:16-22 The rich young man.• Matthew 9, John 8:1 and many other verses:

The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees.

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6. The two daughters of Israel

• Matthew 9:16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.

• Pure and Impure

• Matthew 9:18-26 The daughter of Jair.

• Matthew 9: 20-22 The woman who was bleeding for twelve years.

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7. Jesus between the Torah and the Gospel

• John 8:1-11: The Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.

• Punishment is Civil Law, debt forgiveness is the law of the Kingdom of God.

• Matthew 13: 45 The parable of the pearl. • Matthew 19: 24 It is easier for a camel to go

through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

• In the middle is the Virtue: a pillar (Courage) with a cloth (Caritas: the cloak of love).

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8. Preaching the Good News is New Life

• 1 Cor. 9:16 (Paul) Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach.

• The Gospel stories are about God’s mercy and grace.

• Witness of the Gospel is to observe the commandment of Jesus in word and deed.

• There is always a tension between the ‘word’ and the ‘deed’ but both are one in Jesus ministry.