Jesus is great – absolutely!

Matthew 8:23-9:8

 After leaving Nebraska and moving to California at 19, his church choir convinced Thurl Ravenscroft to audition is Hollywood. His first job was as the costar on radio’s Goose Creek Parson. His voice made him famous whether he was speaking or singing in the Normon Luboff. allthingsthurl.com says that hroughout his career, Thurl devoted time to activities in the Christian field. He appeared frequently on (Schuler’s) The Hour of Power as a soloist, and narrated The Glory of Christmas at the Crystal Cathedral. His solo album, Great Hymns in Story and Song, features some of the best know  gospel songs and the stories behind them. He also recorded the Book of Psalms for the visually impaired and narrated the album God's Plan for You. In 2002, Thurl recorded an album called Psalms & Selahs. He is buried in the Memorial Gardens of the Crystal Cathedral. 

 Are you all familiar with Thurl? Maybe you recognize him as the voice of Tony the Tiger: They’re grrrreat! That’s what Matthew says about Jesus, He’s grrrreat! Let’s see how.

  He’s already told us several accounts of Jesus healing people. That’s pretty good stuff. But it’s not enough.

Matthew has to establish that Jesus is more than just a great man. He even has to be more than a faith healer. In fact he has to be greater than Moses who the Jews would have considered their greatest prophet.

People were also healed under Moses’ leadership. On one occasion God was punishing the people for their sins by sending venomous snakes among them. God told Moses to erect a bronze serpent and if anyone looked at it they were healed. On another occasion he prayed and his sister and her leprosy cleared up.

Matthew 8:23-27. 

23 Jesus got into a boat, and his disciples went with him. 24 Suddenly a fierce storm hit the lake, and the boat was in danger of sinking. But Jesus was asleep. 25 The disciples went to him and woke him up. “Save us, Lord!” they said. “We are about to die!” 

26 “Why are you so frightened?” Jesus answered. “What little faith you have!” Then he got up and ordered the winds and the waves to stop, and there was a great calm. 

27 Everyone was amazed. “What kind of man is this?” they said. “Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

This story ups the ante. Jesus has power over illnesses that affects the human body, but he also has power over greater forces in nature like the winds and the waves. He just speaks and they obey. That makes Jesus greater than Moses or does it?

God also worked through Moses to display amazing powers over nature. When they were escaping Egypt Moses raised his staff and the waters of the Red Sea parted so the Israelites could cross on dry land. When Moses did that he gained for himself everlasting renown (Isaiah 63:12).  Even with the people in Jesus’ day. So Jesus would have to do something even greater than controlling nature.

Matthew 8:28-34.

28 When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there. These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared travel on that road. 29 At once they screamed, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?” 

30 Not far away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. 31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If you are going to drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.” 

32 “Go,” Jesus told them; so they left and went off into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned. 33 The men who had been taking care of the pigs ran away and went into the town, where they told the whole story and what had happened to the men with the demons. 34 So everyone from the town went out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their territory.

  Here Jesus takes on a force greater than nature. He confronts evil head on. These demons not only tormented the two men and turned them into violent criminals; they also had the power to destroy life and livelihoods. Their demonic powers were heartless and cruel. They represent the kind of gratuitous evil we see in our world. Evil that causes nearly irreparable damage to people, animals and anything else in God’s creation.

  You would think maybe this gave Jesus an edge over Moses but not necessarily. Moses confronted an even greater display of evil than Jesus did at least on this occasion. Pharaoh did much worse than oppressing two men. He subjected all the Israelites to brutality and slavery. Pharaoh did much worse than throw pigs into the sea. He gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). But in the end Moses defeated Pharoah.

 When it comes to greatness Moses and Jesus are running neck and neck. Matthew still has a challenge. Jesus can heal. He can control nature. He can conquer evil. But Moses also did all of those. What’s left?

  Matthew 9:1-13. 
  9:1 Jesus got into the boat and went back across the lake to his own town, 2 where some people brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a bed. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”  

3 Then some teachers of the Law said to themselves, “This man is speaking blasphemy!” 

4 Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and so he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? 5 Is it easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk?’ 6 I will prove to you, then, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your bed, and go home!” 7 The man got up and went home. 8 When the people saw it, they were afraid, and praised God for giving such authority to people. 

Bingo. Jesus could forgive sins. Moses couldn’t do that. Contest over. Jesus is the greatest. His ability to forgive sins puts him on the same level as God. He is worthy of our praise and as we will see next week, he is worthy to be followed. And that sets the groundwork for expanding his greatness, as we’ll see next week.

Your mission this week is to mull over and over the greatness of Jesus. As the Psalmist said, Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom (Psalms 145:3).

Youth Message

Great, Greater, Greatest

If you want to travel fast?

bicycle – race car – plane

If you want to eat good food?

School Lunch – Pizza Hut – Mom’s Cooking

If you want to be a good friend

Help – Make Person Laugh – Listen

If you want to serve God

Pray – Read Bible – Love People

Rate these

Give money. – Give health. – Give eternal life.

Rate these people

Your Grandmother – US President – Jesus

In all categories Jesus is the greatest because of who he is, what he has already done, what he is doing and what he will do in the future.

For your treat today I’ve got some frosted flakes for you. You remember what Tony the Tiger says about them? They’re grrrreat!

We believe that Jesus is grrrreat. So together let’s say: “Jesus is grrrreat!”