082 Healing: The Master's Touch

The people of Israel looked forward to the day the Kingdom of God would be revealed, ushering in an era of shalom – complete wholeness in body and soul. 

Blind eyes are going to see.  Deaf ears are going to hear. Lame legs are going to leap.  When?  When God comes to save.    

That day ultimately arrived. Jesus entered the world, announcing that in Him the Kingdom had come. He not only declared the Kingdom, He demonstrated it. 

“… The blind receive sight.  The lame walk.  Those who have leprosy are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised. The Good News is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)

He then sent out His representatives and gave them the authority to heal. (Lk. 9:1; 10:1)

Jesus was and still is ready, willing, and able to heal.  And part of the commission He gave us - His disciples – was, and still is, that we also be agents of healing

Today I’d like to focus on one of the most striking examples of healing in the Bible. It’s the story of a man who was “covered with leprosy.” As He approached Jesus, he fell on his face and begged, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus’ response was shocking because lepers were considered “unclean.” They were banished from community and treated with fear and disgust. To come into physical contact with a leper was to become contaminated yourself. 

But Jesus touched the leper. He reached out his hand and said, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

I think there is something for us to learn from this story that helps us understand healing today.

The Leper’s Approach

·      He approached with courage.
For this man to dare approach the great rabbi, Jesus, and ask Him for healing took an enormous amount of courage. But he knew Jesus was His only hope. 

Jesus’ response to his courage should give us courage too. If Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever – might it be worth the risk for those of us who feel like modern-day lepers to approach Him and ask for deliverance?   

·      He approached with humility.
Note the man’s words: “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”  Not demanding…not insisting… but simply and humbly asking. Healing and humility go hand in hand. 

·      He approached with faith.
Notice what the leper called Jesus: “Lord…”  This is the essence of faith – to confess who Jesus is and the power He has even before you see that manifested on your behalf.  It’s not seeing then believing; it’s believing then seeing.  

Jesus’ Response

·      He responded with compassion.
Jesus intentionally touched the man.  It’s as if He wanted to heal not only the leper’s outward trauma but his inward trauma. 

·      He responded with reassurance.
“I am willing.” Jesus is ever and always willing to heal. The challenge is that this willingness needs to be understood in relationship to His will. 

·      He responded with power.
“Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. 

Here’s what I know:  God is the God of Shalom – the God of Salvation, Deliverance, and Healing. 

That healing is coming. It may come in this life. It may come in the next, but it is coming. 

His one request in the midst of the mystery of His plan and His purposes is, “Ask.”  Ask for the healing of your body, your mind, and your soul.  Ask. 

Text: Luke 5:12-15

Originally recorded April 30, 2017, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN.