Tag: Healing

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The mystery of the faithless village.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?” The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.” Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home. Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus, arriving in Bethsaida, is met with folks bringing him a man who is blind. Bethsaida, home to apostles Peter, Andrew, and Philip, was also known as the city that rejected the gospel. “Bethsaida has come to represent those who have heard the gospel, understood God’s plan of salvation, and rejected it. Jesus implied that their eternal punishment would be harsher than that of those who did not have such a privilege (Matthew 11:22).”

Mark notes some particularly odd details about Jesus healing this blind man. One, Jesus led him out of town. People brought the man to Jesus, then Jesus walked him away from the crowd. Why?

Looking up some of the commentaries, they suggest that Bethsaida, as a city, was known for a lack of faith. Similar to the sad pronouncement about Jesus’ own hometown, Nazareth, where few miracles were done because of unbelief, (Matthew 13:58). Jesus’ compassion for the man meant that he needed to remove him from his neighbors, even though they brought him in the first place. Can a city-vibe of unbelief be so strong, so prevalent that it prevents God from moving in miraculous ways? It seems so with these cities. This may be why Mark points out the second oddity.

Jesus had to touch the man’s eyes TWICE! And, after the first touch Jesus asked him IF he could see anything? The man responded honestly, I see but everything is blurry. Well that won’t do at all. Jesus touched his eyes again. Mark writes, ”his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly, (‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭25‬). Was this “second touch” also necessary because of the deep lack of faith in the man’s village? Did unbelief dull this man’s own faith? This also seems to be the reason.

The city’s anemic spirituality might also explain the third strange thing that happened. Jesus told the man – “don’t go through the town on the way home.” Wow, that’s specifically weird too. Normally, Jesus would say, “don’t talk about your healing,” or “go and show yourself to the priest,” who would verify and document the miracle. Jesus was clearly trying to protect this man’s fragile faith and didn’t want the town trashing his belief or his healing.

Do you find that we have a lot of cities that are known for unbelief? Traveling around the United States, folks were surprised that California has believers at all! We’ve got top healthcare, technology and personal rights, why would California need faith? If you live in California, as a believer and fellowship at a Bible believing church, you know it’s true – faith is a rare spiritual attribute in our cities. I’m certain that Jesus would be cancelled because of his sermons and miracles. People are in awe and wonder when a pictogram of Jesus’ face shows up on toast, a tree or a cloud, but a real miracle would be mocked on late night comedy shows.

Faith is harder to find and to live by in some of our own towns. Yet, Jesus still finds a way to take the hurting by the hand, lead them away from disbelieving crowds, touch them twice if necessary, and send them back home, avoiding the negative gossip-gab places. Jesus’ faith finds a way to help our unbelief!

Prayer

​Dad,
There are places and people of influence who not only lack faith, they mock it! I am so fortunate that you got me out of town, away from my friends and touched my life as a teenager. You broke through to me and for me! I know you will do that for many who are broken and hurting. When they seek you, they will find you! Thank you for faith that rescues us even from unbelief. Amen.

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With healing in his wings.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition. ‭‭Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭25‬-‭29‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This story that Mark captures is one of my favorite miracles in the gospels! It certainly highlights Mark’s purpose for writing his accounts taken from Peter’s direct experiences with Jesus. Jesus has power to heal sickness and in Jairus’ daughter, power over death itself. However, there was an interruption in the story. As crowds pressed Jesus after landing on the shore, Jarius makes his desperate plea and Jesus begins making his way to the home of a very sick little girl. But there is also a desperate woman in that crowd.

Mark summarizes her situation. She had been suffering from a trifecta of hope-sucking events. She had some kind of genetic disorder that would not allow her blood to properly clot after she had her cycle. So she was constantly losing blood for twelve years. “Doctors,” tried everything they knew to try. I’m guessing their answers were a mix of wife’s tale wisdom and tips they’d shared in the ancient medical community. I’m not saying they weren’t smart, or knowledgeable, but they could not have had advanced training on the human anatomy and certainly not what they needed to know about diseases concerning the blood. She suffered because of constantly having hope deferred. And now she was broke. To top it off, she was extremely lonely. Her blood disease made her “untouchable,” no friends, no family, no community. Folks at that time were not allowed to be around an actively bleeding individual because of the possibility of spreading the cause and making one “unclean.” The priests were very involved in not allowing someone like this woman to have any contact with another human being until they could verify that she was completely healed. She had no human contact, sans doctor’s examinations for twelve years. She wasn’t just dying from anemia, she was dying of “Touch starvation” as well – it’s a real medical condition!

Here in Mark, the brave woman put herself and others at risk when she ventured into the crowd. Normally, she would be forced to announced that she was “unclean,” giving people a chance to stay clear of her. On this day, she remained silent but laser focused. Her “eye was on the prize,” as they say. What was she trying to do? She believed that Jesus was the Messiah before she ever determined to risk it all and break the law!

But there was a particular piece of Jesus she was after and it wasn’t his robe as the Bible translations try to explain. Sure the Greek word, “himation” is a garment, cloak or tunic, but that’s not what she wanted to touch. She wanted to touch Jesus prayer shawl (Tallit), one of the tassels of his prayer shawl to be more specific.

Every orthodox Jewish male had a weaved prayer shawl and at each of the four corners they had a tassel made of beautiful blue threads with knots. The prayer shawl would hang over their shoulders on the outside of their outer robes. This special prayer tassel was given to them by their mothers, as prescribed by Numbers 15:9. “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord.” The knots on the tassels were a way to remember each of the laws of God as you prayed. It was a wearable reminder to pray.

One of the more interesting things with these prayer shawls is a unique folklore about the Messiah. There was a unique prophecy out of Malachi 4:2, “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.” The people knew that the title “Sun of Righteousness” was THE MESSIAH. However, they didn’t exactly know what Malachi meant by healing in his “wings.” It came to be understood that the Messiah’s Tallit tassels would have supernatural abilities to heal those who touched it. The Jewish mothers, thinking their sons might just be the Messiah, began making the Tallit tassels more vibrant blue and actually began extending the length of these tassels over time.

Of course Mary would have given Jesus his Tallit. And, like every Jewish momma before her, she would use vibrant blue threads and extra long tassels. It is absolutely a fact that Rabbi Jesus often wore his Tallit. On this day, in the crowd, this woman would make her way to Jesus, specifically believing that he is THE Messiah and that his and only his Tallit tassels had the power to heal her of her disease.

The prayer shawl, nor its tassels actually held any power, but Jesus did and the woman’s faith – even in a misinterpreted folklore of Malachi’s prophecy held the belief that she would be healed! It was actually faith in who Jesus is that brought healing to her thin, anemic body. But Jesus also brought a complete healing of soul and spirit when he turned and spoke to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” It just gives me chills to hear the love and mercy in those tender words. Jesus indeed has healing in his wings!

Prayer

​Dad,
I am so moved by this story about Veronica. I see your compassion and mercy in Jesus’ words and behavior towards her. These stories give me hope for those who are suffering. I know that you are the God that heals! Amen.

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Miracles moved by compassion.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

”A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭40‬-‭41‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If I asked most folks if they wanted to see more miracles in their life OR even more miracles in others – I’m pretty sure the answer would be YES. Mark’s gospel shows us that indeed, the Messiah has power over medical abnormalities. However, Jesus also shows us the motivations behind these kinds of miracles.

Jesus was moved with “splagchnizomai,” to be moved in the inward parts. Jesus felt compassion deep in his gut, down to his (splen) spleen! With both great humility and need, this man showed his desperation. This earnestness moved the heart of the Savior. This coupled with the man’s faith, “if you are willing,” brought about Jesus immediate response – “I am willing.” Which also means that God is willing to listen and be moved by compassion to work a miracle.

The bigger question for me is not can I GET miracles from God. My question is, do I have compassion and faith to pray the prayers necessary for God to heal, God to do supernatural miracles in OTHER’S lives?

Why are we so timid about being and doing the things Jesus clearly wanted His followers to continue to be and do? Ask someone to pray in public and it scares them to death! Ask someone to put their own faith, totally in God by the way, out there and BELIEVE on behalf of another and again – creepy-freaky for most of us. Like we’re doing something impossible or wrong! You may have an argument that says, “but I am not one of the original disciples,” so I cannot do these things. But if all the luxuries and commands are only geared toward the original disciples (the OD’s) then NOTHING is for us! What about when Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father,” in John 14:12. We would have to redefine “anyone” as solely those who physically walked with Jesus back then. Jesus actually said, “to the one ‘pisteuó,’ believing, faithing.” That’s for those hearing Jesus’ words and for us today!

I want to be the one believing! I want to be the one humbly moved by compassion, feeling it in my gut and apply my faith to believe in the God who heals – today! I just don’t want to see miracles, I want to see God do miracles through us – Jesus followers! Did Jesus perform miracles as a human or as God? Did Jesus access supernatural faith from God or did He initiate it on His own – from within? Remember, the Apostle Paul told us in Philippians 2 that Jesus surrendered, emptied himself of His diving privileges, becoming a servant.

God is compassionate and merciful. When we see or act with compassion (in our spleens) we are seeing and believing as God would. God performs the miracles, we just need to lend our faith to those in need and trust God to do what only He can do! Want to see more miracles? Maybe we should pray more like Jesus, with one small adjustment, saying, “God is willing, be healed!”

Prayer

​Dad,
Wow, we have really complicated a very simple process. We have convoluted the truth of your word with our own feelings, doubts and cultural dissolution. No wonder we don’t see more miracles in our country, we rationalized it away in fear and shame. I get it, it feels like I don’t have the right kind of faith. Or, I don’t really live the life that looks like Jesus. Or, any number of excuses to NOT BELIEVE you at your word. My faith feels so weak, yet I believe you are so strong! How can I rectify these things? How can I increase my faith despite my fears? Help me God to have compassion and faith. Amen.

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What is your need?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

”As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them. But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭20‬:‭29‬-‭34‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew records that Jesus and his guys were leaving Jericho. The huge historical, famous city of jericho! Robin and I have been to Jericho, it is way out there in the desert. The biggest attraction, a section of the original wall that had been excavated. Just a portion of a very old wall! However, we were in an ancient city, and just touching a piece of history that old was exciting. Jericho is in the West Bank and still under Palestinian control. Driving into the town was like entering a war zone. The guard towers and barbed wire was intimidating and I noticed the hardware changed to AK47’s. Jericho, by the way, had become kind of a highly religious community back in Jesus day. Many Jewish priests and religious leaders resided there.

Leaving the town, Jesus had a crowd following him, he was now a known person. Two blind men hearing the commotion, must have guessed that this the Jesus everyone had been talking about. They didn’t want to miss their moment. They screamed out, the crowd censured or rebuked them. The men screamed louder, Jesus heard them above the crowd’s disapproval. The next few moments are brief but powerful. Jesus stopped and asked them a question. “What do you wish I would do for you?” Jesus knew who they were- beggars. And, he knew what they needed – to see again. Yet he asked them. Of course they answered back, “we want you to open our eyes.” A nice way to say, they would really like to see and not be blind anymore. Matthew writes a word that became synonymous with Jesus’ attitude emotions for those who were suffering. Jesus was moved with compassion, “splagxnízomai” – “from splanxna, ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. It was a medical term that became the way people would describe the inner turmoil of feelings – as in feeling it in their guts! Jesus felt this deep, gut-check and immediately touched their eyes. They would now become sightseers instead of blind beggars. Then the men followed Jesus.

Jesus had become known for being someone moved to this gut-checked emotion called compassion. This compassion, equally mixed with mercy, would become the picture of who God really is, contrary to the harsh, quick-to-judge religious leaders of the day. Contrary to the fake stereotypes about God, even today. What would it take for me to see people like Jesus sees them? Jesus was busy, on mission, and had very specific divine appointments directed by the Holy Spirit. Yet, when he heard these men cry out, he stopped, felt their struggles, and healed them. Can compassion be a precursor, a prerequisite to a miracle?

Prayer

Dad,
Do I see the world around me like you do? Do I take or make time to listen and be led by your Holy Spirit? Do I have compassion for those suffering around me? My own city, up and down my own streets, may not be filled with blind beggars, but they are filled with individuals who have completely spiraled down to a horrible existence. They have become almost invisible to me and there are so many of them. Help me to have compassion, mercy and maybe just enough courage and time to see them, hear them and ask what they might need.

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Scraps for the scrappy

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew sets us up with a rare treat when Jesus travels to these two Gentile areas. I say rare, because Jesus almost exclusively stayed within Jewish territories. Here, while escaping the constant harassment of the Pharisees, Jesus and his friends escape to some of the most beautiful rural scenery. It’s there that a Syro-Phoenician woman, a Canaanite, approaches Jesus.

Matthew helps us compare this woman’s “story of the one,” with the verses that follow in vs. 29-31. The seemingly forced conversation over one little Canaanite girl being healed and the multitude of healings of the Jewish people in vs. 31 – “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.”

The shocker, after the mother begged Jesus for mercy, Jesus was SILENT. One commentator wrote, “Christ silent to a sufferer’s cry is a paradox which contradicts the whole gospel story.” and, he’s right. It feels unsettling. There were protocols and mission, purpose and intention behind every action that Jesus took! Here, we get a glimpse of God’s singularity to hold true to a promise made to the people of Israel. His favored people had priority of timing and revelation of what God was doing in these few years compared to centuries of preparation. Jesus’ silence was painful for all present.

The disciples, both showing some disdain for the woman and a sense of protectiveness over Jesus, blurted out – breaking the awkwardness of the moment. Dismiss her! (a word specifically used of divorcing a marital partner) She is croaking or shrieking too loudly. Jesus finally speaks and says, “I was (apostelló) sent on a defined mission by God the Father and it is to the people of Israel.” Jesus was always ON MISSION.

The dilemma was clear. Does Jesus veer off course for one cursed and suffering mother and child? Would Jesus then have to follow her into her neighborhood, exorcise a demon and deal with all the others suffering nearby? Would there be another healing mob, all of which would be Gentiles? It wasn’t meant to be cruel, it was to express the seriousness of Jesus’ own purpose and obedience to that calling. It would seem odd to us, but Jesus, having the wisdom and urgency of God’s will over his own, knew that even one misstep could have unintended consequences.

But then the woman threw herself at his feet, worshipping and pleading saying, come, rescue me! This moved Jesus to NOT send her away just yet, but instead gave her a reason for his hesitation to get involved. He gives her an illustration of how difficult it would be to fulfill her request. Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” Even though it sounds like Jesus is calling her and her kind, dogs compared to Jewish children. It wasn’t like that at all. Jesus was comparing to the different loves in a family household: the beloved children and the beloved family pet. Both are loved! Certainly, if a choice had to be made of which one lives and which one dies of starvation, the child would take priority. The thought of a parent taking food out of the starving mouth of their child and then turn, and throw it down to the family pet would be considered a horrible act of abuse. Jesus really did a good job framing the true struggle behind his decision. First he had her pleading for mercy. Then she recognizes who he is by calling out his God-given lineage, connected to Israel’s greatest king. Then she falls at his feet worshipping him! Come on… this is very intense and real.

Ah, but then the woman says something that goes above and beyond the average person begging God for help. She basically says, “Oh, I would never be so bold to think I am worthy of taking the bread from a child’s mouth, but I don’t need the whole bread. I only need the crumbs that may fall as the bread is eaten! I’m not greedy and I know my place, my station in life. I’m just asking for the bits of crumbs that may fall.”

Jesus was obviously impressed with this woman’s faith. Jesus told her that her faith was great and her daughter was healed. God loves it when we cry out to Him. He loves it when we worship and humble ourselves before Him. But, boy oh boy, God really loves our FAITH. And that faith moves the heart of God.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, I’d really love to have the kind of faith that this woman had! And, I believe that a mother’s prayer, a mom’s request, has got to be the most powerful kind of prayers! Thank you God for momma’s and their faith.

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What Jesus saw.

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God! But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.” Luke‬ ‭13:10-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. He sees a woman walking, bent over, making her way through the people. She was there to listen to the word of God on the Sabbath as well. Doctor Luke, extraordinarily writes a diagnosis IN the storyline. The woman was crippled, not from a physical cause, nor from some genetic disposition, but from an evil spirit who had wormed their way in to torture her EVERYDAY for 18 years. She had not stood up straight because of a demon messing with her for all this time – who knew? Jesus did. Jesus sees this stuff. No one else saw it. Get this, this gal was most likely a regular at the synagogue! Wait, I thought demons couldn’t stand being in church, being around the reading of God’s word? Well this one did and he had been getting away with it for a very long time.

Think about something terrible that happened 18 years ago. A broken bone that never healed. An abuse or attack on your body that no one ever knew about. You’ve carried it, bent over in soul and spirit, You’ve got a noticeable, physical limp. Or, even deep emotional limp that people can’t see. You go about your life, secretly carrying this ailment, but no one even knows about it. Jesus does. Jesus sees stuff we don’t! Jesus notices a limp, a broken heart, a damaged soul. We look around and see a woman bent over, struggling and feel pity, maybe even nicknaming her, “there’s ol’ doubled-over-Donna,” or something similar.

Jesus saw her and called her over. He made her hobble over to himself. Jesus did not want this to be a quiet, don’t draw attention to her moment. She had to shuffle over to him! No one knew the cause of her problem, they didn’t need to. Jesus, gently speaks to her and tells her she is healed of her sickness. Jesus uses this word, apoluó, release (discharge). Like Jesus was setting her free. Interestingly enough, this word is normally used in a DIVORCE context! It’s like Jesus told her and the evil spirit, “I am pronouncing a divorce from this demon! Take a hike, split, un-cleave, leave and never return – demon! Then he touched her and immediately she stood up straight.

Would you show up to church if this was going on in the service? What if you’d been tormented by physical or spiritual harassment? I’d go for that.

The synagogue leader was furious and said the wildest thing ever, “I don’t want anyone coming in here on the Sabbath to “work” a healing. You can come any of the other six days, but this day is so holy, God doesn’t want to stoop down to take time on HIS day off!” This religious guy is WHACK! The synagogue is for the sick and the healthy. And, the gathering of God’s people, the Church, is the perfect and appropriate place for the broken and the well! We should not only see hurting people as Jesus sees them, we should call them over and speak DISCHARGE from spirits or physical ailments dragging them down and holding them hostage.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow. We’ve really drifted off your ways. Our gatherings, our church services don’t even have time to really SEE people. We could have a doubled-over Donna in our church and just barely have pity, let alone have the faith to release them from their pain and tortured life. Help us God! Help us to get back to seeing things as you see them. And give us faith to make them look more like heaven than earth. The Kingdom of God is here, we should act like it.

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Who rudely interrupts a funeral and tells a widow to stop crying?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke‬ ‭7:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​How rude for Jesus to tell this grieving widow – WIDOW, “don’t cry.” Does Jesus not have an awareness of what she has lost, what she has been through. And who is he to tell her what she can or can’t do with her feelings. Jesus must have been displaying some kind of patriarchal control over this woman and she shouldn’t put up with it. Did he not have any respect for her journey, or her present situation? I’m surprised that one of the women, if not the widow herself, didn’t stop the well-intentioned Rabbi and say, “excuse me, you don’t know me or my boy. Who are you to tell me not to cry?”

Oh, that’s not how you read the story? This is where we find ourselves today with an over-inflated sense of self and a misperception of gender identity and interactions.

Luke writes that Jesus was in fact OVERFULL with compassion. The scene, the circumstances and the grief of this woman and friends surrounding her were loaded with deep emotion. If Jesus did not know what was going to happen next or did not have the power to change the direction of the procession coming out to bury this young man – it might have seemed very rude to tell a grieving widow, “don’t cry.”

Also, my curious brain wants to know, did Jesus have full access to his real nature, being fully God to the point that he knew the beginning and the end of every person in the funeral procession? Or did he self-limit that knowledge and in his fully human capacity depend completely on the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to the dead and tell it to get up?

Jesus really took a risk as well. Luke says he touched the “soros”, the open coffin! There are rules about touching dead things or even being around them. What exactly are the rules for having contact with the resurrected dead?

When I was a new believer I worked for a flower shop and delivered flowers all over town. One my duties was to deliver flowers to funerals. I was told it was my responsibility to pin a boutonniere on the deceased while he lay in the coffin. As a teenager, I didn’t want to see or be around a dead body. It seemed super creepy. The funeral was held in our local senior citizen community called “Leisure World.” Yeah I thought it was a strange euphemism for old people housing as well. When I arrived early at the church to deliver the flowers and fulfill my delivery boy duties, I had this overwhelming sense of spiritual curiosity. I kept thinking, “What would happen if I walked up to the casket and commanded the man to get up?” I was new to Christianity and hadn’t been told I couldn’t or wasn’t supposed to think like that or certainly DO something crazy like that either. Granted, I was NOT moved by compassion. I was moved by a new believer’s curiosity. I have talked with a few Pastors who have had similar experiences asking, “what if” or “should I?”

Do you wonder about such things? When you see grief, or suffering. When you see torment and oppression. Do you feel something rise up within you and to want to say, “get up, be healed or get out to a demon?” Okay, maybe not. Maybe it’s just me. Ok, one more question. Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if believers DID the things Jesus did? Raising the dead, healing the sick, kicking demons back to hell?

I’ve buried children in little caskets. I’ve walked the childrens’ hospitals hallways. I’ve driven down Main St in Santa Ana and seen demonic possession. I wonder, if not out of compassion, but even out of frustration, if I’ll ACT on those thoughts and DO what Jesus did – raise, heal, deliver.

You know what, it’s not that I don’t believe it could be possible. It’s that I believe I’ll look so foolish if it fails, feeling like I FAILED.

Where did Jesus get the cojones to do such things? Yeah, it’s so sunday-school just to say, “God.” Because, God wants us to live in this world and BE like Jesus to the grieving, sick, even possessed! But I don’t. We don’t. What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with us?

PRAYER:

Dad,
How do I get my life, my behaviors, my actions to truly reflect what I believe? I see the pain in my city, in my neighbors, but I just don’t think I’m enough. I’ve got my own sins, my own struggles and I hate looking stupid as well. Clearly, I’m missing something. Can you help me figure this out?

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Healing a soul is far more difficult

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus,” Luke‬ ‭5:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Any day the experts and critics show up for you to speak is a good day to really focus on your mission. Luke tells us that all these people just “show up” and hangout nearby. THEY’RE thinking, “keep your enemies closer.” Thankfully God’s power was there for healing. And funny enough, the word Luke uses for healing, iaomai, is generally used for physical healing, but it is also used for spiritual healing. Interesting, right?

All the planning by these men was to get a friend to Jesus because he was paralyzed. All the clamor to climb up and crash through the roof was these friends wanting this man to experience a full life on two legs that worked. All that work, all that commotion for what?

Luke says that Jesus took one look at the paralyzed man as well as the generous amount of faith from the man’s friends. But then, Jesus must have caught the look in the religious’ folks eyes. And in that moment Jesus decided to direct God’s power into healing this man’s soul – he forgave him of his sins!

I am positive that Jesus had to hold back his joyous reaction to the shocked look on EVERYONE’S face!

The man who was healed must have heaved in relief from whatever he had been secretly carrying. The friends must have experienced a flood of feelings. Maybe they knew the man’s past. For sure they didn’t see anything like that coming. And oh, the looks on the faces of the Pharisees – PRICELESS.

The experts quickly ask the perfect question, “who does he think he is?” Then they answer their own question without realizing it. “Only God can forgive sin.” Yep, Jesus doesn’t think he’s God, he knows he’s God.

What a Jesus thing to do! He wanted to deal with the man’s soul first (which is much harder than healing a couple of legs). It is so EASY for God to physically heal a body, because he created our bodies from dirt! But getting us to cough up our sin, to turn from our selfish, arrogant independence and run to truth and into the Father’s arms – that is incredibly difficult.

Jesus woo’d a soul out of darkness and gave him a glimpse of the freedom as his sin was lifted, taken from him. Young man you are forgiven.

The religious grumbled at the invisible, but palpable power of authority Jesus commanded in that room. Jesus spoke their thoughts out loud. Then in the next moment answered everyone’s prayer. Stand up, you are healed. The paralyzed man was happy, his friends happy, the crowd watching were pumped. And the religious, well they also were happy because they got the proof they needed to put Jesus to death – Jesus claimed to be God.

PRAYER:

Dad,
Wow. What a day that was. What a moment of beauty. What an amazing story of clarity of mission. Jesus came to save the sinner, to heal the sick and broken, to show us who you are and your great love and mercy towards us. What will life be like without sin? What will this renewed, recreated Earth be like without the curse upon it? What will heaven be like with no adversary, no lies, no deceit? I can only imagine.