Healing

Matthew 8: 1 - 4

 ¹ When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. ² A man with leprosy^[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

 ³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. ⁴ Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%208:%201%20-%204&version=NIV)

Actions of Jesus

Jesus was coming down from the mountainside where He had just spoken to a multitude of people regarding how they should live their lives.  Can you picture it?  Crowds of people were around Him, He had just spoken to this multitude, and now someone is asking Him for healing.  I have had pastors say to me that after they preach they are totally exhausted, that preaching takes something out of them.  Some have said that they don’t even want to interact with others after preaching.  They have said it is hard for them to concentrate on what someone is saying to them because they are tired from preaching.   When I presented to large groups on educational matters for an entire day, I would become tired by the end of the day and I had to exert additional energy to listen to and answer questions of participants, so I kind of understand a pastors dilemma on this matter yet if you look at Jesus example, you see that He made the time to listen and care for His flock.  You don’t hear Him saying, “Come back later”, but rather He is willing to reach out His hand and touch an unclean body and cleanse this man.  I am not condemning pastors but rather trying to illustrate how this action came from One who is All powerful, All knowing, One that extends past this human body.  This was an act of our Heavenly Father.  Yet, it is also an example to all of us that when we exert the power of God over our own human power nothing is impossible. 

The Man’s Request

Now, let’s look at this man’s request, “If you are willing”.  This man wants more than anything to be healed.  Living a life with leprosy caused him to be disjointed from society, even his family and friends.  He had to live away, outside the city, he was quarantined.  Yet even at that he tells Jesus that he only want healed if it is the Lord’s will.  That is sometimes hard for us to say, rather we question why our request are not fulfilled.  This man was willing to live a life that was unclean but Jesus made Him clean.  I think it is important to note that at his healing, this was not a final action but only the beginning for this man.  Let’s take a look at what this healing really meant, was it merely a physical healing or were there spiritual implications to this healing?

The Man’s Actions

First of all he recognized Jesus as Lord.  Secondly, he then asked to be made clean.  Thirdly, he took action. This cleansing was not just of physical nature but of a spiritual nature.  I believe this to be true because Jesus tells him to go to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded.  Although the scripture does not tell us that he did this, it implies that he did by they way he requested the healing, “If it is your will”.  You can read about the gifts and the process in Leviticus 14: 1 – 32 and I would encourage you to do so.  There was a ceremonial process that had to be completed once he went to the priest but he couldn’t even go to the priest without first being healed of the disease.  In that process there was a sacrifice for both guilt and sin that this man needed to provide to the priest for complete restoration. 

How does this all relate to us in our society?  Have you ever asked for healing for yourself or someone else?  Have you ever been healed?  So many times I believe we get so caught up in how we feel, that we forget the teachings of our Heavenly Father.  We may hear that we need to love God with all our hearts and love our neighbor as ourselves. We may hear that we need to turn the other cheek, to not judge others, or that we should not worry and the list goes on.  But as soon as we hear the message we step outside the doors and do not take action.  Instead we say, “Lord, if only you will heal me, I will do all these things” for I don’t have patience with others because I feel bad, and I can’t help but worry because of my prognosis but if you will heal me, I will not worry and I will love others.”  Or, we may say, “It will be so much easier to proclaim you to the nations if you but heal me Lord”.  We tend to forget that healing begins when we recognize that all power comes from the will of God.  The man said, “Lord, if you are willing” he wasn’t talking about the willingness to heal his physical ailments he was saying, Lord if you are willing to forgive me.  Jesus said, yes, He was willing and to go and be forgiven and join back into the fellowship of believers. 

What are you asking to be healed from today?  Are you needing physical healing or spiritual healing?  In this man’s case, he had to be physically healed before he could experience the spiritual healing as Jesus had not yet fulfilled His purpose on this earth.  Today in our society we need first and foremost the spiritual healing for Jesus is our high priest.  We don’t need to be free from a disease to come to Him like the man in the scriptures.  We no longer have to avoid the priest before we are free from our disease, we no longer have to bring gifts and sacrifices in order to be restored to His fellowship because He paid the ultimate sacrifice for us.  Hebrews 4: 14 – 16 ¹⁴ “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,^[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%204:%2014%20-16&version=NIV)

Our Actions

We can approach His throne with confidence if we know Him.  We need to approach it to receive mercy, something we don’t deserve be we get it anyway.  We need to approach His throne to find grace, which is kindness and favor.  If we don’t have confidence to receive mercy and grace then we have not been cleansed by the blood of the lamb.  Take action today, if you don’t have this confidence, go to Him and confess that you know that He is LORD, that you recognize that He is the Savior of all, confess that you have been guilty unbelief and ask Him to forgive you so that you can have the confidence to approach His throne and receive mercy and grace.  Once you have received this mercy and grace you are now healed spiritually.  The leper had to be healed physically before he could be healed spiritually.  What is more important, physical healing or spiritual healing?  If you think that God can not heal, that praying to Him will not make you or someone you love whole, then you have not experienced the spiritual healing of the Lord and Savior. 

My Prayer

I pray today that if anyone reading this does not know of your spiritual healing that they would seek you Lord, that they would learn of your grace and mercy and they would know of the freedom of your love and your forgiveness.  I pray Lord that anyone who reads these words and does not know of this spiritual healing that you would speak to them today, I pray that they will sense your willingness to forgive and give peace and that they would be willing to heed your call and come to you.  In the precious and most holy name of Jesus I pray, AMEN.

Conclusion

Seek Him today, seek the Spiritual healing that only He can provide.  Physical ailments, although painful and limiting in nature no longer limit us from receiving the precious gift of our Lord.  Spiritual ailments keep us from Him, so ask Him today to heal you spiritually and through that healing the limitations of our physical needs will dim in His glory.

Seeking Him with all my heart,

Sheila