This Covid-19 pandemic has caused us all to be hypersensitive to germs. We avoid contact with each other. We avoid gathering together. And some of us even avoid leaving our homes because we fear getting this illness. The problem with illness is that we do not know who is contagious. So, we try to avoid everyone. That is not what Jesus did though. Jesus didn’t avoid contact with those who were hurting. And He also didn’t avoid those who were contagious. Instead, He was healing with love.
In Luke, we see a perfect example of how Jesus was healing with love.
“While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.” Luke 5:12-13.
This man had one of the worst and most feared diseases of that day. People diagnosed with Leprosy were outcasts. They then had to leave their homes. And, because of how contagious they were, they could not be in contact with their families. These people were both highly contagious and ceremonially unclean. As a leper approached an Israelite, he cried out “unclean, unclean”. The Israelite would then be able to avoid him. “The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Leviticus 13:45-46.
Anyone with Leprosy would have to live alone, outside the village. And no one would touch them. No one dared get close enough to carry on conversations for fear of being unclean and getting the disease. Due to this illness, the loneliness and longing for human touch they experienced must have been overwhelming. It must have been just heartbreaking.
But Jesus didn’t worry about the man’s uncleanness. And Jesus didn’t worry about catching the disease.
Jesus knew what the man needed because He could see the man’s heart. And because He could see his heart, he knew that the man was infected with two contagious diseases. This man was infected with leprosy and he was infected with sin.
He needed healing. But not just healing from leprosy, which Jesus did. He needed healing from the spiritual disease of sin too. He also needed emotional healing. The man’s faith allowed Jesus to heal Him with love and forgiveness.
The leprous man fell with his face to the ground. His bowing down to Jesus showed that He recognized who Jesus was. Then he asked Jesus to heal him, revealing the magnitude of his faith. As a result, Jesus touched the man and he was healed. This exhibited the depth of Jesus’s love. That love then produced healing. Not just physical healing, but emotional and spiritual healing as well.
Jesus knows the hurts and wounds in our lives. Whether those hurts and wounds are evident as the lepers were, or they are buried deep. They may even be hurts and wounds that others do not realize are there. But Jesus wants to heal them all. He wants to heal them in each and every one of our lives.
There are people in our lives that are longing for healing — people just like that leper who are hurting and broken. And just like that leper, they require a healing touch from our Savior. But you and I are that touch for the emotional and spiritual leper in our lives.
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Matthew 22:37-39. This is a command — a command that Jesus asks us to live out. Then (when we are living it out), He is healing with love, through us!
When we minister to and show others love, (through us) Jesus is healing with love.
Father, we praise you that you are a healer. You proved it when you healed the wounds and hurts in each of the lives of your sons and daughters (those who follow Jesus). And we praise you. Father, we thank you for desiring to heal those around us. And we thank you that you chose to use us to do it. Help us to love our neighbor as ourselves and to desire to minister to them. Through us, keep healing with love, Father. Help us to bring them the gospel. Make us bold for you. And, through that boldness, heal in a mighty way, Lord. And then bring about a great revival! We pray this in your precious and holy name, Jesus. Amen.
Do you have deep wounds and hurts that need healing? Are they wounds and hurts that you think can never be healed? Jesus is the great healer. He can heal you and longs to do it. That healing begins with a simple prayer of repentance. There is a prayer of repentance outlined on our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/). Please pray that prayer (or one similar). And once you have, please reach out to me and let me know. I’d love to be in prayer with and for you.
Luv Ya!
