Luke 6:17-19 (CEV)
17 Jesus and his apostles went down from the mountain and came to some flat, level ground. Many other disciples were there to meet him. Large crowds of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon were there too. 18 These people had come to listen to Jesus and to be healed of their diseases. All who were troubled by evil spirits were also healed. 19 Everyone was trying to touch Jesus, because power was going out from him and healing them all.
Power That Heals Them All
I have kids, which means that over the years I have spent a fair number of hours sitting in walk-in clinics and emergency rooms with children struggling to breathe or injured from the latest sport of choice. You know when you go that some things can be fixed and some things cannot. The bacterial infection will hopefully respond to antibiotics, but the virus is simply going to have to run its course. A broken bone can be set, and is usually fine within a few weeks, but a sprain or ligament damage may take months to recover from. You still go. You want there to be a way for it to be fixed. But you know when you turn up that it’s not always that simple.
The people who gathered around Jesus on this particular morning had come with all sorts of illnesses and injuries – some were even plagued with evil spirits. There’s lots of chaos and lots of commotion – you can almost feel the jostling and the press of the crowd towards Jesus. When they showed up this morning, they want to be healed, or want their loved one to be healed, but they don’t come with any guarantee of it.
Then a change comes over them as they see that this man has the power to heal every single one of them.
He doesn’t distinguish between physical illness and evil spirits.
He doesn’t distinguish between accident and infection.
He’s got people from all over this northern region of Galilee – likely including a number of people who aren’t even Jews – yet he doesn’t distinguish between locals and out-of-towners or between Jews and Gentiles.
It doesn’t seem to matter that some are pushed in super close or that others aren’t able to quite reach. The power that came from the time he spent with God is so great that it is passed on to everyone.
I love that none of them are excluded.
I love that there is no qualification test for healing.
No one is sitting there with a clipboard asking for a full medical history before deciding that this person has a right to be submitted before Jesus for healing.
No one is asking detailed background questions about their sexuality, their gender, their race, their occupation, their income or any other metric before separating the ‘worthy’ from the ‘unworthy’.
No.
The power goes out from Jesus and heals them all.Journal Questions:
- Imagine you’re there on that hill before Jesus.
- What are you hoping to be healed from today?
- What do you think might disqualify you from or make it impossible to experience healing?
- What do you take from this account of Jesus healing them all?
