The Touch of Jesus

 February 23, 2024

Friday

   “While He was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And He reached out with His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately the leprosy left him. And He ordered him to tell no one, saying, “But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, just as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.” (Luke 5:12–15, NASB 2020)  

Can you imagine having a disease so insidious that it meant that you could have no social interaction with family and friends? This disease was such that you couldn't worship with others as it slowly ate away at your body. This was the case of leprosy during the first century.

Maybe you don't have leprosy but you are in deep need of healing. You have had hurts that are covering you. Maybe new hurts are made frequently. It could be a husband that beats you or a boss that bullies you. It could be a wife who berates you or a child who will not let you parent.

Maybe you have lost someone whom you loved with all your heart. The hole that is left is reopened each time you see something that belonged to that person. The hurt continues because you can't make this person come back.

Maybe you keep these hurts close to your vest. You don't tell other people. You needed to break off relationships because you are afraid they will discover your hurts when you are supposed to be the Christian that has everything going for yourself. You need to be healed but you don't know where to go. There is no healing for what you have.

Like I said, you probably don't have leprosy but doesn't what you have feel like it just a little? Take the steps you need.

This man with leprosy sees Jesus. This is the first step. You need to see Him. He cannot be the person you only learned about in Sunday School. He has to be present right in front of you. You must see Him in all that He is. You must know that He can heal you.

The man humbles himself before Jesus for he fell down begging. When you are desperate you will fall down begging. You will humble yourself. This man's disease knew no cure. He was covered with it. Humility is at the heart of answered prayer.

The man makes no demands. He offers a simple statement. "If You are willing, You can make me clean." Many translations say he asked for healing. He did, but the word also means to be made clean. Maybe I am stretching a point but I believe there is no accident in this word having two meanings. There is a difference between being healed and going back to what you were doing and being cleansed. The cleansing created the healing. 

Of course, Jesus could see the leprosy with His eyes but Jesus sees more that with His eyes. He sees the hurt on the inside. Jesus healed other people without touching them. Jesus touches a man who could not be touched. If a holy man touched one with leprosy, he became unholy. But Jesus is more than a holy man. He is God. God cannot be made unholy so that the unholiness was forced to leave the man. The man needed to be touched to be healed from his leprosy and to be healed from his hurt.

Maybe you need to be touched by Jesus. Today you cry out that you want healing from your hurt and you want to be touched by Jesus.

And He does.

Jesus wanted the man to be declared clean by the priests and to make an offering for his healing. It wouldn't be that only Jesus knew that the man was healed. It wouldn't  be that just those watching would know that the man was healed. The world knows this man was healed. There was evidence.

The joy of being healed should never be kept to yourself.

Years ago, I led a prayer meeting in which a lady named Margaret said she had a tumor behind her eye which would require surgery. She was probably going to lose sight in that eye. We laid hands on her and prayed that she would be healed.

The next prayer meeting Margaret took over. She had gone to the doctor to get an MRI right before the surgery. The tumor was gone! You cannot imagine the joy and the exuberance this lady had in telling us of the power of the Lord. She was healed and she knew who healed her.

I said to someone the next day, "Wow, Margaret was telling everyone of her healing. She really took over last night."

That person replied, "You should have seen her at Krogers!"

If you are healed, tell somebody! It really is part of the healing.

This week's sermon: https://prentis.podbean.com/e/prayer-for-a-nation/