JESUS HAD COME TO HEAL AND TO PREACH
Mark 1:29-39
"When Cabesa DeVaca wrote about his trip from Texas to the Pacific during 1530 to 1536, he described how the Indians insisted that he and his companion cure their sick. The Indians believed them to be gods, so they had to try. "We had to heal them or die, so we prayed for strength," DeVaca wrote. They were astonished, after laying their hands on and blessing the sick, that the people were actually healed. "We thought we had given way to doctors and priests our ability to heal. But here it was, still in our possession. … We were more than we thought we were". (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 56). That last sentence reminds me of Romans 8:37: "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (NKJV). With God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). The fact that Jesus came to us as God in human flesh helps us to understand how nothing is impossible with God.
People often insisted that Jesus could heal their sick loved ones. The miracle story about Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law is followed by episodes of how Jesus healed many with various diseases and cast out demons. Although Jesus had the power and the authority to heal people, the purpose of His ministry was not for healing only: "Let us got to the next towns, that I may preach also; for that is why I came out" (Mark 1:38 RSV). Jesus came to heal brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, give recovery of sight to the blind and to set at liberty those that are bruised (Luke 4:18). Jesus had come to heal as well as preach.
JESUS HAS A HEALING TOUCH
Jesus had left the synagogue with His disciples and went to Peter’s house. It was after they arrived that Peter’s mother-in-law was found sick in bed with a high fever. Jesus then went and took her by the hand and healed her as He lifted her up (Mark 1:31). Her fever was one which involved a rise in body temperature. For some people, the fever is despair and discouragement that gets them down. But, Jesus is still in the miracle business and still lifts people up and heals them. Sometimes the fevers that Jesus heals are actual fevers and sicknesses. There are other times when Jesus heals our "fevers of circumstance".
Jesus lifted up the spirit of a discouraged preacher who retired early because of what happened to him. "In the Pentecostal Evangel church leader George U. Wood writes:
"Have you ever heard a healing take place? I have. I listened to an audiotape of Duane Miller teaching his Sunday school class from the text of Psalm 103 at the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on January 17, 1993. Duane prematurely retired from pastoring three years earlier because of a virus which penetrated the myelin sheath around the nerves in his vocal cords, reducing his speech to a raspy whisper....
"Teaching his class that day with a special microphone resting on his lips,he reaffirmed his belief in divine healing and that miracles had not ended with the Book of Acts. Listening to the tape, at times you can barely understand his weakly spoken wheezy words of faith. The miracle happened at verse 4 when he said, "I have had and you have had in times past pit experiences."
"On the word pit his life changed—the word was as clear as a bell, in contrast to the imperfect enunciation of the preceding "word past. He paused, startled; began again and stopped. He said a few more words—all in a normal clear tone—and stopped again. The class erupted with shouts of joy, astonishment and sounds of weeping. God completely healed him as he was declaring the truth in this psalm. (You can read the full account in Miller’s book Out of the Silence, Nelson Publishers.)". (Craig Brian Larson. Choice Contemporary Stories & Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998, p. 116). If there is anything that this story tells us it is this, never underestimate what God can do! It was the healing touch of Jesus that gave Rev. Duane Miller the full range of his voice again!
JESUS HEALS US FOR A PURPOSE
Jesus heals us from what hinders our serving Him. As someone has said, "… the reaction of Peter’s mother-in-law suggests healing is necessary in many situations before a person can serve the Lord". (Richard Carl Hoefler. There Are Demons In The Sea: Background On The Miracles. Lima: C. S. S. Publishing Company Inc., 1978, p. 44). For that reason there are people that need to have their "fevers" cured before they can serve the Lord because the "fever" is what renders them too sick to serve. The fevers that Jesus cures can be actual fevers or sickness as well as "fevers of circumstance" such as some sort of "hang-up". It is also possible for people to "… use sickness as a means of escaping responsibilities" (Heofler, p. 44). How many kids have tried to fake being sick because of their procrastination in their homework or not studying for a test or being adequately prepared for some kind of report that was due? How many adults have called in sick to avoid something at work that they did not want to face the next day? The reason that we call something a hang-up is because of what it does to the one it holds captive, it literally hangs him or her up from making any progress from where they ought to be in life. It also hangs him or her up in his or her ability to serve the Lord.
Jesus heals us so that we can serve Him. Jesus heals us and saves us so that we might serve Him and expand God’s kingdom here on earth. John Wesley had a rule for serving the Lord. It went like this…
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.
Jesus heals us so that we "can" do all of these things. Peter’s mother-in-law ministered unto them and served them as the fever left her immediately (Mark 1:31). When Jesus witnessed to the woman caught in adultery (John 8) and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), He healed them of their guilt and forgave them of their sin so that they experienced salvation and were freed to serve.
JESUS TOUCHES OTHERS THROUGH OUR SERVICE
We touch others when we do things "for the least of these". Jesus talked about providing food and drink for the hungry and thirsty, showing hospitality to strangers, giving clothes to those who had none, visiting the sick and those that were in prison (Matthew 25:35-36). We will often find that in ministering to others by our deeds, we might open them up to where they receive the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We cannot and will not touch others when we "pass by on the other side" of their difficulties as did the priest and the Levite in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37).
We touch others through our service to Jesus Christ when we show them compassion. It has been said that "Compassion is your pain in my heart". There is the story of a patient who was emotionally and verbally unresponsive. All of the usual nurses did not like this old woman and would pass her on to the newest nurse. [They were passing by on the other side.] The latest “new nurse” spent a whole day rocking beside this lady. On the third day this woman opened her eyes, and said, “You’re so kind.” The nurse’s decision to demonstrate unlimited love paid off. Two weeks later that lady was well enough to leave the convalescent center to go home. (Herb Miller. Actions Speak Louder Than Verbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989, p. 69). Madame de Stael once wrote, “We cease to love ourselves if no one loves us” (Portrait des femmes). There are others who will never know how much God loves them until they see that the love that we have for them is rooted in God’s love. We love others because God first showed us His love (First John 4:18). Like the lady from the convalescent home there are people that will never heal until they know that they are loved.
We (my family --- my parents and myself, back in 1987) had gone out to eat at Jackson’s after my father got through with preaching and worship on Sunday morning’s worship service. Jackson’s Cafeteria (in Fort Mill, SC) was one our favorite places. Like all good places to eat on Sunday afternoon, there was a line. All of a sudden out of nowhere I felt sad and I did not know why. Behind us was a lady who appeared to be alone. God’s Spirit called her presence to my attention. She seemed to be weeping. I did not know this woman. I had never met her before. But, I felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to say something. At first I was reluctant, thinking what will I say to someone I do not know. It was then that the Holy Spirit brought to my attention the verse of scripture from Matthew 10:19 that talks about how God will give us the words that we need when we are in danger of being persecuted. It was as if they Holy Spirit were saying that to me that God also gives us the words of encouragement that we need when we are speaking to someone who is hurting if we will allow Him to. So I responded to this compulsion and broke the ice by talking about the weather. Talking about the weather is always a good way to start a conversation with anyone to break the ice in an odd moment. All of a sudden this woman shocked the fire out of me when she said, “I know that God put it upon your heart to speak to me”. I did not ask what was making her sad. She simply volunteered the information freely. She said, “Before you spoke to me, I was fixing to just leave and go back home. You see, I am divorced. And the thought of eating alone was becoming overwhelming for me. I know that God put upon your heart to speak to me. And because you did, God has reminded once again that He is with me.” God had used me that day to reach out and touch someone who was hurting. It scares me to death and amazes me when God uses me like that. But, at the same time that is the way God uses us. God wants us to know that nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:39).
