THE HEALING TOUCH OF JESUS by George Crumbly
Matthew 12:10-13
June 9, 2002 Sunday AM
Sheridan Arkansas
I am so glad to be a part of a church that believes in healing. Not only do we believe in healing but also we practice it. The bible speaks of healing. Jesus was a healing savior. Jesus wants to help you today. I pray all week for the Lord to be in our service come Sunday, so I believe that He is here in our midst and that He wants to meet needs today. No matter what is going on in your life today, Jesus wants to help you.
The text today takes us to a man with a withered hand; the scripture doesn’t speak anything of his background.
(William Barclay tells of secular history that this man was a carpenter therefore he made his living with his hands. He asked Jesus to heal his hand so he could use it in his trade and he wouldn’t have to beg for food in shame)
Jesus used this event to prove His Messiahship. To prove that He was greater than religion.
Matthew 12: verses 10-13
The religious people wanted to trap Jesus because He was going to heal this man on the Sabbath. Jesus as His custom was would go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. There was discord & disputes going on here, Satan was using this to keep Jesus from doing what he needed to do. As I studied this there were 2 things I saw here:
1.) Jesus was worshipping on the Sabbath. He was where He belonged on the Sabbath. Are we where we belong on the Lord’s day.
2.) Conflict and discord could not cause the savior to forsake the Lord’s house. Our first obligation is to love and to worship the Lord with all of our might.
Jesus confronted this man in the synagogue. Jesus sensed his dependency on God, evidently Doctors were not able to help this man with his withered hand.
NOTE: This withered hand must have been ugly & very noticeable. It must have kept him from supporting himself financially.
STUDY NOTES:
1.) A physical handicap does not keep a person from being strong. A person can be handicapped and still be wonderfully strong. He can be strong spiritually and strong mentally, strong in confidence, strong in assurance, strong in a sense of God’s presence and strong in a sense of purpose and meaning. This man with the withered hand evidently knew God’s strength, yet he had a need.
2.) A physical handicap can be greatly used by God - greatly so. God uses handicaps to:
- demonstrate great faith
- to set a vibrant example of trust before loved ones, neighbors and aquaintanences
- to be a dynamic testimony of God’s saving grace
- to cause a persons own salvation
- to draw a person ever so close to God in a very, very special way
(I pastored a man years ago that was in a wheel chair. He was injured in a diving accident when he was 14 years old. He went home that day with a sore neck but when he finally went to the doctor he became paralyzed. He was very limited as to what he could do. He set in every service Sunday morning, Sunday evening & Wednesdays you would always see him sitting in the middle isle always, I mean always with a great big smile on his face. If you came to church in the middle of a "pity-party" for self, when you got to church & shook his hand he would encourage you.)
I believe that when God moved us along to another ministry we missed this man the most.
This text today emphasises more than the religious people confronting Jesus but the fact that this man had a need and Jesus was about to meet it. I pray every day that God would be in each & every service. As He comes, He comes to meet needs. He touches lives in every service in different ways.
This man came to Jesus with a need. his withered hand was keeping him from functioning as he would like to or as he knew to. This was a wonderful opportunity to further the Gospel of Christ. People in this world today are spiritually sick, they need a touch, a cleansing healing touch from the Master Himself.
Today, there may be an issue, a worry, a hurt or heartache in your life that can be considered a "withered hand" in your life. It maybe keeping you from being what the Lord would have you to be. With all of the opposition Jesus still came thru to help this man with his need. THe one thing we can count on today? Jesus.
Verse 13
Jesus commanded this man "Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth." In order to be healed this man had to put forth an effort.
(Luke 5:24b) "I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
(Luke 17:14b) "And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
A.) Before Peter could catch any fish he had to put down the nets in the deep - He had to put
forth an EFFORT.
B.) Before the man with palsy could be healed, he had to pick up his bed & walk - He had to put
forth an EFFORT.
C.) Before the lepers could be healed they had to go & show the priests - they had to put forth an
EFFORT.
Before we can receive the water of salvation we must go to the well.
Jesus demanded effeort & this man had to be obedient to whatever Christ wanted him to do.
"........And it was restored whole, like as the other."
Maybe today you are sitting here with something in your life that has become"withered", some-thing that is keeping you from being everything that God intends for you to be. Jesus comes today to restore to make whole. Maybe all we need to do is "stretch forth thine hand." Jesus is here today to meet your need. Don’t settle for half way - BE EVERYTHING God intends for you to be.
