Jesus: The Healer
“Every one of us knows one of the saddest experiences in life is that of loneliness. Or abandonment. Or loss.” – Tony Walliser
Read Luke 5:12-16
Jesus: The Healer
When you hear the word “leprosy,” what comes to mind? Most of us have never encountered a leper personally, but we’ve heard they’re treated as outcasts, generally regarded as not good to be around. As a result, in most societies their lives are physically hopeless, socially isolated, and religiously unclean. Can you imagine what that must be like?
To a small extent, most of us experienced what isolation is like during the height of the COVID pandemic. We were told to stay home. If we ventured out, we had to wear masks and be “socially distanced.” If we forgot our masks, people would steer clear and look at us as if we were carrying some dreaded plague. Many people with serious cases of COVID became hospitalized with visitors not allowed. Terribly sick and extremely alone, thousands died in despair.
One of the things that stands out in the story about Jesus encountering the leper is that unlike everyone else, the Lord did not avoid this person. He reached out and touched him – perhaps the first human touch the leper had experienced in a very long time – and spoke to him with love and compassion. Then, in response to the request, “Lord, if you are willing, make me clean,” Jesus healed him. Can you imagine what that was like?
Chances are, none of us will contract leprosy and become social undesirables. However, we all are victims of what we might term “spiritual leprosy,” a condition that defiles just as severely as the physical form. The Bible calls it SIN. And like the leper who approached Jesus, we cannot cure ourselves as spiritual lepers. Only Jesus can do that.
What’s required on our part? Only one thing: Faith. The leper in the biblical account had faith, declaring, “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean.” He believed Jesus could heal him – if He was willing.
Jesus was willing and healed the leper, transforming him into a new person. He’s also willing to do that now – to raise us from our spiritual sickbed and heal us of our disease, as Psalm 41:3 tells us. All it requires of us is faith – simple, uncomplicated trust that the Lord is greater than any nagging sins we’re dealing with. He not only offers us spiritual healing, forgiving our sins once and for all, but also a transformed life. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we’re told, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Have you experienced that? If not, all you have to do is ask in faith, believing the Lord can do it.
Perhaps you have asked Jesus to come into your life but find yourself continuing to struggle in certain areas. Remember the spiritual life is a journey, not a destination. In Philippians 1:6 we read the encouraging words, “being confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God’s saving grace is only the start. His desire is that every day we will look more like Jesus than we did the day before. He’s with us in our struggles and at work enabling us to overcome them.
One last thing: If you rejoice in what the Lord has done and is doing in your life, tell someone about it. After the leper was healed, Jesus instructed him to tell no one other than the priest. But before long, everyone had heard about the miraculous healing. Because good news can’t be contained – it needs to be shared!