The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of November 16
They had come to hear him and be healed of their diseases; and those troubled by evil spirits were healed. Everyone tried to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and he healed everyone. (Luke 6:18-19)
The people came to be healed of their physical and mental illnesses by Jesus’ touch, but we can assume many of those who came that day were also healed by His words and His mere presence as well. In the verses immediately following these, Jesus turned toward the crowd and spoke what we now know as the beatitudes – a series of statements that turn the traditional thinking of the day on its head. “Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the grieving, the outcasts,” Jesus said, “for the Kingdom of God is yours.”
What a healing balm these words must have been for the people who sat at Jesus’ feet. What hope He offered, not only to those who needed physical healing, but to those who were spiritually weary, suffering from the effects of poverty, grieving or without hope. Jesus performed miracles of physical healing, to be sure, but His words and presence healed hearts and spirits as well.
We, too, carry physical, mental and spiritual wounds, and we, too, look to Jesus for our healing. His touch comes to us in a doctor’s or a nurse’s healing hands or in a friend’s or loved one’s comforting touch. His words come to us in Scripture, as well as in the encouraging note we receive from a neighbor, in the kind words we hear from a stranger and even in the quiet of a friend who listens with compassion and empathy.
Jesus is not present to us in His physical form as He was to His followers 2,000 years ago, but He is indeed present with us. Let us open our eyes, ears and hearts to receive the healing He offers us today.
Lord God, I am weak, weary, hopeless, hurt and afraid. I am in need of healing. Let me be open to receive Your healing. Let me recognize Your presence in my life today. Amen.