Luke 4:38-44
Jesus Heals Many
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Reflection:
Today Jesus gives us more understanding in how the kingdom of God comes on earth as it is in heaven. Remember when John the Baptist saw him he said, "repent because the kingdom of God is at hand." This basically meant turn around, change your mindset, because you are going to see God doing a whole new thing through Jesus. And today we see that part of that manifestation of the kingdom that came through Jesus was the healing of various sicknesses and diseases.
Today, Jesus goes to his good friend and confidant Simon Peter's home. His mother in law was sick with a fever and Jesus took time out of his busy day to rebuke the fever and it left. Notice Jesus rebuked the fever. Normally we see this word with how Jesus handles demons, as we see in the story below as well. It is too far to say every sickness is from the devil, or someone sick with a fever is demon possessed. And yet this shows that sickness is not of God. Jesus rebukes the sickness as a sign that in God's kingdom, where God is reigning, there is no sickness. It is a foretaste of what is to come.
As Jesus heals his mother in law, word must have gotten out, as by sunset all kinds of people were brought to Jesus, with all kinds of diseases. And laying his hands on them, he healed them all. Notice too that as he healed people of sickness also demons presented themselves. They tried to reveal Jesus' identity, yet he rebuked them and wouldn't let them speak. Why? Because it was not yet his time, he had more people to preach to and reveal God's kingdom. This by the way is why we often lay hands on people as we pray for healing. Not because it is magical, but because that is the way Jesus and the early church did it.
Of course after this kind of day, Jesus needed rest. He was human after all. But the people kept looking for him and tried to prevent him from leaving. We would probably do the same thing. But Jesus knew his time was limited and that he had to show what the kingdom of God was like in other places, so that they too might know He was the Messiah.
Question: Do we pray for healing today? Do we believe through the power of the Holy Spirit we can pray and lay hands on people for the purpose of healing their diseases and sicknesses and confront demonic forces if necessary. One way to answer that question is to say only Jesus could do those sort of things. Another way would be to say if Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit,and the apostles did many of the same things that Jesus did, then why would we say that was just for Jesus and his apostles to get the church going. We really don't need that kind of power today. But the fact is we are still fighting the same powers Jesus fought. God is still healing people today in Jesus' name. And the only question is, are we as a church going to be part of God's kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.
Martin Luther says in the Small Catechism in regard to the petition, "thy kingdom come". God's kingdom will surely come without our asking for it. The only question is will it come through us. Let us repent for the kingdom of. God is at hand!
PS if you would like to read a good article talking about Luther's view of healing today I have attached a link.
http://hopefaithprayer.com/martin-luthers-call-for-the-faith-healer/
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39 So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
40 At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. 41 Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them. 43 But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.” 44 And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Reflection:
Today Jesus gives us more understanding in how the kingdom of God comes on earth as it is in heaven. Remember when John the Baptist saw him he said, "repent because the kingdom of God is at hand." This basically meant turn around, change your mindset, because you are going to see God doing a whole new thing through Jesus. And today we see that part of that manifestation of the kingdom that came through Jesus was the healing of various sicknesses and diseases.
Today, Jesus goes to his good friend and confidant Simon Peter's home. His mother in law was sick with a fever and Jesus took time out of his busy day to rebuke the fever and it left. Notice Jesus rebuked the fever. Normally we see this word with how Jesus handles demons, as we see in the story below as well. It is too far to say every sickness is from the devil, or someone sick with a fever is demon possessed. And yet this shows that sickness is not of God. Jesus rebukes the sickness as a sign that in God's kingdom, where God is reigning, there is no sickness. It is a foretaste of what is to come.
As Jesus heals his mother in law, word must have gotten out, as by sunset all kinds of people were brought to Jesus, with all kinds of diseases. And laying his hands on them, he healed them all. Notice too that as he healed people of sickness also demons presented themselves. They tried to reveal Jesus' identity, yet he rebuked them and wouldn't let them speak. Why? Because it was not yet his time, he had more people to preach to and reveal God's kingdom. This by the way is why we often lay hands on people as we pray for healing. Not because it is magical, but because that is the way Jesus and the early church did it.
Of course after this kind of day, Jesus needed rest. He was human after all. But the people kept looking for him and tried to prevent him from leaving. We would probably do the same thing. But Jesus knew his time was limited and that he had to show what the kingdom of God was like in other places, so that they too might know He was the Messiah.
Question: Do we pray for healing today? Do we believe through the power of the Holy Spirit we can pray and lay hands on people for the purpose of healing their diseases and sicknesses and confront demonic forces if necessary. One way to answer that question is to say only Jesus could do those sort of things. Another way would be to say if Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit,and the apostles did many of the same things that Jesus did, then why would we say that was just for Jesus and his apostles to get the church going. We really don't need that kind of power today. But the fact is we are still fighting the same powers Jesus fought. God is still healing people today in Jesus' name. And the only question is, are we as a church going to be part of God's kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.
Martin Luther says in the Small Catechism in regard to the petition, "thy kingdom come". God's kingdom will surely come without our asking for it. The only question is will it come through us. Let us repent for the kingdom of. God is at hand!
PS if you would like to read a good article talking about Luther's view of healing today I have attached a link.
http://hopefaithprayer.com/martin-luthers-call-for-the-faith-healer/
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