A Man With Leprosy
1 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy[a] came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Jesus Heals Many
14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. 16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”[b] Need a miracle? We have three incidents of divine intervention…with three important lessons.
1. The Leper: For God’s Pleasure. “Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.” And, of course, Jesus said “I am willing”. The clear implication here is that Jesus intervenes on his own terms...not ours…but is always willing to be convinced.
However, if we presume upon God we show intent to control the outcome…as though we know more than God…with predictable results. When the children of Israel asked for a king (so they could be like other nations) God said “I’ll give you a king…and when that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” (1 Sam 8:18). We get what we ask for. So…let’s not ask God for it unless we’re certain God wants it.
2. The Centurion: By God’s Power. “Just say the word and my servant will be healed.” Hand in hand with the Leper is the Centurion…who understood his own impotence. If any divine intervention was going to happen it would not occur because the Centurion commanded it but because Jesus did.
We often take a different approach. I’ve witnessed a demanding sense of entitlement in many Christians that is not becoming. It’s as though they speak and God is required to listen. It assumes God power must conform to their expectations. Jesus far prefers the humility of the centurion and says, by comparison. “Many in the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”.
3. The Demon-possessed: According to God’s Purpose “To fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah.” Divine intervention is part of the whole. It is not an end in itself, or does not unfold independent of a greater context.
It may sound irreverent, but God is not particularly spontaneous (that’s a human quality). Whenever God does anything it is intended to accentuate or illuminate some prime principle. When we are fortunate enough to be recipients of God’s intervention we should be asking “why?” God does everything with a purpose. I doubt the purpose is solely for our comfort and convenience (although I wouldn’t completely rule it out) but is more likely intended to accomplish some change in us or through us. When the prophesy of Isaiah is revealed, “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases,” we recognize immediately that Jesus did these things to demonstrate he was who the prophet was describing.
I’m pretty sure this isn’t all there is to say about miracles. I do know, however, that the believers in each case got what they wanted and needed. It might be worth a try.
Live boldly out there today…
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