You have a choice.
You can either read the reflection below or listen to me talk in the video here:
Day 10 - Matt 8:1-17
When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy 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.”
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.
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.”
There are two awesome things I love in this passage; that Jesus was willing to heal, and that he has the authority to carry what he wants to do. I can only hope to bring together in my life what we see in the hearts of both these men in the story. In both men we see humility, in one physically throwing themselves before Jesus and the other in acknowledging his authority over sickness. I pray that I can bring this same knowledge and willingness together. Too often I come to Jesus with one or the other and not both. I want to be a person who recognizes the power and authority of Jesus and supremacy of who he is, and couple it with the knowledge that he loves me and cares for me and is willing to give me what I need in order to carry on. A final note, again in this passage we see the reference to “fulfil”. Jesus is at work to demonstrate who he is and that he is doing the work of the Father. These miracles are signposts that are intended to point us to Jesus’ lordship and his heart to care for his people.
You are invited to pray or to be prayed for. As we learn more about who Jesus is let us then enter into prayer and be shaped by him.
Comments