The Healing Touch of Jesus
Luke 5:
12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus;
and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying,
"Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying,
"I am willing; be cleansed."
Immediately the leprosy left him. (New King James Bible)
The Lord Jesus was passing through a city when a man with a dreaded skin disease saw Him. The man didn't just glance at Jesus, but he looked and recognized Jesus. This tells us that he had definitely seen Jesus minister to people before.
But this look went beyond recognition.
This man fixed his gaze on Jesus and he looked into Jesus' eyes with faith and hope.
Next, verse 12 tells us that this man fell on his face in worship. When he looked at Jesus, he didn't just see the walking, talking answer to his need. He saw a Divine Person.
Evidently, when he had seen Jesus before, this man had been captivated by the
Person of the Lord Jesus!
So he fell on his face before Jesus. His body language said without any words,
"I am not worthy to even be in Your wonderful presence. I understand Who You are! I know You are my Saviour and Redeemer! I know that You are God!"
After worshipping the Lord Jesus and experiencing the wonder of reverencing the Lord, the man then made his request.
Now, at the time when Jesus lived, people with that kind of skin disease were put out of society because their disease was contagious. So they could not live normally among healthy people.
This man had become an outcast: unloved and rejected. What his words really meant was this:
"Jesus, because of this contagious disease, I am now a reject.
I know for sure that You have the power to cure this terrible disease.
Believing You can help me isn't my problem.
What I want to know is: are You WILLING to help someone with my kind of disability."
Right away, the reply of Jesus came.
First, Jesus touched this rejected man. The touch said that Jesus was accepting and receiving this man back into his place as a normal person.
The touch of Jesus restored to the man, all his dignity as a full human being. He had lost this human dignity when he had been discovered to have this dreaded disease.
The Lord Jesus has all power and authority to heal all manner of rejection and its causes. This man had become a reject because of his contagious disease.
There are hosts of other reasons for human beings to feel like rejects.
But the Lord Jesus is willing to heal them all.
Speaking the word of cleansing is like beginning to peel layers off an onion, because rejection has many layers.
Sometimes things happen to us human beings that make us feel like this man did: like rejects.
When we feel this way, it can cause scars deep inside us that cause us to push away others around us.
And it can upset all our communication with those close to us.
We can feel that those around us don't understand us. We can also misread the words and actions of those who mean us well. Others seem to have all the good fortune and only bad things happen to us.
Basically, being a reject causes a painful separation between us and others.
The touch of the Lord Jesus is available to heal us on every level where this "reject" disease makes us sick in our soul.
The healing will probably not happen all in one day. But little by little each layer of the disease will be touched and heal, if we have the persistence to stick with the Lord Jesus and continue to believe in His love for us.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
today I fix my eyes on Jesus, my Saviour and Redeemer.
Lord Jesus, I desire to look fully into Your wonderful face, and see Your compassion, Your care, Your warmth directed right back at me.
I have always thought of myself as a reject. (Tell Him how you came to feel this way.)
But I come to You today because I believe that You will receive me and accept me and take away this atmosphere of rejection from around me, and the sting of the reject - layer by layer - from inside me.
I ask that You will put someone in my life who will stick with me as I am healed.
Thank You for doing this for me, Lord Jesus.
I begin to receive Your healing love today into my whole being.
Thank You for making me free.
I bow in reverence and worship You with great thanksgiving in my heart.
Amen.
