The Healing Touch of Jesus

The Healing Touch of Jesus

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

As we gather in this Lenten season, we are reminded of our frailty — our physical frailty, our emotional burdens, and our spiritual weakness. We are also reminded of the One who meets us in our brokenness and brings healing. Tonight, God’s Word speaks powerfully of patience, prayer, and the healing touch of Jesus.

Psalm 41:3 says, “The Lord sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health.” What a comfort this promise is! In our times of sickness — whether of body, mind, or spirit — the Lord does not leave us alone. He sustains us. He upholds us when we are too weak to stand. And He restores us according to His perfect will. Perhaps you’ve experienced this sustaining grace — when the days were dark and you didn’t know how you’d make it through, yet God carried you. That’s the promise of this psalm. And it points us directly to Jesus, who ultimately fulfills this promise by bearing our burdens and offering us eternal healing.

James 5:7-18 calls us to patience and prayer. James encourages us, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” Patience is hard when you’re waiting for healing, waiting for relief, waiting for answers. But patience is not passive — James connects patience with prayer. “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” Prayer keeps us connected to the One who sustains us. And James reminds us that “the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” It’s not because our prayers are perfect, but because our God is powerful. When we pray, we entrust ourselves and those we love into the hands of the One who heals.

But what gives us confidence in prayer? It’s the gospel — the good news of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus is the very reason our prayers are heard. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He has opened the way to the Father. When we pray in Jesus’ name, we are approaching God not with our own merit but with the righteousness of Christ. And because of that, we can pray boldly, knowing that our Father hears and answers with perfect love.

We see this healing power of God most clearly in the ministry of Jesus. In Matthew 8:14-17, Jesus enters Peter’s house and sees his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. And with a simple touch of His hand, the fever leaves her. Imagine the gentleness and power in that touch — a touch that brings immediate healing. And she gets up and begins to serve. Then they bring many who are sick and oppressed by demons, and Jesus heals them all. Matthew reminds us that this fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

What a beautiful picture of the gospel! Jesus takes our burdens — our sin, our sickness, our suffering — and bears them Himself. This points us ahead to the cross, where Jesus would take the full weight of our sin upon His shoulders. By His wounds, we are healed. Through His death, we are forgiven. And in His resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life where every sickness, every sorrow, and every tear will be wiped away.

Think about that for a moment. The Son of God stepped into our broken world, not just to observe our pain but to take it upon Himself. Every physical ailment, every emotional wound, every spiritual struggle — Jesus bore them all. And on the cross, He paid the ultimate price so that we could be set free. This is the heart of the gospel: that Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He took our place, endured our punishment, and offers us His righteousness.

So what do we do as we wait for that final healing? We pray. We trust. We rest in the sustaining grace of God. We remember that the same Jesus who touched Peter’s mother-in-law and healed the sick and the brokenhearted is the Jesus who touches our lives with His love and grace.

Tonight, whatever burdens you carry, bring them to Jesus. Whether it’s physical illness, emotional pain, spiritual struggle — know that He cares for you. He sustains you. He hears your prayers. And He will heal you — maybe in this life, but certainly in the life to come. And through it all, He offers you the greatest healing of all — the forgiveness of your sins and the promise of eternal life.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.