Healing Compassion, Confirmation of a Holy Commission

Healing Compassion of Christ

Luke 4:38–41 ESV

38 And he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

Healing the man with a demon

Healing Simon’s Mother in Law

Healing many, many individually, touching each one

Jesus didn’t just perform a mass healing- Wielding a swath of power that cured the masses.

Luke 4:40 ESV

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them.

Our Compassionate King

I am going to speak to you, as though you are a child of God. As though you have by His grace, accepted His gift of salvation from your sins, that was earned by the shedding of Christ’s blood, as payment for the just punishment which we deserved. If you have not come to that place, please feel free to listen in as I discuss, the character and goodness of our King.

Christ was concerned for each individual that was brought to Him for healing, and He chose to touch each one of them, and take away their affliction, so that they would no longer have to suffer.

There is something special about a touch. A hand on the shoulder, a handshake. Even something as quick as a high five sends a message of belonging a message of fellowship and love. God designed us to be relational beings. That is one of the things that makes the current pandemic we are dealing with, so powerful and destructive. It has taken away from many, the innocent act of a friendly greeting.

The amount of communication, or information passing from person to person has increased exponentially since the invention of the internet, but it has also served to diminish the personal interaction, that a person may have with another human being.

As a well-known preacher pointed out in a sermon I heard recently, “There is no way, an LOL, comes close to a genuine laugh.” There is no way that a colon and half of a parenthesis, is any where close to the smile from the eyes of a friend.” and I wold add, there is no way that an emoji high five, replaces a real high five. Jesus Christ understood this as He walked among the crowds, among the diseased and the sick, that were brought to Him to be healed. and He demonstrated His love by offering a healing touch.

Isaiah 53:4 ESV

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Jesus cares for the people. He loved His neighbor as Himself, just as we are commanded to do. As a man, Jesus must have empathized with the poor, needy and sick.

Christ’s compassion on the people was abundantly clear, as He took the time to heal all that were brought to Him on this day. He healed many and cast out demons from many.

but then look at what He does next.

Luke 4:42–44 ESV

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Confirmation of a Holy Commission

He departed and went into a desolate place. It was an abandoned, isolated area away from the town and the people. Where exactly He went, we do not know, but the Gospel of Mark tells us what He was doing.

Mark 1:35 ESV

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

He went there to pray! It is interesting that Luke doesn’t mention this, as he frequently mentions Jesus’ habit of spending time in prayer.

Just after Jesus take the time to touch each of the sick and the ailing, and the spiritually destitute, He goes to pray. Why is He praying? I believe it is to commune with the Father in order to ensure that He honors the Father, discerns the Father’s will, so that He can confirm His calling/commission.

He ministers to the crowds, those who are brought to Him for healing and then He gets away for some time with He and the Father. Not alone time. Not, Jesus time. It is time when no else is a distraction from His time with the Father.

His calling, His purpose, is evidently made clear as he went into the desolate place to pray. Look again at verse 42 & 43, to see what happens next.

Luke 4:42–43 ESV

42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

His calling/commission is confirmed through prayer.

Jesus had just performed many miracles, exemplified His power and compassion, which in itself is confirmation that He is sent by God, as a messenger from God. (Casting out demons) but then when He finished healing those who were brought to Him, he went away to a lonely place, and spent time in prayer, seeking to confirm the Father’s will and then when He is approached by more people, He knows what He needs to do.

Luke’s intention is to reveal the Lord Jesus’ humanity. That He was indeed the god-Man, in the flesh. His human side, being a perfect human, was able to sympathize with the sick, and the needy, and certainly would have desired for them to be free from their ailments and afflictions. We too ought to have such compassion and love for the people around us. However, that does not negate what takes place next.

In fact, once He spends time in prayer, He is able to proclaim . . .

Luke 4:43 ESV

43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Jesus said,

I must Preach the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) (Evangelize)

Preach the Good News

What good news? Is it the good news that cousin Bob’s test went well, and there isn’t any cancer? Is it the good news that you aren’t going to get laid off, during a downsizing at your company? Is it the good news that your sight will be restored, even though you’ve been blind from birth?

No, it isn’t any of these things. Though, God’s favor in those areas, and many more show us of God’s love and compassion, but the “Good News, that Christ has been sent to proclaim is the Good news . . .

Preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God!

Of the Kingdom of God- The place where God reigns and rules the hearts of the people. It is a Kingdom that is Eternal-

Romans 8:35–39 ESV

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Kingdom of God is why Christ came, and why He cared for the sick and the lame and the demon possessed. The Kingdom of God is Christ’s calling. The Kingdom of God is His Commission. The healing and the care of those who need physical healing was important, but the healing of our sin is the ultimate purpose for which Christ came.

When we observe a miracle of Jesus, we need to ask, “What was He accomplishing?” “What was He teaching us through this supernatural act?”

He teaches us here, that the physical needs are important, but He MUST preach the GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

We need to care for our neighbors, and our family members and we need to show them love, but we need to take Christ’s example.

We need to care, and we need to pray for wisdom and discernment and we need to “preach the good news, of the Kingdom of God.”

Preach the GOOD NEWS, of worshipping and obeying our KING, THE GOD Of HEAVEN AND EARTH!

What have we been called to do?

To Love God

To Love Your Neighbor