Luke 4:38-41 (NIV) Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Christ.
First Jesus taught in the synagogue on the Sabbath, and while there, a demon showed itself in a man, and was cast out. Then Jesus went to Simon’s house, His home base in Capernaum, only to find that Simon’s mother-in-law had a high fever, which was potentially life-threatening. True to His normal methodology, Jesus didn’t pray for the woman, or anoint her with oil, or do any kind of ceremonies. He simply spoke a word of rebuke to the fever, and it went away, leaving the mother-in-law not only healthy and strong, but energetic enough to get up and serve them.
At sunset the Sabbath was over, and the devout of Capernaum felt free to bring their sick family members and friends to Jesus to be healed. There were lots of sicknesses and disabilities that Jesus healed with a simple touch, bringing the powerful wholeness of the kingdom of God into contact with the unwholeness in those bodies. And when that contact happened, it was no contest; the wholeness completely replaced the unwholeness in every body and mind, making the people well.
When those controlled by demons were brought to Jesus, there was no need for ceremonies or rituals, and no power struggle. Jesus simply commanded the demons to leave as He did the demon in the man at the synagogue, and they left. Some of the demons tried to blow Jesus’ cover by identifying Him as the Son of God and the Messiah as they were leaving, but Jesus rebuked them and forbade them to speak.
The work that Jesus was doing was incredible. Nothing was too complicated for Him to resolve; nothing was too difficult for Him to heal; no demon was strong enough to defy Him or resist His commands. People came to Him sick, disabled, broken,, and oppressed, and all of them left whole.
Father, we are so easily intimidated by dreaded diseases or by hard cases that seem to be beyond even Your ability to heal. So we end up praying with doubt in our hearts and fear in our minds, and just hope that You will be able to do something. How unlike Jesus we are! He was always so connected to You that there was a constant flow of Your power, Your wholeness flowing through Him, so that nothing was too hard or challenging. Lord, we need that kind of powerful connection to You in our own lives today. Our world is so broken, and the people all around us so in need of the wholeness that only You can bring into their lives. Flow through us, Lord, so that we, like Jesus our model, can bring Your touch of wholeness to those broken people, and thus glorify Your name and expand Your kingdom. Amen.